He Came, He Snapped A Picture And I’m A Young Lawyer

U.S. Court of Appeal Judge David Ebel came by to pay a courtesy call to the Chief Justice of Malaysia some months ago. I was instructed to take the conversation minutes of the informal meeting. He is very experience and learned. I marveled the way he casually discussed heavy stuff with the Big Boss.
Thereafter, the Chief Justice had an Federal Court hearing. So I went to transform into my court attire in my chambers. (With the Big Boss, you must always have the Court Attire ready. He despises last minute postponements so even when a judge is taken ill, he would be the “hakim terjun” so that the case would not be postponed.)
At the same time, the Chief Registrar was showing Judge Ebel around the Palace of Justice. As I was heading back to my chambers after the hearing, I saw the Chief Registrar and Judge Ebel at the entrance of the Federal Court. I went to say hello.
Judge Ebel was so impressed with how I looked like in a bip and black rob, (as he just saw me in my office attire about a few hours ago) he immediately requested to take a photo with me. He couldn’t believe his ears when I told him my age, my previous and current posts, especially the stuff that I was doing now.
I thought that was the end of it but boy was I wrong.
Today, as I was doing some online research for some stuff, I came across this website. It is the Malaysian-US Embassy website.
Lo and Behold! I saw a picture of Judge Ebel and “a young lawyer” at the Malaysian Court of Appeal in Putrajaya (Actually, it is the Malaysian Federal Court, hehehe).
“Young Lawyer”… hahaha…
Sape nak sangka “young lawyer” ni dah jadi bapak orang…
Blog adjourned.

Booger Off!

Boogey Boogey!

My God I have been so obsessed about it for the past few days. Every time I pick her up I would take a peek through her cute button nose to see if her booger is hanging outside her nose so that I could gently grab it out.

Yeah yeah, everyone seems to suggest that I let it be and to leave it where it is as it is harmless but I can’t. I’d go *hins*hins* hoping that she would follow me and out comes the green snot. It never happened.

Not until just now. I could see her booger flip flopping as she was breathing in my arms. But helpless as I was, it was out of my finger’s reach.

It almost killed me to be patient when the Bride told me to relax and let it come out naturally. So down I went to have my dinner with my baby’s snot stuck in her nose and at the back of my mind.

Suddenly… the Bride called my phone.

“Guess what”

“What? She pooped?”

“no… her booger’s out”

“Serious? Besar tak?"

“Tengokla sendiri”

“ok. I makan jap”

So after dinner I went up and there it was… my baby’s booger… IT WAS HUGE! I wonder how in the world could “that” fit in such a small nose! My mom was also amused. Not with her granddaughter's booger but how that girl's daddy was so excited with his first child's tahi hidung. This is not the first time but usually it's just the normal size. INI BESAR SIUT!!!

No wonder she would make a lot of snorty sounds when she sleeps… the airway was blocked! I manage to secure it in between a clear tape and stored it in her treasure box.

Allhamdulillah, now she is sleeping peacefully AND quietly…

Kalau pelombong bijih timah nampak mesti nak sign contract.

(Hehehe. I am sure around 15 years from now, if one of her friends managed to find this post, she is certainly not going to be as pleased as how she is now when she is sleeping beside me. Yes baby, I'm so proud of your great success today!)

Booger Adjourned.

The Public Poopy

As you might have read or heard, I have been quite responsible in disposing my little one's golden waste. Except for some nights when I could not wake up as I mistaken the Bride's call for duty as a beautiful lullaby which drives me into deeper sleep.

It's a no biggy to get down and dirty with my girl. The chrett is what we call her big bubu. Chrett because it literally sounds like that.

The normal drill would be to unbutton onesie, unwrap the diaper, check her clothes for any misfire or wardrobe malfunction, wipe wipe, dry dry, olive oil splish splash, place a new clean dry diaper under her cute bum, and Valla! A beautiful baby with a clean bum.

But such honourable duty can sometimes be extremely stressful. Especially when there are curious guests around. These guests, already amused to find out that I bath my baby every day, are too curious to leave the room when I have to clean my baby's smelly buns.
"Betul ke dia boleh buat ni semua?" or so they seem to say.

So they stay around as I fulfill my destiny as a poopy cleaner. And they watch with without blinking. It’s like I’m competing in a spectator sport. Being an amateur, I begin to lose my focus. I start lose my props. I can't find my tissues, cotton, baby wipes, olive oil and the bunch of other cleaning stuff. Pressure okay cuci buntut bila orang tengok!

Just as I am about to complete my task, my uncooperative little girl would just turn her face red and Chrett... Pause... Chrett again... smile... pee... scream… and give everyone the I’m-very-uncomfortable-please-change-me-now… FAST… look.

