Giving is Caring

Talked to a friend this morning on things that I observed during my recent visit to a hospital government :

1. The high hope that they always have towards the less cost government hospital despite the low level of hospitality (and not to say respect) that they received during each visit.
2. Their dress-ups that could care less about fashion but rather the requirement to cover the body and that the remaining of their paycheck could go for food, shelter, school and other much much much important things.
3. The arising kiasu in them since they believe they should have, as the opportunities wait for no late person.
4. The unfriendly and unapproachable majority of makcik guard, some nurses and hospital attendants.

Actually my observation was more on item 2.

Yes, I'm a bit particular on Eirsa's outfits, especially when we are outside the house. Not that I want to show off her expensive outfits (that she only has a few) but I want her to look presentable. I akan sedih kalau dalam gambar, Eirsa kelihatan selekeh. Seriously. My definition of presentable is simple but perhaps a little bit of above average type of outfits. I mean, I can afford a few Mothercare, BabyGap, ZaraBaby, Pumpkin Patch and what not brand baju baby yang gorgeous dan menghabiskan duit I and yes, I can once a while be a big spender as long as I have the allocation. And I work hard for it. But for her daily outfits, diapers, and all Eirsa's stuffs that normally used in short term, my husband and I are still among those parents who are willing to crawl in the crowd, at Pureen Warehouse Sale (which by the way, is scheduled to be on 23 & 24 April 2011).

So when I saw these kids in their baggy worn-out shirt, 2-size-bigger pants, elder-brother-or-sisters-shoes, I almost burst into tears. How fortunate are we, especially Eirsa to be having the fun of her life playing dress up (well, yeah Mommy did) and looked extra cute in her photos as compared to these unfortunate kids. We worry-less when we did shopping for ourselves and we seldom ignore the price tag if that is the clothes that we really wanted!

On the other notes, perhaps some would say that we work hard and thus we could spend 'hard'. Yes, I admit. The mind needs to be bribed with things that match with our paycheck. We want to award ourselves with some indulgence that could come in many forms, including expensive clothes. Do it, you and your every little drop of sweat deserve it. But we put some reminder to ourselves to be thankful on all rezeki that we have; by giving them the good old clothes that somehow 'lost' in our wardrobe. Kadang-kadang pun kita sendiri membebel almari dah tak muat. So peeps, it's time to give away!

Once  a while I gathered all my old stuffs and gave to an Indonesian kakak cleaner who would come to our house once every 5-6 weeks. Trust me, even that, you'll still find you have plenty of good stuffs to be given away. And now I need more time to really sort out things that I no longer need or I thought I would need later but I would eventually forget and I plan to give them to kakak cleaner in my office. InsyaAllah.

You can do it too. Not only clothes, but perhaps food (yang masih elok dan tak berusik, please. We are not projecting any sign of disrespect here), toys, books or any stuffs that are usable but no longer required by you. My friends and I once had plan to gather our stuffs and contribute to any shelter of the unfortunates but the coordination was not done correctly and the plan is still a plan. InsyaAllah we would re-start this initiative and let us start low first and report you the outcome and how could you do the same. As of now, you could start with the unfortunates that you knew first.

P/S : Jangan malu untuk bersembang dengan kakak cleaner office, just to get some hint on their background.

Antara bag zaman muda remaja yang dijaga elok dan sekarang telah diperturunkan kepada sepupu yang masih mudah remaja

Giving is caring

It's Hot Y'all!

Sharing is Caring

Sebenarnya I dapat share sikit je

Kegelapan 60 Minit Yang Menggembirakan!

It's Earth Hour again!

Let's enjoy the fun by switching off all means of light from 8.30 - 9.30 p.m (local time), 26 March 2011! It will not cut your electricity bill of the month by half but yeah, it contributes a lot to mother nature.

We can actually do this frequently and not during the official international earth hour only. But being human, it is hard to be consistent and to do things out of the norm, even harder to make it a norm. So, back in 2006, WWF Australia and Leo Burnett Sydney started the initiative by taking some serious and global measures from the disturbing scientific data of climate, and Earth Hour was borne. Kicked off in Australia, Earth Hour became the world's interest and as good as trend and it was 'globalized' in 2007.

So people, Husband, Eirsa and I will participate in this Earth Hour (probably will also be hopping like crazy monkeys, rolling on the floor or picking our nose, since nobody can see us in the dark) and you too could be part of the excitement!

We love Pocoyo and Friends too!

