our story...our journey

and she's 1..

2011-02-08T09:05:00.002+08:00

Yesterday (07 Feb 2011) was Izz's first birthday...

A year has passed... my little girl is no more a baby...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAREST IZZ...

semoga panjang umur, murah rezeki & menjadi anak yg solehah..

may your life will be filled with laughter & happiness...

ibu, ayah & abang will love you always!

Little Miss Adventure...

2011-01-17T12:32:00.011+08:00

I have been updating a lot about Iman, but few on Izz. It's not that I forget about her, but she's still in the early stage of learning, so not much to tell.... NOT!!

I must say, this little girl of mine is really really really active (read: naughty)... Let the photos tell the story..

A very very cute little girl huh...

People would just fall in love with her pretty smile & big eyes & long eye lashes...

A very friendly girl but she hated it when people touch her...

BUT!!!

Don't fall for that cute face.... This girl is full of mischief!!

Her favorite place.. the stairs!!

Once she's up, she'll stop (dgn muka bangga).. and call you so you can chase her!!

Next favorite place... the door...

You should see her when the door is open and the grill is closed. She'll pick up (from inside) all the slippers and shoes from outside and put in it the house!!

Smiling proudly because she's at the driver's seat..

(Notice her hand, reaching the wiper to 'clean' the window... sebab tu cermin kereta Ayah sentiasa bersih (read: basah).. sampai habis air wiper tu dikerjakan si kecik ni..!)

See what she did to her stool...

And how she sat on it.... !

This is when she refuse to take her nap...

among few other times she tried to escape..

This was taken in our hotel room in Melaka last month...

She tried to climb up the chair...

(Abang baik je, siap letak kaki nak hadang kerusi (sambil tengok tv), takut adik jatuh.. tapi hampeh, at last jatuh jugak...)

Time tido pun muka still menunjukkan kenakalan dia...

This girl has fell more than her abang in a year... Ruang tamu dah penuh dgn tilam & bantal sbb nak elakkan dia dari terhantuk kuat... Tapi budak ni bukan setakat lasak, kebal pulak tu.. Setakat jatuh/terhantuk skit, no hal punya lah... Ada satu gambar dia berdiri kat baby chair (yg mcm IKEA punya tu..), tapi dah terdelete pulak... Selamba je berdiri situ sambil tepuk tangan... Terjun dari baby cot dia & jatuh kat katil kitaorg, dah tak heran dah... Dah berapa kali rasa mcm nak kena heart attack bila tengok aksi budak ni...

But....

.... at the end of the day, she's still Daddy's Little Girl....

Iman si Ringan Tulang...

2010-12-28T10:27:00.007+08:00

Yesterday I had to take leave because my babysitter called the night before, saying she's stuck in heavy traffic jam in Bandar Melaka. So she was thinking to go back to her parents' place, stay for the night and go back to JB the next day.

So I stayed at home with the two kids and planned to cook for lunch.

At 10.30am, I put Izz for her nap & went straight to the kitchen. Iman was left playing alone and watching TV. Then suddenly he came with his stool and said "Ibu, boleh Iman tolong Ibu masak hari ni??"

He asked the same question few times before, but since Ayah was at home, so I told him to go play. But yesterday, I said "OK"...

Rajin tau anak Ibu... This is actually his second time helping me. The first time was for his Ayah's birthday, he helped me baked the cake (click here)...

First I let him helped me cook the vegetables...

He was super excited when I let him stir...

Then I asked him to help me crushed the ginger...

He called this "cecah cecah..". Again super excited...

And lastly I asked him to do the dishes..

Bersungguh-sungguh kan...? Then susah payah dia nak letak kat dish dryer tu... :)

He even scolded me when I wanted to take photos... "Ibu ni.. tak payah amik gambar.. kite masak-masak je.."

But he was super cute at the kitchen and I just can't resist! Especially time ni...

macam comel je duk tumbuk mcm tu... hehehehe...

I know most people won't let their kids to help. Yes, it can be very troublesome... kerja senang jadik lambat sbb nak kena ajar & tunggu dia buat sendiri. But I believe in the process of learning & educating. And I believe by letting him experiencing this himself, he's not actually learning to cook but learning to give a helping hand...

After the vegetable was done (and he believed that it was him who cooked it), he gave me a high-5! Then he said "Best la buat macam ni Bu.. Nanti kite masak-masak lagi ok Bu.. Iman tolong Ibu masak ayam..."

Try to imagine how excited he was when he told Ayah that he actually cooked that day!

And seeing that happy face of him is priceless!!

simple math

2010-12-24T09:05:00.003+08:00

a simple math for today...

yup.. we have been married for 6 years!!

Happy Anniversary my dear....

Thanks for everything

I love you more than yesterday and never less for tomorrow...

3.3.3.3.

2010-12-23T12:14:00.003+08:00

Did you noticed??

Today he's 3 years, 3 months, 3 weeks & 3 days old...

once in his lifetime.. :)

what is your postcode....?

2010-12-23T09:36:00.011+08:00

Something funny happened few days ago...

Since I moved to our home in Pulai Perdana few years back, I found it weird that our home postcode is 81110...

