Thursday, December 29, 2011

Of A (Quite) Fussy Mommy

Yesterday I received a phone call from Eirsa's daycare manager, "Mommy Eirsa, Umi nak labelkan beg Eirsa ni boleh? Senang nak cam kan."

Instantly in my mind :


Or even worse! :

Hell NOOOOOO! (By the way, 'Eirsa' is always, I mean ALWAYS, pronounced as 'Erisa' by the first timers).

Of course I would not allow those kind of artwork on Eirsa's bag! I immediately and almost anxiously responded "Tak pe Umi, balik nanti saya label kan sendiri ye."

So last night with everything that we had in the house, I managed to make a (much, ehem ehem) better label for the bag that couldn't make the bag any happier.




And voila! A simple thing, with lotsa love and easy on my eyes, at least.


This morning, we sent Eirsa to her daycare and Umi instantly noticed the label that I made. Her remarks, as expected, "Patut lah mommy Eirsa nak buat sendiri, bukan main cantik lagi ha. Bagus la ni! Kalau Umi, Umi dah tulis dengan marker pen je."

"Told ya.." said to hubby.

Side Notes : The daycare management has now changed and looks like it's for the better. The old owner has been busy with her Masters study and the daycare has been quite neglected since the past half of the year. This new management promises us with better service and of course came with "better" fees. We are ok with the additional fees, as long as the quality is improved.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Air Tangan Puan Ayin

I have been meaning to write about this since last week but yes, of course the reason is none other but I was being busy. I was busy catching up with my 7-months pregnancy breathing that sometimes cause me a day or two of medical leaves. Alhamdulillah, just some normal pregnancy symptoms, both mommy and baby are doing just great. I've started my stairs climbing regime (ala.. 1 1/2 floors sajo), with the pray and hope that I could have normal, smooth and quick delivery.

Ok. This.

I ordered 2 types of cookies from Ayin's KitchenSoft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies and Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies and she posted to me less than a week later all the way from Bintulu, Sarawak (could be faster but she was running out of some ingredients). It was quite a surprise since I've yet to make payment and that she trusted me even though we've never met! Thanks a lot darling, you are just too kind!

So, this is the verdict.

Taste : AWESOME. The first thing Eirsa would ask when she got back from her day care was "Eeekut" or "Ooookies". Tipping on her toes, she would peek on the dining table or kitchen top to fine them. She love both types of cookies and she could hadap at least 6-7 pieces at a time. Oh yes. Of course I have to deal with all the crumbs all over the place, but definitely, she loved them. I'm not a fan of chocolate, neither sweet stuffs, but the cookies still taste delicious to me. But my husband, being the number one fan of chocolate (but could not have much as it would trigger his migraine), shouted "Uih! Sedapnya!" at his first bite. So, you do the maths. *wink*

Packaging : Overall is OK, but perhaps Ayin could improve in terms of the thoroughness. It was expected  that not all cookies would make in one piece, even though Ayin had made special size of the same cookies to me (smaller than offered in her blog) to lessen the possibility of crack, but several minimum number of layers still didn't quite make it. Perhaps Ayin could ensure all cookies are firmly lined up to each other and have any space filled up with any soft clean padding (imagining the container will go left right up and down throughout the journey). On decoration, should be OK, I have no problem with this sector. But in general, of course fancier decoration would make the recipient feel more excited (Ok, perhaps this is more the girls' adrenaline, not in general. ;) )

What else. May be you want to give it a try then everything will make sense. A bit pricey (as she claimed, bukan Akak yang pandai-pandai ye. Pricey or not will depend on your own demarcation).

Some photos to stimulate your imagination. :)




Fun Info : In the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small, flat, baked treat, usually containing fat, flour, eggs and sugar. In most English-speaking countries outside North America, the most common word for this is biscuit. A cookie is a plain bun in Scotland, while in the United Kingdom, a cookie is referred to as a biscuit, although some types of cookies maintain this name, such as the American-inspired Maryland Cookies, which are also sold there. In South Africa they are called biscuits, and the word cookie refers to cupcakes. (Source : Wikipedia)

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Confinement Lady in Melaka

Dimangkinkan oleh permintaan seorang rakan blogger dan Twitter saya, Puan Ayin (yang kini mula membuka tempahan online untuk cookies, kek, biskut dan lain-lain juga), lalu saya telah memaksa kakak saya untuk menyenaraikan hasil kaji selidik beliau selama lewat beberapa minggu ini. Masih belum ada testimonial peribadi dari kakak saya, memandangkan beliau masih belum bersalin, namun begitu, beliau telah membuat perjanjian dengan Kak Sania untuk perkhidmatan selepas bersalin dengan mengubah sedikit harga mengikut perkhidmatan yang diperlukan, setelah mendapat persetujuan kedua-dua pihak.

Ini adalah hasil daripada senarai yang berjaya dihubungi oleh kakak saya; ada juga yang tidak menjawab panggilan atau tidak membalas mesej (mungkin sedang sibuk mengurut). Anda juga mungkin boleh meng-Google berkenaan "tukang urut selepas bersalin di Melaka" atau kata kunci yang seakan dengannya, dan mendapatkan lebih banyak maklumat untuk lebih banyak perbandingan.

Sila kelik gambar untuk lebih jelas

Fun Info : In Japan, most women stay in the hospital for 4 to 7 days after vaginal delivery, and about 10 days after caesarean section, (also c-section, caesarian section, cesarean section, caesar, etc). Source and more reading, here.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Of Pregnancy & Related Things So Far

Before I knew it, I'm now officially in my 3rd trimester. May be it's the same as before, but this time I feel heavier even it's only 28 weeks. Pinggang cepat sakit kalau duduk lama, tidur terlentang dah rasa mengah, punggung cepat sengal kalau banyak berjalan, kaki kanan dan kiri bergilir-gilir rasa lenguh kalau banyak buat kerja rumah. May be age is also one of the contributing factors. Being pregnant in 20s and 30s give you different experience.

On preparation progress, so far we are doing a bit slow. We already bought a few of baby items, considering some of Eirsa's are still usable. But we have yet to rearrange the third room, giving space for the confinement lady, that will stay with us for 3 weeks. And of course for Mak, whom will also stay with us 1+ week prior to the confinement lady. And I tell you, only 1/2 of the third room area is visible. And of course, prior to clearing up the third room, we have to bring in Eirsa and her sister's wardrobe for better and permanent rearrangement.

