It's the time of the year

When I get to play mom of four! Yes...my niece and nephew had flown in from Kuala Terengganu on Tuesday night to spend the rest of their school holidays with Amri and Adam. Once a year, I get to act like a seasoned mom, not unlike Ninuk and Gartblue and Azida. Maybe I'll also post a pic of all four of them here like gartblue. That is, if i can get all four of them to stand still at one place for a few seconds.

I have yet to plan their rezdenvous but I think the trip to KLCC Petrosain and Aquaria is a must, judging from Kakak's enthusiasm. Sampai menggigau!

Mak & Abah go to Mecca

The morning started well enough. There were many guests. Kak Cik and I fed them well (or so we thought). Both of us could not locate the plates and cutleries and cup. Adam managed to break one glass. The house was in complete mess. Amri went missing. So far so good......

A neighbour recite adzan and du'a and both mak & Abah boarded our car and off we go to Bayan Lepas. Only to make emergency stop half an hour later because Adam decided to puke out a bottleful of milk. Which was actually the order of the day. We were used to it. The only problem was that some of the vomitted out milk had dribbled to mak's dress, whom was sitting beside me. And mak would be travelling with that dress. To Mecca no less. The nine hours plane ride. The many many hours at Tabung Haji complex. The many many hours after arrival before they check in into their hotel. Oh my God...................

We furiously tried to wipe mak's dress down with wet wipe, which was heavensent at time like this. Lucky for us, Adam vomited out right after he downed the big bottle of milk so it had no chance to cuddle and turned sour yucky smelling yet. Okay...done with that. But still a little bit problem. I was drenched in puke....heheheheh. Eeeekkkk!!!!!!!!!!!

Saw to Mak & Abah checking in and stuff at Tabung haji complex. Thank God there were Mak Anjang, Pak Anjang, Pak Cik Tajul and Pak Teh Ali there as we were completely clueless. Stayed around till Dzuhur time then made our move since Mak & Abah would need to get ready for their solat. Drove around Penang and got completely lost looking for Holiday Inn Batu Feringgi. Duh. The authority there needed a refresher course in signboard placing. Managed to check in one hour later, dead tired and smelled wonderfully of puke.

This was one of the rare occasion when we ordered room service and was delighted by such thing.

Amri 5 Year Old

A letter to Pak Caq

Dear Pak Caq,

Ida might think she'd be able to hide the fact from you and knowing her, the bright and mischievous young lady, she'd find a way. But I just wanted you to know that, Ida managed to get her hand scalded by a pan of hot boiling oil. So, do not be surprised when you see her with err...discoloured hand. I also wanted to inform you that, I did try to get her to see a doctor but she insisted that her hand would heal by itself. Much that I love her, I do not intent to argue with a tae kwon do expert. Therefore, please forgive me for not doing much other than suggesting to her that I could fetch her from office or commuter station and bring her back to my house for further reprimanding.

Your fav niece,
Nae

Caught off guard

Amri yelled from his bathroom saying that he did not any more toothpaste. Fine, I grabbed one from supplies cabinet and handed to him...half expecting him to whine about the unnecessary ritual of brushing teeth. Instead...he took the toothpaste from me and exclaimed "Wow.....new toothpaste!!! And a big one!" I was dumbstrucked. He then proceeded to peel out the box, get the tube out and squeezed a dollop on his toothbrush. His face lighted up again. "It's mango!!!!! Thank you, ibu." I was still dumbstrucked but managed a teeny weeny "Welcome"

This little person always amazed me. Honestly, there was nothing fancy with the toothpaste. It was the same brand he's been using for years, just in a bit bigger tube and different flavour. I'd never knew a new tube of toothpaste could be so exciting to a five year old. Nor would I imagined it to be. It was a reminder to me that I still had so much to learn. Even if I were to be a mom fifth time round, I'd still be amazed with those little monster...ehhh....angels.

We were invited to another birthday party at McD section 3. Well....Amri still had not recovered from his frightening experience with McD clown (or was it a bird?) last year, who appeared at play area while Anisa's girls and my boys were playing. The girls screamed and ran, which was understandable. The clown/mascot/big bird really looked ugly, with its dirty costume and all. But I really did not expect Amri to scream and run and keep on being frightened till this day...hihihi. Poor little thing. Just hope he does not sue me for phychological damage twenty years down the road.
However, no clown made any appearance but I still felt sorry for Amri and the birthday girl as well. Asya, whom is also Amri's classmate at q-dees was pretty sick and obviously did not enjoy her birthday. Hope you feel better soon Asya.

I finally managed to collect my gendong from Ninuk. However, there were only two left. So I bought one for Lah. Sorry kak Zehan & friend...yours had to wait.

Syawal? Zulkaedah?

I thought with Syawal ending yesterday, there would be no more open houses to attend and I would be able to watch over my food intake (and my expanding girth) even more closely. The meagre kgs that I lost during fasting month kept threatening to make a come back. Plus, I had like a few millions things to do, most of which were kept being posponed week after week.

I attended Little Khalifah open house (kindy) in the morning, feeling very pleased with the way they incorporated montessori and genius gym methodogy into the syllabus. Grabbed a few bites then rushed off. I would have to come back next week to register Amri. Hopped into hubby's car and off to Kelana Jaya. Rushed home one and half hour later and took kain batik terengganu for Amri's nenek and a new bottle of milk for Adam then off to Lestari Puchong. Second open house for the day. I was half suspecting it to be a birthday party since the date fell outside Syawal so I came prepared with birthday presents for both kids. The host was hubby's ex housemate whom had helped him a lot when he was in deep trouble years ago. The wife was a great cook and not surprisingly, single handedly prepared all the sumptious galore except for two items. All the while still maintaining the zen state of her kitchen, instead of turning it into a warzone. Amazing! I wouldn't be able to do that even if I were helped by an army of maids. Hubby met another ex housemate and chat away merrily. I used the time to get a third helping of everything...hihihi.

Hours later, we bade farewell to the host and made our way to Puchong Perdana, visiting Amri's ex babysitter whom had become like a family to us. Amri gave his nenek the kain batik we bought at Terengganu. It has become a ritual. Every year we'd buy a pair and presented to her though she'd probably has a whole wardrobe full of them batiks.

Said our goodbye sooner than planned because Adam had soiled his second diaper and I did not have any more stock in hand. Upon reaching home, bibik told that our neighbour invited us over for their open house do. Quickly showered and changed the very comot boys and made our way to another open house of the day. Since it was almost Maghrib, lets just call it our dinner :)

Phew!!!!!!!

A birthday and an anniversary

Happy 5th Birthday to Amri Siddiq!!!!!!!!!

He arrived 5 years ago, 10 days overdue, bundled as our wedding anniversary gift.

Today however, Amri and I celebrated our big day by ourselves. Ayah was not around until much later in the evening. We went out gallivating around town followed by an open house at Section 2 .

Happy Anniversary to darling hubby.

Our Annual Aidilfitri Open House

Nothing special actually...just our annual eating galore in conjuction of Syawal. But it was a great excuse to see friends and families and catching up with each other. Things like, who arrived with a new member in the family or going to be new addition in a few months, who work where (surprisingly, quite a number will be going to middle east), who has put on more kgs than moi etc etc. Most of the guest were the usual crowd as previous years but somehow ended up driving around in confusion looking for our house. Reason? We changed the gate & fence to what i called pagar sultan melaka :) Hehehe...sorry guys. Didn't know that my previous senget gate was a landmark of its own.

The foods were okay but I wish I had time to come up with something better. It was planned to be on 27th, thus celebrating Amri's birthday and our anniversary at one go but unfortunately, dear hubby would not be around so we had to brought forward the date. Of course, my regular caterer couldn't make it so I had to make do with any available resouces. The birthday cake for Amri arrived very late as well so we had to shelve the birthday do as well. Oh boy..... Amri did not mind though.....he did not find the idea of people singing happy birthday to him and him blowing the candle and cutting it anywhere near FUN. He was very contend with cutting the cake with only us as witness and Adam to help him butchered the cake

All in all the open house was just as usual, starting around noon as lasted all the way into midnight peppered with rain in the evening. Anyway....we noticed something interesting about Amri. Somehow he had acquired a good host skill. He waited for the guest at the gate (in the rain, of course) greeted them complete with customary salam, showed them in and brought foods for the kids. If any kids were giving their moms a hard time, he would brought a few toys to pacify the kids. He even helped to guide one crying tod to his mom who was occupied at buffet table, albeit a wrong mom :) . If he had time to spare in between entertaining his friends, he would pack some sweets and chocs to the parting kids, and of course...duit raya. So..to those people who arrived late and you kids did not get any chocs, sweets and all the junks, you knew what happened :) I'l make sure to double the stock next year. I honestly did not know where Amri picked up this peculiar skill. We certainly did not throw party every few weeks for him to pick up any PR lesson. Perhaps it was the in things for kids of his age. Perhaps he tought it was his birthday party

Battle on

Back to work. Ready to battle on. Surprisingly, I did not suffer any post holiday blues. I was feeling very refreshed, battery fully charged and quite anxious to get back to office. This would be a hectic week but it's fine with me. I'm all geared up and ready for war...hehehe. At least, my room looks like a warzone. But....but...I draw a line at dressing up and meeting people. Puhleessee. This week I just want to dress in old pants, bury myself with the mess on my table and speak only to my potted plants.

