Adik duduk rumah lagi Bah

Oh kesiannya anak ku Adik. Today as I was preparing for work, Amelia called me up to inform that there was a massive traffic jam that started at Batu 3 tol. Then my husband called me up to inform me of the same thing plus the NPE was also badly congested at Bangsar. Okie dokie. What would a commuter do but wait for the jam to ease up.

I was having a wonderful morning with Adik, colouring, drawing and watching the telly. At 8.50 am I started to iron my tudung. She accompanied me when I did that, chattering away. Then I put on my tudung and resumed watching the telly with her waiting for 9 am to come.

When it came, I bid my goodbye. She hurriedly switched off the telly. I was shocked.

Mum : Why did you switch off the telly ?

Adik : ( Head bowed, looking lost and awkward ) Adik nak ikut Mummy.

Mum : Nak ikut pegi mana sayang? Mummy nak pegi kerja Adik.

Adik : Mummy kan hantar Adik pegi school ?

Aiseh. She said it very quietly and how can I say this… like so full of hope and scared at that the same time. Afraid that I would say no ? She looked sheepish too.

Mum : Adik tak pegi school lagi okay ? Nanti kita cakap dengan Babah lagi ye ?

Adik : Adik nak pegi school, Mum.

I dialed her father’s number.

Mum : Adik cakap dengan Babah okay ?

Adik : With the telephone ? You are calling Babah ?

I nodded.

Mum : Babah… your daughter wishes to speak with you.

Adik : Bah…. Adik duduk rumah lagi Bah. Adik tak pegi school…..

I heard Babah’s voice and then,

Adik : Thank you Bah… Bye !!

Mum : Babah ?

Babah : I told her next week. New month.

Mum : Okay.

The thing that made me pity her more is her demeanour when she switched on the telly. Embarrassed, resigned… I don’t know…

Bukit Jelutong is too far away ?

Yesterday Babah’s parents went to Singapore. Abang was to be sent to Babah’s eldest sister’s house and Adik to Babah’s youngest sister in Bukit Jelutong. As we rushed to prepare, Abang who was sitting next to his sleeping sister said, “ Mum what about Adik ? Do you know Wan is going to Singapore ? “

Mum : Yeah, I know.

Abang : What about Adik Mum ? Wake her up and send her to Aunty Wawa’s house.

Mum : I will be sending her to Aunty Su’s house.

He went quiet. Brows furrowed, he looked at me.

Abang : It is too far away Mum. Send her to Aunty Wawa’s house.

Mum : Tak boleh Abang. Aunty Wawa could not take care that many of you.

I resumed our preparation.

As I ushered him to the door, Babah was carrying his sister. They sat next to each other in front of the door, huddled close.

Abang : Mum, Bukit Jelutong is so far away. Nanti Abang tak tahu what is happening to her.

Mum : Abang… what is going to happen to her ?

Abang : I don’t know. Just anything.

I ran to get my shoes and put Adik’s things in my car.

Abang : Mum, please.

Mum : I have to send her to Bukit Jelutong Abang. Nobody can take care of her at rumah Aunty Wawa.

Abang : I can. I will be there.

Mum : You will be at school Abang. Please Abang....

Abang : Bukit Jeluting is too far away.

Mum : It is still Shah Alam.

I stood there watching him. He looked at Adik who at that time had move to sit across him. He made a face at her. She smiled.

Mum : Give your brother a hug Adik.

Adik : Bye Abang.

His hug was tight.

Abang : Bye Adik…..

As she loosened her hug to withdrew, Abang tried again, “ Mummm……… “. “ Quit it, Abang. ” I said. “ Your sister will be safe. She will be all right. ” I assured him

In the car, Adik was quiet. She suddenly broke her silence as we approached Bukit Jelutong.

Adik : Are we going to rumah Aida ?

Mum : Yes.

Adik : Is it okay Mum ? Can I go to rumah Aida ?

Mum : Yes… I am sending you there. But…. Let’s not make this a habit….

She went quiet.

Mum : Will you be a good girl Adik ?

Adik : Yes Mum.

Mum : Will you listen to Aunty Su ?

Adik : Yes mum.

Then,

Adik : Mum… where is Abang ?

Mum : Abang pegi sekolah.

Adik : Mum…….. nanti lepas sekolah ?