Haih.. Quite some stuffs to be done, like my sister (who is awaiting for labor of her 4th child, the first girl!) said, "Tak kira anak ke berapa pun, semua nak kena pakai duit, semua nak kena ada masa mengemas." Hope Allah helps me with the financial and my stamina.

Despite those necessities, we are also planning to bring Eirsa to another trip, before we could call for any vacation off, for at least 6 months. Planned to go to Cameron Highlands in January 2012, but the weather seems not cooperating. I mean high lands + raining = high potential of landslides. We are only left with window in January 2012, since December 2011 is definitely not a good time to go for a vacation (school break = crowded + more expensive) while February 2012 would be considered as quite late. Perhaps we could work out for some other places where Eirsa could have her fun time.

Oh ye. I managed to made room of small portion in my wardrobe by giving away some stuffs to Kak Chik (office cleaner) and the gang. Some of my old kebayas, kurungs, shirts and t-shirts that could no longer accommodate my fat, were all given away. Some even unworn. My mother-in-law joined the small cause too, ended up we gave 2 big bags of apparels to Kak Chik and the gang. They were so happy with our small contributions and also more rooms for my new clothes (which I planned to buy after my confinement period). Win-win situation. Alhamdulillah..

1/3 of those give-aways.

Fun Info : Colostrum is produced at around week 24. More very good information on pregnancy and birth, here (they also have a simple quiz!).

Monday, November 21, 2011

Terima Kasih Ianya Hari Isnin!

Di sebalik gelak tawa senyuman dan kederat mencuci pejabat tingkat 19 ini (dan kadang-kadang juga membasuh cawan sudu garfu saya yang selalunya 1-2 terbiar sebelum dicuci oleh saya sendiri), sebenarnya hati Kak Chik sedang menanggung seribu satu kerisauan.

Sembang 20 minit bersama Kak Chik (yang aku dah pelawa duduk tapi dia tak mahu), saya rumuskan bebanan emosi yang Kak Chik alami memanglah dahsyat, nak dibandingkan dengan setakat kamu yang rasa malas nak ke pejabat sebab konon-konon Monday blues, atau sebab ada 4-5 mesyuarat berderet yang nak bincang pasal apa entah asyik mesyuarat memanjang, atau sebab geng lain semua cuti tapi cuti kamu dah hampir habis dek selalu sangat cuti tergempar, atau sebab kau malas nak bersemuka dengan boss sama ada ada silap dengan boss atau memang kamu tak sebulu, atau banyak lagi seribu satu alasan yang sebenarnya boleh kamu tangani dengan hanya berfikiran positif. Betul, berfikiran positif itu juga tidak mudah, tetapi boleh dilakukan.

Memendekkan yang panjang, Kak Chik kini melalui fasa yang saya rasa sangat sukar untuk dihadapi jika kamu tidak betul-betul mensyukuri nikmat Allah :

1) Anak Kak Chik yang bongsu (anak Kak Chik ada dua orang) kini berada di hospital. Ini adalah kali ketiga atau keempat sepanjang hidupnya yang hanya 10 bulan. Yang kali pertama, pernah saya ceritakan dahulu. Yang kali kedua disebabkan jantungnya terhenti dek diagah (atau sebenarnya disergah?) oleh penjaga (adik sepupu Kak Chik), yang ketiga mungkin ada atau tidak tapi saya tak ingat, dan yang kini disebabkan kekurangan sel darah putih di dalam badan. Masih lagi si kecil itu di wad pengasingan, tetapi Kak Chik terpaksa datang juga bekerja memandangkan gaji yang diterima adalah gaji hari.

2) Suami Kak Chik kini dalam proses untuk bernikah kali kedua dan mungkin akan terus bermastautin di Acheh. Kak Chik kata, "Kak Chik dah tua Cik, Kak Chik dah malas nak pikiaq semua ni. Banyak lagi yang Kak Chik nak pikiaq. Kak Chik malaih nak pi ikut dia sana, kang makan pakai tak tau lagu mana."

3) Anak sulung Kak Chik yang berusia 13 tahun kini berada di Acheh, belajar sekolah agama di sana. Memandangkan kebarangkalian penceraian Kak Chik adalah tinggi, Kak Chik kini mengusahakan agar anak sulung nya kembali ke Malaysia dan meneruskan pengajian di sini.

4) Kak Chik merupakan bekas penghidap payudara. Bukan sebelah, tetapi kedua-dua belah payu dara Kak Chik telah dibedah dan dibuang.

5) Baru-baru ini Kak Chik telah menerima keputusan diagnose ketulan di pinggangnya sebesar buah anggur; besar kemungkinan juga adalah barah. Namun begitu Kak Chik berkeputusan untuk tidak membuang ketulan itu memandangkan umur telah lewat dan penjagaan selepas pembedahan akan menyukarkan Kak Chik untuk bekerja dan menjaga anaknya. Kata Kak Chik, dah tua-tua ni kalau tuhan nak ambik tu, ambik je lah.

6) Barah mengalir dalam keturunan Kak Chik dengan sangat kuat sekali; ibu dan kakak sulung Kak Chik meninggal dunia disebabkan barah, manakala adik bongsu Kak Chik sekarang ini sedang menderita leukemia. Aliran darah yang dibawa oleh keturunan Kak Chik ini memaksa doktor membuat banyak ujian terhadap darah anak bongsu Kak Chik memandangkan kebarangkaliannya yang tinggi.

7) Penjaga anak Kak Chik adalah sepupu Kak Chik yang berusia 20 tahun. Sudah beberapa kali kejadian yang merisaukan berlaku seperti anak Kak Chik diagah sehingga terhenti jantung, benjolan di kepala akibat jatuh dan juga doktor kata anak Kak Chik seperti kurang diberi minum. Pilihan untuk menghantar ke nursery adalah sukar memandangkan Kak Chik perlu membayar RM350 untuk nursery berbanding RM200 kepada adik sepupunya ini. Luluh hati saya memikirkan ini.

Lalu, berfikirlah kamu sejenak, apakah yang membuatkan kamu tidak bersyukur sungguhpun hari ini adalah hari Isnin?

Bersyukur dengan muka bulat dan double chin.

Friday, November 18, 2011

RM45 Dewasa, RM38 Kanak-kanak

So last weekend off the 16 + 2 x (1/2) of us to The Lost World of Tambun, Ipoh. 7 am from KL (with the kids all tak mandi), the troupe of 4 cars of Sabariah's clans managed to reach Ipoh 3 hours later (berhenti makan pagi di R&R Tapah), and it took only 10 minutes from Ipoh reach to this park. With sufficient number of signboard, inshaAllah you'll manage to get there in one shot.

