Sick and seek

Hello friends. I've been down with fever and a very chesty cough since Thursday. I was already feeling under the weather on Wednesday but I braved the biting cold to work on Wednesday because, I still had a few good reports to finish. I never knew I was one who would think about work even when I am sick.-_-
I wish I could take my throat out and scratch it. In fact it would be nice to soak my throat in lemon and honey. Who knows I might sound like Mariah Carey after the ordeal. What say you?

On a separate note I am dreading work these days. Because so many people are getting sick but the Management is giving us the Ziana Zain looks (arched brows). The thing is the fever/cough/flu is infectious. I wonder if they'd rather have us barking mad in the office and wiping our mucus and snort than let us rest at home. Doctors are giving a 7 day MC to all patients infected becuase it is infectious!!. Yours truly only took 2 days. and I am still coughing like mad. I mean, dude, seriously, we take public transportation to work and we are exposed to hundreds of people who, like me, might just be recovering or about to fall sick.

So really, what is being a responsible citizen? Heh.

Matsalleh oh matsalleh..

I had low self-esteem and was very shy as a kid. I usually just tagged along my siblings but would hide behind them when playing with the neighbourhood kids. We also had a Matsalleh neighbour then, Andre and Michelle, a young couple of about 28. My sister had no problems playing around their house and had no problems speaking london (read:speak english) with them. I was more afraid that they were White than they were older. I was about 5.

My mom said that now I am living abroad, I should have no problems speaking to Matsallehs and if I work in KL, I should be the first to volunteer to speak to Robert. Robert is my future foreign colleague that my Mum made up a few months ago, so to speak. Anyway, my parents told me how when they were still working, when there is a Matsalleh in their meeting or dinner, they would try to avoid because it is a bit mah fan as Matsallehs would prefer to go drinking and they would prefer if their non-Muslim friends went instead. I would totally understand that.

One thing I hate is how we Asians are usually "afraid" of Matsallehs. I don't know why. Really, as I used to be kind of afraid of these guys. But in actual fact they are just humans just like us. I used to think that because they could speak English (Duh, it is their language after all!) really fast and well, I would sound like an idiot. The truth is, they can speak, yes. but can they spell? Heck, even their grammar needs brushing! I used to think that the Matsallehs are smart, again maybe it was Hollywood and I'm not saying they are not,some of them really are, but you will be surprised to learn some of them can't even spell for peanuts.

A colleague once said to me, "No mimi, you cannot use reason being, because reason is not a human being. It has no form, so it is not a being. it should be the reason been, but pronunced as reason be'en (being). Siap ada Kolkolah subra pulak ok Matsalleh ni. I was pretty sure my spelling of being is correct, the last time I checked.

The other thing is, most of them do not know much about the world outside their country or outside their profession.(not to say that I am Miss Know It All!), but, Take this for an example. My qualified lecturer , after a minute or two thinking and staring at a Question paper he copied for us, sweared and muttered "Sorry guys, just ignore the RM on the paper, I accidentally printed off the Singaporean's version of the ACCA paper". If you know that Singapore uses Dollars, like how the Norweigan's uses Kronor , you wouldn't think RM would equal to Dollars, now would you? Kenapa semua orang kenal Singapore ni?!! tak aci kan!

And today while lecturing on Segmental Reporting, SSAP 25(bagus mimi, sambil blog sambil hafal standards!), we were to report our turnover Geographically . There were segregated into Europe, South East Asia and America . He was precising how if you had information on specific countries, you could just report in under their respective continents. He said, "So, what about Australia?? Wait, is Australia part of South East Asia??". The Matsalleh answered with a confident YES!. And he said it TWICE. Aku pun tak naklah beralah, cakap NO! NO!. Gilak kuasa kan! He was one of the few guys who had always been answering questions when the lecturer asked questions .

So you tell me? Should you now think you can start speaking to Matsalleh without worrying like I did as kid? Yes. Do you have to worry about your perfect English? No. But I still love my Matsalleh colleagues because they are full of compliments!

Ps-Cek belajar ngeja dengan buku Peter and Jane sampai dapat sticker.
PPS-Dolu-dolu orang kita selalu cite pasal Jane si matsalleh yang makan satay sedap, tapi dia tercekik tulang.

Pencen ke Pension?

