Ahsuez From The Blog (Featuring Samurai)

Yukids Island, The Curve

2012-01-26T11:38:00.000+08:00

If I'm not mistaken the soft launch was back in Dec 2011. We discovered this place by accident.

Located at the second floor, Yukids Island is yet another place for parents to have their personal time with each other or any kind of relationship with their gadgets while the kids are all having the highlight of the day. Safety-wise, the almost all areas in the place are 'insulated' with padding, topped up with colorful presentation and several stations with different equipment for the children. But I have to admit that the place is rather small.

During weekdays, the pay-per-entry with unlimited play hours and unlimited adults to accompany a kid, Yukids' charge is RM20 for kids age through 9 years old, while for weekends, the charge is RM30 (of course). No socks needed although somehow I feel socks are still required, due to hygienic reason.

Personally, I think this place is more suitable for kids less than 6 years old as the level of adventure is moderate to low.. No gigantic slides or never-ending "konon-konon" confusing tunnels or high towers that could reach the sky, this place is rather cool for toddlers who are still getting used to the keep-on-coming new adventures in their life. At least the place managed to keep Eirsa very occupied for 2 hours, before pengsan kepenatan.

Locker card. Locker facility comes with no extra charge.

Sempat menonton pertunjukan tarian singa...

... Sebelum sambung semula bermain.

Double Celebrations!

2012-01-19T14:48:00.002+08:00

So this is what would happen if

you have been dating for 12 years and 4 years of those as married couple
your birthdays are just 1 month apart
you both already have an almost 3 years old toddler and,
the female is heavily pregnant

.......... One birthday celebration that could fit both, with a good, practical, pre-determined gift.

Nevertheless, we both enjoyed each and every moment a lot, especially that we still have each other despite all the ups and downs. Some days were easy peasy, some were just as rough as other married couple. We pray that Allah give us the same strength, same passion to go through this life with each other as it definitely is going to be tougher in the future.

Happy belated birthday to us, cheers!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-18T12:07:00.000+08:00

Minggu Tiga Puluh Dua

2012-01-04T09:03:00.001+08:00

Dah minggu ke 32. Kalau dibahagi empat secara langsung, sudah 8 bulan. Tapi kalau ikut kiraan hari (1 bulan bersamaan 30 hari), baru 7 1/2 bulan.

Selak-selak kad rekod antenatal bayi dalam perut sekarang, terpikir pula nak buat perbandingan rekod antara budak berdua ni. Boleh buat anggaran berapa berat bayi yang akan lahir, juga berat emaknya setelah cukup tempoh untuk melahirkan. So, here we go.

Kesimpulan awal yang boleh saya buat sekarang ini adalah :

1) Berat bayi dijangkakan lebih dari 3.12kg jika bayi dilahirkan pada tarikh jangka lahir atau lewat. Ini juga memberi maksud Mommy bayi perlu berusaha lebih sewaktu melahirkan (pertama kali akan melahirkan bayi secara normal, jika diizinkan Allah) atau boleh juga berusaha supaya bayi dilahirkan awal 1 atau 2 minggu dari tarikh jangka lahir.

2) Berat Mommy bayi juga dijangkakan lebih dari 60kg, tidak kira lah sama ada Mommy bayi akan melahirkan bayi lebih awal, pada atau lewat dari tarikh jangka lahir. Ini juga memberi maksud Mommy bayi perlu berusaha lebih untuk menurunkan berat badan ke tahap yang diinginkan (45kg ke bawah).

Kedua-dua kesimpulan di atas membuatkan saya rasa berdebar-debar!

Hai bayi!

Of A (Quite) Fussy Mommy

2011-12-29T10:05:00.000+08:00

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.

Air Tangan Puan Ayin

2011-12-23T09:45:00.001+08:00

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 Kitchen; Soft & 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)

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-21T14:30:00.000+08:00

Confinement Lady in Melaka

2011-12-07T12:47:00.001+08:00

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.

Of Pregnancy & Related Things So Far

2011-12-05T16:13:00.000+08:00

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!).

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-23T09:58:00.001+08:00

Terima Kasih Ianya Hari Isnin!

2011-11-21T09:24:00.001+08:00

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.

RM45 Dewasa, RM38 Kanak-kanak

2011-11-18T12:11:00.000+08:00

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!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-16T15:28:00.003+08:00

Tempat Berteduh

2011-11-09T11:37:00.001+08:00

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.

Part-Time Maid

2011-11-02T11:46:00.000+08:00

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.

Second Half of the Term

2011-10-21T11:04:00.000+08:00

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.

Sebentar di Bandung, Indonesia

2011-10-11T08:40:00.000+08:00

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"

"Dah scan ke? Anak lelaki ke perempuan?"

2011-10-07T09:06:00.000+08:00

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!

Wordless Wednesday : Baby Bump

2011-10-05T10:38:00.000+08:00

Virus Apa Entah

2011-10-04T10:41:00.000+08:00

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.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-28T00:00:00.001+08:00

God's Miracle : In Its Simple Form

2011-09-21T15:54:00.000+08:00

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.

Things I Love About Pregnancy

2011-09-14T09:08:00.000+08:00

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.

The Long Silence

2011-08-15T10:04:00.000+08:00

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).

You Did It To Yourself

2011-07-07T14:46:00.002+08:00

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.

Once Upon A Time

2011-07-01T08:19:00.001+08:00

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).

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-22T09:28:00.000+08:00

On Her First Malaysia International Passport

2011-06-21T15:04:00.000+08:00

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 :

Fill up the form with complete supporting documents (the latest form is simple, worry not).
Submit the form for process.
Pay for the summed amount.
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 :

I am a Muslim and believe in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophethood of Muhammad the last of the Prophets
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.
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).

Temper Tantrum Terrible Two, You Name It

2011-06-16T09:09:00.000+08:00

Eirsa is now 2 years and 3 months old and I think we, the parents, have started to master the art of dealing with the famous terrible two. No. Too ambitious. We are just beginning to get the full picture of the expectations but talking about the art of dealing with this kind of tantrum, we are far from perfect (lagi mau cerita pasal master, chet!).

So yes, the tantrum, when it comes, could really test your patience. I was not the angelic patience mother type, even my close friends were quite surprise that I could tolerate with a kid better than I could tolerate with myself. And talking about tantrum 2, I admit, during the earlier stage my blood boil everytime. E-ve-ry tai-emm. I tried to be reasonable, I avoided shouting at her (which made my blood even went higher!), I avoided to babab her. But when the tantrum comes, me, being a human being that could easily be influenced by shaitonirrajim, I several time babab-ed her. And twice I regret shouting at her (at home, never ever in public, you should not portray your anger in the public as the kids understand humiliation and they will just go wilder).

Trust me, neither any specific ways would work. Every time she throws her tantrum, she demands different treatment. Sometimes she would just settle down with me ignoring her un-meet-able demand (of course after a good 10 minutes scream), or sometimes she would just continue crying sampai muntah atau hilang suara atau sampai sakit badan dek hempas-hempas ke lantai until I came to console her. Or on the other odd days, after all efforts, Mommy gt tired, gave he a babab or two, consoled her, then only she cooled down. Bribing her with her favorite stuffs would not work all the time.

Somehow or rather, we managed to get the gist of these painful episodes of tantrum :

1) The communication gap. She is in the phase of developing her vocabs (I believe all is in her head now but to get it out is totally another story and skill). As such she could just go "Ni.." "No.." "Bear..." "Cow..." "Ooonnn (bangun..)" and any other single word which would not be 100% reflected to her exact desire. And I tell you what, the desire could change in split second, ikut dan dia je.

2) The ability to deny parents' directions. True enough, her default answer now is "No!" even though she would eventually follow our directions but that would be the default first response.

3) The preference. If she would want her BearBear A, that means she WANTED THAT SPECIFIC Bearbear (grrr.....). Not the other BearBear cousins. And the preference keeps on changing depends on her mood. How to predict? Cannot. At least you are good at mind reading (please share the skills with me!)

4) The feeling that Mommy and Papa could do anything for her. Hatta meredah lautan bara api. So everything that she demanded SHOULD BE MET by us, which is very unfortunately darling, Mommy could never bring a dead cow alive.

5) The insecurity. Yes, She still has the insecurity in her in which she has the feeling that if she did not get what she wanted, the whole world will collapse. Not literally but more or less la. Their knowledge on things like alternatives, there's always next time, is very little.

6) The uncomfortable self or surrounding. For instance she seldomly woke up at night, screaming. That usually indicated that either she had bad dreams or her sleep disturbed by the heat or just simply caused
by a stomachache. And since you already knew what to do with these discomfort, quickly applied the remedy for any possibilities.

Frankly, this post contains no specific approaches or solutions to be applied this period of tantrum two. Same like other parents, we are still learning on both Eirsa's behaviour and our behaviour towards her tantrum. Still, perhaps :

1) You could follow your instinct in dealing with the tantrum but keep the good parenting values close with you; which means no scolding or babab-ing in public, no shouting, but at the same time not necessarily to follow bluntly what she wants.

