This blog is still active...

...just about.

I admit that Facebook, being more accessible, has been the recipient of most updates.

There are also more paper notebooks and diaries lying around that I have decided to use (I need to justify my constant purchase of pens in various hues by doing some amount of writing). And of course, there is also the Global Reading Challenge that has updates on my book blog.

As a result, this blog has not received as much attention from its owner as it used to. So sorry about that.

I will remember to post some raya stories and photos, as well as next weekend's Malaysia Day trip, InsyaAllah. Right now I am planning to go for a short stay somewhere near, just some quality time with the kids and Hubby.

Reminiscing Raya

As a child, Aidil Fitri meant a 10-hour drive back to Kelantan - a necessary evil for me who suffered from travel sickness. It was worst when travelling by day due to the heat. In those early years, the route to Kelantan was via Kuantan then up the coast of Terengganu. We would have to cut through hills and a mountain range, and the sight of the barren rock faces flanking the roads would send waves of nausea throuh me.
I tried taking pills to stop myself from throwing up on whomever was unlucky enough to sit next to me in the car, but I could never swallow them, despite their tiny size and my mother's attempts to make them more palatable by incorporating them in bread or banana. Eventually I would have to crush the pill and down it with lots of water to take away the bitterness. At times I would plead with my father to travel at night, but Mak would tell me off for selfishly making him drive when he was tired and sleepy.
As we made it a point to celebrate the eve of Aidifitri at my father's kampung, there were times when we would have to break fast on the road. One time we arrived at Tok Wan's house just in time for sahur. While everyone immediately filled up, my brother refused to eat because Tok Wan did not prepare sweet sour garoupa (we'd been having it constantly throughout that particular Ramadhan that our kitchen expenses were higher than for other months). After some cajoling, he finally agreed to have an omelette instead. The next day my grandmother scoured the markets of Pasir Putih and finally managed to find a small specimen to cook her favourite grandchild his favourite dish.
Tok Wan was famous for her ketupat daun palas and satay. On the eve of Eid, she would spend hours in the kithchen threading pieces of marinated meat on skewers or filling up glutinous rice into cones made of palas leaves. Sometimes I would help her in these tasks, but I never worked on them long enough to inherit the recipes as there was always something more exciting happening in the front lawn - Ayah's fireworks display.
Every year without fail he would stock up on a variety of colourful and splendid fireworks, and all the children of the village would gather in front of Tok Wan's house, while the ladies watched from the windows. We would clap and cheer at the multi-coloured bursts and whizzes as Ayah lit up one firework after another, and the night would end with handheld sparklers that would invariably find a victim or two.
I can't remember the last time I saw that firework show. After SPM I went directly to England for my A-Levels and first degree, so for 6 whole years I celebrated Eid away from my family. The first Raya after I finished my studies was subdued - Ayah had passed away two years previously, and Tok Wan was never the same cheerful person ever since. That year she was particularly ill, and it was a week after Raya that she was diagnosed with advanced stage intestinal cancer. She passed away on the 14th of Syawal that same year. No more ketupat daun palas, and the fireworks sparkled no more.

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Caftan oh caftan

Inspired by my friend's post (http://ladyverde.blogspot.com/2010/08/settled-kautimbaju-raya-checked.html), I decided to check out some caftans near Damansara Perdana yesterday. I wasn't really intending to buy one for raya, just to see what I'd look like in one.
The first boutique I went to was Puteh. It carries a range of caftans designed by Rizalman Ibrahim, and I've seen enough of his designs to know that they're gorgeous. And really they are, but with a 4-digit price tag and extra-long length I decided to just admire them on the rack rather than on my body.
The next boutique I went to was Galeri Muslimah just round the corner. It's actually a showroom for a range of tudung and accessories as well as clothes, and does both retailand wholesale. I picked out a gold satin caftan and matching yellow tudung to try on. It looked quite big, but with hidden tiebacks to alter the fit. Sorry no photos :-))
I have to admit I felt like a goddess, and began to picture myself lying on a chaise-lounge like Cleopatra witj the voluminous sleeves spread all around me, but when I stepped out of the fitting room to show Hubby his first response was: "Ni nak pakai tidur ke pi jalan2?"