Oh, since my husband and I are Citibank credit card holders, we got 10% off the entrance ticket, for maximum of each credit card, translated to total of more than RM50 of saving. (Sebenarnya baru tahu masa hari kejadian).

The area is quite big and it does not only consist of water park (with brilliantly several scattered sections that prevent the whole park to get crowded during peak hours), but it also has some dry park with petting zoo, tigers feeding show section, a small pond with swans and fish and a small amusement park with semi-gigantic ship and buai banyak-banyak yang macam kat Genting Highlands tu.

The whole day was spent effectively (business hours 1000 - 1800). The morning session was so much fun for Eirsa and Papa until Eirsa voluntarily got out of the water and fell asleep while we were still struggling changing her clothes. We then explored the dry areas after she had her 1-hour-tidur-tak-bergerak afternoon nap.

It was basically the first time we Eirsa enjoyed an opened water park with direct sunlight. Her eczema seems to lessen a lot and with tons of sunscreen lotion SPF 50, alhamdulilllah her skin was remain intact. Cuma jadi hitam sikit anak aku sebab berjemur tak berhenti.

Here's the pictures (dalam kemalasan I nak mengedit tapi akhirnya siap juga) of us. Ok I look fat, but I'm not THAT fat. Jahat betul ilusi optik.













Fun Info With 5 indoor waterparks, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, is recognized as the "Waterpark Capital of the World." So kids, we are so going to Wisconsin one day!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Tempat Berteduh

New family member equals to more space required in the house. It's not like I'm adding one more child on top of 5 that we are not having now and not that I'm carrying triplet in my belly. There are only 3 of us in our small 998 sqft condo and so far it fits us perfectly; small area = low maintenance. Tu pun kadang-kadang aku dah malas nak kemas sungguh-sungguh, lalu panggil part time maid je. And to give space for our new little one should still be sufficient.

Since the property price has been skyrocketing as compared to the past 3 years (even our small house has now doubled from the bought price), it is a good time for us to start look, before it's too late! I mean the location is surely going to be farther and father from the city, the offered sqft is getting smaller and smaller, to keep up with the attractive price. So we went for some good 5-hours survey at some targeted area of new landed residential projects.

Prior to that, I've made some online homework as we could not afford to merayau-rayau without hala tuju within the limited time. Among the considerations were :

1) The targeted location is to be as close as possible to my in-laws. It's good to be closer to them as they might need our assistance and so do us. As such, we only shortlisted the projects to those situated in Damansara, Subang and Shah Alam area.

2) Price. The monthly salary for 2 senior executives at their age of 30 who are working and residing in Klang Valley, with one and soon two children, and a new car, is not a passport to own a more than RM500k landed house. Even with down payment of 10%, yearly interest of conventional bank loan of 4% - 5% (after minus the BLR), you would still have to allocate around RM2,200 of monthly earning just for the house loan (you could google "House Loan Calculator" and easily find a lot of this kind of application). Yes, you could always makan bersila after moving in to the new house since all your savings and EPF has been used for the down payment, house renovation and all.

3) Size. This is not actually an option. You could settle for either the price or the size since the price for 20 x 70 as compared to 22 x 75 could reach more than RM50k. Yes, quite some additional price for a 2 x 5 ft area, that could hardly equivalent to a standard parking space.

4) Design. Hmm.. You could say that we are being picky but yes, we would want a modern design as that is going to be the place that you would return to daily, after a long, tiring working day. Bayangkan kalau anda balik, menghadap rumah yang design rumah mak kau kat kampung lagi lawa.

This resulted to several areas listed in our mind : Subang Bestari, Ara Damansara (yeah, I know, kau dah gila ke apa. But my PILs insisted us to check this place out), Denai Alam, Puncak Perdana, Bandar Nusa Rhu and some other new developments at those area (sepanjang Jalan Batu Arang).

Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare for some jaw-droppings :

1) Ara Damansara. Apparently Sime Darby is now focusing on developing commercial area. But there is a project of a few of bungalow units, the is currently opened for booking but we don't dare to ask for the price.

1) Subang Bestari. Some developments are in progress but we could not find the sales office and gallery. But the area is quite isolated with view of RRI's rubber estate on the right side along the main road. There's a petrol station, secondary school, surau and other common facilities but the area is still being actively developed which results to holey and dusty road. Price range : Unknown (you could always google more information on this area online).

2) Denai Alam. This area is developed by Sime Darby, same like Bukit Jelutong, and yes, you could expect the standard as set by Sime Darby. This newly developed area is a bit further ahead along Guthrie Highway towards Rawang but easily accessible from Guthrie in fact you could see most of this area from this highway. The latest development is Maple 3-storey series which I don't dare to ask the price after knowing the latest lowest price for 2-storey in Denai Alam is RM750k. They'll be launching new series of 2-storey landed property perhaps next month and the starting price is again nothing lower than RM750k. C R A Z Y. But the design is fabulous. Modern design with good selection of colors. Plus, the whole area is well-planned as areas that are going to be developed has been flattened and cleared, meaning no heavy-duty pecah bukit activities will be done.

3) We passed through Puncak Perdana and Puncak Alam and drove further along Jalan Batu Arang. This road will lead to another currently develop area, Shah Alam 2. From my research, the offered price could probably starts from RM300k, but the location mak datuk, jauh ke dalam! We eventually settled with the next house survey area at Bandar Nusa Rhu.

4) Bandar Nusa Rhu. This area developed by Metrogen Sdn Bhd is currently having some new units of landed residential. We went straight to the ongoing development area named Idaman; some of the houses have been 50% completed whereas some of them are still under construction. There is a big hill (batu kapur) right beside this new development which will later be flattened to make room for future development by Metrogen Sdn Bhd. At 20 x 70, offered price after discounts is RM515k and there are only 4 units left. The design is quite OK but the fact that there is going to be some pecah bukit activities sooner or later, you might want to think twice to occupy this place before the area is being completely cleared.

5) Sunway Alam Suria. Located opposite Bandar Nusa Rhu and Puncak Perdana along Jalan Batu Arang, this was among the first developed cluster at this area. There is one project of 2 1/2-storey landed residential by the developer, currently opened for booking with price of at least RM688k for 22 x 75 ft area.

