the working mama

Cerita Gigi

2012-01-10T14:16:00.000+08:00

Suhayl had his first tooth extraction last week. His two top incisors (milk teeths) are already rotten and new teeths have emerged from behind. So, nak tak nak kenacabut. The only time available was on Tuesday, just before theschool opens. We went to KS Liew Dental Surgery to see Datin Dr. Esther. Agood friend recommended here because of her skills dealing with kids. Herclinic is usually full, but people always choose to wait no matter how long it would take. The clinic only take appointments for special cases. Other than that, it's "First come, first serve" basis. Since we have came here previously, we already knewthe drill. Come early and register your name as soon as the door is opened. Butunfortunately on that day, my husband took my car key with him to his office inKerteh. That left us car-less and there goes our chance to be early.

Anyway, with a friend’s help I managed to get a cab within15 minutes. We reached the clinic at 9:30 am (Waktu operasi is 9 am but thedoor opens at 8:30 am) and there were already 10 persons ahead of us. We waited, waited.. went to the bank nearby,waited and waited until Suhayl’s name was called. By then, it was already 11:30am. I thought it was going to be a quick one until I mentioned about Suhayl’smedical history. Since he had congenital heart defects (ASD & VSD), heneeds to be covered with antibiotics before and after the extraction. This is toprevent the possibility of getting pericarditis. The dentist said that although he hasundergone corrective surgery and looks healthy but inside the heart, we do not fully know if the holes are 100% sealed.Even a tiny weenie little hole can leads to pericarditis if precaution measureis not taken. The antibiotics must be taken 1 hour before the extraction andthat means we need to wait.. again.

To kill the time, we went for a light lunch. Light becauseSuhayl was not allowed to be full. Takut termuntah plak masa extraction nanti. Nom,nom, nom and we were back at the clinic just before 1pm. I was a bit nervousfor my little boy because he is the ‘tak tahan’ sakit type :-p But surprisinglyeverything went well and not a single tear was shed. Datin Dr. Esther is suchan amazing dentist. She just know how to ‘trick’ the kids and coax them to staycalm on the seat. Suhayl somehow enjoyed his first extraction... hahaha..something that is quite rare for us to see from a kid. We walked outfrom the clinic at 2:30pm and headed to Kuantan Berjaya Megamall on foot (under the hotsun), which is about 1.5 km. To quench our thirst and sooth Suhayl’s gums, wehang out at the Starbucks for a while before heading back home.

It was a bit tiring spending about 5 hours at the dentist.But I think it was worth it when seeing Suhayl’s perception on ‘cabut gigi’ hastotally changed. Fear no more J

Btw, here’s the result.. hehehe..

Before and after Raya.

2011-08-22T13:02:00.000+08:00

If you wanna read the chronicles of our UK trip, you can read it here.. hehe.. Since I'll be doing our trip photobook, so part2 tulis nih kita kasik jek kat Siti Azrah.. heheh..

Cakap pasal Raya plak.. Will be celebrating Syawal this year without mumsie and abah. They are in Bristol, jaga cucu and bil while my sister is doing some data collection for her phd in Malaysia. In fact, puasa pun without them. So, tak merasa ler nak buka puasa with mumsie's cooking. And because of that, I had to learn making bubur kacang, pengat pisang, lepat pisang and badak berendam by myself. And thank God jugak, my bibik has actually 'tengok' my mom buat. So takde ler aku terkial2 sangat.. hehehe.. Raya nih, my sister ler kena jadik Masterchef. Aku jadik assistant as usual.. hhuhu..

Preparation raya biasa saja. Bought some clothes for the kids during UK trip. Baju Melayu and baju kurung for ths kids are done by my mil. Baju kurung aku rasanya seperti tidak sempat siap. So, kena ler recycle baju lama kot.. hahaha.. Deco in the house, takde menda yang tukar. Bought a carpet at IKEA for my living room tetapi terkecik ler pulak. So, tengah mencari carpet yang sesuai. Kalau takde, pakai jugak ler yg lama. Yg baru tuh masuk dlm bilik tidur aku. Mahal jugak carpet2 nih sebenarnya. Patut ler makcik2 suka beli kat Bangla, bayar 4-5 kali :-p

That's about raya prep. Let's talk about vacation.. hehehehe.. October nih we're heading to A' Famosa Resort for my company's Family Day. November, I've booked for a 3D2N stay at Belum Rainforest Resort. Asyik bawak the kids pergi pantai jek, so kali nih tukar angin sikit. Masuk hutan and picnic kat air terjun. December will be my busy month, the plant's annual shutdown. Come January 2012.. we're heading tooo... BALI!! Setelah penat pujuk hubby, he finally said yes to it. Orang semua sibuk nak explore Bali, but my hubs is kinda different. "Serabut and banyak patung".That's his impression of Bali. So, I've booked a villa in Seminyak, which according to Kak Yan is more relaxing and not as hectic as Kuta. In the itenery, I'm planning to do our massage and spa session in Ubud (also recommended by Kak Yan), then jalan2 Ubud, Uluwatu and Tanah Lot. Hopefully that will change his perception of Bali after this..hehh..

Ha.. siap. Siapa kata aku tak update blog?? :-p

Her Lil' Fingers

2011-08-01T13:48:00.001+08:00

"Mama, tengok jari Jaja bengkok2 macam hantu.. hehehehe.."
"Mama, look at my fingers.. crooked like ghost fingers.. hehehehe.."

My daughter giggles happilly after that. I'm not sure whether she is too young to understand or she is just positive about herself. I always informed her that she has JIA and because of that she needs to eat her meds as per schedule. Currently she is taken care by my maid while I'm working. Plan to to send her to kindergarten next year. And I hope no one will ejek her for this. Hmmm...

Jari kelingking kiri bengkok dan jari tengah kanan bengkok sikit ke kanan.

My maid told me, "Buk, jari Jaja nih runcing2. Orang cakap kalau jari begini pandai masak."

Quarterly Review

2011-04-20T10:06:00.001+08:00

Most people out there start their day reading newspaper with a cup of kopi. But I started mine readings blogs in my Google Reader.. haha.. very the 'mak nam'. Iye.. iye.. I'm supposed to work but I usually lagged by 1 hour :-p

Been wanting to update this dusty blog but always out of time and mood. Sangat jeles baca blog orang lain. From their writing style and flow, I know they would never have problems to put their thoughts on the screen. Aku selalu nak bercerita tapi tak pandai nak tulis cerita.

For the sake of updating, here are some of the things that had happened for the past few months, randomly:

Sold my Missy Jazzy Jazz of 7 years. She's too fragile to be driven in the harsh road of Kerteh-Kuantan, tho she is slick in the city. So, I switch to Mr. Navara, the big bad mutha-trucka. He's black, bold and besar giler. Very tough on the road and all terrains. Tho it's mine, hubby is driving it to work while I use hubby's Cik Exora to work and pick-up the kids. People will say, "ala.. itu kira keta laki ko ler." Ehh, tapi takkk.. Itu kereta aku!!! *poyo*
Bought myself an iPad 16GB wifi + 3G. I'm loving it to the max!!
Got promoted at work. Getting promoted at my age is just ordinary. Nothing to be proud off. But I don't mind. As long I can cabut by 5pm and be with the kids, I'm fine... err, janji gaji ok jugak :-p
Suhayl enters Standard 1. Poning kopalo den.
Jaja is officially off Prednisolone. She's taking weekly MTX. So far she's doing great. Syukur!!
I've started hanging out with Miss Merida since hubby has totally abandon her. Hubby has re-intouch with his old buddy, Mr. Cricket. Cycling with Miss Merida is fun because she's a full suspension bike. Tak sakit montot kalau langgar lubang or rough terrains. So far, I've only managed to cycle around Bukit Istana.. hehe.. yea area rumah aku. Sungguh tak mencabar. Nantilah, bila free nak try masuk MTB Park Indera Mahkota.
Had good times with my frens. First was pot luck party at Noi's. Can read the story here. And the second one was at Las Carretas, celebrating promotions, wang besar and February boobies. Adz had posted a pic in her blog and ckp nak blog about it. Tapi tak hapdet2 lagik :-p
Have been busy with our EURO trip ground arrangements and itenery. Almost done. Flight tix, accoms, car rental, theater tix.. yes.. theater tix to the Phantom of The Opera!! Woohoo.. Yeah, that's done. We're still poning kepalo arranging our touristy and shopping itenery in London.. hehh. Shopping tuh ynag penting, nak kena tawaf tempat2 shopping yg best2.. hehe..

Oklah, I'm lagged by almost 2 hours dah nih. Gotta get some work done before I can fly off to UK at ease. Adios for now.

Krabi Honeymoon

2011-02-14T18:23:00.002+08:00

Pictures say a thousand words. Enjoy!!

Krabi Honeymoon Slideshow: Didie189’s trip to Krabi, Thailand was created by TripAdvisor. See another Krabi slideshow. Create your own stunning free slideshow from your travel photos.

You can read our Krabi honeymoon trip here. Thanks to Travelpod, my stories and photos are more organized ;-)

New luggage and I'm set!!

2010-12-13T10:59:00.032+08:00

Yesterday I got myself a 25 size luggage. Yippie!! This is part of my preparation for Euro Trip next year. Well, I'm not a frequent traveller. So, believe it or not the largest luggage that I have in the store is only the cabin size luggage. The last time our family travelled to Pattaya, I borrowed from my mom. It's time to get my own luggage ler. Sampai bila ler nak pinjam omak punyo kan :-p

While I was in KL last week, I managed to survey some luggages in KL. But my heart was tied with the American Tourister luggage that I saw in Kuantan's Samsonite Boutique. The tauke was so helpful in persuading me buying the luggage :-p We talked about travelling and shopping overseas. She told me summer is the best time to shop till you drop and the weather is perfect. So, buying luggage size 25 is essential for summer as I don't need to pack bulky clothing and can save space for my shopping items. Since that luggage is prone to scracthes (coz I bought the shiny surface ones), she advised me to buy the luggage protector by Samsonite. But I didn't. Thanks to Chot for telling me about the luggage wrapping service which is available at most of the airports. Nway the tauke did give me some options, either I can always send my luggage for polishing (mcm polish kereta tuh) if the scratches becomes sore to my eyes or I can make it look funkier by putting some stickers to cover the scratches. I think the later suits my personality better.

This Euro Trip plan started early this year in one of our email threads, got dormant for while and was on the surface again when Air Asia was promoting cheap tix to London. After comparing flight tix and iteneries with other carriers, we decided to fly with Air Asia and saved the extra pounds for shopping.. hehe.. Yes, this is not a family trip but buddies trip :-) Just me and my buddies, leaving our hubbies and kids behind. Semua para peserta telah mendapat kebenaran suami yea ;-) Frankly speaking, me and Sareque have always talked about this during our uni days. You know the girlie stuff about getting a good job, get married with our boyfriends and have fun shopping together at overseas. Seems like our girlie talk has come true. Our route will be London-Oxford-Bicester-Salisbury-Bath-Bristol-Amsterdam. There will be 7 of us, 3 moms (yg lupa diri sekejap) and 4 crazy singletons. The singletons will be touring one week ahead around the Euro continent before meeting us the momzillas in London.

The route

We are still fine-tuning our itenery and budget. As for me, I still have some few things to buy for the trip mainly on camera gears and maybe some summer clothings. Macam ler aku pakai sundress kan? :-p Huhuhu... Nway, most important preparation for me is the budget. Looks like I have to be more prudent and behave a little bit in spending my money next year. (Oh yea, boleh masuk dalam azam tahu hadapan). All must saved for the trip!! And hopefully my year end bonus will be a good one. *finger crossed*

Fun Weekend

2010-12-08T16:16:00.082+08:00

Note: Lambat post this entry sbb lambat upload gambo..

Weekend was great!! As planned, I had sushi gossip luncheon with my besties and later that nite, we went for our STF915 15th Anniversary Reunion Dinner. Sushi at Zanmai was superlicious and now I'm hooked!! Zanmai will be in my must-eat-list whenever I come down to Lembah Klang :-p As for the reunion dinner, it was a good hugging and ~~mengilai~~ chatting session. Not forgetting the cam-whoring session of course.. hehe.. Oh yeah, I ordered cuppies from Kak Edi with STF theme :-D The cuppies were so nice and cute, sampai semua orang sayang nak ngap.. hehehe.. lepas habis posing with cuppies barulah makan. Itu pon sampai berkali2 tanya "Dah boleh makan ke belum cuppies nih??"

Zanmai, I loike!!!


Cuppies by Kak Edi. Too cute to eat!!

Clockwise: 15 years, STF cupcake, the crowd who made it and our reunion ring ;-)

* * * * *

This is episod sengal. I was writting about it when I came across Travelpod. So, instead of sharing in this blog, I posted this sengal episode in my Travelpod blog since it's about my pre-travelling drama. You can check it out here. Adalah agak poyo kan nak create Travelpod padahal baru nak pergi jenjalan Euro next year kan.. hahaha.. Well, that's me :-p This Travelpod is kinda kewl actually. It's a systematic tool for you to upload photos, map and travel journal according to your trip. Kira satu trip, satu blog with multiple entries. I think my parents should create one since they have been globe trotting almost every continent. Aku baru nak jelajah satu continent.. itu pun sikit jek.. hehe..

Bite-sized stories of me..

2010-12-02T10:22:00.003+08:00

I'm in the battle field, fighting with my cholesterol consumption. It's really challenging I tell you. On the 1st day of my cholesterol diet plan, I ate Quaker oats with almonds and choc chip. Euww.. it tasted awful and I only managed to eat only half of the bowl. The various recipes that caught my eyes in Quaker's website looked so delectable that I thought the taste would be too. Tettt.. I was absolutely wrong. The almonds and choc chips didn't help at all. So, on the second day I changed to high fiber bread with tuna and tomatoes. Boleh ler tahan sikit. And the rest of the days, I only ate kuih-muih and biscuits. Come weekend, I ate 2 bungkus nasi lemak at Restoran Zaman.. hahaha.. lepaskan dendam. Er, boleh ker guna this diet regime? :-p

* * * * *

It has been 2 weeks since we left the kiddos with my parents in Seremban. We (me & hubby) had lovey-dovey time and also tv time!! Hehe.. believe me, when the kids are in, we never got the chance to watch our favourite tv series except for Buletin Utama because we had made aggrement on that. Most of the time, the kids will be controlling the channels and my little boy even once hid the remote, just to prevent me from changing the channel. So, without them around I've been catching up with Glee and Trueblood series. Tetapi Trueblood series tuh adalah menyakitkan hari sebab selalu hang. Yea, itulah akibatnya membeli dvd haram di Batu Feringghi :-p Kena mintak tolong Adzue download using her Unifi.

I also spent time reading books during this period. I resume reading the Sookie Stackhouse series (Trueblood is based from this book) until book 8. I started again from book 2 sebab dah lupa the characters. That's a proud achievement for me. Kalau tak, satu buku tuh memang berminggu2 ler nak habis baca. Now, tengah carik orang yang ada book 9 & 10. Nak habiskan the series while I'm still in vampiric mode. Anyone??

In the mean time, I'm reading this...

Hilarious!!

* * * * *

I'm picking up the kids this Sunday. Anak2 jiran pon dah sibuk tanya bila diorang nak balik.. hehe.. Actually, I'm coming down to KL this weekend for a batch reunion dinner, STF 91-95 and for a Sushi Zanmai luncheon with the usual suspects. Going to the reunion is to catch up with other batch mates which I seldom hear from them and the luncheon is actually my treat for Inalim because she helped me with my TM problem (But at the end, TM still sucks!!). But the others are joining too hence the usual suspect mini reunion. Surely, I would love to know the latest tale and stories between us (esp GG yg baru balik menunaikan haji) and updates of our Euro Trip 2011 plan (Eheh.. will save that for another post). Owh.. and shopping of course!! Nothing beats shopping with your best gals around :-) Nak enjoy habis-habisan with the gals before I return to Kuantan with my kiddos and being a mom again.. huhu..

Biggest Cholesterol Loser

2010-11-16T12:17:00.000+08:00

I've just completed my 2 yearly medical check-up. Yesterday I went to see the doctor to get the result apart from doing the final leg of the check-up which was x-ray and ECG. Everything was ok except for my cholesterol level. Suprisingly, the result was exactly the same as 2 years ago. In that post, I've made plan to revamp my diet in order to lower my cholesterol. But after nearly 1 month chewing the garlic pill, I found out that I was pregnant. And my gynae advised to scrap my cholesterol diet plan. Happily I followed my gynae's order until today.. erkk.. Mission unaccomplished :-p

Now.. back to 'Misi Mengurangkan Kolestrol'. This morning while eating my nasi minyak at the canteen, I told my colleague sitting next to me that this would be my last 'nasi breakfast'. And I hope to stick with my words. Next week, I shall embark on entirely new diet plan. Oats for breakfast and nuts for tidbits. If I'm hungry, I shall opt for wholemeal sandwich or biscuits instead of unhealthy snacks in the fridge. Garlic pills will resume and maybe I'll join my kids for Scotch Emulsion.

Next, is to exercise regularly. Somehow this is a difficult task to do. Not that I hate exercise, but I hardly have time for it. Let's see.. the only time I have during the weekdays is after picking up the kids from kindy. I have about 45 mins time off before Maghrib. Usually this time is spent with the kids and surfing the net (multitasking meh). Hmm.. maybe I should take 15-20 mins to do cycling. Having my own MTB would be ideal.. heheh.. but no spending at the moment. Money is now strictly saved for my other mission (citer coming soon). Well, beskal free (Safety Achievement gift from my husband's company) tuh will do kot. Lehmann has added a baby carrier too. Boleh bawak Maryam ronda2 petang.

Okey, that's the plan for now. Let's see how it goes..

Maryam Hanna 1

2010-11-05T00:16:00.003+08:00

My little angel celebrated her 1st birthday last month. We usually celebrate our kids' 1st birthday at our home and it's just a family affair. Parties are done at their kindergarten with cake and party packs for their friends. Since we moved to Kuantan, Maryam is no longer sent to baby sitter. Instead we hired a maid to take care of her and do the house chores while we're at work. So, kesian Maryam takde party bersama rakan2. Because of that, I decided to do something special for her. We celebrated her birthday at The Garden Terrace, Swiss Garden Resort & Spa, Kauntan. My initial plan was to bring the kids for pool dipping and then have our hi-tea birthday party. Unfortunately, Jaja got bacterial infection on her scalp and neck. So we had to skip the pool. The hotel management was really kind to give us a complimentary cake. Thanks to Yusnita :-)

Anyway, it was really nice celebrating Maryam's birthday there. There were not many people that evening. So, we had the restaurant to ourselves.. hehe.. The kids roamed freely and I had my tea peacefully (dan makan sepuas2nya). The buffet spread was not bad lah, combining local and western dishes. And the price was reasonable too. The kids really enjoyed the ice cream corner siap buat macam rumah sendiri :-p When the cake arrives, Suhayl and Jaja seems to be more excited than Maryam :-p We had to light-up the candles several times before Maryam got her chance to blow her cake. Masa potong cake pun, banyak ler plak tukang sibuk.. hehe..

Ehh, Kak Ngah plak tipu? :-p

The cake

Smile :-D

Tukang sibuk :-p

To Maryam Hanna, be a good gal yea. Jangan notti2 mcm Abg Long & Kak Ngah. Nanti pening kepala mama.. hehe..

Krabi, next year!!

2010-10-06T10:37:00.001+08:00

Last week I asked hubby if we can go for a short getway, just the two of us. As soon as he said YES, I frantically browsed Air Asia Go for the best deal. I suggested that we go to Krabi, Thailand on November (Raya Haji hols). But after exchanging sms, emails and such, we decided to go on January 2011. Being the 'Family Tripadvisor', I did some searching and stumbled upon this site called Your Krabi. I found that January is indeed a good time to go. According to that site, late January and Feb is the best time to visit Krabi where the weather is almost perfect, where you can expect to capture clear blue skies and glassy sea in your vacation photo. Hence, two return tix and 3D2N accomodation have been booked by yours truly, pronto.

On accomodation, it was quite hard to pick the hotel at first because I didn't want to exceed the budget. It was a tie between Buri Tara Resort and Aonang Buri Resort. Both have good reviews and not so good reviews in TripAdvisor. Well that was the options if we go in November 2010. But since we've changed our plan to January, I managed to get better deal and most importantly is within the budget. Aree Tara Resort it is!! You can check the rating and reviews here.

Morning at Ao Nang Beach
Source: Google Image

Krabi Map
Source: http://www.yourkrabi.com/

This Krabi getaway will be our long overdue honeymoon. Yes, you've heard it people. Orang lain dah pergi honeymoon for the umpteeth time, kitorang baru nak berhoneymoon for the 1st time.. huhu.. Well, tak kisah ler. Janji pergi kan. Though January is a good time for Krabi, but it's actually not an ideal time for me. January is usually busy with all sorts of annual meeting/review/audit. Not to mention annual reporting, annual data and spreadsheet, etc.. erkk :-/ Kena buat reminder nih untuk siapkan all report before our getaway :-p For the mean time, let's Google more on Krabi.. hehehe..

The Untold Pre-Raya Cerita-Ceriti

2010-09-23T19:38:00.002+08:00

Not in order..

Got myself sebentuk cincin emas. I still couldn't find my missing rings. So, terpaksa ler beli satu sebelum raya.

Managed to cook Chili Crab. Luckily the taste was not crap :-p Recipe is taken from Best Wan, AFC.

Saw this lovely wedges in newspaper...

... and got it for myself the next two days.. hehe.. kena cepat. stok kasut size kecik kat ktn nih cepat habis! the wedges adalah sangat comfy, suits my posh spice feet.

Murtabak Larkin super special.. Hubby's almost daily fix for berbuka..

Shopping spree at Ikea with Adzue. Full story in her blog.


Cayalah Exora!!! Boleh muat pintu Billy. Boleh ler kita dtg lagi yea Cik Exora.

Sekian, tengkiu.. hehe..

Choc chip mint cookies

2010-09-01T20:30:00.004+08:00

When it comes to raya mode, I always felt obliged to make raya cookies at least ONE despite tak terrer :-p Last year I managed to bake Cornflakes Madu for Aidilfitri 1430. So, this year instead of messing with the chewy guey honey, I tried making choc chip mint cookies. Recipe was shared by Kak Edi, my ex-dorm mate in her blog. She's a cupcake tokey. Check out her blog and you will find it's hard to resist her cute cuppies.

