Auf Wiedersehen

Auf Wiedersehen Germany!!!! The final whistle blown, Spanish jumped in jubilation, while Germany looked solemn and silent in lost. The curtain to EURO 2008 is officially closed; at the Fanzone, supporters accepted the reality that, there will be no football like the EURO 2008. It was simply FANTASTIC.

Spanish deserved to win, they really brought the Germans to a halt, the rhythm of the Germans was seemingly wrong from the 4th minutes of play onwards. Silva, Torres and the gang were just attacking and attacking; in my opinion Spanish goalkeeper Casillas was just superb. Spanish was one hell of a team.

Like many others, I had a great time at EURO 2008, Germany was my favorite, in second place they ended but it was all worth the cheering, the time and the money spent on mementos.

You can still count on my cheering at the 2010 world cup and the 2012 EURO Germany.

Auf Wiedersehen!!!!!

Final Countdown to Eu08

Hospital

Did not sleep well on Friday night due to a couple of reasons. My gym addict was having severe back pain that is bothering her a lot, my little princess broke her nail while trying to save mama's laptop from falling down, my drama queen suffering from insomnia, not enough with all these on my mind, my left ear was hurting me too much lately. Tonight it was really bad and I hardly had 3 hours of sleep.

So I am left with no choice but to visit the:

The reception area

An interesting bronze statue at the reception corner

Non bed ridden patient having meal at the dining area, so that the room will not smell

Being consulted

Dr Markois writing the prescription

Hubby asking for direction to the pharmacy

Neckties

From last night hubby was reminding that I have to give him official attire for office today, as he has a presentation to do. I gave him his dark green CK pants and a light green long sleeve shirt to go with it, he again told me I need an official pants please. Not one to be bullied, I looked at him and asked, what’s wrong with that pants, you are going to put on your jacket, so who will see? This shuts him up for a few minutes.

At breakfast, he looked at me and said, `honey, I feel like wearing the necktie’, I was like what? It’s only a presentation ok, and do not let situation dictate your comfort. I have been in HR too long and I am dressing him up today, and of course I will know if his attire is being too casual.

What’s with some people and neckties.

According to top Google lawyer Peter Fleischer neckties are Decorative camouflage for the business suit, designed to shield the middle-aged male physique, with its shrinking shoulders and protruding paunch, from feeling sufficiently self-conscious to hit the gym…. Wouldn’t you like to know whether your business partners are fit? Why should you trust a man in business if he abuses his own body?

I hate the connotation that represents necktie ok; well that may be too far fetched, but to me neckties are so yesterday. How can they symbolize anything other than looking smart? It is so over rated, heck, it is just something that you tie around your neck, and how can that make you any different from someone who is not wearing it. I said it is over rated because even bus drivers, the punk lovers, the care takers, the roadside salesmen are all wearing them neckties. And, here, at breakfast today hubby who normally does not like to wear one is requesting for it. My afterthought, is he allowing himself to be sucked into the system?

Some people concoct in their numb skull that neckties were a symbol of white collar status ……… hemm…….. not anymore. It is also said that if you had on a necktie, it goes to show that you had some sense of organization and some sense of dignity about yourself. Really? If you come close to some of these people with neckties, you can actually see that the edge of the tie is yellow from dirt, and they normally douse themselves with perfume to hide the bad BO.

To me cool people are those who do not try too hard to fit in with a sartorial aristocracy that they were not comfortable with. The cool people did their own thing and were comfortable just being them, in their own skin and clothes, even if it was a pair of T-shirt and jeans. The entire numb skull should understand that money is not a factor in good fashion because good fashion comes with good behavior and character. If you think a necktie decides respect, think again.

Germany 3 - Turkey 2 (First Semi)

The much awaited semi Germany against Turkey came in full gear last night. The whole day the temperature was severely hot, too hot indeed, and I bet every single fan cannot wait to be at the Fan Zone.

By 1900hours, dark clouds were forming fast, and lighting was seen even before the rain started. As usual Euro2008 is fantastically organized, the kick off was on the dot. United against racism was the banner promotion for the night. Everything was smooth sailing, till the rain started to trickle. Of course no one is leaving just yet, and then the unexpected happened.

Thunderstorm, strong winds, heavy angry rain all came hand in hand, the telecast was disrupted, no signal, therefore the supporters were in the lost of the current game, however, they quickly put up a radio telecast, then it was total cut off. The Fan Zone was evacuated, shut down totally as Mother Nature kept on spitting. It was a very scary storm.