Fun Experiment No. 1

About the experiment :

1. Black fluffy skirt for RM15 at Cotton On.
2. Old Superman baby-T (nasib baik tak sampai tahap merekah jahitan t-shirt ni dek pertambahan lemak pada badan)
3. Not-so-old jacket, a little elastic, that's why it could still nicely wrap my lengan yang gagah.
4. A pair of old jeans, among those minority of my jeans yang masih sudi nak memuatkan lemak-lemak pada seluruh kaki. Jeans lain-lain tu menderhaka kat saya lama dah.
5. Cotton inner.
6. Some less-than-RM10-per-piece shawl.
7. Black bangle from Diva.

The outcome :

Anda boleh muntah jika mahu. Tak pe, saya tak berkecil hati. T___T

Re-prioritize

I notice at this age, I work not because I like to work, but I work because of money. Which results to low job satisfaction, which results to easily get de-motivated when I feel the workload doesn't match the pay, which results to consistent feeling of Monday blues, which results to stop makan gaji and be my own boss instead. But I know to be my own boss is not easy. The journey, the risk, the struggle is going to be overwhelming and I'm afraid that I might stumble even before I start walking. Besides, the benefits offered by current company is too good to let go and that the whole family cannot depend on one's salary only and the little luxurious that we are enjoying now is too schweeeet to let go.


After many sighs, I chose and hoped to be able to sustain, to go through my daily life the way I want it; if I can do it, then I'll do it. If the bosses are asking for moon, then I'll just provide them with moon cake, since that is what I could afford. The rest I'll surrender to God; which is my utmost priority that I always, always fail to fulfill.


It really makes me realize (not all the time, though. Bad me, bad me.), we are reaching up to the sky and often put lower priority to our solat, that includes procrastinating solat. Least that we know that God gives you the time and He gives you the 'kelonggaran' to compulsorily perform your prayers only five times daily and yet you are so busy doing anything else. Duniawi. And least that you remember that He can get all the time that He loans you anytime, darling.


As such, with the low motivation that I'm having now, I choose to just go with the flow. To do things within my control and limit, to re-prioritize all things that require me, to believe that if I could not meet the bosses request for the stars then it is OK, since God knows that I've done my best and that God will somehow help me to get through the way, as long as I put all His rukun Islam at top of my priority list, to ensure that I appreciate and be thankful to what God has given so far, especially the health, family, work (yes, at least I or we have a job, aight?) and all the goodness that I have now. Syukur.

Jom solat!

God, please guide us on the straight path, the path of those who have received your grace; not the path of those who have brought down wrath, nor of those who wander astray.

Cabaran Mencabar Perut!

... Bermula hari ini!

Selongkar-selongkar setor tadi, I found this; fat burning cream and a modern, strappy bengkung. I actually used them during my confinement days. They worked wonders but I believed breastfeeding Eirsa was a major contributing factor.

So this time, it's going to be only them and I, trying to pull all the fat off! (Eirsa is weaning off). Let's try to make it for 21 days first then we see how do we go about it. I need to put them on at least once a day, for several hours.

So, jom join me!

On Pospartum

I believe I had postpartum after giving birth to Eirsa. Perhaps it was minor but it was quite disturbing.

I consistently felt dejected, negelected, burdened, angry and of course of all the badness; pressure.

I could never thank Mak enough for still wanting to take care of my 'makanan dalam pantang', for finding a massage makcik and for taking baby Eirsa to bathe and dress her up every morning for 40 days. I was lucky.

But those above unnecessary feelings still came to me, as a result of

1. My minor difficulties during labor that required me to undergo c-section procedure, the after-effect of the caesarian itself (all the more pantang and extra-care required)
2. Baby Eirsa's upside down sleeping schedule
3. My husband was in KL while I was 'berpantang' in Melaka
4. My over protective feeling and actions towards baby Eirsa that I could easily got pissed off when my nephews, whom three of them under Mak's care and basically they were there with me during the whole 40 days, made noise and running and chasing eash other all over the house. No, they were ok, they were just being kids, it was just me. I didn't want Eirsa to wake up during the days as I needed to get some rest too after sleepless nights.
5. The heat. Gosh, it was so hot and as a part of the pantang, baby Eirsa and I were allowed to bathe once a day (early in the morning) only.
6. My breast milk only 'showed up' on day 4th. This was the biggest challenge actually since Husband and I was determine to provide Eirsa with exclusive breast milk for at least the first 6 months.

And that's why I was 'hot'.

I really needed support from my husband but he too had a lot of errands to run at that time. Besides his daily job in KL, he was also busy preparing for our new house, for baby Eirsa and I. We planned to move to our new house, as soon as the 'pantang' period is over.