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Golden Goose

This article was sent to me by Hubby some days ago.

Remember the tale of the goose that laid the golden egg? How the owners got greedy and killed the goose to get at what they thought was a horde of golden eggs inside the goose, only to find nothing but goosey guts?

Although the moral of the story is primarily about greed, the writer of that article took another angle, and took the goose, instead of the farmer, to represent individuals with unique talents and abilities. What if, he asks, the goose allowed itself to be victimised? The golden goose that allows itself to waste away.

I'm expanding the theory even further here - what if the goose has already laid its last golden egg, but the farmer is still expecting it to produce wealth? What if you've expended the last drop of your creativity and skills, and have nothing more to offer, but because of this crazy competitive world the farmer keeps urging you on, believing that your glorious past is still present well into the future?

I feel spent. I hope it's just a phase, and that this phase, like the others before it, shall pass.

Money money money

What would you spend money on? Assuming you have more than enough stashed away for retirement, would you spend money on material things or life experiences? And would you spend it all on yourself or on your loved ones?
I find myself in a dilemma when I have extra cash in hand. Of course like any other member of the female species I like beautiful clothes, jewellery and luxury items - but another side of me (the side that turned me into an engineer, obviously) will want to rationalise every purchase that I end up not buying them. It's either because I already have something like it or I don't have the space to store it. I really do not mind spending a lot of money on something if I get good mileage out of it and it does not end up cluttering my already limited real estate.
The same goes when I buy stuff for people. By all means my mother and sisters can go shopping on my account, but I have to believe in their cause. Which is why I'd pay for my sister's work clothes but not another one's date outfits. And why I'd fork out a large sum for a new kitchen with additional storage space and new appliances, but not rebuild the wet kitchen as well just because there've always been two kitchens - despite one being totally underutilised except as storage space for items you didn't even know you had. I'd rather spend the money on foodstuff and travelling and good service.
So, where shall I go on holiday as an excuse to buy a beautiful knee-length winter coat from Zara?

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Needs and Wants List Updates

Referring to my needs and wants post, here's an update:

• Car seat - I went for the Combi Coccoro in Carrot Cake - the 4C's! I haven't tested Sofiyyah in it yet, though.
• Nursing clothes - I bought the Diva tank tops from The Baby Loft one in each of the 5 colours. To ge with these are cheapo leggings that are for wearing underneath my coveralls.
• Newborn teats - MIL already bought a pack of 3 a few weeks back, and I also bought some extra bottles. Which is a good thing, because Sofiyyah is quite a guzzler and I've used up all the 150ml bottles that came with the Medela Harmony pump. Hopefully the 5 bottles of EBM stocked in the freezer will be sufficient for at least two working days. Just in case, there's some standby Formula milk, although I hope it won't have to come to that.
• Milk collection shells - the ones online are sold out. I'll have to find some when I go back to KL next week.
• Haircut - Not yet.
• Fix watch - Not yet.
• New phone - my phone is very temperamental nowadays, losing signals and battery strength with unpredictable frequency. I am torn between two phones offered by Maxis:

Samsung Galaxy S

HTC Desire

Or should I just wait for the QWERTY versions to hit our shores?

Post-natal resolution

Having 4 babies certainly has obvious physical effects. It could also be age catching up - it's true what they say about hitting 30. I definitely need to put in a lot more effort to get toned. This is going to be tough - sit-ups, crunches and any form of regimented exercise has never been my thing.

So in a bid to get me started, I have bought new sports shoes, a yoga mat and signed up to play netball at the office. There's also some magazine cut-outs ("How to get Gorgeous Legs in 4 weeks" - I wish!) that I will put into practice with semi-religious zeal. And hopefully nursing the baby plus running after the 3 older kids will make up for all the work-outs I've already put off.

When nothing seems right...