Mum : Abang pergi rumah aunty Wawa.

Adik : Why Abang pegi rumah Aunty Wawa ?

Mum : ( Sighed… not this one too… ) Because Aunty Wawa jaga boys and Aunty Su jaga girls. It’s okay… you can play with Aida kan ?

She didn’t answer.

Attitude grading

Last weekend on our way to Cili Merah before Abang’s piano class, Abang found his old report card from Kindergarten time. He diligently studied it and was making comments on his findings. He however was extra excited about the page on his attitude.

Abang : Mum look !! I get G for everything mom. G is good right ?

Mum : Yes, I suppose so.

Abang : I am friendly, helpful, willing to share… willing tu apa Mum ?

Mum : Willing tu is like you don’t mind doing things. Willing to share means you don’t mind sharing.

Abang : I am so nice kan Mum ? What is independent ?

Mum : Independent means you can do work on your own. You don’t need people to help you.

Abang : That is right. I have always been clever kan Mum ? I always know what to do…

Mum : Yelah tu… Jangan dok perasan sangat. If you need help, never be afraid or embarrass to ask for help. You cannot know everything…

He took his report card with him into the restaurant. As usual, one teh limau suam for me and one teh tarik for my children to share. And as usual they will fight for the bubbles. After one heated argument that made Mummy put her hands on her waist ( woii… apa cekak pinggang dalam bahasa omputih ? ) , lips one straight line, Abang and Adik withdrew. But Abang was not satisfied. He snatched open his report card and showed it to Adik.

Abang : Look Adik, I am willing to share okay ? See ? See ? I will not minum the bubbles sampai habis.

Adik whose ego is the size of watermelons ( that is big considering her itty bitty size ) started to pout. She ate without looking at her brother. Abang’s problem is this, he can’t stand people being angry at him. He wants everybody to love and cherish him all the times. Seriously, Adik’s sulking shouldn’t hurt or disturb him, but it did.

Again he opened his report card.

Abang : Look here. Teacher Devi said I’m friendly. So I want to be friends. Okay Adik ? I’m sorry.

Adik : It’s okay Abang……

Everybody is smiling again. Mummy was mentally writing their blog already.

Missing piece

After Babah’s piano class, at Amelia’s urging we joined Amir at Klinik Adek’s playgroup for a clock making session. It was fun for them, mucking about with scissors, glue and glitter, especially good for Adik as it exposed her to student/teacher relationship ( although it looked like she was ordering the teacher about ) and good for the mammies as they could sit down together for a good chat ( and gossip ).

Amelia showed me a board game that she bought called Make and Break. She assured me of family fun times and so I bought it. She was right. The game was a whole lot of fun. Babah and Abang, the two fiercest competitors fought often. I like to watch my little girl do it though. She was calm, collected, and not at all fuzzed by the ticking clock as she slowly build her blocks. Clever.

And then our tranquillity was shattered by a missing piece. Mummy of course withdrew most privileges until it is found. And being their mum I know which benefit hurt them most, the new playgroup at Klinik Adek.

Adik had a stricken look on her face and Abang sported a thoughtful one when they scurried to look for the piece that can assure the return of their luxuries. He heh…. After a few fruitless searches, Abang conceded defeat. He approached me and apologised profusely for their mistake. Then he started to bargain. The thing that he wanted to keep the most was as I suspected, the novel class.

Every attempt to convince me was not giving him the results that he wanted until he said, “ Mum, I need to learn new crafts !! “ Both Babah and Mummy looked at him enquiringly. Crafts ?

“ I already learnt how to make clocks, now I have to learn other crafts, like stamping or make a mask… It will be very good for me to learn all this… “ he begged. Crafts ? Where did he get that ? Like the other day, I took him to task for being extra bouncy and noisy when he explained that, “ I just want to cheer my sister up !! “ Cheer ?

He had Babah at ‘craft ‘ and so Babah went to look for it but the piece stubbornly remained elusive. Mummy got really tired of seeing her children shuffling about, pretending to look for the now cursed piece, threw her hands up and went down on all fours to locate it. It took her just 2 minutes. 2 whole minutes to find something that her children had tried for hours and for her husband to give up after 15 minutes.