My late grandmother used to ask her cucus to accompany her to get her Pencen in BSN in Subang Parade. That would usually be a joyous occassion because that would mean we would be getting some pocket money from her. But because my sister and I were the younger ones, we got less compared to my brothers. But in those days, RM 30 was quite a good deal, considering the fact that I was still in primary school and we don't have to pay for breakfast and lunch. So RM3o for a whole month would allow me to buy a book in MPH. Those days a "tween's" book would cost about RM9.90, which was considered expensive by my standard. And it's with that money that I bought magazines(which is very rare, because my dad despise us reading magazines, except if it was National Geographic and the likes of it.)

The last duit pencen tok I got from her, I bought a necklace. At that time, creating your own necklace from the abundance of beads,strings and pendant were the one thing that girls my age would need to have. I rememered showing it to her few weeks before she passed away and she said that it looks nice, tapi mimi kena cermat simpan duit. She obviously knew that that money came from her. Heh.Because then I did not get allowance from my parents. I don't know where the necklace went to. The Bead Bar in One Utama has loss all it's glory to me.

Anyway, this bit of pencen, or pension as we say in English is something that she holds on dearly to. Possibly because it's what's left on from my late grandfather for her and she could feel that bit of independence with it. And of course to spoil her grandchildren with surprise presents. Just like the Clown 24 colour pencil she got from me. She even said this this "Ha si Ila mesti nak jugak kala pensel mimi ni. Simpan elok-elok.".

As I grow older, pension now brings me headache. Not that I joined the pension scheme my company offered us, but the calculation of pension in terms of accounting. See my exams are coming in 6 weeks time and I have not much time to spare. My friends and I were busy studying about Pension , which if I recall now is subject to the rules under FRS 17. It looks easy in the sense that we have all the figures ready but I figured that the actuarists behind the Pension scheme would have a hard time predicting and analyzing employees and their recognition. I am not an accountant and I do not handle pensions or salaries, but I heard calculating pension and determining the schemes is not an easy task. I don't know if it's really the same pencen that my grandmother receives?

Or is it the ayam pencen that my dad does not like to eat?

Au revoir Paris

Sorry for the very slow update on my short vacation., but fret not as I will bore you with details of sesi Mari Bersiar2 Di Kota Paris finale.

The one thing that I had wanted to do in Paris (other than follow the DVC trail) is to sit at a cafe, overlooking Champs Elysees. In fact because I know where I am in the society, read:not the elite bunch,sitting at any cafe overlooking Eiffel Tower would have satisfied me. I didn't get the chance to because on the evening my mom agreed to accompany me on my mission, it rained. It poured and we had to take shelter in the nearby Intermarche. I was quite dissapointed actually because I had the song in my mind and on the phone. The saxophone blowing.

Argh, Autumn in Paris. What a lovely sight it was. Anyway back to my last day in Paris.

We left Simplon at about 11 after the agent paid my €300 deposit. I had circled Sacre Cour as the final visit on the map, but upon my Dad's suggestion, we visited Paris mosque instead. I must say that was one good decision, because I've never visited any mosques in Europe (except Dublin mosque of course) plus we would have visited enough churches already.
For far we spotted the moon and the star, which is the symbol for Islam. There are a lot of Muslims in France because of the French Algerians. And that is why I think there is a huge mosque in Paris.

When in doubt, we trust wikipedia, and it says that the French made Algeria an integral part of France, a status that would end only with the collapse of the Fourth Republic in 1958. Tens of thousands of settlers from France, Spain, Italy, and Malta moved in to farm the Algerian coastal plain and occupied significant parts of Algeria's cities.

These settlers benefited from the French government's confiscation of communal land, and the application of modern agricultural techniques that increased the amount of arable land.^[32] Algeria's social fabric suffered during the occupation: literacy plummeted,^[33] while land development uprooted much of the population.

Starting from the end of the 19th century, people of European descent in Algeria (or natives like Spanish people in Oran), as well as the native Algerian Jews (typically Sephardic in origin), became full French citizens. After Algeria's 1962 independence, they were called Pieds-Noirs; ("Pieds Noirs" meaning "black feet", referring to the black shoes the Europeans wore on their feet). In contrast, the vast majority of Muslim Algerians (even veterans of the French army) received neither French citizenship nor the right to vote.^[34]

Assalamualaikum!

Fortunately I had brought along my pashmina, or I could not have entered the prayer hall. Alhamdulillah we managed to perform the 2 rakat sunnah prayers in the mosque. There were a few other Muslim praying as well at that time. Few of the females were staring at my mom's telekung that I borrowed and apparently they asked my mom about it. We would have donated it to the mosque, but unfortunately that's the only telekung we had for our vacation.