...what should one do? Fix things one at a time, or just blitz everything to obliteration and start straight from scratch? Is there a limit to what's fixable, so that you know when you've gone beyond that limit (the point of no return), it's better to just get rid of all the broken and irreparable and begin with a fresh clean slate.

And what if it's your life we're talking about here?

A New Year, A new decade

So the Noughties are over. What do we call this decade - the Teenies?


No resolutions for this year. None for last year either, so I have not failed to keep any ;-)


The last decade also marks my first decade as a career woman. Now that was certainly something to think about. And I am now at the beginning of a change in my career - different location, different boss, different environment...perhaps even a different career path?


This year I'll also be welcoming a new baby, and by the end of this decade, my current brood will be either in the middle or on the cusp on teenhood - and judging from their personalities, it'll be an exciting and dramatic period.


Bring on the Teenies. And the Tweenies, for that matter.

To study or not to study

It's that time of year again. The call for postgraduate study scholarship nominations is out.

The last 90 minutes have been spent searching for suitable engineering & engineering management postgraduate programs in the UK. While I found a few that would have been attractive to me 5 years ago, I wonder if I still have the tenacity and the attention to detail to do something purely technical for 3 full years. Not to mention that it has to be 'aligned to the Company's Technology Agenda', in which my current work does not feature prominently at all.

I'm not sure whether it is something I really still want to do, or just a feeling that it's something I should've done before that features so prominently on my 'to do' list, like ganti puasa. Or it's something that I need to do because it's expected of me and I just can't bear the idea of people going "You should have" for the rest of my life.

Why can't I just be satisfied with staying at home to breed like a rabbit?

House Arrest

I can't believe this has happened.

We were supposed to go to Mak's house in Damansara this morning, our usual weekend routine. Just after we entered the NKVE at noon from the Bukit Jelutong toll-house, Nuaim exclaimed that he had left his favourite pillow at home. I took the next exit at Subang and headed back to TTDI Jaya via Glenmarie.

When we arrived home and I had picked up the right pillow, I noticed the automatic swing gates - which I always close after entering the drive - was half ajar. The car would not be able to get through, so I pressed the remote control again. One gate opened swung inwards, then opened fully, while the other moved a couple of inches before resuming its half-open position. I pressed the remote several times, but the same thing happened.

Maybe it needs to be fully closed before it swings open fully again, I thought to myself. I resumed my efforts, this time with the intention of getting the gates closed, which eventually they did.

And then they would not open again.

Frantically I searched for some way of pushing the gates open manually, but the motorised levers kept them rigidly in place. I inspected every part of the mechanism, hoping for a button, a switch - SOMETHING!! - to override the circuit, buit still I could not find anything. Finally I attempted to open the control box, but a warning on the cover stopped me.

There was no address or telephone number on the box, and I don't remember ever seeing the manual (the automatic gates came with the house), and even when I googled the model number there was nothing. It wasn't listed on TM directory either.

By then it was 2 pm and the kids were hungry. Luckily there was some cooked food that I had intended to take to Damansara for lunch, which my maid quickly heated up. I gave it a rest, and an hour later called the contractor who had done the house renovations to see if he could help.

It was almost dusk and no one turned up. I called him again, but as expected there was no answer. My contractor very clever one, only gives out his business number which he switches off after 5 pm.

Fortunately Hubby called and informed me of another technician that could help, but since it was already late, I decided to leave it till tomorrow.

So here we are, spending the odd weekend at home, and grounded. I just hope it'll get fixed by Monday.

6 years ago on Christmas my true love gave to me...

... a marriage proposal.

I was doing time as a Construction Supervisor in Kerteh, and it was a busy period so I could not afford to take leave to come back to KL. He called a few days earlier to say he had a wedding in Kemaman to attend so hey, why not just meet up?

A couple of days before Christmas, after I kept asking which friend was getting married, he confessed that there was no wedding - he just wanted to see me. He was taking a morning flight from KL to Kuantan, so could I spare some time to drive down from Kerteh just to spend the day with him before he flew back in the evening?

