Archive for Urdu

Cukur Rambut, Hospital Bill, Circumcision and Language

21 April, 2009 · Filed under language, money, Tufeil, Urdu

Fri, 17th April

Tufeil turned 3 weeks yesterday!!

and he had his cukur rambut (shave head) just now. We called the Sri Nada guy to come over to our house and paid $30 for his service. We havent weighed nor converted into gold tho. The culture in Pak would pay in Silver. He said its because guys can’t wear gold. But they cant wear silver either can they?

Oh yeah and i also received the FINAL HOSPITAL BILL yesterday.

The first one came was for me. The delivery suite charges, ward, food, medicines, etc came up to S$3,570.98. But after a government grant of $1,513.60, and antenatal claim of $417.55, my Medisave account paid 100% of it and even had a balance of $238.62 due to me! Alhamdulillahhhh

But i cldnt rejoice yet until i got Tufeil’s hospital bill. 1 day in Neonatal ward class B2 = $75. 5days in Special Care Nursery Class C = $1,225. Total $4,279.80. Total payable after government grant = $0.

Alhamdulillah. I am sooooooooo thankful to God I don’t hafta pay anything. I was worried cos i heard a lot of pple had to pay some $3 – 4k!! But because I had gone thru the polyclinic route n got all those grants. The one and only downside of it was Husband could not room in with patient in the ward before n after delivery because it was a B2+ ward shared among 5 patients.

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We have so many things to do. After the Cukur rambut, we hafta think about circumcision.

Actually i’m not totally convinced that we should get it done during his infancy ie before he starts to crawl. Although I agree that there would be less hassle doing it earlier, I feel that the boy needs to experience it when he’s older and better appreciate the meaning of it.

But then again, the trend is for babyhood circumcision and i would risk making the boy feel insecure or be bullied / tormented by his peers by doing late. I know i’m thinking too much into the matter and should just get it over with.

However, the Question now is WHEN and WHERE can i do it? Then a relative said something about the Ring method will not give a nice…. hm… er… effect as opposed to thread. ERRRRR???? I have no idea, no idea at all! HELP!

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Although sometimes its irritating when Zubair stopped me from speaking in Malay to Tufeil, its kinda cute that he wonders, “What if he dont know how to speak Urdu and talk to me in Malay?”

LOL. I told him to just keep talking Urdu to baby and he will understand and speak it to the right person. I gave Fara’s children as example. They automatically know what lang to use to speak to which person. And he was comforted. I hope. haha.

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And so i Returned their Money…

8 August, 2008 · Filed under fashion, money, Pakistan, S'pore, Urdu

If you remember, Last Jan, i took orders for punjabi suits .

If you remember, i had an accident while i was on holiday neither was there internet access at his home as his computer was down at that time. Then i tried to mms my clients to get them to choose which material they want but the MMSes never got thru to them. And i tot, nevermind lah i will post the pictures when i get back to Singapore and do the transaction via email or something.

Then another big hurdle of trying to translate the 5 measurement forms from English to Urdu. I couldnt figure out how to transfer the figures without having to rewrite ALL SETS over and over again and some measurements has extra instructions and specifications that was just IMPOSSIBLE to translate.

In the end, i tot just translate one form and ask Ammi to refer to that form for the others as the template is the same and besides she is a professional tailor she’d know how to estimate stuffs i imagine.

But there’s another problem. To match the measurement form with the picture of the material chosen for this or that person. Im telling u it was a complete headache. It was very bad of me to have procastinated for a long long time before i could settle the measurement.

It was April when i finally manage to write each information of each order into an email and send it off. By this time, their computer was ok so they could check their email.

I dont know why but after one month there was still no news. I kept asking Zubair to call and ask but everytime he would just say, “Darling, i suggest u just return their money lah.” BUt i told him, “Ok…. but i at least wanna know which part of the transaction went wrong. Is it no more material or cannot understand or what? At least i can explain to the rest mah”

This conversation repeated like 5 or 6 times… in the end i just ask which are ready so i can return the rest. Even that one Zubair cant answer properly. Dont know lah ur cousin’s red colour and your sisters i think. I ask, “My cousin didnt order red colour! and my sister’s all two sets or what?” a big DONT KNOW. And he’s telling ME to have some KNOWLEDGE?!?!?!?!?!?!