We tried to quickly switch to the internet and only managed to view the score at 2-1, then as expected the internet also went down. I was very scared; this is not a normal storm for me at all. It was furious and all I could think of was the kids, the semi of Germany against Turkey seemed distant now.

The telecast resumed again after the final whistle, and it was Germany – 3 and Turkey – 2. I am elated of course, as I wanted Germany to be in the final. Tonight will be the second semi Spain against Russia, the weather forecast indicated good weather, so who knows if we’re gonna be at the Fan Zone or not. I know the efficiency of the organizer here, the ghost town after the scary thunder storm last night will be back to normal again. But be assured Spain, we are cheering for you tonight :)

Football oh Football

EURO 2008 will come to its final on June 29, 2008, gosh it was just like yesterday when the streets were full of supporters and players. Soon it will be back to normal, just tourist walking around, same thing different time.

I guess most football lovers will be counting for the next Euro, meanwhile they are doing what's best as you can see from the pictures in the posters (which I captured yesterday on the way to the U station :)

This is the way to catch

He went too far into the net

They are the die hard supporters

Fortune Tellers

Do you believe in fortune tellers? Have you ever been to one, then ponder and wonder how the hell does he know about me? I have stumbled upon them coincidently many times but I have never let any of them read my palm. To me some of the fortune tellers are quite mind boggling and interesting, however I never take what they say seriously and often I would just forget them.

Two times since I have been here, I met the so called fortune teller, once was last winter when Amal and I were out shopping. We were stopped by this Punjabi looking guy (he was wearing the turban), he was saying things about me, and one way or the other telling me what to expect in the coming year. Politely, I told him that as a Muslim, it is wrong for me to believe in whatever he was saying. He just kept on going even when we decided to walk away already. Last Saturday, hubby and I were crossing the road when I was again approached by a similar character. But this time he instantly introduced himself as a fortune teller, and again the babbling about me, we politely said thank you and walked away, however, he was not done the babbling even when we were walking away.

Ultimately can I say that fortune-telling should not be seen as a very rigid belief. Personally, I find them very entertaining and can I also say that it is like a self-therapy, meaning you take what was told as a dosage of being aware always. When I was with the Diplomatic Mission, I had the opportunity to meet with Essam Khashoggi , it was a very interesting encounter. This is one guy who told me directly that he seek the help of the fortune teller diligently, he told me that the best ones are from Cairo. During that meeting, he had arranged for a lady to come and read his palm from `China Town’. She does not speak English and the translator was bad, the charge was 1,000RM being a house call. It’s amazing how someone can be so willing to pay such an amount for something so superficial.

Having said all this, I somehow found this person by the name of Michel Hayek aka as the modern time Nostradamus very interesting. He claimed that what he does, anyone can do it too. He does not term his predictions as fortune telling or likewise, he is just telling what his feelings were through tuning in to vibrations, images and signs that he gets day and night, even during his sleep by concentrating. He said that there is nothing exceptional to his ability of prediction.

So, can we then conclude that a kind of special force do exist in each and every one of use, if we concentrate hard enough????

Roti John and Sago

By 1800 hours on Sunday, hubby told me to get ready for a walk, but I was really not in the mood as the weather was super hot. The other reason for staying home was to watch F1, however the heat was making me tired too.

I decided to make `Roti John' for dinner, so here you go:


Beaten eggs and minced beef


Top with wholemeal bread


One side done


Top with cheese and tomato and ready to eat


Sago for dessert

Stuffed Eggplant

Two full days of walking and walking; our legs are sore, actually the knees more than the feet. Decided to take a break this Sunday, even the idea of going to the park to complete the painting seems so distance. Our incomplete painting still sitting diligently in the paper bag, ahhhh……………… well one day may be it will be done. For now, it is EURO 2008 time.

Hubby vacuumed the house, he made breakfast, so I have to cook lunch. Here is our Sunday lunch, stuffed eggplant and it was yummy.

Pocket is made in the middle of the fried eggplant

The eggplant is stuffed with cooked minced beef

The homemade tomato sauce, I don't like to use the commercial brand as it will not taste as good

All stuffed and ready

Tomato sauce is poured on top of each eggplant and ready for the oven

After 15 minutes in the oven, ready to eat with Lebanese rice

The end result

Friday, 20.06.2008

It is Friday today, and Friday is always happy day for us because this means that hubby will be home for the next 2 days, Saturday and Sunday. However, today we have so many things to do. Hubby went to work as usual and he has a scheduled meeting at 1000 hours, and I was begging him to try and take half day off.

He called me at 1200 hours that he is able to take the half day off, happiness for me of course. I left the house to meet him because I need to go to the Infirmary as my eyes have been bothering me too much. Due to the weather change both eyes have been very itchy and tearing all the time. This is due to the fact that I am allergic to the airborne pollen.