So, dealing with baby Eirsa's sleep through the day and awake through the night, the caesarian incision, the heat, the over-protective new mother I was, the husband was far far away, yes, I was so depressed. I cried (if not outside, inside my heart) everytime my husband called. I even got angry at baby Eirsa when she refused to sleep while I was so tired and need my rest. Baby Eirsa was just a baby and she knew nothing other than smiling back at me whenever I smile at her. The depression was undescribable and thank you Allah, You still led me throught the right path and made me stronger. And kept my sanity close to me.

It is scientifically proven and women after giving birth will experience negative feelings that would contribute to high possibility of postpartum. Not saying that it is OK, but it is true and unavoidable. The only thing that keeps your sanity is by being super patient and believe in God.

For new mothers, I'm not saying that you are not excepted. Every new mother experiences different kind and level of depression. Some are just pure happy being mother on her own even without others' help while some will still feel depress even though they are surrounded with loved ones with generous assistance. Yes, it's not created by you, but the negative feeling will uninvitedly come.

When the time comes, the first thing that you need to have in your heart that the baby is God's gift and he/she is an individual. You don't put certain expectations as they might just be different. You don't put the blame on the baby and that please don't put in your mind that you are alone, as Allah is always always always there and all mothers' prayers are heard, if not immediately, soon. Babies need to be taught, guided and mom's love and care contributes to major part of their development. And last but not least, the pantang period is not forever. It will soon end and the baby will soon, without you realize, grows and you'll miss their baby time. So, enjoy it while it lasts. God will love you more.

Note : And now my Eirsa is two, she has started to show the Tantrum/Trouble Two symptoms. Not much, but yeah, sometimes she could make my blood boiled. But I hope this time I could maintain reasonable, logical and practical.

In mummy's belly

During her early infant years

When she was 1

She is now, same person, different kind of trantrum

From Eirsa, With Love and Happiness

Same like last year, we prepared some little something for Eirsa play buddies at her daycare. Thinking that giving 'jajan' is not actually good for them and we are not really contributing to those kids' goodness other than non-guilt-free happiness and sugar high.


So, this time around, we decided to opt for something that could contribute to small part in those kids' development; toys.


It didn't cost a lot, around RM100 in total for 33 pax of kids (including 5 babies) and 4 pax of carers. All decorations made by myself, with RM0 cost (sunken cost, since they were 'leftovers' from my previous projects).


These were sent to Eirsa's nursery on 7 Mar 2011, with pinch of love.



For the babies. They could shake it, bite it, throw it, whatever they want.



For the carers. I gave them 2 pieces of my pre-loved shawls, 1 piece of brooch pinned to a small pillow (both hand-made by me), a pair of earrings and a small tube of moisturizer, among my good hotel collections during my travelling years.

For the kids; Universe of Imagination, 5oz of modelling compound!

Actually the modelling compound or playdough could be home-made too. I've never tried, but will give it a shot someday. Perhaps you want to check it out here, here and here!

Hello Weekend Yang Padat!

Starting my busy day with roti jala and chicken curry, heaven in my tummy and on my weight scale. But it was superb tho, so an exception is acceptable.
I'm now at my PIL's and about to go back to my house, as I need to get ready for a very dear friend's solemnization ceremony. And yes, the even will start at 10 a.m. and that I have a total of 1-hr journey and now it's 8.30 a.m. I was so sleepy since I slept at 1.15 this morning, so-called my dedication to work.
Later the whole family and I will leave to Port Dickson; a gate-away. And I will still require bring my works along since one of them is important in such a way that it has to be submitted before Monday and we are going to a place with very limited internet access. *kill me already*
Fabulous weekend, all!

Gunting Rambut Eirsa

Sekali lagi, Mommy buat perangai gunting rambut Eirsa dengan menggunakan tangan sendiri. Haih.. Kesian sungguh Eirsa jadi mangsa ketidakadilan ini.

Rambut sebelum bertukar menjadi raksasa

Jari jemari yang tidak professional tapi nak juga menggunting rambut orang. Mengambil kesempatan ke atas ketidakmengertian Eirsa dalam hal-hal penggayaan rambut.

Ok. Siap. Dengan baju seluar semua berlumuran rambut. Mommy memang terpaksa menggunting rambut Eirsa waktu dia berdiri menonton tv begitu

Anda juga boleh. ;)

Note : Suami lari lintang pukang bila saya usulkan untuk menggunting rambut beliau.

Happy Birthday, Rainbow!

Today. She is TWO! And I'm old.