Aduyai…

What usually would take less than 4 minutes now seems to be taking 10 hours.

Hilang macho gua...

Poopy adjourned.

The Wrong Answer...

The Black Eyed Peas will be having a concert at Sunway Surf Beach, Sunway Lagoon in Selangor tomorrow. It is in conjunction with Arthur’s Day. Arthur, or his full name being Arthur Guinness, was the founder of the Guinness brewery business.
Arthur’s Day is the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of a lease on the St James’s Gate in Dublin, Ireland in 1759, marking the start of the heritage and legacy of Arthur, the man who started a brew that is still drank throughout the world today. It’s a wonder how many families have been wrecked by the result of this brand. But that is not the point that I wish to make on this post.
I am more interested with the Black Eyed Peas concert tomorrow.
I am not a big fan of BEP. I’m just a HUGE fan. I like their songs. Will I Am is a creative dude with an excellent ear for music whilst Fergie is just… Fergielicious.
I heard that the Information, Communication and Culture Ministry imposed a Muslim ban on the concert tomorrow night because of the Arthur’s Day celebration. I wonder if there would still be any Muslims who would want to try their luck and go to the concert. If they manage to sneak in, then so be it.
However, I realize that there might be a very dangerous scenario to consider. Hypothetically, consider this possible scenario. Fulan, a super Huge fan of BEP (and a Muslim), decides to go to the BEP concert tomorrow. He failed to sneak in through the back door. Being adamant to enjoy the concert, he tries to go in through the normal entrance. At the gate, the guard sees him and asks him, if he is a Muslim. Fulan, not wanting to miss the BEP concert, answers that no, he is not a Muslim, so that the guard would let him in. He was allowed in. Being super duper excited jumping and dancing, Fulan suffered a heart attack and died. The E-N-D for Fulan surely...
Okay, that’s a little bit too dramatic. But hey, it is still possible right?
Now, should Fulan be buried as a Muslim or as someone who has denounced Islam?
Hmmm…
It is indeed a very difficult situation to even think about so why not stay away from such difficulty…
May God Bless Fulan and give him guidance to make the right choice.
Blog adjourned.

Back To School (Again?)

If all goes well, I might be taking sabbatical leave to continue my studies at INCEIF. INCEIF or International Centre for Islamic Studies and Finance, offers this course called Chartered Islamic Finance Profesional (CIFP).

CIFP is a certificate which is an equivalent to a master's degree and would be useful in my career especially when Malaysia is booming to be an international hub for Islamic finance.

It will be a 1.5 years course with 1 academic year and another 6 months of internship. The best part if I could take the course now is that I could return to be a Senior Assistant Registrar at the KL High Court under the Islamic Finance Specialized Court to complete my internship. In other words, I'll just be doing 1 academic year at INCEIF and come back to work for my internship.

Again, this depends on whether the Big Boss would allow me to leave after a very short stint with him. If this plan materializes, it would mean that I will be changing the stuff that I do 5 times in 4 years. Hehehe.

My best friend is currently taking this course along with my cousin and they seem to be enjoying it.

So I guess it would be easier when I already have 2 very close friend and relative to refer to if i manage to get a place there. Not to forget that my dad is also the dean there and he is the one who is really supporting the idea of me taking this certificate.
So hopefully everything will go according to plan and I could start my course this January...Insya Allah. This also means that my daughter's daddy is back to being a student again!

So, here's to a different 2010! Please pray for me!

I guess the colours from the crayon dripped to the words in my blog... hehe

Blog adjourned.

S.H.R. M.Z.B..

Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir Batin (SHR MZB.. get it?) to all my readers.

It has been a great Ramadhan indeed. The best gifts being the birth of my little princess and the speedy recovery of my beautiful queen. Alhamdulillah.

It has been agreed between me and the Bride that for one year, we would be celebrating Eid at my parents' house and the next year would be with the Bride's family. Last year, due to some turn of events, we (as a couple) celebrated at my parent's house. This year was supposed to be with the Bride's family.

Suddenly the Bride is under house arrest for her confinement this year. So terpaksalah we (as a mini family) raya with my parents again. Takper... Next year we raya with her parents and a 1 year old girl. ok?

No baju raya for the little princess as all of her clothes this month are still brand new.

It's really something to celebrate Hari Raya with a mini family. My mini family... We have already prepared a small tabung for the little one. So she can start her "save it; not spend it" campaign.

So for this year, and many more years to come, I am publicly declaring that I am her proxy for her Duit Raya!

Hehehe

Raya adjourned!

Father’s Hood

As I was staring at my daughter sleeping after her bonding session with her “breast” friend, I wondered how I was going to fare as a father. There is no one that I can compare myself to just yet as I am only an amateur compared to my father and my father-in-law’s colourful experience.