2) Try to be creative in providing solution to all her wants, so that she would not have preference and as such the tolerance and acceptance to many solutions could be widen. If she is so get used to routines, some little change to her daily activities could cause a major upset. Playing with what's-next game with the kids is somewhat interesting too!

3) You don't necessarily have to meet with all her demands. If you did, she would register that she could get everything that she wanted, everytime. Dangerous. Be creative, find alternatives.

4) Before introducing some new things for the to do, provide the explaination on what to expect beforehand. This would help them to accept any changes rather than creating yet another scene of protest.

5) Take turn. If Papa is dealing with the tantrum, Mommy doesn't have to add salt to injury and vice versa. Just let the anak-beranak settle down and monitor from afar.

6) Seek for assistance if required. If Mommy could not figure out what she wants, ask Papa to help. Usually Eirsa would go easier with the other parent whom she did not project the demand in the first place.

7) Be cool. She is the one who is upset. You are smart enough not to fall into the trap of shaitan's whispers but again, being a leeeetle human being this is hard to achieve. Still, inshaAllah, pray to Allah, istighfar, take a deep breath, take a step back or walk away for one or two minutes and do all the necessities (not necessarily to meed the demand, but rather to comfort her).

8) Upon the successfulness of the consolation, hug her, kiss her and whisper on her behaviour that could cause the world upside down and that she has to be in good behaviour for everything to go her way. The eyes might get caught to TV but she actually listened.

9) If possible, come up with a checklist and list down all the possible alternatives, so that you are always equipped with the solution. But to attend a hysterically screaming child and to look for the checklist at the same time is not always easy. :)

10) Accept yourself as you are and not to meet others' expectations. They don't know the trouble and not helping either. Do the best as guided in your faith and inline with humanity. You could never go wrong.

May be I forgot to include any other important things but you guys are just beautiful parents are you are. Enjoy parenthood!

Note : More reading, go here.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-15T10:45:00.004+08:00

Kota Kinabalu, 13 June 2011

2011-06-14T09:57:00.000+08:00

These are fresh from oven.

Am now one a queen-sized bed, Le Meridian Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Not a gateaway, but more to another call of works. But somehow or rather, this is a good, brief me-time when I can enjoy my luxurious 30 mins bath, uninterrupted TV session and once in a blue moon night blogging! Yes, I didn't mention about uninterrupted sleep since it is almost sure that I'll still get 'interrupted' sleep after consistent 2 years of terjaga malam because of Eirsa. No regret but rather getting used to it and made me miss my baby a lot!

So, Kota Kinabalu. This is not my first, second or third. I had been here for quite some belas-belas time for work and once for our third honeymoon. But I could never get enough of this city. It seems to have inexhaustible list of offerings to the visitors. I will fall in love over and over again.

Arrived at around 7.30pm at the hotel, we still managed to catch up with the night markets in which there are 4 of them just around this area; the famous Philippines market (I bought nothing, puas dah bakar duit kat sini dulu), pasar jual buah-buahan dan sayur-sayuran (I bought dried anchovies for Mak and Mama), pasar dried food (I bought nothing, but my staff bought whole lot of Amplang and kuih cin cin), pasar makan-makanan hawkers style (I bought my dinner here, nasik goreng membukit punya banyak!) and pasar malam jual all the denims, bags, shoes with very good bargain (I bought a bangle, worth buying!). Pasar buah-buahan dan sayur-sayuran offered the best selections that you could get; all items are well packed and very neat! Murah dan fresh, tok sah nak cakap la. I takut Mak nak bermastautin kat sini je kalau jumpa benda-benda makan yang fresh begini.

Foreigners are not foreign here. They are always some numbers of them, most of them backpackers.

I always say KK is good place for tourism. The kaki scenery gunung Kinabalu, the breathtaking islands around Tunku Abdul Rahman marine area, the night markets, and not to forget, the fresh fresh fresh seafood. I'll definitely come back, with Eirsa of course. One day.

Ye. Saya menyesal. Sebab malas nak bawak camera. Lalu terpaksa ambil gambar guna camera iPhone 3GS sahaja. Harap maaf kualiti gambar tidak sesedap mata memandang.

The flea market was located along this road. And very early in the morning, the road already cleaned! I mean, very clean!

This thing is heavy, I mean not the cheapo style. But I manage to get this half of first offered price.

Note : Can't wait to go home. Homesick. Mengada gedik.

Let's Get Crafty!

2011-06-10T09:59:00.000+08:00

I've been doing a lot of Ida's blog reading lately and getting inspired with her creativity in both photography and blog designing. And recently, Marliza has opened for orders, for her very own diaper cake (very cute baby shower gift!), make me feel like I wanted to start venturing more in this small itsy bitsy arty passion that I have.

I'm not that good in crafting, neither I am in photography. But I have interest in both. I used to make 'cheap' simple birthday card for my friends back in secondary school and even received several (mind you, small quantity only) so-called orders from friends. Well, the old good boundary school style when you only had small amount of money to buy nasi lemak once every two days and the rest of the day you'd just satisfy your tummy with the chewy ikan jacket and labu masak kuah lemak putih. Lalu, nak beli kad Hallmark hatta Memory Lane pun tak kena buat budget berbulan-bulan.

I would usually just use colorful A4 papers available in my stock and come up with some collage type of cards. Usually during outing, I'd stock up colorful A4 papers or I would even keep any colorful papers that I found anywhere (bukan kutip tepi jalan, but those yang jumpa in magazines or newspaper or any kind of books) with interesting color or pictures. Betul. Lama-lama akan jadi menyemak locker besi nan lebar 50cm tinggi 200 cm itu.

And I made my own small doorgift boxes (later filled with wajik Melaka) with total of 800 units, for the guests during my reception. Not to mention the cheapskate crafts that I made for Eirsa's carers (nak jugak bagi walhal budget ciput suka hati kau lah kalau kau nak mengata aku kedekut).

Small steps at a time, I tried to add some new look for my blog. Cemburu sungguh hati melihat blog header yang creatively crafty yang dimiliki oleh bloggers kegemaran. I know, some just purely creative, some would pay for the creativity and uniqueness, while some would just copy any free available template from thousands offerred online. As for me, I go for free, simple, doable, yet original.

Browsing through the web yesterday, I virtually stumbled upon (sebenarnya ada je link kat blog Ida, I yang tak perasan!) this website Shabby Blogs and my darlings, it's free! Quite some options offerred for both background and blog header. I opted several background, tried to apply some designs to my blog but it didn't seem to work well. Senget, skewed to the right or left, shrunk, etc. Buruk dan kelihatan terlalu mencuba. Then I tried some available blog headers, modified here and there, add small personal touch (using Photoscape) and voila! Hasil yang ringkas sebegini!

I would love to explore the opportunities to add other craft materials to my blog as they also provide free accessories such as buttons, post pretties, sidebar titles and such. Tapi mood belum mari lagi. Nak siapkan yang sekarang ni pun berhempas pulas.

As for the background, I still used this free background pattern maker that I've been using for quite sometimes, which I found super easy peasy to customize background at anytime I want (but with limited design).

No, you don't want me to guide you one by one on how to do this and that. You want to explore all the opportunities yourself so that you could feel the artistic feeling! Ha ha. Maaf lawak rasa nak lempang. The guidelines are all available at the website or software. Go explore and let you imaginations fly high!

May be one day I'll come up with my very own craft products, not necessarily blog design, but something else in which I have actually bought some of the materials quite some times ago but being keep in our utility room as dust collector.

Fun Facts : 1) I never get higher than B- for my Pendidikan Seni during high school. 2) I am an IT graduate but I know only 20% about coding. Everything that I did to my blog was totally code-free (I was just using the available applications or shortcuts).

Carilah Jalan Keluar

2011-06-09T15:57:00.000+08:00

Apa ke jadahnya perkara sebegini? Kot ye pun 'bot', janganlah sampai buat lawak tahap guling serupa ini.

Kenapa Kau Diam Membisu?

2011-06-09T09:14:00.000+08:00

I don't know.

I didn't feel like sharing much thus the flow on stories that I wanted to share with you, tak mari (didn't come). Atau mati di tengah jalan. Bits and pieces were everywhere but I didn't have the mood to join connect everything together.

By the way, I'm now looking forward for my very first vacation without Eirsa (since her existence). I'll be going to a famous holiday destination in Malaysia with only Mak and my younger brother, Hasry. Just the three of us, semua pun 'bujang', in 2 weeks. It was a short notice vacation plan that I've ever made (1 month notice is considered a short notice for me).

I don't know what to expect, I know I will certainly miss Eirsa a lot (ok lah, I'm going to miss Husband too but bearable la, plus at night, he can easily sail off to neverland whenever his head touch the pillow). But Eirsa, hmmm.. May be the get to bed part is going to be easy but she might wake up in the middle of night and look for me. I have confidence in Husband and my in-laws but when Eirsa is in her super-cranky mode, memang boleh jadi ~~sakit jiwa~~ sangat menduga kesabaran. Not that I had never left Eirsa alone with Husband before, but previously she was too little to understand that I'll not be around for quite some time. And her level of mogok was much tolerable when she was younger. Plus I traveled very little lately and Eirsa is spoiled with my daily availability at home.