As I held the piece up high triumphantly, I said, “ It takes a woman to do it right. “ Babah looked bored and the children looked relieved. He he…

Neraka

We went to Pizza Hut for dinner yesterday due to popular demand. I sat next to Adik and Abang was with his Babah. Sometime during the meal, Adik dipped her fingers in her drink. Babah sternly told her to quit doing it and I questioned her need to do so.

That night she chose me as the orang jahat. She sat stonily, facing other tables. She decided to un-join herself from her family. Okay, takpa. Garlic bread arrived, no movement. Babah kindly placed one on her plate. She ignored them. Pizza arrived and still not a stir from her. Babah again placed a slice next to her bread.

I then picked up her plate and offered it to Babah. She stared at her plate with a horrified look. Finally some movement. Her face scrunched, eyes narrowed, she finally gave an indication that she was upset. Kalau tidak tadi pretended like she didn’t belong at all.

I put it back and she resumed her indifference. I picked up her plate again and this time she emitted some sound from her mouth. Babah told me to switch places.

As soon as Babah sat next to her, barulah ayaq mata nak bergenang. After a hug and a reassuring cuddle from her Babah, she said she wanted to eat. Oh… But Mummy wanted to create some trouble. I looked at her with narrowed eyes. I kept on staring, my gaze steadily on her.

She looked at me worriedly. She looked away and then landed her eyes on me again and still I kept on looking. “ Bah… mummy is looking at me… “ she complained. Babah gave me an exasperated look which I of course ignored. Then Babah placed the standing menu at a spot where our view of each other is obscured.

“ Thank you Bah, “ she said happily. Then she began to eat.

Okay, takpa Adik… it’s okay.

In the car Babah gave a lecture on neraka and fighting with one’s parents. It worked as when we arrived home, while she was taking off her clogs, she apologized which followed by a hug.

I tucked them into bed. She of course asked me if I wanted to sleep with her. Ohh…. I dengan bangganya said, “ Siapa yang tak nak kawan Mummy tadi ? Marah Mummy, tak nak tengok Mummy… “. I looked at her pointedly. She came to me and whispered, “ I already said sorry Mum. Sudah lah…. Okay ? I said sorry already…. Takpa, takpa kay ? “.

O-kay. I switched on the telly and we settled to watch cartoon. Lucky for me there was a scene that involved a huge roaring fire and therefore took the opportunity to preach about neraka again.

“ Haa.. tengok tu api besar. Macam tulah kat neraka nanti. Kalau orang yang tak hormat mak bapak dia, selalu marah – marah mak bapak dia… masuk neraka macam tu lah… “ I started.

“ Siapa yang naughty mesti masuk neraka. Sapa nak nasuk neraka duduk dengan api besar ? “ I asked.

“ No… I don’t want Mum, “ said Abang. But my little girl… hai…. She said “ It’s okay Mum. I can bring a water gun… “. Apa nak kata ?

-

Tak terkata apa.

-

But I did preach about the futility of water guns in neraka. Coupled with a lof disdain for the contraption. Hope she understands. Please….

This morning

Our morning routine is like this; Babah mandi and Mummy mandikan Abang. Mummy mandi and Babah dresses Abang up. Babah dresses up and organises Abang’s school bag and Mummy takes Abang to breakfast. Babah drives Abang to school, Mummy dresses up for work.

So during my breakfast duty and Babah dressing himself up I would be soaking Abang time alone with me, and of course preparing his bekal.

“ What do you want for recess ? ”.

“ Can I have the icing biscuits ? ” he asked. Sure, no problem.

“ Momm….” He started and I settled down for our breakfast chat. I love this moment because it is just me and him and my concentration is strictly for my darling son. I love seeing him eating the breakfast I prepared while sharing his thoughts, experiences and feelings with me. I love that.

“ Calci-yum kan ( yoghurt ) is good for me kan ? It makes me strong kan ? ” He asked.

“ Sure, the calcium would strengthen your bones… ,”.

“ But kan Hannah kata kan Calci-yum kan kalau makan banyak-banyak boleh buat orang lembik, ”, he said, face full of questions.

“ No, I don’t think so. Do you ever share your Calci-yum with Hannah ? ”

“ Sometimes. ” Was the reply.

“ What does she take to school ? ” I asked, out of curiosity.

“ I don’t know because she sits at the girls’ tables. But mostly money. ” He explained.

“ What do your other friends bring to school ? ”.