All will be well.

Goodbye Losong

We were finally ready to leave around 10am. Made a few million stop along the way. I was wondering what if I were to have 5 kids....how many millions more stop I would have to make and how many times would I have to change clothes because my precious kids decided to puke on me. But I guess, its all worth it.

Reached home sweet home at 6.00pm. Missed my home and my new pagar sultan melaka :) Immediately started the Aveo engine. Went to nearby shop later for some raw material to cook but all were still closed. Very well, cooked canned sardine and egg soup for dinner. Plus salted fish from Pasar Payang :)

Final Day

I was contemplating a dressed down day, after days of dolling up and prowling about. It would be nice to be back in rags with a laptop on my expanding tummy or a book. And eat simple food. My tummy could accomodate a whole set of PC if I carried on the eating binge.

Ummie however, wanted us to attend a wedding at Bukit Payung. Well...okay I guess. It had been quite some time since I last attended an east coast wedding. Plus, I could drop by at Kak Emy/Abg Ipin place which was somewhere there. Better still, Amri had dissappeared so no need to bring him along.

Turned out, Kak Emy was back at Air Itam for her cousin's wedding. And the wedding we attended was simple one since it was on the groom side. We ate, said thank you to the groom's parents plus the customary salam keruk (a hand shake with money attached) and left. When we reached home, Amri was still not back. So I quickly changed into rags and we went shopping at Pasar Payang....yey!!!!!!!!

Truth is, I rarely shopped at Terengganu. There is nothing there that couldn't be found somewhere in Klang Valley..though at higher price. This day however, I was in shopping mood. Plus I wanted to buy my stock of anchovies and salted fish. A pair of silk dress wouldn't hurt either.

The stall owner was shocked when I said I wanted a kilogram of the nice ikan bilis and the whole of that big ikan talang masin. Had to repeat a few times though. By the time I finished my shopping list, the pakcik was grinning from ear to ear. He must have been thinking.....who was this idiot that bought everything without even haggling a single cent. Haiyaaa...forgot la..plus it was already very cheap I wouldn't have the heart to ask for discount.

Guess who we met at Pasar Payang foodcourt? Our next door neighbour...Kak Mala & Abg Rajman minus the broods. It really is a small world.

When I reached home, Amri didn't even realised I was away.

That night, Adik went back to Kuantan. Hubby packed half of our stuff and left the rest to me. He knew perfectly well that I would have left the packing to the very last minute. In the meantime, I was making a list of damages done by my boys. Amri broke one cookie container and burnt one of Alif's book. Adam has broken one cookie container and one drinking glass. Must remember to replace them all on my next trip.

Eid-Ul-Fitr Day 3

This was a day for long distance trip. Sorry Ninuk, couldn't make it to your house this morning...the itenary was very full. After a short chit chat with hubby's friend who came visiting with his family, we were off to Kijal. ('we' = aboh, hubby, my two boys, kakak - my niece, alif - my nephew and myself). 4 kids on board equals double trouble but, what the heck! It was raya afterall.

First stop was Nina/Khairi grandparent's place at Kijal. By my standard, it was not far. But the lack of highway or at least 3 lanes road made it a verrrry long ride. And also the fact that I carried four kids :) Actually, the traffic was kinda heavy probably because some of us outstation folks were making their way home, whereever home is. Nina/Khairi was kind enough to meet us on the roadside and lead the way to their place. As expected, my kids managed to create chaos. Adam touched a fragile cookie and noticed how easy it breaks into pieces. He then proceeded to grind a few more into powdery substance before Nina noticed it. Amri, being non-dairy person...dengan tak malunya requested for ice tea, instead of the served drinks. Once taken a few sips, i didn't know how it happened, but he managed to pour the whole mugfull onto himself. Duh. Sorry Nina but I knew you, of all people would understand :) Yes, I did carry a change of clothes for both of the boys but I was reserving it to a more serious case.

Next stop was an aunty's place at Dungun. Nothing untowards happened because the place has huge compound and all of the kids were playing there. Amri immediately joined them followed by Adam. Kakak and Alif joined after getting my green light. I finally had a breathing space and sipped my drink in peace. Another stop was at an uncle's (deceased) place. It had a moderately huge compound as well plus a bicycle so Amri and Adam immediately went for it. Again, kakak and Alif waited for my approval before they joined my boys. Hmph...wish my boys were half as good. Amri came inside sulking because Adam managed to wrestle the bicycle from him and sat skulking at a large easy chair beside his Tok Kie. Before the host could even offer him a drink, in a blink, the chair toppled! Whoa....that was two days in a row. What is with him and chairs lately. And of course, it was also a houseload of guests, though less formal than yesterday. And again, Amri took his time under the chair, waiting in no hurry to be rescued. Aiyoh.....

On the way back, we stopped at Gie's house in Marang and the kids helped themselves to ice lollies. While every other kids there were happy with one ice lollies each, my two boys had to bicker for one extra ice lollies. Duh....

Night was bbq time. My boys created enough ruckus to drive me up the wall at normal time. But tonight however, there were many people for the boys to harrass so hubby and I sat back, relax and stuffed our face with all the grilled offering.

Aidilfitri Day 2

Since yesterday evening the merc ended up with two flat tyres, hubby went out first thing in the the morning in search of tyre shop, hoping that it will not involved any odd parts. I stayed at home, serving foods and drinks to visitors and praying hard that whatever problem was with the car,none that couldn't be fixed then and there. Between hubby and myself, we had enough car and road hiccups lately to last us a lifetime.

Turned out, the tyres were just out of air...gee..hihihi. It really scared me, what with Eid holiday and today being Friday, which was also a weekend over here thus most of the workshop were closed

So, proceed with raya plan, albeit a few hours late. We, including Aboh and Mie, went visiting relatives houses and sampling delicious food here and there. There goes my diet plan......hahaha. We went home earlier though, since the men needed to go for their friday prayer. A four cars konvoy of close kin from Dungun arrived shortly afterwards. Thank God Adik has arrived from her in law's place so I had extra hand to serve foods and drinks. Turned out, one of the anak buah was working as a trainer at hubby's national service camp. Hmm...what a small world.

Continued with our raya plan after Friday prayer, this time to hubby's best buddy whom unfortunately was at his brother's house. So we went to the Dato's house and met Kamarul, Zariah and their kids there. Amri was obviously tired but refused afternoon nap. Result.......he sat on a swivel chair and managed to topple over in front of a housefull of very prim and proper guests. Hahahahaha....kesian anak ibu. Nasib baik tak rolled out of the sliding door terus (it opened to a neat koi pond)

Next we went visiting another his long time buddy from Kusza, Wan Zul, whom now became a lecturer there. Hmm...expecting no.3 kid soon.

Called Ninuk but she was still doing her raya round somewhere in Chendering :)

Eid Mubarak

Started the day earlier than usual. The boys had no problem to wake up earlier than normal, they had been early riser since Monday...mainly to play with their cousins. Official Eid breakfast for our family would be nasi dagang but Che' Non had already sent nasi minyak and a few more that I did not know where it came from. Amri already left to the mosque with his Tok Ki but by the time Eid prayer started, he was back at home, saying that too many people were there.

After prayer, we entertained a few guests then off to Che' Non's house followed by neighbours houses, most of whom were related to us. Then back at home for the kids' afternoon nap. Followed by more eating and visiting.

This Eid-ul-fitr was a lot better than the past few years. Last year was spent indoor with heavy rain as did the year before. The year before was worst because not only it rained day and night, the whole household was also sick with diarrhea. On top of that, I was seven months pregnant with a miserable state.

This year is great

Happy Birthday to Mak

Wishing you a very very happy birthday and to let you know that I'm missing you so much. Here I am, at my in law's place in Terengganu, trying to remember how to cook rendang and couldn't help wishing that I were at your kitchen at this moment. The ketupat palas, rendang ayam, serunding daging, nasi impit, kuah kacang ..... I wanna go home!!!!

Okay, maybe I should learn to cook properly.

Happy Deepavali

The deepavali spirit did not reach this part of Malaysia, mainly because the whole kampung was populated by Malays, all of whom were busy with Eid preparation. Back in Shah Alam, deepavali would be more meaningful, with two of our closest neighbour celebrating it. And also some of my office members.

