Precious moments

'My parents dote my children to the extent of spoiling them', sighs a mother to her friend. Almost every parent have that worry that their parents give to much attention to the grandchildren. I have a question to forward. Why do you think grandparents react in those manners towards their grandchildren? We, like other beings in this world grow old. We age, more so are our aging parents, soon will leave this world. Leaving those who are very dear to them. Leaving those they love with every bit of their soul. Every moment is precious. Every moment is spent to the fullest. Every moment must be filled with joy. The fulfilling joy comes from being with their offspring and grandchildren. Not a moment wasted. The day will come, the grandmother or grandfather returns to The Almighty. The day when they will no longer be able to see they grandchildren whose eyes potrays so much love for the grandparents. All grandchildren loves their grandparents unconditionally. The grandchildren are affectionate towards their grandparents, much to the joy of our parents....I realised this sometime ago but the understanding is most only recently. My mother had to have a mitral valve replacement surgery. The times before the surgery was with so much anxiety, then came the moments immediately after the surgery. More anxiety. All her grandchildren were with her throughout those crucial moments. I prayed hard for God to give us more time to be together. Mother is now recuperating very well. She looks forward to spoil her grandchildren with her good cooking!

My father taught me how to fish....

It was in the year 1970, I was 8 years old. Father was in the navy and he was the Royal Malaysian Navy Liaison Officer in Penang. We stayed in the quarters provided in the perimeter of KD Sri Pinang at The Esplanade. The bungalow was literally built in the sea opposite Fort Cornwallis. In the morning i see dolphins swimming in the sea not far off from our home. Ships sailed pass miles distance away towards Penang Harbour, approaching from Mukah Head.  Gunung Jerai  can be clearly seen. The RMAF airplanes taking off and land at their airbase in Butterworth were not missed.......I would follow father to fish whenever possible. There's abundance of fish in the sea near the base. Fish like Garoupa, 'jenahak', 'siakap batu', small green 'ikan todak' (loads of them, by the buckets when in season), crabs and many more. Kedah pier is beside the base and many people came to fish, never going home empty handed.......my fishing rod was a long thin bamboo which makes good fishing rods. Father taught me how to tie the fish hook and weights, He often took me along to buy worms at Weld Quay. There were many shops selling fishing items along the road. The shops were managed by the local chinese. The last time I was in Penang, the shops still exist. The worms are mixed with sawdust and it has a distinct smell. A smell that is emitted when the worms are mixed in soaked sawdust. The smell of sawdust more prominent. Passing by the shops during my last visit to Penang, brought to my sense that familiar smell.....Strange that I did not get squeamish when holding the worms when 'fixing" them to the hook. Guess I am a natural. Fishing was easy and fun. The first fish I caught was a ' siakap batu' about the size of a dinner plate. Imagine the excitement of an 8 year old landing her first fish. Jumping, hopping and screaming with joy. I graduated to catching garoupas, crabs and sometimes pulling in rubbish from the sea!  1971 father was transfered to Woodlands, Singapore. And my next fishing adventures were when we moved to Labuan, Sabah. Those were great times, fishing. Fishing on boats out in the sea. During those fishing trips, father and me had some of our great moments.

A Father

We, my brother and me were waiting our dear mother undergoing, mitral valve replacement surgery in IJN. While browsing through the newspaper he asked, 'akak bila father's day,' ( sis when is father's day ). That question reminded me of a drama I watched on tv.............A son wanted to participate in a badminton tournament. He wanted to win and become champion. He wanted a new racket as he believed it will enable him to win. The father is a labourer with a company in his village. To fulfil his son's wish, he took a partime job carrying fish baskets from the fishing boats to land. His effort held him late into the nights which worries his wife as he already has a cough. The son broke his piggy bank but the savings is not enough. He whines for the new racket. A couple of days later the father handed him the money for the racket. One night the son while admiring his new racket overheard the mother saying, ' abang, kita orang miskin, kita tak mampu sakit. Bila sakit berlarutan payah sembuh.' ( my dear husband, we are poor we cannot afford to get sick ). The father's cough has worsened. He looked and stroked the new racket. After dinner the next day the son stood in front his coughing father opened the father's palm and placed the money from which he sold his new racket. The son said,' Bapak saya tidak perlu raket baru untuk jadi juara.' ( father I do not need a new racket to win. ). The father said the money is yours son and yours to keep. The father looked lovingly at the son and said,' kau simpan duit ini, ini duit kamu, bapak seronok bila kau seronok, bapak suka sekali bila keluarga seronok.' ( I am happy when my family is happy ).........I remembered a friend once mentioned the same phrase.