We wanted to send whatever that is ready thru my uncle who is visiting Old Lahore which is about 1 or 2hrs away. But even that he couldnt arrange properly. Granted He DID try to contact my uncle but his hp was off. But i dont suppose he tried very hard. How to register a business like this? OMG. *heart pain*

In any case, since i got some money, i quickly return everybody’s money. If it happens that any of their suits are ready i will give them THEN and they can pay THEN.

So i just got back from having lunch with my Japanese Aunty who works nearby and returned her $50. She was the one who was apologetic. I said no no it really is my fault. then she treated me with lunch at Wok Express =D

After that i straight away met my junior from sch who works even nearer to me. She also very cute one. very generous type. She ordered just 1 suit but gave me $50. But told me to return only $40 for all the arrangement that i have done thus far. She understands that its a very complicated process.

So yes. Today i feel very light and happy! I dont wanna owe anybody any money. Even though i let my customers down, we are still friends… and relative. =)

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Zubair Plays Kya Yahi Pyar Hai

8 July, 2008 · Filed under music, Urdu, video, Xubi

Zubair entertained me while in the hotel.

This time, i know the title of the song! I even know what it means! “Is this love?”

Kya = what / question
Yeh / yahi = this
Pyar = love
Hai = is

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The Sentosa Resort & Spa Day 3

7 July, 2008 · Filed under dates, Food, money, pictures, S'pore, travel, Urdu, work

Sat, 5th July 08

So the initial plan was to wake up at 7am, eat our breakfast then go back to sleep till 12 and check out at 1pm then go to underwater world.

Of course we were too tired to wake up and finally scrambled to eat at 9:30am and Breakfast ends at 10:30am! Today, the breakfast was disappointing yet again. In place of hashbrowns were baked potato, and of mushrooms, tomatoes!

There were also fried noodle and fried rice… but i need something… that’s NOT VEGE!! Alas, a check with the Muslim waiter, revealed that the chicken in siew mai and sausages are NOT halal cos they come in supermarket packets kind, as opposed to kitchen cooked item like the Indian meals. All the things that i liked from the previous day’s breakfast were not there. Not even the sugary cinnamon roll!

Zubair just had a glass of milk, 1/2 a waffle + scrambled eggs and cereal with milk. I kept urging him to take some more cos its a god damn buffet! Such a waste if u dont eat! But he insisted he was full. Which always mean that he doesnt like the food. Again, i felt guilty for Z that he didnt get a good Breakfast spread.

We hung around the swimming pool. Z wanted to swim. I had even packed our swimming attires but felt too shy to do so.

Look at how big and open the pool is!

No intimacy like Amara’s at all! Fri night was ideal time to swim but was afraid will get chased out by the staff. Besides! Only 1/5 of the pool is below 1.4m and both of us are not qualified swimmers.

At the lobby while waiting for the Yellow Line to come

To my bewilderment, i was asked to foot the bill for the room service as well as mini bar items which amounts to a whopping $92.99! I almost fainted. I tried to negotiate with them that Mike already agreed to cover these expenses but her argument is that, he wasnt there to verify the purchase. Thank god my CitiBank card got thru, otherwise we would be washing dishes instead of sight seeing!

The plan was to park our luggage at the hotel first before going to Underwater World. But now that i have 90% maxed the credit card, i dont think it can take another $22 x 2 for the entrance fee! But i do have some money in the bank. Enough to take the cable car ($10.90 x 2) and cab ($19) home (and still be able to last for another week).

So because we’re going home straight, we hafta lug the bags with us: 1 trolley, 1 keyboard, 1 paper bag filled with projector, and my big side bag. Worse, we had to change bus from Yellow to the Red / Blue Line to go to the Cable Car station. I felt so embarassed with all the bags. Macam Makcik dgn pakcik balik pasar.

There was no queue at all for the way back. I got paranoid that our car was lopsided, heavy on one side with all the bags but Z told me not to worry. And i stopped worrying. I suppose there heavier pple who are seated on just one side of the car before and it turned out alright.

