How am I during the MCO

As a working mum, I always look forward for weekend or public holidays. But now, Malaysians are under movement control order and we have to stay at home. PM said, stay at home. 

"Visited" the office on 18 March 2020 as i forgot to bring back my power cable 

Reaching the third stage of MCO (PM just announced that MCO is extended to 28 April), more or less, i find that the MCO is telling me something -- i am a homie person -- ada ke ayat homie tu.. maksudnya, i love to stay at home. Until now, I dont find it boring to stay indoor, in fact i enjoy every bit of it. 

boss asked us to pose showing us, tell you it has been ages i didnt iron my baju

Though working from home is one busy day. Like seriously! whoever thought that working from home is precious, you  are so wrong. Bosses expect you to answer immediately. At least when you are in the office, they know your whereabout. They can even tolerate when you are chitchatting with you colleagues kan. But at home, the thinking of, ni mesti buat keje rumah, or tertidor or watever might be in their mind -- alaa kalau i jadi boss pun orang jawab lambat pun i pikir gitu jugak kot. 

Back to how i spent my days at home - read: my dad's house. I am blessed to be surrounded with the one that i loved. my dad is here, i can talk to him anytime. Eventho i stayed at my parents house during weekdays but most of the time i always arrived home around 9pm. Husband will fetch me after maghrib, then we had our dinner together, then baru balik rumah. So by the time i am home, Ba is about to go to the bed.

one word - Alhamdulillah

But now, with the MCO, i can talk to him everyday. The best part, his makan-makan is taken care of by me. Eversince my mum moved to Brunei, Ba's eating pattern is changed. But luckily we stay in front of the mosque, so most of the time, dia pun makan dekat masjid with his buddies. He is ok with it. 

For the past 24 days, my two annoying duo is here in front of me 24-7. Honestly, tho i only have one son, but gosh he is also capable to naikkan darah i everyday especially in waking his up. Walaupun i terpekik telolong suruh dia bangun pagi, but still, he can sleep peacefully. Is teenager like that? the worst part, his dad is supporting him grrr... My husband? 14 years old boy trapped in 40 years old body kot.. :p

Both are my colleagues now

How stay at home is actually up to you. I missed my own home. I do. I wish i can use this time to spring cleaning my house, but yerp Baba needs me. Although he didnt say, but i know he is happy when im around. or when im bossing around :p 

and... yeah, as for me, with the MCO, i can cook for the entire family and the best part, they have no choice but to eat whatever i served hahahaha.. Perhaps the only thing that i want is, how i wish i have a maid at home :p, so i masak orang lain kemaskan. Ni i masak, i jugak kemaskan.. tahu tak perasan seorang yang habis buat keje dekat dapur, esok pagi dia bangun, tengok ada pinggan tak basuh dalam sink... Boleh spoil mood pagi-pagi tau tak..

Part of my cooking diary during MCO

Speaking of masak-masak. I think this is the time i really enjoyed my cooking time, like seriously. Baba even said "Ba tak sangka awak ni rajin jugak", so lets this momentum continues. Will share my cooking time with you, even i have created my own youtube channel just to share my cooking journey. alaa for fun only, not to monetize the youtube. But perhaps in a separate blog posting. 

Having said that, during the MCO, I guess the keyword is cooperate. Alhamdulillah im happy to be here at my dad's house. Found out that husband can cook, and now for the past one week, he would prepare at least one dish everyday and it tastes good too.. Bravo!! 

For a record, dia tak pernah potong ayam untuk i selama 15 tahun kawin, and thanks MCO :)

My brother will occupy himself in spring cleaning the house. You know i really bad at cleaning up, so having him around is like balancing the mood of the house. Orang kata dapat adik yang rajin juga rezeki. 

the best lasagna so far - by lil sis

and little sis, is forever with her makanan orang putih which is again good for me. At least, we can escape with makanan melayu for some days.

and our whole family new hobby is watching Netflix and im stuck with Korean movie. Not sure whether its a good thing or a bad thing but at least while watching K-drama, i had this idea of making karipap, apa lagi eh, cutting all the onions and blend it - but still i dont start with my lipat kain - my forever least of house chores. 