Because I noticed that UTM (which is not far from our home) & Taman Sri Pulai and Taman Teratai (just across the main road) is using the postcode 813**. I mean all these places just few KM away, then why we have different postcode.. eeerrmmm....

Then few months back, my brother send me a snail mail, but he put the wrong postcode (81100). So I got a call from the post office, to pick the mail from them. When I was there, I asked them, where does the postcode referring to. He said all 811** is for Johor Bahru district (Tebrau, Majidee etc). Again, that made me thinking.

This thing, even though it's not that important (since all my mail arrived safely), but it still stayed in my mind (thank you to myself for being an OCD)...

So as I was waiting for my parcel yesterday, I kept on checking the reference number on the Pos Malaysia website. And I noticed there's a 'Postcode Finder' on the website.

Saje je gatal-gatal tangan nak try kan.... and I typed in our postcode... Guess what??

DOES NOT EXIST?? (check out the spelling 'does't not'... what's that?? huh!!)

What do they mean it does not exist?? I have been using that postcode for the past 6 years... it's in my IC and all my important documents...

All the road signs in my area are using that postcode! Even one golf resort next to my home..

see.. they too are using 81110!!

Then I searched for the name of my place... see the result..

It should have been 81300!!

Gosh... this is really weird... then I posted this to my FB

Few friends commented on my status, even friends in Kangkar Pulai was given the postcode 81110...

I wrote an email to Customer Service Center for Post Malaysia...

And their reply:

And now we can just wait & see...

Maybe for some people it's not that BIG DEAL, but it is too me... wouldn't it be weird if someone who does not know your postcode, using the Pos Malaysia postcode finder service, then found the postcode 81300 & use that one instead of 81110 ?? So will the letter arrive?? Will the postman know that 81110 & 81300 is the same place?

Or if someone knew my postcode and just wanted to know where that is & using the postcode finder to search for 81110, and found that the postcode does not exist????

Or if the Pos Malaysia noticed that we have been using the wrong postcode, then does that mean that we have to change ALL of our documents, including IC, driving licence etc???

I think for some country, postcode is very important (and I thought that it's important for this country too...!!) It's a way for them to group their people, just by knowing the postcode, then they can know where a person lives...

So who to blame? I know it's not me!!

a mother's dilemma...

2010-12-22T11:00:00.006+08:00

Iman is going to be 4 next year....

So both of us are thinking to send him to a playschool.. but we still have not decided where or do we want to send him...

Iman dah sibuk nak sekolah, keep asking when he can go to school...

I wanted to send him... but it's just so hard to find the RIGHT school for him... and truthfully I am frightened...

Not that I'm afraid he could not adapt, but I am more afraid of the syllabus that they offered to a 4-year old!!

For now, I just want Iman to learn the basic skill of communications, learning how to make friends.. He should be developed to know what he likes/dislikes, he should explore all things so he can think of what he want.. and because learning is suppose to be fun... I don't want him to be pressured or forced to learn.. That is not right for kids.. again they suppose to understand that learning is fun!!

Character building & exploring is very important for this age... but I see most kindergarten or play school (actually there's no play school in Malaysia, try google it... you'll find mostly offer pre-school education) in Malaysia emphasize too much on (exam-based) education & somehow forcing kids to learn too much before their age...

I mean at 4, there are kids afraid to go to school because they have not finish their homework (buku tak payah cerita la, tebal mcm buku sekolah rendah), having exams & teaching kids multiply or a 3rd language (BM pun tak lepas tatabahasa lagi..)???

I mean, yes it's good exposure, but that's too much.. What happen to drawing, singing, playing clay, dancing, role play etc??? I thought kids that age should be playing more because that's how they learn... (seriously.. am jealous of my friends in oversea because they have that kind of play school for their kids...)

Iman is a smart kid, he already know alphabets & numbers... he know how to spell simple words & knows how to count.. I'm thinking of teaching him simple math, you know 1+1, 1+2... so he knows the concept of adding... because I see he likes numbers more than words..

But one thing I notice is, he does not like writing or colouring... maybe because he too has OCD (blame me..). When he's coloring, he does not like the colors to be out of border or when he's writing (follow the dot..), he does not want his writing to be messy.. So when he saw that he's not writing perfectly, he just gave up!! Then he'll said "Iman tak pandai la.. susah.."

We are still encouraging him to write more, actually to make him understand that doing something a bit messy is OK (I am praying hard he doesn't get carried away with this OCD)... and to let him know that it's OK to fail, as long as he try his best...

That's why we're thinking to send him to school... Maybe when he sees other kids are trying too, or getting compliments from his teachers, he can be encourage (not forced) to write or learn new things...

And that's why I am looking for a place where he can have fun learning. Because I'm afraid, if he's not being encourage that way (being scolded or punished if he fails), then he will be afraid of schools...

So anyone have any idea where I can send him next year?? (suggestion in Skudai area only please...)

Dia nak kawin pulak....

2010-12-21T09:33:00.004+08:00

Remember my post on Iman's first show?

He was singing Maher Zain's song for his uncle's wedding...

And after the ceremony, he told me that he wanted to get married!!

With who?

His cheeky cousin Arissa, of course...

Iman with his bride-to-be????

The conversation as I remembered it:

Ibu : Kenapa nak kawin? Iman kena belajar dulu.. kerja dulu.. Baru boleh kawin...