I love this picture! Zubair, on his own initiative, put it up on desktop. *HUGS*

Zubair said, “From below, it looked so far but when you’re in it, so fast reached the end of the journey.” I replied, “Good. I kinda prayed that it wont last long.” Though i dont have a phobia of heights but i get paranoid. Its not like there’s never been an accident before.

It was a nice feeling that when we came home, it was only Saturday. Like the clock got rewound (past tense of rewind??). We caught up on sleep then……

Again, i felt guilty for not fulfilling my hyped up promise to him to visit The Underwater World.

My darling, i hope u had enjoyed Sentosa even though the food was terrible, u were alone most of the time (w restricted funds) and we didnt really sight see much. I hope u won’t regret coming with me. I suppose it IS much better than having to stay at home, na?

But something soothed my ear that will echo forever and ever. That is when he said in sheer excitement, “Dont quit this company ok?” after Mike said we could order anything.

Phew! I didnt think i could finish writing about it today! Now concentrate on work!

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Mere Baap Pehle Aap

17 June, 2008 · Filed under dates, friends, movies, Ups, Urdu

UPDATE

I forgot to write how loved i felt that night when Z took my hand when we were walking, crossing the road and in the theater. These small gestures made a big deal in my heart. As Z would put it, “My heart went blinking blinking.” =)

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I wondered all thru the movie what does the title mean… Only towards the end did i discover it means, “My Father, YOU first.”

MERE = MY

Baap = Father

Pehle = First

Aap = You

At first i thought i was condemned to spend the last week and the next at home. That was until Rabiah, Zubair’s friend who is very much MY friend now, asked us out! We explained to her our “Drought” situation but she said its ok for this first time, its her treat bcos she’s been anxiously waiting for the release of this movie…

I was super excited to meet her for the first time! PLUS it also meant that i can buy them popiah from Qi Ji again. Just what i was craving for at that hour! (But believe you me… 1hr after i gobbled them up, i was craving for them again! By the time it was too late, already fastened in the movie and by the time it finished, Qi Ji would have closed.)

We had dinner first at that Indian coffee shop near Liang Seah Street. And i giggled non-stop w Rabiah showing the Malay side in her when she became outraged that i only ordered Murtabak for Z and myself. She said, “Eh please dont do this to me lah. Not nice you know…”

You see Malay has this generous yet polite mentality where one would feel insulted if the treatee orders a small meal when being given a treat by the treator when actually the treatee feels embarrassed to take advantage of the situation and make a dent on the treator’s wallet. Funny aye?

But i insisted that i already have my popiah and that would be enough. However, when Rabiah couldn’t decide what to eat, we decided to share the murtabak around while Z orders Chicken Briyani. We even had some left over Murtarabak that we packed for home for Z’s supper!

Thru out that short dinner, Rabiah managed to practise her Punjabi, made Z WEEP craving for her mother’s food every numerous times that she described how nice her mother cooks this and that this and that. LOL.

I almost leapt with joy when she bought Strawberry Pocky for the movie. MY FAVOURITE! Strawberry some more~ hehehe

After the movie, Rabiah had to rush home for a dinner date with her mother AND Salman Khan. LOL. on TV that is. So we didnt really get to hang out properly. Raincheck that after pay day alright! We’ll go bowling next insya’Allah!

About the movie… well… its so funny it was down right rude! I am Malay at heart and in my blood and i cannot stand a child, however grown up they are, being RUDE to their parents. That is totally unspeakable. I was actually grossed out when people actually LAUGH when the son was “punishing” the father. Er… i dont find anything funny in there, people.

Besides, after seeing Kung Fu Panda, this movie is pale in comparison. OH well.. At least they’ve got the traditional singing and dancing and i get to sharpen my ears and look out for familiar urdu / hindi words being put into everyday sentences.

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Lovely Overseas Phone Call

29 May, 2008 · Filed under family, married life, Pakistan, Ups, Urdu

My Bro-in-Law, Salman called me last night.

He called my hp and Zubair was not around. We talked for a full 12min. And suddenly things seem so much easier and i think i can live through all hurdles.