The one thing that I observed while living abroad and also travelling is that we Malaysians are very strict when it comes to the ablution. During winter times when it's a hassle to take off your winter clothing and boots, we do not have to take our jackets off or roll our sleeves. If you had taken your ablution before leaving the house, even if you fart(like I always do! heh), you can just wash your hands and then repeat the act you would normally do during ablution. You don't have to let your skin touch the cold water. Orang melayu kata ikut syarat. You don't have to wash your feet even, just dab the water around your shoes or your socks. Sorry if I am wrong, but the Muslims from other countries seem to be doing it that way. Again sorry if I am wrong, but I also read it in the Internet.

Anyway, the Mosque is also open to Non-Muslims and a donation of €2 is very welcome. While waiting for my mom to finish her prayers, my Dad and I talked a French Algerian man, who is doing his internship in Paris.Ha kawan2 still young,ada rupa cam Zidane sikit. He was praising Malaysia and its people. Do you guys know how famous Malaysia is among the Muslims around the world? So please be proud of your country!!

We then had some pasta in a box for lunch before heading to the bus station to get to the airport. Overall, I had a good time in Paris and enjoyed the language very much. Given the chance, I would study French just to sound cool. Hehe.

Jet'aime Paris Pt 2

That night, our dinner was grilled chicken, rice and salt. Yes. Nasi and Garam. Simply because the chicken was rather tasteless and since we did not have any other condiments, my dad settled for garam. Ha pergi jauh-jauh pun boleh ingat kat orang-orang susah yg makan nasi and garam.

If you are wondering where we found rice, we found it in their local intermarche, that is supermarket in English. I always wonder, and I am still wondering why Thai, Japanese,Chinese and even Indonesian products are always available abroad? And we do not even have any Malaysian products on the shelf.

Anyway, my thoughts aside, I shall start on Day 2 of Mari berjalan di Paris. The first stop for the day was the famous Arc De Triomphe. The arc was apparently built during the time of Napoleon.

Napoleon wanted to honor the Grande Armee, the name of the French army at that time.The Grande Armee had conquered most of Europe and was then considered invicible. After his Austerlitz victory in 1805, Napoleon said to his soldiers : "You will return home through archs of triumph". or so says parisdigest.com

If I am not wrong, there is a replica of the arc in Barcelona as well.

Noah's Ark?? errkkk

We then headed to The Lourve. Now, this is what they call Le Magnifique. The Louvre could possibly be the biggest museum in Europe. Sorry, but I am not really a fan of museums so I would not really know. Anyhow, the musuem was really huge.It looked more like a castle to me. My mind was picturing the storyline of the Da Vinci Code all the time. I wished that I re-read the book before going to Paris so at least I could follow part of the DVC trail.

And again, because my parents went to the Museum already, I did not want them to wait for me. I will do the Museum tour when I am with my friends, on the first Sunday of the month.Any month. ( shhhh the cheapskate in me heard that it's free for public on that day!!)

After taking yet another million shots, we took the Metro to Notre Dame de Paris. It's a shame that I did not grow up watching the cartoon, or I would have understood the whole Hunchback of Notre Dame story. But really, I think the building is beautiful. The garden surrounding the church was really kept tidy. We went in the church..... because it was free.

I love how the scenery looks fairytale like.
Trying to be artistic.Heh.
Garden ke orang dia cantik??

All the walking around Paris had caused my dad to have calluses on his feet. He was getting tired of walking and decided to hit Galleria La Fayette. For those unfamiliar with LaFayette, it is not a gallery of photographs or historic items, but rather galleries of designer items. We only went there to window shop. Orang kata, dah sampai Paris, takkan tak pegi La fayette. I did not buy anything in there. Don't need a reason to, pun kan?

I did not take a lot of pictures because, well firstly my Dad was just waiting for us at Mc Donalds, so there is no one to take my pictures. Secondly, I will look so jakun snapping pictures in a mall. Hehe. But anyway, here are some shots in the Mall. Berangan je.





ehhehe...beli McDonald je kat La fayette...kesian...

to be continued...

Jet'aime Paris.

Although the ticket booking was done a few months in advance to take advantage of Ryanair's promotion, the accomodation was only settled a few days before departing for Paris. I managed to book an apartment for 2 nights from only-apartments.com which had cost me €156 for two nights. Not too bad, considering it's for 3 person.