Choc chip mint has always been my fav Baskin Robbins flavour. When I got this recipe, I was kinda excited. How would it taste like? The ingredients are similar with the normal choc chip recipe except for the mint. Punya ler susah nak carik Polo Mint (Yes, the mint with hole). I went to Carrefour and 7-Eleven, but couldn't find one. So, I rang my hubby to stop by at Petronas Petrol Station to get the mints for me. His reply was "Ada lagi ker gula Polo Mint tuh? Macam dah obsolete jek." Cehh.. But lucky me, it was available!!

The mints need to be crushed before adding into the mixture. Nak tumbuk pakai lesung batu, takut melekat warna kunyit plak or worst terasa kunyit, cili api or belacan. You know how the lesung batu remainings e.g. kunyit or chili stains, belacan smell, can be quite stubborn to get rid off. Nanti rasa choc chip pedas or belacan plak.. hehe.. So, I used a roller pin (pinjam roller pin Ikea Jaja sbb kecik) to smack the mints. The mints were crushed but not in uniform bits.. ada kecik, ada besar, ada serbuk.. hehh.. Lain ler kalau ada KitchenAid pun coffee and spice mill mcm Robert Rainford or Michael Smith pakai tuh, confirm lawa jek bits tuh.. hehe..

Using my small oven and 2 baking trays (satu tuh pun pinjam baking tray Ikea Jaja), I managed to make a batch. My anak sedara, Sofea and my bibik became the food tester. The verdict was sedap. Heheh.. sedap ler gamaknya kan. Myself and Suhayl tasted the cookies masa berbuka puasa. "Sedap ler mama buat cookies". Siap buat thumbs-up lagi. And yes.. it was sodap indeed. Instead of munching almonds bits, it was mint bits that makes the cookies extra ordinary yummylicious.

Moi choc chip mint cookies!!

I'm going to make more after this. I'm pretty sure that the 1st batch won't stays long.. huhu.. Besides, I need to give some to my in-law, biras, etc.. and of course to woo my raya guest.. hahaha.. riak ek? :-p But first thing first. Need to get a mixer!!! Gila lenguh tangan kacau butter and gula.. *drooling on KitchenAid stand mixer*

Our House- Part II

2010-08-18T11:04:00.000+08:00

BEFORE..

Rumah kosong

Laman tepi.. semua kontang, laman jiran pun kosong

Laman belakang..

Laman depan di tepi porch

Living and dining area

Dry kitchen belah kanan

Wet kitchen

Dry kitchen belah kiri

and AFTER..

Sudah ada penghuni

Ada ler rumput2 sikit, jiran sebelah dah extend belakang

Laman belakang sudah ada Berlin Wall.. nanti ler aku buat graffiti.. huhu..

Laman depan ada ler tanam pokok kari, pokok cili, daun kunyit, daun kesum (yg separa hidup)

Yeay.. langsir baru, sofa baru, meja makan baru :-) Billy lama dok kiri

Dry kitchen. Cabinet atas tak buat.. tak cukup budget :-p

Wet kitchen sudah berasap

Dry kitchen belah kiri ada fridge and tempat oven tapi masih 'vacant' :-p

Sekian, pictorial report :-)

Letter to Teacher

2010-08-17T11:57:00.000+08:00

I actually have uploaded photos of my new crib. But I had difficult time arranging it as I wanted, so I deleted the post yesterday. Pfftt!! Thought of repeating it today but I'm in no mood of doing it now. Hence today this post will be about... (dunno what suitable key-word to put). So, baca jelah..

The letter

I've just prepared a lengthy letter to Khadijah's kindergarten along with severals info and attachments. It's about her JIA. Altough I have already informed verbally on Khadijah's disease during the enrollment to the Pengetua Taska, I still think it is not enough. Being an engineer, I just can't help but prepare a very comprehensive report.. er I mean letter to her kindy. I've created an assessment checklist on how she fares in routine activities like jumping, walking, running, squatting, etc.. I got whole bunch of list in my self-created assessment just to let her teachers know her limitation. Actually not limitation. We never limit her activities as long as she's capable of doing it but just to let her teachers aware of her arthritis that affects her daily activities.

I also attached some info on JIA that I got from Arthritis Foundation Malaysia (AFM) which describes her disease from A to Z including the medications that she's taking. It's quite long. I hope the teachers will take time to read and fully understand what JIA is all about. At this point, I'm thinking of conducting a briefing for the teachers but on second thought that would be way over kiasu. I do have a plan to come to her kindy and talk to her friends about JIA in a 'story-telling' manner. Since I've bought the book 'Taking Arthritis to School', why don't use it eh?? But again.. I'm not sure whether it's the right thing to do? It could be humilating to Khadijah. She's only 3. I don't want her to feel dejected knowing her condition. Could she feel that way?? Or maybe she would feel extra special?? Or perhaps, it's just not the right time to tell right now..

Last but not least.. photos. Dah terbiasa buat report, kena ada gambar. Plan to take some shots of her joints tonite. I think her teachers and care takers didn't realize her slightly deformed joints at her knees, elbows, wrists and fingers & toes. This morning when I sent her to kindy, one of the care takers told me that Khadijah couldn't walk properly yesterday. She was afraid if it was due to fall. Haiyahh.. So, I told her, she's slightly limping due to her arthritis. "Ohh.. yeke?? Tak perasan pun sebelum nih" That was her remarks. Lagi ler aku terasa nak buat training kat diorang nih.. heeeshhh...

Her wrist is slightly senget due to arthritis

Actually Khadijah's kindy is not just an ordinary kindergarten. We chose that kindy because it's a special one. Institute Tengku Ampuan Afzan (INTAZ) is a kindergarden caters for the special needs kids and also for normal kids. They are not separated. They learn and play together in a classroom. The teachers and care takers are experienced in dealing with special kids like down-syndrome, autism and even celebral palsy. I can't blame the teachers and the care takers about not knowing what JIA is. Even some doctors don't know about it (Yup!!!) Hopefully the kindy people will know better about it after reading my letter.

The good thing about this kindy is that the normal kids here know how to help and most importantly respect these special kids. I'm not sure in what catergory Khadijah is in. I would say she's a Special Normal Kid. INTAZ is chaired by Tengku Puteri Sei Lela Wangsa Pahang, Tengku Tan Sri Meriam Sultan Ahmad Shah. *Sila Google kalau tak tahu siapa*. More on INTAZ will be in another blog post. For now, let me review the letter content again.. kut ada apa2 nak tambah..

Our House- Part I

2010-08-06T12:34:00.002+08:00

It has been a month since we shifted to Kuantan. Life has been good so far. Suhayl and Khadijah have resumed their kindergarten at new place. Maryam is taken care by my mom’s bibik while waiting for mine to arrive. As for me, I’m enjoying my new crib :-) Yup just enjoying the new kitchen, new wardrobe, new sofa, new dining table (tengkiu cayang).. Ooohh.. I’m loving it!!

Everything is pretty much settled. Thanks to my kiasu mom, making sure that everything is organized. 5S is totally applied.. hehehe.. She did most of the unpacking and has created a mini-store at the corner of our 3rd room. With all the boxes being labeled clearly, searching for a particular item is not a hassle at all. I think my mom can open a mover company. She’s just good at doing all this stuff. The house is almost done except for Streamyx!! Haiyoh TM.. very the lembab one. Other things that need to be done is changing correspondence address for banks, society, membership, etc.. I’ve almost completed half of the list. Eh lupa.. ada lagi benda kena buat.. rumput lom tanam lagiii :-/

“Our house is in the middle of the street” sang the Brit Punk group, Madness. Well, ours is not in the middle of the street but in the middle of Kuantan Bypass Highway. The area is opposite UIAM Kuantan and just before the Istana Abdulaziz where Tengku Mahkota Pahang resides (I can see the Istana from my house). There you will find Bukit Istana. We bought this house in early 2008 just for the sake of buying a property because we want to utilize hubby’s house loan provided by his company. Little did we know that we’re going to live in this house in 2 years time.

Oh yeah, I didn’t tell you rite the reason that we had to move to Kuantan? We were given 6 months notice from the managament to move out from Rantau Bukit because my husband is not eligible for the house anymore. Rantau Bukit is now catered for new executives. While senior execs and managers level and above are allocated to stay at Rantau Laut or Rantau Paya which the renting fee ranging from RM 600 to RM 1000 (but usually only the 800-1000 ones are available). Rantau Bukit is only RM 350. So, after doing check & balance, it is more economical for us to move to Kuantan since we already have a nice house there. It’s hubby’s turn to travel to and fro Kerteh.

For now, what I can say is I’m enjoying my new laid back life!! No more travelling and bibik is around to do the chores. I have more time for the kids. We can always chill out at Baskin Robbin whenever we like. No more one-and-a-half-hour-journey to do my retail therapy and have fun in Kuantan. But nothing beats KL when it comes to food and shopping. KL?? Oh yeah.. the distance from Kuantan to KL is only 3 hours journey!! *excited gilos* As for hubby, he has reconnected with his first love.. hmmmphh. There he goes running back and forth with that bat. Cricket it is!!

(gambar lupa nak save dlm thumbdrive, nanti upload in next post)

We're moving..

2010-07-01T09:50:00.000+08:00

In two more days, we're leaving this house for good. As much as I'm excited to create a new life in Kuantan, I do feel a bit sad leaving this 'home' that we have been living for the past 6 years. Sempat ler beranak 3 kali.. hehe..

"Our house, in the middle of the street.. "

Tempat monyet selalu panjat.

Tempat babi hutan, biawak besar & ular melepak. And also this is the place where you can hear gibbons hooting to each other in the morning.. ooukk..ooukk...

See that bushes, itu tempat tupai selalu main nyorok2.

Good bye Rantau Bukit. Peaceful place and good neighbourhood.. you'll be missed. Except for the monkeys :-p

Beautiful Blogger Award

2010-05-26T10:02:00.000+08:00

Haha.. Thanks Sareque for the award. I'm touched :-p Er, ko sebenarnya bagi for this blog or for my green blog tuh? Aci ke letak kat dua2 blog?

The Rules are as follows:

Step 1. Accept the award and put it on your sidebar.
Done.

Step 2. Describe 7 things people do not know about you.

I love to buy books but I don't read that much :-p Owhh, that explains how lousy I am in writing.. erkk..
I don't like accounting during my school days. But now I'm a bookkeeping freak... seriously.
I watch Tamil movies. Thanks to dear hubby for the introduction.. hehehe..
I still keep my 1st diary (Standard 6) and journals (till 2004). Kalau nak tau bila aku break-up with my ex *ehem*, bila aku tackle Leman, bila aku usha dia kat padang cricket, our 1st movie.. semuanya adalah.. hehe..
I love listening to the early 80s song.. Men At Work, Irene Cara, Donna Summer, Lionel Ricthie, Boy George, Cyndi Lauper, Van Halen, Queen, Deep Purple.. etc..
I started wearing spectacles at Standard 4 (ada orang tak tau kan? kan?)
I don't like cicak, but not as bad as Meen (sampai kena lastik sekor2).. hehehe..

Step 3. Award the Award to 7 other Beautiful Bloggers and describe why they deserve the award.

Koonch. She's my sister, of course she deserves it. (But I don't think she has time to do all these stuff)
Fazila, my fellow Convenite. Her cookies are beautiful :-)
Jules. She sells beautiful handbags and she's a beautiful mommy too :-)
Nadhirah. She's my cousin's daugther. She's just creative. (Considered beautiful gak kan?)
Sapa lagi nih? Recipient aku sama jek ngan Sareque- Faeiz, Adzue, GG. So korang dapat double Award, acikan? hehe..

Rocking Penang and Kuey Teow Doli

2010-05-16T17:39:00.002+08:00

We went to rock Penang last weekend. We drove from Kerteh all the way to Penang. Started at 7 am and reached Hard Rock Hotel Penang just before 5pm after rocking sesat at Georgetown. Tahap sesat tuh adalah tahap dewa sehingga terpaksa patah balik Jambatan Pulau Pinang. Yes, terpaksa bayar tol dua kali! But thanks to the HRH Operator, Noraini, we finally rocking made it to the hotel.

As blogged by Kak Dilla and Sareque, Hard Rock Hotel Penang is super-kewl. Few months before going there, I did my homework by reading reviews at TripAdvisor on HR Hotel. So, I took note on certain comments and ready the rock the swimming pool which all of them (in TripAdvisor) agreed that the pool is awesome and fantastic.

Sareque told me that her room was upgraded upon arrival. I was not offered for any room upgrades during check-in. But I knew it was upgraded when we entered the room because our room was facing the sea. My original booking was supposedly hill view. So, what we did upon arrival? Bergolek atas katil ler after the long journey. And we took that opportunity to do family portraiture as well. White linen, ample of natural lights, 50 mm f1.8 lense.. apalagi.. bergambaq sakan ler. After that it's pool time bebeh..

Suhayl, Maryam, Me and Khadijah

Hubby and Maryam

The fantastic pool

My intention of staying at HRH Penang was to bring the kids to the super-kewl pool and so we stick to it. Pagi and petang melepak swimming pool. Break only for lunch and nap time. The 1st nite we didn't go anywhere because it was drizzling and we were still tired to ronda2 naik kereta. Thanks to TripAdvsior, I got to know about the bad service at Pizzeria. So, we chose to dine at Stars Diner. The food was biasa jelah tapi Suhayl suka sangat HRC Chicken Tenders. The meal comes with a kewl recyclable plastic cup plak tuh. So, I didn't mind ordered for 2nd one during the dinner. The 1st order was before masuk swimming pool that evening.

Saving the planet the Hard Rock way..

2nd nite (after mahgrib) we went to Batu Feringghi nite market. Jalan tau bawak 3 orang kenits tuh. Adalah dekat 1 km jalan rasanya. Jaja dukung with ayah. Maryam dalam stroller. Kesian Suhayl kena jalan. Untuk kasi dia semangat untuk jalan, we bought him a strawberry shake at HR Cafe. Nothing much lah at that nite market. Most of the items sold there are from Thailand. Being a true Malaysian, of course we bought 'Barangan Buatan Malaysia' only. So, DVD cetak rompak ler jawabnya.. muah muah muah.. Lepas puas membeli, we went for dinner kat tepi pantai and naik beca back to hotel. Tak larat nak jalan daa. By the time we reached hotel, HRH Penang had just kick-start its night life. There were live band at the lounge, Hindi dance at the lobby area and fire show by the pool. The kids really enjoyed it. Too bad, mama and ayah cannot chill out at Hard Rock Cafe. Next time kena bawak atuk & nenek.. hehehe..

Fire show by the pool

Then it comes to the end, 3rd day. We had to check-out early because we had long journey home. We took the ferry to Seberang Prai instead of the jambatan. Suhayl and Jaja were so thrilled. Memang berkali2 ler cakap nak datang Penang naik ferry lagi.. huhu..

Muka sedih tak nak balik.. hehe..

On the way back, we dropped by at the land of hubby's Alma Mater just to eat Kuey Teow Doli. Original from Taiping beb!! We couldn't lepak lama2 at Taiping due to time constraint. We promise to come again to enjoy its breath taking scenery (Taman Tasik Taiping), bring the kids for Night Safari (Zoo Taiping), KLMJ with SERATAS and to get more of Kuey Teow Doli, of course!!

SERATAS Old Boy he is

Who can resist this? Sodap wa cakap lu..

I'm a JIA Parent

2010-05-16T08:47:00.001+08:00

I guess I will constantly blog about Jaja after this apart from my not so happening stories. I've just finished reading Parents' Guide on Juvenile Arthritis Child. Thanks to Arthritis Foundation US for the great book and Amazon (Yeah.. I'm an Amazon Associates now, kena promo sket) for making it easy to buy 'hard to find book in Malaysia' like this one.

There were so many things wandering in my head before reading this book. But it all got sorted out after completing the book. Baca buku nih macam nak ambil exam. Siap pakai highlighter to highlight important points and use Sticky Notes to jot questions for her Rheumy.

Nway, Jaja's just had her appointment last Thursday. I couldn't make it because I had a seminar to attend. So all those Sticky Notes questions were typed on a paper and handed to her Rheumy by my hubby. Yes, I'm the efficient mummy okey ;-) After the appointment, hubby and all balik Perak and I was left in KL to have fun with my frens.. eh.. to attend the seminar lah.. :-p

Back to Jaja, her Rheumy said she was improving. So, she cut down her Prednisolone intake from 2 pills to 1 pill per day. You could see Jaja's face is getting rounder due to Prednisolone's effect. Her joints (elbow and knee) are getting more straight. She's more active and we didn't hear any pain complaints anymore. She has started to walk but tip toeing sambil pegang2 tepi dinding, kerusi, etc.. Harituh dia dah start menapak betul2 (flat on the ground) and was walking quite fast altho limping. Tapi ada sekali tuh while she was walking excitedly towards her ayah outside the house, she missed her steps, and masuk longkang (1 ft). Terus dia a bit trauma nak jalan balik :-( But we hope she will forget the incident quickly and start to walk confidently again.

And because of Jaja too, we're planning to move to Kuantan. I've just found a perfect kindy for her and we're in the mid of her registration/enrollment process. Hopefully she can join that kindy. Will blog more about the kindy once her registration is done.

Okeh, nak pergi kejut Jaja. Lambat bangun pagi anak dara nih, macammmm ayahnya :-p

JIA Books

2010-04-24T21:35:00.001+08:00

My second JIA book from Amazon. This one is just a simple illustrated book with easy to understand facts on JIA. Will be using this book to explain to Jaja's kindy teachers and friends on JIA ;-)

Amazon for me.

2010-04-11T14:48:00.006+08:00

When Jaja was suspected to have JIA, I quickly surf the net to get more info. We discovered Arthritis Foundation local and oversea, blog of JIA parents, support group and also books on JIA. Most of the books are found Amazon. I never use Amazon before. I don’t have problem shopping online locally, but for oversea sites, I do have some reservation. It’s the shipping/delivery that bothers me. Will the parcel arrive safely? :-/ While Jaja was warded at Hospital Selayang, I went to BORDERS, MPH and Kinokuniya to find similar books. Well, as expected, they didn’t have such books. So, I have no choice but to buy at Amazon.

Masa sibuk2 nak place order, my sister and my close friends did offer to use their address to minimize shipping rate and time. After making comparison with Amazon UK and Amazon US, suprising Amazon US offers better price including shipping. As I was eagerly to get this book, I placed my order without reading thoroughly on the shipping’s terms and condition. I chose the cheapest shipping rate which is Standard Internal Shipping. The delivery will take 2-4 weeks. Upon receiving notification that my books have been delivered, I just found out that the shipping rate that I chose does not provide tracking service. Yeah.. blamed it on my speed reading :-/ Aiyohh.. macam mana nih? I posted it on FB and got several comments. Nasib baik ler Junai komen. He told me not to worry as he always received his orders most of the time. Okler kot kalau Amazon hardcore user dah ckp macm tuh.

Last Thursday, I smsed Junai asking more info on the delivery. Tak sabar2 ler katakan. I asked him will the parcel arrive on the given estimated date (which is 5th May)? He said more or less from the given date. Lamanya lagi nak sampai. But surprise surprise. When I reached home from work, I saw a parcel in my post box. It was from Amazon!! Woohooo!! Thank you, thank you, thank you Amazon!!! And also thank you Kastam for lepaskan my parcel. I heard sometimes the parcel can be opened by Kastam for inspection (and sometimes ada yg gatal tangan nak cilok). Kinda fast ehh? It was just 1 week from my order date. Nway, I’m still waiting for another book to arrive. Hopefully it will arrive shortly.

Okeh folks.. I gotta continue reading the book which I will definitely blog about it later. Err, sapa2 nak try cari barang and beli kat Amazon, feel free to click on the Amazon Search Box on the upper right of this blog. As a first time buyer at Amazon, I think I'm satisfied with their service. I have no hesitation to shop at Amazon again. Tengok ler benda apa pulak aku nak beli lepas nih.. huhuhu..

Parcel from Amazon

Phew!! Dilepaskan..

Only at Amazon

Publish Yourself!

2010-04-11T10:53:00.001+08:00

I've been wanting to showcase my travel pics in a coffee table book like what Zarina and Faiez have done. A year ago, I did came across this one website offering photobooking service but the price I tell you, was so damn expensive. So, terpaksalah dilupakan. Last month when Leymah told us that she made a photobook for her sister's wedding at Photobook, I decided to give it a try for our Pattaya & Bangkok vacation. Biasalah, nak kena ada member buat, baru ler ko pon terhegeh-hegeh nak buat kan? :-p

Other than Photobook, there's another company offering the same service which is myflippix or shall I say Photobook's rival. After comparing both pricelist, I found that myflippix offers better price and their March promo was simply irresistible. Yeah March, and I only had 2 days left to order. Macam sempatkah? (Tapi ternyata sempat!!)

The software is really easy-peasy to use. Just choose a template and drag the photos and tada... done. The challenging part is to choose the photos and arrange it in a storyline. You don't want your photos jumbled up in different pages. At the very last minute, I did the photo arranging for a solid 2 hours while servicing my car and continued 2 more hours at nite after tucking the kids to sleep. Just before midnite of 1st April, I submitted my order and went to sleep with mixed feeling. Ok ke tak aku buat? Pastu baru ler terfikir nak buat macam itu ler, ini lah.. ciss.. Well, nothing can be done at that point but to wait for the result.

Aku ingat lepas seminggu baru dapat ler kan. Tapi ternyata salah. On Saturday, I received an email notifying that my photobook was on the way!! And on Sunday, I received my 1st Photobook! Sangat cantik!! I like it so much. Check it out :-)

Hardcover 8.5" x 12" / 216mm x 305mm
Paper: FREE MATT LAMINATION
Cover: FULLY PRINTED HARDCOVER (WITH BOX SLEEVE)
Shipping Method: FREE SHIPPING INCLUDED
Original Price: RM 228 (40 pages)
After Discount: RM 138!! (44 pages)

Now, I'm working for my 2nd photobook. Takmo buat last minute dah :-p Check out their April's Promo uolss :-)

Jaja and JIA

2010-03-27T23:10:00.005+08:00

Jaja at Paediatric Ward 8A, Hospital Selayang

Jaja is been diagnosed having Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA). That explains why her knee was still not ok even after the Z-Plasty surgery performed by her previous Orthopaedician.

Last month, we went back to see Dr. Kamariah when her condition was not improving. We felt something was not right when her other joints were also affected i.e bengkok. We also noticed that all her fingers became swollen and she always complaint 'sakit-sakit' whenever we washed her hands. Macam tangan dia sensitif sangat. Apart from that she always cry in pain whenever she woke up in the morning. We highlighted these new symptoms to Dr. Kamariah. She discussed with a Paediatrician and immediately Jaja was referred to Dr. Tang Swee Ping from Hospital Selayang, the ONE and ONLY Paediatric Rheumatologist in Malaysia.

