When Puasa Is Near

it is well-known within the teachers community at my school that makan2 is always held in the major staffroom (aka the female teachers) at my school. not once, not twice, but probably close to 10 makan2 events annually. the other staffrooms (we have 4 staffrooms - the female teachers, the male teachers, the form 6 teachers, and the staffroom for the blok bestari, which is almost another school, the media teachers room, the teachers in charge of exams in unit peperiksaan room, the library where teachers in charge of library are and the counsellors at the counselling unit) at my school only hold one major makan2 once a year. the thing is, once my staffroom holds a makan2, the whole community will come - that's 129 teachers, not including the supporting staff. and it's makan2 time from morning till the end of school.

there's this one teacher who simply loves to have makan2... she can cook for almost 100 people easily. and some of us in the staffroom also like to cook. not to mention that we love to plan makan2 events when there are certain cravings for certain dishes. sometimes there are potlucks, sometimes it's just calling the caterer...we just had a potluck last week. then last monday we had nasi kerabu. tomorrow we're going to have western style dishes, and yours truly volunteered to make spaghetti bolognaise for at least 40 people. thought of baking a cake, but i'm too tired to move at the moment. there's going to be baked macaroni, some pies, sandwiches... and on thursday, those who received cemerlang in their annual appraisal are going to organise another makan2! and the menu is nasi bukhari. *sigh*

yup...this phenomenon only appears when puasa is near...every single year. which is why dieting when working in this school is almost unthinkable.

Bad Experiences but Still Surviving

i read my gina's blog just now, and i can definitely relate to her. i guess that the species of good men are considered as endangered species, as the cliche' of good men are either taken by God, women or men are definitely true now.

in my quest of finding my soulmate (and i really mean a soulmate), i realised that malaysians in general like to make sweeping and most of the time very annoying statements. "you ni memilih sangat kot" is their favourite comment when i said i'm not married yet. oh really? then i should just accept any tom, dick or harry? like married men, drug addicts, psychos, liars and god knows what else? another irritating question "so kenapa tak kawin lagi?" DUH!!!! i would reply "i've no idea. why dont you ask God?". to those who know me well, they know that i'm not the type of a person who can mask her true emotions with a smile and honeyed words.

anyway, from my experience, men are simply, men. they lied, and then made no big deal of it. may be they think that due to their patriarchal rights in a patriarchal society, it's okay to lie to women, so long as they (the men) can gain something from it. this is male ego, alive and kicking, which breaks women's hearts.
i'm tired. really tired of this games. there's no faith in men anymore, although after prayers i still pray that god will send me a good man. probably, with the passing of time, i'll be convinced once again...

so to all those women who had had bad relationships and bad men before, this song is for you. it's my favourite.

Had A Bad Day - Daniel Powter

Where is the moment when we need it the most
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
They tell me your blue sky’s faded to grey
They tell me your passion’s gone away
And I don’t need no carrying on

Stand in the line just ahead of the law
You’re faking a smile with the coffee you go
You tell me your life’s been way off line
You’re falling to pieces everytime
And I don’t need no carrying on

Cause you had a bad day
You’re taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don’t know
You tell me don’t lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don’t lie
You’re coming back down and you really don’t mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

Well you need a blue sky holiday
The point is they laugh at what you say
And I don’t need no carrying on

You had a bad day
You’re taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don’t know
You tell me don’t lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don’t lie
You’re coming back down and you really don’t mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

Sometimes the system goes on the blink and the whole thing it turns out
Wrong
You might not make it back and you know that you could be well oh that
Strong
Well I’m not wrong
So where is the passion when you need it the most
Oh you and I
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost

Cause you had a bad day
You’re taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don’t know
You tell me don’t lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don’t lie
You’re coming back down and you really don’t mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

On My Own

last weekend my bro abg zaki and sis in-law kak ah came. surprise of all surprise, they came by car. (my dear bro is a pilot, so for him it's way far cheaper to travel by air than by land) they told me the reason why. to whisk my mother away to KL (and leave me alone?!!!). naturally, the maid had to accompany my mother.

so here i am, with Fluffy. abg mi called to say that he's having a family gathering on saturday night...and i sighed...all those glorious food...they'll probably have some lamb chops and steaks... yum yum....abg mi teasingly asked "so are you enjoying your freedom?". not really. i'm scared. what with the recent burglaries in the area, i'll be insane not to be scared. i spent the 1st night alone, alone...woke up in the middle of the night, and then i realised i'd better take the teachers' advice i.e. to ask some hostel girls to stay with me. so after talking to their parents on the phone and asking for the warden's permission, i took 2 girls home, who met Fluffy, and agreed that he's the most mengada cat in the world. (very spoiled too). speaking of being spoiled, i admit that i've been spoiled, what with having a maid around. so without the maid around, naturally i've to do the housechores.*sigh*cant complain anyway, since the house is mine. it's nice to be able to cook for someone (since usually mother cooks) - i made spaghetti bolognaise (bellisimo! not too sour, the herbs are delicately seasoned and not too strong), very thick and rich roti canai, and penang char kuey teow.

the only problem is, i'm sleep deprived. so today, after the doing the laundry,mopping the floor, throwing a part of the old junk that mother refused to throw away, and baking my usual white bread, i just fell asleep. only to be woken up by Fluffy...asking to be fed...again.

a day in miss nora's teaching life

clocked in. greeted and smiled at teachers. talked to some. then time for daily assembly. walked back to the staff room. wrote daily lesson plan, got ready the materials for the next camp.off to class.

walked up the stairs, met some boys hanging by the corridor.

"tuck in your shirt!".

walked straight to class. idzuan was absent again. revised on an excerpt taken from Macbeth and Yeats' poem. told them to write down the poems. started walking around the class. the boys were talking softly to each other, looking at my shoes. a loud whisper,
"tengok kasut teacher tu"

"stop looking at my shoes!"

wore a pair of brown Carlo Rino ballet slippers with ribbons. more were looking at my shoes. started teaching them. was in my element as i was teaching them literature. real, pure literature. finished class.

12noon. 2nd class. revised on The Prisoner of Zenda. they read the book. went around the class. more looked at my shoes.

"stop looking at my shoes!"

one boy looked as if he's so into reading as he rested his head on his arm, which rested on the table. the book was in his lap. hmm...something's not right. knocked on his table. didnt look up. 2nd knock. red eyes looked up, startled.

"dont sleep again, isamuddin, or else i'm going to tell your father" (his father is the discipline teacher)

the monitor, aki, was being himself again. he whined today. hareez was making a lot of comments. didnt stop commenting and said something obscene.

"hareez, i'm going to chilli your mouth and chlorox your mind".
asyram laughed "how are you going to pour the chlorox in, teacher?".

told them to summarise each chapter. they were stunned, response was slow. that meant they didnt revise. made them write on the board. well, finally they did it. work done. sighed. walked out of the class.