Putting Liberation In The Back Seat

Dont get me wrong, I'm all for liberation in fact - for the right reasons and causes, of course.

The other day ESPN played short takes of rugby and football (soccer to you maybe?) Which is fine - but these are women playing rugby and soccer. Female soccer is old story - but rugby?

Personally there are no other games that I detest more than female soccer (maybe synchronized swimming on second thoughts). But female rugby? God forbid! - this is really something else. What's so thrilling about playing rugby to the girls anyway? Mind you, I do admire those guys in boldly striped shirts getting tough on the field. Yeah, I would definitely call that thrilling...

But sorry, I dont see anything to admire about girls getting all rough and dirty in unflattering shirts and shorts on the field. However the game seem to be getting more popular by the day, especially at the colleges. Stanford has its own female rugby team. And MIT and UCLA. Let's not forget about the world cup too as most of the so-called developed countries have their own female rugby team. Maybe there is no 'new' or challenging enough sports for the women anymore..

Me? I'll definitely give liberation a rest when it comes to female soccer and rugby. Oh, and synchronized swimming? This has nothing to do with liberation whatsoever, but let's shove that onto the shelf as well..

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Sunset On The Serengeti

It was what somebody said on Travel & Living that I got sort of re-acquainted with Serengeti. It clicked in my brain, but I couldn’t remember what it is all about or where I heard it before. I thought there is a movie with such title; but cant find it on the net. In fact, Wikipedia does not even have an entry on Serengeti within its extensive array of information.

It is said that sunset on the Serengeti is stunning. Oh and by the way, Serengeti is one of the national parks in Tanzania. With spectacular landscapes like Mount Kilimanjaro and Lake Victoria, what is Serengeti anyway..?

Serengeti comes from the Maasai word Siringitu, which means “the place where the land moves forever”. Doesnt that sound wonderful? It is famed for the annual migration of millions of wildebeests, zebras, gazelles and other animals to follow the seasonal rains in the African plains.

The colors painted of the Serengeti sunset that I saw was purple and amber. I wondered why purple and then I saw the photo below. It is indeed a beautiful shade of lavender and amber.

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Syawal 1427

Did you notice? The radio stations have started playing raya songs - yippee.. Raya is so not raya-like without the lagu raya. So now I am starting to feel the mood for raya.

Called up my mum and asked what are her raya plans. Last year we celebrated raya at Bangi as she was not too keen to celebrate at home. This year she's staying put at home so we are going to balik kampung. And I have no doubt whatsoever that she is celebrating raya there because her anak-mak-coang aka my brother who not-coincidently is the youngest in the family said he wants to balik kampung this year. Last year he was in Houston for some whatever training. This year he cant wait to raya at home with mak.

That's nice. I can tumpang sekaki and raya at home as well. Entah berapa kali je lagi pun boleh nak raya dengan mak.

Dont get me wrong - but my mum is old. She cant walk that much, cant stand that long, cant lift anything anymore and dont have that good an apetite. But I am always amazed that she reads the papers every day, cant get enough books to read, still remember all the 50-something names of her cucus, writes very well and do other things that people younger than her cant do no more.

She said all her live, other than a couple of deliveries (me and my dearest brother, that is), she had never been admitted to hospitals. The one and only exception was when she had that pacer implanted.

It's really nice to be going home this raya. I sure hope not everybody is going home as well. No offense to my dear brothers and sisters, but these gatherings can be sooo cramped sometimes.. You just have to trust me on that...

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Ramadhan al-Mubarak Part 3

Duduk diam tak diam, it's already the 16th day of Ramadhan.

The children has started to be fussy over the food served. The other day we had beriani gam. Doesnt that sound yummy? Yeah, but Eirfan took a few mouthfuls & then declared he's full and refused to have anymore. Yang tak tahan nya buat muka keremut tu.. Sahur is even worse.