We went to Hospital Selayang last two weeks. We were attended by Dr. Cham and Dr. Tang herself. She told us in order to confirm it's JIA, several test needs to be done to rule out other possibilities/factors like Leukemia, TB, SLE, etc. It's because they share the same symptoms e.g. joint pains, and there is no specific test for JIA. So, last Sunday Jaja was admitted to Hospital Selayang to get her bone marrow biopsy done. The result was negative for Leukemia and so did the other test. No TB, no SLE, her blood properties were all normal. So, it was confirmed JIA.

Just before going into the Operation Theater for Bone Marrow Aspiration

The moment it was confirmed, Jaja was treated immediately. She was administered Methyprednisolone for 3 days. It's a steroid to ease her pain. She was sent to see Occupational Therapist and had her splints done for all her joints. The doctors came to us and explained all sorts of meds that she has to take orally- Prednisolone, Methotrexate, Folic Acids, etc.. Dah ler semua ubat pil :-(

Before seeing Dr. Tang, we did our homework in the internet. I've found a lot of useful info but we were still a bit clueless of what is going to happen to Jaja after this. Thank God we met wonderful parents of JIA kids while Jaja was warded. Most of them didn't mind sharing their experience and story, gave us advice and profusely gave us support. There was Abg Mohamad from Pasir Mas whom his wife had just passed away because of Leukemia, now taking care of his youngest son (out of 6) Rosman aged 12 suffering of JIA and SLE since the age of 2. Next to my bed was Vincent who also had same disease as Rosman. He was accompanied by his foster dad. They are from Malacca. It was quite strange when they talked Bahasa Melayu most of the time although they're Chinese. They even communicate in Malay with Dr. Tang.

Then at the Rehab Unit, I met Carol from Ipoh. Her daughther Jasmin also had JIA at the age of 2. She's now 8 years old. Carol gave me a lot of advice and tips. And on my last few days at the ward, I met Bobbi. She's a Sikh. Her son 3 year old Emmet was a different case. I can't remember the name of the disease but it has got to do with the immune system. She is such a strong woman. Emmet's brother Prepa passed away 4 years ago with the same disease. Her story was really touching. I almost cried listening to her story. But the 'isi penting' of her story is never give-up and pray to God.

Cuppies from Auntie Bagaholic Anonymous

Check out Jaja's pink splint at her elbow!

So far, Jaja's condition is improving. She's more active, she didn't complaint sakit at her joints. Tapi tang makan ubat tuh kesian ler. We had to crush her pills and dilute with water. Memang pahit gila ler. We don't know for how long will she be taking the steroid pills. Right now, we're trying to encourage her to walk again now that the pain is less. Her tissue and muscle at her right knee is a bit hard. The Occupational Therapist at Hospital Selayang told us that with the right therapy and exercise, she will be able to walk again.. but it's gonna take some times. I hope she can walk again by the time Maryam gets on her feet. You can do it Kak Ngah!!

No Mary Jane, Funky Party will do.

2010-03-13T14:30:00.002+08:00

Setelah sekian lama tak beli kasut, akhirnya berjaya juga beli sepasang Clarks. Actually I wanted Keen's Sienna Mary Jane (pic below). Spotted one at World of Sports, Mesra Mall when I was preggy. I tried it out and fell in love instantly. But since my feet was bloating, I refrained from buying it. Kang lepas pantang kaki dah kecut, takut longgar pulak kan. It was size 7 (US). I usually wear 6. Nway, size 6 memang takde pun masa tuh.

So, after pantang, I went back to WOS. Mana ler tau ada stok baru sampai ker. Tapi malangnya takde size :-( The promoter helped me by checking out at other WOS outlet. Still, no rezeki for me. Even kat e-bay pun takde my size.

Last 2 days while shopping at Kuantan, I found this Funky Party at Clarks. Although the design is different, but the comfortness is equal to Keen's. After giving some thoughts (sebab baru beli flip flop Gisele Bundchen), I decided to buy it. Kang takut melepas lagi..

Majlis Berendoi Maryam Hanna

2010-03-07T12:50:00.000+08:00

Had Majlis Berendoi Maryam Hanna at Teluk Intan last week. Thanks to my sister in laws for decorating the buaian and masak for the kenduri.

Maryam tidur lena masa orang berzanji

"Apa tengok-tengok?"

Ordered some lovely cookies for the guest from Ila, my ex-schoolmate in Convent and also my childhood friend in Taman Dato' Shahbandar, Seremban. Kiutkan? Sampai sayang nak makan.. hehehe.. Thanks a bunch Ila!! Jauh cookies nih merantau. Check out her blog Swirl of Colours. There's an entry about my cookies ;-)

Ending 2009, enter 2010.

2010-01-24T14:15:00.001+08:00

End 2009 was a murah rezeki season. Maryam was born. I got lucky draw although I didn't attend my company dinner which was held during my confinement. Then the management decided to give appreciation token RM 300 because our business was doing well after months of slow production in early 2009. Last but not least, the year end bonus which has led me to buy a new handphone Nokia E71. Owh.. I also got my belated bday gift from Mr. Pendekar- a 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor lens and I'm loving it.

f/2.2, 1/60s

Just when I thought of splurging more for myself, my Jazzy Jazz bikin problem pulak. Need to change the wheel bearing and motor cooling fan which cost me a hefty figure. Nasib baik ler tak spend beli designer hb ka, jam ka lagi.. Kalau tak kena jual balik.. hehe.. So, the remaining bonus that I have now will be channeled to my next target item, a Plasma TV. Tuh pun rasa tak cukup duit nak beli full HD.. nak hutang ka??? erkk..

So what's for me in 2010?
- Finding the best treatment for Khadijah.
- Visiting my sister in Bristol. And maybe visit Faeiz sekali kat Amsterdam since kena transit kat sana kalau naik KLM.
- Honeymoon trip with Mr. Pendekar. Believe it or not, we never had a honeymoon. Chiengmai pun boleh ler yang, asalkan honeymoon!!!

Last resort

2009-11-08T12:57:00.000+08:00

Remember when I blogged about Jaja going for 2nd knee operation previously? Well, that was what Dr. Kamariah told us in the 1st place. But after subsequent follow-ups, she decided not to rush for the operation but to continue taking antibiotics until the infection is gone. And Alhamdullillah, after finishing the antibiotic course and several bone x-ray, ultrasounds & blood test, Jaja's knee was clear from infection. After that Jaja went for physiotherapy to exercise her knee and make it straight again.

But, after nearly 2 months of physiotherapy, we still couldn't see any improvement. Infact, her walking was getting worse due to pain.The therapist told us that for septic arthritis case, physio must be done immediately after the surgery which was contradict with Jaja's previous ortho. Now her hamstring is too tight and that's why she couldn't straighten her leg/knee. Everytime Jaja did her physio, she will cry in pain. We went back to see Dr. Kamariah after raya hols. She was a bit puzzled with the outcome. To investigate further, an MRI needed to be done at Jaja's knee. And as expected, we can't do it right away because we have to wait for our 'turn' and appointment. We had to wait for another 3 weeks for Jaja's MRI and it was near to my EDD. So, we decided to do the MRI at a private hospital. This time we went to Kuantan Specialist Hospital (KSH) to see another ortho, Dr. Yong and do the MRI as well.

Lega and Alhamdulillah, the MRI showed nothing abnormal at Jaja's tissue or bone. No infection. Dr. Yong concluded that her tight hamstring is the culprit, same opinion as Jaja's physiotherapist. Futher physio is useless and just giving Jaja a pain session. Therefore, he suggested to do Z-plasty surgery, to elongate her hamstring as a last resort. This surgery was also mentioned by Dr. Kamariah previously in our consultation. After discussing about it with family and friends, we decided to go for it and leave the rest to Allah.

Jaja is scheduled for the surgery next Tuesday. I hope she will be able to walk and run like normal again. Amin.

We love u Jaja!!

Our latest addition- Maryam Hanna

2009-11-01T12:53:00.003+08:00

Alhamdulillah our latest bundle of joy, Maryam Hanna was born at 0511hrs on 22nd October 2009 as per EDD.

I took mc at 38 weeks, waiting for her to come out but she refused and stayed in my bump till 40 weeks. Due to my last birthing experience; having a short/rapid labour (less than 2 hours) and fear might not getting to the hospital on time, I decided to be induced this time. So, on 21st we checked-in at KMC. My gynae inserted the induce pil at 1900 hrs. I didn't feel any contractions until it was nearly 2400 hrs. Sakit yang amat, tapi baru buka 2 cm :-p Because I have low threshold of pain, I requested my favourite magic relief, Pethedine. I think it just worked for few hours because at 0400hrs, I started to feel the contractions again and it was more intense. The Bidan moved me to the labour room and called my gynae. When it was time, I pushed with all my heart and kudrat. It was really tiring and I nearly gave up. But the Bidan, my gynae and hubby kept on encouraging me to push untill Maryam was born. I can't believe I've made it, for the 3rd time.

Few hours after birth. A bit comot at her chin after nursing.

The Didie Bunch. Photo credit: KedaiFotoArbaq

Welcome to the world Maryam Hanna Nizam. To my beloved hubby aka Pendekar, thanks for everything :-*

Tagged: Just One Word

2009-10-29T11:52:00.002+08:00

Lama tak buat tag. Got this from Merl ;-)

USING ONLY ONE WORD! It's not as easy as you might think! Copy and change the answers to suit you and pass it on by tagging your friends. It's really hard to only use one word answers. Be sure to tag the person you received it from!

1. Where is your cell phone? - Bed
2. Your significant other? - Lehmann
3. Your hair? - Frizzy
4. Your mother? - Nags (sorry mumsie.. hehehe)
5. Your father? - Organized
6. Your favorite place? - Malls
7. Your dream last night? - Ntah..
8. Your favorite drink? - Orange
9. Your dream/goal? - Rich
10. What room you are in? - Bedroom
11. Your hobby? - Photography
12. Your fear? - Drowning
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? - Top
14. Where were you last night? - Home
15. Something that you aren't? - Stylo
16. Muffins? - Kenny Roger's
17. Wish list item? - Daria
18. Where you grew up? - JB
19. Last thing you did? - Nursing
20. What are you wearing? - T-shirt
21. Your TV? - Black
22. Your pet(s)? - None
23. Friends? - Gossips.. huhu..
24. Your life? - Family
25. Your mood? - Thinking..
26. Missing someone? - Nahhh..
27. Car? - Jazz
28. Something you're not wearing? - Heels
29. Your favorite store? - Ikea :-p
30. Your favorite color? - Blue
33. When is the last time you laughed? - Bila?
34. Last time you cried? - 3rd Delivery
35. Who will resend this? - Friends
36. One place that I go to over and over? - Beach
37. One person who emails me regularly? - Ramai

Syawal Report

2009-10-13T10:07:00.010+08:00

Now that I'm on MC- standby to 'beranak', I have ample time to update my life to my fellow readers.. hehehe, macam ler banyak follower pon kan? :-p

Syawal 1430. We celebrated Aidilfitri at Seremban first. Since I have lots of relatives in Seremban, our main activity was 'Beraya and Makan2 Marathon'. From Rembau to Kuala Pilah and back to Seremban, visiting my uncles and aunts from both side of my parents. Itu pun ada yang tak dpt sempat pergi. Memang bestlah makan masa raya. Most of my craving list was striken through- Lompap, lomang, rendang cili api, laksa penang (made by my SIL), soto daging + bergedil, nasi impit and kuah kacang (Achik's was the best).. sodap sodap..

On 2nd day of raya, most of my friends decided to beraya at my mom's. So, I stayed to welcome them. Rosma and family came down from Kuala Pilah before 'naik belon' to Sarawak. Sareque and family memang tetamu default aku every year ;-) Zian came down with J followed by Tariq and his wife Dayang. Sangat seronok jumpa diorang sebab lama gila tak jumpa. Late evening pulak, Ruam and family came down from Jelebu before heading to Ruam's kampung- Batu Pahat.

3rd day of raya, balik Teluk Intan pulak. My sister and her family's flight schedule to Bristol was on 4th Raya. So, tak dapat nak hantar. I just hugged my sister puas2 and wished her all the best. Nasib baik 1 week before raya dah balik Seremban and had this emas2 shopping with her and mumsie. Kiranya sister-mother quality time ler.. hehe..

Usually kalau balik Teluk Intan, kitorang akan pergi rumah opah (my arwah FIL's mom) di Air Tawar. But since she passed away early this year, so we just stayed at home. 4th raya, atas dasar tak tau nak buat apa, we went to Menara Condong Teluk Intan.. hehehe.. The sky was blue, there was no bazaar around the menara, so it was perfect for photo session. The menara can be entered but up to 2nd floor only. Ramai jugak orang datang 'beraya' di Menara Condong tuh.. hehe..

5th Raya, we went to Cameron Highlands.. heheh. It was unplanned trip although we always talk about going there everytime balik kampung. We took the road from Tapah to accend the hills. Agak pening jugak ler walaupun aku dah biasa naik bukit putus. Suhayl siap muntah. Nasib baik dah prepare awal2 sickness bag. It was 1st time trip for Lehmann and 2nd for me. My 1st trip was looonnggggg time ago. Zaman2 lawatan sambil belajar :-p

Since it was unplanned, we just visited the common places like strawberry park and the tea plantation. Our 1st stop was at Bharat Tea Plantation by the main road side. The hill side cafe was kinda soothing and cool in terms of ambiance. CH is not so cold ler mcm dulu2. Next, we went to several strawberry parks and to our dissapointment, no strawberry picking due to macam2 alasan ler diorang kasi :-( We had lunch at an Indian Restaurant at Tanah Rata and headed downhill to Boh Plantation. Jalan nak pergi tuh agak mencabar jugak ler. I wanted to go to BOH MNS Research Centre, but we missed the signboard and ended up at Boh Tea Centre which consisted of a cafe, gift shop and a small tea processing factory. Not bad ler. We had our evening freshly brewed tea there and did some tea-shopping. On the way back, we stopped by to another strawberry park which is also a bee farm. Finally, we had the chance to do our strawberry pickings there. After that we headed back to Teluk Intan with teas, strawberries and some Tapah's specialities- mee rebus and durians. It was just a day trip. Next time pergi, nak overnite sana. Banyak lagi tempat kitorang tak sempat nak explore.

6th Raya, we had family photo shoot at studio after Friday Prayers. After that we had our lunch at Old Town Kopitiam. Teluk Intan happening sekarang. Ada Old Town, McD, Giant ;-) Petang, my mother in law cooked Mandailing traditional dish- ketupat pulut and rendang ayam kampung.

7th Raya, we went beraya at KL before heading back to Kerteh. Pergi beraya rumah Chot, melantak Laksa Johor mak Chot and lontong, Meen masak. Yummy!!! Then we went to Lehmann's Jln Kebangsaan 30 Raya Gathering. Geng2 rumah sewa Lehmann masa kat UTM. Lehmann macam aku jugak ler. Kalau dah jumpa member, alamat lama gila ler berborak.. tambah merokok lagi.. hmmm...

Petang balik Kerteh. Nasib baik jalan clear. Sampai rumah, unpack sikit2 dan semua terus membongkang sampai esok hari.

Sekian, laporan Syawal ;-)

Birthday cards no more :-/

2009-10-11T14:57:00.003+08:00

Two days before Aidilfitri was my birthday. As usual I received lots of wishes via sms, emails and msg from facebook. Birthday cards? None :-/ Ohh.. I miss the hard thing. During my uni days (zaman2 IT baru nak berkembang), I always get cards from family and friends. I still keep the cards in a box. Tapi yg selalu hantar adalah orang2 kat bawah nih ;-)

Nway, got this one from Arbaq reflecting my personality of 31 years. Thanks bro.

Aidilfitri 1430 Hijrah

2009-09-18T13:37:00.004+08:00

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all friends and family. I'm going back to Seremban tomorrow morning and will be at Teluk Intan on 3rd Raya onwards. Heading back to Kerteh on 26th Sept after jalan2 raya at KL ;-)

Can't wait to eat lemang, rendang cili api, lompap (my family specialty), nasi impit, kuah kacang, lontong, ketupat pulut & soto (mil's specialty), laksa penang, ketupat palas and laksa johor (hint to Chot).

Have a safe trip balik kampung!!

My 1st Cornflakes Madu

2009-09-17T10:35:00.004+08:00

Actually I have some older posts to share but I'm more excited to share this one first. My 1st attempt of making kuih raya on my own!! Selalunya JV with my sister. Tak berani nak buat alone :-p I tried the most simple and also my favourite kuih raya- Cornflakes Madu. Got the recipe from Abg Zally's wife, Kak. Ita.

Using my not so reliable Khind Electric Oven, I managed to bake around 50-60 pcs kot including the pieces that went into my mouth :-p The 1st batch was hangus at the bottom but the top is still edible. Timer punya pasal ler nih :-/ I set the timer for 10 mins. But after 5 mins, the oven's timer stopped clicking, macam padam terus. The on/off light was also off. So, I had to reset the timer again but then ter'over' baked pulak :-(

2nd batch tak hangus. But the cornflakes were not crispy as the 1st batch. So, for the 3rd batch, I baked the cornflakes slightly hangus (hehehe.. boley ka??). The 4th batch, I couldn't bothered anymore coz I'm getting tired peeping/checking the oven due to the unreliable timer. Tengok dah kuning bersinar2, terus jek angkat.

Nway, Lehmann's friends are coming over to our house for berbuka puasa today. So, boleh ler kasi diorang test.. sodap ke tidak.. hehe.. Kalau sedap, confident ler nak buat lagi ;-)

Chewy Brownies

2009-07-20T12:07:00.008+08:00

I've been craving for chewy brownies for the past few months. Nak buat sendiri malas :-p Last 2 weeks, thank God I found Pinkyretro's Bazaar from Chic's blog. Terus order :-) The brownies can be delivered at your door step within Shah Alam area or posted using Pos Laju or you can pick it up yourself at Kompleks PKNS. Since I'm far away, Pos Laju ler jawabnya.

I ordered half tray of choc almond brownies and another half of plain choc. I told Hunny (the owner) to post it to my company in Gebeng on 7th July. Kalau pos kat rumah, takde orang. The package arrived Gebeng on 8th July. Unfortunately last minute, I had to attend a seminar in KL on 8th-9th July. So, I gave Arbaq the honour to open, taste the brownies and keep it in his fridge while I'm away. Terpaksa ler telan air liur dua hari memikirkan brownies tuh. On Friday barulah dapat rasa. Ohh.. dan rasanya sangat sedap!! Not too sweet, just nice for munching. I liked both brownies. Even one of my office mates placed an order immediately after tasting it.

I just finished the last piece last weekend. Punyalah makan sikit2, tak mau kasi habis cepat2 :-p

Btw, I've asked Arbaq to take some pics when he opens the package. So, here it is:

Sawadeekap Bangkok

2009-06-26T16:46:00.005+08:00

cont..

Day 3, as planned we went to Chatuchak Weekend Market, a must go shopping spot at Bangkok. We arrived there around 12:00 pm. For the sake of the kids, we went to the pet section first. Again.. just to see the cute pets sold there. Kat Thailand nih memang trend orang bela pet yang cute2 especially puppies. Tapi Ameng cakap kalau dah besar, diorang biar jek merata jadi stray dogs yg sangat comot. The pet section is only quarter of the Chatuchak. Ameng kata memang tak sempat nak round semua kedai. So, we stick to our targets- Thai silks, souvenir tees, seluar askar Lehmann, cute tees for me and some crafts. And as adviced by Sareque, if you see something that you want to buy- grab, tawar and pay. No time to waste and turning back.

Lehmann stretching nak kendong Jaja.. hehe

We had our lunch in Chatuchak itself. Thanks to Ameng, we managed to locate a muslim restaurant although he has never eaten there before. But at least he can read map directory :-p We continued our shopping quest as quick as possible after lunch as Suhayl was getting cranky and restless. We promise to buy toys for him on that day. But what toys ler can you find at Chatuchak tuh? So, after our shopping mission was completed (tho tak puas), we went to Siam Paragon by BTS (mcm LRT ler). The coach is quite bigger compare to Malaysia’s LRT or Monorail. And the Thais are very polite. Takde pon berebut2 macam kat KL :-p

Siam Paragon is similar to Pavilion. All designers boutiques are there- Jimmy Choo, Bottega Veneta, Emilio Pucci, Burberry, etc.. Nway, we didn’t waste anytime window shopping because we were already tired of walking. We headed straight to the toy section and let Suhayl roamed to pick his favourite toy. Lepas tuh terus lepak Starbuck to rest our aching feet and calves. Gilaa penat sehhh.. After recharging our energy we went back to Chatuchak parking lot and say good bye to Bangkok City.

On the way back to Pattaya, we stopped for dinner at a Muslim Muslim Korean BBQ Restaurant. Most of the patrons are Muslim sebab bertudung. Korean BBQ is like steamboat + grill. Coal is used to light up the stove instead of gas. So, the heat is consistent which is essential for BBQ. The restaurant concept is buffet. They put the steamboat + grill stove on your table and you can pick whatever veggies, meats, seafood as many as you like. Besides that, the buffet also serves other side dishes such as fried rice, spagetthi, som tam, dim sum and dessert. And the price is only RM 15 per head!!! Sangat best lah makan di Thailand, food sedap and murahhhh.

Last day, we did nothing but rest and relax at Ameng's condo. Ameng said good bye to us early in the morning because he had to work. We brought the kids to the pool, packed our things, kemas2 rumah Ameng and off to Suvarnabhumi Airport. We reached there around 3:00 pm. Our flight EDT was at 6:15 pm. We had lunch at the airport and did our last kopek shopping at the airport. Rasa macam banyak jek masa lagi, sekali tengok nak dekat boarding time dah. So, macam orang gila jugaklah kitorang berjalan ke gate. I’m supposed to claim my VAT return, but we were rushing and missed the VAT counter and malas nak patah balik. Tapi lepas masuk gate tunggu punya tunggu, tengok flight delay pula ½ jam. Ciss.. So, aku claim ler VAT return from Lehmann.. hehehe..

Flight to Kuala Lumpur was boring. The in-flight food selections were limited. Aku memang tak suka naik kapal terbang malam2. Pukul 10:00 pm kitorang sampai Malaysia and that was it… The END of our Kingdom of Siam journey.