But of cos i wish the MCO is over quickly. Everyone needs money to survive. My heart is always to those who are deeply affected by the MCO - kakak abang nasi lemak, goreng pisang, pasar malam traders, etc.. Not to forget to the frontliners. I have many friends who are the frontliners and they shared how their children are missing them dearly.

Emir with Kittycat born during the MCO

and i... i need to settle my PESP activities.. :(

Stay safe everyone, let's do our part during this MCO.

Power of Doa

It is that time of the year where i started to be very busy. People say busy is good but what are you going to tell a person when she says she is busy? For so many years, back then when i was even in Tax, March-April are my busiest month of the year. The month where i can easily get frustrated, irritated and annoyed. 

My very rare solo picture at the office taken last month

Till now, Im not sure whether this routine is good. Good in the sense of Alhamdulillah, I still have a job, at least i know how supportive my husband is. But at this age, i come to the point where I keep questioning myself whether, will my son is proud of my achievement, is my sacrifices worthwhile?

Im not that ambitious, like many of my friends, they are at the peak of their career, while i am still here. still crawling in the corporate ladder. At one point you feel so small among your friends, but most of the time.. Im all ok. 

so much love in the office

But yerp, I cant leave my job. Resigning is not an option. We (my husband and I) are not prepared for it. I myself have a lot of commitment. I can give you a full page of my wish list that I need to fulfill myself. So, for now.. Keeping the job is the only option. 

Actually there is a reason why i started my overdue one year entry with negative statements. But too sensitive to post it as public :)  I feel betrayed gitu.. 

Ok dah.. banyak benda yang jadi for the past one year. 

One thing that i treasured the most is - performing umrah in December 2019 with my little family, my dad , my MIL and my SIL. MasyaAllah, until now I still miss Masjid Nabawi, Masjidil Haram.. I updated most of the story in my IG. Ok so blog ni i nak cerita pasal lain pulak. 

It is a dream come true for me. I've been telling everyone that I wanted to perform umrah together with my family for so many years. 

Yes, Allah always hear us. Just tell Him. Its either sooner or later. Always say it. Sikit-sikit lama-lama jadi bukit. Yes, I want but i dont really plan. Until, I've been "awarded" with a generous bonus from my Company. and at that time, I gave myself two options, either to be a debt-free, or searching for your soul in Makkah, and I choose the later. 

priceless smile - dad was very happy

To cut it short, comes December 2019, Husband was very busy. He was selected to be one of the arbiter at Manila Sea Games 2019 and he was in Manila for a good 10 days, and a day after he returned back to KL, we left to Makkah. So, all the preparation to Makkah was done by yours truly. 

From the beginning, husband was not keen to join me to Makkah as he already has that Haji title. But for myself, of course I want him to be with me. Not clingy but biasalah rasa secured gitu. So, well, i called my mother-in-law inviting her to join me for this trip. FYI, my MIL sepanjang I kawin, never want to follow any of her children to travel. Of cos, I was not hoping she accepted my invitation. Yes, at first when i asked, she immediately said tak nak. But wahlah, one of the day, she called and said "ok mak nak ikut, nak buat ape sekarang". Starting from there, for the good 2 months before we left, she called me to update her preparation e-ve-ry-day. So cute kan.. Because of my MIL agreed to join me, my husband has no other way to say NO :p 

Husband with Gold Medalist from Malaysia in Men Rapid

The day came. We departed from KLIA on 11 December 2019. Don't get me wrong, I didnt want to show-off but I chose to travel via Business Class mainly because we have 2 elderly citizens (my dad and my MIL) with us, so i wanted to make sure that they are in the good hands. 

During the check-in, tho we are so used with autogate, my SIL insisted all of us to check in via the immigration officer at the Business Class counter. I was like grrrr...

The check-in went smoothly with no hiccups. MAS, as usual will not disappoint us during the journey. On our way to Madinah (yerp kami ke sana dulu), most of the passengers were reciting Quran, doa, reading islamic books or just did nothing. Unlike my husband, bangun je tido, watching movie. I repeat watching movie even when the plane landed in Madinah, he continued watching that movie. Well, in my view, it is not really appropriate for us to watch a movie when we are on our way to the holliest place on earth, lagipun bukan selalu we get to go there. But he said, alaa bukan tengok cerita seksi-seksi pun *pening*