Iman: ooowwhh.. mcm Ayah, mcm Ibu eh???

Ibu : A'aa.. kalau tak nanti, macamana Iman nak cari duit..

Iman: eermmm... Iman pikir jap.....

(silent for a moment, I thought the issue will stop there...)

Iman: Tak nak la Bu.. Tak nak la belajar... nak kawin je....

Ibu : Kenape?????

Iman: Iman nak jadi penantin (pengantin)... mcm Pakcik dgn Makcik hari tu....

eerrmmm.... Dia nak kawin sbb dia ingat kawin tu jadi pengantin jeee....

Well, bad news my dear... getting married is much more than a wedding... one day you'll learn... :)

she's allergic...

2010-12-20T08:48:00.005+08:00

Last week, little Izz was sick.

Started with a mild fever... doctor gave her antibiotic...

Then she's OK, but started to have rashes on her tummy...

We taught it was measles....

But it got worst Tuesday night, she looked like she was burnt! Her skin was red-hot all over & her feet started to bloat. She's couldn't sleep, maybe because she's not comfortable.. but her temperature was normal & she was still active playing.

We decided to bring her to another clinic, it was 12.30am. But the doctor told us to bring her to a hospital, it may be an allergic or virus infection..

Arrived at the hospital at 1.00am, kesian Iman sbb terbangun masa sampai hospital...

The doctor was good, even he's still an intern (I think).

Just as he looked at it & asked me few questions, he said "It's allergic and I think because Augmentin (the antibiotic)...". He prescribed Izz with allergic medicine & reminded us few times of her allergy.

Went back at 3.00am & both of us was extremely tired & I have 9.00am meeting that morning!

The next day Izz was back to her old self, as loud & as active as usual...

But we need to be alerted with her medicine from now. Luckily I skipped her antibiotic few times, kalau tak lagi teruk kot!!

So no more Augmentin for her & we have to be more careful on antibiotics given to her.

His first

2010-12-16T10:07:00.004+08:00

Last two weeks, we went back to Kuching to celebrate my brother's wedding. It was great to be home, I really miss my home town.

Something surprising happen during the wedding, at least for me & hubby.

Iman actually pick up the microphone & sing on stage!!
Since the MC announced that it's an open stage for anyone that wanted to sing, he keeps asking me when can he perform. At first I just ignored his request, because I'm afraid that he just wanted to be on stage then I guess he'll freaked out. But no... just watch the video to see what happen...

After he sang, people started to call him "Maher Iman"... :)

I'm so proud of him, obviously I know that he does not have any stage-fright... and this will not definitely be his last..

Mop jalan...

2010-12-09T14:29:00.004+08:00

Few weeks ago, Iman followed his Ayah to fetch Atokmak at Kota Tinggi to come to our home. This was the father-son conversation in the car (as told by my hubby...)...

Ayah: Jalan slow la Man... banyak kereta ni..
Iman: a'aa la... jauh kan rumah Tokmak, ayah...
Ayah: Tak la jauh sgt.. ni jalan slow ni.. banyak kereta kot...

(silent for few moments... Iman was looking outside...)

Iman: Ayah... patut la slow, ada org mop jalan...
Ayah: Mop jalan?? mana??

Can you guess what Iman was pointing at????

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
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This Man At Work sign...

hahahahah.. he's a very funny little boy eh??

Wind of change..

2010-12-01T15:01:00.006+08:00

Have you heard, some people say that your appetite might change after you give birth?

I have.. and after two pregnancies, I surely did have this wind of change.

Before Iman, I don't really like going to KFC.

Why? Because I don't eat fried chicken as main dish. I must have it with rice, or noodles at least. So it was weird for me when I see people eating fried chicken without any other main dish. If I had to go to KFC, I only have the Zinger burger.

But post-Iman.. I had a thing for KFC.

My favorite - Snack Plate

Not only that I can finish the 2-piece chicken, but I am now, also able to eat the coleslaw. Surprise huh??? (For those who know me, you know how much I hate vegetables...)

So after Izz was born, I thought - what mood change on food that I will have this time....

For few months, nothing changed... My appetite was still the same...

Then suddenly these few weeks, I started to have this sudden craving of....

SUSHI!!

(yea I know.. org lain dah lama makan sushi... )

Seriously, I NEVER eat sushi in my life before...

I just have this sudden feeling of trying out, and now I am officially addicted...

Sushi King - my favorite place now..

(I even have the membership card for 2011!)

WordWorld

2010-11-30T08:48:00.005+08:00

Do you know this show?

This is a very good show on words, word sound & spelling.

It is shown on Disney Channel 613 on Astro. The show started a year back & when I first saw it, I know this can be a good show for Iman. I started to introduced Iman the show, but he was too young then.

Iman memorized the ABC song and he knows the number 1-10 when he was just one year plus. But he was just memorizing it, he still did not recognize the letters or number. And just before his 3rd birthday, I found out that he knows how to count and also he recognize all the letters and numbers.

Recently, he understands that letters can become words and from the words it can be sentences and the sentences are in books and we can read it. So I feel it's the right time for him to watch this series. Luckily Astro always have re-run shows, so I tried not to miss the show for him.