More photos can be viewed in Kingdom of Siam-Part 2 & Kingdom of Siam- Extra

Sawadeekap Pattaya

2009-06-26T13:17:00.011+08:00

The holiday trip to Pattaya- Bangkok was wonderful. We chose Pattaya because we have a friend working there, Ameng. Kalau tak, aku rasa memang tak pergi. We stayed at his condo at Jom Tien Beach, Pattaya (save duit dah). And he was our official tour guide.

It took us about 1 and half hour to reach Pattaya from Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok via highway. We reached Ameng's place at 8:00 pm BGK time. We had dinner cooked by him and didn't do anything but borak2, cleaned ourselves and call it a nite.

The next day, Ameng took us around Pattaya City. We went to Pattaya Bay, Koh Laan Island and Pattaya Floating Market. Koh Laan island is a day trip island. There are no hotels there. People just come to rest and relax, basking by the sea. There are only few shops and gerai makan2. The island is so beautiful; white sandy beach and clear blue (or it is greenish) sea. Suhayl really had fun splashing in the water. Jaja penakut. She just lepak under the umbrella eating jagung.

Pattaya Floating Market is the latest attraction in Pattaya. This man-made floating market is an alternative to Bangkok Floating Market. According to Ameng, it’s more tourist-friendly. The best part is it opens till nite unlike Bangkok Floating Market. So, you don't need to rush or be there early in the morning.

At nite, we went to Pattaya Outlet Mall, similar to Outlet Village that you've heard or been in EU countries. Branded labels such as adidas, Nike, French Kitty, Lacoste, Naf Naf, etc.. are available at good bargain. Handbag takde plak :-p I managed to get 2 adidas top.. heheh. We also went to the nearby nite market to check out cute animals sold there. The puppies and the kitties are so cute. Jaja yang dok tantrum kat mall terus gembira to see all the animals. Fishes, rabbits, hamsters, birds.. semua adalah.

We had dinner at this one seafood restaurant (tak ingat nama apa) by the beach. The food is superb especially the tom yam gung- the best I've ever had. And the price is so CHEAP for an exclusive ambience restaurant. After dinner, we went to HRC Pattaya to buy some tees and other merchandise. As we drove back to Ameng's Condo, we passed by some bars which offers ‘you know what’ service. The centre of the nite attraction in Pattaya is at Walking Street. Cars are not allowed. So, you have to walk to see the entertainment. We have to pass that, bawak budak2 ma.. We're responsible parents OK.

More pics can be view in Kingdom of Siam- Part 1 & Kingdom of Siam- Extra.

To be cont..

Government Hospital

2009-06-14T12:36:00.004+08:00

Actually banyak benda nak update but I'm always running out of time.

Jaja needs to go for second surgery for her knee. This time it will be done at Hospital Tuanku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan. Her previous dr from KMC recommended Dr. Kamariah, Paediatric Orthopaedician for further check-up after he couldn't solve Jaja's knee problem.

Frankly speaking, I've never liked GH. Reading all those news about the careless mistakes done by nurses and doctors in GH really gave me a bad impression of GH. Not to mention the crowd and slow service. But we braved ourselves to see the doctor despite all the negative feelings.

We went to HTAA last Tuesday. Parkings at the hospital were all full. We had to park outside of the hospital. And as expected, the crowd at the 'klinik pakar' was 'woaahhh'. It was 9:30 am and the waiting area was full sampai kat luar. Everybody was waiting for their turn. I registered and waited for our turn. After a while, the numbers started to run on the screen and the crowd became half!! Why? Because there were like 7 doctors working in different rooms. I think we only waited like 30 mins before Jaja's name being called. As usually, Jaja went for the x-ray before the dr could give her medical diagnosis. From the x-ray, Dr. Kamariah informed us that the infection is still in Jaja's knee, on the surface of her knee bone. That explains why she still can't straighten her knee. I was quite impressed because she spotted the problem almost immediately when she saw the x-ray. Jaja's previous dr didn't saw that.

Next Jaja was sent to the Ultrasound Section to get detailed images of her knee bone. We tought it can be done straight away. But to our dissapointment, the nurse gave an appointment date which was end of the month for the ultrasound. We went back to see Dr. Kamariah and she was also suprised with the date given. She quickly comforted us that she will try to speed up the ultrasound check-up. She gave me her hp number and told us that her nurse will call us soon for a quicker date. Jaja's check-up ended at 1pm.

We went for lunch and quick shopping at East Coast Mall after that. While shopping, I got a call from Dr. Kamariah's nurse informing us that the ultrasound check-up will be on Thursday. That's quite fast kan? As we drove back to Kerteh, my husband said to me that it was not that bad after all checking at a GH. The nurses seems to be very friendly. I personally like Dr. Kamariah. She's confident, gave good explanation and diagnosis and good with kids too. I have no doubt about her. I hope she's the best for Jaja.

Tagged by Faeiz

2009-05-14T12:25:00.004+08:00

Iye.. aku rajin jawab tag Faeiz :-p

1) Were you named after anyone?
Obviously yes. Siap ada manuskrip lagi…

2) When was the last time you cried?
Hmm.. lama tak nangis.

3) Do you like your handwriting?
Yes, but everybody complaints it's not readable :-p

4) What is your favourite lunch meal?
No choice ler kat Gebeng nih. Nasi putih + ayam goreng kunyit.

5) Do you have kids?
2 going to be 3 ;-)

6) If you were another person, would you like to be friends with you?
Yes, I’m the friendly type.

7) Do you use sarcasm?
Err.. tak kot.

8) Do you still have your tonsils?
Yes.

9) Would you bungee jump?
No.

10) What is your favourite cereal?
Nestle Fitnesse & Fruit

11) Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
No.

12) What is your favourite ice–cream?
Chocolate mint.

13) What is the first thing you notice about people?
Face complexion.

14) Red or pink?
Red

15) What is the least favourite thing about yourself?
My small butt.

16) Who do you miss the most?
Friends in KL.

17) Do you want everyone to complete this list?
Tiada paksaan.

18) What colour of trousers and shoes are your wearing?
Khaki pants and dark orange sandals.

19) What are you listening to right now?
My boss’ voice yakking on the phone.

20) If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
Blue

21) Favourite smells?
Lavender

22) The last person you talked to on the phone?
Hubby.

23) Do you like the person who sent you this?
Yes, happy go lucky Faiez.

24) Favourite sports to watch?
None. I watch whatever hubby watches.

25) Hair colour?
Noir

26) Eye colour?
Dark brown

27) Do you wear contacts?
No. I have high astigmatism on my left eye. Not suitable to wear contacts.

28) Favourite food?
Lasagna

28) Scary or happy endings?
Happy lorr..

29) Last movie you watched?
Wolverine!!! Oh yeah.. Hugh Jackman sangat hot bebeh.

30) What colour of shirt are you wearing?
Light yellow with pink and light purple stripes.

31) Summer or winter?
Summer summer summer time..

32) Favourite dessert?
Cream caramel

33) Most likely to respond?
Wan Naza

34) Least likely to respond?
Chot

35) What books are you reading?
Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven and Urban Odysseys KL.

36) What is on your mousepad?
I don’t have one.

37) What did you watch last night?
Kliwon (malam tadi hantu tak best) and Heroes.

38) Rolling Stones? Beattles?
Beattles

39) Where is the furthest you have been from home?
US.. Ohio.

40) Do you have a special talent?
Yes!!! Speed reading :-p

41) Where were you born?
Seremban, N.Sembilan.

42) Whose answers are you looking forward to getting back?
Zarina (tagged by Sareque), Wan Naza and Chot :-p

Tagging Wan Naza, Chot, Chot, Chot and Chot.

FAWN it

2009-05-13T14:21:00.007+08:00

After months of waiting, at last I got my Anya Hindmarch purse from Meen!!! I bought from her last year when she was in UK. Now she's back in KL for good. Kawan aku yg sangat shopaholic itu telah bershopping sakan di AH Boutique semasa sale di London. Kerana hb dan purse di butik itu sangat lawa dan MURAH, dia telah membelinya sesuka hati walaupun dia tidak memerlukannya. Akhirnya dengan senang hati, dia menjualnya kepada rakan2 ter'chenta' di Malaysia. She sold the famous AH Cooper handbag and of course my AH Fawn to us with an irresistible price. Free delivery plak tuh ;-)

I love my AH Fawn!! Simple but yet elegant (aku tak suka purse yang ada buckle2). It has lots of card slot and compartments. Muat ler semua credit cards, bankcards, membership cards, IC, etc.. Lagi ada 2 zipper pockets, one inside and another outside. I use the outside to keep my coins and the inside for keeping important receipts and business cards.

At first I was planning to buy a LV purse (setelah ~~diracun~~ mendapat consultation from my bagho bff). Because it's pricey, I've made a saving plan for it so that by the time she goes to Paris next year; I have enough money to 'pesan' thru her. But the moment I saw AH Fawn in Meen's blog, I immediately fell in love with the design and price (less than RM 1k, ori price RM 1k++). Dah ler bonus baru masuk masatuh. At that time I allocated RM1k to reward myself, the rest was saved for other occasions. So, terus good bye LV.. hehehe.. Now I'm saving for something else :-p

My old purse Braun Buffel (takde gambar plak) was bought in 2003. Ingat lagi masa tuh beli kat Sogo with Lehmann. We were shopping for our wedding hantarans. It was my first long purse. Before that, I was a hardcore wallet person. Always tucked at the back of my jeans. Bila dah nak jadi bini orang, kenalah lady like sikit kan. So, belilah purse Braun Buffel itu. Actually it is still in good condition. Takde koyak2. But the card slots are a bit loose. So, bila purse tuh jatuh, habis berterabur kad2 aku. Hopefully, this problem will solved with my new purse that has tight card slots and secured with 2 buttons.

Apa lagi nak cerita yea..? I think that's it about AH Fawn. I'm just not good in describing things (tapi nak jugak blogging). Perhaps my bagho bff can give her review on my new purse in her blog.. ehehh..

The Bag Tag

2009-04-26T12:53:00.003+08:00

Tagged by Adzue and Sareque months ago. Because I don't wear handbag to work, it's quite hard for me to do this tag :-p I only use my handbag during kenduri kahwin or on weekends. So, here goes:

1. Show your bag.

A Coach Sling Bag

2. Mention what is in my bag.

Ermm, quite packed.. need a new hb :-p

iPod, purse, car keys, buku conteng, banking wallet (segala buku bank ada termasuk buku bank anak2 aku), pen, my pregnancy check-up book, KMC appointment cards (me and Jaja). Handphone tak simpan dalam hb, it's always in my pocket.

3. Tag 5 friends.

Chot

Zarina (ko pon tak buat lagi kan??)

Merl

Opsie Daisy

Faeiz (ko pon sama tak buat lagi.. )

Semuanya sakit kat lutut..

2009-04-12T10:03:00.003+08:00

Actually, I've drafted some posts to share with you guys. Tapi rasanya macam dah basi and futhermore most of my close friends knew about what's happening in my life lately. So, last2 delete jelah post2 basi itu :-p Nway, here's the latest and not so latest news from Kerteh..

On pregnancy, I'm already 12 weeks now. For the first time in my life, I had morning sickness. Dulu berlagak ler.. relek jek kan. Nih.. rasakan. Masa awal2 tuh, boleh dikatakan dizzy all the time and worsen when evening comes. Now, okey sikit ler. Another thing that makes me pening is Suhayl. He is so irritating and annoying at this point of time. Sangat mencabar iman. Ada jek benda dia buat yang menyakitkan hati. Degil toksah cakap ler... dugaan dugaan.. sigh..

As for Jaja, her knee looks a bit better. She can already straighten her knee a bit. However, still jalan terdengkut. Takut sebab dia dah biasa jalan macam tuh masa sakit, so bila dah tak sakit pon jalan macam tuh. Hopefully by next check-up, she can start going for physiotherapy.

Nak sidai kain sat...

Okeh.. done.

Since this blog is about 'the working me' and family, I'll update a bit on my hubby's recent incident :-p After few months of biking into the hutan, up and down the hill, at last he had his 1st MTB injury. The injury was kinda bad.. 8 stitches just under his right knee. He was doing his donwhill stunt without using any breaks and ended up in the bushes. Hehe.. sounds funny ehh. But I tell you, luckily he is not the 'gelabah' kinda person and can think wisely in panic situation. If not, it could be worst. If he didn't steer his bike correctly, he might ended in the river with kayu balak. Nway, that didn't stop him from biking. In fact, he already repaired his bike and upgraded the gear from 7 to 9 speed!! (don't ask me, aku pun tak tahu apa2 pasal gear2 MTB nih). Ohh.. he also bought a pair of knee guard at last.. hmpph

That's it for now. Jaja pun dah bangun.. gtg..

Jaja and her knee- Part 2

2009-03-21T07:26:00.005+08:00

Went for Jaja's follow up check up yesterday. Her knee infection tuh is called Septic Arthritis. She still has to continue taking antibiotics for 2 weeks. Jaja is still walking a bit weird, not stepping her right feet properly due to pain. We were thinking if she can go for physiotherapy. But the dr said, it's too early because the pain is still there, meaning the bacteria is still around. Doing physiotherapy at this stage can aggravate her knee infection.

As a parent, you tend to be a bit impatient to wait for your child's illness to recover. Kalau boleh semua nak cepat jek. The longer it takes, the worrier you become.. sigh.. But what to do. Guess we just have to wait, force her makan ubat (sekarang payah pulak nak makan ubat si kenit tuh) and pray the best for her..

Jaja and her knee

2009-03-18T14:14:00.007+08:00

This was Jaja two weeks ago.

Few hours after the surgery

The tired mama and Jaja

Munching her fav Popo

With Abang Long yg masih minum susu dalam botol.. hmmm..

Her knee was infected internally caused by a bacteria/virus originated from her sakit tekak. Yup, it's hard to believe but that was what the orthopaedician told us. It was called something.. I can't recall the medical term. We first noticed the abnormality when Jaja walks a bit terdengkut2 after waking up from sleep or after sitting for long hours. We thought it was just semut2 because after that she walks just fine. Then we noticed her right knee was a bit swollen. After an x-ray confirmed that her knee bones were fine, we decided to check with orthopedic specialist. And surgery was the solution :-( It was just a minor one, to take out that bacteria/virus (in liquid form). But she was warded for 5 days, just to be administered with antibiotics. Sangat penat jaga Jaja masatuh ngan morning sickness lagi..

Nway, she is doing fine now. In fact since dalam wad pun dah sihat. Lasak semacam. She's due for follow-up check up this Friday. Hopefully OK ler..

Am I?

2009-02-25T14:17:00.010+08:00

It's still early to announce, but I need to let it out :-/ Yes, I'm pregnant. Alhamdullilah. It was unplanned. I was puzzled when I missed my period because we didn't plan to conceive. I did the test on the 3rd day of my missed period and it was negative. Second test was done 3 days later at the clinic and also negative. I thot probably I was stressed. So I continue my life as usual but in the same time, I can't help thinking about it. My Skypies were among the first to know because I kept on worrying about my missing period. After nearly 10 days, there was still no sign that I will be getting one. So, I went to another clinic and ...... it was positive but a weak one. The indication line appeared kinda blur :-/

3 days after that, I went to see my gynae. She scanned and found a small embryo in my uterus. It's like a small ball. Nothing can be seen yet. My embryo was small for gestational age. It should be bigger. But after listening to my stories, she assumed that my embryo must have been implanted late. So, I can't use the conventional way in calculating my EDD. The best way is to check by scan in 2 weeks time. I did voice out my fear of getting miscarriage again. She told me not to worry but in the same time she didn't want to give me a false hope. If the embryo keeps on growing for the next two weeks, Insya Allah it will be okay. But if it remains small.. nothing else I could do but redha..

Two weeks is a longggg way to go for me rite now. I keep on thinking how is my embryo doing in my womb?? So, I decided to get a pictorial ticker (right hand side) just to ease my mind. I pray and hope for the best for her/him. Amin..

MTB Event

2009-02-18T16:13:00.006+08:00

Pictures taken from my hubby's recent MTB event which he co-organized. Since I don't have any bike, the shots are quite limited. No off-road trail pics :-( The journey started from Petronas Petroleum Integrated Complex area --> Kg. Batu Putih --> Kg. Chabang --> Air Terjun Menderu. From one place to another, they had to cycle thru ladang getah, jungle tracks, ladang kelapa sawit and some steep terrains. But all their sweat paid off when they reached the air terjun ;-) Overall, they cycled nearly 40 km. Fuhh..

Hubby and his Merida :-p

Waiting for the crane to pass by

Cycling around the petrochemical complex

Relek dulu..

Panning shot at Air Terjun Menderu area

Working 4D

2009-02-04T22:28:00.011+08:00

The rumours of working 4 days a week have been lingering in the office for the past 2 weeks. And today it ended when the top management announced that it will start commencing from 20th february untill end of April. Adakah seronok?? Not for me when I was told that we have to ‘sacrifice’ our annual leave for 10 days!! 10 days!!! Not to mention the forced leave that we took on CNY for 3 days, totalling it to 13. 13 days of paksa rela leave. And the ‘best’ part is by the end of April, I’m left with only 2 days of AL for the rest of the year. Looks like I’m gonna take a lot of MC starting April onwards. But on the brighter side, I get to spend the Terengganu weekend (Fri & Sat) with my family.

The reason that we had to work 4 days a week is obviously due to economic downturn. Our plant is not running (producing) at the moment. Demand for engineering plastics drop tremendously. Our product is mainly used for automotive and electrical appliances. Hence our major customers are Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Panasonic.. all the big players in the consumer market. It’s totally a direct impact. No demand for cars, TVs, dvd players, etc.. --> no production. Our top management predicts that our production will resume in May (for June’s demand). But economy at this moment is just unpredictable. Some economist says it will take at least a year for the economy to stabilize.

The thing that got me really mad was that the decision was made without any discussion. We only had a briefing session today via departmental meeting. HRM didn’t have any guts to make a proper dialogue with staff. Everybody was asking for the facts and figures behind the so called ‘cost saving action’. Of course they always have reasons for everything. The managment didn’t want to play the salary cutting card. Yelah, kalau cut mestilah top management kena dulu like what had happened to our parent company in Fuji. So, didn’t wanting it to happen in Malaysia, they came up with the idea of working 4 days a week, salary untouched. But stealing our annual leave does not fit me well. Kalau yang dah keje lama tuh takde hal ler sebab cuti dah dekat 20 hari. Potong 13, still ada lagi 7. Cukup ler nak simpan for raya nanti. Aku??? And if I go over 2 days, defintely it will be counted as unpaid leave. What if there is still no demand after June.. are they going to continue stealing our annual leaves?? My cuti will be negative then.. Actually there’s a lot of win-win action can be done like working extra one hour (Mon-Thurs) so that takyah tolak cuti banyak sangat or company kasik cuti free 3 hari ker out of 10 tuh. But our HRM Manager is a ‘Hait’ man.. so, tau2 jelah.. *$@&%&***@#

Well, some of you may say that I cepat sangat melatah. Yelah, orang lain dah siap kena buang kerja. Aku baru kena potong cuti dah mengeluh.. yeah yeah.. you’re rite. I shud bersyukur and I am. I don’t mind nak deduct salary ker, deduct cuti ke mende.. tapi buatlah elok2.. discuss elok2, come out with a fair solution, semua orang boleh terima, semua orang happy, semua orang loyal to the company.. everybody wins. Itu jekk...

Photo Tag

2009-01-29T07:38:00.012+08:00

Tagged by Merl. An interesting one.. not the usual writing type.. heheh..

Okay, here’s the rule: Use Google Image to search the answers to the questions below. Then you must choose a picture in the first page of results, and post it as your answer. After that tag 7 people.

The Age Of Next Birthday

Somebody said that I'm 24, so it's gonna be 25 lah next bday.. huhuhu

Place I'd like To Travel

Bonjour!!

A Favourite Place

A favourite sport too.. heheh.. shopping !!!!

A Favourite Food

Lasagna yummss..

A Favorite Thing

Nickname I had

Not the cat, but the dog ;-)

Favorite Color

Soothing colours..

College Major

Chemical Engineering

Name Of My Love

They share the same name.. hehe..

A Hobby

Yup, saya suka mengemas dan membersih rumah.

A Bad Habit

Bad temper :-p

My Wish List

People that I love to tag: Sareque, Wan Naza, Faeiz, Kak Dayang, Kak Aneez, Mus and Arbaq (ko boleh buat dalam FB's Posted Item)

Eclipse

2009-01-27T18:47:00.003+08:00

Yesterday while lepaking at my mil's, abah called me from Seremban to watch the eclipse. I quickly stepped out from the house looking for the sun. But I was unlucky. The weather at Teluk Intan was cloudy. The skies were filled with multiple layers of clouds. No sun or eclipse was seen till the end of the eclipse :-(

Nway, my brilliant sister and abah managed to capture the amazing moment using digital camera. You can read the story behind their eclipse challenge shots in my sister's blog. Jeles.. sangat jeles tak dapat ambil gambar eclipse guna D80 :-/

7 Facts Tag

2009-01-23T10:47:00.008+08:00

This tag is longgggggg over due :-p Sorry Zarina.

Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Fact #1
In my entire 30 years of life, I only spent 11 years in my hometown Seremban. The rest were spent in US- 3 years, JB- 12 years and Kertehhhhh- 6 years and counting :-p

Fact #2
I can't do heels. My feet and calves ache terribly if I wear one. It's maybe due to my bunion feet (Fact #3). Therefore, I'm more relaxed with Teva sandals or any slip on sandals. But Sareque is 'coaching' me to be a proper woman. Her advice to me, "Kalau beli heels murah memang sakittt.. kena ler beli heels Nin* Wes*"

Fact #4
I'm a slow reader. It took me a week just to finish The Kite Runner :-p

Fact #5
I used to hate my name when I was small because it is so classical unlike my sibling's modern names. But as I grew up, I learnt the meaning of the name, the inspirational stories behind the name, etc.. and slowly I began to love and appreciate my unique name. I bet you, zaman sekarang nih memang payah ler nak carik orang nama macam aku. Thank you abah and mumsie for picking the name. Jangan jelesss.. nama aku ada lagu tauuu :-p

Fact #6
I started to eat green leafy veggies after SPM. Before that I only eat bendi, kubis and kacang buncis. Sekarang lagi mau paksa Suhayl makan sayur.. hehe.. padahal mak dia dulu pon sama :-p

Fact #7
Aku takut kucing.. hehe.. Setakat usap2 tuh okeh ler. Tapi kalau dia datang gesel2 or melompat kat riba aku.. memang aku jerit bagai nak rak ler.. (kalau dah tau dia nak attack, aku boleh control sikit jeritan aku tuhh).