So, which one did we consider? NONE. *menangis keluar air mata mencurah-curah*

All down to the ultimate factor : price versus monthly income.

And since we are not in the hurry for a new bigger house, as for now we choose to explore more on other options or other future developments. Yes, we might require more space for the family but at the same time we would want to be able to live comfortably too. Selagi ada tempat berteduh.

Jauh lagi nampaknya perjalanan mencari rumah pencen ni.

Info from a friend : Kajang area is actively developed too. Soon there's going to be a new landed residential launching with starting price lower than RM400k but you have to expect long queue as early as lepas Subuh, with high possibility that everything will be gone before noon. Yes, I know, I N S A N E.


Interesting Info : Japanese companies believe that married men work better than unmarried ones do because the former feel more obligations and responsibilities toward their families. This results to the higher unemployment of men aged 35 above, with direct result to the homelessness in Japan. Source : Wiki lah, mana lagi.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Part-Time Maid

2 days after getting back to our own house, with our very own responsibility and kudrats to maintain the house, I had started feeling the tiresome. It wasn't really anything, seriously. It's just some routine of office hours, get back home, tapau food, take 15 (or if possible more) minutes baring, fetch Eirsa from daycare, keep her company to bath and play until Samurai gets home. But the 1-day activities could easily cost me some backache, tiresome, punggung-ache and all that I could think of is berbaring and watch TV even if it's only 9.00 pm. "To hell with the dirty dishes in the sink, dirty clothes and crumple tommorrow's office wear". How. I. Wish.

Since the past 1 year, we occasionally engaged with the apartment cleaner to clean the whole house every 4-5 weeks. RM40 per session and it's quite a good deal. But the whole concept of assistance here is different than what I currently need. So, I made a different deal with the cleaner with targetted tasks of the daily house chores.

Yesterday she came for the first time, to do all chores related to clothes, to swipe and mop the floor, to clean all dirty dishes for the day. The deal was, she came for all those tasks after my office hour, every Tuesday and Friday, RM25 for each session. And I tell you, I feel so relieved, relaxed and house-chores-headache-free. It's still tiresome to look after Eirsa whom shows no sign of slowing down when she's having her fun time, but yes, that's the only thing that I have to do after office hour. And by 8.00pm, usually Samurai is already home, to offer (a lot) of assistance. Lalu boleh nonton Masterchef Malaysia sambil berbaring dengan selesa sekali. Thank God.

So far the quality of works is acceptable, the time taken didn't really interfere with our family time and she didn't yet show any sign of harm to the house or us. But still, pre-cautions should be taken in every way that we can.

If you are looking for one, there are a lot of maid services agencies offer this service but the price is quite high. Perhaps you want to ask around, for instance the cleaners who work for the apartment/condominium's or office cleaners. But please be extra careful on the selection and rapport could only be made via trial and error.


Interesting Info : Maid juga ada kelas-kelas yang tersendiri. Read.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Second Half of the Term

Inspired by the latest Hana Fedora's blog post, I wrote this post instantly.

This is my third pregnancy and inshaAllah my second child. So far the growth and development is good. Baby is actively kicking, making me feel I'm never alone whenever I actually am.

I have started calculating budget for the whole pre, during and post labor. And I tell you, at the first draft (calculation that considered all factors including emotional and leisure factor), the spreadsheet auto-sum showed some kind of 5 figure result!

Somehow, after striking-through some items, battling with my ala-tapi-kalau-ada-kan-best feelings of most moms, I still need sejengkal-tinggi-note-RM10. Reason being :

1) The latest scan result showed that my uri (placenta) is still at the lower level of my womb. Yes, it is still early, I still have 11 weeks to do a lot of walking and praying for the placenta to sit at its proper place that would allow me to have normal delivery (despite of the utmost scary feeling of mine that I have to endure the worst pain in my life). But Dr. Asmah's concern is that it is afraid that the placenta is attached to the previous caesarian incision and that I have no other but to undergo another caesarian. And that will cause me additional RM3000-RM4000 cost, on top of the panel sponsored portion. Yup. A LOT.

2) We need to get Eirsa's new wardrobe (to be shared with her adik) and bed, as hers would be handed over to the new baby. And we are talking about around a total of RM1500 or if possible and our-taste-could-tolerate, cheaper, here.

3) InshaAllah, we'll be getting assistance from a confinement lady, I've already booked her for 3 weeks that will cost us RM1350 in total. I'll have my confinement days here in KL, Mak will be imported from kampung, to take care of me during the first 1-2 weeks after labor.

4) And all the small small but must stuffs, in which kalau dihimpunkan mau boleh jadi RM1000+ juga lah.

So yes, there's still a lot to spend this time but inshaAllah, new baby also brings in rezq. God's plans are always theee best.


Note : I was quite a regular at Mybbstore when Eirsa was still a baby, especially when they are having whole-store sale. Now they are having one, from 1-31 October 2011 and inshaAllah we could have some good bargains there.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Sebentar di Bandung, Indonesia

Darso. He was our driver when we were in Bandung. He emphasized that he was only a driver and not a tour guide as he would only drive us to the place that we wish for, with no value added of accompanying us during each visit or contributing his local knowledge during each stop. That was what he was being paid for and that's all what he did.

No, he's not being inconsiderable as what you assumed. He was just using all that he had for survival; if you wanted more, you've just got to pay more. As simple as that. In fact the same style was adopted by other survivors in  Bandung.

***

You see. With a population of around 2.3 million, Bandung creates a very competitive neighborhood, especially among the low to the lowest income earners, despite the increasing number of visitors each year. Try to step a foot outside an outlet store and you, you alone, would be approached by at least 3 souvenir sellers, whom offer more or less the same item. And they'll follow you with the lowest price that they could offer, until you are out of their sight. In fact, we were approached by the same man, offering the same "fresh" blueberries, for about 4 times and he even followed us till we got in our car and drove away. No, you don't have to blame them, they were just fighting for their meal of the day.

Even if you were in a car, stopped at a traffic-lighted junction, someone (usually a kid) will approach you with an usang guitar, singing for you voluntarily, considering that if you didn't chase them away, that meant you were interested with their singing and you were obliged to pay. And if you didn't, you would receive a killer look, with maki-makian and a hard kick on the car door.

All I could say, any help offered by some stranger on the street might not come only with courtesy and smile but, with hope to get a little something for their stomach, for the day. You could choose to accept the offer and pay, but you might just want to do it wisely and sincerely.

