Between San Francisco and Sausolito.....

Between San Francisco and Sausolito ... lies the Golden
Gate which bridges the two cities together and provides a shorter route to the northern side of the San Francisco Bay. I don't know why, but Sausolito seems to be familiar ... macam dah pernah dengar or dah pernah baca.. maybe in one of the romantic novels I used to read when younger. It is a lovely, small town - quite romantic actually - with many art galleries and souvenier shops. So, when friends here wanted to take a trip there, we tagged along ! My children suka jalan ramai-ramai ... they say, lagi seronok. I guess dia orang dah naik boring tiap-tiap hari tengok muka masing2 jer.. :-)
No bridge toll going to Sausolito... however, kena toll fee of 5 dollars when crossing back to San Francisco. I hear they're going to increase the toll fee... sigh !
Parking lot in the middle of town is a convenient place to leave our cars and just walk around absorbing the view of Sausolito and of San Francisco right across. From there we could even take a ferry to tour the island of Alcatraz and Pier 39. But, the man balancing rocks at a spot along Main Street Sausolito fascinated us more ! Like magic .. once balanced nothing could move or blow away his creations. Rupa-rupa nya cina Indon...






Don't know how he does it... I suppose patience is key when doing his art...








Jina's handsome, youngest son Yunus wanted to see the bridge again and my handsome, eldest wanted to experience Lombard Street - The Crooked Street !




.. makan-makan kat Bang San, Thai Halal Food Cuisine. They have opened up another branch and this one is much bigger. There is also a small room for customers to perform solat...seronok rasa, tak payah nak solat duduk dalam kereta. I suppose it's common in most halal restaurants back home, but knowing a space is available in most halal restaurants here is just great !



... queuing at the Ghirardelli for a taste of their world famous ice cream !







Memories are for us to treasure...

U - Pick Fruits Day

Now is ' ripe ' time of the year for cherries & berries, even peaches & apricots. Last year we missed the cherries & strawberries. They seem to be a favourite among fruit lovers and disappear faster than the rest! And maybe because they don't hold well when the weather gets warmer. Jenis buah cepat rosak. I guess that's where the farmers got the idea of U-Pick or Pick-your-Own .... besides the zero labor cost, of course! We only managed blueberry picking last year when we were in Boston. And, when Rusminah & family were here in November there were only 'picked' citrus fruits at Brentwood. So, her children did not have fun picking them off the trees. I hope the pictures in this posting can entice them to come and visit us in June pulak. :-) Itu pun, if we are still staying here..
There are cherry farms at almost every corner in Brentwood.
This year we don't want to miss the boat. Cherry picking starts early June and like Pak Mat said, within 2 weeks they'll be gone! We couldn't go picking with his family during the Memorial Day long weekend as we had something on then. Kena pergi ramai2 ke kebun buah nie.. kalau boleh 'picnic' lagi la seronok. Teringat pulak zaman2 tunggu buah durian ( kami sebut..deghian ). Siap dengan nasi, or pulut with santan and air garam... of course with gula sikit to be sprinkled on top. Kalau dapat isi warna kuning pekat and tak der biji tu lagiii seghonok! Yummiee..... Kait buah rambutan pun best jugak ...
ANnyway, we were glad when Marcus wanted to arrange a trip to Brentwood with Shahril & Amida as well. Marcus is a Malaysian from Sabah & his wife Cynthia from Taiping - near my old kampung Selama - tempat banyak deghian! :-) There's Cynthia on the left putting suntan lotion on Mathew. Yes, it was exceptionally hot that day.
We also met their friend On and his family. They are from Johor. Both Marcus & On have been living in US almost 20 years .. so they are already pros at fruit picking. Like us,.. Shahril & Amida will leave when due, or bila di- arahkan and like me, Amida doesn't have a clue the difference between pokok peach and pokok cherry from afar! ;-) Cynthia says : Pick the big2 blackberries yang warna hitam. Kalau yang merah tu.. masam! True enough, the black ones are sweeet walaupun kecik. Next stop the cherrieees! I love them even though they give me gas and cleanse my bowels ever so often. Tak sangka pulak there are many types: Bing Cherries(merah), Rainier ( a bit yellowish ), Black Tart ( hitam, rasa macam kismis ) and Stark Rimson, to name a few. The trick in fruit picking is, when you get to a good tree with the fruits that you like, stick to it! So, pokok yang dah togel2 tu buahnya surely sweet & sedap. And, you can also know the good ones if squirrels or birds got them earlier than you. Makan lah sepuas2nya until your tummy can hold, then you pay for the balance. Most of the fruits are claimed to be pesticide free but bawa jer la botol air untuk basuh, just in-case. And, yang mana suka menyicah tuu you can bring 'salt' if you like. Nobody can stop you! As done by a Filipino man I saw at the cherry farm. Tak terfikir langsung nak bawa garam. Real veteran! Cherries on the farm cost 2 dollars per pound. These days fruit farmers are getting smarter, they have a limit on the minimum weight and charge for the box! Like this strawberry farm which is currently owned by a China-man. You can't help smiling reading their ground rules... I don't quite fancy petik buah strawberry sebab kena bongkok2 - oghang lamaa! So I just leave the picking to my children & hubby. Even the small strawberries at this farm is sweet. My hubby says strawberry memang banyak antioxidant and according to Pak Ngah (his tukang urut back home), the fruit will be masam once it leaves the farm. No wonder we never get sweet strawberries from the kedai... mahal pulak tu! Senang jer jawapan nya kalau buah dah benyek2...buat ais krim! Yes... I have done that! I tried with the strawberries we brought home. Jadii......... Macam ais krim Ben & Jerry's. Once I get the measurements right, I will post it... sedap! Tak payah guna mesin ais krim ... your old faithful cake mixer or blender will do ! And, the ingredients are easily available. Dah tentu halalan toiyiban..
On the left above: Message loud and clear..!
If possible go fruit picking on a Saturday because mostly everybody will go on that day. The trees will need time to ripen the remainder of the fruits. We went on Sunday because we couldn't make it the day before... since it is early in the season, the 'catch' was still good. Another fruit picking tip to remember : Wear a hat or cap especially at the strawberry patch. Teringat pulak strawberry2 kat Cameron Highlands!

