Jack of all trades Masters of one

I had been anticipating today with such dread and apprehension. All the blood, sweat and tears shed over the past three years rested on the outcome of today. Literally paralyzed with fear (ok, a bit dramatic but I truly was very scared), I yo-yoed through extremes of emotions for the whole week prior to it.
Yes, I was THAT worried about my Masters viva. It may not be a big deal to some and mostly my friends had full confidence in me but for some reason I was unsure of myself.
I was no longer the type of person who believed that everything will be ok. The past couple of years taught me that BAD things really do happen.
Thanks to all my family, friends and loved ones for their never-ending support and unshakable faith and their prayers. Also for dealing with the emotional roller coaster that was me.

Alhamdulillah. I passed my Masters. It wasn't smooth sailing or pretty, no flying colours anywhere to be seen but I passed. Time to get on with life :)

Happy Birthday Hamzah Faheem!

Dear Hamzah,

My beautiful, sweet, funny, joyful, smart, kind, thoughtful baby. There are no words ... I am blessed to be a part of your life.

Love always,

Ummi

Tea with Malaysia's First Masterchef

My kids were huge fans of the reality cooking show Masterchef Malaysia. Especially since "adik kawan ummi" Dr Ezani was on the show. They would sit themselves in front of the tv night after night and root for Ezani. They even gave play by play commentary and thoughts on the contestants every move. I was the one bombarded with questions whenever Ezani did not win an individual challenge or *gasp* lost a team challenge. So they were ecstatic when she was eventually crowned Malaysia's first Masterchef.

When I told them that my friend, Ezani's sister Dr Ezura had invited us to her house on Sunday, they were so excited and nervous. Aishah automatically declared up front that she would be very shy around Ezani but will try her best not to be too nervous. All the way in the car, we practiced saying Kak Ezani because they had gotten so used to just calling her Ezani sans the normal prefix of Kak. 

As I expected, after getting lost (my sense of direction is terrible), we arrived to a packed house. Friends and family had also arrived to celebrate her success. As soon as we saw Ezani and the other contestants, my kids were a bit star-struck to see people they had previously watched only on tv. They kept whispering in my ear each time they recognized someone. There were a lot of people to recognize, Ezani, Brian, Imelda, Amita, Nik Michael, Hui Ting and I thought I also caught a glimpse of Zamir but I wasn't sure. 

We did manage to eat something, though I did not have time to take any pictures of the food. People were busy eating, chatting and even the contestants were having fun catching up with each other. I also got a chance to meet up with my ex-schoolmate Lynn and Dahlia, Ezura, Raihan and Fizah. The kids loved the desserts with Yousof eating many curry puffs and Hamzah falling in love with the mini apams. I didn't get to eat much but I'm used to that when going out with them but I heard that her signature carrot cake was divine.

We finally managed to steal a few minutes of Ezani's time to take a photo with her which was the highlight of the day for the kids. She really was handling the win with a lot of grace, making all her guests feel at home. We also got to sit down with Brian, a truly friendly and funny guy in person. It was very interesting to hear all the projects they had planned for the near future. I wish them all the best of luck in their endeavours. We did not manage to snap pictures with the other contestants (read: too busy/shy hehe).

We had a lovely time, thank you to Ezura (a masterchef herself) for inviting us and letting my kids have the opportunity to make such a sweet memory. They could not stop talking about it all the way home.