We also have an appointment to meet a real estate agent to view a property at 1300 hours; we were squeezing for time, as we never like to be tardy for appointments. Decided that we will go view the property first and then to the infirmary. The agent and the owner was very pleasant and welcoming, we like the property but it is kind of small, so we will have to do a lot of thinking first.

After the infirmary, hubby was hungry but he does not want to go around with his working attire, so he went home to change while I mingle in the shops nearby the house. Lunch was horrible for me because we thought that the restaurant was Japanese by virtue of the name `Yumiro’ but it turned out to be some kind of a combination between Mediterranean and Asian, hubby enjoyed his though.

Once done with lunch we have to go to the University, and we went to the Tram station just to discover that they have decided to close all the roads leading to the Parliament house, the University and all the surrounding areas there, which has been converted to a Fan Zone for the EURO 2008. Well, what luck but we are not turning back, so decided to walk there. Believe me, we actually walked there. Along the way, we were body checked as we have to enter the Fan Zone, people were very nice and everyone was enjoying the sun and the music. To not feel the weight on our feet so much, we danced in front of the live band, we joked, we laughed, we made stupid remarks of each other, we just had total fun and we reached the University at last. Guess what?? *sigh* the student board was already closed. Hubby looked at me at said `nasib’, so we will have to come on Monday, InsyaAllah.

We hanged around the University for a bit more, then well, of course, we have to walk the distance back, as no transportation is allowed at all on the Fan Zone closure. Body checked a second time upon entering; however we realized that the distance seemed shorter. The countdown to the match is approximately 3hrs 50 minutes, hemm…… too long a time to waste just like that.

We decided to walk to the market to get some minced halal meat and also to go to the Asian store, as hubby wanted to eat `sago gula melaka’. We found the Asian shops, in fact we went to three of them but no `gula melaka’, so I decided to compromise and bought palm sugar instead. It works, you w when you are away from the destination of the known, make do always. So, Alhamdulillah.

When we arrived home, we calculated that we have actually walked a near total of 20km today. Before, I would pick a fight if I have to walk but after months of gym sessions back home, walking is a must. I miss walking and I feel that my body becomes very moody if I do not walk. Hubby had insisted that I sign up for a gym here, but what’s the point, I would rather go walking with him in the evening or whenever he’s not too tired to entertain me as my walking buddy.

He was drenched with sweat, his face was red, we could not hold hands any more as both our palms were so sweaty, my feet were bruised, our bodies were crying but we had fun, we know that nothing matters, and if we set our heart for something we have to get going. Weather the rough water and success will be sweeter. You are a darling honey; truly you are and thank you for sticking by me always for the sake of the kids.

You Ain't Heavy

Blogging is a healing process for me. There is so much hurting and bashing that I have taken in my life that I wish to be healed off. No matter how I forgive, yet I am still hurting and I don’t seem to forget. When you think you can confine in someone for solace and understanding, you get ditched over and over again.

Often we hear the saying `you ain’t heavy, you’re my brother’ and I am proud of this saying too. My brother, how do I start writing about you? There were too many memories, too short a time and still too much of hurting. You were ` the man’ in my eyes for so long, till you belittled my daughter, who could not defend herself as I was working abroad. You can trash on me, you can do anything you want to me, but when it comes to my kids, I will not tolerate any nonsense, not even from you.

You never invited me for your daughter’s wedding, well it does not really matter, I still got invited by my ex sister-in-law. I was never included in any of the family meetings organized by you, well fine by me. Despite all this, I still respect you, never forgot to kiss your hand each time we bumped into each other. Then I realized that you were not even acknowledging my presence anymore, it is time to draw my line. I reciprocate in the same way, however, the last time we met, which was in February this year, our father had insisted that I kiss your hand again, so I did and you know I did it for you Abah.

You forgot too soon, you judge by being biased, but I really don’t care, I know our paths will always cross, though I hope not. Do you remember when you were at the worst of your career, when you were put to shame, who was there with you, trusting you and supporting you? I put my work on hold so that I can give you the time you need, and I can still remember what you told me: “What you see you forget ok”, and I live to this day abiding to your request, because I was the only one who you trusted with the content of your letter. What I saw will go to the grave with me, because this is what you wanted.

Then, do you recall how you wanted me to take care of one of our sisters because she had undergone an operation and you do not wish anyone to know? Yes, I did as instructed, each morning I will make her breakfast, take the taxi, drop the food and go to work, then in the evening after work, I will go home, cook dinner and deliver same to her. This ritual repeated itself for a week. Did I complain, where was the rest of your sisters then, why didn’t you trust them?