I remember not being exactly thrilled at the idea - I must've been planning to catch up on work that day. Anyhow, he missed his flight, took the next one, so I picked him up at the airport just after the lunch hour. He told me he was hungry and felt like having a Big Mac, so we headed off to Teluk Chempedak.

Along the way I berated him for spending so much money on a return KL-Kuantan flight just for a day trip. He bore my nagging with the most gracious of patience. As we sat at an al fresco table with the Big Mac, I asked him in mock seriousness (in an attempt to mimic Dumbledore from one of the earlier Harry Potter movies), "Is there something you want to tell me?"

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I thought, "Ohmigod, what if..." and he said the exact words I was thinking.

Thank you, sayang, for making that trip 6 years ago.

Lost

In the midst of all sorts of accountabilities and responsibilities, I'm not so sure what I am or what I really want right now. Right now I can only define myself in terms of what or who I am to someone else. In terms of what others demand of me.

I need to find myself. Who I am to ME.

This is as good a time to take a vacation.

Heck, all I need is a quiet spot with a notebook, cheesecake and caffe latte. On my own.

Kahwah wal-Kitab

NOTE: This post was originally written about 10 months ago, during my third maternity leave. I didn't realise it was languishing as a draft.

I was at The Book Cafe in MPH One Utama and browsing through a magazine, waiting for my spaghetti carbonara to arrive when I came across an article about sacrificing your career for something else, be it family, charity or whatever your passion may be. There were interviews with women who gave up their jobs to become stay-at-home mothers. One had me laughing as she stated how she couldn't even go the the toilet without a three-footer banging on the door demanding for "Mummy to come out and play now." Reminds me of my own three-footer and his shorter-by-6 inches brother.

It also got me thinking as to whether I would actually be able to make the same decision to give up my career. The answer, I have to disappoint some of you, is NO. If the question is about doing something I really love, I have to admit I really am passionate about my job. It really is NOT about the money. If it was, I'd be writing this post from a swanky apartment or five-bedroom bungalow in Abu Dhabi and buying myself a new luxury handbag every other month. Sometimes I think I'd even do my job for free! (If by some remote chance you happen to read this, please note that this is purely rhetoric and slashing my salary is a direct violation of my rights as a human.)

What I would really love, though, is flexi-hours and working from home. To be able to avoid wasting 2 hours or more of my day just getting through the crawling traffic to and from the office. And when the kids' demands and tantrums are just too much for me to handle, I can always use the office as an excuse to escape. Okay, I am so not an ibu mithali.

Hubby used to suggest that I start a business of some sort. He's seen some of his colleagues' wives open up bakeries and boutiques, so he thinks it's simply a matter of letting your hobby make money for you. But I just don't have a head for business. It would be fine if I could let someone else do all the money-managing for me. Of course, I would never consider him for that position. As a cook, maybe.

However, if I were to really give up my job for a business, it'll have to be in something I am purely passionate about. Something that combines coffee and books. Yes, I know the cafe-in-the-bookstore concept has been milked dry by the likes of Borders and MPH and such, but mine would be different. It'll be more like a bookstore-in-the-cafe, with lots of comfy sofas and bean bags for one to lie back in while indulging in a cuppa java with one's nose stuck in a novel or collection of anecdotes. And the books are not necessarily brand new either. I'd line the walls with some of my own collection, and there's no requirement to purchase a book to read in my cafe. Just pay for the coffee and doughnut. I'll even put Hubby's pau and curry puff on the menu. And my very own version of spaghetti carbonara (the one at MPH was disappointing).

The cafe will be called 'The Magic Faraway Tree' or 'The Wishing Chair' in honour of the first two Enid Blyton books I ever owned, which eventually lead to the complete 'Rewards' set of 48 Enid Blyton titles. Those were the books that introduced me to Greek mythology, golliwogs and boarding school. These books will have pride of place on the top shelf.

Hmm, I may just have a business plan there. You read it here first.