“ Money. But they usually beli air saja Mum. And the kan Mum they said kalau makan roti vanilla ( his favourite ) nanti kepala boleh pecah. ” Said he, face scrunched at the absurdity of the tale but terrified at that the same time that it could actually be true.

“ Well, have you ever seen people fall off the table without their heads for eating roti vanilla ? ”

“ Nope…” He said, shaking his head vigorously, relieved that he could still indulge in his favourite confection.

“ You know, maybe the reason why they criticize the food you eat is because you never share…” I gently suggested.

“ No… they always rasa my food, Mum….”

Hmm… okaylah.

We then went to the door to put on his shoes. As I was kissing and cuddling him goodbye, Babah said he had forgotten his watch. So Mummy ran upstairs to for it and stumbled upon a disheveled and still groggy hantu kecik. I swept her off her feet ( heh heh ) and ran back to our men. They were already in the car and as we marched on I asked her to say goodbye with ‘ See you later, alligator ! ‘.

“ Do you know what is an alligator ? ”. She shook her head.

“ Alligator is like crocodile. ” I explained.

“ Crocodile ? No Mum. Crocodile can eat our friends !! ” Was the horrified reply.

Can eat our friends ? Apa tuh ?

-

Anyway after we waved them off ( with Adik screaming to Abang" Say good bye to me Abang ! Say goodbye to me ! " ), I deposited Adik back in her bed, switched on the telly and when I left her she was looking at her books.

-

But when I was done with my morning toilette and went to look for her, she was sound asleep !! Was that a dream ? Did I really held her in my arms just now ?

The siblinghood of Abang and Adik

Scene 1

“ Mum… “ said my daughter when I returned home late Wednesday night. My son was already asleep ( kesian dia and kesian mak dia ). “ Tadi kan Abang marah Memen ( Jazmyn, his cousin ).” Why, I asked. “ Haa… Abang marah Memen because Memen kacau dia. Memen cry, “

“ Really ? “ said I, a bit upset. “ Yes Mum. And then I hug her and say everything is okay… “

She then said in a lowered tone, " Memen kacau Abang Mummy. Remember that, ".

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Oh okay.. after you ratted on him, you wanna save is arse ? Make up your mind, please...

Scene 2

Last week we were in the car and Abang was being exceptionally active. Babah of course allowed him some time before Babah asked him to stop.

“ But I just want to make Adik laugh," he protested.

“ No, Abang. Be quiet. I can’t concentrate on my driving with you bouncing at the back,"

“ I just want to make my sister laugh, “ he again protested. Then his sister tried to save the day by saying, “ It’s okay Abang. I don’t need to laugh." Ha ha…

Scene 3

Usually Babah and I would tuck our children into their bed and went to sleep happy in the thought of waking up fresh. But as the night went on, we wouldn’t know if anybody would join us and cramp the space.

Anyway, one night we were woken up by the sounds of our daughter crying. “ What is she saying Babah? " I asked sleepily. “ Sounds like where is my Abang," Babah replied also drowsily.

At that I realised there was another person next to me, but shorter with smelly hair ( since Abang is super active, he sweats all the time and therefore I could hardly remember him having nice smelling hair ). “ Oh, Abang is here… “ I said. Babah then went to pick up his little girl to join us. “ Mummy, where is my Abang ?" she asked tearily. I pointed at her brother without looking at her.

“ Abang ! There you are !!" She said as she fell next to me. A minute after that she was already asleep, safe in the thought that her brother is not lost after all.

Scene 4

“ Mum, Adik dropped her books on my nose and it is bleeding," said my son one day, hand cupping his large nose. When I unclasped his hand, sure enough there was blood dripping from one orifice.

Babah was upset. To make things worse, he asked the thing that Adik didn’t like to do under duress, apologise. She can apologise but at her own time, never when forced. Never. She kept her head up high and refused to comply. Babah was understandably upset.

He then made Abang stand in front of his sister and encircled Adik’s hands on his waist. “ Hug and say sorry," Babah commanded. Nope, none doing. Her hands fell listlessly at her side when Babah let them go. Abang looked at his sister with pity.

He hugged her and said in a squeaky voice, his imitation of a girl’s tone. “ Sorry Abang, “ he squeaked. “ Dah Bah. She said sorry already,". Babah looked at him and he dropped the act. He then looked at me to hide his laughing face.