The merc were fixed by afternoon and we were back roaming the street while avoiding town centre which would be jam packed with people doing their second last minute shopping

Being lucky during unlucky time

The merc was seriously on strike. Lucky for us, there was a service centre open. Unluckily for us, the part needed was called oxygen sensor upstream bla bla bla which in short, was not available in town. Lucky fo us, hubby's assistant was still in Klang Valley, thus could be counted on to hunt for the oxygen thingy. Unlucky for us, the part cost an arm and a leg so, no way the efficient assistant would pay cash on his own and the shop did not accept credit card. Lucky for us, banks were still open and hubby managed to wire the required fund to his assistant account. Unlucky for us, there was no way the part could reached Terengganu in time, be it via DHL or Poslaju or any courier available in Malaysia. Lucky us again, we come up with a brilliant idea of giving it to night express bus driver to carry the part all the way to Terengganu. It would reach Kuala Terengganu by Tuesday morning.

Phew!!! Couldn't imagine celebrating raya without a car, with the many promises I made to practically half of Terengganu people to visit them.

Balik Kampung!

Yey!!! To Losong!

4.30 am - Woke up and made nasi goreng ikan masin and sunny side up eggs for sahur.

5.30 am - Dragged half asleep, half awake Amri to bathroom and later dressed him up in no better state.

6.00 am - Managed to shove everyone and every bag inside the car

We started our journey sometime after 6am, but made a u-turn 30 seconds later because hubby forgot his watch and another u-turn two minutes later because yours truly forgot her handphone, which was deep under the pillow...serving as alarm clock. One more stop to fill petrol at nearby Esso and off we go at about 6.40am

9.30 am - Reached Taman Balok Sejahtera, Adik's house. Gave Adam a quick shower and Amri his honey star breakfast

10.10 am - Resumed the journey, plus Adik and Haziq

1.30 pm - Reached Losong....yey!!!!!

Alhamdulillah, we reached Losong safe and sound because the merc decided to go on strike later on. Hmph...no wonder the air-cond sucks.

Packing day

My Eid holiday officially started today. Hubby as well. But we were taking it easy since there were a lot to pack. 8 days worth of clothing for four..2 of which need at least four pairs per day and 1 has contingency plan for ad hoc meeting with who's who and yours truly who get comot easily in the kitchen, raya apparels, gifts to families, toiletries, raya cookies, laptop (tummytop?) , medicines, makeups, camera, duit raya, bla bla bla..... I might as well moved the house to terengganu.

I went to Giant with Amri to buy formula and diaper supplies for Adam and ended up at MPH again. So..one book each for ibu and son, a little sumthing for kakak and a set of colouring book and sticker for the rest.

Went home just in time when hubby arrived from god-knows-where. Hop into his car and went to 1-utama to collect my free handphone. Drop by at Tmn Tun for a little banking matter. Passed by in front of sri munawwarah and was very tempted. Hubby asked whether I wanted to drop by. I looked at the kids...still had not eaten lunch and badly needed a nap. So i regretably declined and we went home. Next time boleh pergi....

Fed the kids and took a nap with them. Then packed and packed and packed. Usually I'd just packed one hour before departure time and if anything went missing, could just buy at the destination. But this is Eid holiday. I wouldn't want to be caught with err..missing toothbrush or diaper and had to braze the holiday season traffic of Kuala Terengganu town. No way! Needless to say, I managed to turn not just my bedroom but the whole second floor of our house into a nightmare.

Amazingly, almost everything was packed before midnight.

Note:
Found out a few days later that I had forgotten to pack sampin for both father and son and my videocam. Hehehehe. But I did not forget my usb cable.....

Nice surprise

I practically dragged myself to office today, being so not in mood to work plus I was still sleepy. Grabbed the letters (one raya card and tonnes of bills) from the coffee table and took them to office. If I couldn't work then I might as well write cheques for the bills in advance. Opened one reminder looking letter while wondering what payment could possibly be late. And surprise!!!!!!! I won a Samsung handphone from a credit card contest. Woohoo........ I've never win any contest before. Read one more time and another time. No tiny prints anywhere, so obviously I did really win a handphone. Read very carefully again....and remembered the transaction....the amount I spent for nieces and nephews baju raya :) Gee.... out of the mamy millions transactions I did that day, mostly for my own stuff....that one particular transaction got me a new handphone.

Needless to say, I was so happy I couldn't work at all

Iftar with Intan & Co

Since I missed out last night's iftar with Intan, I decided to make it up by taking them to any ramadhan buffet in town. Hubby was already outstation but that was okay. We kinda took turn to have iftar with Intan & family, I guessed. Funny how it turned out this way.

The trouble started when I couldn't find any available place. Concorde was booked two days in advance. Same went to Quality Hotel and a few more. Even hotel uitm was fully booked. I was ready to hang my head in my hand when suddenly I remembered Grand Blue Wave. Not exactly my choice, never heard any good review of the food plus parking would be at that scary basement next to bangunan umno. Ewwww..... but I had no choice. Called them and was so relieved to hear a yes. Didn't realise I was kinda desperate.

Went home early even though the weather was so bright without a drop of rain. Called Amri and asked him to get ready. Once I reached home, Amri hopped into the car and I was pleasantly surprised to see him properly dressed in black jeans, black shoes and denim shirt. What???? No underwear and socks??? Suka hati kau lah nak......as long not that spiderman rags again.

Reached there allright and the basement parking was actually okay. Brightly lit, well maintained and no water leaking from somewhere. We were quite early and Amri went straight to ice cream counter and helped himself. Intan & co arrived shortly afterwards and we had a grand time chit chatting. Amri and Irfan hit it off like old friend and soon they were racing up and down the stairs. Intan and I were too busy catching up with each other to bother and Arip was sick so he just let the kids have their way. Their two little girls, Afiqah and Batrishia soon followed suit.

Ended up the day with solat maghrib at the hotel's surau. The kids played with ablution water while the mommies were in prayer. Sheesh.....!!!! Intan whispered to me later "how come the other kids are so well behaved but our kids seemed to spell trouble everywhere?" I dunno, Intan. Maybe we were a troublemaker a few years back. Remember the boarding school days? Remember the undergrad days?

Nightmare on Batu Tiga Street

I woke up feeling elated. Intan & Co were here all the way from Kemaman and they were coming to my house for Iftar. Yey!!!!! I spent first half of the day mentally doing the menu. I did not plan to cook anyway, bibik was finishing out the raw material stock in the freezer in preparation for the upcoming balik kampung trip. She only prepared a simple chicken soup for the kids.

By afternoon, it was raining heavily. Hubby signed off from YM saying that he'd be going home earlier since Kelana Jaya traffic would usually became horrible after a few hours of heavy rain. I was busier than usual. My usual monthly deadlines were brought forward due to deepavali and eid holiday. If those were not enough to put me in state of panic, there was also a nasty US legal dispute to deal with. I had enough trouble understanding the lawyer who insisted in speaking in legal jargon, let alone comprehending the contents of three thick files piling on my table. Sigh.... wish I were out there, shopping with Intan or maybe just sit gossiping in her hotel room.

By 4.30pm, I packed my thick legal files and called it a day. Brian called saying that the road in front of Proton was flooded so he was stranded at Proton. Alamak! I was planning to use Elite hiway. Could see the long queue snaking to the road in front of my office. That bad! So, I turned to the other way, which was actually nearer in distance but requires a lot more daring stunts. Big mistake! I saw red once I reached past Sek Men Teknik Shah Alam. But the traffic here was always unpredictable so I braced on. Nearing the junction, I heard the news that the road in front of sugar refinery factory at batu 3 stretch was flooded. Big flood. There was no way to turn back at that point. Oh my.... I should have listened to radio from the beginning instead of blaring the CD. Called hubby and rattled off my menu for him to buy. I won't have enough time to stroll at pasar ramadhan if I ever made it home.

Feeling very gloomy, I just crawled along together with other drivers. At one point I saw Kak Rosni, my ex colleague, on the opposite side of the traffic. Waved at her and she waved back. Exchanged pained grinned at each other. She was on the way to Kak Nor's (another ex colleague) house at Section 20 for iftar invitation. Kak Nor purposedly invited her, knowing that Kak Rosni who was heavily pregnant, would never make it to her house at Damansara Damai for iftar and being in not so healthy condition, she'd need all the help she can get.

Called hubby again and heard the merry sound of our kids at the background. Plus Intan's kids, there'll be five of them. I could imagine the chaos. I so wanted to be there. I wanted to bawl my heart out.

As I inched forward, the adzan came from a nearby mosque, announcing the time for iftar. I was beyond caring about food and guests. I had another problem. The fuel indicator was flashing steadily for the past ten minutes. I was getting panicky. If my car ran out of petrol in the middle of this crazy jam, the whole of Klang Valley would cursed me to death. I inched to the left lane. Didn't want to have dead car on the right lane, do we? As I neared the left lane, I spotted a petrol pump just metres ahead. Alhamdulillah.......and blessed my aveo too for lasting all the way of nearly 45 minutes , though it was barely 2km. It was a new car and I didn't yet know how long it would last, especially during massive jam.