He’s two years younger than me but seem more matured. We struggled with English and Urdu. Very nice to be put back on pressure to speak Urdu, otherwise it’ll get rusty even before it can run off my tongue.

He related how he was reminiscing with Ammi ji (MIL) when she was down with fever the other day about that first night when i came to Pakistan and we had dinner on that particular floor they were on …

He said how they all missed me and Not to worry but come back to Pakistan quickly, he will take leave from work and be my BODYGUARD. I feel very much relieved upon hearing that. Zubair can go have fun with HIS friends all he want (he warned me earlier to leave him alone to go out the next trip and tt i cldn’t join bcos its really not what they do), Salman will accompany me, HUMPH.

He asked if everything is ok, if i’m happy. Well i just said, “Main bahut khushu hai/hoon?” Im happy lah… dont have the heart to complain about the trivial things. After all, Z doesnt go and complain ANYTHING about ME to ANYONE.

And then he said, “Im happy to hear you laugh.” Although it’s really bcos i think my Urdu was crappy but it’s nice all the same that he remarked such.

Last of all, we arrange a date to come online for webchat Sat night/Sun morning. Hopefully Z will be home by then! Im sure Ammi misses to look at him.

That call really made my night. Suddenly i can jump mountains. and All is well…

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Word Fusion

29 April, 2008 · Filed under Funnies, Urdu

We’ve all heard of Food fusion, but i’ve created a Word Fusion.

Well… actually probably somebody else already practised it only i’m not in the know.

And the word is……………

“Jaldi Lah!!!”

Hahah Jaldi is Urdu word for Quick, HUrry up!

Lah is… Malay slang / additional word.

I didn’t notice it actually. Z was the one who repeated what i said questioningly, “Jaldi Lah? What is that?” So funny!

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Main Gandhi Bacchi Hoon

11 April, 2008 · Filed under ME, Urdu, work

Is it just me or it normal to have a cluttered desk with staples and paper clip hiding under your keyboard?
Main = Me
Gandhi = Dirty / Naughty (in female form. Male = Gandha)
Bacchi = Girl / Gal (Boy / Guy = Baccha)
Hoon = Am (in first person form)
Lekin Zubair SABSE GANDHA BACCHA Hai!
lekin = But
Sabse = MOST
Hai = Is. (verb to-be in the form of third person or things)

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Another Exciting Lunch with NH

20 January, 2008 · Filed under dates, friends, JoOb Search, ME, Pakistan, Urdu, Xubi

I felt like eating Yong Tau Foo, so this time it was at Banquet Arcade.

I brought my broken shoe to get a change of sole but the ah pek (Chinese uncle) told me that it’s beyond repair!!! Arghhh

Banquet is the worst place for lunch, i think. SOOOOOOOO crowded! Worse, i didnt have cash on me and NH didn’t have extra to spare. I went in search of the ATM, halfway i turned back, scared of getting lost. But i did see a Fig & Olive there! Luckily, i had spare change amounting to $3.50, exactly the cost of Yong Tau Foo!

Well… resolving the technical glitch at work earlier, i totally forgot about copying notes from the Urdu book and didnt even bring it along with me in my haste and blurriness.

I also discovered there is SASA at Arcade. I’ve been wanting to buy BLOOM lip gloss but thought Plaza Singapura is soo inconvenient to go. Alone.

This time around, i got interviewed by her! Lol, among other things we talked about my impending trip to Lahore, punjabi dress and Zubair’s job. She mentioned to her mum (my ex colleague, remember?) that he’s looking for a job and Alhamdulillah, she said yeah they would indeed need another General Worker but if we had told her earlier, they wouldn’t have hired that new person who just started! She asked how much are we asking for. Initially i told her $800. but i seriously don’t know what’s the market rate for foreign workers in such industry. But i do wonder if it has gone up a bit since Singapore’s employment rate is at an all time high.

I reached office almost 2:15pm!

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Hospital Appt

15 January, 2008 · Filed under Downs, health, married life, memories, Uncategorized, Urdu

I went to meet a gynae last Fri.

No, im not pregnant. But im having mid cycle bleeding.