My fruit - pickers taking a break to pose





Dah terlampau banyak makan buah! :-)








Ayam kampung yang gemuk2...







You can only see this type of vintage car at the farms...













Last stop was at the Peach
farm... kalau betul2 dapat yang manis, memang sedap!






Finally... resting after a hard days work under a donno what tree!

A day with Seniman Jalanan in downtown San Jose

I haven't really had the opportunity to explore downtown San Jose as much as you'ld think. I am not the type to ronda2 on my own tanpa tujuan. Carlos will always tell me dengan pelat pekat filipino nya : " Your chilren already biig... you can take train or bus. Itch-chokey..( it's okay ), here seb (save).." Ya la tuu! Kadang-kadang geram jugak dengan drebar ni, semua nya dia pandang elok pasal Amerika. First of all, there are no transport system, - neither train nor bus - in ' my neck of the woods ' . Rumah dekat kaki bukit. Secondly, I like going around with my children and so far they also like having me around too! I think... :-) A few times Anis got invited by her College friends to go out shopping or party-ing, but she turned them down. Nak keluar dengan ibuuu jugak. Alhamdulillah.. kat sini tak payah nak bagi 'lecture' teruk2 pasal social ills. I see this sort of attitude in anak2 Melayu here too. Baik2 belaka.. insyaAllah.. My weekends, macam jugak kat Malaysia, are normally spent with grocery shopping or visit friends' houses - if invited.. ! :-) A fortnight ago we were at Sohair & Wardah's kenduri selamat in Sacramento - 2 and half hours drive north of San Jose. They bought a nice home in Rancho Cordova. Seronok tengok... Last weekend pulak we had friends over from Malaysia. Four ladies on vacation.. penat2 kerja, dah cukup duit... jalan laa. Actually, I am so caught up with doing 'nothings' that I forgot all about this posting which I started drafting quite some time ago. I guess I should just complete it instead of delete. In case you're wondering.. Seniman Jalanan is one of Malaysia's young, budding Film Director and Professional Graphic Designer who attended a short course in L.A a few months back, - at the Universal Studios to be exact! We call him Ajin and here's him above on the right taking a shot of the VTA ( Valley Transportation Authority ) in downtown San Jose. I've included a link to his fotopages at the bottom. He was under the scholarship of FINAS and KEKWA. Haa..... kek what? Was my first response to the acronym! For those who are as 'blur' as me, it's short for Kementerian Kebudayaan, Kesenian dan Warisan. Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage previously headed by Datuk Seri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim. Well, after
the elections (pilihanraya) I don't really know who currently heads the ministry. Anyway, I believe everyone's quite familiar with FINAS - Filem Nasional. In fact, I got a bit of an update of current happenings in the Malaysian film and singing industry - that is after much 'korek-korek' out of our guest! Our first stop was Adobe Building at 345 Park Avenue - home of the Photoshop Engineers! Seniman Jalanan wanted to see whether the place hosts a showroom of Adobe's latest products. Apparently, they don't have it there. Anyway, if you want an inside look of the building and to know a few 'creative brains' of Adobe, click on the link ..
http://www.photoshopnews.com/feature-stories/a-visit-to-adobe/
