School Break et al

Khadijah & me @ Lookiss

Hajar & mommy @ Lookiss

(Image : Copyright belongs to Janiz Chan)

With three kids and two teenagers all cooped up at home 24/7 - definitely a formula for disaster, well nearly! No, just kidding....

Gone were the days that kids could roam free around the neighbourhood without any fuss. This reminds me of the good old days (aaah..reminisce..reminisce) where days were spent outdoor catching guppies and tadpoles in the longkang, cycling aimlessly, climbing trees, building (or rather trying to build) tree houses and only to report home when the tummy went growling (some days we would just pluck fruits from any trees).

Here we, working parents in the millenium cracking our heads thinking of what we can provide in order to stop them from killing each other of boredom at home! Other households may have Astro, wii, PS and the like. We don't, you see, as a matter of choice. We do not even have one tv which is working properly as I refused to call the electrician to fix the aerial. Well, they somehow survive through thinking imaginatively! Ha! Ha!

No, they don't have fancy mobile phones, either. Khadijah has the privilege to use my basic Nokia for the weekend and school holidays. Yusof was lucky enough, recently, to be handed down by my mother a dinosour-age looking mobile (most of the times with zero credit). Oh yes, although our house is wirelessly connected, internet access is limited for them (even during school holidays).

It's amazing when these fancy stuff are not within their disposals they learn to pick books and magazines to read, draw and paint communally, play with their siblings in civil manner (within a good span of time) BUT enevitably end up fighting (like I used to with my brother) etc. I think they communicate and interact better!

Anyway, they don't actually stay indoor all the time. From 5pm while waiting for us to arrive (which they normally give up as it would be dark when we arrive), they would play badminton outside, within our compound or at our neighbours' (we are lucky enough to have neighbours who are either retired or working from home!

Khadijah's latest sketch

Oh yes, Khadijah will start her art lessons under the tutelage of Janiz Chan, a young artist represented by Lookiss Gallery, at Taman Tun on 20th June. Well the image in this posting is her work. Kerk (also a lawyer), the owner of Lookiss introduced me to her last week when I collected two paintings which I bought last year. Now, I can strike out one of the things-to-do from my list.

Will be taking a break from tomorrow until Monday..Where else but a trip down to our Kampung house where the kids can roam freely, cycle to the grocery shop two doors away for their tid bits, playing in the rain (if it does) and a picnic in the kebun! The kids are relly looking forward to it!

Hectic Weekend

Putrajaya mosque carpet

Last weekend was another hectic one or wifey and me. It began at about 5 am for wifey (the usual pasar tani) and slightly later for me (about 6.15am)...

Sent Khadijah to school for her canteen day and headed home for breakkie which wifey got from Mak Jah. Had nasi berlauk, nasi dagang and kuehs. Had to wait for Khadijah to finish school at one pm (and she had to skip her french class becsue of this replacement) before we headed to Cheras/Balakong for my cousin's (thrice removed) son's wedding reception. Good food - the caterers are RTM caterers (since my cousin-in-law works for RTM). Met all my mom's relatives whom she has not met for ages and the usual family stuff.

Had a craving for durians after that and we headed to Langat en route home. Man...it was a fiesta of fruits along the way. Since we had rendang as take-away from the wedding, we bought a couple of lemangs. Whilst choosing for good durians (or was it cempedaks?) wifey received a call from a friend who asked us along to watch Menopause..the musical staged at Putrajaya Holdings' auditorium (brought in by Gardner&wife)...I immediately jumped for joy because this is the show I missed 3 years ago when it came to KL! I'm a sucker for all theatre stuff etc but wifey was a bit knackered that she almost refused and suggested that Khadijah went instead. We were sopposed to leave home by 630 pm and at 5pm we were still choosing durians and cempedaks! Luckily the traffic was kind to us!

Of course after a lot of persuasion and convincing from me that this one wasn't going to bore her to death, she agreed to come along (the last time I brought her along was the KL Music Festival 2006 at Istana Budaya (jazz night) - she slept almost half of the show...Mr Gambus and the Australian capella quartet, The Idea of North, were superb, btw !).

Our friends picked us up at 6.40 pm and we headed quite breezily to Putrajaya! We went to the mosque first to perform maghrib prayers and I was impressed with the mosque....The cross-ventillation was astounding...they don't need air-conditioning! But the finishing at the ablution area, I thought, was of inferior quality! Had dinner first at the food court which has an amazing lake view!

The show was hilarious and wifey didn't complain at all....! She enjoyed it! This is THE show you must not miss (currently touring Vancouver, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne and various cities in the US) - from hot flushes (err...flashes), insomnia, memory loss, wrinkles, to se* life etc were presented in re-lyricized songs ("I heard it through the Grapevine", "Staying alive", "Night Fever" - and 25 other songs). It began with four ladies (a corporate lady, an actress, a housewife and a "hippie" lady bumping into each other at a lingerie department during sale who ended up as friends talking about the CHANGE during the manopausal phase! Aah..we had a good saturday night!

The weekend ended with another khenduri on Sunday and we dozed off by 9pm!

Fruits galore!!! and tempoyak (fermented durian)



Lemang for sale

Putrajaya mosque


The musical.....

Men that night were not spared - information booklet on andropause and recommended wholesome therapy rather than "Viagra"

Lily Can't Sleep

Another community service here. Theatre for kids from 4-8 performing from 16th to 20th May at KLPAC.

For further details....click here!

Theatre for Kids

(NB:pics taken from ACT 3 website)

Just sharing this currently running children's theatre performance by circus artisans from Argentina (click here for details) for kids between 4 to 8. I personally have brought my kids to 2 of theatre performances brought in by ACT 3. Incredible shows I must say; dads mums and kids were asked to participate too....What fun we had!

I don't think will be able to bring my kids to this one as we are a wee bit tied up on the dates. Why don't you give it a try; it's normally interactive theatre and this one is also too (as per the website)!