Okeh.. done at lastttt... hehehe.. I'm not tagging anyone but feel free to tag yourself ;-)

Darkness of Greed

2009-01-12T14:09:00.004+08:00

Darkness of Greed - Rage Against The Machine

Greed!
Causing innocent blood to flow
Entire culture, lost in the overthrow
They came to seize and take whatever they please
Then all they gave back was death and disease
My people were left with no choice but to decide
To conform to a system, responsible for genocide
Responsible for genocide
Responsible for genocide...

[Spoken:]
AIDS is killing the entire African nation
And a vaccine is still supposedly under preparation
But these governments they don't mind the procrastination
They say
"We'll kill them off,
take their land
and go there for vacation."

My people's culture was strong, it was pure
And if not for that white greed
It would've endured
My people were left with no choice but to decide
To conform to a system
Their minds enslaved
Their souls encaged
I feel the rage
It's brutality can never be undone
But the sun is not yet set
The bass and drums and microphones a threat
That's when ya investigate the crimes from the inside
And see that they're responsible for genocide
Responsible for genocide
Responsible for genocide...

Ya cram ya culture down my throat
Say I'm inferior when I find that I choke
Ya fill my mind with a false sense of history
And then you wonder why I have no identity?
Well I'll strike a match and it'll catch and
Spread the insight we need
A tiny fire, burning bright
Shedding light on the darkness of greed

A yes yes y'all
And ya don't stop
Shedding light on the darkness of greed

A yes yes y'all
And ya don't stop
Shedding light on the darkness of greed

Yes, it is happening now at Palestine.. genocide.
Help them by donating to PALESTINE RELIEF FUND thru MERCY Malaysia.

Recap 2008

2009-01-08T08:59:00.002+08:00

Tagged by Kak Dayang & Faeiz. Here goes..

1.How has 2008 been for you in a nutshell?
Syukur alhamdullilah, it was a happy and 'murah rezeki' year for me. 2008 was just a plain year for me, nothing extravagant. Anak, laki, kerja semua sama.. hehe..

2.Apart from your family members, name one person who has made you happy in 2008
My kitchen designer, Jamie :-D

3.Do you feel you are better off, or worse off than you were in 2007?
BETTER when I got a generous salary adjustment early 2008. Thank you management for the appreciation :-) And... WORSE when I got to know that my cholesterol level was high at end of 2008 :-(

4.Where was the best holiday trip for you in 2008?
Pulau Langkawi. It was soo organized and fun!!

5.Name 3 positive things you have achieved in 2008.
i) After working nearly 7 years in engineering field, I've just registered with BEM in mid 2008 :-p Yea adik2, lepas grad sila register terus..
ii) Buy a house.. almost my dream house ;-)
iii) .......

6.Name the best movie you saw in 2008.
Tak dak. But best music video was "Geli Mat"... muahahahaha...

7.Name 5 friends that you have made in 2008
I've made lots of friends last year..
- River Foo & Sharifah Ruqaiyah from WWF and Jaa for MEKAR (Turtle Conservation matter)
- Suma and Roslinayati, committees of Balok River Adoption Program 2008.
- Auntie Zarida, Auntie Zariati, Auntie Cham.. my relatives whom I got to know from Geni. Hehehe.. sedara tapi tak kenal :-p
- En. Rosli, En. Ali, Suresh.. HSE Managers cum my CICM Responsible Care Award 2008 Audit members. They were very supportive and selamba..
- Adhadi, Hafiz and the rest of DuniaFotografi clan.

8.What new year’s resolution for 2008 that you have not achieved?
Banyakkkkk... malas aku mau cerita. I only achieved one.. hehehe.. perasan tak wajah ku yang berseri2 ini? :-p

9.What would your new year’s resolution for 2009 be?
No more resolution berpanjang-jela. My ultimate resolution is to increase my saving to furnish my new house.

Name 5 people you would like to tag.
Semua dah kena tag ;-)

Okeyyyyyy.. one tag done. Another one to go.. sabar yea Zarina..

New year, new kicthen??

2009-01-03T14:19:00.005+08:00

It was a gloomy new year at Kerteh. It rained all day. My hubby started his new year by going to work, while me and the kids stayed at home.. sleeping and watching TV most of the time. Terengganu monsoon has just started. You can tell by listening to the sound of waves. Yup, my house is just about 500 meters from the sea and every morning I can hear clearly the waves rushing to the shores. Yang banjir2 kat Terengganu harituh it was just hujan lebat biasa, no wind. Kalau korang duduk tepi pantai tengok ombak sekarang.. memang menakutkan. Baju2 aku sekarang memang hantar dobi sebab matahari menyorok :-/

Anyway, despite the gloomy whether, we managed to go to Kuantan yesterday. I'm supposed to work but felt soo malas. So, I called my boss and told him that I had to settle some few things regarding my new house. And so we did. Since it has been raining for the past few days, therefore it was an ideal time to check out if there's any leakage at our new house. After checking the house, we went to buy Suhayl's new bike. Dah janji dapat bonus nak beli basikal. We bought the bike at my hubby's favourite MTB shop :-p Dapat ler murahh sket kan...

Then, the most exciting part was visiting Kitchen Works. You know how women always drool about their dream kitchen walaupun tak masak.. hehehe.. (aku ler tuh). There's not much kicthen studios in Kuantan. Most of the people I met recommended Jamie from Kitchen Works and I surely know why they did so when I met her yesterday. Jamie was soo nice and helpful. She speaks good Bahasa Melayu and verrryy the 'kitchen know how'. The quotation that she did for us was quite resonable compared to KL price. She made the quotation by material (design already fixed by me) so that I can compare the lump sump price between flat surface wood, flat surface aluminium glass series, curved surface, etc.. OMG.. I'm so exciteddd... We spent nearly 2 hours with her planning our wet and dry kitchen design. Itu pon rasa macam tak nak balik jek. Nasib baik ada customer lain datang, so we had to end our session with her assistant.

Although we're not going to move into the house soon, but I really hope that we can at least start staying there during weekend or long holidays. Lagipun 'feeling' duduk kat rumah sendiri nih lain sikit berbanding duduk rumah sewa. Rite now, I'm listing things to do for our new house apart from the kitchen. Banyakk lagiii nak kena settle. Hopefully by March.. we can already call it 'home sweet home'.. (boleh ler jadik azam tahun baru nih...)

Alamak.. tag tak jawab lagikkk :-p

PD Friends & Family Breakaway

2008-12-30T23:15:00.010+08:00

It all started with Chot who wanted to go somewhere and have fun with friends on Christmas holidays. As usual, Inaleem the efficient planner started to check for ideal location to breakaway, not too far and not too costly.. hehe. After some discussion, we decided to spend the holiday at Corus Hotel, Port Dickson. Check in 27th, check out 28th. We got special rate from the hotel, thanks to Inaleem ;-) The usual suspects are me & family, Sareque & family, Noi & family and the singletons- Inaleem, Leymah, Nurgee, Mawar & Chot. Adzue & family only joined us on dinner.

The last time I went to PD was in 2006 for my company's family day. Back then, we stayed at Tiara Beach Resort and the journey was kinda smooth because it was not during peak time. But our journey last weekend was terrible. It was smooth all the way from Seremban untill we reached Teluk Kemang exit. PD was packed. Cars were every where.. I mean, sepanjang tepian pantai PD tuh penuh kereta. Corus Hotel was so meriah.. macam pesta. We really had a hard time finding a parking spot after lunch (btw, we had lunch at Kid Search's kopitiam. The food biasa jelah but the smoothies were yummyyyy). Swimming pool lagik ler.. penuhhh giler.. And because of that hubby and I decided just to bring them main pasir at the hotel's man made lagoon. Luckily my kids pon tak keen sangat nak mandi after seeing the chaotic swimming pool. Padahal itulah agenda utama anak2 aku in the first place. After the main pasir session, they only dipped in the pool for a while just for cukup syarat.

Then, came dinner. Last minute Sareque sms'ed telling me that she and her family couldn't join because anak2 dia meragam nak tido. So, we proceeded without her. We had dinner at D'Princess Waterfront Thai Restaurant. The food was not bad ler. Walaupun aku order butter prawn, tapi yang dapatnya udang masak apa ntah. Nasib baik Inaleem kata sedap. Adzue & family came quite late. She couldn't find parking. Yes, PD was sooooo jem that nite. Ada expo apa ntah creating a hell of a jem. Nonetheless, we had a great dinner. Aku ngan Leymah beraksi poyo with our Nikons. Everybody was happy eating and catching up with each other especially aku ler yang duduk jauh from KL.

So is that enought for us? Chatting over dinner?? The answer is NOOOO. We continued our borak and gossiping session at the singleton's room leaving our kids and hubbies behind. This time Sareque joined in and Noi pulak couldn't joined coz Kiki was not well. Nak melepak tempat lain takde port because it was the kemangkatan of Almarhum Tuanku Jaafar. So, all entertainment stopped by 11 pm leaving us with a bottle of Pepsi and 2 packs of junkies. We talked, talked, talked tak habih2.. Topic of discussion boleh tahan jugak ler. Pasal Taksin Shinawat, Faeiz & Zarina (we miss you guys!), Inaleem's surgery, Adzue (kitorang perasan ko loose some weight), European vs Malaysian lifestyle, pasal anak Sareque and anak buah Nurgee yang hyperactive, juicy gossips, etc.. I think we covered almost everything. Kalah Oprah talkshow.. hehehe.. By 3am, we called it a nite.

The next day, we met again for breakfast and had our last gossiping and cam-whoring session. Again, the cafe was sooooo crowded. Dah ler tepi pool pulak tuh. Everybody just couldn't stand it anymore and decided to check out early. Although our holiday was not as we imagined (konon nak relax ler di tepian pantai.. tapi hectic jadiknya), we had priceless time hugging, laughing, lepaking and mengutuk each other (aku ler yang paling teruk kena kutuk). And we definitely learnt our lesson. Never ever plan a get together holiday during school holidays! Or maybe lokasi PD tuh terlampau commersial sangat. Apa kata next get together datang Kerteh??? Starbucks sebelah rumah aku jek tau... huhuhuhu...

p/s: More pics in my FB. Just click my FB di sebelah kanan ;-)

Photography Workshop Report

2008-12-25T22:02:00.004+08:00

The Lost Teratai at Taman Orkid

Nikon D80, 1/200 at f/8, ISO 200

Cun tak gambar aku?? Heheh.. Actually teratai nih memang cun. Sapa2 pun ambik cun. Nway, this photo was taken during the photography workshop. Did I tell you that the workshop was sanggattt best?!! Yup, kudos to Adhadi. I like the way he handles the workshop in sempoi way but yet focussing on the importance elements. He started the workshop by asking us to check the surroundings, observe where does the sun light falls onto. From there he elaborated the importance of natural light in photography and explained the main elements in dslr camera which are aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Another thing that I like about this workshop is the experimental shots that he instructed us to do in order to see the difference in increasing of aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Everybody had ample time to shoot orchids, teratai and not forgetting the 'main bunga', Nadiah. At the end of every session, Adhadi and Hafiz checked back our photos and gave comment in terms of technical and non-technical e.g. framing, potrait disturbance, etc..

Oh.. lupa nak mention. Adik Zarina, Hafiz was there too helping out Adhadi. Ada ker dia dengan selamba jek kasik aku pinjam lense micro dia yang berharga ribuan ringgit itu. Aku pegang lense tuh macam pegang baby baru lahir. But after trying it out rasa teruja ler plak.. Lepas nih aku pun jadik giler macam Zarina nak beli lense.. lense.. lense.. no designer hb after this.. huhuhu.

When I signed up with the workshop, I had this inferior feeling because I was a newbie. On the first morning of the workshop, people came with all sorts of camera gears. Everybody was looking so confident. Since we didn't have any ice breaking session, it was up to ourselves to start the conservation. After mingling around and asking out each other, I was a bit relieve because everybody had the same confession, "Aku bukannya reti sangat nih. Aku main hentam jek amik gambar pakai Auto mode".. hahaha.. But I bet after attending this workshop, none of us will use Auto mode anymore.. hehehe... eksen :-p

Group photo courtesy of Duniafotografi.com

Apart from having fun at the workshop, Arbaq and I did have fun hunting camera gears from Suria KLCC to Plaza Low Yat. Kopak duit aku. Tapi takpe, bonus dapat boleh cover (cam ryhme plak.. hahaha..) We bought ourselves a Lowepro Fastpack 250, Speedlite SB 600, Sandisk 4G memory card (with special price!!) and I bought an extra item- lense blower.

So, what's next?? After learning the essential knowledge of dslr photography and all geared up with the latest camera gadget, we are ready to shoot like a... pro :-p muahahahaha... Can't wait to test my skills at PD.

Word of the day- "Bokeh"

2008-12-18T22:44:00.010+08:00

No.. it's not bokeh air (org negeri sembilan pronounce bekas= 'bokeh').

Bokeh derived from Japanese, a noun boke ぼけ, meaning "blurred or fuzzy" and pronounced /ˈboʊke/ or /ˈboʊkə/ (boke-aay[3] or boke-uh). It's a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens using a shallow depth of field.[1] Different lens bokeh produces different aesthetic qualities in out-of-focus backgrounds, which are often used to reduce distractions and emphasize the primary subject.

Thank you Arbaq for finding the meaning ;-)

I found the term 'bokeh' in Digital Camera Magazine and it was our (the Skype-Engineers) main discussion and word of the evening.. hehehe.. bokeh itu ler, bokeh ini lah, saya bokeh ler.. etc..

Nway, I'm kinda excited actually coz I'm going to KL this weekend with my (padam, padam) poyo brutha to attend Adhadi's photography class anddddd... to hunt some dslr camera gears and accessories :-D

Hafiz, Zarina's brother will be helping conducting the class too ;-) Thanks to Atie (WanNazainMalaysia's wife) and Zarina for recommending and introducing Adhadi to me. They are going to teach us from basic dslr photography to photography techniques. I hope I can pick up quickly so that I can test my skills at the upcoming friends and family Christmas breakaway at Port Dickson :-D

Gotcha!!!

2008-12-18T22:24:00.004+08:00

Sareque, betulkan ckp aku.. ini tupai punya kerja. Dah selamat masuk hutan balik dah. Jangan gatal masuk rumah aku lagi sudah..

Invisible pet?

2008-12-16T19:45:00.001+08:00

Day 1: Macam mana ler Chipsmore aku boleh ada kat celah kotak ini??

Day 2: Rotiku ditebuk??

Day 3: Tahi apakah ini??

Yeaa.. ini semua angkara Cik Tupai. There's a squirrel in my house and I don't know where is it hiding?? Those pics above are signs of its ~~evil~~ existence. I suspect the crime was done during daylight when all humans are at work. Asal aku balik kerja, ada jek 'surprise' dia buat. Sightings of tupai at my house compound is normal coz rumah aku di tepi rimba belantara. Usually dia main2 jek kat porch. Pernah lah 2-3 kali masuk rumah, tapi senang dijejak dan dihalau keluar. Usually tupai tak reti dok diam. Tapi yang nih, dia dok senyap jek.. sampai tak tau mcm mana nak track dia. Tupai oh tupai.. di mana engkau sembunyi????

New nephew

2008-12-12T16:12:00.005+08:00

Welcome to the world Aiman Zulhusni!

I wanted to take more close up photos of him- his hand, his feet, etc.. (nak test dslr baru ler konon). But when I unwrapped his 'bedung', he started to wriggle and merengek. So, I quickly wrapped him back. Maybe next time. Rite now, he just wanna be snuggled in his ibu's arm.

Husni is my eldest brother's latest addition making it 5 to the family :-D He was born 2 days before Eid Adha.

Workstation Tag

2008-11-28T09:49:00.005+08:00

Tagged by Zarina, sapa lagik :-p Gambar aku ambil pakai digital camera biasa jelah beb. D80 dok umah.

Welcome to The Company (ala Heroes).. hehehe.. As you can see below, our work station is arranged in cluster according to section. Section head sits at the end of the work desk cluster. In my case, aku duduk betul2 sebelah boss aku. Privacy memang takdak. So, kalau nak buat kerja2 haram di office seperti blogging ker, surfing the net, etc.. kena ler tunggu line clear (contohnya seperti sekarang, boss cuti.. heh heh heh).

Aku duduk di hadapan wanita bertudung chocolate itu- Kak Ja.

And this is my work station. Memang bersepah seperti selalu. Usually kemas masa 5S audit jek :-p

The Pink Tag

2008-11-26T11:24:00.003+08:00

Thanks for the info-tag Terk ;-)

Thanks for sharing this tag with me! And to all my fellow bloggers who read this message, please feel free to grab this tag, help spreading the breast cancer awareness. Thank you! This one is all about breast cancer, which everyone knows is one of the most life-threatening diseases today. I’m doing my part in spreading awareness on breast cancer by sharing some scary yet so very true facts on breast cancer. Ladies, do take note!

* One in eight women or 12.6% of all women will get breast cancer in her lifetime.

* Breast cancer risk increases with age and every woman is at risk.

* Every 13 minutes a woman dies of breast cancer.

* Seventy-seven percent of women with breast cancer are over 50.

* Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women between the ages of 15 and 54, and the second cause of cancer death in women 55 to 74.

* Risks for breast cancer include a family history, atypical hyperplasia, early menstruation (before age 12), late menopause (after age 55), current use or use in the last ten years of oral contraceptives, and daily consumption of alcohol.

* Early detection of breast cancer, through monthly breast self-exam and particularly yearly mammography after age 40, offers the best chance for survival.

Above facts taken from Women’s Health Organisation Forum.

And now here is the tag and the rules:
1. Put the logo in your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who shared it with you.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs --> sapa baca, sila buat..
4. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

New Found Craze?

2008-11-21T12:00:00.008+08:00

I usually wake up alone on Fridays to go to work while everybody else are sound asleep because it's off day in Terengganu. But now, not anymore.. heheh. My Pendekar now joins me, not to work but to get his weekly dose of his new found ~~activity~~ craze :-p

As mentioned in my last post, he just bought a mountain bike (MTB). The price that he paid for that bike tells me (and you) that it's not an average mountain bike. It's a Merida! One of my cousins, Jijai owns a Merida too. When I told him the ridiculous price of my hubby's MTB, he burst into laughter. He then said to me, "Wait till you hear mine." And I actually screamed hysterically on my handphone when he told me that his is about RM 8K!! Gilos!! I warned my dear Pendekar, "Jangan basikal tuh jadik besi buruk sudah". I'm glad he bikes immediately. Last two weeks, he and his colleagues went into ladang kepala sawit mana ntah around Kerteh and today, I'm not sure mana plak. To show my moral support to his new sport-venture, I bought him a pair of Salomon footwear in red colour, to match with his MTB and helmet. Actually it's a belated birthday pressie :-p

Well that's my Pendekar new found craze. I have one too.. hehehe.. Tapi belum 'crazy' sangat ler. Sikit2 jek :-p After few months of surveying, thinking, asking people here and there, at last I decided to buy a Nikon D80 DSLR camera using the birthday money gave by my Pendekar two months ago. I was kinda excited before buying it. Tapi bila dah dapat nih rasa cam biasa pulak :-p There is so much to learn- photography techniques, terms, settings, editing, etc.. It's not that easy to get excellent photos like Zarina's (heheh.. promo sket). It takes a lot of practice, effort, skill and money too- lenses, speedlight, etc.. Bila dah lengkap and terrer, baru ler crazy sikit ambil gambar.. baru ler betul cakap 'new found craze' heheh..

My cholesterol level is 6.7 :-O

2008-11-07T12:30:00.006+08:00

I never bothered on my medical check-up result before because I know it's always positive. But the result that I got from the Dr. Catherine last Monday made me scrutinized the result sheet again and again. I just can't believe that I have high cholesterol. Yeahh, mumsie told me it runs in the family but I didn't expect to get it at early age. Plus, I'm sooo thin (46kg, 157 cm) and always sweating- jaga anak, masak, laundry, kemas rumah, etc.. kira exercise jugaklah kan?? Doc says that I can't escape from it because it's heredity. So, she told me that I have to deal with it by eating low cholesterol food and do more exercise.

I'm still puzzled actually. After so much thoughts on how did I terjebak with this penyakit, I started to recall my daily diet. Yes.. it must be the breakfast. Nasi lemak, nasi goreng, nasi kerabu, nasi dagang, nasi minyak, nasi impit, etc.. Not to mention the side dishes- the ayam masak merah ler, the oily telur goreng ler, etc... You see, east coast is famous for their nasi breakfast. Orang makan nasi minyak masa kenduri kahwin but not here. You can see people eating it almost every morning. Sometimes I have no choice but to telan whatever nasi served at my canteen. Kang tak makan lapar plak. Hmm.. yup, that must be the culprit :-/

So from now on, no more nasi for breakfast. Oats and cornflakes will be my morning menu. Lunch makan nasi macam biasa. Malam, nasi and more veggies. For exercise, I'll try to jog whenever I can and cycle if permitted by Pendekar. Mahal tul mountain bike baru dia :-p (Will tell you more about it soon.. heheh..).

To my colleagues, friends and relatives, thank you for your moral support and advices. My next cholesterol check up will be in two months time. Hopefully the level will go down ler...

The Mall that has it all

2008-10-15T11:32:00.005+08:00

Yes.. the long awaited Mesra Mall is now opened and it's just a stone throw away from my house. How happy am I? You tell me.. hehehe.. For the past few months I was being told that how 'gah' this shopping mall is. The mall is divided into 2 area, separated by an open garden. The east side (front) is catered for shopping while the west side (back) is mainly for recreation.

Front view (sorry pic sucks, ambil from kereta)

Food court area. See that garden separating the 2 areas.

Managed by KLCC Holdings, Mesra Mall caters quite a lot of prominent and reputable shops. Let's check:

Makan-makan:
Secret Recipe- Pendekar's favourite, "Vietnamese Beef Noodle se!!"
Pizza Hut
Burger King!!! Yeay!!! Whopper here I come!!
Food court with local favourites.

Ngeteh and snacks:
Starbucks- Rakan2 ku di KL, marilah Starbucking di sini ;-)
Roti Boy
Big Apple Donuts
Famous Amos

Groceries:
Giant.. No more Pasar Tani muddy affair ;-)

Sports gear:
Al-Ikhsan
World of Sport

Beauty and such:
Bodyshop, where I get my facial seaweed series
Guardian

Tanamera Wellness Spa!! Another yeay!!

Clothing:
Reject Shop
Poney
Giordano
Kamdar

Books:
Popular- At last, gonna get my fav mags in time.. (selalu beli outdated)

Toys:

Toys R Us, kopak duit aku :-/

Fotoshop:
Foto Flash, where I plan to send my future Nikon D80 for service.. iyee.. poyo!!