Whatever it is flight tickets have been paid for, so does our 3D/2N accommodation. Despite the worry, I'm still excited as this is the first Mak will be on a flight. In fact, the reason I'm doing all these is because Mak has been telling me how much she wanted to get on a flight several times before. With the condition that I only have one child and it is manageable for Husband to take a good care of her all by himself and with name of Allah I arranged everything for her and pray to Him that everything will go as planned. InshaAllah.

You be a good girl, ok? Saaaaaayang Eirsa.

Note : I already have all my outfits planned, in my head.

Cerita Kereta, Minyak dan Duit

2011-06-03T12:07:00.004+08:00

Yes, after 2 years of husband, Eirsa and myself travelling in our little Kelisa (correct, with stroller, car seat, bags fro Eirsa, bags fro parents, toys and all the necessities), we finally managed to upgrade our family car from a city car Kelisa to small family car; Honda Insight Hybrid. More on car size here.

Our main criteria during car shopping was the space; both driver + passanger seats and boot. Secondly the price range, since from there we could work out on the options what we had; technical specification, fuel consumption, pre-sales, after-sales services, depreciation value and of course, color. I would say Insight came in at just the right time for us. Alhamdulillah. Syukur. Syukur

Had Insight in March 2011, it was considered as new in Malaysia. Kalau pergi mana-mana akan jadi tumpuan. Rata-rata waktu parking, ramai akan bertanya tentang harga, performance dan kadang-kadang terpacul juga soalan "Sedap tak?". Apakah?

With help from Husband for some of the technical specifications, we came up with this important information or rather comparison of fuel consumption, in which I think would be the main criteria in considering a new car, other than the space, design, color and all (please click at image for better view).

All in all, so far we are happy and satisfied with the car; the space, the fuel consumption, the design. Dengan pemanduan berhemah, our average fuel consumption is 20 kilometer per liter. And, the performance of driving to Genting Highlands was not bad at all!

Hi baybeh!

Note 1 : Husband's car zaman bercinta, Satria (2003), sold for RM8,350.

Note 2 : On handling, car performance, maintenance and what not detail technical specifications, please ask Husband as there is a high possibility that I might respond to question such as "How about the ABS?" with "Oh, They are sexy with six-pack!" (You know, abs as in the flat tummy, instead of Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)).

Fun Facts : United States is at rank 1 in list of countries by vehicles per capita, with 779 motor vehicles per 1000 people (as per record in 2008) and Malaysia is at rank 42 with 273 motor vehicles per 1000 people (as per record in 2007). (Source : Wiki)

It's Just A Click Away!

2011-06-02T17:20:00.000+08:00

Betul!

Jika anda suka mana-mana terbitan saya di blog ini, anda boleh 'suka' dengan kelik pada butang '+1' di bawah! Terbitan lepas juga boleh di'suka' juga.

Bagus Blogger kerana memahami yang rata-rata pembaca adalah malu untuk memberi komentar semula, tetapi di dalam hati berbunga suka akan sesuatu terbitan. Selain itu, dapat juga membantu mempromosikan terbitan yang disukai pembaca, untuk dikongsi bersama dunia!

True!

If you liked any of my posts in this blog, you could 'like' the post by clicking the '+1' button as below! This feature is available for previous posts too!

I'm glad that Blogger is sensitive about readers' behavior in which most of them prefer to choose to be a silent reader even though they actually like a post. Besides, this is a very helpful tool for a blogger to promote and share their posts with the world!

Gambar Makanan Sahaja, Sungguh!

2011-06-02T14:57:00.001+08:00

Guilty as charged, I didn't have much time to put many things I have in my mind now into readable and comprehend-able sentences, type and publish them. But I did have photos ready in my laptop, with some minor editing required.

So, let's salivate!

Note : Menu and price for Malaysia Bubba Gump is here, and I could not find Malaysia's version of Tony Roma's menu. Boleh budget cantik-cantik dan cuba.

Fun Facts : Locavore is a new word formed from two Latin words; locus, "place", and vorare, "to swallow". Found in 2001, this word is defined as "a person who attempts to eat only food grown-locally. (Source 1 and Source 2)

Mini Kaftan

2011-05-30T12:25:00.000+08:00

Kalau tahu boleh jadi comel dan sungguh selesa begini, Mommy would have bought 10 for you!

I bought this when I was in Kuala Terengganu, for a short business trip. RM10 per piece, the material is very soft and tak panas. The kaftan was readily slitted at both left and right bottom, berlari, melompat dan tercampak bukan masalah!

Please mind the carca marba hair. Dan maaf, kualiti gambar kurang memuaskan.

Fun Facts : Kaftan is known as boubou, pronounced boo-boo in French and is one of folk costumes in some Africa countries.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-25T08:30:00.001+08:00

Funland and Edutainment

2011-05-23T16:12:00.002+08:00

So we've been to Starship Galactica, One Utama, and it's time to check out some new place. I mean, new to us. I think it has been a while since the last time we brought Eirsa for an outdoor session. Honestly, we were trying to avoid many outdoor sessions as it will definitely require us to spend. But since our financial is back in stable mode and Eirsa nowadays showed her signs of boredom of being alone and having to play with the same toys over and over again at home (walaupun mainan baru dibeli seminggu, pitam). Kejap-kejap hendak merengek. Kejap-kejap hendak mengamuk. Lalu Atuk mencadangkan supaya dibawa berjalan cucunya itu.

During Wesak day, we went to Megakidz, Mid Valley Megamall. Arrived there at 10.30am, since the business hour starts at 10.00am and Eirsa will usually have her afternoon nap around 1.00 or 2.00 pm. Besides, I loved it early due to less crowd and ample parking lots. And Eirsa would still be in her fresh and energetic mode.

Instead of being charged RM28 for kids of 2 year old and older, I managed to convince the staff to apply the RM14 for kids-under-2-year-old-rate, for Eirsa. I mean she's only two and the cut off should start from 3 years old instead of 2 years old. And since mommy, untuk kesekian kali nya, forgot to bring her socks, she had to reluctantly pay for RM6 for a pair of socks (kedekut, booo). Socks were to be worn at all time. But yes, I believe for kids under 3 should only be charged with RM14 only. They could not enjoy all the facilities as they most of the play areas are designed for bigger kids. Or, the smaller kids need to be accompanied by an adult, in which I tell you, it is not easy for an adult who is taller than 155cm to maneuver him/herself in the play cage. Husband was having hard time to accompany Eirsa, due to this limitation. Yes, I know, I was the smaller adult here but you should see the sign below where scarf was not allowed! (alasan, booo).

There were separate sections for kids less than 3 years old, which the older kids were not allowed. But the smaller kids were allowed to access those areas for bigger kids, to be accompanied by bigger kids/adults. Same like other play area, no outside food was allowed and they did have in-house cafe.

Sekali lagi, boleh lah ajar anak-anak menyimpan duit dengan mengumpan untuk membawa mereka ke tempat sebegini and I can tell you the kids could have a-whole-day funs that they wanted here!

Kena makan sebelum memerah keringat. Can't choose what to eat. Nak makan sambal lah. Mak oi! It's hot!

The play areas. Yes, the kids kalau duduk dalam ni 6 jam pun tak bosan.

Tempat ini pula kalau mak bapak duduk sembang pung pang pung pang sampai 6 jam pun tak bosan.

See! Scarves are not allowed!

Rainbow in action (part 1)

Rainbow in action (part 2)

Cinema room. Tempat melepas lelah.

Rainbow in action, sambung (part 3)

This was one of the carer. If I'm not mistaken MegaKidz will charge RM30 for this service. This fellow looked comfortable with the kids and vice versa.

Fun Fact : 1) I thought edutainment was not a registered English word. But I was wrong. 2) The term edutainment was used as early as 1948 by The Walt Disney Company to describe the True Life Adventures series. (Source : Wikipedia)

Bayar Lebih Sikit Untuk Servis Yang Cool!

2011-05-22T15:33:00.000+08:00

I know, Domino's Pizza is expensive than Pizza Hut's Pizza. But I still prefer Domino's Pizza because from my personal experience :

1) The dough tastes better
2) The service is much better; it's either 30 mins of free regular pizza voucher. Yes, we so far had received 3 vouchers even though it was only 5-10 minutes late of delivery. The same time I tried to order for Pizza Hut's pizza online, they offered me 60 minutes delivery. And once we ordered Pizza Hut's pizza, the order only came almost 2 hours later.
3) I registered online Pizza Hut's account with my delivery to office address and when I want to change to my house address, error occurred every time. Noice.

Plus, the have this cool GPS tracking system. Gila terpesona akak dengan kecanggihan begini!

* Just heard my house bell, must be the Domino's Pizza's guy!
** And yes, he was! He even gave us the free pizza voucher for just being 6 minutes late! Disebabkan ini, kami selalu memberi tips (sikit je la tapi) kepada delivery guy.