At first, he was not very impressed by the show, he prefer his Ben 10 (of course...). But few nights ago, he started to know that he can learn about words and spelling from the show. Then he started to be excited. And the first word that he noticed was BALL.

You see, in WordWorld, all the words come alive... So when you spell B-A-L-L, the letters will become a ball...

Very interesting, right? That's why it's good for your kids. And now, Iman is into spelling all the time!

One funny thing he said last night:

Ibu : Cuba Iman spell BALL kat handphone ibu...

(I handed him my handphone & opened the Note features & the keypad for him..)

Iman : B-A-L-L (he spelled as he typed)

Ibu :Pandai nya anak ibu.. dah pandai spell la...

Iman : Tapi bu... kenapa dia tak jadi ball?? Jadi ball tu, macam dlm WordWorld???

eerrmmm... dah dia imagine semua words akan jadi betul pulak lepas eja... nak kena explain pulak dah... :)

Tapi tak pe... it's all the process of him learning...

So I would suggest the WordWorld website, click here.

It has lots of activities and games for kids to spell... and trust me, your kids will love it!

Somehow I wish I can find the same show/websites for Malay.. or even Jawi. I think this is one of the easiest way to teach kids to spell.. don't you think?

(all photos are taken from WordWorld website)

First home

2010-11-24T09:08:00.007+08:00

I really love LEGO...

Since I was a kid, I really loved playing with our (my brothers & me) LEGO set.

I have always wanted to buy Iman one, but need to wait until he can understand how to play it with. And last weekend, we finally bought him his first LEGO set, and its good for his creativity.

At first, he do not really understand how to build things. So me & hubby have to show him the way. We build cars, houses and animals for him - kitaorg pulak yang over... hiihihihi

And last night, he build his first home - with the help from Makcik Ja.

Front view

Side view

Back view

Top view

Agak-agak boleh jadi arkitek tak?? Boleh nanti capai cita-cita Ayah yang nak jadi arkitek, kan Ayah kan???

We had only one comment on his design.

His door cannot be open, because he blocked it with 'bricks'.

The front door

Ibu : Iman, kenapa pintu tak boleh bukak?? Macam mana nak masuk?

Iman : Ala Bu.. tak pe, tak pe.. biar je...

Ayah : Abis tu nanti... kalau ada terbakar.. macam mana nak keluar?

(silently thinking, looking at his house....)

Iman : Kan tingkap boleh bukak, nanti keluar kat tingkap la.. (sambil bukak tingkap...) Tingkap ni tak cukup la... Ada one, two je... Dah kena beli lagi la...

p/s: Malam ni Ayah dah janji nak tolong Iman buat JUSCO pulak...

Bintik-bintik

2010-11-12T09:04:00.002+08:00

Iman : Ibu, ape kat muka ibu?? Tu yg bintik-bintik tu?

Ibu : ni sbb Iman nakal la ni.. kalau Iman nakal lagi, makin bnyk tumbuh kat muka Ibu, tak kesian Ibu ke??

Iman : ...................

After few moments...

Iman: Ni ape kat muka Iman ni Bu?? Ibu ada buat nakal ke??? (sambil pegang pipi dia..)

huhuhuhu.... dia pun nak jugak... :D

lovin' the nineties!!

2010-11-11T08:48:00.010+08:00

Last weekend, I was planning to wake-up a bit late, but as usual both Iman & Izz will have their big black eyes wide open as early as they can. One of the morning, Iman turned on the radio & Lisa Loeb's song 'Stay" was on the radio...

Then suddenly, I remembered the 90's...

It was the time when I was crazy about American & British (but mostly American) singers... I remembered I spend most of my pocket money buying cassettes & magazines... I watched only English sitcom (remember the sitcom 'Out of This World'? That was my favorite!) & only listens to English radio stations (not much choice then..).... I was always fascinated by their songs!!

And that's how I learnt English. I went to a regular Malay-speaking school (actually Sarawak-Malay) but I always got great marks in English. After SRP (mesti terasa I tua sgt kan, sbb amik SRP bukan PMR.. huhuhuhu), I thought of switching class from pure science to social science so I can take the subject 'Literature in English'. But my teacher was against the idea. Then after SPM, I wanted to take TOEFL, but end up in Computer Science (don't ask me how that happen)..

And my favorite, of course was 'Stay'... I just think the song is great...

It was the longest-non-repetitive lyrics I had ever memorize!! But still some part I was not able to sing... and owh! the song was in the soundtrack of the film 'Reality Bites', starring Ethan Hawkes & Winona Ryder (again, my two favorite actors in the 90's!!)

And she sounded great performing this song live, especially her guitar playing...

Enjoy!

p/s: I embedded the video here so I listen to her again and again and again! :D

First experience

2010-11-10T16:32:00.004+08:00

Yesterday, I received a package....

what's inside???

3 pairs of legging for Izz....

And this is my first time buying online. Never tried before, why??

Two reasons:

First, I am a 'traditional' customer. I prefer buying things that I can touch, feel & see. I was always afraid the colors might vary or the size might be wrong.

Second, I was afraid that I'll get addicted & then I'll start to buy all the things that I won't need (just to please my obsession of collecting - blaming my OCD!!).

And why I tried this time?