Recreation:
TGV Cineplex

Sports Planet (Futsal)
U-Bowl- To Wan Naza: I'm gonna take you down.. muahahaha..

Kedai Emas:
Tomei- will start my golden investment soon :-p

And banyak lagi ler. More details, just check out the link above. My life is so convenient now. No need to turun Kuantan for shopping. Jimat minyak aku ;-) And takde lah terasa jakun sangat bila shopping kat KL nanti... hehehe..

Syawal 1429H

2008-10-15T09:06:00.004+08:00

Raya this year was as usual. It's all about family, relatives and friends. Catch up with latest relative additions, latest happenings, latest gossips, etc.. heheh. Family pic? Takdak! Jaja had fever and was cranky all the time. So, she was in no mood to smile for the camera.

Mercun ganazzz di Teluk Intan. Harga pun agak ganazz.

Khadijah (18 months) & Suhayl (4 years old)

My Pendekar and Lil' Princess

Me and cranky Jaja!!!

Selamat Hari Raya to all. Jemput datang beraya ke rumah :-D

Salam Aidilfitri 1429H

2008-09-29T14:57:00.004+08:00

This would be my last post for the month. I've been working 'unproductively' for the past few hours. But I'm not guilty at all because everyone else also had the same agenda as I am, datang kerja just to kill the time. Semuanya ngadap pc, pretend to work tapi sebenarnya surfing internet or mundar-mandir for nothing.. hehehe. Ohh.. but some of them did came to work TO WORK. Itu memang pekerja harapan ler.. hehehe..

I'm going back to Teluk Intan tomorrow after Subuh. We will be spending our raya there till 3rd Raya, then off we go to Seremban. Talking about preparation, everything is okey except for my 1st baju kurung. Baru nak nak siap today!! And if my mom post it today to Teluk Intan, I don't think I will received it safely and in time at this critical time. I don't wanna take the risk. Tak pasal2 hilang plak baju kurung aku kat tengah jalan. So, nak tak nak I have to wear my 2nd baju raya which is completely out of our green theme. It's cream and orange in colour. Another option is to recycle my previous baju raya. But the one that I have is a plain lime green. So dull ler pulak. Tinggal Jaja jek baju berbunga2 nanti. Kita tengok jelah the outcome of the family potrait nanti.

On mercun, my husband has spent nearly RM 300 for it. From mercun roket, mercun das, mercun monyet, apa ntah lagik.. to the grand mercun merdeka (used for merdeke celebration), semua dia borong. It's gonna be a hell of fire works show di tepi bendang of Parit 16B. Mana dapat? Hehehe... ada ler. Thanks to tokan yg tak cekik darah.

I'll be on leave starting tomorrow till the next Tuesday. On Raya ke-4, the gang are planning to beraya at Sareque's house in England Garden. Yeahh.. she going to cook for us her specialty which is Laksa Johor or maybe Nasi Daging? Hehehe.. Bestnya raya... aku nak jadik hantu raya. Makan tak habih2... hihihihihihiiiiiiii.... 6th Raya, I'm planning for a short shopping trip to KL. Err.. boleh tak Yang??

Lastly, I would like to wish to all Muslim,

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Maaf Zahir & Batin, truly from our heart.

Safe journey ;-)

Tagged (lost count berapa dah..)

2008-09-29T12:45:00.002+08:00

1) What is the most important thing in your life?
Money… muahahah.. okey ler, for not so evil answer.. L.O.V.E.

2) What is the last thing that you bought with your own money?
Ntah.. can’t remember ler.. lama tak shopping. I’m due for a shopping trip raya hols nih.. heheh..

3) Where do you wish to get married?
Like Zarina, I’m already married. But if I can redo the reception and have the money to do it, I would love to walking down the cricket aisle, Aussie ground. But I bet my cricketer hubby mesti tak nak. Aku jek poyo :-p

4) How old do you think you will be permanently owned by your love?
Can I just cut and paste Zarina’s answer.. hahaha.. I love her answer :-p

5) Are you in love?
Definitely.

7) Name the latest book that you bought?
Evening Is The Whole Day by Preeta (tak ingat last name apa)

8)What is your full name?
“Oh Mak Siti.. sayang2 anak makcik..” plus “Bedah” (Yasmin sgt suka panggil aku nama nih)

9) Do you prefer your mother or father?
Depends on the situation.. heheh

10) Name a person that you really wish to meet in real life for the first time.
Aku takde jawapan. Tak teringin nak jumpa sapa2 :-p

11) Christina or Britney?
Maybe Christina..

12) Do you do your own laundry?
Yes!!

13) The most exciting place you want to go?
Paris

14) Hugs or kisses?
Hugs

15) Point out 5 things about the person who tagged you.
Dia sangat setan kat sekolah and yet doing her pHD rite now. We’re so proud of you :-p muahahaha… She’s a shutter bug. She’s outspoken. Suprisingly, she cooks.. terrer plak tuh ;-) And last but not least.. she lovesss blogging. Ada jek mende nak tulis.

16) 8 things I am passionate about:
Environmental conservation
Shopping
Recycling
Photography
TV series HOUSE
Facebook-ing
My new house
Making money

17) 8 things I say too often:
Bongok..
So ka?? (Commonly used in Japanese company.. hehe)
Tapi kan..
Weii..
Jangan lupa tau!! (Always to my husband)
Alamakkk
Serious sh*t??
Suhayl, janganlah kacau Jaja.

18)4 books I’ve read recently:
Kite Runner, that’s it. Aku baca ‘Growing Up Trengganu’, tak habih2 baca sampai sekarang.. takleh masuk ler.

19) 8 songs I could listen to over and over again: -
- Mas Que Nada by Sergio Mendes feat. Black Eye Peas (it’s my hp ring tone)
- How Could I Just Kill A man by RATM & Cypress Hill
- Fade To Black by Metallica
- You’re Just Another Victim by Helmet & House of Pain
- Theme song of Uruturoman Dyna, Tiga (Penangan Suhayl)
- Any songs by Sweet Charity
- Any songs by Alleycats
- Any songs by P. Ramlee

20) 8 things I learnt last year:
- Sareque’s butt is bigger than mine.. hehehe
- My hubby’s credit card debts are lesser than mine :-(
- I delivered Khadijah faster than Suhayl. Suhayl 3 hrs after my water broke. Khadijah ½ hr jek. Kalau ada anak ke-3 nanti mcm mana ler..
- Sometimes, I talk too much info :-/
- I can bake ‘a’ cake (yea.. satu sahaja untuk tahun lepas)
- I became more ‘blur’ ever since dok Kerteh (nih, kengkawan aku yg ckp)
- I can tolerate with Pendekar's sleeping and smoking habits.
- But I can’t tolerate with the mess made by my kiddos (Now I think I need a maid!!)

8 people that I love to tag:
Sareque, dia belum pernah kena tag in her new blog :-p
Chot, dengan harapan dia update ler blog dia
Adzue, ko pon lama dah tak kena tag
Merl, I want to know about you more ;-)
Koonch, if you're rajin to answer
Nurgee, same reason as Sareque's
Leymah, dia rajin jawab :-D
Faeiz, I think she had answered this tag before. But that was back in Malaysia. Now that she's in Amsterdam, she might have different answers :-p

September Update- Part 2: Moi birthday

2008-09-29T11:12:00.007+08:00

One day after my birthday:

"Hey, where's my cake? I'm still waiting."
"Laa.. awak tak suruh beli pon."

Aaahhhh.. that's my hopelessly unromantic hubby. But at least he remembers my birthday this time because he wished me pagi2 buta. Regarding the script above, last year I make it a point to remind him to get me a birthday cake. Ingat kan tahun nih, takyah ler remind2. Tetapi ternyata hampeh :-p So, no celebration for me. But one thing that I heart my Pendekar so much is he cooks. Yes, I've mentioned this before and I'm proud to mention it again. When I reached home on my birthday, he has already cooked 2 dishes for berbuka, my favourite sawi masak oyster souce and apa yek satu lagi.. tak ingat. (Actually not just for my birthday jek, bulan puasa nih aku rasa dia masak lagi banyak from aku). Nothing beats a husband's cooking prepared with looovveeee.. hehehe.. And as usual, no suprise pressie for me. But.... he had transfered some cash into my account and right now I'm surveying for a Digital SLR Camera.. heheh.

Anyway, my parents came down one day after my birthday. So, seronok sikit ler. One week of mum's cooking. Priceles!!! Hehehe.. We had badak berendam, buah melaka, lepat pisang, kuih lopis, pengat pisang, daging salai masak lemak cili api with terung telunjuk (my fav!!), ikan patin masak singgang, etc.. memang sodap!!!

And again, my best buddy never fails to surprise me. Zian (now working in KL) called me few days before my birthday. She bought me a box of frozen udang from Sabah and asked me to pick it up from Shaiful. So, on Friday (19th Sept) after work, I when to Shaiful's office to take the udang ler. His office is just few kilometers from my office. When Shaiful handed me the udang, I was kinda shock because I didn't just got a box of frozen udang but also this:

A Coach Wristlet

I was so touched. I never thought that anyone could give me a designer gift. Designer2 nih usually aku yang beli sendiri because I know it's pricey. It's so nice of you sis. Thank you so much :-*

Of being 30, same as Sareque, I'm happy of what I am and have now (minus the kitchen part ler, I'm still sketching my dream kitchen.. hehe..). Thank you all for the wishes and doa. Alhamdullilah memang murah rezeki aku this year and hopefully same goes to all of you. Amin.

September Update- Part 1: The Uninvited 'Guest'

2008-09-29T08:37:00.006+08:00

Sareque has been complaining because I haven't updated my blog. But the thing is we always catch up on the phone.. bukan setakat 5-10 mins, sometimes dekat 1 hour. And yet, nak jugak kena update blog :-p Hmm.. so where do I start yea?

Early this month, my backyard was intruded by an expected 'guest'. All this while I've been hearing a lot of stories on how this 'guest' came sneeking to their house and caused people a lot of trouble and trauma as well. On one fine Sunday, I was sitting in my living room, tengah lipat kain sambil tengok Desperate Housewives Season 4 Marathon, when I heard 'bising-bising' at my back yard. I peeked at the window and saw the makcik2 gardener and the abang2 grass cutter dok berkumpul at my backyard. Looking at the kecohness, I already knew what it was all about. "Cik, ada ular tedung kot nyorok kat dlm lubang niha", one the makcik told me when she saw me at the window. Alamak... apsal ler rumah aku yang dia nak datang? I quickly called Pendekar and told him the situation. Pendekar asked me to call the Bomba but the abang2 grass cutter was kinda confident that they can 'tangkap' the snake. So, I didn't call. Later I joined the them at my backyard.

The snake was hiding inside my house's gutter. They tried to get it out by poking it with a ranting kayu. Whenever they poked, we heard this huge sound, something like a roar (susah ler nak describe). It was a sound of a snake in self-defence. That was my first time hearing such sound from a snake, not even in National Geography you can hear this sound. By the sound of it, we were guessing that it must be a huge snake. After several attempts and techniques of getting it out, at last the snake came out and was beaten to death by the abang2 (a bit kejam ler jugak). It was indeed an ular tedung, but not as big as we thought. But still.. ular tedung!! Nasib baik ler tak masuk rumah. Memang ler best rumah dekat hutan (environmentalist dream home). It's sejuk & nyaman, you woke up with the sounds of gibbons and birds chirpping, squirrel roaming freely at your porch, free monkey circus, babi hutan or biawak (yg besar tuh) lalu lalang like no one's business (across the fence ler), etc.. But having an ular tedung wandering around your house compound is not seronok anymore living here. Eii.. cepat ler pindah Kuantan.

Kepala ular dah penyek.

Anyway, after everything was settled, I went across the street to warn my other neighbours. And that was when I learnt that last month, something worst happened to my neighbour selang sebuah rumah. When she was cooking at the kitchen, she left the sliding door of her living room opened. Her 2 kids aged 2 years old and 6 months old were playing there at that time. When she entered the living room, to her surprise an ular tedung was already in the living room with her two kids!!! She had no idea for how long had the snake been wandering around there, but one thing for sure God Almighty had protected her kids all the while because none of them were hurt. According to the story, she frantically grabbed her kids and locked themselves in the master bedroom. Unfortunately, there was no phone or handphone with her at that time. So, she screamed her lungs out for help. After a few while, some neighbours heard her scream and immeadiately called the Bomba when they knew that an ular tedung was in her house. I was told that the ular tedung that time was really big, that no one dares to be a hero unlike my abang2 grass cutter. One month passed and I heard that my neighbour was still in trauma. Hopefully she will get her strength back.

In my case, luckily the snake was just wandering outside my house. Because of we have heard these stories before, I always make it a point to close the doors and sliding door whenever I'm not with the kids at the living room. There was one time, out of no where tiba2 lipan bara melintas near Khadijah. Thank God, walaupun aku rabun, I still can spotted it. We also taught Suhayl that snakes are not something that you can touch or play with. We told him that men handling snakes in Animal Planet or National Geography are professional and equiped with protective equipments. So, he should not act like an Ultraman to fight the snake. He seems to understand. Explaining is one part. Preventive measure is another part. We have tabur the belerang (sulfur) around the house and make sure that any holes, gaps and opening that leads to our house are closed if not in used. My mother even made a barrier to close the gap between my kitchen door and the floor. Thanks Mumsie :-*

To the makcik2 gardener and abang2 grass cutter, thank you for being such a helpful and concern community. If it's not because of one of them heard the strange sound in my gutter, I wouldn't know it was there. And who knows, it may enter my house later. Thanks again abang2 grass cutter for your bravery.

No update

2008-09-19T16:54:00.002+08:00

Obviously my blog pun berpuasa di bulan Ramadhan nih :-p It's a busy September for me. Audits, meetings, environmental projects, etc.. End of month nanti aku update.. hopefully..

Merdeka Hols at Perak

2008-09-02T14:37:00.012+08:00

On Merdeka Eve;

Pendekar & Suhayl playing games at The Store Teluk Intan.

We had mee rebus di tepi longkang at Teluk Intan.

"Sedap jugak mee longkang nih," kata Pendekar. Memang.. anak2 aku pun beria2 makan.

Menara Condong Teluk Intan on Merdeka Eve.

On the 51st Merdeka Day;

We went to STAR Ipoh.

Pendekar sparing with Suhayl

Yeahh.. my beloved cricketer :-p

STAROBA Orange Cricket Club (SOCC)

SOCC vs MSN in Perak Cricket Association (PCA) League. My Pendekar yg paling kanan tengah bowl.

Gumbira walaupun kalah.. hehehe..

Ohh.. my Pendekar bukan budak STAR yea. He's a proud SERATAS Old Boy.

Kantan Restaurant, another 'Unmistakably Malay'.

2008-08-22T09:04:00.009+08:00

As mentioned in previous post, I did my homework before going to Langkawi, checking places of interest, places to eat, etc.. One of the places that I was eagerly to go was the Reggae Bar. Being a fan of Bob Marley, this bar is a must for me to go. I told Sareque, "Aku angkut jugak budak2 tuh nanti." But unfortunately, it was not my fate to go there that nite. Instead we went to Kantan Restaurant, a fine restaurant that serves authentic Malay cuisine in a Malay traditional house. I didn't perasan this restaurant on the net (not in my itenery) untill we passed it at Pantai Tengah. You can read more about the restaurant here.

To enter the restaurant, u need to take off your shoes, just like entering a Malay house. We were welcomed by the tunes of Malay Oldies and greeted salam by a young waiter. The restaurant was quite packed at that time. Most of the patrons were foreigner. So, we were ushered to the 'anjung', since the main hall was full. We opted for the 'bersila' style of dining. Senang. After a while, a lady clad in a red baju kurung cekak musang came to us. "Nih akak nak bagitau, lambat sikit yea nak ambil order sebab ramai sangat orang hari ini. Minta maaf lah yea", she informed us in a polite and peramah manner. We told her it was okey for us. So, we took the opportunity to admire the interior and architectural design of the house while perusing the menu.

Few minutes later she came to us again, ready to take our orders. Looking at the packed situation, we only ordered simple dishes. Cepat sikit chef dia nak masakkan.. heheh. While waiting for our food to come, I went outside to take photos of the restaurant and the surrounding. Hmm.. I still need to brush up my skills in shooting photos at nite. Most of my pics are blurry.. was it because of my shaky hands or the settings? *Zarina.. help me, help me..* The architectural of the house is impressive. I like the tangga and the buaian under the house, simply Malay. Another spot that I particular like is the washing area. Seronok jek basuh tangan.. hehehe.. After taking some miserable shots and teman Suhayl main buaian, we returned to our table. Within minutes, our food were served. Pendekar had nasi goreng ala Kantan and his favourite bubur pulut hitam for dessert. I had nasi putih with ikan tenggiri masak asam pedas nyonya and Suhayl had udang goreng tepung. To us the food tasted biasa2 jelah except for the exquisite bubur pulut hitam. "Bubur pulut hitam nih sedap.. cukup semua rasa. Memang up to my standard". That was his comment after his first sip. The prices of the food are suprisingly quite reasonable.

One thing that I like about this restaurant is the 'Unmistakebly Malay' treatment by the 'kakak' waitress whom attended us. From the moment we stepped in till we slipped on our shoes, she treated us nicely despite us being the only Malay patrons at that time. Her friendliness and chatty personality made us feel like eating kat rumah sedara mara pulak. Truly Kedahan ;-) So, sapa2 yang nak pergi Langkawi, jangan lupa singgah noo..

Wonders of Langkawi

2008-08-13T17:34:00.005+08:00

Pulau Langkawi.. The last time I went there was like years ago. No Dataran Lang, no cable car, no eagle feeding, no wildlife park, no fancy restaurants, no happening bars by the beach, etc.. To me, it was just a historical island of Mahsuri. But as years passed, I've heard a lot about Langkawi. More places of attractions, more activities, etc.. So, that's when I thought that it would be nice to go there for a family holiday. Plus my Pendekar has never been there :-p

As mentioned before, we booked our holiday package thru Air Asia Go Holiday. Weeks before the holiday, I went surfing on the net searching for interesting places to put in our holiday itenery. Yes, I've made an itenery in order not to waste time looking for directions or being undecided where to go when we reach there. We rented a Proton Wira with Roslan Kasim at Panduan Melancong Ke Langkawi. So far, his rental rates are the cheapest in Langkawi. It costed us RM 120 for three days (tapi kira 48 hours ler sebab amik and pulang tengahari). We arrived Langkawi at 1:30 pm, which was 1 hour delayed from the flight schedule. The moment we touched down, we immediately took our rental car (dah tunggu kat airport), had lunch at Telaga Arabic Pantai Cenang, checked-in at Awana Porto Malai, rest kejap and headed straight to Underwater World. Actually, me and Pendekar were not that keen to go. But for the sake of anak2, pergi jugak ler. Anyway, they were really excited to see the aquatic and marine life there. Later that evening, we brought the kids to swimming pool. Kids and swimming pool memang tidak dapat dipisahkan.

Second day- our initial plan was to go for the cable car ride. But since the weather was a bit hazy and mendung, we changed our plan. We went Island Hopping instead. We took the hotel package which is much more cheaper than the rates that I've surveyed on the net. This is because Awana Porto Malai Hotel has their own private boat jetty. Other nearby hotels also use their jetty for island hopping.

First, we went to Tasik Dayang Bunting. To reach the tasik, we had to walk.. err climb actually on the provided trail (set of stairs). Some of the stairs are quite steep. It was dem exhausting but at the end, our sweat pays. We were among the first to arrive there. So, the ambiance was really peaceful. The surrounding is very breathtaking. We did the feet dipping (with the catfish) and took a ride on the solar boat around the tasik. By the time we were heading back to our (island hopping) boat, more people arrived and the tasik became a bit crowded and bising. Plus the monkeys dah start mengganas mencuri makanan.. takuttt...

Next, we went to Pulau Singa Besar for eagle feeding. The boatman threw some chicken skins at the sea and the eagles began to snatch the feeds. We just had few minutes to see the eagles in action before we headed to the last island, Pulau Beras Basah. There's nothing much there but just a stretch of white sandy beach. So, Suhayl mandi-manda ler kejap kat sana. After the Island Hopping session, all of us went flat and just had our lunch in our hotel room. Malas nak gi mana2.. Petang, we went to Kuah town for shopping. Since I'm not into this pinggan mangkuk thingy, I just bought loads of chocs at Kedai Hj. Ismail.

On our last day, we went to Langkawi's newest attraction- Cable Car at Gunung Mat Cincang. The cable car route sangat ler menakutkan (very steep) altho I'm not a gayat kinda person (kot). In order to see the magnificence view from the jambatan gantung, we need to walk thru a set of stairs... again!! Dah sampai puncak (last cable car station), takkan tak pergi pulak. So, we walked up and down the steep stairs till we reach the jambatan gantung. The view from there was supposed to be amazing. But due to haze, we can just see the scenery samar2. Still worth the walks. (Note: Haze due to forest burning from neighbouring country).

That's only few parts of Langkawi that we managed to explore. We didn't get to go to Langkawi's historical landmarks. Even the famous Dataran Lang pun tak pergi :-p The vacation was too short for us. Me and Pendekar agree to come back to Langkawi again to explore more wonders of the island. Ntah bila ler tuhh..

On travelling with our kids, haaahhhh.. it was tiring!! Mana taknyer, kena kendong anak sorang satu panjat turun tangga. Perghh.. memang nak tercabut lutut. But overall it was fun. Handling Jaja was much more easier than Suhayl. Suhayl is a bit stubborn sometimes and likes to runabout here and there. Susah betul nak jaga dia. I asked my Pendekar,"Macam nih nak bawak diorang gi Pattaya and Bangkok nanti?" And he said,"Tengok ler.." Hehehehe... ada can gi lovey-dovey vacation ;-) Flying with Air Asia for the first time was okey for us because we took the express boarding :-p After getting some inputs and comments from people whom had experience flying with Air Asia, we decided to pay etxra for an ease and quick boarding. Tak kuasa aku dengan anak2 aku lagi, nak beratur2 panjang or worst berebut2 with the kiasu type of people.

That's all for now. Langkawi.. we'll see you again ;-)

The Hearty Jazz Queen

2008-07-27T08:20:00.017+08:00

The Hearty Support

I'm not a hardcore fan of Sheila Majid. But when I got to know that she's coming down to Kuantan for her Nationwide Tour in Aid of IJN Foundation, I decided to go. Bukan senang nak gi konsert duduk Kerteh nih :-p A big star like her coming to East Coast? Who could ever resist that!! Another pure reason for me is to donate to IJN. Having a child (Suhayl) born with Congenital Heart Defect (ASD & VSD), I totally understand how crucial this donation is for under privilege people who need to give their child a better life.