Any dish suggested are also shot down. They are looking for something out of the ordinary. ( Oh, now they want to start thinking out of the box..? ) But that's still ok, as long as they can think of what they want to eat.

But this Ramadhan seem to be the 'toughest' for me, so to speak. Bought some lepat pisang - Iman said there's no kelapa inside - ma buat lagi sedap. Bought kuih cara manis - they said, tak ada gula - ma buat lagi sedap. Wanted to get some cucur udang and they said ma buat lagi sedap. & then I bought ready made mee rebus sauce and they said - yeah you guessed it - ma buat lagi sedap.

Yeah it's tough - I told the kids that I'm starting to get nervous when buying something thinking what you people would say.. Actually yang mak masak tu bukannya sedap sangat - someone said, it's just air tangan mak tu. I suppose there is some truth in that - look how much we love mum's cooking anyway.

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A Room With A view

Nope, this is not the novel nor is it the song.

It is the view that I have from my window. It overlooks the hills which is part of the Taman Warisan Selangor (if you have ever heard of that). I cant remember what the hill is actually called.

But if you are ever at the dam here you can walk up to the top of the hills. Many city folks walk up on weekends. You'll see many cars parked outside the dam gates on those days.

On cool mornings if you are early enough, you can see mists hanging over them hills. And on wet, about to rain days you can see the clouds coming down and covering the hills like puffy white cotton and soon you can feel the wet drops falling. Reminds me of the Maxwell Hills on a cool rainy day.

It was about to rain one day when a friend left our home. He saw the clouds and was impressed by the view. He said, is there any house on sale here? This is something you cant find anywhere in my area (he lives in Puchong) or maybe anywhere else in KL. Unfortunately for him there is none.

Thank goodness, I dont think I would want to live so close to him.. What's a great view if you cant enjoy the company?

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Motivation 101

Went to a talk hosted by a CEO recently. He's young. He's not that tall. And his boyish looks make him look even younger.

His English is very good. It comes most naturally to him. He made jokes, but not stupid ones and all his tales are related to the subject under discussion. Surprisingly that although it is Ramadhan, there didnt seem to be anybody yawning or nodding off in the room.

He seem full of energy and very at ease with the subject and the audience. And one cant help but to appreciate his confidence, philosophies and the charisma that he potrayed.

He said he wasnt the best or brightest student in his class. But he is blessed with the ability to communicate.

Someone asked how he keep himself motivated. He said:
First, you must learn how to listen.
Second you must have clarity (Ambition ie where you are taking your org to) .
Thirdly you must feel that you have an amanah to fulfill.
When he leaves (or asked to leave) his employment in future, he wants to feel that he has made a difference to his company.

And when asked how he motivates his employees, he said with a laugh, put the fear of God into them. I cant tell if he was serious or otherwise.

But anyway what he said seem like a workable plan to me..

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Super Mums.. And The Not So Cool Ones

I think Lizzie's mum is great. She's smart (smarter than Mr McGuire himself), very capable and handles crisis with flair.

Susan has no spine. Her daughter has to back her up most of the time.

Bree on the other hand is the worst. She ruled with an iron hand, but failed none the less.

Mrs Cosby maybe smart but her husband is even smarter, and funnier. She seemed a bit fake too.

The Possibles are great, both of them. Look how great Kim turned out to be, but then you can be perfect if you are in the cartoons too!

Ms Gilmore isnt my idea of a great mum - she could be a great friend though.

I cant think of the best mum, but I can think of the greatest grandma. I love Julie Andrews when she was the grandma to the princess, Anne Hathaway. She's charming, sweet, understanding and just there when you need the best grandma.

Anyway, the most super-duper mum of all is of course my very own mum. You only have to look at me to know that!!! he-he. Cheers to all mums who make it through thick and thin to be where we are now. Hang in there, the best is yet to come.

.. but that song on the radio by John (Cougar) Mellencamp said "life goes on, even after the best things are gone". How sad - he was singing about a love gone wrong of course.

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