“ Bah, it’s okay. I am not angry. Dia tak sengaja Bah," he said, and led his sister away.

I was lucky that day. Lucky because as I looked in to check on them I saw my little girl looked at her brother who was next to her and said “ Sorry Abang." Abang looked at her and said “ It’s okay, Adik." She then reached for him and gave him a hug, sideways.

Adik punya hal

My daughter really has a smart mouth. Aduiihhh…

As usual, Saturday morning we were at Abang's music school, waiting for him to finish his class. A boy who became Abang’s friend arrived and upon seeing me asked for my son’s whereabouts. He then fired a lot of questions my way and I was struggling to answer and read my paper at the same time.

I do not what was eating my daughter that day. As I was answering the questions, Adik suddenly said, “ Oh.. shut up !! “. Both of us stopped to look at her. He then jumped out and down saying “ Oh… you said a bad word… !! “ over and over again and my daughter keep on answering with “ No. No. No. “.

I didn’t want to interfere mostly because I wanted to see if my little girl can stand up on her own, so I just sat there and watched and so did a few other parents. Adik crossed her arms, face defiant. He gave up after awhile and went to look at the many rows of guitars and picked one up. There is a little guitar for sale there. It is so small Adik could play the guitar while standing up. It was as if it was made for her.

I could see Adik’s horrified face when that boy picked the guitar up. “ That is not yours, “ she said, wagging her finger. He ignored her and began strumming. “ Put it back, “ she instructed and was again ignored.

By that time I had folded my paper and was concentrating on the drama. My daughter must have been really pissed off because she said, “ Go to your class !" That boy… well he put the guitar back at its place and quickly looked for his bag. “ Is my teacher here ?" he asked her. “ Yes," my daughter replied, “ take your bag and go to class…". And he did.

I was dumbstruck. I was about to berate on her rudeness when Abang arrived. I was ushering them out when Abang told me he needed a new theory book. I went back in. Adik and Abang crowded the counter and saw the CCTV monitor there. Adik squealed when she saw herself and Abang. Then the most embarrassing thing happened.

“ There you are Mum ! “ she said. Then she added, “ Oh you are so beautiful !! “ Man…. People who know me know of my tendency to blush. They also know how much I hate it if people compliment me on my appearance ( bukannya apa… Macam Adik cakap lagu tu kuat – kuat kan, org keliling mesti berebut nak tengok lawa mana mak budak ni. Sekali nampak muka aku ni, depa sure kata “ Laa… had ni pun lawa ka ? “ Haa… yang itu yang aku segan sungguh tu…. Aku tak dak perasan lawa punya….. ).

Juliette, the music school’s staff and another parent there were laughing ( I hope not at me but with me ) and cooing at her. Adik then climbed down the chair and loudly said, “ Mum can I go out for awhile ? “. I of course said no and this little girl she put her hands on her waist demanded for a reason with a “ Why not ? “. Her face frowned, looking at me questioningly.

I think all the other parents laughed out loud. I just scrunched my face with mortification. “ Alah, don’t do like that. She is so clever, “ said Juliette. The lady who was sitting at the counter with us looked at Abang and said “ She can speak very well can’t she ?" Abang nodded and said “ Yes, my sister is very funny. “ “ How old is she ? “ She asked. “ Five, “ said I and quickly dragged the little minx away from the crowd. Eee……..

Kertas Bahasa Melayu anak ku

Abang had his exams last month. I coached him in science and Bahasa Arab. For Bahasa Malaysia I only drilled him on spellings and stressed on the importance of capital letters for names.

A week after that he showed us his BM paper. Haaii………………

On the ‘ Bina Ayat ‘ section, they have a few pictures as subject. The first one was a picture of a shirt. Umar’s ayat was ‘ Baju ini bersih.’ Okay. Well actually that was the only okay part. From number 2 till 6, he only received 1 mark each out of the allocated 2. Beside a picture of a horse, Abang wrote ‘ Kuda itu membawa berlari.’ There was a red slash on the word membawa. Picture three was of a boy who was taking his bath. My clever son wrote ‘ Budak itu sedang membawa mandi ‘. What is his obessession with the word membawa and again there was a red slash on the membawa. The fourth one again had a slash at you guess where when he wrote ‘ Itik itu membawa berenang ‘. Ada ke ?