The Desperate Housewives (Part time and full time)
All the way from Kerteh, me, Zian, Nurin and Faridah excitedly made our way to Dewan Jubli Perak Kuantan in my Red Hot Jazz leaving our little angels (or devils) with the hubbies. Thank you so much to our dear hubbies for giving us permission to 'bersuka-ria' and took over the role of 'Mr. Mama' for the nite. Additional thanks to my sister in law too. Despite of her pening kepala, dia jaga and layan jugak kerenah anak2 aku. Joining us in Kuantan later was Azriza (another workaholic engineer) whom actually was contemplating whether to attend the concert or to attend her problematic Level Transmitter at her (petrochemical) plant :-p And she made a wise decision :-p hehehe..

The Kerteh Babes- Me, Zian, Azriza, Nurin & Faridah

The Jazz Affair
The concert was super duper fantastic!! We really had a great time. Sheila was truly amazing!! Memang 1st Class Entertainer. Although the number of turn-outs was embarrassing (suku dewan jek!!!), but she still delivered an excellent performance. Not to mention her talented and fine musicians led by her hubby. Kudos to Acis!! The concert kicked off with a short montage of her journey in the music industry followed by her first song 'Warna'. She sang from her first album to her recent album. But she sang mostly from her 90s album which most of us knew her songs by heart. Her voice was so merdu and steady through out the concert. She interacted well with the crowd and also with her musicians. I can't recall any boring moment at the concert. We were all jazzed up. During her break time (to change dress), we were entertained by her fellow musicians. From percussionist Steve Thornton to guitarist Aji, everyone gave their brilliant solo act. Aji tuh looks like my Pendekar a bit ler... hehe. And believe it or not, I was too busy singing and enjoying the concert that I didn't bother to take any picture. Nurin and Zian took loads. Let's just wait for them to upload it in Facebook.

Sheila In Person
When I first saw Sheila on stage I was stunned with her natural beauty and her stylish outfit. In the first half of the concert, she wore a light yellow dress and showed off her beautiful silky long hair. On, second half she changed to a stunning blue (ke purple?) dress and had her hair bunned which showed her sophisticated trademark. She just knows how to steal our heart and make the concert alive. She kept on repeating how loud we were despite small crowd. She made us get up from our seats and groove with her jazzy songs. I particularly liked the way she introduced her musicians to the crowd. One of the catchy phrase that I remembered, "I'm the lauk ler like ayam. And the musicians behind me are my spices, garam, gula, lada, rempah... bla bla.." Hehe.. kiutkan?

The Never Ending Show
When she announced that 'Manusia' was her last song, we were set back for a while. "This can't be the end?? Dia tak nyanyi pun 'Sinaran' lagi", I whispered to Zian. When the stage went black out (and empty), we started to call her name and begged for more. After several time terpekik-pekik for her, her musicians took their places back and Sheila re-entered saying "Korang semua tak nak balik ker??" Hehehe.. Of course ler we said NO!!!! She ended the concert by singing another two songs, 'Lagenda' and or course 'Sinaran'!! By this time, the crowd rushed to the stage to get up close and personal with her. Zian, Faridah sempat ler salam tangan. Aku eksyen.. huhu..

Si baju belang, the bassist, Sheila, Acis, guitarist Aji and hujung sekali percussionist Steve Thornton

We Heart Sheila Majid
We bought the concert tees as kenang-kenangan. The tees sold were actually from her first IJN concert for in KL tapi beli jugak ler. Zian bought an exclusive Sheila Majid's Autobiography (coffee table book) which is not available at any bookstores. We even got ourselves 'The Crew' tag.. hehehe.. Thanks to Zian and Nurin yang pandai memujuk adik2 crew tuh :-p

Hoping For More
We were a bit upset with the turn-outs, although because of this we were upgraded to better seat (thanks for that). I blame it for the lack of promotion. I knew about this concert through a notification sent by Sheila Majid's Facebook Page which I subscribed in Facebook. Kalau tak subscribe, entah2 tak tahu. I received the notification on 21st July, which was exactly 5 days before the concert. I made the booking almost immediately thinking that the tickets will definitely be sold like hot cakes. The tix price to me is quite reasonable for a charity concert (after watching the concert, I think it was not just reasonable but also worth it). So, I don't think the ticket price is the factor here. It's back to promo. If proper promotions are done earlier e.g. annoucement in TV, radio, concert posters, banners; I think more people could have turned out to donate sambil berhibur for IJN.

Sheila will be continuing her nationwide tour to Johor Bahru, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak. So, for those of you who want to groove with Sheila and donate at the same time, please be alert for any announcement near future. Don't miss it!!! Rugi kalau tak pegi!!!

p/s: concert pix taken from Nurin & Zian's collection

Picture Perfect

2008-07-22T10:32:00.005+08:00

Nih yang terasa nak beli camera DSLR nih.. ish ish..

Photo Credit: Harris @ Jimmy (Pendekar's colleague)

A dear friend and a spa

2008-07-18T09:30:00.012+08:00

A dear friend of mine will be leaving Kerteh to join her counterpart in Petronas Twin Towers. After devoting herself for nearly 7 years as a Process Engineer, she is stepping her way to the corporate world (starting Aug nih). I'm sad that she's leaving but in the same time happy for her new career development. In her busy schedule last Sunday (working day in Terengganu), she managed to treat me for a lunch and spa at Awana Kijal's Taman Sari Royal Heritage Spa. Ala farewell treat ler nih. (But right after the spa session, she went back to work till 1 am. Workaholic blondie!!). Azriza was supposed to join us too but her boss tahan her at office although she was on leave (Lain kali, kalau cuti tuh duduk diam2 kat rumah, jgn gatal gi office).

In the massage room

Anyway, we had such a relaxing time. With the aroma of jasmine and sounds of Balinese music in the air, we were hypnotized the moment the minah urut laid their hands on us. Aku mula2 ingat macam kena pijak da.. Kuat giler tangan minah urut tuh. I had Javanese Massage while Zian had French Massage (less pressure) which costed RM 120 per massage.

Entrance (going out)

Enjoying Teh Halia

To Zian, I'm gonna miss u a lot :-( I wish you all the best in your new undertakings. Take care sis :-*

Gonna miss 'us'

p/s: Avoch, please take care of my sis yea ;-)

He's 4 now.

2008-07-13T22:11:00.003+08:00

At Taska, Suhayl cutting his favourite strawberry cake with Jaja.

Suhayl's 1st Sports Day

2008-07-13T11:00:00.001+08:00

It was Sukan Tahunan Tadika/Taska Petronas 2008 yesterday. Like every other parent, I was looking forward to this event because it was Suhayl's first Hari Sukan. Judging by his cheekiness and activeness, I was pretty sure that he was going to enjoy the day. We even talked about it almost every day for the past one week. He was really excited about it.

But when the day comes, it turned out to be something else pulak. He refused to join the event and was crying like mad!! "Mama.. Suhayl tak suka duduk sini. Suhayl nak balik rumah tengok TV". That was the exact words uttered from his mouth. Can you believe that?? Aku pon macam terconfuse sekejap. Even his teachers were puzzled with his act. They told me that he was totally fine during practice and rehearsal sessions. In fact, he is one of the fastest in his age group. Tak nak join punya pasal, during the opening ceremony (while the guest of honour was giving his speech), he bravely stood out of the line and cried shamelessly. Memang centre of attraction ler. Aku hanya mampu gelak (sambil ambil gambar). After a while Pendekar walked him out of the field. It took us some time to coax him before he agreed to join the sport with condition that I will be right by his side. Hmmmphh.. mengada sungguh ler :-p

Ehh.. anak sapa tuh?? Iye.. anak aku tuh..

But at the end, nothing else matters than a trophy.

The Champion (Menangis.. hehe)

More pics in my Fotopages.

Another shopping report

2008-07-06T12:43:00.002+08:00

It's shopping time!!

Suhayl needed a pair of sport shoes and track bottom for his sports practice. His Hari Sukan will be next weekend, 12th July. "Mama, Suhayl nak kasut yang ada lampu tuh mcm Adam Haikal" and he got it, of course. Hmmm...

Ala Moda Kuantan was on sale. So, it was a good time to buy kain for our baju raya. Our initial theme for this upcoming Aidilfitri was Hijau Pucuk Pisang. But nothing of Pucuk Pisang pattern captured our heart. So, we settled for Hijau Lumut instead. As for Jaja, we got for her cotton fabric with small flowers. It is a bit out of the theme because there was not much choice left. But I'm sure the Grassland Princess dress that I ordered from Girl Charms will definitely bring out the charm of our Hijau Lumut theme :-)

Shades of upcoming Aidilfitri 2008

Suhayl's 4th birthday is next weekend too, a day after his Sports Day. I bought some goodies using the Giant Voucher that I received on my lucky day. Reading Zara's entry on her son's birthday, makes me want to pack the goodies in eco way too. After rummaging my 'serbaguna' drawer, I found remaining plastic wrappings from last year's party. So, I decided not to waste. Maybe next year ler buat eco goodies pack.

Tagged: So You Want To Know More About Me?

2008-07-01T12:39:00.009+08:00

Tagged by Ratu Tag, Zarina.

1. What do you want for your birthday?

Philips Hand Blender, a bike, Philips Digital Photo Frame, apa lagi yea….

2. Who will be your next kiss?

My kids.

3. When was the last time you went to the mall?

Last Wednesday. Ada meeting at Majlis Perbandaran Kuantan on our environmental programs with school kids. Lepas meeting, ngular sat at East Coast Mall.

4. Are you wearing socks right now?

Yup with safety shoes.

5. How did you spend your summer?

Our last family holiday was during my company’s Family Day at Genting Highlands.

6. Have you been to the cinema in the last 5 days?

No. Me and hubby support piracy!! Muahahaha…

7. What was the last thing you had to drink?

Peel fresh orange.

8. What are you wearing right now?

My working uniform.

9. What was your last purchase?

A long black dress.

10. What was the last food you ate?

Roti and tuna in green curry (yg tak sedap) late last nite. Aku berpuasa hari ini.

11. Who would be the person you would call if you were up in the middle of the night and couldn’t sleep?

Chot ler kot. Yang lain semua sibuk ngan laki and anak masing2.

12. Have you bought any clothing items in the last week?

No.

13. Do you have a pet?

I used to have a pet tortoise when I was small. Now, my current pet is any stray cats coming to my kitchen to eat.

14. What made you laugh in the last 5 days?

Watching my Jaja merajuk.. hehe..

15. If you could be anywhere right now, where would you be?

In a spa.. haaaaaahhh…

16. What is the last thing you purchased online?

Kapoochi Milan Backpack from Babyjaya

17. One thing you hate about yourself?

Hot tempered.

18. Do you miss anyone?

Not anymore.

19. What are your plans for the day?

Meeting up with ex-colleague at Big Apple, East Coast Mall, Kuantan. Then nak tapau dons banyak2, and buka puasa on the way back to Kerteh sebab dah promise Pendekar to be at home by 8:30 pm (1 and half hour journey tau from Kuantan).

20. Last person you msg’d?

An UMP student. Asking her to bring the letter for her visit to the waste water treatment plant today.

21. Ever went to a camp?

Kem Bina Negara.

22. Are you a good student in school?

Baik jugak ler..

23. What do you know about the (your) future?

Climate change.

24. Are you wearing any perfume or cologne?

No. Busuk baik punya nib, baru lepas keluar from plant.. huhu..

25. Where is/are your best friend/s right now?

KL, Kerteh and in SKYPE!!

I'm tagging my sister Koonch!!

5 years ago on 21st June..

2008-06-21T09:16:00.000+08:00

Pagi: Akad Nikah

Pendekar and abah reading the script.. hehe

Yeay! !

With Sareque in my lovely bedroom designed by Koonch

Tengahari: Majlis Bersanding

My nieces, Yasmin and Nurul Amani jadi flower girls

With STF friends :-D Adzue and Aida left early, so not in the pic.

With UTM friends

Malam: Buka wedding gifts

Yoi kacau daun :-p

Photo credit: Sareque & Noi

Mak Nik jadi 'omputeh'..

2008-06-18T15:15:00.006+08:00

Everyday to work, I'll pass by Bandar Chukai, Kemaman. And this one particular sign board always grabbed my attention.

Yea.. Mak Nik menjadi Monica ler pulak. I just don't understand why must the State Government translate 'Mak Nik' to 'Monica'. As far as I can remember, all roads, places with 'Mat Salleh/British' names must be changed to Bahasa Melayu or to more patriotic names as part of decolonisation process in 1980s. For example, Teluk Anson to Teluk Intan, Campbell Road to Jalan Dang Wangi, Shaw Road to Jalan Hang Tuah, etc.. Even my taman perumahan in Seremban changed its name from Fortune Garden to Taman Dato' Shahbandar. But what happened in Kemaman is totally the opposite act. I don't see the benefits of it pun. Let Mak Nik just be Mak Nik ler. No need to be 'omputeh'..

I'm perplexed :-?

3 'Days' in a row

2008-06-17T23:35:00.006+08:00

Friday, 13th June was Pendekar's 32nd birthday. No kiddies around, he was busy working, I didn't plan anything in advance and hence no celebration.

My Pendekar ala P. Diddy :-p

Saturday, 14th June was my company's Family Day 2008. It was held at De Rhu Beach Resort, Balok. It's a 3 star resort if I'm not mistaken but the swimming pool is really huge!! Too bad my kids were not around. They could have enjoyed it. This year the management decided to have the Family Day without overnite in the hotel. So, I couldn't check how's the hotel room looks like. The theme was Fun Under The Sun and it was indeed fun. We had sukaneka for kids and adults namely 3 legged race, bowling kelapa, isi air dalam botol, etc.. I joined the 'Terompah Gergasi' and won second place. It was my lucky day too. I received a Giant Voucher worth RM 80 from the Lucky Draw. Lepas ler nak beli susu and diapers.. heheh..

Oh yeahh.. the best of all (to me) was performance by Methodist Girls School (MGS) Brass Band. They performed for the opening act and during lunch time. The performance was good so I decided to meet the teacher in-charged to congratulate the band. While doing so, I revealed to her that I was a former band member (I played the smallest instrument in the band).
The teacher asked me, "Which school were you from?" and I proudly answered "Tun Fatimah". She looked at me in disbelief and gave me a slap on my arm, "Hey, I pun budak band ler". Hehehe.. Apalagi, borak sakan ler after that. Sis Noorishah was from batch STF81-85. She used to play saxaphone. She's currently teaching English subject at MGS and is a band teacher. She told me that she was among the 1st batch in STF Band and they were the 1st to beat our rival, Sultan Ibrahim Girls School (SIGS) Brass Band in State Level Band Competition 1981. Macam-macam ler cerita. Budak2 band kalau jumpa memang semangat sikit.. heheh.. To Leymah and Inaleem, I've already told her about your actitivity with our STF Band. I invited her to join you guys in future and she is delighted to help our band :-D Ok, enough cerita band. Kalau nak cerita semua, tak habis2 karang.

See that!! Piccolo, the smallest instrument.

Me with Sis Noorishah

Sunday, 15th June was Father's Day. Again, Pendekar was working hard to contribute to the nation's wealth. Being family-less at the moment, sungguh takde mood nak celebrate. Really missing the kids :-(

Jaja telling everybody that her daddy is the best..

.. and yes her daddy is ;-) Love you Pendekar :-*

Frappuccino se!

2008-06-12T11:30:00.006+08:00

Look what I found at Pantai Selamat Supermarket, Bandar Chukai, Kemaman!!

Btw, I heard Starbucks will be opening an outlet at Kerteh soon. Kita tunggu dan lihat sajalah.

*se means one in Terengganu local slang.

Exporting the kiddos

2008-06-06T09:29:00.004+08:00

I'm going back to Seremban this evening. We are going to export our kids to my mom's and they will be staying there for a month. My Pendekar will be super-busy starting next week. His plant will be shutting down for maintenance works for 3 weeks. As he will be working late, he won't be able to pick up the kids from the nursery as usual. I couldn't pick them up either because I usually arrive home around 6:30 to 7:00 pm. The nursery time ends at 6:00 pm. After that, RM 6 will be charged for every 30 minutes late. Kalau lambat seminit pun, dia akan charge RM 6 jugak. So, we have no choice but to send the kids back to Seremban. If not kena bayar RM 12 X 15 days X 2 (kids). Now that the fuel price is like hell, every ringgit counts :-p Hmm.. it's gonna be a sunyi life lah without them nanti... :-(

Who says I cannot cook?

2008-05-27T14:22:00.003+08:00

Yesterday, I managed to cook a simple beef stew for the first time in my life!! Thanks to Faridah Begum's recipe that I found in Sunday Star. Yeah.. certainly it's a not a big deal to you guys. But to me, it was a sweet success. For your info, cooking has NEVER been part of my life until I got married. I remembered the day I got married, most of my aunties and uncles were questioning my ability to cook for my husband. But my youngest aunty, Che Ani stood up and defended me.. heheh.. "Ala, lama2 esok terrer ler, kan Sue". In her younger days, she was like me too. But she proved that anak bongsu can be a good cook despite starting late. Contrary to me, my sister loves cooking. I believe she started cooking in her Sains Rumah Tangga class in secondary (or maybe earlier). After SPM she sharpened her skills by cooking for the family. She always challenges herself by cooking new dishes and improvising recipes to her creativity. Pastu suka perasanlah masakan dia lagi sedap from others (tak mau mengalah tuh, tapi memang sedap pon.. heheh) *teringat her green curry chicken.. yummy*

I started cooking the moment I moved in with my dearest Pendekar. My Pendekar is the home eating type. A simple dish such as ikan masin, telur goreng & kicap will do for him. Yes, he's a simple man. We do eat outside but very seldom lah. So, nak tak nak I have to cook ler kan. If I remember correctly, my first dish was masak lemak cili api. Tell me, lelaki mana yang tak suka this hot dish. My mum said, masak lemak cili api is the simplest dish on earth. Her instruction to me was, "Tumbuh jek cili api and kunyit. Tumis and masukkan ayam, kasi dia *mengkal. Then masuk santan and kacau jgn kasik pecah minyak. Haa.. siap." Senang ehh? Itu original Negeri Sembilan punya recipe ler. My Pendekar prefers to add a bit of bawang merah in the tumisan. After that my mum siap call lagik, "Jadik tak?" Hehe.. Of course ler jadi. I'm not that bad ler..

Anyway, it is not easy to cook everyday being a working mama. Tambahan dah kerja jauh nih and takde maid pulak. So, when I'm tired and feeling lazy, my Pendekar will take over the kitchen. Believe it or not, he can cook and sedap pulak tuh. Some of his signature dishes are mee goreng mamak, ikap siakap sweet sour (proven sedap by his friend's dad), sotong masak kicap (ada campur daun limau purut), telur goreng ala Kylie Kwong, ayam masak madu ala Maggi and masak lemak. According to my mil, her only son nih likes to observe her cooking in the kitchen when he was small. Heheh.. no wonder ler ;-)

It has been nearly 5 years now from the day I indulge myself in cooking. I never thought that I can actually cook :-D Betullah cakap my Che Ani, "Dah kahwin nanti, automatic reti masak". Sekarang dah reti ler sikit-sikit cuma kadang-kadang tuh... malasssss.... :-p Perhaps a new kitchen (for the new house) will make me more rajin.. huhu..

*mengkal= kasik minyak keluar

The 'status' of the week..

2008-05-23T16:46:00.004+08:00

Gumbiranya ler penyokong2 MU nih. Seminggu ler tak tukar status dlm FB :-p

New mall in Kuantan

2008-05-21T08:51:00.008+08:00

Last Saturday, I was supposed to have fun with my friends at Bora Asmara for Faeiz's farewell. But my beloved Pendekar thinks that I should stay home and spend time with the family. So, I did. To make it up to me, he took off on Sunday (as Terengganu kerja) and promised to bring us jalan-jalan at the newly opened mall in Kuantan. Kebetulan my car's air-cond compressor needs to be replaced. So, there's another reason to turun Kuantan.

We decided to drive 2 cars to Kuantan, thinking that our kids will get cranky in my malfunctioned air-cond car. So, Pendekar went to Kuantan first with my Honda Jazz, then me and kids went later with his Kancil. It took us nearly 2 hours to reach Kuantan. I only drove 80 km/hr with his Kancil. I don't dare to drive more than that with my kids in a small car. We picked Pendekar at Honda Service Centre and made our way to East Coast Mall. The mall made its debut on 30th April. It was said to bring new shopping dimension to the residents of Kuantan (and Kerteh as well.. hehe..). So, let me check on it.

As we entered the car park, we knew that this shopping mall is actually not quite ready to be opened to public. The car park was still in a mess and there were still some constructions going on. The parking lines at certain area were not available hence making people to park their car sesuka hati mak bapak mereka. Lucky thing, the entrance was free (at the moment).

The mall comprises of two main anchors which are Carrefour and Parkson. This latest Parkson's outlet is quite exclusive which offers more choices and brands. At last, Kuantan people have better options to buy quality goods from clothing to household items within reach. As for Carrefour, I'm not a regular customer. So, I can't comment. But I think hyper-market mana2 pun sama jek. Other tenants occupying the mall are Brands Outlet (my fav!), FOS, Aussino, Padini, MNG, Quicksilver, Royal Sporting House, Al -Ikhsan, Bata, handbag boutiques- Sembonia, Bonia, Carlo Rino, gift shop- Lovely Lace and other clothing boutiques. Other boutiques that (I remember) yet to be opened are Adidas and Crocs. Most of the boutiques above are in small scale. The Brands Outlet here is more organized compare to Ikano's. The clothes are well folded and hung up unlike at Ikano's where the clothes are just being lambak in the box. The restaurants available here are not that bad too. They have the usual fast food chains such as Pizza hut, Rasamas and the specialty restaurants such as Laksa Shack, Johnny's Restaurant and Sushi King. All these restaurants are located at the 3rd floor. To lepak2 and get a quick bite, there's Big Apple, Baskin Robins and Starbucks waiting for you at the ground floor. However, I was a bit frustrated that my fav bookshop MPH is no where to be found there. Even Seremban pun ada MPH tau.. Kuantan bila lagi???