15 Questions

Another tag from Adita:

1.When you buy a greetings card, are the words or the picture more important to you?
:: Both - but I'll pick the prettiest cards before checking the words.

2. What's your favorite kind of cake?
:: Cheesecake. Taken with a cup of coffee.

3. Do you ever make gifts for people, if so what, or do you buy them?
:: I can't remember if I ever did. Nowadays I just buy gift vouchers. I'm not Martha Stewart.

4. What's your favorite holiday?
:: Probably my first ever overseas trip that included London, Boston and Los Angeles in the itinerary. It was April 1982 - there was snow in Boston, sunshine in LA and neither in London. It was my first Chinese fortune cookie, my first Disneyland and my first sighting of a colourful Mohawk hairstyle that left me gaping (it was the punk era, after all). I wish I could afford that kind of holiday for my kids.

5.Are you going on holiday this year? If so, where?
:: Obviously nothing like the answer to number 4. Initially we wanted to take the kids to Australia but Aiesyah is still too young. I might join Hubby at one of his FAT's early next year though...

6. What was the best party you've ever been to?
:: My new nephew Ziad's 7th birthday party, which happened to be last week on Malaysia's 51st anniversary of Independence and also the eve of Ramadhan. His mum runs a kindergarten in Mutiara Damansara, and that was the venue. Nuaim and Nu'man had a blast playing on the slides and swings, and the clown really got everyone going (except for Nuaim who was too scared of him).

7. If you are married, describe your wedding. If not, what would your ideal wedding be like?
:: My wedding was not exactly my dream wedding, except for the dress. But given that I was in Kerteh up to a month before it actually took place, I can't complain much. The colour was a peachy salmon pink, the venue was Dewan Perdana Felda which managed to sit 1000+ guests (most of them my mum's friends) and the 'cake', courtesy of the venue management, was a 5-tier fake. But the ambience was wonderful with strings of fragrant jasmine buds adorning the walls. Instead of a merenjis ceremony, we sat on the pelamin (wedding dais) to the narration of several verses of Surah ar-Ruum and its translation. Dalcha Duo provided the entertainment for dinner and there was a homemade slideshow prepared using Powerpoint (which, according to Mally, showed what an overachiever I was).

8. What's the most romantic thing that's ever happened to you?
:: When Hubby proposed. It was Christmas, I was in Kerteh, and he flew up for a day trip to meet me in Kuantan just for that purpose. Apparently, his car broke down on the way to KLIA and he missed the first flight. After all that, how could I not say Yes? McDonald's at Teluk Chempedak will always have a special place in my heart.

9. What's your favorite girl's name?
:: Errr, can't really think of one. Zulaikha, maybe.

10. What's your favorite boy's name?
:: Gibran.

11. Which celebrity would you like a dream date with?
:: I'd like to say a double date with Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt, but I think both Hubby and I would end up ogling Miss Jolie and poor Mr Pitt would feel left out.

12. Which female celebrity do you find beautiful?
:: I have to agree with Adita here - Aishwarya Rai is so out-of-this-world gorgeous.

13. Which male celebrity do you think is attractive?
:: I used to really love Tom Cruise until he left Nicole Kidman. Right now? Arjun Rampal (okay, too many Hindi movies already).

14. What is your best character trait?
:: Perfectionist.

15. What is your worst habit?
:: Procrastination.

In Dian's Kitchen

For lack of ideas to write, I'll start by responding to Adita's Kitchen Tag.

Five things I want in my kitchen

1. Time
2. Space
3. Being able to cook without referring to the recipe every 30 seconds
4. An island unit - but refer to item 2 above
5. Jamie Oliver - so he can do the cooking for me instead

Five things I plan on cooking pretty soon*

1. 5-spice chicken
2. Honey chicken a.k.a Ayam masak madu
3. Chicken kurma
4. Macaroni tuna
5. Spaghetti bolognese

*Of course, pretty soon depends on when I actually have item 1 on the first list. And since most of these come out of ready-made Maggi mixes I already have at home, I don't need to refer to a recipe book so much.