The building from the outside really looks more like a bank. But, one couldn't miss the logo of the company that invents the infamous open standard for the billion+ PDF files in existence today. Making them viewable and printable on any platforms be it Macintosh, Microsoft® Windows®, UNIX®, and even mobile. Our next stop was The Tech Museum of Innovation along South Market Street. The Tech Museum of Innovation is a hands-on technology and science museum for people of all ages and backgrounds. Their mission is to inspire the innovator in everyone. Budak2 suka la tempat2 gini.. very educational! The talking robot above on the right ' tired out ' after being drilled by the kids with their questions.
http://www.thetech.org/
I guess The Tech ni is similar to PETROSAINS yang terletak di Petronas Twin Towers, which aims to be a seeding platform for stimulating interest in Science and Technology. While it is about creating more awareness of exciting career opportunities in the petroleum industry, The Tech on the other hand is all about the silicon - semiconductor technology. Fortunate to have many companies in the Silicon Valley as their patrons and sponsors, entrance to The Tech is FREE except for the IMAX cinema. Kalau kita nak tengok 3-D films baru la kena bayar. Tickets to PETROSAINS ranges from RM4 ( 5 - 12years ), RM7 (13 - 17years) to RM12 (adults). F.O.C is only given to children below 5years and even Senior Citizens have to pay RM6. Well, I supose if one could afford shopping at Suria KLCC, then the cost of the tickets is nothing, but kalau dah 5 orang anak ranging from 13 to 17 years .. plus mama & papa, banyak jugak tu! Tak kan nak tinggal separuh kat luar pulak. Last2, papa pun cakap kita pi makan kat McD jer lah... lagi murah!
http://www.petronas.com.my/internet/petrosains/Petrosains.nsf/263c2vis?OpenPage
Above left are some notes on making integrated circuits (ICs) ...



Robotic arm...






I got it to spell my name...

Interesting... ! And the figure increases every second...

Mothers' Day

Happy Mom's Day to all mothers, step mothers and those wanna be mothers... may we be blessed with children who love and respect us despite all our imperfections.
I hope I will never see the day when I am refered to by my children as " Hish... orang tua nie! ", like in some scenes we used to watch in drama Melayu. But, we'll never know what the future will bring onto us. All we can do is hope and pray for the best things in life.... InsyaAllah..
My children surprised me today with flowers, a t-shirt with "One in a million Mom" printed on it and a mug with their faces on it! I am glad they remembered.

I called up my mom in Sri Manjung, Perak the day before Mothers' Day here as that would already be Mothers' Day there.. She sounds allright...... but keeps saying; " Alhamdulillah.. macam ni laa..oghang lamaa " Never really complaining what ails her. Constantly looking forward for her daily activities of mengaji, Bahasa Arab classes & marhabban group. A 72-year old retired teacher, ilmu to her is a continous affair. I'ld rather she keeps busy in those activities and retain her feistiness than just mope all day long. I remember her earlier post retirement days when she was really involved in marketing & selling Herba Nona Roguy .. It's not easy to sell a product that has something to do with your bowel movements! But, she proved otherwise in spite of her age... sampai ke Pengarah Mahkota! And that's the max that a dealer can achieve. Of course, my arwah father helped... well, he kept the accounts, and drove her around! Their house became the Stokis for Selama, Perak where many gatherings & ceramahs were held. Bukan nak buat duit sangat, she says... Saja-saja nak buat kawan, kalau boleh nak tolong oghang...:-)
Ooo...you should see her in action when giving her ceramahs! With the microphone in hand, she could not stop!
That's our mom.. Puan Hajjah Bastiah binti Haji Abdullah

Di hari ini hari istimewa

Sekalung kasih untuk mu bonda

Sungguhpun sudah berlarut usia

Hanya pada mu tempat bermanja...