Sometime after 8pm, I reached the end of the queue and a few good samaritans helped to divert the traffic away from the knee deep water. Arrived home around 8.30pm, a good four hours after I left office. Adehhh.....cam nak patah pinggang den...nasib baik kereta auto.

Little black shoes

I thought by having boys, instead of girls would make my life easier on one part, i.e. shopping for children attires. There were definitely not that much choice to start with and boys, being boys, surely couldn’t care less whether the black pants match their red t-shirt right? I’ve spent many happy years dressing Amri in clothes digged from bargain bins and once from a shopping spree at Nilai3. No harm done.

Some few weeks ago Amri however needed a pair of black shoes. Fine…easy peasy! Or so I thought. We spent a Sunday morning at a mall for that and I almost ended up having blister on both feet from walking up and down the huge mall. I was already cursing my new sandal by then though it escaped me on why I decided to wear something with heel on shopping trip. Must have been my temporary amnesia again.

As it happened, the mall was certainly not short of places selling nice black shoes. Even Jusco has a lot to offer. Only thing was, Amri inherited my feet, which is wide. Thus, the problem in looking for the right size. It was either too tight or too hard. Another problem was, Amri is a boy. The shoemaker/shoe manufacturers certainly prefer to make girls shoes. For a pair of boy shoes, there will be about hundreds for girls. Not fair!

Some few millions of tried shoes later, we finally found a nice pair at a nice shop being staffed by nice girls. The girls fawned upon Amri, bringing him black shoes after black shoes while I sit back and drooled over a few nice pairs of strappy sandals and boots. Next time, next time! Amri finally made his choice which I had to veto out because it had complicated strap that I was pretty sure Amri would have to spend half an hour just to put on his shoes later. I chosed a pair with simple straps that cost a bit more but would save me the time taken to wait for Amri and getting annoyed with him. Amri sulked. I was happy. The quest had ended.

I have 'beautiful' nose

The ENT specialist took a close look at my nose and exclaim "BEAUTIFUL!!!!!" I grinned from ear to ear. Who else in this universe would say that to my nose...hahahaha. Well anyway....here is the full story...

Some weeks ago, I was convinced that somehow I got myself a bad case of sinus. The symptoms were all there - the constant sneezing, phlegm, runny nose and worst of all...headache. I received many free consultation and of course, miracle products to try. But the sinus insist to stay. I saw the GP from time to time until I felt slightly alarmed when she sent me for x-ray. Whatever for...my chest was okay, as far as I knew. Then came a day when I realised that the so called sinus was getting pretty annoying. It put me off cooking, because the smell would trigger the non-stop sneezing and worst of all, I was losing sleep too, due to blocked nose. I hate losing sleep. I need my beauty sleep or else my brain refused to function properly come next day. That was good enough reason to push me into a hospital, seeking the ENT specialist. After much poking with a tiny camera into my erm..beautifully swollen nose..he proceed to declare "My dear....you have a sensitive nose. Not sinus. But if left untreated, could lead to sinus" Errkk.... I honestly did not know how out of the blue I managed to get sensitive nose. Too much perfume perhaps.

A week, 12 antibiotics tablets and a nasal spray later, I was almost as good as new. Almost. Because, even though the ENT specialist already announced that I indeed have beautiful nose, the nasal spray would have to continue for two more months. Fine...whatever you say, doctor. As long as you tell me I have beautiful nose.

Welcome back Ramadhan

Ramadhan is here again. A blessed month. A month to clean your soul and your digestion system. Provided no indulgement at pasar ramadhan followed.

Amri was born on 1st of Ramadhan, 5 years ago. Happy Birthday, Amri!!!

Neighbours from hell

Upon reaching home, I was greeted by our neighbour's daughter with stories of how this boy threw sand to Amri and that boy broke a part of Adam's scooter. Sigh! Neighbour from hell. Both boys are brothers with parents whom thought the best way to communicate with maid is via car horn. Hmph! Bibik was seriously upset and was telling me at bullet train speed on how bad the boys were. I managed to catch a few intelligible words here and there and concluded that one of the boys ruined our gate as well. Duh! Obvious was it, where the boys get their genes?

I ran a quick check on Amri. Bibik managed to get the sand out of his eyes so I just rinsed off what was left on his hair. No damage done to the eyes. Took the boys for a drive to cheer them up. I needed cheering up myself. This particular neighbour could really get on my nerve sometime, what with their obsession with parking their car at my parking space (so that they can enjoy empty car porch) while hubby and I had to negotiate through a narrow space that was left. Duh!!! Talk about selfish. And now this. Honestly, I couldn't care less with the broken plastic scooter. It was cheap stuff I bought from Giant anyway. And we really were planning to change the gate, so no problem there.

Anyway, I've decided during my drive to let Amri work it out himself, whether he wanted to punch the boys nose or look for other kids to play with or made up and continue playing. As long there is no bodily harm that will land Amri (or Adam) in ICU, that is. Of which, I may need to enlist the service of the many lawyers in my address book.

My old friend

After years of faithful service, my trustworthy Wira gave up on me this morning. Great timing. To play dead on a hectic Monday morning. I considered calling AAM but decided likewise after checking my membership card and noticed the expired date. I just could not afford the time to look for the new card. Not that I know where to look for in the first place. I called hubby instead, who thankfully, was not too far off. Hubby made a u-turn, sent me straight to office, with enough time to prepare for my 10 am meeting. Phew!!!!

Again, dear hubby had to fetch me from office. AAM mechanic came and true enough...the battery was dead. Come to think of it, the battery had rendered a great service indeed, because it was also bought from AAM some time in October 2002. Gee... that was three years. The chatty mechanic told me that since I last purchased the battery, the price had been increased 8 times. Huh! Also a long lecture for not warming up the car 30 minutes each day. 30 minutes????? The drive to my office took about 15 minutes, so how? Drive around the block for another 15 minutes, I guess. Thank you sir, but I think 3 years are good enough record, otherwise the battery manufacturer and distributor may go out of business.

Thanks to AAM, my car was back to life some 15 minutes later. I considered myself lucky to never having a dead battery outside the comfort of my own porch. Never even outside my gate.

Anyway, I need to bade farewell to you, my dear friend Wira. You have been a great companion, seeing me through many roads and wrong turns, traffic jams and of late, becoming a guinea pig for the r&d inventions. I hope your new owner enjoys the e-cool, e-window, e-light, vibramat and vibratile as much as I do. If you had stayed around a bit longer than you could have had the x-lite (halogen light, okay?) fitted into you. Then you can beat that monster E240 high beam. I'll still be seeing you sometime, I guess, since the ownership just move to the company, not to a stranger. Forgive me for scratching your body last week. Wrong turn again!

Amri's Concert Day - Part II

So we went to the concert, Adam included. Now I realised what I should do. I should have invested in a kindy and have concert every month. Those cute little angels were amazing. Even Amri looked kinda cute. I took my hat (or tudung) off to the teachers. It sure was a hard work to train those hyper kids. Amazing how Amri's teacher managed to get him to follow the instruction.

Amri's concert day

Goodness.....Amri was supposed to be at his kindy by 7.15am for his concert. Adooiii....we really are a family of non morning person. Our day started at 9.00am the earliest. Why did the teachers need the kids to be there at this ungodly hour. Kelana Jaya was only 15 minutes away. Even bibik has not cooked any breakfast yet. Not that Amri could stomach anything that early anyway.

Well.....we did manage to send him by 7.10am and the gate was not even opened yet. But a handful of kids and two teachers were already there so we left Amri under their care and proceeded to eat breakfast at mamak's place.

This is Amri inside the car, dressed in his concert costume but only half awake.

Hi Haziq

We managed to reach Kuantan safely amids the very heavy rain all the way. Reached Pantai Balok allright but got a bit lost looking for Adik's house. It all looked the same in the heavy rain. Turned out, Ummi, Gie and his family were there as well. Ummi must have either missed her latest cucu terribly or simply doing her spotcheck on Adik. Amri was happy to see his cousin Ikhwan whom he seemed to occasionally called Irfan. Irfan was Intan's son whom we planned to see in Kemaman but unfortunately has to be cancelled. Amri was forever getting these two fellas mixed up.

Well...finally managed to meet my latest handsome nephew, Haziq Mikhail.
Adam was ecstatic, which prompted others to hint at me. Sorry guys....I definitely had no plan to bake any cute little muffin this year. Or next year. Hint to me again the year after, coz I may have second thought.

Thought that the two boys would love a dip at Pantai Balok, which is practically just behind Adik's place. Unfortunately, it was a time of low tide so the beach looked very ugly and very far away. Luckily none of the boys were too gung ho about going swimming this time.