I asked him what is the meaning of the word. He shrugged his shoulders and said “ Entah. ”. I was lost for words. “ Membawa maksudnya bring, Abang." explained his Babah. My son’s face lit up. “ Oh, like bawak ?"

Waaahhhh !!!!!!!

Next page’s instruction was to fill in the blanks with the words given.

Nenek saya harum.

Big fat cross there.

Bunga itu tua.

Again a cross there.

What happened Abang ? Why nenek harum ? Well, said my son, Wan sometimes sprays perfume and she does smell nice. Pulak.

Why is the bunga tua then ?

Well, bunga kan when did not get enough water and sun, will get all brown and yucky. That is when it is old mum.

Okay, how can I do this ?

My baby Adik

When you ask expecting parents what sex do they want their unborn baby to be, some would say boy some would say girl and some would say they welcome either one. Some would say that raising boys are harder than girls and some would say otherwise. To me boys are deliciously boisterous and girls are well.. they get things done more discreetly and subtly. It is a trait needed to be learnt and some learnt very very fast indeed.

Two nights ago as I was tucking my two little children to bed, Adik asked me the typical question she would ask me when I tuck them in. “ Do you want to sleep with me Mum ? “ and I answered with my usual response of “ No darling, I have to sleep with Babah. “. But that particular night, with her head cocked to one side, one eye covered with her hair she looked at me sideways and said, “ You don’t like sleeping with me Mummy ? “ Aaa ? So two nights ago she slept blissfully, sandwiched between her parents.

My baby girl was speaking nonsense for a good part of her life. Then one day she woke up brimming with real vocabs and then there was no stopping her.

The next morning as I was preparing for work, she was as usual selecting her books for the day. When I turned to face her, she said , “ Look at what I had done, dude ! “. Dude ? Even Abang whipped his head to look at her. He then looked at me, eyebrow raised and both of us laughed. Adik sat on the bed, hands on the waist basking at her vocabulary triumph.

“ Baby, don’t ever call me dude again," I said while Abang proclaimed, “ You are so funny Adik !"

Last night I arrived home late. My children jumped off the bed to greet me, happy to see their mammy again. Babah had a function to attend, I was hungry, the kids were peckish and therefore I suggested dinner. Yippee !! They ran to the door.

Adik was waiting for me at the entry. Her hand reached for mine and she said, “ Is that really you Mum ?" She gave me the sidelong gaze that I know so much. I was lost for words. “ Yes, baby this is me." She hugged me and said, “ I am so happy to see you !!" Awww……. honey….

Singapore Zoo

We took Friday off to take our children to Singapore Zoo. And when I said Singapore Zoo I meant Singapore Zoo only because after we left the zoo we went straight to our hotel in JB… he he. We were advised that we have to come in after 9 am and leave before 4 pm to beat the massive jam and so we did. We didn’t even visit the whole zoo in our quest to beat the traffic. Oh well, we can always go again and go again is what I intend to do.

Because the zoo was superb.

It was wonderful.

Words my friends, could not describe it.

You will be enthralled at the very beginning. When you buy the tickets, you will have a glimpse of what the zoo promises by the many, many trees surrounding it. It looked peaceful and very… well… natural ?








This lovely siamang was the first to greet us.








When you walk, you will feel like walking in a nice, clean jungle, very much like my beloved Bukit Cherakah used to look like before they commercialise it. I love the lush trees and vegetations surrounding the animals. The sound of the forests.. well it was wow !!







If you look carefully you can see a hippo peacefully sleeping right next to to the monkey clad in blue ( but this monkey I get to take home with me ).






You can hear the birds, the roars of the tigers and many, many more. It was really soothing. The ambiance was great as the trees absorbed the heat and made it cool. And it was so clean. The surrounding was clean and the animals looked like the were well look after. They even have air-conditioning houses for you to cool yourself down if the weather got too hot for you.






Imagine our delight when we found out that the lone male white tiger is called Omar.

But imagine our consternation when the lioness on the right is called Elsa !! Patut le anak - anak si Babah ni bengkeng - bengkeng belaka... But, I named them so my fault he he..... However, Abang is named after Khulafa Ar-Rashidin.. who well garangnya boleh tahan... and Adik is named after the lioness in Joy Fielding's Born Free but it also means Devoted to Allah.... But lions are garang.. so... Hmm.........