Fun Experiment No. 5! (In Romper Suit)

2011-05-20T10:11:00.000+08:00

Again, another product from The Poplook that I love. But still, I need a long jacket (masih mencari) or cardigan or any long outwear that is long enough to cover my butt. Jika tidak, pasti ramai yang pitam.

Again, the same belt, the same selendang and a piece of cardigan bought from Brands Outlet, Ikano quite some time ago.

The outfit is very comfortable, different and stylish at the same time. Kalau pakai dengan jacket / blazer lebih kemas dan hakikatnya lebih saya gemari.

Fun Facts : Years ago in France, rompers were only for boys. (Source : Historical Boys' Clothing)

Fun Experiment No. 3 & 4! (Dah Kemaruk Nak Berkain Pula)

2011-05-19T10:02:00.000+08:00

Believe me. I never owned a long skirt for the past 30 years (but I do own short-short ones la, for home-used only...). I mean may be Emak bought me some but as far as I'm concerned, I had never bought one for myself. The same case was also applicable for a long dress, short apatah lagi. And I could rarely be seen in baju kurung when I go to the office, except for jamuan raya. I have no offense or problems or bad experience with baju kurung. But I will be more comfortable in my pants.

I guess recently, 30 year old feminine side of me akhirnya dah tak boleh menahan kesabaran lagi. I started buying skirt and dresses last month and getting addicted. Within a month, I finally owned a long maxi skirt and 3 long dresses (ok dah, sekarang budget sudah habis, saya sudah insaf percayalah). All from ThePoplook.

I started with black maxi skirt, from ThePoplook. And. Get. Hooked! Of course I need to pair with carefully selected top, but alhamdulillah, my first experiment turned out to be very successful and made me more confident to pull a skirt-style off. Since then, I've been wearing the same skirt over and over again, sampai Husband pun perasan, "Ni dah basuh ke belum ni? Asik pakai je.." Tak boleh simpan rahsia langsung. *__*

Later I tried ThePoplook's maxi dress, pair it with a black jacket and loved the look too!

Note : I found ThePoplook's skirts and long dresses are quite reasonable in terms of price. And admittedly addicted too. And yes, the blue silky scarf (in first trip photo) is indeed a Schanaz scarf and I love it! Sangat mudah dipakai (tak licin), effect nya sungguh terletak and of course, stylish. I already had two and plan to own more. :D

Even More Important and Serious Note : Owner of Shop SputnikSweetheart, Ami Schaheera, has been (and still is) battling with blood cancer since a year ago. Her journey is inspiring and she would never let the disease to take all the fun that she has in life and fashion.

Fun Fact : Rah-rah skirt, a short, tiered and often solorful skirt fashionable in the early-mid 1980s, also know as cheering skirt.

No Papprazzi, Please!

2011-05-18T14:09:00.001+08:00

*Posting via email test.

Menghias Kuku

2011-05-18T09:40:00.000+08:00

Last week I redeemed the remaining two of MilkADeal vouchers bought quite some months back. One of was the RM38 voucher for mani and pedi session. Better yet, I went there with my two besties!

It was my very first ever manicure and pedicure session. Kasihan betul perempuan tiga puluh tahun ini. And I only bought the package considering it was cheap, only RM38 for both manicure and pedicure.

Being the slave of punctuality, I reminded the girl friends get ready at 8.00a.m., as our session would be the first session, at 10.00a.m. First, I had to sneak out before Eirsa woke up, then we have to have breakfast at mamak's before the session. (Saya sebenarnya terpaksa merangkak di sebelah cot Eirsa, setelah mendapati sang puteri telah terjaga dari peraduan waktu saya ingin keluar dari bilik).

Meminjam Insight suami, I drove the girls to Bandar Sunway, where the nail spa located. As expected, it was a new shoplot blocks. (Side notes : I believe most of promotional items from MilkADeal and other better-deals-coupons from some websites which offer at least 50% discount, are to promote the newly launched business. As such, you'll be receiving small briefing after the promotional session, on their current offer, future offers and perhaps, membership. Not to complain much, it is understood that I've paid for some very reasonable amount and I have to endure the hoi-kau-dah-bayar-murah-takkan-tak-nak-subscribe face by the owner or the promoter. I ended up purchase small one time offer less than RM20, as a courtesy).

It was a good 1 1/2 hour session and we started as erly as 9.45a.m. The spa was nice, the manicure technicians or manicurists were competent and friendly (except for mine, she was perhaps still new thus being extra careful. She's a Filipino, from Manila and has stayed in Malaysia for one year). But the package didn't offer buffing and shining, so we purchase the service for RM10 for finger nails only. Had to have some significant effect, I must say.

All in all it was a good experience. It's just that it was quite a doubt when they mentioned that the package was originally quoted at RM200. The manicurist (same person that did pedicure too) accidentally told that the whole package was actually cost RM68 when she promoted their latest package of 4 times of same package for only RM220 (RM55 for each session), instead of RM68 x 4, and the 4 sessions are transferrable. Plus, the hand and feet massages were too brief; hardly 1 minute for each hand and foot. Macam touch and go saja. Still, after only RM38 (plus RM38 x 2, since the besties' mani pedi vouchers were on me too) and senyum-kasihan-selepas-menolak-promotion-daripada-manicurists-yang-tak-percaya-kami-adalah-ibu, the result was not bad at all!

Note : Suami tak terima alasan I tak nak buat kerja-kerja rumah sebab sayang kuku kilat *__*

It's A Fact! : early 80 percent of the nail salons in the United States employ Vietnamese technicians or are Vietnamese owned, 10 percent is belonged to Korean American community, largely located in New York, and the remain is belonged to other communities. (Source : http://www.uspedicurespa.com)

Orang Tua Pergi Berurut

2011-05-16T09:48:00.000+08:00

We claimed our spa MilkADeal voucher last Tuesday. The new spa was nice, even though it was relatively small. There were no changing rooms nor safety deposit boxes. You've gotta put your belongings and clothes in the same room of jacuzzi and massage room. I mean you would technically be in the same room for the whole 2-hours. But fret not, the room size would not make you suffocated.

The appointment was at 2.30 and we reached there at 2.15. It was super hot, I was a bit hungry plus I had minor headache plus I had flu. The whole session was fully-utilized with thorough scrub, jacuzzi and hot stone massage (Gosh, I love this massage!) and I know I should feel fresher, rejuvenated after that but no. NO. Instead, my headache worsened and I slowly felt muscle-discomfort all over my body. I asked husband, but he told me that felt biasa-biasa je.

Back home, I terus demam. I rasa pening, tak lalu makan, lantar rasa hendak berbaring sahaja. And my bodyache (especially my back) worsened. Esoknya I dapat cuti sakit. I know. My mistakes for abandoing the 3 crucial factors above, plus minor sign of aging.

Nonetheless, Husband and I trust and see eye to eye that spa sessions are indeed required at least every half of a year. And all deals from MilkADeal are so tempted for ~~cheapskate~~ money-saver like us!

Note : Latest promotion from MilkADeal on spa is RM68 instead of RM386 of full body massage and spa at Emperor Spa, Damansara Utama.

It's A Fact! : In South Korea, only blind and visually-impaired people can become licensed masseurs/masseuses.

Return Policy

2011-05-12T15:15:00.000+08:00

Do you know that ThePoplook does entertain return policy by the customers?

I didn't notice about this until the 3rd or 4th parcel received from them. They would usually slip 2 sheets of paper; one is the invoice and another is return form. Yeah, when I received the parcel and satisfied with the contents, I could care less about checking other documents, kan? Besides, full payment was already made prior to the shipment.

The return form would be required and filled up if you wish to return those items with the conditions; they are unworn, unaltered, with all tags are intact. You need to jot down why do you want to return the items and if I'm not mistaken, you have to choose one or any combination from 5 reasons. These are all available in the return form, don't have to crack your head thinking about the reason. More information here.

I bought a top and a jumpsuit that turned out to be too "sexy" for me (me was too ambitious when placing the order) and I posted back to them, with the filled up form. To be safe, I chose to use express carrier and paid RM8 for the service. Despite of the less time taken, they provide tracking system and they will ensure your items delivered safely.

3 days later, ThePoplook confirmed on receiving my returned items and informed that they will process the return voucher the next working days. And true, my voucher was sent (via email) to me, a day after the processing day!

Now I have RM100+ of voucher to be used, plus another RM10+ value of voucher (yet to be redeemed) awarded by ThePoplook to me, being a loyal customer *grinning from ear to ear*.

It's A Fact! : In the United States, various abuses using the return process cost retailers more than $9 billion annually.

Aiskrim Sihat (Kot?)

2011-05-06T16:50:00.000+08:00

Dah lama dah dok dengaq orang hingaq pasai eskrem ni, laih laih dan la gak pi terai..

Tak. Kedai nya kat KL je pun, saya saja gedik nak cuba loghat Kedah. Sila jangan benci saya sebab loghat main balun je.

Beli aiskrim ni, kena ambil cawan kertas, pam pam pam keluar aiskrim pelbagai perisa (nak campur boleh, suka hati hang lah nak campoq kot mana pon), di mesin aiskrim. Kemudian, tabur tabur tabur penambah rasa seperti coklat, serdak biskut, buah-buahan dan macam-macam jajan hancur sedap yang lain. Kemudian, beratur pula untuk membayar. Depa guna timbang gram. Saiz yang kami makan ini, purata harga aiskirm campur barang pencantik dan penyedap lain adalah RM10.