Out of town

After weeks of mundane work and school, day in day out, finally the boys and I managed to squeeze in a break. This afternoon, we'll be going to visit my newborn nephew at Kuantan. Well.....truth is the nephew is already two months old. Somehow, we did not manage to visit him during the first two months of his life. *sigh* guilty as charged, your honour...

However, this will be a short trip because Amri will be having his annual school concert on Sunday morning. So, we have to be back before that. And speaking of concert.....teacher Rosma said this morning that Amri's costume is not yet ready. Gee.....then when an I supposed to collect the costume?

Sorry to Intan of Kemaman because the boys and i will not be able to drop by at your place. We are already cutting it fine as it is. And hubby reasoned that he and your hubby (Arip) already met a few days ago so they already did their catching up. Duh! Lotsa hugs to Irfan and the girls okay and hope you all enjoyed Irfan's school concert. I promise to drop by during raya trip, Insyaallah and bring as many books as possible to make up for this.

Now...what do you buy as present for a two months old baby? The one I have look more suited to a two days old infant. And to the new mom.....breastpump? Parenting mags?
Hahahaha...spoken like I really have a few hours to shop.

Full house till Sunday

I have a full house again. Cheers!!!! Its been quite sometime since I had guests. Except Kak Cik, Ajoe and Nan of course, but they did not count as house guests. They are....hmmmm...sort of permanent resident. Except that, they did not take up full time residence. Whatever lah...point is, they come and go as they like.

Well.....back to the full house. We have Che' Non, Hisham and Nazri (plus a friend) all the way from Terengganu. Che' Non is Ummi's sister. She lost her only daughter due to a road accident sometime in 2002 and her husband two months later, due to post kidney surgery complication. She was devastated but the whole family rallied up to her, giving strong support. Che' Non is pretty strong herself, putting up brave front for the sake of her other kids, learning to be a breadwinner after being a housewife all her married life. For that, I respected her.

It's good to have Che' Non back to our house again. This time for a merry cause. It's Nazri's convocation day this coming Saturday. Che' Non must have been very proud and a wee bit nostalgic. Afterall, the time we sent Nazri off to UiTM, the late Ayah Ngah was still around, teasing me to no end about my temperamental red Satria. This time, only Che' Non is around to see Nazri receiving his much deserved scroll, though duly escorted by Hisham.

Che' Non has been through a lot. She deserves to be happy now.

Lata Bayu

Just imagine the ice cold water, the lovely big green trees, the sound of waterfall and birds chirping away merrily.....

Warming up. The boys, who were more familiar with swimming pool, were rather overwhelmed by the big river.


Let us go together...




The floaty was abandoned

Ibu....fish!!!!!!!!

Having fun!

Bukit Merah Laketown

I went through the photos in my camera and noticed that I did not have much. Hmmph! It sort of difficult to remember without the photos with my limited memory capacity. And not that easy to retell the holiday as bedtime stories to Amri (and Adam if he can sit still). Amri did not fancy the usual bedtime stories or books. He insist on real life story, with him as the hero. So naturally, photos serve as story book with the story teller reliving the story of trips, cousins, grandparents, aunties and uncles. And sometimes the kindy story, which are fully made up since hubby and I are not quite sure the going ons there.

Wellll....have to make do with what I managed to capture

On the boat ride to visit Orang Utan Island. Managed to wrestle Adam into the life jacket for a few minutes then off it went. Amri meanwhile was fascinated with the safety wistle.

The oldest urang utan at the island. Amri was convinced that this particular orang utan was actually one of his friend

Fish feeding at orang utan island



Back from orang utan island and landed at Ecopark. Lotsa animals to see but Adam was dead tired. So we skip the walk and went to skycycle instead.

Adam feasting on ice cream beside the duck pond

The boys crashed out. Amri loved the sofabed and wanted one in his bedroom.

No pictures at all for our time at waterpark. The cameraman, i.e yours truly were too busy enjoying and splashing herself silly to bother with camera. If fact, I did not even bring the camera to the waterpark. Which i kind of regret a bit now. No photos of our paddleboat trip too...that one was fun!

The waterpark was the first that we hit shortly after we checked in and remained there for the rest of the afternoon. The kids loved the place. I enjoyed it too though the scatterbrain me forgot to bring towels. Don't ask how we managed :)

A mind well rested

I'm back!!!

It was a good trip. We were back at Kedah visiting my parents and grandmother. Felt like being away for years. Mak was recovering well and has resumed most of her usual activities. She is still under 'pantang' though and has to stay away from seafood, chicken and lamb. But it did not stop her from cooking Abah's fav - sambal tumis udang plus petai, almost everyday.

Tok however was a different story. She was getting from bad to worse and lately, became bedridden. It was sad to see the once very active person being confined to her bed and needed help to even get to the bathroom. Knowing her, being immobile was the most difficult thing in the world. She is the kind of person who prepared her coffee from scratch, i.e from picking the coffee beans from their trees to the steaming hot cuppa.
I wished we could do something, like looking for another doctor, specialist or even traditional medicine. But then, like Abah said, every way I could think of, and more, were already tried or at least been considered by Abah and PakCik Tajol. Her age, being 80++ was no help, the risk were high.

We managed to squeeze in a short stay at Bukit Merah Laketown and the kids were really thrilled. Days of chasing after two excited boys really did me good, physically and mentally.

Thanks a million to dear hubby for the trip :)

Independence - another definition

Is being able to be happy when things didn't go exactly as you plan them, the weekend gateaway you so much look forward to do not materialise, the people you were counting on to spend some time together has better things to do, the shop does not have the shoes in the colour you want, the hotel can't hold your booking until midnight and worse still, you can't get a good night sleep.

Do the next best thing in the world.....buy a new book!

When I grow up....

Amri and I always played this game, I would ask him what he wanted to be when he grow up and he would give me answers ranging from a pilot to a lawn mower. It depended on what's 'in' for that day. Some day it could be 'Amri want to be Mr Incredible and fight all the bad guys'. Or some other day 'Amri want to work like Ayah, then buy a car like Ayah and drive myself to school'. Ni kes merajuk dengan Ibu.

A few days ago, I asked him again, expecting a Spiderman or Power Ranger wannabe (after days of staying indoor and watching tv round the clock). Was I wrong. He said instead, he did not want to grow up. So I asked why. Amri said he wanted to stay with Ibu and Ayah. He did not want to move to his own house. He didn't even want his own car. He just wanted to go to kindy in the morning then played all afternoon. And wait for Ibu to drive him around in the evening.

Oh my.... I dunno whether to laugh or to cry

To stay or to flee

As at 11.00 am today, the API for Shah Alam was 412...the highest in the country and I wanna flee right now. Preferably to Kedah or Terengganu. Only that I could not....

Despite the official circular , eMBA6 class is still on. Great! Just great!!!!!!!!! We'll just hang around and breath smoke for a couple more days. And buy more toys for the boys. I think I'll need new toys myself, or books.

Alhamdulillah.... I am healthy

Despite the thick haze, that is. As if Allah is allowing me to compensate my long sick leave last month. The rest of the staff are either on sick leave or have gone somewhere else to escape the haze. One go as far as China....gee :)

Very well, I am manning the office alone, accompanied by a bunch of loyal YM friends. Thanks gals!

Pray to Allah that I'll continue as healthy as can be to see my family and office through the next few hazy days. Also for abundance of ideas to keep two agitated boys indoor.

It's raining

Thank God for the heavy rain. I can now make out the outline of Proton COE from my window. It will need more rain to wash out the thick haze but this is good enough for now. Too much of rain then I'll have to swim home.

I spent days worrying about little Adam, what with his bronchitis problem and runny nose. Amri will be okay, he has grown out of whatever respiratory problems the kids nowadays have. But Adam has to be kept indoor. To keep Adam indoor means that I have to keep Amri indoor as well. So... I finally succumbed to his long standing request of power rangers vcd :) Once this haze episode is over, I'll have to think up of ways to unglue my kids from tv.

Externalzone Cherating Trip

Why Cherating? Been there before and not been able to swim. But it is a pretty place, great seafood and slow pace life. And if it meant meeting good old friends....I'm all for it. So x-zoners, pack up and lets go!

Let me rephrase ...pack up and let's go as soon as you all decided on the date :)

Note for non x-zoners friends : Somebody from my old coursemate at UiTM group badly needed a break but do not feel like going alone for holiday. So here we are, all sympathetic and ready for another holiday in a blink.

Damn hazy, fine day

The day was not even halfway over but I was already RM370 poorer, due to my generous donation to MBSA. Double parked my car illegally beside Bangunan Umno Selangor and by the time the snail pace BCB staff finished processing my paperwork, my car was towed away. Oh dear.... I thought the bad haze would be able to camouflage my dusty old car. It was the same colour by the way.

Called Brian, my partner-in-crime, to give me a ride since hubby was away (again). Only that, being chauffered in flashy S-Class, escorted by Brian who looked more like a rich playboy than a company director, would only guaranteed me one thing....that I'd be denied all form of discount on the fine.