My last period was on 13th Dec 07 which lasted for 5 days. I stopped yasmin on 9th Dec. So i was expecting my next period to be somewhere on the 10th or 11th Jan. Instead, 10 days after 13th Dec, i experienced some bleeding for about 4 – 5 days, 2 of them quite a lot!

And then on 2nd Jan i bled again! Quite heavy with some period pain. Even till the day of the appt ie 11th Jan, it hasnt stopped yet. Total: 10 days.

After the doctor probed me, she concluded that there’s no extraordinary growth on the external but would like me to go thru another scan. I had done this in 2003. It was soo cool, how they could access my information even from another hospital! Too bad they can’t see assessments from private clinics.

 Anyways, the doctor told me that 2nd Jan was my period!!! At first i was shocked, “You mean its a 3 week cycle?” They gave it some tot and said yeah its possible. Its short but its possible.

By THEY, i meant the doctor AND the nurse. Hmmm I hafta say that nurses are not supposed to be in there during consultation! I know i was friendly to her earlier on b4 the doc came in esp cos she’s Malay. But i feel that the privacy and confidentiality between a doctor and patient has been violated!!! I would have told the doctor more if only the nurse weren’t there! Aiyah! 

Back to story.

The doctor explained that my body is just recovering and waking up from a drunken stupor of Yasmin. And that’s why my period got a bit haywire. And then she suggested that i just let it be for 3 months or so to monitor if the bleeding fades eventually. Esp bcos i have history of mid-cycle bleeding and it went away gradually. Also it’s very normal for women to bleed during ovulation bcos of some sensitive tissues or something. If it persists, then we shall do the scan. In not so many words, she’s telling me not to worry lah.

I said, “Yeah ok sure… only thing is im meeting my husband in about two weeks time and i dont wanna be bleeding then!”

In the end, she prescribed me 3 weeks supply of norethisterone which is effective to stop bleeding immediately. But we hafta use other contraceptive methods while on this pill. Hmmm i wonder why… In any case, I decided that i shall wait and see what happens this 2 weeks.. If during my travels, i exp mid cycle bleeding then i will take it, if not, i shan’t.

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I hafta say that i totally totally hated waiting at that lounge for my no to be called. Not bcos i had to wait for so long but bcos it reminded me of the last time i was  there with Zubair. I still remember very clearly how he made me talk to his “sister” Nimra in Urdu on the phone. And then laughed at me.

I remember now that the Question i asked her was, “How’s your son?” Nimra who is 16 or perhaps 17yrs old has given birth to a son. I remember her sounding confused. And now i know why. Bcos she’s not Nimra after all! But that stupid Mehvish the Ex Girlfriend. Oh God i so hate her with all my heart and soul! Despicable to say the least!

I also remember how she told me, at that very hospital, “Please be happy with your marriage.” Now i feel like telling her, “How am i supposed to be happy with my freaking marriage when you’re still in the bloody picture, you God damned bitch?!”

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When i went to Hidayah’s place, refer to this post, it again reminded me of the damned woman. 

It was 9th Nov, we went Raya visiting. We were in the car, when he got a call. It was a fri BUT a Deepavali. He was talking in Urdu. At first he said its Rizwan and asked how’s Ammi and all. When i told him i wanted to speak with Rizwan, he said, “Darling, we’re talking about some problems here.” When not 3min ago he was laughing and asking, “Kya kar rahi ho?” and he was using a female tense! Excuse me, but im not as stupid as you think i am! And i shall remember everything that you’ve done to me.

And this is after his COUNTLESS reassurance and promise and swears to ME that he doesnt call her anymore. Yeah yeah i know u can twist the words around. Sure YOU dont call her but SHE called you.

Later, in a counselling session at Jamiyah. He admitted he WAS indeed talking to the bitch. HAH. You can’t get away with anything. The truth has a way of creeping out. Just stay truthful or you will forever live your life in fear of having your lies back stabbing you in return. No wonder, lying is a sin.

Anyways, After that i got moody and refused to talk to him. At the void deck while wiating for the rest and in Hid’s house. I just pretended to be so busy talking to my friends.

But nay. I shan’t be threatened by her. I’m better than her. Why, she can’t even speak proper English! And i know Zubair loves me MORE than her. He MARRIED me. He chose ME.

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