Five things I have to get from the grocery store / supermarket

1. Vegetables
2. Dishwashing liquid
3. Bread
4. Nutella for Nuaim
5. Ready-mixed 3-in-1 Coffee for me

8 Random Facts

Got tagged by Adita to do a simple meme.

The rules:
- Link to your tagger and post these rules.
- List eight (8) random facts about yourself.
- Tag eight people at the end of this post and list their names.
- Let them know they've been tagged by leaving them a comment on their blogs.

List eight (8) random facts about myself:

1. I’m an engineer. My dad was an engineer, so are my two surviving paternal uncles. My brother was studying engineering but quit halfway to sort his life out. I am married to an engineer. Guess what my children are going to be when they grow up? Definitely NOT engineers (if they have to, it’d better not have anything to do with Instrument, Electrical or Electronics).
   
2. If I hadn’t become an engineer, I would have pursued a degree in History. Or Egyptology. Or Theatre. Or even Fashion Design. Once I considered opening a kindergarten but after three kids I’ve changed my mind.
   
3. Between my sister and I, we have the whole Enid Blyton Rewards series. As a child I thought of turning our family home into a public children’s library but my parents didn’t like the idea.
   
4. I love to collect recipes but the only thing I can confidently cook is Garlic Chicken (from Ken Hom’s Hot Wok). And any pasta dish that involves an Italian called Prego.
   
5. I went to an all-girl’s school, but due to my voice I almost always played male parts in school plays. I finally got to play a female character in my final year because there were no male speaking parts available. But in university I reverted back to type and played Tun Perak.
   
6. I never played competitive sports until I started working, where I somehow got roped in to represent my company during a volleyball tournament. We played against 6 other teams – won 3 and lost 3. Guess which matches I played in.
   
7. I look good in maroon and royal blue. But now I’m into olive green and deep chocolaty brown. So Earth Mother…
   
8. I have found The Bag…
   
   I am tagging these people:
   CikMilah
   Careen
   Ubisetela
   Hubby
   Stingrayz
   Lina
   Ayin
   Lady Verde

Things my teachers taught me

Kak Ruby's post here reminded me of several short but inspiring pieces of advice I've received over the years. Strangely enough all of them are from my student days, and all the advice came from teachers. Dah kerja ni keras kepala sikit, tak nak terima nasihat dah - perasan pandai.

"Always do better than your best."

This came from Mrs Ho, former music & maths teacher (what a combination!) at my secondary school. I can't remember when exactly she said this, maybe on her last day at school or at the state level Pesta Muzik competition in 1991. It's my number one motivation mantra.

"As an engineer, you're not expected to remember everything, but you should know where to look for the information."

I heard this from the Dean of Engineering at my university when I attended its Open Day. Let's just say it's the secret of my success at work.

And the last one was an interview tip from Ayah (well, he was a teacher for a very short while), when I was applying for my scholarship. He was relating to me his scholarship interview that finally got him to UK to do his Bachelor's and eventually Master's degree in Electronic Engineering back in the 70's, footsteps I followed 25 years later. Apparently, when the interviewer asked him what he knew about Electronic Engineering, his answer was, "I don't know". The interviewer then said, "If you don't know, then why do you want to take it up?" to which he responded, "It's because I don't know that I want to study the subject."

I thought it was a brilliant answer and wanted to use it for my interview, but his advice was,

"You can't say you don't know. It's not acceptable in this day and age."

Fortunately that question didn't come up during the interview. Although there have been times when it's the only answer I can think of.

Hey Big Spender!

I made a salesman at Harvey Norman's bedding department very happy today. And a couple of days prior to that I put a smile on a sales promoter for pergolas at Jusco Home Centre. Bet the opticians at Focus Point are laughing their way to the bank too. And before the week is over I'll be signing out the remainder of my very limited VISA credit limit to either Homelife or IKEA.