This made me wonder about fatherhood. I then noticed that now, most of the time I realized that my parent’s action was right when they were disciplining me and making me become a decent human being back when I was much younger. But boy did those right decision bitter to swallow back then. I am just glad that I manage to realize this before I have a child who thinks that I was wrong in disciplining her.

Unfortunately for me (and all other fathers) this little girl certainly did not arrive with a manual guide. Thank God we are staying with my parents and my in-laws’ house is just about 4.5 minutes away. They have been very supportive and constantly provide valuable tips in caring for the little one.

With no systematic course, my fatherhood journey will have to be taken one step at a time. Recalling what my father did or assuming what a father should do would be the modus operandi for the time being. The Hood is there... Let's see if i can fit it on my head comfortably.

As I read somewhere, being a great father is like shaving. No matter how good you shaved today, you still have to do it again tomorrow.

I guess if you enjoy it, it would not be too heavy a responsibility to fulfill.

Would my daughter be lucky to have me as her father or will I be lucky to have her as my daughter? For all I know, we are both lucky enough to have the Bride as my best friend and her “breast” friend!

This year, all of the little one’s baju are new and so we do not need to buy a baju raya. But Habib, Jidah, Wan and Tok Papa, Ami’s, Amati’s, Tia, Uncles and Aunties, Grand Uncles and Grand Aunties, beware. THIS LITTLE ONE HAS HER FATHER AS HER PROXY TO HER DUIT RAYA! Hehehe.

(As I am writing this, my little girl just completed milking her mom and as the Bride was trying to burp her, she suddenly gave about five sad cries possibly due to some bad dream… now I have to go change her diapers… Yay!)

Blog adjourned.

The Stork's Ramadhan Present

Praises be to the Lord of the Universe for His Infinite Mercy and Blessings.

On 2nd September 2009, after a grueling 7 and a half hour of labour pain, the Bride gave birth to a very beautiful baby girl. Weighing 2.5 kg, my little princess was safely delivered at 2.42am. I have yet to decide my blog nickname for her so for now, it will be interchangeable.

I can’t believe that I am a father now. The feeling is too overwhelming and is slowly digesting in my head. It’s like when I got married to the Bride. I thought I’d feel like a “ZAP” just after the akad nikah but nothing happened. After the akad nikah, I still felt like I was my own “bachelor” self when in fact I was no longer “bujang”. Only after a few months did I start to “feel” the husband feeling.

But now, I guess it won’t take a few months for my head to really grasp the fact that I am a dad.
I was by the Bride’s side the whole process. Buka Puasa with one hand holding the spoon and the other gripping the Bride’s hand. It was certainly an experience of a lifetime. Witnessing your own wife giving birth can really make you re-analyse how good a son you have been to your own mother and how even more responsible you should be for your family.

Will smith was right when he sang “Just The Two Of Us” although I didn’t take an hour just to get the baby car seat right. I was so gila careful when I was driving home that day having my Bride and my baby girl (who was in her car seat and dazed where she was going) on board.
We were greeted by some friends who took pictures of us three and once upstairs, I could feel satisfying it is to have my very own mini family in my room. The Bride and I spent the next few days just staring at our bundle of joy.

Then… my little baby pooped.

You should see how gubra I was when I was changing her diaper for the first time. In and out of the bathroom I went with a naked baby in my hands who was crying her lungs out and shivering at the same time as I was not sure whether to just wash her in the sink or to lay her on her rubber mat and dap her butt with some wet cotton. When I thought that the rubber mat was the most suitable decision, then I realized it was cold and that got my baby screaming even louder. So I had to rush and get a kain lampin to alas the baby. The screaming session got my mom racing to the room with her investigating cap and questioning everyone why her cucu is crying. “Apa hang buat kat cucu aku? Awat cucu aku dok menangis? Cepatla sikit, dia sejuk tu! Jangan lupa lap bagi kering! Letak olive oil kalau tak nanti makan ayak(air)! Cepatlah sikit, budak tu dah menggeletar dah tu!”
Pressure giler ok. Nak sapu olive oil pun tangan menggeletar.

Having bathed my baby the first day she was at home and taking the role of a diaper changer so seriously (the first time the Bride had to change the diaper was yesterday, two days after I started working again as her makcik urut had to go back home for a while leaving her with no option but to do it herself) I think I am coping well with fatherhood.

Mom was shocked that I could bath my baby girl even when she was so small and tiny and wiggly. I was shocked my self.

Yes. Sometimes… I surprise myself.

Many more stories to come as I begin this wonderful journey as my baby girl’s daddy.

Blog adjourned.