Because my brother & his new wife gave Izz a t-shirt that I think should be worn with a legging. Tried to find one, but it was just too expensive (RM25 for one pair!!). Then I remembered lots of these legging was sold in the internet, so I just thought I try to find one.

And I did... Found it here Dress Your Baby, and it was the cheapest one I found (I think..) - RM7 each or RM20 for 3 pairs... good deal huh???

I hope I won't be addicted (eerrmm... writing this entry while browsing for handbag for sale online...!!)

cool blog...

2010-11-04T19:53:00.003+08:00

Just want to share this blog... a very funny blog...

http://funny-profiles-story.blogspot.com/

my favorite, Puteri Gunung Ledang & Spongebob...
but read the November post 'Malaysia Story III'.. it's a classic!!

just click and read for yourself... :)

falling off the wagon...

2010-10-21T16:35:00.003+08:00

*thinking* eerrmm.... how can you fall if you're not on one?? huhuhu

the reason why I choose the title is, lately I feel fat!!
I just feel that I am not myself... I feel lazy & I have been ignoring myself for so long...

Just let me summarize the reason I feel like this:

Before: I am an active person.
Sometimes I jog, sometimes I play squash, sometimes I go to the gym..
Now: None of these are in my daily routine anymore

Before: I love to do self facial treatment...
At least once a week, or sometimes twice a week, I'll use scrub (face & body) & face
mask, including doing hair treatment to myself.
Now: It will a bonus if I manage to find the time to do all this at least ONCE a month...

I feel flabby.. Hubby keep pushing to join him in his daily workout, but I don't like workout... or simple exercise or aerobics.. If you don't have the heart to do it, will it give much impact? I prefer running, but with 2 kids, my evening is fully occupied..

Yeah.. I know...
I should not blame it on them... But I just want to spend my free time with them..

I should put more effort to find time for myself.. Not only for me, but for Hubby too... I don't want to be the 'beast' & the handsome... huuhuuhuhu....

Don't know why I've become so lazy.....

An evening in Desaru...

2010-10-14T12:08:00.007+08:00

(sorry ignoring this blog for some time... *sigh*)

Last weekend, we went to Desaru (or Serruuu, as Iman said)... It's has been awhile since we last went to a beach... Just think it would be great for Iman & Izz..

yeay.. I'm already 8-month!!

We went there because it was not far from my MIL.. My hubby was from Kota Tinggi, and Desaru was just 30min drive away....

Izz was able to put her hat on because she saw Iman has his...
eerrr... I just noticed that I looked like I'm pregnant here... I'm NOT.. it's because I use my body to support Izz whom getting heavier & heavier... and because my bag covered the back of my body so nampak mcm kegemukan berterusan dari depan hingga ke belakang!! huhuhuh....

Serious me... !

Then after she saw Iman was not using his, so threw away hers too....

Daddy's little girl!

Wonders what this father-daughter was looking at....????

Iman had fun, but he was afraid at first... should bring him here more often..

mother-son walk..

This girl is very active, & she loved the water, not afraid of them...
she was fighting to let go!!

off to Atokmak's

I forgot to bring extra clothes for Iman... actually, I don't really want him to be all wet..
I hate sea water (plus the sands)!!

Salam Aidilfitri 1431H

2010-09-21T15:36:00.003+08:00

think it's not too late to wish everyone..

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri
Maaf Zahir Batin

from the four of us...
mie, lin, iman & izz

2010-08-30T09:18:00.003+08:00

i am writing this while invigilating my class midterm exam, but my heart is in JB..

Remember my post when Iman was admitted to the hospital last year (here)...
It happened during Ramadhan last year, early Ramadhan... and this year the nightmare repeated itself again..

Little Izz was admitted to the hospital yesterday evening, right before iftar... She has got fever for a week now & last three days ago, she started to have flu.. and it was getting worse...

Last night I stayed with her at the ward.. came back this morning at 7am & went straight to the office because my students' mid term exam is today... I have not sleep since yesterday...!

Ironically, yesterday was Iman's birthday and we haven't celebrated it yet...

Really really wish she'll be discharge soon...

I am not thinking straight, even my post does not have title... huhuhuh

Brother and Sister...

2010-08-12T13:20:00.004+08:00

As I was folding clothes one evening, something caught my eyes....

Guess what are they doing???

Brother & sister watching the movie Cars on Disney Channel..

Front view

They were really concentrate, didn't even notice I was taking their picture...

up-close view..

Cute kan???
They really adore each other...
and I really really love them both...

iman yang kelakar...

2010-08-09T10:56:00.003+08:00

Sempena birthday Iman yang ke-3 hujung bulan Ogos ni, saya nak mendedikasikan entri ni kepada anak bujang saya...

Ingat lagi tak entri pasal Iman pasal dia byk cakap tu??? (Klik sini)..
So entri ni nak sambung lagi lawak-lawak anak saya itu....

Masa main Playdoh dgn Ayah sambil berborak anak-beranak...
Iman: Ayah.. oink oink tu kan berasam....
Ayah: Berasam??
Iman: a'aa, kan tak boleh pegang..
Ayah: Bukan berasam la Iman.. haram...
Iman: Haram.. oooo.... ya baruk betul...

Masa singgah kat Petronas..
Iman: Ayah... Petomas ada jaban tak???