I'm not telling how much I've already spent, only that it's more than the allocated budget. It all started with a little 'treat' to myself in the form of a pergola for the new house. The house needs it anyway, to provide some shade for my sons to play in - as if they'll be content with a space of merely 80 sqft. Then I 'treated' myself to an expensive pair of glasses and new sunnies. I have to admit that the queen-sized bed for the master bedroom is way beyond my original estimate, but hey - Hubby said for me to go and spoil myself so I did. BTW, it's not a four-poster - I need a much bigger room to have one of those. Maybe after we renovate the house and add two new rooms, boleh ye sayang? And throw in an en suite bathroom with a jacuzzi while we're at it.

I have been good, though. I managed to restrict myself from buying a new dining set and leather sofa set, and I'll leave it to Hubby to decide on the TV (highly recommending the new LG Plasma though). But I still yearn for a Barcelona chair. Does anyone know where I can get one locally, or at least a good quality lookalike?

Dressing Down

Since my previous post, I've been decluttering and packing the stuff at my condo in stages. Yesterday I managed to put my cookbooks, dictionaries and several other books into a box picked up at the local supplies shop. I figure that's only one tenth of all the books we have in the house, excluding the files and folders from seminars and training courses.

Today, instead of continuing with the books, I sorted out my clothes. The rules, as picked up from various magazines, are as follows (I'm doing a Martha Stewart here, so if you're bored just skip to the next paragraph):

1. Get rid of items that are stained, outdated and don't fit. - Quite a lot fell into this category. I realised most of them were white shirts (stained), Mak's hand-me-downs (outdated) and stuff from my pre-marriage years (don't fit). Disclaimer on the 'don't fit' category: they may still fit me physically (yeah, right!) but do not fit with my current status as wife/mother/Mak Haji.
2. If it hasn't been worn for a year, it'll never be worn, ever. - Since I was pregnant for most of the last year, I claim exemption from this rule. Will relook next year.
3. If something new goes in, something old has to come out. - Okay, apart from seven new tailored outfits (and only because the fabric were gifts from friends and relatives), I won't be buying any new clothes. Not until we finally move to TTDI Jaya and I can see how much extra space I have in the new closet. Somehow, I suspect there ain't gonna be any.

Anything turqouise goes out - it reminds me too much of the secondary school uniform, and also a wedding of a lawyer-politician's daughter where almost all the guests (me excluded, fortunately) and the wedded couple (unfortunately) wore that colour, which represents the political party her father was associated with. The sight of so many people in turqouise, put me off it completely. Besides, the colour doesn't do any favours to my complexion.

I had already packed away my maternity clothes, and the plan is I won't be needing them again for at least three years. Then I started sorting out the breastfeeding-friendly clothes - Kebaya and button up blouses or shirts fall into this category. Baju kurung, tunic tops, t-shirts and abaya go into another pile. Right, so far so good.

As I was going through the contents of my closet, I reminisced the events associated with each one. There's the dark green baju kurung I've had since Form Five (that's 14 years ago!!) that I wore to my scholarship interview and my pre-departure induction programme - I'm keeping this one. Besides you can never go wrong with dark green and baju kurung in my book. The blue and pink outfit worn during a prize-giving ceremony after SPM - this one, unfortunately has to go since it's almost faded to grey.

Then there's the top that saw my heart get broken before a football match, and later witnessed me falling in love during a team-building programme by the beach - I'm keeping this one too, as well as the peach baju kurung and royal blue salwar kameez that Hubby said makes me look ayu dan berseri during our courtship. Funnily enough, I don't remember what I was wearing when Hubby proposed.

By the time I finished sorting out the clothes, the wanted ones were in two cabin bags, while the unwanted clothes were in plastic bags. There was another bag of unfit and hand-me-down items that I definitely do not want but I thought my sisters might like (or I might reclaim them).

My side of the closet was now empty, except for some small items, several dinner bags and purses. I would have tackled Hubby's side of the closet next (I'm sure there are a few T-shirts of mine hiding there somewhere) but it was already lunchtime and I was mega-hungry. We'll leave those for another day then. Heck, I've got two weeks.