Our first Umrah, Alhamdulillah Baba sihat lagi masa ni

I was mumbling to myself "adoi, dia ni betul-betul takde rasa nak ke Mekah".. and during that journey what i did was, I minta doa banyak-banyak supaya my husband ni ada rasa gembira bila sampai di Madinah. And i really meant it when i said i doa banyak-banyak.

and masyaAllah, my doa was answered immediately. He changed to a different person immediately he stepped to Madinah. He spent most of his time in the mosque rather than in the room. Am i happy? Of cos. He even said "perasaan masuk masjid Nabawi, betuike kite kat sini"

I lost my phone on the second day in Madinah. Sempat jugaklah bergaduh dengan laki, but kejapje lah petang tu baik balik :p

Gambar ni ambil petang, pagi tadi gaduh teruk. Ye kawan-kawan, tidak kira di mana, di Madinah pun nak jugak bergaduh :p

To cut it short, my father's health was deteriorating in Makkah. I never informed any of my family members in KL as I didnt want them to get worried. But yes, my father was very weak. He cant eat. Not even sebutir nasi, dia akan muntah balik, and as usual, he refused to go to the clinic. He only went to Haram for the first few days but later most of the time he would be in the room. But Alhamdulillah he managed to do the Tawaf Widdak with scooter. MasyaAllah, seeing him crying at the particular moment will always be in my mind. 

I cant deny that my SIL is manusia paling penyabar dalam trip ni :) thanks

Anyway, passing the immigration checkpoint was not a problem to all of us except my father. In Madinah, he was directed to go to the special counter, in Jeddah airport too.. we had to wait for him at Special Counter. I thought perhaps his fingerprint was blur or the system couldnt read his finger print. 

But guess what. 

We are in the same group. From left, Emir, Emran, Emran, Emir. What a coincidence kan

He was stopped again at Malaysia airport. Masa balik ye kawan-kawan. Again, all of us managed to pass the autogate except once again, my father. Mind you my father was really weak. To go through that special counter, he has to queue. We thought it didnt take him that long so i didn't request for a wheelchair. But then, for one person dah lama, so I asked the immigration officer whether they can checked my father or i q-ed for him until his turn. Malaysia hospitality is at its best, the officer asked my father to another counter. 

my MIL (left) making new friend

and tadaa-- it took the officer a while to check my dad's details. and he asked 

Officer: "pakcik pernah hilang passport ke"

My dad: "ada, dah buat report, tapi petang tu juga ada orang jumpa dan hantar balik"

Officer: "bila dah jumpe balik tu pakcik ada laporkan balik tak"

My dad: "tak pula"

This is the highlight

with geng satu bas - Tabung Haji bas 1E

Officer: "Passport pakcik ni dah tak valid lagi ni, macam mana pakcik boleh lepas immigration hari tu? pakcik punya visa ni pun tak boleh guna passport ini sepatutnya, dalam sistem immigration dah tiada, macam mana pakcik boleh lepas di sana ya. Takpe pakcik, yang ini saya lepaskan sebab pakcik pun dah sampai Malaysia, tapi pakcik jangan guna passport ini lagi ya. Dah tak valid"

MasyaAllah.. Allah kata setiap berlaku pasti ada hikmahnya

First: Of course I did not plan to travel via Business Class, but the urge to provide the best to my dad and my mother in law changed my last minute decision. and i believe this is the small reward given to our family from Him. 

Second: During the check in - i was so geram with my sister in law as she was forcing us to use the conventional way - to stamp and stepped on that blue carpet. Again, what if, we used the autogate? Definitely, my father may be stopped at the airport. Yes, agree even in the immigration system pun, i surely trust that the system was updated. and perhaps the officer tak perasan or perhaps he has a soft spot for 70 years old man going to Makkah. 

Baba, sangat weak masa ni

No wonder my dad asyik pi special counter. 

MasyaAllah. Allah is great.When He invited you to visit Haram, no one can stop Him kan.. 

Anyway, I always make a joke to my dad "Ba, kalau Baba kene stop last minit tak dapat pergi, mesti orang cakap, ape lah baba buat sampai tak dapat masuk Mekah" :p

So again, power of doa and always believe everyday in our life is bound to teach us something valuable. 

nak lagi nak lagi nak lagi

taken by Emir

p/s ok peeps, i am not sure whether i have my readers now.. say hi if you want to read my ramblings :p