Damn the MBSA! Damn the Bangunan Umno developer, should have built a less creepy underground parking so that I wouldn't shy away from legal parking! The company better reimburse back my fine, otherwise...that was my mega sale carnival-provision-for-new-shoes gone with the wind.

Aiyooooh....this haze was choking me. I looked out of my office window and for a while thought we were engulfed in smoke.

Car for sale

TD2000, Auto, Yr2000, Mileage 7100++
Price RM100,000 ono

*Sigh*...parent teacher meeting again..

It was report card signing day again. But there was a lot of difference today because my knight in shining armour (or shining buckle)aka dear hubby was with me.*grin*

Teacher Rosma showed us Amri's school works, which of course were graded a variation of Cs throughout. Not that I cared too much about it. Amri can stay another half year being illiterate and as silly as he wants to. But come next year, both Amri and I would have to be more academic oriented or else he would not survive in government school.

Then we spent another few minutes listening to teacher Rosma narration of Amri being too talkative and playful for his own good and more often than not ended up doing his work at teacher's table. Fortunately for him, teacher Rosma did not have the heart to reprimand him, due to his innocent (?) look.

Nothing was mentioned about the undone homework. And teacher Rosma assured us that Amri was happy, was not pressured and enjoyed playing with his classmates.
Very well then, maybe I managed to get my point across...that my 4 1/2 year old is too young for homework...after preaching about it every single chance I had. Or maybe it was the intimidating presence of my bodyguard...heheheh

p/s: my apologise to the parents of Amri's classmates whom he may have become, err..'negative influence' :)

Amri, Adam & Cousins

With their all time favourite person - Tok Ki


Adam with Nadia, whom is 2 months older


The kids with one of their many games - shooting the 'boh-boh'


Adam attempting to 'panjat tiang'


My fav niece, Syawani and her bro, Alif


My cutie pie little niece, Nadia, who can still wear her last year baju raya


Adam, the little explorer who wants to try everything, especially with Ibu too sick to argue


Still can't get the hang of it


Jalan jalan cari makan

School donation

This morning at a shop near my house, I came across a neighbour who was busy soliciting donation from the shop owner. Turned out, she was collecting donation on behalf of her daughter. The daughter (and all of her schoolmates) was given a booklet whereby generous hearts would sign and donate any appropriate sum. The purpose was to give the school walls a new coat of paint.

Well...I'm all for a good looking school walls. But I'd like to differ on the method of sourcing for fund. How would the school principal expect a little girl to go around soliciting fund? From whom? Knocking neighbours door? Can't there be a better way to raise the needed 40k fund other than begging from people? What sort of value we're teaching our young ones. To beg? Or subsidy mentality revisited.
What about having a jumble sale or school concert for a change. Put the price of the ticket ridiculously high by all means. Just make sure to state clearly where the proceed will go

I gave my donation to the mother, more so to spare her the trouble of going around asking for donation while she should be in her office doing more productive things. The time will come when Amri would be in school and been instructed to raise money for school project. I think I'll just sign all the column in the donation booklet myself and pretend to donate RM2 each. Ha!

Now I need to have a word with Kak Cik the school teacher

Harry Porter and Half Blood Prince

Oh my........why did Dumbledore has to die :(
Now I will have to wait for book 7 to find out whether Dumbledore really was dead or somehow he managed to conjure up a phoenix trick to get out of the situation.

Harry Porter & Batman - The Similarities

Both have witnessed the deaths of their parents.
Harry as an infant in his home.
Bruce as a young child outside an opera house.

Both are incredibly wealthy.
Harry's parents left him a vault of their savings.
Bruce's parents left him bonds.

Both have impressive means of transportation.
Harry's broomstick.
Bruce's batmobile.

Both fight against the forces of evil.
Harry vs. Voldemort and his deatheaters.
Batman vs. the corrupt of Gotham.

Both have wise old mentors.
Harry has Dumbledore.
Bruce has Alfred.

Both have corrupt governments.
Harry & the Ministry of Magic (as it stands under Fudge).
Bruce & Gotham City.

Both have recognizable trademarks.
Harry's lightning bolt.
Bruce's bat silhouette.

Both have two sidekicks, one girl and one guy.
Ron and Hermione.
Robin and Batgirl.

Both have learned to overcome their greatest fears.
Harry faces dementors several times.
Bruce has become batman.

Both want to follow the footsteps of his father.
Harry looks up to James and wants to be a member of the Order just like his dad.
Bruce looks up to his father, who used his wealth to try to make Gotham a better place.

Actor Gary Oldman is in both movies.
He plays Sirius Black in the Harry Potter movies.
He plays Jim Gordon in Batman Begins.

Thanks to Nicole and Danielle from www.mugglenet.com

We were back home

Back to Shah Alam. All in all, we were pretty much a whole lot better than the day we arrived at Mie's doorstep last Friday. Adam and I were as good as new. Amri, well....almost. As usual he sported new scratches and bruises but no longer wheezing his breath out. Hubby was happy with his newly acquired fishing boat. Adam was having extraordinary appetite which I suspect was the side effect from his medication. But then he was off the presciptions for two days and the big appetite was still there. Could be this cheeky little troublemaker has turned into an eating machine or experiencing a growth spurt.

Baby on the way

Now that I was back on my feet, I couldn't help but wished Adik's baby would hurry up and pop out soon. I so wanted to see her newborn baby before we went back home tomorrow. As it is....the baby decided that I was not important enough to make early show. Very well, guessed I would have to make another trip to Kuantan to see the baby in a month time.

This sure was an unusual balik kampung trip. No visits to relatives houses, except for Che Non's house. No trips to beach, waterfall, pasar payang or our usual eating binge of deep fried seafood by the seaside near the airport. Hubby managed to squeeze in one meeting at Setiu in between his usual rushing around.

Book deprived

I was feeling well enough to start getting restless. Hubby must have decided not to bring my books and laptop for obvious reason, so that I could have a good long sleep. It worked well I guess but since I no longer has fever to deal with and my voice was too raspy to talk, not to mention the fit of coughing that would seized me if I were to speak in long sentence, pretty soon I was bored out of my skull.

Hubby very kindly drove me to one of KT's bookstore so that I could pick up something to occupy my time. Thank goodness, the shop did have a good selection of books. I was kind of afraid that I would find shelves after shelves of hopelessly romantic love story with a million spelling errors in it. Also the fact that I was feeling the least romantic at the moment.

I wish I had the latest Harry Porter with me.

We were at Losong Dato Amar

There was no better place to nurse your sick self back to health than here. I woke up at Losong to my favourite Terengganu breakfast, only that I was not in feasting mood. Adam and Amri were well fed and taken care of. All I needed to do was put my feet up and rest. Oh..and gulped down my long list of pills that supposed to get me back on my feet in no time.

I knew the fresh air here would do us good and despite the all day rain, I noticed Adam no longer has runny nose. I couldn't help but marvel at what the combination of fresh air and lotsa TLC could do to one.

Amri on the other hand, would be difficult to get well on any account. The temptation of wide open space to roam (came rain or shine) plus the unexpected arrival of durians (heaps of them) were too much for him.

Cu Nan smsed saying that my latest Harry Porter book has arrived. Well, well, well......he sure knew to hit where it hurt most. Despite being sick, I did attempted...though in vain, to call MPH and beg them for my book yesterday :)
Gosh....I must have sounded pretty desperate that time, not unlike a dying old lady on her deathbed. Harry Porter has to wait then....

Rest and recuperate

My idea of recuperate was to pack the bags and headed up East Coast to Ummi's place. Well...when you were sick and have one not quite well toddler and one beginning to get sick kiddo in your hand, what better option you have anyway. For once, I was content to sit back and let hubby managed the packing fiasco and only interrupted once, that was to add in Adam's favourite ball. Add off we go on drizzly Friday afternoon. The kids, being heavily drugged, slept most of the journey.

Adam @ Hospital

Day 1 - 30th June 2005
Following a mom’s instinct that kept feeling something was very wrong with Adam, I brought him to SMC on Thursday afternoon. That was, after he vomited first, all over me when I carried him and second, all over his car seat when I tried to strapped him in. Well…we went without his seat then and though I drove with uneasy feeling….Adam was sitting, thankfully, perfectly still all the way.

We jumped queue at pead office due to his high temperature and was given a nebuliser immediately. True enough, Adam was diagnosed with brochitis and croup. That explained his weird barking cough last night.

Thank goodness, hubby arrived just in time to help me with admission process. Looks like it was peak period of the year since the staff informed hubby that the only single room available was still in the process of being made up since its occupants was just discharged an hour ago. They offered us to camp in a double room first while waiting but luckily by the time we made our way to the ward, our room was ready, albeit without toilet paper, baby cot and hot drinking water yet.