***

Darso, as the age 25, married with a 6 months old baby was renting a room for his family, costed about RM180 per month. He earned about RM200 per trip of 3-days, 9am to 9pm, as a tourists driver while his wife was a full-time housewife. Darso was a good company of us. He shared a lot of interesting things in Bandung that sounded what-the-what?! to us. He's a jovial person and ambitious too. He had no interest in continuing his study, after his final class in secondary school (in Indonesia, it took only 3 years to complete primary school and another 3 years to complete secondary school).

Darso added, the cost of living in Bandung was quite high for his rate of earning. Despite the RM180 per month room rental for his whole family, he had to also pay for a quite high bill of his wife labor, reaching RM1000 for normal delivery in private clinic, for the whole delivery process until around 6 hours after the delivery (you'd be discharged after less than a day). It might cost several hundreds for the same case in government hospital but the service and treatment received was bad. Darso said "Mereka jaga juga, tapi tak sembuh dah suruh balik."

We continued talking about the culture, the people including the gossips of local artists. Talks and jokes about Peter Pan's vocalist and his life in prison, led us to a new, ironic information about Indonesia; the prison which placed those involved with corruption is the only prison with all the good facilities available. There, they have TV in each room, comfortable bed, food and restroom. Ironically, even the prison was "buyable".

Nonetheless, Darso who came from a village with it's main source of living is small scale agriculture, 9 hours ride away from Bandung, said that he thanked God everyday for what he and the family had; not much but enough. It saddened him to see the some young generations being dropped out from school, with no clue about their future, but rather enjoying their current lives with drugs and alcohols. Some of them even used the young kids to beg for money on the street, monitored them from afar, ensured those kids to bring back the money for them. All the young kids get was the meal for the day.

Darso would one day wish he could own his car, doing his own tourist driver job and received more than RM200 per trip that he received currently from the car owner (whom also the travel agent who dealt with us, but we never met).

"Saya tak mahu belajar lagi, Kak. Sudah tidak mungkin. Tapi saya bisa usaha untuk hidup senang, satu hari nanti dapat beli kereta, bikin bisnes sendiri dan ada rumah sendiri. Allah kata kun fayakun"

Friday, October 7, 2011

"Dah scan ke? Anak lelaki ke perempuan?"

Dah. Belum.

Maksud saya, belum tahu lagi jantina, walaupun dah scan beberapa kali. Saya perlu di-scan beberapa kali sebab nak pastikan kandungan sihat memandangkan 4 bulan pertama kesihatan saya teruk.

Tapi mak saya dah buat keputusan yang dia berkehendakkan anak perempuan juga untuk saya kali ini.

"Mak rasa kau dapat perempuan kali ni pun bagus. Boleh dak Eirsa tu ada kawan main. Tiap-tiap pagi mak doakan kau dapat anak perempuan."

"....................................."

Hmm.. Rata-rata yang kata lagi bagus dapat anak lelaki, sebab sekarang dah ada anak perempuan. Ada sepasang kan seronok! (Er.. Apa yang seronok?) Ada yang kata dapat seorang lagi perempuan pun ok gak, baju-baju Eirsa adik dia boleh pakai semula, jimat. Tapi saya rasa justifikasi tersirat mak saya pula dia nak menambah cucu perempuan, sebab sekarang ini hanya ada 1 cucu perempuan antara kesemua 6 orang cucunya.

Saya? Saya tak kisah, mana-mana yang Allah nak beri, ada baiknya. Semua yang dijadikan Allah ada hikmahNya. Ok la ok la. Jawapan artis macam ni pon kadang-kadang meloyakan juga. Bunyi positif yang dibuat-buat, padahal dalam hati berbunga-bunga nak anak lelaki. Saya harap dapat lelaki, betul, supaya dapat sepasang, supaya dapat rasa karenah yang lain-lain, supaya anak lelaki boleh geng dengan mommy dan Eirsa boleh geng dengan papa (whatever...).

Oh! Macam mana pula dengan gerak hati? Jawab saya, saya ni baruuuuww je baik dari morning sickenss, baruuuuuww nak memikmati pagi-pagi yang damai. Lalu, masih belum ada gerak hati. Kadang-kadang gerak hati pun tak boleh pakai, gerak hati pun boleh jadi lalang, cenderung mengikut keinginan.

Eh. Tapi ada juga beberapa perkara yang boleh dijadikan klu bagi teka-teki kita (saya?) ini. 

1) Saya kurang gemar berdandan.
2) Saya kurang rajin membaca, walaupun ada masa. Tapi bukan lah gila membaca sangat pun waktu tidak mengandung, tetapi kali ini baca dua tiga muka surat pun dah malas. Saya lebih suka main game di iPhone 3GS (RIP Mr. Steve Paul Jobs), to be exact Sudoku. I could go crazy playing this draining 50% of the battery in couple of hours. But not reading.
3) Peratusan sikap ber-shopping online saya menurun sebanyak 60%. Saya lebih berkira hendak membeli sekiranya tidak melihat sendiri barang itu. Tapi kalau dah belek sampai jurujual rasa meluat pun belum tentu saya beli. Mood beli belah saya terjelepuk jatuh longkang.
4) Mulut saya lebih laser, yakni kurang bertapis kalau bercakap.
5) Bayi saya sudah aktif dan saya sudah boleh rasa pergerakan bayi seawal 16 minggu. Lalu, malam-malam saya kini sudah biasa dengan tumbuk sepak terajang dari dalam perut. 

Jawapan saya untuk teka-teki ini adalah bayi lelaki, memandangkan beberapa perkara yang sama berlaku pada kawan baik saya. Bagaimana dengan jawapan anda?

Fun Information : Baby's gender is determined immediately upon fertilization; depends on either XX chromosome (girl) or XY chromosome (boy) carried by the successful sperm. Oh ye. Kakak saya juga mengandung, bayi batch 2011. Selepas 3 orang lelaki, inshaAllah kali ini beliau bakal menimang cahaya mata perempuan! Yippereeee!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Virus Apa Entah

So, this was what happened. We discovered some chicken pox look-alike lump or bubble at the under right armpit area. We thought it was another round of chicken pox and we waited for the next bubbles.

Biji-biji air yang disebabkan oleh virus
But no. There wasn't any. It was just some other much smaller bubbles around the same area; not more than 5 of them at that time. Thinking that they would eventually go away and Eirsa didn't show any sign of discomfort, we just ignored the symptoms.

But no. Those group of bubbles were still there after 2 months, but the total number of bubbles only increase by around 20%. The size remained the same too. And it started bothering us.