When they took your picture with your girlfriend as a scandal, and you wanted to shoot these people, well brother, you know I was there, but none of your siblings knew about your behavior. Remember when I was still living in Singapore, you use to come and visit, and we will sit at the back of the house, you wanting me to fill you up with the family news, moments like these are surreal to me.

Starting a restaurant has always been something that you wanted to do, and you decided to try with our younger brother, where did you turn to for someone to cook all the food? Me, I hope you remember this brother, I never turned you down. Despite having my own kids to care for, my job and my studies, I did not deny you, diligently I will wake up at 0400hours to do all the cooking, so that everything will be ready for you to come and inspect before it goes for sale.

I don’t really know what happened between you and mom, because I do not want to take sides. Information was fed to me by the ladies of the family, but did I ever ask you brother, did I ever treat you any different? Never! Whenever you come back to our parents’ home, you refuse to enter the house, I will come and serve you food on a try in the verandah, whether you eat or not, that’s beside the point. My job was to serve you.

The first time you ever hurt me was when you tore all my Michael Jackson’s posters that I had put on the wall in my room. I had bought these posters with my own scholarship money, you spared nothing. Till today, I never understood why you did that, what had triggered the anger in you to tear everything will remain within you.

When you were taking your own private flying license, wasn’t it me who you took to accompany you all the time, because you were just comfortable taking me anywhere and everywhere with you. I never complained no matter how tiring it can be, waiting and waiting all the time. It was a happy moment for me to see you enjoying your life.

When mom requested that I took care of your adopted son, I obliged, though my hands were tight. I have 4 kids to care and I was working abroad, but I took your son in with me, because no one else wants to have anything to do with him, including you. However, his behavior was bizarre to just put it politely and I have to send him back after almost a year with me. Everyone gang up against me for returning him. It became my problem; I was treated like someone with a Hansen's disease. I choose not to talk or to discuss this matter with anyone till today, so whatever speculation that you people had put forth, may you all be forgiven.

Now, we are strangers to one another, if this is what you want, so be it. I forgive you brother, as I want you to forgive me too. Life is ever so short; I do not want to regret anything. Just know that you can always count on me.

Mean People

Recently, I came across a friend on vacation from Dubai, it is just normal to ask how all the friends there are. She gave me a run down on everyone and I was concerned on one particular friend named Laila, I knew she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and already in the third stage. Laila had gone for treatment in Germany and Singapore, undergoing massive chemotherapy and radiation. Obviously the effect of this will make her skin turn dark. So, I was surprised when this friend told me bluntly that, even when she is still alive, she is being burnt already.

I just corrected her and said that this is normal for a cancer patient. In my heart I pray to God to keep her safe from such illness, and give her tongue a good cure. Why are people so mean? I can only deduce that we are what we absorb, if we absorb hate we will hate and if we absorb love we will love.

This is the culture that I often see in my society; they will rejoice on someone else’s misery and contemplate within their sick mind with meanness. I remember, once someone’s house was robbed and I was discussing this with my mom, she just said………….. hemm, the earnings they got to buy the property must be from some ill mannered ways. Gosh, give me a break, how can you even conclude that? However, when my sister’s house was robbed over and over again, she did not make such remarks.

My secretary’s eldest born daughter was a Cerebral palsy; she used to keep the baby hidden from public, as she was ashamed of this born, till her daughter’s demised. This is because the society had condemned that they deserved such a child due to what they might have done to others. It is really mean; I assured her most of the time that only God knows the reason and no one else.

I also notice that at work, the bosses are normally mean and nasty, especially if their subordinate is better than them. Instead of acknowledging that these workers are good, they choose to be mean, they will often play the role of a Dictator, threatening, abusing and ganging. Can I say that this kind of bosses is mean because they have deep rooted issues within themselves? They must be so beaten up in their head that abusing others give them the adrenalin rush, they go high on meanness. They allow the devil to be in the driver's seat.

I could go on writing about the issue of mean people, but blogging is a way of getting things off my chest, so I will have to be careful not to turn each topic to a lengthy reading. However, I would like to share here the job experience that I ever hated, which evolved around mean people. I was once employed to terminate two General Managers and an Accountant in a company. This is because in the mind of the Chairman these people were looting the company’s property. Somehow, I realized that one of them was my brother-in-law.

