Sains Rumah Tangga atau lebih dikenali sebagai SRT

Dulu semasa bersekolah di Kg Kongo saya belajar Sains Rumah Tangga. Dari tingkatan 1 hingga tingkatan 3 kami pelajar perempuan terpaksa (saya kata terpaksa sebab saya tidak suka) mempelajari jahitan dan masakan.

Masa kelas jahitan kami akan duduk beramai-ramai di keliling sebuah meja kayu yang sangat humongous dan akan sama-sama cuba menyiapkan projek jahitan untuk tahun itu. Masa form 1 kami kena buat apron dan kep untuk kelas masakan. Masa form 2 pula buat house coat kalau tak silap saya. Masa form 3 kami telah menyiapkan skirt A-Line untuk SRP. Waktu jahitan adalah waktu trauma bagi saya. I hated sewing on the machine. I hated doing all the sembat susup. I hated sewing zips and buttons on to the skirt or blouse that we were doing. Ada satu mesin jahitan tu saya namakan mesin ngok ngek sebab bila kita tekan pedal untuk gerakkan jarum mesin tu akan kedengaran bunyi ngok ngek ngok ngek ngok ngek. I would curse at the machine and call it names but somehow whenever I did that the teacher would always be nearby and heard what I said and admonish me for my use of bad language.

"Kita ni Nurhayati orang perempuan. Kena pandai hal-hal rumahtangga."

Most of the time during jahitan my mind would wander and I'd always wish I was somewhere else doing something better. Seperti berada di kantin sekolah untuk menikmati hidangan nasi putih dan daging kicap abang Sam.

"Nurhayati! Senget jahitan tu! Berangan lagi. Kalau tak pandai kerja rumah ni nanti susah kamu nak cari laki!"

Puan Salmah, zaman sekarang ni kalau susah nak cari pasangan hidup bukan disebabkan kurang home management skills, tetapi disebabkan ramai abang-abang lebih suka mencari cewek di tanah seberang. Dan saya pula tidak termasuk di dalam statistik gadis-gadis Malaysia yang berpotensi untuk dibawa lari ke Pulau Lombok untuk dikahwini kerana saya sudah melepasi julat umur 14-18 tahun itu a looooooooong long time ago.

When in Alamanda do as the Putrajayans do

Whenever you're in Alamanda and you've forgotten what day it is, just look around you. If you see large groups of people wearing batik, it's Thursday.

Doktor

This morning I went to see a doctor for my aches and pains. He checked me and then said I needed to rest more and maybe have a change of lifestyle to lessen the stress. As you turn 40 stress can affect you so much more and in many different ways it seems. His biggest recommendation for the lifestyle overhaul was to cut down on caffeine, which he said could significantly reduce my stress level. But at the same time would probably trigger seizure-like withdrawal symptoms, but I just kept that thought to myself sebab muka doktor tu garang dan serius. Bad hair day barangkali. Ataupun baru bertengkar dengan the young and super inefficient Misi at the counter. She might be the only person I know to ask for my IC number after asking for my MyKad for registration.

After writing down the prescription he said he was off for a short break. I just nodded and said thank you.

I left the clinic and on the way to my car I stopped by the restaurant a few lots away to buy some, ehemm, hot tea. And I saw the doctor inside having a drink, and talking with his friends, and smoking like a dragon.

He saw me and said, "I need this to manage my stress."

I just nodded, and left the restaurant. Muka dia garang. Saya takut nak komen banyak-banyak.

Kantoi

Yesterday I spent some time with my niece, helping her with her reading. If any of you are familiar with the syllabus and the level of the ujian saringan they have to sit for to gauge their level of literacy you will know how difficult it is. Buat ujian saringan untuk darjah satu macam nak buat entrance test untuk jadi angkasawan. Somehow I feel lucky to belong to a different (nak cakap older tapi masih in denial) generation during which the text book for Bahasa Malaysia had more pictures than sentences. And the concept of 1Malaysia was immortalized through the names Zurina, Ah Chong and Ramasamy.

After the reading and writing activities my niece did some drawing and pasting. She divided her art block paper into four quadrants and drew something different in each. And then did some colouring. And then cut up some strips of paper and pasted them on the drawings. Then she presented her work to me as a gift.

-Here Mak Long. I did this for you. You can take this to your office and show it to your friends.
-Oooh. Thank you. What did you draw?
-Take a look.
-Wah cantiknya. Who is this pretty girl? (elemen membodek dan reinforcement of self-esteem through good words of encouragement)
-Mak Long. That's a boy. (Kantoi number 1)
-Oh OK. And what about this eraser? Pandai Aina lukis little hearts to decorate it!
-But that's a pizza! (Kantoi number 2)
-Uhuh. Well that's a special pizza then. (typical Mak Long cover up)
-Mak Long, can I tell you something?
-Sure.
-You're not good in arts and craft, are you?

Oh well.