We brought Eirsa to our regular clinic, even the doctor could not identify the root cause. She gave us a cream to be applied for a week, and if there was no sign of curing, then Eirsa should be referred to a dermatologist. And no, there was no sign of curing.

So as per my previous entry, we brought Eirsa to Dr. Ranjit. I mean, Samurai and Opah brought Eirsa there. After a 10-seconds-examination under his famous magnifying glass, he came up with one word, "Virus". Since Eirsa went to a daycare, it was high likely she got infected from her playmates (and this was true as weeks after that, we found out that one of her playmates had the same bubbles around her neck, except, er.. triple more than Eirsa's!). Samurai however, could not capture the name of virus as Eirsa, as usual, would go hysterical during every doctor visit. He prescribed her with something that should be penetrated inside each bubble once (THANK GOD!) and follow up with nightly cream. We have to "cucuk" all the bubbles when she was fast asleep, as she would not let anyone touch her body after our several attempts of "cucuk"-ing her when she was ralit playing Opah's iPad. I did not think it hurts, but may be a little discomfort.

Ubat yang perlu dicucuk ke dalam biji-biji berair, Belnatur Bio Acnil

Setelah dicucuk, kesannya adalah begini. Ingatkan air yang keluar, tetapi darah yang keluar dari biji-biji berair
After 3 weeks, even though the progress was slow, we could see that the bubbles were shrinking and no new bubbles appeared. The old ones are still there now, but they look like disappearing in a month or so. 

(Sorry, no picture of the latest development, since after the "cucuk" incidents, Eirsa became more "protective" of the bubbles area.)

Notes : Melalui pembacaan saya, ubat cucuk yang sama (Belnatur Bio Acnil) juga boleh digunakan untuk tujuan kosmetik.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

God's Miracle : In Its Simple Form

Every single second there are millions of God's miracles happened, without us realizing. We seldomly realized them on normal occassions but will really appreciate them when our situation needs God's miracle the most.

This was what happened to me just now. It might sound simple but yes, it eased the our whole plan for everybody, for the day.

==

We had no choice but to have Eirsa's dermatologist appointment at 2.30 today. Appointment was made last week, but the schedule was too packed and we could not wait until the weekend. So 21 September, 2.30pm it was.

This specialist's service required no cash from us, since it was covered under the company's medical insurance, as long as we could produce the Guarantee Letter (GL). The GL could be faxed to you in less than 30 minutes by the insurance company, provided you had filled up the GL request form properly, together with the recommendation letter from panel clinic. It's a normal and easy prosess except that I was on medical leave until yesterday and the recommendation letter was in my office, so I could only request for the GL today.

The plan basically : I had to process the GL application, received and signed the GL this morning, Samurai would pick up the signed GL, fetch Eirsa and Opah and go to the specialist clinic. Not a big deal, we'd been to the clinic many times, Eirsa was home with Opah, Opah could help Eirsa's getting ready on time and Samurai's office is just 10 minutes away from Opah's house.

Except that Samurai had an unexpected, unscheduled, unplanned meeting with his boss and the meeting only ended at 12.50pm. To recap, he had to come to my office for the GL, which is 20 minutes away (one-way), fetch Eirsa in Damansara, travel from Damansara to Subang Jaya and had no choice but to make it before 2.30pm. For those who knew, Klinik Pakar Kulit Ranjit in Subang Jaya is always crowded every single second. You could get stuck there around 1-2 hours, even an appointment. And, it was raining. KL, raining, traffic : they are not good friends. Grrrreat.

And suddenly, God's miracle came to us, in the form of heroic figure of a friend of mine, Mr. H. He needed to go to Damansara during lunch hour and invited us to join him for lunch. If everything was in place, Samurai did not have to drive all the way to my office but rather pick the GL in Damansara. Talking about the save of total of around 45 minutes.

But.

As said, Samurai was having a meeting (that I didn't know till then) and Mr. H needed to make a move at 12.45pm. I tried to reach Samurai's phone until 12.44pm and prayed hard that he could at least pick up the phone so that I could inform him on the new plan. But I didn't want to delay Mr. H's plan either, so I reluctantly asked them to proceed and I could probably still catch up if I could reach my husband in 5 minutes.

6 minutes and 15 missed calls later, Samurai returned my call. Put him on hold, I called Mr. H and he was STILL at the office car park. Praising Allah for his help and mercy, I managed to join Mr. H to Damansara, informed Samurai to meet me somewhere there, save their trip to the clinic by 45 minutes and they managed to reach there at 2.10pm, 20 minutes before the appointment time. They then completed the examination and all before 3.00pm. GOD IS GREAT. GOD IS GREAT. GOD IS GREAT.

If Mr. H did not have to go to Damansara, Samurai did not pick up the phone or return my call on time and I missed Mr. H's 'rombongan' to Damansara, there was high possibility that the appointment needed to be rescheduled or Eirsa would be treated as walk-in patient (if the missed the appointment time) which would only be attended only after 2-3 hours after the registration. It was even relieving since the traffic from Damansara to my office was later found unexpectedly congested, perhaps due to the rain.

So yes. Miracle happens to you everytime. You just need to realize it.

Note : On Eirsa's development, we'll take a photo on the strange things on her skin and inshaAllah will let you know the result a week after the treatment as recommended by Dr Ranjit.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Things I Love About Pregnancy

It has been 16 weeks now, calculated from the first day of my last menses.

I don't really reach 4 months though, it's going to be in 1-2 weeks. Calculating in weeks made me forget how many months had passed by.

Alhamdulillah, getting better gradually I still sometimes find myself struggling with bloated stomach, fatigue (like most of the time after walking or even eating), the appetite is still so-so, and still menumpang at PIL's house. I've been back in the office since after long raya holiday but could make it the most of 3 of 5 working days. But all in all, this is much better than the past 2 months. *sujud*

And yes, second trimester is the most enjoyable time by expecting mothers, provided the morning sickness is gone or at least 50% gone. The stamina is gradually back in action, the belly is just nice to fit in some loose casual outfits and even maternity wear if some wished to, the feet are yet to swell, the weight is still bearable to be dragged to the shopping malls! But I don't know,  this time my shopping enthusiasm seems to 'jatuh longkang' and I had done no shopping for myself for the past 3 months, except for a pair of Raya wedges and a pair of Raya Diva bulky rings. And browsing through the online shopping websites made me tired.