Not much on the celebration, as said before, she is too young to appreciate any birthday party bash. But her grandparents still wanted her not to miss the 'tiup lilin' and 'potong kek' tradition and they bought her one during kenduri doa selamat and tahlil held last Saturday. And as expected she stood in front of the cake, held the plastic knife, stared at the two candles and went ......... *crickets' sound*. Yes she did nothing but just staring at us! LOL! But she did enjoy the strawberry cake a lot and papa helped to blew out the candles and potong the cake.

This was the scene during the kenduri, when Eirsa was asked to blow the candle and cut the cake. Literally, no sound.

As promised to her, we brought her to Starship Galactica, One Utama, for her to have her very fun. We reached there as early as 11 a.m. (until 2 p.m. *pengsan*)


I forgot to bring my own socks and left alone jadi tukang jaga barang. But I managed to communicate with them and saw Eirsa 'live in action' via Fring and Tango (thank God for the technologies!).

And this is what I did while waiting for them (beside some quick shopping).

Opah, Atuk and Uncle Pi gave her this as birthday present (on top of other generous presents bought for Eirsa previously, thank you!).

While Mommy and Papa gave her unlimited love and care as birthday present, for her whole life. Ha ha. A part of that, of course there will be something special, if not during her birthday, perhaps some other days. Any day would be a special day when Eirsa is around. *ayat sedapkan hati*


Oh! Oh! We bought her this, boleh consider as birthday present, no?


Happy birthday my dear Eirsa. You know how much we love you.

P/S : Notice the new haircut? Tu semua Mommy punya kerja, in her effort of being creative and cheapskate. A post on the haircut will be up, soon.

Teaser : Somebody Got A New Haircut

Rotavirus Is Not Pretty

Eirsa was infected last Ramadhan, so did her Papa 3-4 days after her.


Day 1 and 2.
The first 2 days Eirsa vomitted mildly and berak more than 8 times a day. We though it was just an ordinary diarrhea that would naturally go after a while. We took her to her regular pediatrician and he said that it's a diarrhea and gave us a bottle of medicine for diarrhea.


Later back home, her diarrhea showed no sign of ceasing. She was so weak and she would do nothing but lay down on my chest. I cried seeing her in that helpless condition.


Day 3.
Eirsa had high fever, still weak, sleeping all day long and her body dried. The fever was still high and she refused to eat everything except breastmilk. Around 11 a.m., I saw her lips was even drier until they cracked. And that's it. She was dehydrated, a bad sign. We hurried up to hospital. I cried again.


We arrived emergency room and the staffs stripped all her clothes and bring wet towels in cold water. She was practically bathed on the bed with nothing except her diaper. I helped by comforting her (I was not allowed to hug her, to avoid from transferring my body heat to her). Still in nothing but her diaper, she was laid down and the staffs did the normal procedure for drip. I didn't have the heart to watch and cowardly hid behind the curtain (in which I regret my move until now, I should have been stronger for my daughter!). Luckily she did not hysterically scream throughout the procedures. Perhaps she didn't have the energy to do so.


Day 4.
The assigned paediatrician came in the morning and mentioned that they were analyzing Eirsa's poo poo. There was high possibility of Rotavirus infection, she mentioned. Her visit was quite short and we had no chance to ask further.


And the same paediatrician came again in the afternoon with the lab result. Positive Rotavirus. It was a small relieve that the caused was identified and we could now focus on the treatment. But there was no specific treatment for Rotavirus, though. Eirsa's just got to be strong to go through the days, until Rotavirus was completely flushed out off her body.


Day 5-7.
The diarrhea was on and off, no vomit, alhamdulillah. Her appetite signs of improvement and she has started to smile and talk to me. She even wanted to walk, but her legs were so weak that she fell after 3 small steps. She was disconnected from the drip, made it easier for her to move. She watched her favorite DVD a lot and she could then attend to her long abandoned Bearbear.


Throughout day 6 and 7, she was getting better and better. No more diarrhea and she was discharged on day 7 and we left the hospital in late afternoon.


Notes :
Rotavirus immunization program for babies is available, but is still not made compulsory in Malaysia. As such, the government clinics or hospitals don't offer the jab for free, as per practiced for other compulsory vaccinations namely BCG, Hepatits B, DTP & Polio and MMR. But you could get the series of jabs at private clinic with cost around RM170 - RM200 per round.


We did not take the jab for Eirsa, assuming that effect is not severe and even worse, assuming that there is low possibility for Eirsa to get infected. The fact is that, yes, even though the possibility for your baby to still get infected after being vaccinated is still high, but the impact is not severe as what Eirsa had gone through. Your baby would just probable had 1-2 days of diarrhea with minimal degree of fever. And for all infected babies, the chance to be re-infected is still there but the intensity is low.