The layout of the mall is quite typical like other malls. In fact, my fellow colleague, Arbaq told me that the layout of East Coast Mall is exactly the same as AEON Tebrau City Mall in Johor Bahru except the later is bigger. To me, the layout is not that shopper friendly. There is no escalator at the concourse area. Therefore, we need to walk from one end to the other end of the building for an escalator or an elevator. Kalau nak window shopping okeylah. But kalau nak cepat (nak pergi specific shop), agak menyusahkan jugaklah. At certain area of the mall, sofas are provided for those who needs to rest their feets. It's a conducive waiting area for hubbies too ;-)

Overall, I would say that East Coast Mall might be a new shopping dimension to certain people but not me as I've seen better malls (eheh). But this mall definitely caters my shopping needs as most of my basic resources can be found here ;-) So, the next time I'm in KL, I won't be heading to the malls first. I would rather chill out with my friends and family. Heheh.. me no jakun anymore :-D

Under my workdesk...

2008-05-20T09:25:00.004+08:00

This morning, when I was about to switch on my CPU, I was shocked to find a dead rat lying under my desk!! Nasib baik tak jerit :-p My HR told me, he must had eaten the poison. I think the rat had just died last nite, because the was no rotting smell detected.. phew. Kalau dah lama mati, mesti bau kaw2 punya. My boss helped me to get rid of it and the mak cik amah cleaned the spot with a bleech to ensure the kumans from the rat are eliminated.

Kenapalah tempat aku dia pilih untuk mati.. hmmmm...

Belated card

2008-05-14T08:16:00.008+08:00

I got a card from Suhayl yesterday. A belated Mother's Day card :-D I was so touched..

My 1st Mother's Day card from Suhayl.

Creative kan? Using bunga jenjarum and ferns from his taska compound.

I love you too cheeky monkey!!

Mother's Day

2008-05-12T09:10:00.008+08:00

My mother's day celebration started at Friday nite. I attended Petronita's Mother's Day Dinner at Kelab Golf Desa Rantau Petronas. The theme was traditional. This time I have no problem thinking what to wear. The moment I heard the theme, my wedding dress appeared in my mind, hopingly it can still fits me.

On Friday, I took the baju kebaya songket bunga tabur from my wardrobe and put it on. And you know what, suprisingly longgar!! I don't even have to wear a girdle. I remembered when I wore it for our wedding at Teluk Intan like 5 years ago, it was kinda tight (dengan tak cukup kain, ngam2 jek 4 ela). Patut ler my friends and my mum always complaint how kurus I am after kahwin.. hmmphh. Anyway, with a dash of make-up and accessories borrowed from my sister in law, I walked out of the house elegantly *perasan cun*. The kain baju kebaya is slitted. Sekali langkah masuk kereta, haa.. terbelah terus. Sungguh tak sopan. Nasib baik pergi all woman's dinner jek.

Upon arrival, we were given door gift consisting of slice of choc cake and a small rotan basket full of Cadbury chocolates. The dinner began by singing Petronita song which we missed because of our late entrance. After the president's speech, we sang Aishah's Syurga Di Bawah Tapak Kaki Ibu beramai-ramai. The highlight of the event was the Ibu Anggun Competition. Nurin won the third place by wearing Zian's saree. The 1st place was won by Nora. She wore a dress ala Cleopatra. While having our dinner, we were entertained by volunteers. Tapi kenapalah mereka ini suka menyanyi lagu-lagu dangdut :-p The dinner ended with the pocho2 dance- another Petronita signature activity. End of my pre-mother's day celebration.

On Saturday nite, my Pendekar volunteer to cook for us. Me and my sister-in-law memang hampeh.. hehe. The next day when I asked him, if there's any plan for this special day? He answered, "Malam tadi yang saya masak tuh kira my treat ler tuh." Okaylah.. diterima :-p I celebrated alone in the house watching Desperate Housewives Mother's Day Special Marathon on StarWorld. Takde lah tengok doing nothing. Sambil2 tuh vacuum rumah, lipat baju, basuh kain, etc.. Later that evening after picking up the kids, I spent time with them at the park. Suhayl wished me, "Happy Mama's Day". Looking at my kids, I just can't believe I'm a mother of two now. Hmmmm... (looking back at the past and thinking...)

Anyway, happy belated mother's day to all and have a nice day ;-)

Labour Day Hols

2008-05-08T08:41:00.007+08:00

My balik kampung trip last weekend was fun. All my siblings and their family pun balik Seremban. Meriah satu rumah :-D Mumsie and abah just got back from their Spain-Morroco-Egypt vacation. As usual, they bought me a HRC tee (Madrid) and a Real Madrid jersey for Pendekar. Abah took a lot of pictures with his new digital camera. Previously, abah just used my digital camera. With his new one, ambil gambar tak ingat dunia punya. Mentang-mentang ler 2GB. So, on my last nite in Seremban, I helped him transfer the pictures that he wanted to print out. Spain and Morroco is really beautiful. My dad didn't take many photos in Egypt because they have been there before. My dad is really good in taking photos. He knows what to shoot, choosing the unusual, significant & perfect spot, the right angle, etc.. Talking about unusual, there's one shot that made me said EEUUUWWWW. My parents had to transit at New Delhi on their way back to Malaysia. Mumsie told us that as they were touching down, they saw a village of squatter just besides the landing strip/runaway. Do you know what my dad managed to shoot?? A half naked man in 'cangkung' position. Cangkung for you know what ler kan. My mum said all the people on the plane had a great laugh when my dad shot that photo. Abah.. abah.. hehehe..

That's about my parents' trip. Now about my shopping trip pulak heheh. On Friday, I went to Ikano and The Curve. Mainly to buy the kids stuff and pressie for my cousins' newborns. Amazingly, I didn't step into IKEA pun. That's a record.. heheh.. Later, I had lunch with Sareque, Chot and Noi at the newly opened Bubba Gump Restaurant (from the Forrest Gump movie). The resturant was brought in to Malaysia by the Naza Group. And sadly that day, Tan Sri S.M Nasimuddin passed away. The main specialty is shrimp ler kan. We just ordered simple dishes. Malas nak belek menu lama2 sebab dah lapar sangat plus sibuk nak berborak & bergossip. Ambik gambar pun tak sempat (konon nak post dalam blog ler). After lunch, Noi balik office and I hung out with the others just for a while because I had to rush to Mothercare Subang Parade to get Suhayl's Cosysnooze seatbelt pillow. The only piece left! By 5pm, I was already leaving Subang Jaya and exactly at 6pm, my beloved Pendekar called me, suruh balik. By then, I was already in Jusco Seremban 2 :-p

Newborns. My cousin's daugther aka my partner in crime masa kecik2, Linda just gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Amir Aidan. She delivered at Prince Court Medical Centre at Bukit Bintang. When I called to congratulate her, we didn't talk about her baby that much. Instead, we talked about how posh the hospital is.. hehehe.. sampai Linda tersasul cakap 'hotel' tuh. Syok ler staf Petronas yang duduk KL. Terasa nak beranak di sana for my third (insya Allah kalau ada in future). Another newborn is my cousin's, Damia. Not so new ler. Tapi tak sempat nak kasik pressie sampai ler her majlis aqiqah harituh. She's already 6 months old.

On Sunday, we left Seremban early because that evening we needed to sign some few documents with Petronas' appointed lawyer regarding our new house. I think in few weeks time, we will be getting our keys and will start paying off our hefty loan monthly :-( Tapi takpe, rumah cun.. hehe.. Pendekar's best friend also has just purchased a unit near our lot. So, petang2 boleh ler diorang main cricket sama2 nanti :-p

End of updates. Sekian, terima kasih.

Family holiday and prep..

2008-04-30T16:15:00.003+08:00

When your friends are all over the world, you tend to make it a point to pay them a visit sambil2 berholiday. Zarina in Germany, Zhou in Spain, Meen in Norwich, Ruzi in Leeds, Faeiz will be in Holland.. banyak tuh tempat boleh pergi. Like they always said, "Bila lagi nak pegi? Dah ada orang kat sana, lagi senang nak jalan". Yelah, accomodation free, tour guide free, etc.. heheh. So, I did made a plan to visit Meen by April next year because she's coming back to Malaysia for good in middle 2009. However, after discussing with my Pendekar, he decided not to proceed with the holiday due to some reasons (sorry Meen darling :-() He prefers to go for a holiday in nearby country like Indonesia. Hmmpphh.. there goes my UK holiday plan down the drain. "Dalam negeri nih pun tak habis jalan, sibuk nak gi oversea". That was always his comment whenever I brought up the oversea holiday plan :-p

His ultimate reason is he is saving his money for "something" that I couldn't share with you guys here. Siapa yang dah tahu tuh, senyap2. His second reason is a bit wiser (to me) :-p He is concern on taking the kids in long journey flight. And for that reason, he suggested to go to places with short journey flight. Ala2 'trial run' ler (ditujukan khas kepada Arbaq). So, last2 we decided to go tooooooo

PULAU LANGKAWI!!!

Why? Because he hasn't been there yet and I think it's a nice place to bring the kids to chill out. We have booked our 3D2N KL-Langkawi holiday package with Air Asia. We'll be staying at Awana Porto Malai. The hotel rates are reasonable and the children swimming pool looks kinda fun. I'm sure the kids are gonna love it. We're going in mid of August, just before the school holidays. Pendekar will be extremely busy in June-July for his plant shutdown (maintenance). September will be fasting month. So, August is the best time for us. The package costed us RM 1130. Okeh tak?

Eagerly, I Googled on traveling tips with kids and have listed items to bring (and get). Kiasu lah pulak kan. But I have to do this now because I'm going to KL this Friday for shopping. June-July memang takde harapanlah nak turun KL. Kuantan pulak is lack of resources (heheh.. alasan). So back to the items. Believe it or not, after 4 years of being a parent, I still haven't got a decent diaper/changing cum traveling bag that can fit the kids' feeding and changing items. Usually when traveling by car, I have this bakul rotan to put the flask, bottles, tin susu, crackers, etc.. basically items untuk bancuh susu and makan. Other items like diapers, towels, clothes are packed in my shopping bag (tote canvas bag- M&S, Country Road or sling bag- Le Sport Sac, Esprit). But for traveling by plane, I don't think that's practical. Therefore, I'm now hunting for my ideal diaper/changing bag (Nana, you're not the only one hunting..hehe). So far, I've spotted one practical bag that I like- Kapoochi Milan Backpack at Littlewhiz.com. It looks spacious. Hopefully boleh sumbat macam2. Another essential item in the list is a stroller. Not that we don't have one, but the current Graco stroller is a bit heavy and bulky. I need a light weight foldable stroller. But I'm not gonna buy one. I plan to borrow from Sareque *cheapskate mode*. She has 3 strollers!! Luggage pun nak pinjam from Mumsie. Nak isi 4 orang punya baju nih. Hehehe.. preparation macam nak pergi lama ekk.. hehe *poyo*.

I'm really looking forward for this holiday. The last holiday that we had (minus company's family day) was at Melaka. Suhayl was only 2 years old. Sorang senanglah nak handle. Now, nak kena handle 2 orang. Let's see how will it gonna be. If 'trial-run' nih OK, next holiday bolehlah pergi oversea kan sayang.. Germany ker, Barcelona ker.. heheh..

Panel Bidan Terjun

2008-04-21T23:14:00.004+08:00

I went to Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) today. Zian and I were invited to be panels for *FKKSA final year students' process design project. The faculty wanted people from the working industry to give their input and comments. We were recommended by our lecturer friend in UMP, Rosma. We used to study in UTM. She is now a master holder and lecturing in UMP. Soon, she will proceed for her pHD. Other panels were lecturers from the faculty itself.

The session went well. Zian commented most of the time, mainly in process synthesis, economy analysis and HAZOP. She was like Ogy at Konsert Akademi Fantasia.. hehe.. As for me, I'm more like Ning :-p My expertise is in HSE (Health, Safety and Environment). I only gave few questions/comments because the students didn't elaborated safety and environmental aspect that much in the design project which was quite disappointing for me. After nearly 8 years leaving the university, the syllabus is still the same and no improvements made :-( I hope that HSE will be taken seriously in future. The other two lecturers threw tough questions too. Menggelabah student2 tuh jawab. Teringat zaman2 aku kat UTM dulu.. hehehe.

Overall, the students were presentable and stand up to their selves. Tapi mana yang tak betul tuh, tetap tak betullah kan. Anyway, I'm sure they will be good engineers one day ;-)

*Fakulti Kejuruteraan Kimia & Sumber Asli.

Khadijah Aliya is 1 today

2008-04-13T22:34:00.003+08:00

My cutie pie is one year old today. We had a 'private party' for her. Hehe.. private sebab tak jemput orang pun. Just us.

Kopitiam in Paka, Dungun

2008-04-12T13:36:00.013+08:00

I had a rough evening yesterday :-( To cheer myself up, this morning I ajak my hubby to have breakfast at the newly discovered kopitiam in Paka. I just discovered this kopitiam last week. Yes, Paka has 3 kopitiams now. 2 of it are owned by the locals here. The one that we went is owned by an outsider. Ada ler tempat nak ngeteh yang 'posh' sket.. huhuhu..

Welcome to Corner Bean Cafe of Paka. It is located at Paka Business Centre. When we arrived, the Kopitiam was just opened. There were not so many customers compare to the previous time that we went at nite. The menu is more or less the same as other kopitiams in Malaysia. We ordered roti kaya bakar and kopi. The ambiance is quite peaceful. From the coffee shop, you can see coconut trees and the sea from afar. And once in a while, you can feel the wind flowing swiftly inside the kopitiam which is really soothing. But the service was kinda slow :-( Padahal tak ada ler ramai sangat customers.

The roti kaya and kopi tasted biasa jelah. Tak setanding our usual spot- Hai Peng's in Chukai, Kemaman. We usually go there once a fortnight. This time saja tukar angin. After making some comparison, I think we will stick to our usual spot ler although is a bit far. Roti bakar Hai Peng punya pasal sanggup aja.. heheh..

(Pic: Jaja pun nak minum kopi)

Spec hitam Pendekar & kopi

Roti bakar kaya

My naughty Suhayl

A dinner and a dress

2008-03-31T14:11:00.009+08:00

Last Friday, I went for a dinner at Awana Kijal Hotel. It was an annual dinner organized by Petronita, a society for women and wives of hubbies working in Petronas. In my case, I never registered pun. I was invited by my neighbour, Nurin. Since I don't have anything fun to do, so I decided to go. The theme was 'Black and Grey" (mind the spelling in the pic). For a sempoi person like me, obviously I didn't have anything to wear. I was supposed to check out Zian's wardrobe but due to unforseen circumstances I didn't make it to see her. Last week dah ler after work punya schedule was kinda tight. The only evening that I was free was on Thursday. So, last Thursday after work, was my dress-hunting time. Luckily I found one at fyi Boutique. Thanks to the shop owner, I managed to get a decent long black dress, a selendang and a flower brooch. The shop owner helped to dress and style me up from head to toe!!! The boutique actually caters for big size people. But since I have no time, I just grabbed that one. I took the smallet size- 1. Okaylah, takde lah fitting sangat kan.

The dinner was kinda glamourous ler jugak. The makcik2 really dressing maut. Terasa aku sungguh cikai. Ciss, takpe. I'm an engineer, I don't dress up.. heheh. We had a chinese course dinner and were entertained by Fairuz Hussein. Damn... her voice is so husky and sedap gilerr. But most of the makciks there didn't appreciated her much. Aku jek beria2 kasik tepukan gemuruh untuk dia. Other than that, we had some few games and were entertained by few volunteers to sing on the stage including Nurin. We also did the Pocho2 Dance (Yess.. WTF?) Dahler pakai high heels dan tak reti menari. At one moment, memang nak terkehel kaki aku.

Ohh yea, my number was lucky!! I got a double deck fruit platter from Maidin. Maidin pun maidin ler, better than nothing kan. The overall dinner was kinda okay2 jelah. Nasib baik kakak emcee tuh was happening and pandai buat lawak. It was my first time attending such dinner. I enjoyed myself chatting with new people, listening to gossip of si polan whom I didn't know, singing to myself when Fairuz sang "I will survive" and paling best checking out the makcik's style. Makcik bukan sebarang makcik tau. Their dresses sama standard cam Muslimah's Runaway tau. Jeles aku nengok. Well, at least I know how to style myself for future dinner ;-) Ohh, another thing yang paling best is that now I have a dinner dress in my wardrobe!!! My first ever dinner dress!! :-D Siapa2 nak ajak aku pergi dinner lagi, sila2 lah jemput. *Jakun mode*

Last week in Kertih..

2008-03-23T14:20:00.010+08:00

My parents stayed at my place for few days since last Monday. Suhayl was so excited. Yelah.. bolehlah mengada2 :-p. Jaja reacted differently this time. All this while Jaja always manja with my mom. Dengan my dad mcm kurang sikit. But harituh it was the opposite. Jaja didn't want to be held by my mom. Dok ngan atuk jek.

Whenever my mom datang, automatically my house will be spick and span. Hehe.. actually kinda suka juga but at the same time kinda pening. My mom will usually re-organise my house a bit especially at the kitchen. Sometimes, after she returned to Seremban, I have to call her just to know where the heck did she kept the containers ler, tupperware ler, the frying pan, etc.. And as usual when she comes, she will cook for us ler kan. Unlike anak solehah yang sepatutnya masak for their parents, I don't do that :-p She will cook our favourite dishes especially for her menantu ler. My hubby eats everything that she cooks and she's happy with it. My abang ipar is kinda type yang tak makan itu ini especially the masakan kampong. So, my mom selalu complaint susah nak masak for him. So, clearly my Pendekar wins the medal of menantu kesayangan.. hehehe.

When my parents are around, it's like a Family Reunion Edisi Pantai Timur. My brother will come to lepak at my house. Yeahh.. I almost forgot that I have an architect brother working here. Maybe because he is living single here without his family, I always forgot about him. Another person who is dear to our family is Zian. When I said OUR favourite dishes, that's including her. My mom will always ask,"Is Zian around? Is she coming?" Zian is my mom's official tukang bawak pergi pasar tani on Fridays. But last Friday, she was late so my mom went with my dad. Feeling guilty, Zian treated us for a seafood bakar dinner at Kuala Kertih. We wanted to order oyster bakar but we were 10 mins late. Finished oledi!! Ciss.. So we had nasi with kerang rebus (aku suruh bakar, dia rebus pulak), ikar kaci & pari bakar, chilli crab and stir fried veggies. The seafood dishes were really scrumptious and tasty. The stir fried veggies was not inviting at all :-(

Oh yea, on Maulidur Rasul, I took my parents to see our house in Bukit Istana, Bandar Indera Mahkota, Kuantan. They really loved the house and my mom dah start jadi macam Eric Leong. Hehehe.. I told her to keep her Wanita, Perempuan, Midi and Keluarga magazines for me (because my aunties always borrow and terus jadi harta sendiri :-p). Some of these magazine featured ideas and styles from the rich and famous' homes. Hehehe.. not that I'm rich, but just to get some ideas in deco. The first area that I'm planning to decorate/renovate is the kitchen :-) After the house tour, we had lunch at the newly opened Secret Recipe in Bandar Indera Mahkota. It's like only 1.5 km from Bukit Istana. I can even jog to get there if I want to. But takkan ler nak jogging merentas flyover pulak kan. Pendekar told me that Secret Recipe will also be opening an outlet in Kertih soon, once the construction of Rantau Mall is completed. Yang ini pun is just like 2km from our current house. Heheh.. boleh naik basikal jek nih.

My parents have returned to Seremban. Might be seeing them again after their Spain-Morroco-Cairo trip in April. My house is in a mess again (masa nih baru teringat mak :-p) and will only be tidy after my kids go to sleep. My mom called me just now, reminding me to vacuum my bedroom.

"I tak sempat vacuum your room harituh. Make sure you vacuum eh.. banyak habuk bawah katil tuh".

Hmm.. it's a bit annoying jugak ler kan to have someone membebel for you from far but that it's just her.. my spick-and-span- squeeky-clean mumsie.

T-shirt folder

2008-03-18T08:53:00.005+08:00

Hehehe.. I actually made one at home. I customized it a bit to suit my closet rack. Not that I am pemalas or tak reti nak lipat baju, but saja gatal nak try. I'm kinda enjoying it and kinda teruja to see the lipatans are all the same macam kat kedai tuh. Ohh.. lupa pulak nak ambil gambar to show off. Maybe later.. ;-)

Tagged VII- Where Do I Usually Go Online

2008-03-17T14:25:00.003+08:00

I wanted to post something before I answer this tag. But since the topic that I'm gonna post is somehow related with the topic above, so jawab jelah lorr..

1. http://www.geni.com/.
Yup, this is my latest favourite site to go whenever I'm online (this is the thing that I wanted to write about). Last week, my cuz E invited me to this site. I registered and began to check our family tree. Thanks to my second cousin Yana whom initiated our tree, we are able to check out who's this and who's that. Usually masa raya kalau sedara yang tak kenal dtg mesti tanya my mom and she will answered, "Haa.. tuler, maso orang ajak ngikut poie kenduri kahwin and beghayo tak nak... Haa.. nih sedaro sendiri tak konal". Heheh.. But now that I know all my relatives (online), I doubt that will happened again in future.. huhu.. Silap haribulan aku lagi tau.. heheheh.. Nway, from the tree I got to know that my great great grandfather was a renowned ulama' in Rembau, Hj. Dahat Muhamad Nor. My mom did told me about arwah before tapi tak sangka ler pulak he was somebody important in Rembau. You can check more (a bit) about him at http://sungaiujung.blogspot.com/. I also discovered that I'm actually related to Noi and Yoi indirectly..hehehe.. what a small world ler kan ;-)

2. My tightest link.
Usually I will check out my friends' blogs early of the week. I love reading their stories and thots. Since I am far away, I seldom meet up with them (Bunyi macam jauh jek padahal Kertih jek.. hehe). So by reading their blogs at least I get to know their recent activities, etc.. So takde ler ketinggalan bila ada sesi mengumpat.. opss.. sesi borak2 at kopitiam :-p

3. Facebook
Used to be my daily dose but sekarang dah slow sikit ler (Alamak! Scrabbulous tak jalan lagik..) But it is a really good platform to jejak kasih with your friends. I managed to hooked up again with my Convent Seremban friends online. Another interesting thing about Facebook is when you discovered that your friend is actually a friend of a friend and so on..

4. My blogs
Self explanatory.

5. Green sites
One of my daily dose. Any green site will do. Check out some links at my green blog.

6. MPH
I will go to this site monthly to check the latest offers and books on shelf. Actually I'm not a book-worm. I just buy books to get rebates for my income tax :-p I hardly have time to read actually. But I make it a point to read at least one book per month.

To Leymah, Nurgee, Adzue, Astrid, Meen, OpsieDaisy, Avoch, Arbaq, Sareque, Chot.. sila jawab. Sekian, TQ.