We took our time admiring and looking at the animals and enjoying the ambiance. So much so when we looked at the time, it was already 2pm and we were only halfway through. But since we have to leave for JB before 4pm, we decided we have to stop at that. We have to come next time to explore the other half of the fantastic zoo.

My favourite ? Watching them feed the animals especially Innuka the Polar Bear. He was graceful and oh so cute. If you look closely, you can see Innuka's outline just next to Adik. Unfortunatley he was looking the other way when I snapped this picture.

It rained a bit as we were leaving and Babah covered Adik's head with a small towel. As we were walking briskly to shelter, we heard a few mat salleh's voices excuse me-ing us. We stopped. Adik had dropped her towel. Babah asked Adik why didn't she tell us about the towel and my indignant daughter answered, " I did !! ". Babah said, " I didn't hear you. " and my little lioness said, " I said 'Oh man, oh man' ! " Ha ha.. those mat sallehs also laughed delightedly.

We ate at the zoo. We went to this wonderful pizza place and we had mushroom pizza. It was the best mushroom pizza ever. The place was clean, the gift shop was excellent and well designed and the gifts they offered were various and interesting.

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How I wish I could sing the praises of our very own Zoo Ulu Kelang. The Singapore Zoo is just next door. Nip over there and learn. Please !!!

The boring bits ? My daughter was more interested with the map of the zoo and her books then the animals. I swear she will out read me when she finally learned to read.

Hmmm..................

Going there was easy. We took a blue cab from JB and was sent straight to the zoo. It took us like 20 minutes without the jam. From the friendly driver we understood that only blue cabs could cross the causeway. So Babah and I planned that we will take a blue cab from the zoo and therefore could go straight back to JB from there.

The line at the taxi stand was long. We gave up one taxi when our turn came because it was not the right colour. When a blue one finally came it couldn't take us to JB because it didn't have a Malaysian road tax !!

-

Okay, okay. Babah then asked the chatty driver to take us to the taxi terminal. He took us to a terminal all right but when we asked him where we can get a taxi, he was surprised. Taxi ? he asked. He was flustered when he told us to take up the flight of stairs that was visible from where he stopped and just follow the crowd. O-kay...

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So we followed the crowd and the sign boards. It was quite a long walk but since it was covered and was not hot we gamely marched on. Until we saw immigration counters. What ? It was behind glass sliding doors but when I tried to enter I couldn't. Apparently it was for people coming from JB to Singapore.

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Babah and I sweated a bit. " Where are we going actually Babah ? " I asked. He was quiet as he walked on dragging Adik before he answered, " Mummy, we have walked in most European countries and we survived Bangkok and Jakarta... we are seasoned travellers. No need to get panicky now. "

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Well yeah, but I panicked all the same. Then we arrived at another immigration checkpoint. O - oh... we are the taxis ? Luckily there was an information counter. The nice policeman said there are buses waiting after the immigration check point. I even asked where could we get the tickets ? He looked at me oddly. " Kat bawah lah cik. " O-kay.

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When we got down, there was a normal bus waiting and a few people were clambering in. I looked for a bus pesiaran but none was visible. I approached the bus conductor and asked if that was the bus to JB and he said yes. I was obsessed with bus tickets at that point and asked where coiuld I get them. He said in the bus itself. So, it was a normal bus. We got on the now full bus and 1 guy offered his seat for me and Adik. Another offered one for Abang. Problem arose.

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Abang : I don't want to sit there...

Babah : Why ?

Abang : I dont want to get lost...

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Adik at that time was restless on my lap. She was whining but I couldn't understand what she wanted. Abang was insisting to stand with Babah as he was sure he would get lost from his Babah if he remain seated. Suddenly Adik turned around, saw her brother and calmed down. Oh she was looking for her Abang.

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The bus moved forward and not even 2 minutes after that the bus stopped and everybody got down. Babah and I looked at each other and climbed down the bus as well. Oh, Malaysian immigration checkpoint. After we passed immigration, we were bewildered to find ourselves in JB again.

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" What ? "

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A man offered us taxi and we gratefully accepted.

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So, we walked accros the causeway just now ? Really ?

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Well then, that is easier than taking a cab isn't it ? No jam, no nothing.

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We walked accorss the causeway ? Wow !! That was easy... Ha ha...