Boleh tahan. Saya cuba perisa triple berry (kemudia menyesal tak campur perisa lain dan pau aiskrim orang lain), Suami cuba perisa vanila campur coklat and in laws had combination of 2 other flavours too. Kalau ikutkan, perisa nya ada banyak, tapi pada satu-satu masa, mungkin ada 8 pilihan sahaja, memandangkan hanya ada 8 mesin aiskrim sahaja (di One Utama).Tapi bagi hati kecil saya, nikmat makan aiskrim ini tidak sama dengan rasa memakan aiskrim tradisional. Bukan maksud saya aiskrim tradisional yang dibuat secara tradisional mahupun dengan menggunakan tangan, tapi conventional ice cream yang biasa dijual itu.

Kalau rasa mahal, sila kumpul duit dan cuba! Tak cuba tak tau, tau! Maklumat tentang lokasi kedai, sila klik sini.

P/S : Di Tutti Fuitti One Utama, sekiranya anda memiliki One Card, anda akan mendapat potongan harga sebanyak 5%. Or 10%? Saya tak ingat. *tepuk dahi*

It's A Fact : Frozen yogurst was introduced in New England in the 1970s as a soft serve dessert by H. P. Hood, under the name Frogurt. (Source : Wikipedia)

White (And A Little of Black) Studio Photo Shoot Session, The First Ever!

2011-05-05T12:21:00.001+08:00

Sebenarnya. Saya gementar sebelum masuk ke studio. I had big problem to give good poses during my wedding, keras satu badan dan kadang-kadang menggeletar juga.

But the photographer (I forgot his name, or did I actually forget to ask? *slap forehead*), was cool, he made us feel cool too. I mean there's nothing to be shamed of, and there was no audience, for God sake. Gedik betul kalau nak malu-malu. So there were us, posing for a white studio photo shoot, for the first time in our life!

Oh. By the way. We've never actually had proper plan to do studio photo shooting, but with there was one offer by MilkADeal that my itchy fingers could not resist but to click "Buy". We were given 45 minutes for the photography session (including any kind of aktiviti salin baju atau costume, if you brought any) and a free copy of 8R. And of course free softcopy of all photos taken (we bought home 266 softcopy photos), in a CD.

Throughout the session, Eirsa was ok but not that cooperative. It was quite hard to make her to even look at the camera! She either hid her head in me shawl or sunk her face on my chest or closed her eyes if she discovered her face was accidentally facing the camera. Kenapa lah budak ini malu begini sekali. Such a drama princess. So the parents have to terlompat-lompat belakang photographer, whenever her single session came. Not easy and quite embarrassing, I tell you.

Still, the results were awesome! Or at least for first timer like us.

There is a new and ongoing voucher by MilkADeal, offering more or less the same photo shoot session, 3 more days until the offer ends. Go grab!

P/S : Maaf kalau gambar kurang tajam. We've squeezed the resolution to acceptable smaller size.

It's A Fact!: It is best to leave (hardcopy) photos lying flat on the table when viewing them. Every time the photo bends, even a little, this can break down the emulsion (a mixture of two of more un-blendable liquids).

Budak Terapung

2011-05-04T14:08:00.000+08:00

Sepasang kawan-kawan kami sudah lama mencadangkan benda alah ini. Tapi kami konon-konon berlaku jimat, bongkak dan takbur, dan cuba untuk mengajar Eirsa berenang dengan hanya menggunakan arm bands. Tetapi tidak lah sesenang mana mengajar (memaksa?) anak untuk belajar berenang dengan hanya menggunakan arm bands. Tambah pula sendiri pun berenang ala-ala float dan bergerak 5-6 kuak sahaja sudah penat (Suami mahir berenang, saya cuma boleh berenang dengan muka tenggelam dalam air. Tak pandai nak mengambil nafas sambil berenang). Sudahnya Eirsa akan berpaut pada salah seorang dari kami dan hanya seorang sahaja yang boleh berenang senang lenang. Tidak adil.

Oleh itu, berlalulah juga suami isteri ini mencari swimming aids, tetapi tidak berjumpa dengan barang yang sama seperti yang dicadangkan. TETAPI kami menjumpai ini, Hydrokids Float Suit dengan fungsi yang sama, harga juga lebih kurang. Kalau tak salah saya RM79.90. And it was a worth buy. (Laman web Hydrokids adalah ~~nampak murahan~~ tidak menarik, saya tidak tahu mengapa).

Eirsa had her first try on this when we had a family vacation in Port Dickson. We paired the with her pair of arm bands, for better support. The first few minutes was quite a struggle when she could not balance her body but we didn't actually offer much help. We let her feel, find and learn how to balance and float by herself. So yes, it was indeed successful as Eirsa managed to master using both gears in less than 15 minutes. But I'm not sure whether this is good for a child's swimming skills development, but it works in terms of getting the toddlers familiar with water, at least for the time being.

From novice..

To expert..

It's A Fact! : Horses, moose and elk are very powerful swimmers, and can travel long distances in water. Elephants are also capable of swimming, even in deep waters. Eyewitness have confirmed that camels can swim, despite the fact that there is little deep water in their natural habitats. (Source : Wikipedia)

Bercakap Dengan Kakak Cleaner (Siri 1)

2011-04-28T09:15:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I had a good conversation with akak cleaner, Kak Chik. Kak Chik was absent for the past 1.5 weeks so we had a lot of things to catch up.

I think it would be simpler if I summarized her stories in different segment. That way it will not confuse you and me. Bismillah.

Her Son

Kak Chik had her second baby 3 months ago, she said it was quite late to get a baby at her age but alhamdulillah, Allah itu Maha Pemberi. I forgot to ask her age, but I guessed she's in her late 40s or early 50s.

With teary eyes, she told her baby was admitted during the past 1.5 weeks. The baby previously was doing just great, happy, active and healthy until the day he was discovered with biji mata dan ubun-ubun kepala tenggelam. I mean LITERALLY, tenggelam ke dalam tengkorak. I could not imagine how and I refused when Kak Chik offered to show the photo of her baby in that condition as I knew I would burst into tears if I saw the photo. That brought the whole family to the emergency room that day.

The condition was due to very, very lack of liquid (water and blood) in his body. The baby was dripped with 4-5 bottles of water and blood and he was back to normal. But the baby remained passive and weak. They ran the x-ray procedure, several tests but they could not find the root cause. Until a certain point when the doctor did thorough physical check up, including putting small camera inside the baby's ear, they found something shocking.

The doctor found a mite (perhaps with the 's', I didn't ask whether it was one or more) in his small ear! And not just that, apparently the mite was already there for quite sometimes and they could find some trace of 'sarang' in the baby ear! (I had goosebumps when I typed this). And that was perhaps the root cause of everything, even though I could not relate between the mess done by this little thing with, the draining of water and blood. Doctor said the baby might had picked it up from the carpet. Even until yesterday, the baby's condition was not 100% tip top but improving. The baby was discharged (saya tidak setuju yang ini, kerana bayi itu tidak sembuh sepenuhnya dan masih perlu diberi perhatian yang lebih, tetapi masih disuruh pulang), but they'll go for a follow up session next week. Ya Allah. Kau Maha Penyembuh.

Tong Pad

Kak Chik said that it is a regular procedure for all cleaners to come on Saturday and Sunday (may be half day), to do thorough clean up of the offices, toilets and suraus. During Kak Chik's first working weekend, she did clean everything as instructed, including the 'tong buangan tuala wanita'. It was her job, with the name of Allah, she did it. While cleaning, she found a container heavier than others. Out of curiosity, she asked a workmate to help while she opened the container. And her finding gave me another goosebumps.

She found a tightly tied up plastic bag, with dry stains of blood and some thick liquid. The plastic bag is about the size of a pack of 1kg of sugar, contained some jelly-ish unknown thing. She didn't dare to open the plastic bag. She just tied up everything together in a big bag and threw it away. I didn't want to comment on what she did but rather the thing that she found in the container, in the toilets, at the same level of our office and surau. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Is it true, what we are thinking? Ya Allah, jauhkanlah kami dari perkara-perkara mungkar. Now the very odd stinky smell that I remembered smelling the past several weeks, makes sense. Ya Allah, jauhkanlah kami dari kejahatan syaitan dan manusia.Na'uzubillah. Na'uzubillah.

