i shall not stop writing.

It's been awhile since I updated... the one was complaining since I'd always complain when he hasn't updated even if it's for a couple of days. But then again, it was moi who fell for him for his writing... therefore, I think he should keep that momentum, eh?? ;P since he didn't really read me that religiously even when I had already read him for awhile and posted comments on his blog (then), I don't think I am obligated to update anything, right? hehe... well... that is part of the funny arguments we have about who fell for whom even now and he'd always give this come back which will silence me with a smile - that we are married now... so, it doesn't matter, does it? ;D

Anyways, so many things have happened since the last update. I think the most memorable one was the fact that the one asked me out for a date in a club. Well, we all know that he's not one who'd do clubbing. He hates clubbing and we've never really done clubbing together even when we were dating. But... I guess this time was an exception since his youngest sister, Ana, was doing an opening act at the Laundry Bar.

I must say, I was truly impressed. I know Ana could sing and has a very lovely voice. I also know she writes good songs and is not afraid to perform infront of the entire family... but I've never seen her do a gig, live. What's more impressive was the fact that she had Aidit Alfian, the Booty brothers and Andy Flop Poppy as her back-up musicians. It's like - whoa.... my sis-in-law!!

I did however prefer her live singing at home with her strumming her guitar than the entire get up as the loud music kinda drowned out her beautiful voice.

Another fact that made me so fascinated with her was the fact that she had her three brothers all fully supporting her (one even sang along to her lyrics which I knew nuts). Khalil was seen busy recording her performance on his entrusted N95 while the one tried hard to maintain 'hensem' since I could be easily annoyed when he monkeys around in public hehe... and not to mention, the '12th' sibling of the Raffali's, Ahmad, who's a loyal supporter as well. Gosh... this girl is truly lucky - talented, being backed up by strong men, beauty and brains, all in one package.

We didn't stay long for the next 2 performers since the 2nd one started out really noisy and I didn't want to stress little jj. Although she didn't really move an inch, I just didn't want to take that chance. Plus, the place was getting really crowded (like a weekend crowd!) and I didn't want to get so exposed to the cigarette smoke... in fact, I didn't want to go to the show earlier as I expected being exposed to smokers until 'someone' actually told me assumingly that since it was a weekday, there was a probability of only a handful of audience. Yeah, right.

Anyways, the day after, I realised that we haven't yet made time for our much postponed anniversary dinner and suggested that we go to Monte's, BSC, where we had our first proper date. There were so many times that we wanted to have dinner there but the place was always full. This time, however, although I suggested going there, I had a change of heart later that evening especially when I thought of the bottomless beverage that Chilli's could offer and who could say no to Chilli's, right?

It was a lovely dinner. It is always lovely when we get to sit together and talk because I guess that was what brought us closer together anyway. I like the fact that you can communicate with your other half as communication is one important key to a successful relationship. More often than not, it's the lack of communication and assumptions that lead to arguments but with communications, can any problems be solved provided that one wants to find solutions rather than just pretending that things can be resolved all by itself.

I also kinda liked the fact that the girl who was manning the seating arrangements was very considerate and friendly. Although the guy who was helping her out told us to wait for 15 minutes and we kinda took a little more than 15 minutes window shopping, she still pointed us quickly to the next available table when she saw I had to wait for a little while more. People have told me that I look like I am due for delivery as the tummy looks really huge and I guess that fact gave me an advantage at times for faster service. It's quite nice, actually, being pregnant hehe...

But.. being pregnant has its stressful side as well especially being me. Like another blogger pointed out to me, I am a stickler for time.

Yes, although I was truly surprised how he can figure this out just by reading me, I am a stickler for time. I mean, there's only 24 hours a day for you to live by. And within that 24 hours, you should figure out your schedule as effectively as possible. You don't have to stick by it carved in stones but you kinda have to have an idea of for example, when's your maximum stretch to have breakfast/lunch/dinner, when you need to turn in to bed for you to be able to wake up nice and easy in the morning for work, when you need to start cooking for you to have dinner at a certain time, when's your most productive time, etc. Those working always need to arrange specific time for meetings to avoid rush hour traffic jams and and whether we could head straight home after a late afternoon meeting, etc.

For me, being pregnant, I get tired much easily. Hence, I need to specifically schedule my day knowing that I'd have enough rest everyday. Plus, since I have this little jj in me to be fed, I am very strict on when I must grab a bite. After all, everything we do is about discipline. Without discipline, how do you live your life and expect things to be okay. But this stickler to strict timing may be a little bit stressful to those around you as you dictate what you need while expecting them to follow. But I am pregnant and I am only thinking of the little one and I don't think that is asking for anything impossible. Of course, I do know that once little jj is out, there's no way I could stick to specific timing but I do know that if I at least have an idea of what I should do and when things are supposed to be done, it would be easier for me to juggle my time in between those feeds and attention.

Overall, this pregnancy has been good. I haven't been putting on too much weight, and since I'm carrying a girl, I guess it contributes somewhat to the continuous glowing complexion even without makeup. I like it. I didn't have morning sickness and the consistent massages/reflexology probably helped in the infrequent leg cramps compared to the excruciating pain I had to endure almost daily during the first pregnancy. I think I am also more relaxed although the first few months was highly stressful with things happening around me but I am more composed now I guess also due to the fact that I have such a supportive partner who'd do anything to ensure my full comfort. Heck, I am even so proud of him when he could pause his game on the PSP whenever I start getting clumsy and things falling off my grasp... he'd immediately stop his game so that he could help me pick up those things and tell me it's alright for me to be clumsy... hehe... (you all know, right, that a pregnant woman's brain kinda shrinks a little and the woman will start forgetting things or be clumsy).