Masa pegi jalan dgn Ayah, pipi Iman kena talipinggang. Esok balik kerja, Iman cakap kat Ibu..
"Ibu.. tgk ni (tunjuk pipi)... ahhamdulilah, dah baik...." :)

Ibu suruh Iman jaga Izz... Izz muntah & Ibu tak perasan... tiba-tiba..
"Ya Allah ya tuhan aku, budak ni muntah lagi...."

Satu hari, Ibu cakap kat Iman...
Ibu: Iman dah besar kan...
Iman: a'aa.. Iman dah besar...
Ibu: dah bujang anak ibu ni kan...
Iman: a'aa Bu.. Iman dah bujang lapok....

Ada byk lagi lawak Iman buat, tapi tak boleh nak ingat sangat..
Setiap hari, ada je la idea dia...

Ni le budak yg patut berumur 3 thn hujung bulan ni, tapi petah bercakap mcm org tua... :)

Cerita Iman...

2010-07-30T12:15:00.002+08:00

Since Iman was little, I have been introducing books to him, as part of my initiatives for him to like books and reading. And now, I can see my effort has become a success. He really loves books and one easy way to lure him out from the toy department is to tell him "Jom Iman, kita pegi kedai buku...".

He's almost three, but he already have a collection of books and he really take great care of all his books. None of his books that I bought since he was a baby are damaged, he never tore the pages from his books/magazine.

I saw book review slot in MHI once and Wardina was suggesting this book to the viewers:

Bacakan saya satu cerita

She mentioned that this is a great book for bedtime stories. It has over 100 collections of short stories so you can read to your kid before they sleep, and each story has a morale value that you can teach to your kid. One thing that I like is, they gave tips for parents on how to choose story to read and how to read the stories to them.

Almost every night we read for Iman (but it has been awhile since I last read to him... blame it to my obsession to finish all the housework everyday!). Before I read to him, we always make a deal on how many story I have to read, usually it's two, but sometimes kalau dia tak dapat tido, dia pujuk sampai kena baca 6 cerita...

Then one night, we came to his page....

And he volunteered to read the story to me... FYI, he still doesn't know how to read, so he made up the story based on the picture (The shoe)..

Lebih kurang mcm ni la cerita dia..

"Ada satu kasut baru. Dia beli dgn Iman. Dia suka. Pas tu dia kena air (sbb dia nampak kaler biru kat bawah kasut), dia kena hujan.... "

Sorry I don't really remember his version of the story, but he repeatedly say "kasut" and the story goes round and round and round....

Then after 5 minutes, he looked like he's out of idea... His eyes started to wonder around, trying to think and made up what happen to the kasut.. Then I noticed his eyes was on the next page, looking at the picture of the next story...
Then he say...

".... dan semut pun datang... Habis.... The end...."

Ape ntah kaitan semut dgn cerita kasut tadi....

Pastu, dia boleh tanya balik...

"Sedap tak cerita Iman Bu?? Betul tak Iman baca? Okey... Ibu pulak baca dgn Iman"

.. and turn to the next page.... hehehehe....

The girl who loves her crib...

2010-07-30T10:56:00.005+08:00

This is almost 6 months old Izz...

and she loves her crib

playing in her crib (pinjam Mickey abang...)

Why do I say that??
Because the easiest way to get her to sleep is to put her in her bed...
She'll fell asleep in just few minutes...

Tak kira la siang ke...

malam ke...

Masuk katil je, mata terus layu....

pastu dah selamat tido...

Tido dgn nyenyak sampai ke pagi..

Itu la dia budak bernama Izz....

and now he's Buzz...

2010-06-23T08:02:00.003+08:00

Remember my entry on The Cartoons?

Well, now Iman has change his character... He is now officially Buzz Lightyear.

We brought him to watched Toy Story 3 last weekend. And now he is in the character Buzz, won't let anyone call him Iman anymore.

At the movie...

Then he manage to persuade us to buy him Buzz & Woody's figure. Beli yang kecik je la ye Buzz...

Buzz, Woody & Ironman was given special privilege to sleep on his pillow... eeemmm...

Doa Iman...

2010-06-09T11:36:00.004+08:00

One of my priority for this year is to continue my study.
This is a long-waited things to do in my wish list, and I should have gone at least a year ago. The reason for postponing is because I need to settle my family matters first (kena pindah kerja dulu).

So now I am doing all the preparation (proposal writing, IELTS exam, submit study leave application etc), and hopefully by early next year, my wish would come true.

To make my wish come true, I ask for a little help from Iman. Ye la kan.. mana tau, doa budak kecik ni cepat dimakbulkan.. So one night, I teach him to recite this doa:

"Ya Allah, Ya Tuhanku.. mudahkanlah Ibuku dpt belajar di oversea..."

he followed and suddenly he added:

"... Iman dpt main snow juak.. Amin"

I wanted to laugh, tapi tak baik la kan... itu doa dia (mana ntah dia tau kalau pegi oversea dpt main snow...).

mudah-mudahan doa Iman dimakbulkan.. Amin... :)

The truth about me...

2010-06-02T08:20:00.007+08:00

For the first entry after my 33rd birthday, I want to tell you about me...

There's something I want to admit..