Adam spent his first night at the hospital alternating between vomiting and drinking his milk. Somehow, his appetite for milk never wavered which I think I should be grateful. Otherwise he’d be very dehydrated. He was given two types of nebuliser, to be taken every four hours. Unlike Amri, Adam did not kick up much fuss during nebuliser but maybe because he was too sick to bother.

Day 2 - 01st July 2005
Adam still had high temperature but it was now in low grade fever category. Well…..lo grade or hi grade, the rule of thumb is, if the fever persist then the body is not responding to the antibiotic given. Somehow his pead continue with current antibiotic and add in another nebuliser. Adam continued to have fever all day long but seemed a bit happy and started checking out the many emergency bedside buttons. He refused all kind of food and only took milk at an alarming quatities and frequency. Hubby better arrived soon with Adam’s formula supply, preferably the largest can. Oppsss….my dear hubby was outstation.

Adam continued to vomit all over our room and soon we were on first name basis with the cleaners and hospital attendants. The problem was, once in a while Adam would vomit on himself or on me and we were fast running out of clothes. Hubby was still somewhere in Lumut. Though Cu Nan was at home playing nanny to Amri, I really did not feel like asking him to bring my clothes and umm……undergarments over.

By the time dear hubby arrived, I was on last scoop of formula, last piece of clothes for Adam and myself , only had one diaper left in the wardrobe and was starting to cook up Plan B whereby I would dash off to 7-11 across the road . Amri tagged along too and it cheered Adam up considerably. Suddenly the very lembik Adam was seen racing along the corridor with Amri.

Day 3 - 02nd July 2005
The fever has gone, much to our relieve. Adam was a lot more cheerful. His pead came in the morning and proclaimed that the croup and stridor has gone. There was still a bit of hoarseness but nothing to worry about. One nebuliser meant for larynx and paracetamol were taken off the list.

It was Saturday but then hubby had to go for registration at UiTM. Too bad then…I did not get relieved from my nurse duty. Amri stayed with me during the time hubby was gone for registration and not only it cheered up Adam, it made me happy as well. Amri was fun to be around, especially when he started getting worried about so many trivial things in the world. Somehow, this week was a spiderman week for him thus I had to listen to a million replays of spiderman from his own version.

The fever came back at night

Day 4 - 03rd July 2005
It was Sunday and hubby had a class to attend. Too bad then. I could use a break.
Adam’s pead came and prescribed a different antibiotic. And add back the paracetamol. Adam took them all without much fuss. Perhaps he reckons that if they did not sit well with him, he could simply vomit them all out.

Amri spent the day with us and brought his books as well. He attempted to write something but abandoned it midway for a more interesting activity of channel surfing the astro on our tiny tv. Since the best way to watch the tv was lying down on the bed…needless to say….I had to give up the bed ownership to him for the day. Since Amri was using my bed, Adam naturally wanted it too. Amazingly both of them managed to share it without any major squabbles. Only thing was, long after Amri had gone home, Adam still would not let go of my bed. At the end, we shared it for the night and I slept while listening to Adam wheezing away beside me, his body still warm to the touch and I felt so sorry for him.

Day 5 - 04th July 2005
I missed my office and mostly my email. I terribly missed blogging. Perhaps the hospital should consider giving internet access instead of astro. But I guess, if I were the one who was sick, my brain wouldn’t have much energy to go online. And unlike Intan, I still couldn’t figure out how to surf lying on my back. Watching tv would be more relaxing and wouldn’t put your brain into overdrive.

Adam went for his first chest physio this morning. It was not as traumatic as I imagined. We were done in no time and Adam promptly vomited after the session. But then, I guess the staff was so used to it that one of them expertly, with lightning speed, materialised with a basin to catch the vomit projectile. Not a drop on the bed. Very cool.

Adam must have felt considerably better after the physio coz he was running all over the lobby, waving his new baloon. The fever had dissappeared, hopefully for good. Adam was getting restless now that he was a lot healthier though still refusing food. However, his appetite for milk has gone skyrocketed that I was so glad when hubby showed up with big can of Enfagrow and big pack of diaper yesterday.

Day 6- 05th July 2005
Adam responded well to the new antibiotic. His neb was down to one for airways only but his pead added Actifed to the medicine list since Adam started to have runny nose again. Dear hubby had a day off today so I decided to visit my neglected office. It was showing signs of disintegration without my presence. Not that I was so important there but at the very least, I picked up phone calls myself instead of leaving it to voice mail.

Somehow I did not feel like the office needed much attention so I dashed off after the obligatory checking of emails, which has reached hundreds. Went home to change and picked up Amri then off we went to hospital again. Adam lighted up upon seeing Amri and proceeded to bicker with him about everything under the sun while hubby and I catched up with each other.

Day 7 - 06th July 2005
I was sick. I meant, literally. A week of sleepless night finally caught up with me. I was sniffling and coughing once in a while. Adam meanwhile, was a lot healthier thus had resumed his usual activities and temper tantrums. Giving nebuliser was no longer easy. Feeding his medicine was worse, ended up with his medicine sprayed up everywhere except in his cute little mouth. While my body was craving to lie down on the bed and watch tv, my pint size tornado was ready to play football outside. My only relieved was, Adam has not fully regained his soprano like voice thus his scream of wanting to play outside sound like a mere whimper to me.

Hubby got off work earlier to take turn with me and brought Amri along to liven up things. I went to rest and recuperate at office, of all places. Well…it was nearer than my house.

I went back to hospital just in time for dinner. Amri took one look at my dinner tray and exclaimed “Wow….this looks niceeeee!!!” then proceeded to clean my plate. Oh my……was I starving. Had to haul my sick self to the hospital café downstairs which actually provided a wide selection of good food.

After saying bye bye to Ayah & Amri at lift lobby, Adam refused to get inside the room. He continued to run around the ward, pausing every now and then to inspect every pictures on the wall and took a peek into other rooms. Then he met a couple of girls with baloons and off he went playing with them for hours while I waited on the side line, ready to collapse.

Day 8 - 07th July 2005
I woke up with fever burning and wanted more than anything to go back to deep slumber. But Adam was all wet, his diaper leaked horribly. And by the gallons of milk he consumed throughout the night, I was hardly surprised. Somehow I managed to give Adam a bath, dressed him up and let him gave himself the nebuliser. Funny how this pint size man sometimes could do things for himself but at other times seemed incapable of doing anything at all.

I was still in pyjamas when the doctor made his round and couldn’t care less. Looking good was the least of my concern today. Oh boy…was I so happy to see hubby’s face. He took Adam for his chest physio and left me to sleep my fever off.

Adam was discharged shortly afterwards but I was too sick to be happy. We went home with my medication as many as Adam.

I'll be away

And will be spending my time at hospital!

Adam was hospitalised last Thursday thus that was where yours truly was spending her time. And will still be there for the next few days. Thanks for those who came visiting and the phone calls and sms to entertain me.

Till then..............

Procrastinator Queen with her videocam

I am the queen of procrastinator. My families are all aware of that. Most of my friends know it too. Just so that nobody forget the fact, here is my procrastinator story.

On Friday, I went to Sharp Service Centre to have my videocam lens cap replaced. I didn't have any cash with me but decided to drop by at ATM machine later. That, or wait till hubby rescue me by donating a couple of bucks. I have my credit card with me though, so why worry.
The gentleman at Sharp take a look at my videocam and ask me to wait while he replaced the cap. Then he called me to the counter and announced the cost....just RM15. I started to feel funny but whipped out my credit card nevertheless. The gentleman than promptly pointed to a notice "Credit card is only accepted for payment over RM100"! Gulp! Aisayman......
So I drove out in search of nearest ATM machine but halfway there, my boss called me to come back to office for an urgent short meeting before he left for Thailand. Okay.....I decided to collect my videocam later.

As it turned out, the short meeting went on for more than one hour and by the time it finished, the people at sharp has closed their shop and would only reopen next Monday. Uwaaaa.....I would be facing a weekend without my videocam. One of my toys that followed me everywhere. I love the function that allow me to capture photo from video, thus saving me the harassment of telling the kids to stay put coz Ibu wants to take their photo.

It was a bleak weekend. No videocam to twiddle with, no hubby to sweettalk into driving me around town and worst of all, my latest toy, a coolpix, followed hubby to Ipoh. *sob*sob*sob* Well..truth is, the coolpix was not really mine. It belongs to either hubby or his company but then, that kind of stuff usually ended up as mine *grin*

By the way, today I finally managed to collect my videocam :)

Sleeping beauties

This is where my two boys ended up sleeping, despite my house having two extra comfortably furnished bedrooms. Not to mention that one of the bedroom has queen size bed that is big enough to accomodate both of them . Boys...............