Numbering....

Have any of you call your children by numbers. I do. With only my first born and second it was never a problem. Nadiah and Nafisah. Then I had my third followed by my fourth, Nasihah and Nazifa. When only one of them or two is around it was easy. Should I need any of my daughters I would just call their names. Nadiah please set the table, Nadiah, have you done your homework, Nafisah where is the scissors, Nafisah, the dishes need washing....Nasihah, Nazifa, this and that and it goes on. In case you have not notice my daughters' names begin with "Na' with the fourth alphabet 'I'. Confusion begins when all four are around. I would have their names mixed up when calling out for any of them. Funny isn't it? That I the mother could mess up. My siblings too would sometimes have the names called for the wrong person. They would complain why do I named their nieces as such. Well, what do I do, yes, I decided to call them by numbers. Nadiah, number one. Nafisah number two. Nasihah number three. Nazifa number four. So the next time you happen to be in public space and hears  a mother calling 'number two' in a group of charming ladies, yes that would be us........

Baby gajah

'Nadiah, please help me with the curtains'. 'Later mother, i need to attend to baby gajah!' Baby gajah as big baby. Elephant is big. Baby is a baby. A person who most of the times demand to be attended to like a baby whose needs are looked upon is called a baby. Only that when that person has outgrown the baby stage in our family she is called baby gajah. The phrase has been in the family since i do not know when. Maybe after my firstborn started primary school and maybe she is the one who started the phrase. Baby gajah and 'not-not' ( i shall tell later) is often called upon among us. I have not heard the phrase for quite sometime because my daughters are away in college. So is my sister who works overseas. Only recently we got a chance to meet and when we do, that is when all the teasing started. The phrase baby gajah surfaces again. I said to myself, wow its been a long time, uttered as naturally as can be. Teasing is fun, creates laughter.  I believe the phrase will stay with us for a long long time. As long as any of us 'wants' to be baby gajah.............

Warisan Bonda

After a hard day's work i would have the radio at almost full volume. Tuned in to my favourite channel Light FM. Never dreamt that one day i would be singing along with the radio in my restaurant while cleaning and closing. The singing helps me to relax. The restaurant is named Warisan Bonda. It all began about ten years ago. I woke up from one morning nap, sitting on my bed with my youngest on my lap, saying to myself, hey zuraidah there has to be more to life than being  only a homemaker. People asked me why did i start the restaurant business. I never worked after receiving my diploma. 17 years after leaving college, whatever I've learnt is considered ancient. I used to have dreams running a restaurant and that's what i did, operate a restaurant! Initially my idea was to have a small cafe that I could serve homemade dishes, make it very homely with a corner for crafts and books. I ended with a shoplot so that's how Warisan Bonda got started. My restaurant serves dishes that i learnt from my mother and aunties and my grandmoms. Hence Warisan Bonda which is a malay phrase meaning heritage from the mothers. Literally warisan means heritage, bonda means mother. The restaurant serves food from the malaysian dishes....menu malaysia. Restaurant Warisan Bonda has a facebook. Stay 'tune' there shall more  postings on my 'baby' god willing.

it comes.........

Hadn't seen jerry for quite a while. We met at lunch this afternoon. The usual hellos and greetings. Jerry asked how's life....me answering..hmmm, things are good well fine. When it comes, it comes. When it goes, it goes. When it stays, it stays. There are things we can control and there are those beyond our control. If its yours it shall be yours, god willing. If its not meant to be yours, it never will be. It can be that little kitten you saw at the pet store. It can be that beautiful dress you noticed in the fashion magazine or the funky sports shoes or the dream house. Many things we wish and hope for but there are also many things that we do not really need to make us happy. Working towards things that are reasonably within our reach makes us happier if not happiest person. Less stress and frowning brows, hahaha. But then there is this one question, love, love. Looking, searching, hoping, wishing, pining..........then you realise when you let go of these looking, searching, hoping, wishing, pining you feel better. Look at oneself and around us, there is enough love to make one happy. The greatest love of all comes from The All Mighty.....never doubt His love for His most  beautiful creation, us.