As I had been going out more than the early pregnancy, I've also started to experience the blessings, the joys of being a pregnant lady. Some of them :

1) There's always an empty spot of car park. And most of them is near to the entrance. *grin*
2) Waiting made shorter for us, as out of sudden there's additional counter will be opened to cater for our needs! *grin*
3) Orang belanja makan. Er.. Ikut nasib la. ;)
4) Mengidam, berdoa dan inshaAllah lambat laun akan dapat. What happened was I had been salivating in my mind about mee kari during puasa. May be I had mentioned it to husband once but just kept it quiet after that since it is not easy to find mee kari during the day. Besides, our usual tapau spots were mostly closed and only opened with juadah berbuka which mostly offered nasi berlauk. And during hari raya, it was indeed a sweet coincidence where most of the close relatives' houses that I visited has mee kari as one of their menus! Hambik kau, kembung mee kari.
5) Generous MCs. I know, this should be number 1. *grin wider*

And I'm sure many of you would've experienced a lot of other unexpectedly lucky event and why don't you share with us? :)

For those expecting mothers, I would like to humbly share, anything that you are wishing for being it edible or inedible things, just have those wishes clearly kept in your mind, pray to God, (could may be ask it from your husband once or twice but doesn't really have to be pursued) be patience and redha. Kalau ada rezeki untuk kamu, inshaAllah akan sampai juga kepada kamu.

Note : I plan to read more about jaundice; the cause and the prevention and may be will share with you.

Monday, August 15, 2011

The Long Silence

You are absolutely right. It has been a month and 8 days since my last post. Alhamdulillah, here I am, still breathing.

Severe hyperemesis gravidarum, as diagnosed by the same gynaecologist that I visited when I was carrying Eirsa in my tummy. That was what kept me from blogging, most of the time from the sunshine and from my work. Series of sick leave, twice hospital admission and losing of 4 kg as of date, probably sounds more comprehendable, right? Not to mention daily vomittings without fail, nause, almost no appetite at all, super sensitive towards food odor, extreme tiredness, 24/7 bloated, seldom heartburn and low blood pressure, kept me close to my bed most of the time. Yet, thank Allah for still keeping me alive and making the time flies without me noticing, until when the day came I forgot about our anniversary. Alhamdulillah.

Today marked the 12th week of my pregnancy. Oh yes, I am pregnant! My third pregnancy and inshaAllah our second child.

I detected or more accurately couldn't wait but really had to perform the self-test of pregnancy as early as 26 days after the first day of my last mens. The sign at the test kit was weak but positive (there were some signs that made me think I was pregnant). The result was verified by doctor, I managed to stay in good health until week 6 until the severe hyperemesis gravidarum paid me a visit. This was about the same experience I had during my second pregnancy eventhough I prayed hard that it is going to be better this time. Oh. It is better since the number of vomittings dailiy reduced and I lost only 4kg instead of 5kg previously! Alhamdulillah.. Alhamdulillah..

And Allah is the Greatest. May be it's still too early to conclude but since yesterday I slowly gained my appetite back. Very little improvement but motivating.

(continue typing while lying on my bed)

And this morning, it was a miracle that I didn't really vomit, more of the act to vomit but nothing really came out. And the nausea seems lessen a bit. Thank you, Allah.

And we could never thank my in-laws enough for helping us in taking care of Eirsa, which by the way is now super active, and myself. Could net imagine our hard days without them. Thank you Opah, Atuk and Uncle Pi. And of course my family, friends and colleagues.

And thank YOU for the suppport.

p/s : InshaAllah, will continue when I am in good condition to blog, which I hope soon. (ni pun sudah rasa pening).

Thursday, July 7, 2011

You Did It To Yourself

Warning : This is my personal experience that I wanted to share with you. You could be judgmental and I couldn't and won't stop you. Allah is to judge me and He did keep his promise.

I had my assessment for my current career post last month after several months of waiting. I was informed 6 days earlier and it was obvious that I had ample time to prepare myself mentally and physically and to strategize the best route to the assessment center so I could ensure I arrived earlier than appointment time. You know KL, a car could have been parked at the very side of a road because the driver could not avoid but had to pee there and then and the whole route and connected route would congest instantly.

I, being the typical kelam kabut assessee would definitely do my homework, revision and start praying for the best, for everything to go smooth easy peasy. I meant not too easy lah but well enough that I could not do anything wrong or stupid. But I kept on delaying the preparation process and even worse, delaying in performing my solat hajat (which by the way I would always make sure I did at least once before any big thing). The first 3 days prior to the assessment, I barely done any preparation, including the solat hajat. And it so happened that I had my menstrual right on the 4th day which clearly meant it was impossible for me to perform the solat hajat prior to the assessment. That when I started to worry about the assessment, my lack of preparation and my lack of confidence.

I however managed to get some tips and helpful information from some friends who had undergone the same assessment quite recently. I felt more confident but my instinct was still not settled down. When people told that I'm going to be OK, they had faith me, they knew I could do it, I didn't deny the motivation but I still had the feeling that something bad would happen. I told them that it was not the content of the assessment but more to the outside factors for example I might get brain freeze or it could be my health or my car buat hal (as I discovered all four tyres looked a bit penyek) or even worse, something might have happened during on the road. Na'uzubillahiminzalik. I continued praying that the assessment would go well.

But indeed, it happened, it was the last one, the journey.

That night, Husband commanded everyone to sleep early. The lights were off as early as 9.45pm and I slept earlier than Eirsa did. The night was fine, I had a good night sleep, just a small tolerable interruption when Eirsa woke up for her regular night milk feed. The alarm was functioning, I woke up as early as 6.04 a.m. But.

Never had I done this before, I chose to just lay on the bed for some more minutes, checked my iPhone, accessed my Twitter account and even managed to reply to an interesting The Pink Stiletto's tweet. I even read the whole timeline and didn't notice how minutes that I have wasted until it was already 6.25am and I rushed to get ready for the day. Weirdly, I didn't get panic attacked. Even though I knew the SMART tunnel was closed due to maintenance, I still intelligently came to an assumption that they would open the tunnel back for public access due to overwhelming complaints received due to the closure that started the day before. I was completely wrong.

I reached the KL-Seremban highway as late as 7.25am and gosh, the traffic was almost not moving. The SMART tunnel management was so serious about the maintenance and continued closing the tunnel for another day. And. I. Was. Dead. The registration was at 8.30am and it is impossible for me to reach Jalan Semarak in on hour, when the car was only crawling at 10km/h. Weirdly, I still didn't get panic attacked, as if I knew this was going to happen. As if I knew this was THE punishment.