The apartment is located in Simplon. I had been informed by my former French colleague that the transportation system in France it fantastic and I could stay anywhere in Paris and still be able to get around the city easily. Upon reaching the bus station, we headed to the Metro to get to Simplon. We did not have any problems finding our train lines and destination. My dad made sure I wrote on the notepad where we were heading and which line to change to. There were about 3 times that we had to change trains to get to Simplon. But the journey to Simplon was really worth it because as soon as we stepped out of the Metro, an aromatic smell of grilled chicken awaited us. As soon as I saw the famous Kebab, fries and falafel, I knew that we were in a Muslim area and somebody was already beaming and rubbing his tummy. Of course the person is Encik Ahmad Ramli. He couldn't wait to savour the chicken while I was excited about seeing Eiffel Tower!!







The apartment was on the 4th floor, all the way up the spiral staircase. The owner was a very pleasant man who showed me the nearest metro stops to get around Paris. After paying the deposit and rent, we showered and set foot for some light touring. Eiffel Tower was on the first list, followed by Palais Royale. But because my mother wasn't feeling too well, we had to take it easy on the first day.


I couldn't believe that I was finally here in Paris. The much talk about Paris, the Eiffel Tower, and all the films that have been shot in Paris. Some even naming the film after the city. You have An Evening in Paris, and also the movie Eiffel I'm In Love.

Minus the crowd and the whole load of tourists, the area surrounding the Tower is a really nice place to unwind and relax. I didn't go all the way up the Tower because my parents had been up there before, so I don't feel nice leaving them below. Anyway, I do have plans to revisit Paris with my housemates.

After snapping about a hundred shots of the tower, we strolled along the famous Seine River. If I had more money, I would have dine on the cruise with my parents. But then again, my dad needs his rice. So I would probably waste money for something they wouldnt enjoy.Hehe.


There is a movie I watched, Before Sunset, which was filmed in Paris and they went on the boat ride on the river, and I had a lot going in my mind because I was trying to capture every moment then, so that it would give me the same feeling as when I watched it in that movie.


I then wanted to see the Palais Royale or something, but since we couldn't find the Palace, we walked along the famous Champs Elysees. The correct pronunciation, or so says my French friend (eh bunyi mcm french fries??) is Shoh (dengung sket part hujung) Ellizay. There were so many luxurious boutiques which I could only imagine one day I would be able to swipe my credit card and then dine in one of the restaurants on the street for Escargot.....tapi aku rasa sedap lagi siput sedot masak lemak...hihihi



But you know what? I think it's all just the big hype. I mean, we do also have Fendi, Dior, Gucci, LV in Pavilion KL what? Only difference is the price would be cheaper in Europe and you get a Matsalleh serving you instead. And no snobby sales assistant yg perasan LV tu kedai dia.Hihi.
No I didn't buy anything in the famous boutiques. Not just yet.



to be continued...

Je m'apelle Shamimi

14 years ago, my Dad brought my siblings and I to an unforgettable vacation to the much talked about London , and Austria for a skiing trip. I considered myself very very lucky to have had the opportunity to travel abroad then. In my previous post I mentioned how upset I was that the pre-planned Paris trip in 1994 got cancelled and that was no mention about it anymore after that.

London.Paris.New York. The three main cities that flashes on evey billboard and is on everyone's lips when they talk of fashion, romance and art. I can now happily pin the Eiffel Tower on my map of countries I have visited , for Eiffel I'm in Love!

While most of my friends are saving the romantic city to be visited along with their significant other, I chose to share this city with my Parents. This time around, our little mini euro trip was sponsored by *cough*cough Yours Truly. It's a good feeling to be able to bring them around Paris although both of them had been to Paris before. As my Dad would say, it's not the Destination, but the journey we share. Ecewahh ayat Abah nak pancing je kan...



We took Ryanair to get to Beauvais airport, which was about an hour and a half to Paris. As soon as you arrive at the airport, there is a shuttle bus service that would bring you to the city centre for €13 one way. It is the most convenient way to Paris, and the bus would stop opposite of Concorde La Fayette Hotel.

Upon reaching Paris, I can't help but to try to differentiate if somebody was about to clear their phlegm or was just conversing in French. Khakk khakkk toiii is all I hear. You know how the French speaks, nak tercabut anak tekak bercakap...But, I love the language. it sounds so French. haha, literally.

Je m'apelle Shamimi, btw. ..sebab dah banyak kahak, boleh lah ckp french.hihi.

continued...