Jeckyl and Hyde

This is Amri in the morning before breakfast. Freshly scrubbed, his hair smelling wonderful and his usual jovvy self. For some reason, every morning before going to kindergarten, he has to tinker with his battered laptop first....very much the way his parents checking email :)


This is the same Amri in the evening. Smelled very much the 'anak ibu busyuk' I love to call him since day 1. Very much grumpy for having to fight every evil monsters under the sun beginning after kindy session ended. Can't decide whether to pose as batman, spiderman or power rangers so attempt a monster look alike instead.

New car on the road

Finally, got a chance to test drive a sleek red MyVi last week (well...not a test drive per se, just a drive around the block). What can I say, except that this time Perodua really come up with a good, reliable car and reasonably priced too. But then, all Perodua cars are good in terms or low maintenance cost and high resale value. Oppss...okay, all except for Kembara maybe (as preached by a car salesman friend to me again and again) What's wrong with Kembara anyway...somebody please tell me.

New MYVI, Latest Perodua Flagship model

The name ‘MYVI’ is an abbreviation for My Vehicle, My Vision or Malaysian Vision.

The project started in 2002, when a team of 80 engineers was sent to Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd, Perodua’s technology partner, in Japan, to work together, utilizing the Advance Simultaneous Engineering (ASE) programme to conceptualise and produce the new generation car. Perodua’s vendors were also involved from the inception stage, providing collaboration to design and develop component parts, the result of which is the Myvi having 80 percent of local content at the time of launch.

The Myvi comes with two engine capacities, 1.0 litre and 1.3 litre, and is priced between RM41, 200 for the base 1.0 litre manual transmission model to the top-of-the-range 1.3 litre automatic which will sell for RM51, 300 (price on-the-road, with insurance, Peninsular Malaysia). The top model, designated the flagship of the Perodua range, comes with dual airbags, and ABS.

According to the price list released to the press, the 1.0 litre model is available only with manual transmission, and in basic trim only, while there are two variants of the 1.3 manual, and two variants for the automatic model. The 1.0 litre model is available only in metallic colours while the 1.3 litre models are available in both solid and metallic colours.

The engines for the Myvi come from the current Kelisa (1.0 litre), while the 1.3 litre model shares the same engine as the Kembara. The 1.0 litre develops 43 kW at 6,000 rpm and 88Nm of torque at 3,600 rpm, while the 1.3 litre develops 64kW at 6,000 rpm and 116Nm of torque at 3,200 rpm. Both engines are DOHC units with variable valve timing. The manual transmission is a 5-speed, while the automatic is a 4-speed.

Brakes are ventilated discs in the front, and drums at the rear. Wheels are 14-inch, steel wheels for the 1.0 litre, and alloys for the other models. Tyre size is 175/65 R14. The spare wheel is a space saver. Suspension is independent Macpherson struts in the front, and a torsion beam axle at the rear.

In terms of size, the Myvi has been designed to be a full 5-seater. By placing the wheels at the extreme ends of the vehicle, and by having a short engine compartment, the designers have managed to maximize the usable passenger cabin space. Headroom is excellent, both for the front and rear occupants.
Source : Autoworld

Link by Teacher Shafinaz

A dear friend, also a kindy teacher from Bukit Subang gave me this link to try out with the boys - http://shafinaz.en101.com . Coming from Shafinaz, this must be good indeed though I am yet to introduce this to Amri.

Home alone, without hubby or new book

No matter how many millions times it took, I could never get used to hubby being outstation. I didn't like having the big bed all to myself, much less having the kids invading it in the absence of their father. I hate eating alone, with only Amri for company. I missed having somebody complained how dirty my car is. So much for an independant lady...........

Well....who claimed independance anyway. Certainly not me. Otherwise how do I explained my weird way of having hubby driving me to Pasar Section 6 and various shopping malls when I could very well drive myself over there :)
Giving a reason of not knowing the way would be too ridiculous since I used to live at section 6 once upon a time.

I don't even have a new book to entertain myself

East Coast

Intan would be on her way to her annual shopping pilgrimace to East Coast. Not only I was green with envy, I was homesick as well. Missing the warmth of Ummi's home, the chaos at Lah's house next door, the peace of mind when Amri was roaming around the neighbourhood but I knew he was perfectly safe and the glorious food from Chabang Tiga. Pasar Payang, though very enticing, was not so frequented whenever we were back in Terengganu. Reason being, fine silk does not sit well on me. I'll be more comfortable in rags.

Well.....happy shopping, girlfriend. I am planning a balik kampung trip next month or as soon as Adik give birth, whichever come first.

Couch potato

The date went well. We watched Batman which I think the best Batman there is because no extra-territorial stuff involved. You know...the things about being bitten by spider and you became spiderman, bitten by a bat than you turned into batman. Thank God, this Batman is realistic and human. Whatever turned Bruce Wayne into Batman were sheer technology and of course, money that grows on trees. I think I would have enjoyed more if not because I was shivering half way through the movie. Somebody needed to inform me earlier that the gold class was built sub-zero and blankets are provided. Sheesh.....its like watching movie inside a freezer. But we enjoyed it anyway, after years of staying away from cinema due to my obsession of dragging the kids whereever I go. I am still obsessed with it, especially during weekends but I've decided to give myself a break once in a while, go for a date and who knows, perhaps more boys in years to come *wink*wink*


Amri however, was into power rangers. Four and half years into this world, he made his first contact with power rangers, of all places, at Tok's house in Langkawi and has been talking about nothing else ever since. Well...okay..maybe mr incredibles pop up once in a while. But it was mostly eerily power rangers this, power rangers that. Our family, generally, not much of a couch potato which explained why we did not own state of the art home theatre set or even a decent size tv. Perhaps the time has come where Amri will sit glued to the tv for hours and I'd be scratching my head thinking of a way to get him outside and play. The thought sure gave me goose bumps. I hope I will not have to deal with it for a looong, loong time to come for I'm not so sure how to handle it anyway.

I have a date

I'm back to my sunny self. Hubby will not be away for the weekend afterall. I'm okay with weekdays outstation trips, they are working days anyway. Whether one work in Klang Valley or outstation, is a different story. I myself, am glad to have my feet firmly on Shah Alam ground on working days and leave the plane hopping to those who enjoy it out there. Right, Kak Lin?

To add to the sunny day........hihihi *giggle* I'll be going out for a date with hubby later in the afternoon, minus the two tornados.
So Wendy, please help to look after the office, okay. And don't call me unless its a matter of life and death of the company.

Walking down memory lane

I heard this song on MixFM this morning, and somehow it reminded me on the exhilarating year of post SPM. Testing out my newfound wings outside the protective wall of boarding school, made new friends, got my driving license, drove my first merc (thus the everlasting penchant for cars), broke some hearts, suffered a few broken hearts myself and learnt my first lesson of office politics and financial management. That was a great, great, great year indeed. I had also discovered a new library at Langkawi, patroned by me and only me. The rest of Langkawi folks were too rich to borrow books at that time. They could afford their own library.

Here is the song...........

You're In Love – Wilson Phillips

Open the door and come in
I'm so glad to see you my friend
Don't know how long it has been
Having those feelings again.
But now I see that you're so happy
And ooh, it just sets me freeAnd I'd like to see
Us as good of friends
As we used to beAah, my love,
Aah You're in love
That's the way
It should be
'Cause I want you to be happy
You're in love
And I know
That you're not in love with me
Ooh it's enough
For me to know
That you're in love
Now I'll let you go
'Cause I know
That you're in love
Sometimes it's hard to believe
That you're never coming back to me
I've had this dream that you'd always be by my side
Ooh I could have died.
But now I see that you're so happy
And ooh, it just sets me free.
And I'd like to see
Us as good of friends
As we used to be
Aah, my love,
Aah
You're in love
That's the way
It should be
'Cause I want you to be happy
You're in love
And I know
That you're not in love with me
Ooh it's enough
For me to know
That you're in love
Now I'll let you go
'Cause I know
That you're in love
I tried to find you but you were so far away
I was praying that fate would bring you back to me
Someday, someday, someday...
Ooh, you're in love
Ooh it's enough
For me to know
That you're in love
Now I'll let you go
'Cause I know
That you're in love

It was dedicated to me by a poor soul from Northern Telecom.

BMW 5 Series

This piece of article is dedicated to someone who is currently deeply in love with BMW :D

BMW SLAMMED FOR POOR CRASH TEST
New 5-series gets just four stars in Euro NCAP tests - at second attemp!

BMW's 5 series has suffered a big upset in Euro NCAP crash test results. The Five required numerous modifications and a re-test to record a four star result. While rivals such as Merc E-Class, new Audi A6 and SAAB 9-5 have all gained five stars, the 5 series needed improvements to the steering column, footrest, door trip, door latch, airbags and software. The Five also has to undertake both frontal-impact and pole tests twice in order to be classed as four star car.

The pedestrian impact test threw up even more serious concerns. NCAP assessors slammed the company's attitude, saying : 'BMW needs to take protection of pedestrians much more seriously' Source : Autocar

I would't mind a Five myself and I'll take enermous care not to ram it into pedestarians.