Acheh Kini

Setelah bahana Tsunami menimpa Acheh, Acheh kini telah semakin pesat dibangunkan. Kak Chik kata dah ada "Sunway Lagoon" di sana. Anak sulung Kak Chik kini berusia 12 tahun, sudah 6 tahun bersekolah di sekolah arab (saya suspect sebenarnya sekolah agama) di Acheh, sekolah yang dibangunkan oleh Professor Diraja Ungku Aziz (wallahu'alam, tidak dapat saya pastikan kesahihan cerita ini). Diberitahu oleh Kak Chik juga, Tun Dr. Mahathir dan Tuan Guru Nik Abduk Aziz Nik Mat juga ada membangunkan sekolah masing-masing di sana (wallahu'alam, tidak dapat saya pastikan kesahihan cerita ini juga). Sambungnya, rata-rata di Acheh, ajaran Islam masih amat dititikberatkan, antaranya pakaian perempuan wajiblah longgar dan menutupi setiap kulit dan bahagian yang wajib dan lelaki dan perempuan yang bukan muhrim tidak dibenarkan berdua-duaan sama sekali. Kak Chik kata, kalau saya nak ke sana, dia boleh uruskan tempat menginap yang tidak menerima bayaran hatta sesen pun. Saya kata, inshaAllah Kak Chik.

P/S : Kak Chik juga direkodkan berkata, "Adik nanti kalau dah kahwin, anak tu jaga betul-betul. Karpet tu bersihkan, pembersih yang betul boleh beli kat farmasi. Kedai biasa tak jual, tau." (I told her that I'm indeed married, with a 2-year old daughter). "Hah? Biar betul dik?! Mati-mati Kak Chik ingatkan adik tak kahwin lagi. Kami dok sembang kata muda lagi adik ni. La... Tak nampak macam dah kahwin pon! Maaf lah Kak Chik salah anggap." (I sengih-sengih malu but told her that I got used to those kind of reactions. But I thought she knew that I'm married with kid, judging from my happy bumpy tummy). "Eh, tak lah! Anak dara sekarang pun sama je perut sekarang ni. Ada tu lagi besar pun ada." (I was speechless).

Perth, May 2006, Bujang.

2011-04-27T13:14:00.000+08:00

We went there, mengambil kesempatan of free accommodation by my dear friend, Ishah. She was posted there for 6 months by the company (after many scenes and dramas of ayaq mata, as she was just getting engaged to Raman). The flight ticket was around RM1,500 (one way), if I was not mistaken and the weather was just nice (somewhere between hot and cold). Agak-agak macam pergi Cameron Highlands suatu ketika dahulu. Namun sekarang, kalau matahari tegak atas kepala, Cameron Highlands could be even hotter than lowlands.

Anyways. I went there half-sponsored by Suami. We were still couple at that time; almost 6.5 years of relationship to be exact. (See, how could I not get married to this very kind-hearted man?). The shopping money pun ada lah sikit-sikit and thus the objectives were more to sight-seeings, exploring, rather than shopping.

Since it was in 2006, I was all about simplicity, malas pakai tudung, ala-ala mild punk, oleh itu outfits semua pun ala-ala muda remaja. I could not recall much about each place that we went, so yeah, enjoy the pictures!

Tempat Inap

Parks of many parks in Perth

The Bell Tower, berdekatan Swan River. Kami sampai ke sini dengan menaiki feri.

Kings Park. Musim warga Perth berBBQ. Sangat ramai orang berBBQ.

Caversham Widllife Park.

At one of the aborigin centers. We actually had boomerang training session before this tiup session. That benda alah tiup was super panjang, trust me.

Chocolate factory. Masih di Perth, belum sampai ke Ghana lagi.

Ok. Tau. Kat Malaysia pun ada. Kami ikut tour guide. Maafkanlah dia.

Oh! Oh! Oh! Our tour guide was the best. We had tapau-ed halal food there and the mother made us apple pie. THE BEST apple pie we'd ever had!

At some kind of rumah rehat with mini wildlife park.

At Lancelin on 4WD (this giant was superb!).

At Lancelin, sandboarding. Best amat!

Pinnacles Desert. Padang pasir dengan batu terpacak-pacak.

One of the petapa that we met. Complete with my MP3 player (dia pinjam untuk berzikir).

Hari sangat panas. Laut sangat cantik. Tapi air sangat sejuk.

UoWA.

The famous Freemantle port. We took train from there back to Perth city.

Saja cuba local cinema. Free seating. Bersih.

Shopping and coffee and friends. Blissed.

We cooked bolognaise spaghetti and had picnic at park nearby. Oh. I missed those days!

Ini separuh sahaja sebenarnya.

Selendang Isnin

2011-04-25T09:28:00.000+08:00

Harap maaf. Muka ketat.

Ini adalah kali kedua memakai selendang Wardaa dari Al-Humaira' Contemporary ini.

I think I'm going to love this shawl. My first try was a disaster (ye, jangan harap saya nak bubuh gambar di sini. Ha ha..), but this time it is getting a lot better.

Kain nya agak tebal namun tidak memanaskan kepala dan leher, juga senang dibentuk. Berharga RM34 sehelai, corak seperti yang saya pakai sudah habis, terjual tetapi masih ada lagi tiga pilihan lain. Kalau ada duit lebih menjelang hari gaji esok, boleh la beli!

So Your Work Is Bad?

2011-04-21T09:18:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, my colleagues told about one of the jobs that she had prior to have permanent work here. She used to work in a factory that requires her to commute 4 hours (one freaking way) daily, for 1 are-you-crazy-or-something year? She did also work as a part-timer in some other factory for some months. And the most challenging work was she had actually worked as a salesperson, whom we could usually find selling items in restaurant, whom you'll get easily annoyed when they approached and memberi salam to you at the very moment when you want to suap nasi masuk ke mulut. Couldn't be more annoying, right?

Least that we know about the rigorousness and embarrassment that they have to undergo, being that kind of salespersons.

The colleague continued; as if she was put on a spell, she was so attracted to a small box of advertisement for a job vacancy. It was saying something about pelatih, rumah disediakan but never ever about selling things. The 'company' was located in Seremban while she was in Rembau. So she asked for a good friend who stayed in Seremban, to check out about the job, 'company' and share the outcome, since both of them were actually sought for temporary suka-suka job.

So went this good friend for a week and she reported that it was actually a good job with a good company. And this colleague of mine, couldn't wait and beg and beg and beg for her parents to allow her to go to Seremban the soonest possible and the parents eventually agreed to allow her to get on a bus alone, to Seremban. The parents trust her good friend and pray hard that their daughter will be in good hands.

As soon as she arrived the 'company' with her good friend, they were taken to a house, later discovered as the house of the owner and immediately told that they were not allowed to to anywhere unless taken to or told so. Food would be given but the cost would be deducted from the employee's salary. And they had to start early in the morning the next day.

The very morning next day, they were taken to the nearby highway Rest&Relax spot and given with a huge super heavy bag containing a lot of religious books and even Surah Yassin. Yes. They were told to carry the bag here and there, to approach as much people as possible from one highway Rest&Relax spot to another to sell as much as possible of those books and kitabs and to never leave the place. Yes. She became one of those 'annoying' salespersons that at least once had approached you when you are about to suap nasi masuk ke mulut.

Listening to her story made me feel sad and bad. I was about to get teary but I have to remain cool at the same time. Macho konon, but it broke my heart listening to all lies that she had to undergo and luckily there was nothing worse happened to her and that she was (and still is) in one piece. She added that there was not a day that she won't cry and not a day she begged for her parents to come to get her back. She and the other 'work-mates' were told not to go anywhere, not to even balik kampung. She was even once threatened by the 'company' owner "Saya tembak juga awak ni kang.." as she consistently begging him to release her.

After a while, after pool of tears, the owner finally allowed her to go back to her hometown for a short while. Even that she has to beg him for some RM50, for bus fare. And that was the only pay that she received from the owner for all the books that she had sold, as she was really determined to go back home for good. That was her only chance, anyway.

Later her father came to the owner's house to collect all her belongings and as expected the owner was very angry. Luckily there was no ugly scene but the father was being scolded big time. Thank God that nothing bad happened her and the family after the series of bad experience, until now.

After knowing all these, I still don't know how to react to any salesperson who approached me when I was having my meal. I'm still not 100% OK about it because I think that it is not appropriate and not respectful. But that is the only way these poor salesperson (if they have the same case like my colleague had) could approach potential buyers and get their attention and their bad-undergoing is just too heart-broken to be ignored.

"Duhai Allah, Kau bantulah kami.."

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-20T15:19:00.001+08:00

Terduga Deria Rasa Akak, Tau!

2011-04-19T08:54:00.000+08:00

The four girlfriends tried out a not-so new place, but newly discovered by us. It was actually a cafe and boutique, what a must-visit spot, kan ladies?

The things that tempted us to get in the cafe were actually the clothes and the cakes. The selections of clothes were (and are) fine, even the main course bihun goreng Singapura was also licin sepinggan. But the cake and service were such a turn off. The cakes were pretty but without the unnecessarily sweet and buttery icing, the cakes were actually blunt. And the cupcake costed RM5 whereas the Rainbow cake was RM10 per slice. I didn't mind paying much as long as the taste was at least par with the price. But these two of our selections that day were quite dissapointing. We were yet to try the macaroons, though. And to add to the dissatisfaction, I was paying with my card since my cash was only enough for me to survive till the next payday and that young lady (I noticed she was the only waitress there) had the guts to ask me, "Akak tak de cash ke?" Oh honey. You still have a lot to learn and you have to have the sense of loving your job more.