Your choice, parents.



P/S : My dear friend Nuurill was recently being tested with series of hardship and among them was her boy affected by rotavirus. Be strong darling.

Ais Krim Lapis-Lapis Yang Lazat

We went to Ice Room at Kota Damansara, specifically because Atuk said the restaurant has private playground and Eirsa had her fun time while we could enjoy our food. I plan to tell Atuk that Eirsa wishes to go to Disneyland Hong Kong *crossing my fingers*

At Kota Damansara. They have other branches too, go Google



Order. Muka lapar tapi cover. Padahal dah hentak-hentak meja sebab lambat sikit


It was not a bad experience, except that the playground section was reserved for birthday celebration. The in-house playground is upstairs and the whole 1st floor session was closed. And until today Eirsa doesn't know the existence of the playground at Ice Room, next time yah, Sayang!


Nonetheless. The food was ok, nothing special though but we were still full to the max.


Husband and I had noodles; his was Fish ball Noodle Soup and I had Wantan Noodles. Both were ok, except that the noodle was too thick (gemuk-gemuk, kau!) and my wantan was not up to my satisfaction level. Oh. You should try wantan soup that I seldom had, at Level 3, Menara TM Foodcourt! *sedap sampai pitam tak sedar diri*


My in-laws had selection of western meals; chicken chop and fish and chips. While Eirsa, well.. As usual, she had to have the most outstanding among us; mushroom soup served in a teapot.

Mesti lah kena outstanding, kan. Diva in the making.



Eirsa's. It was so presentable! It tasted quite ok, not a typical Campbell cream mushroom.



Mine was grape ice-blended and Eirsa's was fresh watermelon juice. Others had coffee and tea.


And presenting their best offer : ICE CREAM SELECTIONS. We had mango, two bowls of mango ice cream in fact. MARVELLOUS.

The winner

Perhaps next we could just come to enjoy the ice cream while watching Eirsa had her joyful time in-house playground.

Phew..!

Alhamdulillah, after 2-3 months spending for necessary things only, hiding the credit cards far deep inside my wallet, cooking dinner at home and being really careful in spending things for Eirsa, we managed to zerorize our monthly credit card bill. It's tremendously relieving *sujud syukur*


It's not that we spent like crazy, contributing to 4-digit credit card outstanding, but when we bought something and planned to pay it the following month, it would not go as planned. The 'time to bayar saman' will come, the punctured tyre day will come, the half-yearly cukai taksiran will come, the masa-ni-lah-kau-nak-betulkan-air-cond will come, you know, those sort of "urgent" things. Ended up your outstanding bill will be carried forward and forward and forward. It's dangerous, seriously. The only way to stop this never ending credit card craziness was by spending things in cash. I even applied for debit card, so that I will still use cash when I was out of cash.


And because of that, I'm now carried away by the 2-3 months spending behavior; which is a bit annoying to my company (not company company, the people who accompanied me). It would even take more than 3 minutes for me to buy eggs! I would compare among at least 3 brands on the price, quality and size. That could still be considered quick, considering something that I would buy quite frequently.


When it comes to spending things that could be considered as luxurious, people have to really be patient to wait for me. Recently it took me 10 mins to choose a packet of pantyliners. Yes, I have the regular brand that I bought but the other not-so-bad brand offered some cute gift with the same price. I would go like "Hmm.. ok ke beli new brand? Kang tak serasi pulak, dah membazir." or "Pakai ke free gift ni? Is it worth it to change to new brand?" or "Is this displayed price correct?" (and yes, I ended up looking for the price check station only to get confirmed about the price). You know, all those pros and cons. And it could get even worse when I wanted to buy things that totally not my needs, but more to my wants, for instance accessories, new shawls, new shirts and so.


People would see me receiving parcels by shopping online now and then, indicating (on the surface) that I'm a shopaholic. Least that they know, that was the only shopping that I did at that time. I mean when I bought new shawls online, that were the only shawls I bought since I didn't have the time to go for conventional shopping. And I did all the price comparison online and even seek for friend's advise before proceed with purchase.


But all in all, I feel my new way of shopping is better than before. The amount of junks (things that you bought but you didn't really use or even worse forgot about them) were reduced and THE CREDIT CARD BALANCE IS NOW ZERO. Alhamdulillah.. Still, when one day I have the luxurious to worry-free-ly shop they way I want, when I want, trust me I will do it in fabulous way.