Petikan dari Puisi-Puisi Kamariah Nuri

Sasterawan Perak Darul Ridzuan..

Angkasawan Malaysia in San Jose

So much has happened since I last posted : There was Mother's Day - a day in a year to remember mothers!,... the heat wave in California - the day our house air-cond chose to breakdown!,... the ruling legalising gay marriages made in San Francisco - the day signifying doomsday is approaching fast!... it took place the same day as the heatwave - not surprising, eh!? and ... as you can see.. the day our Malaysian Astronaut - Angkasawan Malaysia, Dr Sheikh Muzhafar Shukor chose to land in San Jose!.
Nadia & Sarah handing him the Congratulations Card. Just look at Nadia's adoring eyes looking at the fine-looking doctor, restaurant owner & also model...:-)
The event was organised by M.C.A at the Convention Center in the Masjid. Dr Sheikh came alone that Friday afternoon, gave his speech and left for L.A the next morning. I think he underestimated the response that he would get in San Jose - especially from the children, and mothers!. His audience were not only us Malaysians but all other nationalities who knew a Muslim Astronaut was coming - the Convention Center was packed up to the hilt! Although not the 1st Muslim to go to space, he mentioned the 9th, I think he is definitely the youngest and maybe the handsome-est ! ;-)
Eager boys greeting him at the door of M.C.A .
His speech was eloquent enough.. I believe he has done & rehearsed it many times for the road-trip. I read somewhere he was previously in Dubai before coming to the US and will be going to who knows where next... Only just 6 months coming back from space, he must be tired out. But, looks like he is loving every minute of it! Dr Sheikh described how he spent his 12 days in the International Space Station (ISS) ...how he performed his solat, how he break his fast (puasa). He also showed how he did some scientific experiment there. He should write a book by now!
Michelle introducing Dr Sheikh on stage. Accompanying him on stage is Pak Mat. Rasa-rasanya Pak Mat & family lah yang paling lama tinggal di US compared to any other Malaysians here.

The children asking questions. One question was : How do you go to the bathroom? Bagus tu...tak terfikir kita nak tanya.






Part of the audience at the Convention Center. In front, leading them is Dr Bakri, .. busy taking notes for his blog, maybe..?




There have been quite a few emails I received before, concerning the status of Dr Sheikh 'astronaut-ship' or 'angkasawan', him being just a 'space-flight participant' instead. He denies it of course, describing what he had to go through in comparison with another person from another country ( I forgot the name..), who secured a ticket by just paying a lot of money! Apparently we got our seat when the Malaysian government bought one point something billion worth of aircrafts from the Soviets. I heard murmurs of " OOoooo.... " when he mentioned that to the audience. Macam technology transfer through free training laa.. which is a norm thing to do in any contractual procurements. Well, I am not sure pulak of any other 'in-kinds' that might have taken place.. mesti ada tuu! :-o
On top, Dr Sheikh wearing a Batik shirt and spinning the gasing in space..


Performing the solat ...he had to tie his leg so that he won't float!




Performing a scientific experiment..







Taking a 'sip'.. buka puasa...







With Malaysians and half-Malaysians...
Dr Sheikh was selected among thousands, undergone rigorous training - in Malaysia, Russia and even in Siberia! - , endured the pain & sacrifice and finally he qualified. Body and Soul! He said, it has been his passion to go to space since he was 10. Constantly having to watch his health and be physically fit. Cannot even have a single scar on the body! He used to do model-ing... selain angkasawan, juga peragawan !

The rest of the crowd at the Convention Center...






Me and a few sisters here....debating on where to place the 'fruit bouquet'...:-)

Whatever the controversies are on naming him, to me he is an 'Angkasawan' - a man who has gone to the 'angkasa' and back! With all the fame and attention he is getting now, I don't think he should be traveling alone..... Get yourself a Manager! Dah jadi macam artis pulak... Pity him, tapi kesian lagi looking at a few children's faces yang tak sempat nak bergambar dengan a man who has gone to space! Bukan senang nak jumpa. Kalau dah ada Manager, tahu la orang kalau nak makan ker, nak balik ker, nak tidur ker...dah letih ker.. ! :-)


Finally, one with my children... Pak Aji tak ada..balik Malaysia!

MAY ALL OF OUR DREAMS COME TRUE....too!