The color. Only the color looked 'tasty'.

In my humble opinion, business is meant to be sustained forever. And the quality and customer service contribute to most of the points for longevity. So, do it right and good and the customers will come. There is no point having all well-decorated boutique cafe when these two main criterias are being thrown to the dustbin.

But. But. But. As mentioned, the clothes were quite attractive. With three of my unpaid fashion consultants with me, I would usually bring home something. And yes, this time I brought home a chiffon blouse at a quite reasonable price. So, wait for the new episode of Fun Experiment with Mak Bedah.

Mari Terbang ke Marikh!

2011-04-18T08:24:00.000+08:00

No. I don't usually buy CD with price of RM41.90, for just 12 tracks. Lagi-lagi pula yang album yang tidak datang dengan lirik.

Yes. I bought Bruno Mars for that exact price, for that number of tracks. With no lyrics attached.

No. I didn't even know him (or them, I thought Bruno Mars was a band! Silly! Malu! Tak nak melihatkan diri kepada dunia dah!) and even searched for "their" album at the International Pop Band section (malu darab dua!).

Yes, I had the whole 40 mins in my car to listen to all tracks because of Monday traffic and it was raining and gosh, ALL SONGS ARE JUST LOVABLE! I macam nak menangis apabila menyedari setiap sen, setiap keringat, setiap aksi gusti bersama Eirsa (she was very cranky last Saturday due to interrupted afternoon nap), setiap titis air liur untuk justify pembelian ini kepada Suami, yang dilaburkan untuk memiliki sekeping album yang asli, adalah berbaloi-baloi-baloi! I love the little husk in his voice, the tone and his talent of being co-writers of all the songs. Sangat hebat dan berbakat.

Before owning the album, I only knew 3-4 songs and I could only mumble those songs but man, the whole album is just worth even more than RM41.90! Even his raggae duet with Damian Marley, Liquor Store Blues is a genius! My personal favorites are Talking To the Moon and Runaway Baby and The Other Side and Grenade and Just The Way You Are and Marry You and Somewhere in Brooklyn (I know, almost all. Hahaha..)

Nasib baik I hanya mendapat tahu kehebatan Bruno Mars dan magis lagu-lagunya setelah konsert beliau berakhir. Kalau tak, wajib I justify kepada Suami untuk menonton konsert Bruno Mars dengan tiket harga kedua atau ketiga paling mahal.

It is quite rare for us to find songs dedicated for friends. Atau mungkin I je yang tak tahu. Dasar katak bawah tempurung. But this song really is special, specially dedicated to my angels and angelos (you guys know who you are). And this includes you, my Husband.

Count On Me - Bruno Mars

If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea

I'll sail the world to find you

If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see

I'll be the light to guide you

Find out what we're made of

What we are called to help our friends in need

You can count on me like one, two, three

I'll be there and I know when I need it

I can count on you like four, three, two

And you'll be there 'cause that's what friends

Are supposed to do, oh yeah, ooh, ooh

If you toss and you turn and you just can't fall asleep

I'll sing a song beside you

And if you ever forget how much you really mean to me

Everyday I will remind you

Find out what we're made of

What we are called to help our friends in need

You can count on me like one, two, three

I'll be there and I know when I need it

I can count on you like four, three, two

And you'll be there 'cause that's what friends

Are supposed to do, oh yeah, ooh, ooh, yeah, yeah

You'll always have my shoulder when you cry

I'll never let go, never say goodbye

You can count on me like one, two, three

I'll be there and I know when I need it

I can count on you like four, three, two

And you'll be there 'cause that's what friends

Are supposed to do, oh yeah, ooh, ooh

You can count on me 'cause I can count on you

Side note : Saya cuba untuk berpuasa sunat hari ini. Harap-harap tak lupa.

Cabaran Mencabar Perut! (Bahagian 2)

2011-04-16T11:00:00.000+08:00

Hari Rabu lepas, ada orang kata 'bahagian belakang' saya dah nampak lebih besar. And he is a he. Damn, my boyfriends are just too honest!

So, I spent some of my time Google-ing (what's up with my affair with Google, anyway?) on calories and the suitable diet plan if I want to lose some weight, based on my age, my daily activities, height and weight. I referred to some free online tools and combine the information. You will find hundreds of link with free tools if you search for 'calorie calculator'.

Mainly I referred to these websites for calories/day that I should take.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
http://www.rmvalues.com/misc/daily-calory.html
http://www.amway2u.com/miniweb/cbplus/food_en_US.jsphttp://www.healthyweightforum.org/eng/calorie-calculator.asp
http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html

From there, I Google-ed for suggested meals for the proposed calories intake. By typing '1200 calorie meal plan' and press 'enter', you can find hundreds of suggested meals for daily intake. Yes, they've prepared for you the course that you should take. Some samples :

http://www.cellinteractive.com/ucla/weight/1200cal.html
http://caloriecount.about.com/calorie-meal-plans-love-ft105738http://www.weightlossforall.com/1200-calorie-diet-sample.htm

Based on my personal analysis, without any guide from a certified dietitian, so lebih kurang pandai-pandai sendiri and kalian tak seharusnya mengikut cara saya, I should consume 1200 calories/day if I want to lose weight gradually. And bear in mind that yo-yo dieting is actually not advisable and that is going to be a big problem for me. I just love good food! Or perhaps I could have proper diet during the day (since there is no attractive food at our cafe anyway) and award myself with super delicious on weekend. Not too much but something that could fulfill my desire for good food. What a challenge!

God, please be with me.

Aiyo. Drooling already...
T___T

P/S : On the other notes, my regime on 21-days fat burning cream was not quite successful. Yes, I missed 3-4 days towards the end but with consistent day and night application of the cream for the first two weeks could not do any miracle either. Mungkin lemak sudah terlalu tepu atau mungkin cara ini akan lebih berkesan dengan pemakanan dan senaman yang seimbang. Setakat sapu-sapu dan rasa panas di pinggang, belumkan tentu lemak hilang.

Online Grocery Shopping

2011-04-15T10:00:00.000+08:00

I tried to browse and enjoy the convenience of online grocery shopping but I did not find the excitement of doing it. No, I did not even manage get to the point of doubting the quality or expiry date or tin kemek or telur pecah or tembikai lebam or what not, tak sempat. When I opened the front page of those websites, the pictures of me happily membelek-belek, membelai barang, hatta setin susu pekat manis, stopped me from going further. The excitement is just not the same as compared to doing my online shopping for clothes.

Nonetheless, I fully support the effort of fellow Malaysians in venturing into online grocery shopping business, with the spirit that this effort also helps us, the utterly busy wife, housewife, momma, daughter, employee, friend and sometimes supir.

Based on my Google-ing, I found these services offered (I'm just listing some of them, you could probably find more of the same service provider by Google-ing "online grocery Malaysia", and no, I don't have any experience shopping from any online grocery shop before).

1. DoorStep
2. Virgrocery
3. Presto
4. RedTick
5. Hanyaw
6. Khas (Wholesale)

No, I don't receive any commission and yes, you are bounded to their terms and regulations when purchasing with them, but this is somehow or rather helpful if you are one superbusy-I-dont-even-have-time-to-comb-my-hair person.

Have fun and share your experience with us if you might!

Eirsa and Ebbits

2011-04-14T11:39:00.000+08:00

Ebbits are among her friends, also known as rabbits.

I highly recommend you to bring your kids, as soon as they could walk, to Rabbit Park, Bukit Tinggi. No, you don't have to pay RM12 per adult and RM8 for 4-12 years old kid at the Colmar Tropical entrance as the park is not situated within the compound. You just have to pay RM3 for get closer to the rabbits and feed them. There are also caged donkeys and reindeer nearby to be introduced to the young ones with no additional charge (except for the donkey ride).

It was raining but fret not, the rabbits' pen is covered so that you could still approach them without getting wet.

Eirsa loved feeding them and she showed no sign of being afraid or 'geli' or what not. I pun jadi berani sebab tak nak kalah dengan Eirsa.

Pah Bedah melawat arnab ternakan

With one of her brave cousins

Berehat sebentar

The new friends

Tanah Tinggi Genting, April 2011

2011-04-13T12:16:00.000+08:00

Keseronokan di Genting Highlands sebenarnya memerlukan modal yang besar, walaupun anda ke sana bukan untuk berjudi (haram dalam Islam, ye).

Mana tak nya, for unlimited rides for both indoor and outdoor parks, will cost RM62 for an adult and RM41 for child 90cm of height or 12 years old and below and any class in between. I paid for RM186 for 1 day unlimited ride pass for Mak, Husband and I (dan Eirsa masih classified as free). Mak pula masih muda, tak cecah umur 60 tahun lagi, lalu tak dapat menikmati harga tiket murah untuk warga tua. Harga tiket ini tidak termasuk tiket untuk SnowWorld, Bowling, Flying Coaster, Ripleys, Genting SKy Venture dan X-pedition Wall. Additional tickets would also be required for kids less than 90cm of height, if they want to get on certain allowable rides for instance Junior Bumper Car and Ride de Paris.