So, although I've advised Linda not to allow her hubby to buy the PSP or PS3, I think the advise should sound like, "It's okay provided that he will stop his game whenever you need him to.." hmmm... susah jugak nak justify cos you wouldn't know until he owns one ;)

Right now, I am watching the president of our national oil company being interviewed on TV1. I've heard his side with whatever facts that the one presented to me from what people's perception of the company's contribution to the nation. There are logics and truths in it as a company doing legit business and it still boils down to the government and what they do with the income they receive. I believe the national oil company isn't the only one contributing to the nation's piggy bank.

I've read one blog that wrote us rakyat as a 'spoilt' lot for expecting continuous subsidies. I think she must either be so naive to believe that or that she's a rich girl and living with her parents, not having to pay a big amount for the downpayment of her car and rental/housing instalment.

I believe that we as rakyat understands fully about the subsidy. Yes, in order to be competitve, we would understand if the subsidies would one day be taken away. However, I am not agreeable to the fact that the government thinks that the rakyat are stoopid lots expecting to accept everything lying down. One of them even said earlier that there are no reasons for food price to be increased as there are subsidies to rice, flour, etc. There are no reasons for public transport such as express buses and taxis to increase their fare.

Like hello... we are not living in a simplistic world. Everyone would need to survive. Taxi drivers have their family to feed and provide education and stuff. If everything else increase, they definitely will increase their fare. In fact, a short distance from the Kelana Jaya lrt to our apartment cost RM5 flat with the taxi driver even taking in other passengers! Do I blame them? No.

With regards to food, there is still transportation cost, etc. Yes, subsidising is just on a certain stage but then again, we know that getting that nice fragrant rice we all are so used to and have the rights to buy have been increased. All their lives, the Raffali clan had always had good quality fragrant rice even with such a huge family to feed but they have now resort to buying normal plain subsidised rice, just to try out the 'change of lifestyle' advise from our intelligent and considerate leaders.

Then, you suddenly see all grievances from the transportation side that express buses only receive subsidies for a certain amount.

Then there was this announcement that public servants are now allowed to have a 2nd job. Look. We all know that the income from the 2nd job is also taxable. Who gains in the end? You got it. Who loses? The rakyat, in the end. Because we still need to survive and yet 2nd jobs doesn't allow one to have a quality of life. How's the family? Bonding with the kids? Is that what our nation should expect in the future? Yet we have news of families losing their kids and the NGOs blaming parents for not knowing where their children are, and the proposed ruling that parents can be charged with negligence. Who's gaining and who's losing here?

I kinda start to think that hujan emas/hujan batu phrase doesn't apply anymore.

I think before the government puts all these into action, shouldn't they walk the talk? Shouldn't they turun padang and see for themselves how insecure it can be for a woman to take public transport? Timing and crowd? The condition of buses that always break down? And with everything else now increase in costs, a higher possibility of crime rate especially in crowded places? And you expect me to take public transport? No way!

What has happened to the previous ruling/encouragement that companies provide childcare for their women staff?

Why do we always compare ourselves to other 'Asian' countries and not the BEST Asian country? Why don't we take Singapore, for example? Yes, they pay a high tax, they pay higher costs for most of their things BUT but but... you should see how much quality they have in terms of the environment, public transport and large flats. There's greenery everywhere... those big buildings will always have huge landscape in front of their offices... you can just walk from one end of Orchard Road to the next (I've done it, trust me) and you hardly get sunshine on your skin as you walk under lush trees on large walking pavements. Hence, you get to cycle and walk freely. Their cabbies are so systematic and their MRTs goes thru almost all ends of the island. What? Because their country is small? Not really. They surely have started somewhere rather than focus on unimportant things. Their housing areas are also well planned.

Then, their income is (when converted) 2x ours but their cost of things are (when converted) half of ours. That is why, they can basically afford Gucci handbags especially during the sale period.

With our ministers all going abroad apparently to 'learn' from other countries, what really have they brought home? You should see the BTS in Bangkok and the MRT in Singapore. How's our Putra lrt? Still within pitiful condition as the rakyat brave thru the horrendously narrow and short train during morning and evening rush hour, not to mention how bad it can become during the fasting month and school holidays. Itu Putra... what about the continuous complaints on our commuter service?

If you touch on the travelling abroad by the ministers, you should see the swarm of people who accompanies the ministers - there will be other ministers as well, top prominent businessmen, then there would also be their wives and their wives' entourage.

So why don't they not just take public transport once in awhile (like when Tony Fernandez also does stewarding on board his Air Asia flights), stop using riders when they travel by car, show us how they've changed their lifestyle by showing us how they've cut down their travelling cost and the number of people accompanying them, provide us their monthly electricity bills because I can not imagine those houses who uses only RM43 per month on their electricity. As I could see from the bungalows (that look like a resort) that was built for the Selangor exco (which is now being sold off) are all fully air-conditioned (my air-condition in 2 rooms already cost us more than RM200 for last month) and that is before the increase in electricity tariff. 10% cut in entertainment allowance is simply not good enough.

Gosh. I've written so much already.

Yes, we can walk this thru together with the government but stop taking us rakyat as stupid. We are all smart people hence the change in the last polling. We need explanations but stop saying ours is still better than other countries because we know that... we just need to be assured that those up there don't keep gaining while us down here keep having to fork out for everything while we pay hefty taxes. Don't tell me we are putting on hold bigger projects when you've just launched the ECER and providing tax-free environment for investors... if we are losing so much on subsidy, why are we giving way to investors whom we know can pay millions in taxes. Wouldn't that help?

I've said I've written so much, yet I keep writing. I guess the title above holds so true. I shall not stop writing. Hmmm...