I think I have OCD (Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder).

I do not realized I have this, until I watched Monk for the first time. Then I googled about it and I think I am one of them. But I wouldn't say I am like the character Monk, I think he's too sick. I think I am more like Monica, from Friends.

I like neat and organized things. I will make sure everything is PERFECT.
Let me give you examples, why I think I have OCD...

1. I LOVE neat place & things in order..

This is my bed..

I will make sure my bed is tidy (as above), right after I wake up (kadang-kadang hubby kena paksa bangun sbb I want made up the bed). I will try my best to make sure the bed stays like that until the time for me to rest. Tapi kadang-kadang geram jugak sebab ada sorang budak besar (a.k.a. Hubby) suka ajak sorang budak kecik (a.k.a. Iman) main guling-guling atau gusti kat katil sebelum tido. If that happen, then I 'force' my hubby to tidy it up and make sure the bedsheet tak renyuk-renyuk before I jump on bed...

I noticed I have this obsession since I was in boarding school. I sanggup tido kat lantai time afternoon nap, sbb sayang nak renyukkan katil sampai tido malam. Mcm sakit hati je bila member suka-suka dtg dan lanyak katil!!

Not only my bed... I will make sure Izz & Iman's bed pun sentiasa kemas...

Izz's crib next to ours..

And Iman's bed..

The obsession to make sure everything is tidy & neat, does not apply only to my bed but to everything...

Even my cloth hangers must be hang and put in order as I want...

See how I arranged the hangers according to colors, sizes and type... Sebenarnya kan I like thing to be in the same size or color. I hate when there are things out-of-the-ordinary... Like the hangers in the pic, I tak suka yang kaler biru tu sbb dah kacau susunan hanger orange tu (The reason I tak suka, hanger biru tu ada macam-macam bentuk, saiz & kaler biru yang berlainan).

Sbb tu I susun yg biru tu kat tepi je, tgh menunggu peluang nak buang!! (So anyone nak hanger lebih, let me know k.... I'll give you the blue ones for free...). And for your info, hanger sikit-sikit yang kaler hijau la, merah la, putih la... dah selamat kena buang... hehehe...

Owh.. even when I hang my clothes to dry, I have my own 'system'. All t-shirts MUST be hang using the purple's hanger. All Iman's clothes MUST be hang using the small green hangers. All the undies and Izz's clothes MUST be hang using the round hanger. The big sizes clothes MUST be hang kat palang paling luar, seluar pulak kat palang paling tinggi...

That's why I don't really like people to help me to hang my washed clothes because they'll disturb my 'system'. Even hubby pun tak berani nak tolong. I mean, my hubby is very helpful (Thanks for the thought dear, but no thanks..).... But I HATE it when it's not done as I want... I'll redo everything if I don't like it!!

2. I LOVE to categorized things.

This apply when I want to arrange things.

Even for my closet, I have these categories for my clothes:
1. Hubby's t-shirt (utk jalan-jalan)
2. My t-shirt/blouse (utk jalan-jalan)
3. Pair t-shirt (me & hubby) utk jalan-jalan.
4. Hubby's collar t-shirt
5. My home t-shirt
6. My jeans/shorts/sport trousers
7. Hubby's jeans and short
8. Hubby's sport & cycling clothes.
9. My pyjamas & night t-shirt
10. Hubby's pyjamas and shorts..
11. Hubby's trousers (for work)
12. My trousers.
13. (and of course) Our undies.. which is put in the same drawer with our socks, handkerchiefs and all the small things. Ada kategori jugak dalm laci tu tau...

And the categories also applied to Iman & Izz's closet. I had headache when I organized the closet... I really had to think hard on how I arranged all the clothes and what category the shirt belongs to! And I have another closet just for my scarfs and ironed clothes for work.

This is for the folded ones.

For my hanged clothes, I have a different categories. I have sections for:
1. Baju kurung
2. Baju kebaya
3. Jubah

This only applied to my clothes la... I malas nak susun hubby punya, sbb nanti bila dia simpan, mesti dah tak teratur balik. Dulu I pernah jugak kemas utk dia as follows:
1. Kemeja lengan pendek
2. Kemeja lengan panjang
3. Batik

And it was arrange according to colours, with the darker one on the left and lighter ones on the right. Tapi macam kejap je ikut susunan tu. So sekarang dah malas nak kemas utk dia..

And because I have a 'system' on how I arrange my clothes in the closet, the way I fold the clothes pun mesti ada system...

If most people dislike to fold their clothes, I LOVE it. Again, because of my OCD, I want everything to be exactly my way. Sekali lagi hubby tak suka nak tolong lipat. Bukan sbb dia tak nak tolong, but I'll unfold and refold the clothes if it is not how I want it.

And I never wear the same clothes to work for at least 2 weeks. Bukan la sebab takut org cakap asyik pakai baju sama. But I don't want to discriminate my clothes. I always remember what I have wear at least a week before, because takut nanti ada baju yang 'kecik hati' sebab dah lama tak pakai (eehh.. boleh mcm tu...?). So kena pandai atur cycle baju. And usually I have selected the clothes to wear a week before I should wear them.

And now I have a bigger 'responsibility' because I have to think what hubby should wear to work too. I am in-charge to make sure we wear the same colour or theme, to work every day. Pening tau nak pikir macamana nak cycle baju ni.