Rates, as of April 2011

Alhamdulillah, the weather was fantastic (it was started to rain only from 6.00pm onwards) and the crowd was tolerable. As long as the sun was shining, it was acceptably breezy with no sweater required but when it was cloudy, you could actually feel the coldness.

Everybody, especially the kids really had good time while the adults had to suffer from body and wallet aches. Tu pun kami yang dewasa tak sempat nak main the adventurous outdoor rides, sebab sibuk melayankan anak-anak. Husband and I particularly missed our so-called usual rides; The Spinner, Cyclone, Bumper Boat, Sungai Rejang Flume Ride, Corkscrew, Flying Dragon, Rolling Thunder Mine Train and Grand Prix Fun Kart. And I'm still yet to try Flying Coaster (it was under maintenance or I must say it was most of the time under maintenance when we visited) and never I want to try; the Space Shot.

We also entered the SnowWorld, with additional RM20 each, for 40 mins experience in -6 Deg Celsius surrounded by fake snow. As expected, no camera and even handphone allowed and you could ask the assigned photographer to take your photos and could purchase the copied photos outside for RM30 (1 x 8R and 1 x 5R).

We noticed the new attraction in outdoor park; Beryl's Chocolate Wonderland but tak sempat masuk. Oh ye. Cotton On boutique is also now available up there!

If you really want to utilize the RM62/RM41 tickets, I would strongly suggest you to arrive there super early as all parks are opened to public as early as 8.00 am.

Enjoy (many) moments captured using my FZ35 which I now rasa sayang pula nak jual.

Konon excited nak main, tapi tertidur dua kali

Sesi bergambar artis dan peminat, apakah?

On the Ferris Wheel

In the Venice Gondola

Aktiviti waktu anak tidur

Tidur, bangun, tukar diaper, susu and we are ready to rock-n-roll again!

At SnowWorld (selepas separa beku)

On some rides

This small fellow is quite an eater, I tell you!

What a brave three-year-old young man!

And this is a must

She didn't like the clown but she wouldn't mind a lolly-pop-ballon

20 minute before it was raining and it was cold

Fun Experiment No. 2!

2011-04-12T09:28:00.000+08:00

Everything was from my wardrobe, except for my brand new Red Polka Shirt from ThePoplook! Oh my, I love this over-sized shirt! (as it could hide my over-loaded fat perfectly, if you asked).

Since the length is just "ngam-ngam" to cover my 'behind', I have to put on an extender, a Topshop tank top.

And I found seluar lipat separas atas buku lali is somehow cute too!

I also put on my skirt kembang, together with another old Superman baby-T of mine (white), half-buttoned cardigan and a pair of black Padini khakis. This is another simple, comfortable, affordable yet a bit fashionable style that I like.

Please mind my kaki kangkang. They have very little sense of camera-conscious

P/S : I'm currently addicted to ThePoplook, please be informed (and warned!).

Aktiviti Dalam Gelap

2011-04-08T10:07:00.000+08:00

Sewaktu Earth Hour tempoh hari. Penyertaan penduduk sekitar kurang memberansangkan; terang benderang sahaja jiran sebelah menyebelah, atas bawah, depan belakang. Mungkin tahun depan aku boleh mengedarkan pamphlet kecil sebagai pelawaan untuk menyertai kegelapan 60 minit yang menggembirakan! (Please remind me.)

Tak banyak gambar pun, sebab kami sibuk makan, Eirsa sibuk menonton TV (maaf, yang ini tidak boleh padam!), tahu-tahu saja sudah 59 minit berlalu. Kita cuba lagi tahun depan ya!

Ini saja lilin yang ada. Terima kasih kedai kek!.

Candle light dinner with porridge and condiments. And two rubber bands. And a bib.

Ok, done! Jom kita main suluh-suluh!

Test. Test. Rosakkan. Test. Rosakkan. Rosakkan.

Zoo Negara, Best Wooo!

2011-04-07T11:21:00.000+08:00

At that time, we, the parents were over excited to bring Eirsa and the whole Puan Sabariah's clan to Zoo Negara.

Eirsa is an animal lover. She likes all animals, being it ants, lizards, cats, birds and even reptiles. She could easily get excited when she saw animals. She even talks to her animal plush toys at home. Yeap, she is much braver than me when it comes to animals. Perhaps her knowledge on how dangerous some animals could be or how 'geli' some animals could be, (for instance, I could not stand lizards and frogs... Talking about them gives me goosebumps already) or how should we properly do with those animals which considered as najis mughallazah in Islam. We the parents think that it is still too early for Eirsa's mind to be loaded with those confusing information since she's not yet mumayyiz (for God sake, she's only two!). Let her enjoy her new discovered world and education would come in gradually. Don't worry or get anxious, we are not too liberal and ignorant either.

As said. Don't get unnecessarily jumped up. This is just a plush toy in Ikea. She had never touched a dog. And even she accidentally touched one, we could always samak, isn't it? Chill!

Zoo Negara is an amusement place for kids, trust me. And it is also a good place for you to strengthen your legs' muscle. Go and enjoice!

The over excited Mom and Dad

The clans

The kids

Mom and kid

Pengantin lama-lama (Haha!)

Pengantin baru-baru (Haha!)

Budak suka tunjuk-tunjuk

Budak suka tunjuk-tunjuk. Lagi

Zoo juga adalah tempat tidur dan jaga

Feed the hunger

My sister dengan seorang pekerja ladang teh

Happy people

The (mesti ada) old school family photo

The winning-my-heart photo

We Survived The First Long Hours Journey!

2011-04-06T10:36:00.000+08:00

I once promised that I will post some jurnal on our journey to Kelantan (for Acikzz's wedding), right? Ok. I totally forgot about it. Hahaha.

Actually it was quite some journal that I wrote, details on departure time, arrival time, the stops, each activity that we had throughout the journey, the difficulties. But since it was quite a while ago, I tend to lose the enthusiatic to recap.

Instead, I would share with you the pictures (itu pun lepas dah combine berbelas-belas gambar, kenapa malas begini?) captured during the journey.

Among her in-car amusements

Among her in-car activities

Among her outside-of-the-car activities, usually during our stops

She slept through half of the journey, which made the journey a lot easier if she slept in he car seat

But sometimes she would still want sleep on my chest or on my lap. Ala mucuk mucuk Mommy

All in all it was somehow an easy journey. Frankly, I could Eirsa was behaving very well during the 8-hour journey to and forth and she was in the car seat most of the time (kecuali waktu pagi beralih dari katil ke kereta dan waktu kereta berhenti rehat).

Great Falls, Potomac River, Maryland

2011-04-05T17:53:00.000+08:00

... Back in June 2007. Suddenly I feel like sharing one of billions wonderful creations of Allah. Subhanallah..

Bismillah.

2011-04-04T11:16:00.000+08:00

My last two pregnancies were not quite some smooth sailing. In fact it was tough. My first pregnancy lasted for only 7 weeks while my second pregnancy 'cost' me 5kg of weight loss during the first trimester, series of medical leaves, consistent brownish stain / discharge and twice hospital admissions. Yep, all during the first 3 months. But alhamdulillah, my baby (yeah, she is 2 already but she is still my baby) is now doing superb and that was 2+ years back.

So, this time around, early preparation I should take, with a lot of prayers.

P/S : More readings on folic acid for pregnancy (picking some) :

1) Kids Health

2) Baby Center

3) About.com (on miscarriage / pregnancy loss)

This Is What Kept Me Busy This Whole Week

2011-04-01T11:59:00.000+08:00

But now it is over (or I may say successfully completed)! Alhamdulillah..

A Piece of Puzzle (?)

2011-04-01T09:10:00.001+08:00

Giving is Caring

2011-03-28T16:25:00.000+08:00

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

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.
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.
The arising kiasu in them since they believe they should have, as the opportunities wait for no late person.
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!

2011-03-27T18:33:00.001+08:00

Sharing is Caring

2011-03-26T15:00:00.000+08:00

Sebenarnya I dapat share sikit je

Kegelapan 60 Minit Yang Menggembirakan!

2011-03-25T12:25:00.000+08:00

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

2011-03-24T12:47:00.000+08:00

About the experiment :

Black fluffy skirt for RM15 at Cotton On.
Old Superman baby-T (nasib baik tak sampai tahap merekah jahitan t-shirt ni dek pertambahan lemak pada badan)
Not-so-old jacket, a little elastic, that's why it could still nicely wrap my lengan yang gagah.
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.
Cotton inner.
Some less-than-RM10-per-piece shawl.
Black bangle from Diva.

The outcome :

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

Re-prioritize

2011-03-21T12:22:00.000+08:00

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!

2011-03-19T08:53:00.001+08:00

... 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

2011-03-18T15:08:00.000+08:00

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

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)
Baby Eirsa's upside down sleeping schedule
My husband was in KL while I was 'berpantang' in Melaka
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.
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.
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

2011-03-16T15:49:00.000+08:00

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!

2011-03-12T08:31:00.001+08:00

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

2011-03-10T10:51:00.000+08:00

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!

2011-03-07T16:00:00.000+08:00

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

2011-03-04T11:45:00.001+08:00