So, I asked a friend to guide me to another route, via Besraya. The day before, the route was better than KL-Seremban Highway, to reach Loke Yew and I could at probably reached Jalan Semarak around 8.30am. I took a turn and guided by her on the phone and alhamdulillah reached Besraya easily. But, but, but. Besraya traffic was moving at 30km/h an it was already 7.50am. D.A.M.N. That when I started to panic.

At a point on Besraya, I could actually choose to each Jalan Semarak via Jalan Istana & Mahameru or I could choose to proceed straight to join Loke Yew. Again, I assumed that Loke Yew would not be as congested since most of the drivers got stuck at KL- Seremban highway. Definitely a wrong assumption. My car was technically stop at a point for around 10 mins and move another 50 meters and halt again and this happened almost all the way on Loke Yew until I reached Jalan Tun Razak. At this point I had switched off my radio, higher up the blower, lower down the temperature and pray pray pray (and almost cried). I called my mom for her prayers and text my husband and friend on the latest news. That was the time when I realized why were all these happening.

I always procrastinate in performing my solat. It is quite a routine to wait for at the very end of solat period to perform it and wait for 10 minutes to continue performing the next prayer. For example at office. My Zuhur is usually 15 minutes before Asar so I would only have to have wudu' once. And embarrassingly, sometimes I only managed to perform Zuhur during the borderline of Zuhur and Asar. Why am I doing this to the very important thing in my life; serving Allah. And solat only require 5 x 5 times a day and I still want to find was to delay. And that was what Allah showed me the importance of preserving my discipline (means performing solat); through this incident.

But, the next part could not emphasize more that Allah is indeed Ar-Rauf, The Pitying.

I reached the registration desk 2 minutes before they started, with empty stomach. But I still managed to grab a box of 100ml soy bean and finished the whole lot 30 seconds before the assessment started. A couple of deep breaths later, the assessment started. And Allah is Al-'Afuw (The Pardoner) the whole session was easy, the assessor was being firm and fair and I had ample time later to prepare for the second session. I even believe that all the easiness granted was not because of me or my prayers, but for others that prayed and would rely on me to pass this assessment.

Thank you Allah, thank you Allah, thank you Allah.

Thank you to Mak, Husband, Eirsa, my angels and angelos in office, my angels in my heart, mothers and all of you that have prayed for me. May Allah love you more.

Note : Alhamdulillah, result received today and I passed the assessment, means some monthly extra rezeki for me. True enough. Allah itu tidak zalim, tetapi kamu yang menzalimi diri kamu sendiri.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Once Upon A Time

Yet another pictorial post, to indicate that this blog and I are still alive.

These were taken 3-5 years back (semua gambar adalah mengikut turutan peristiwa).

Young (still are), healthy (alhamdulillah, still are) and crazily in love (and alhamdulillah, still are).







Tuesday, June 21, 2011

On Her First Malaysia International Passport

It is very thoughtful of Malaysian Immigration to introduce new weekend business hour for passport new application and renewal, starting Nov 2010. They offer this extended business hour at 7 offices in Klang Valley; Damansara, Precint 15 Putrajaya, Port Klang, Wangsa Maju, Kajang, Subang and Shah Alam. Business hour is from 0730 to 1300 hours. Besides, their new online application and renewal service do decrease the number of at-counter-application visitors. The processes were simple :
  1. Fill up the form with complete supporting documents (the latest form is simple, worry not).
  2. Submit the form for process.
  3. Pay for the summed amount.
  4. Collect the ready passport (upon application approval), not more than 1 hour after payment made.
Nevertheless, our aim to reach there at 8.00am was indeed just a dream. We reached there at 9.30am, went straight to the studio booth and took the latest photo of both Mommy (my passport expired last year) and Eirsa. Not easy to capture a good passport photo of Eirsa but yeah, we managed. 4 pieces of passport photo were for RM15, and we were not given the softcopy. But perhaps if we brought along a thumbdrive and insisted for a copy, we might get ours with perhaps small amount of additional charge.

So then we went to the ambil-angka-giliran counter but given the form to be filled up first. Ye lah, dah kalau diberi nombor awal-awal tapi terkial-kial nak mengisi borang sampai tiba angka giliran, penat pula orang menunggu. Re-requested for the latest number, we were given the special shorter series as Eirsa's application was considered as special case. Groups of special applicants with special can-jump-queue treatments were :
  • Warga emas of 60 years old and older
  • OKU
  • Kids less than 7 years old
  • Pregnant ladies
We were called within 15 minutes after the number assignment and the documents submission processes completed in just 10 minutes (could be even earlier if Eirsa did not meronta-meronta bila Mommy nak pinjam jari untuk dapatkan cap jari domok nya itu).

Then we have to wait to be again called to make payment. It took around 30 minutes (after 1 complete episode of Ultraman and numerous Yusuf Taiyoob dates ads) to make payment as I believe payment could only be made if our application was approved. In fact, Eirsa's passport payment made 5 minutes earlier than mine (not at the same time). I made full payment for my renewed passport and half for new Eirsa's passport. If I'm not mistaken, half price for child with age 18 and less and perhaps for other groups to which I did not capture (sowi).

Since we were promised with 1-hour passport ready after payment made, we went for our heavy brunch first. Lapar. Worry not, there were many shop lots and restaurants at that area (tak perlu ke Alamanda pun) and we went to Ani Sup Utara. Yummy. But actually there was possibility for the passport to be ready in less than 1 hour and if you wanted, you could just wait there until your number was being called.

Her (and my ehem ehem) best photo.

Menunggu giliran sampai tergeliat badan

It's A Fact! : Pakistan requires a Muslim citizen who applies for a passport to subscribe to the following declaration :
  1. I am a Muslim and believe in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophethood of Muhammad the last of the Prophets
  2. I do not recognize any one whole claims to be a prophet in any sense of the word or any description whatsoever, after Prophet Muhammad or recognize such a claimant as a prophet or a religious reformer as Muslim.
  3. I consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani to be an impostor prophet and an infidel and also consider his followers whether belonging to the Lahori, Qadiani or Mirzai groups, to be non-Muslims.
The declarationw as instituted by the Islamist military regime of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. The reason for the declaration was to prevent Ahmadis who are derogatorily called Qadianis from going to Mecca or Medina for Hajj or Umrah. (Source).
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