Consciously, I cannot carry out the termination of my own brother-in-law (though he plays no role in my life at all), and because of this the Chairman started finding faults with me. What he does not realize is that it is with utmost relief and happiness; I put in an immediate resignation. To me, there is no greater incentive then to avoid the journey to his office. However, my brother-in-law whose neck I have saved proved to be as mean as what the Chairman had revealed.

I will be damned if mean people have not paved the way to hell. So mean people, I sure hope you will have fun there. Now, I am mean too right? Well, if you can’t beat them…………………… so????

People Watching

I just love watching people and capturing them on camera. Sharing some with you here

Booze

Booze

Knocked out

Knocked out

Clowning around

Clowning around

Clowning around

Who needs fuel?

Turning green from questioning

Donation - China earthquake

Counting the hours

Bachelorette hen party in the middle of no where

Still in love

Talk to me

Turkey vs Czech Republic

Turkish played the Czech Republic in a breathtaking situation. I was glued to the ground when Czech scored the first goal. It could not have been more complete when they banked in the second goal not long after. The cheering was echoed all around.

However, the rain started coming. First it was tiny drops then it continued with a bigger drop and heavier. As the rain became heavier, the Turks became more aggressive. For whatever reason, I have never been a fan of the Turkish team. My jaw dropped to the floor when the aggressive Turks scored in their first goal by Arda. I could not believe this happening as I was pretty sure that the Czech had sent the Turks home leading them with two to nil. Now it is the Turkish supporters turn to sing and dance and blow the horn.

I was praying hard that the rain will stop so that the Czech will get their rhythm back. Before I could even finish saying a hundred prayers, in goes the second goal by Mihat. Is there more to say, the sound of the rain could not drown the cheering of the Turkish supporters. It went on and on and you can see both teams getting very aggressive now. Flashes of yellow cards take turn from the white to the red color team. A third goal by the Turkish was banked, the hopes of the Czech were shattered more than anyone’s imagination. Some of the faces of the supporters were as solemn as the weather.

And the rain kept falling and the animalistic characteristic of each and every player kept on growling, and I guess the level of tolerance by the referee has gone down to zero, it was during the 90^th minute, the red card was flashed to the burly built Turkish goalkeeper. He was contested but the goal keeper was still sent out of the field. What more is there to say, congratulations turkey and Czech you played a good game, luck was just not on your side.

And my husband who is never a football enthusiast, but has to come along all the time because I had wanted to, turned to me out of nowhere, I thought he was going to give a consolation to the loss that I felt but, to my horror, he just said, that was a humiliating defeat, isn’t it? I swear I could have pulled out his eyes from their socket, but then, it’s just a football game and he is my husband for life.

Beggars

When I arrived into Shanghai, it was dull, gloomy, rainy, dark and cold, as it was the winter season. It made me sad immediately. The hotel was beautiful and nice; however, they did not have any halal restaurant, leaving me with no choice but to venture outside of the hotel for food.

As I was walking I saw small children barely 3 years of age, with cheeks as red as a ripe tomato, green thick slimy mucus running down their nose, and smelling very bad. To me, they were just like the homeless and must be pretty hungry in this winter night. As I was walking, I noticed that they were trailing behind and putting out their hands, begging. Hemm……………….. where are your parents huh? However, I can keep on pondering but these kids must be so hungry, so I decided to stop at a small shop selling buns, and bought almost 30Rm worth and gave to them. They ate so fast and I just continued my journey to go to the nearest mall, but, wait a minute, they are not leaving me just yet.

My friend was angry with me by now, and she accused me of being stupid, just because I thought that the kids were hungry, so we decided to scam and run into the mall. Of course, the kids stopped dead just outside the mall as they were not allowed inside. So, they are the Shanghai beggars.

Beggars are everywhere, in Indonesia, Philippines, my own country (a syndicated of them), Singapore, London, Europe, you name it, and they are bound to be beggars. Ok, these people literally, put their hands out to you, or you will see an amputee without an arm or a leg, or a retard child begging for sympathy on their fate, with the hope that you will give them all the coins that you consider too heavy for your pocket. Some beggars come with flowers for no particular occasion, they gave you a stalk of rose, and you are happy as this is a good gesture, then they turn round and demand at least 1Euro for that. And I will be like………………. What?????

Then how do you categorize those people who dress up as Darth Vader, Snow White, Mozart, etc, who stand on a piece of bench with an open hat in front of them. They expect passersby to throw a coin or two inside the hat or better still pay them if you want to take pictures with them and in case of the Mozart guy, he will play his violin only when someone throws a coin in the hat. I would group them as beggars too, but on a professional level, don’t you think so?

I guess as long as the plague of life demands simple material like a loaf of bread on the table, beggars will keep on begging.