3. I HATE dirty laundry...

Since I am obsessed to make sure everything is clean and tidy, I really really hate dirty laundry! Last weekend I went to my sister-in-law's, we had fun, especially Iman, sebab ada ramai kakak yang layan dia.

But when I got back, the only thing in my mind was, the dirty laundry...

My laundry basket last Monday...

I hate when the laundry basket is full, like above. I kept thinking when I can I finished to wash everything? I can't wash everything at once, not because of the washing machine, but I won't have the place to dry everything. Unless hubby is kind enough to buy me a dryer, then my laundry problem will be solved! (*wink wink to hubby...)

And I don't trust people to wash my clothes, I must do it on my own. Hubby paling tension sebab I have two laundry basket, one for colors and one for white. Dia tension je sebab I tak nak campur baju bila basuh.... (but that is normal, right?)

I have a very busy weekend, because Saturday is cleaning time. I'll washed all bedsheets and towels. But usually during weekend, we'll be staying at my mother-in-law or my in-law family... So can you imagine my worry every time we get back home on Sunday evening - with all the dirty laundry???

Then kalau minggu tu hujan pulak... Aduhh.. berat rasa kepala nak pikir bila baju nak kering.. Even kalau tak hujan pun, I don't like if my clothes don't get enough sunlight.. huurrmmmm...

That is why when I'm back to my MIL, I try to avoid washing clothes. It's not like I geli or mengada-ngada nak campur basuh baju dengan dioerg. Tapi selalu bila dah ramai, then baju sidai pun banyak, sampai tak cukup hanger & tpt sidai. Nanti baju tak dpt cukup matahari, so nanti bau baju pun tak best. Especially time raya dan musim hujan datang sekali! Boleh migraine pikir pasal baju kotor time cam ni... huhuhu....

Then bila nak balik, baju pulak belum kering.. sakit nya hati sebab kena letak baju basah-basah dalam plastik. Then sampai rumah kena basuh balik. Kan membazir... So better tak yah basuh & basuh sendiri kat rumah, kan...? I have this feeling that my clothes are ONLY clean if I washed it at home using my own washing machine.

So usually kalau stay semalam je, I won't wash our clothes. But if we stay more than 2 days, then I'll wash it.. Tapi selalu nya I basuh lambat-lambat skit, tunggu baju org lain dah kering, dan ada space & hanger nak sidai...

Because of reason No (1) - (3), I don't like the pre & post-traveling. But I love to travel.

I am obsessed to make sure I've pack everything before I go (tu yang pegi semalam je, I pack macam nak stay seminggu!!). Kadang-kadang pack-unpack sampai 5-6 kali sebelum bertolak. I like doing my packing early because I takut nanti terguna/terpakai apa yang I nak bawak, tapi bila dah packing awal sgt, nanti I takut ada yang tertinggal. Tu yang selalu recheck apa yang dah masuk beg. Kadang-kadang rasa tak perlu nak bawak, so keluarkan balik dan tukar dgn yang lain. Susah kan???

And I am obsessed to unpack and wash everything once I'm home. No matter how late I reached home, I'll make sure I'll finish unpacking and put everything as how I keep it - even the bags MUST be stored before I sleep.

Sebab tu masa undergrade dulu, masa nak balik kolej lepas cuti, I selalu naik flight pagi & sehari lebih awal. Bukan sebab nak pegi dating tapi sebab as soon as I reached the dorm room & get my key, I kena bersihkan bilik yang berhabuk tu, lap meja & almari before letak baju. And I can only sleep at night if I can make everything look normal.

4. I am a COLLECTOR...

... but not a HOARDER. Unlike some OCD, I am just a plain collector. Because I like neat and tidy things, I'll throw away or give away all unused stuff, I don't keep it like hoarders.

I like things nice and neatly organized. Like my room, I suka tengok bila kemas macam kat hotel or deco magazine.

So for my books, I like it when it have a 'library' feeling. I was very excited when hubby bought bookshelf from IKEA last April. So I can put my collection.

Started with RL Stine (Fear Street series) & Christopher Pike's collections

Then my Sidney Sheldon & Mary Higgins Clark

My John Grisham & book-turn-to-movie collections

Danielle Steel, Little Black Dress series & my latest obsession, Sophie Kinsella...

My problem with the collecting habit is, I only buy & read book from the same author. I only stopped buying book from the same authors once I have read all of them and there's no more new books from them or if I found the writing is boring. Then I'll find new author to read from. And I'll try my best to buy from the same publisher, so that it will have the same book cover design (it'll broke my heart if I cannot find same publisher, tak suka tgk design lain-lain).

Macam Danielle Steel & John Grisham, I stopped buying them because tak semua buku dia I suka. Susah nak carik jalan cerita yang best (for me la...). Same goes for the Little Black Dress series. I stopped because after my 3rd book, I dah start boring.

But for Sidney Sheldon & Mary Higgins Clark.. I have read all (if not almost all)! I even waited for their new books to be out. So sad, because there will be no more Sidney...

But for Clark, dah lama tak check dia ada keluar buku baru ke tak*. The last one I bought was 'Two Little Girls in Blue' published in 2007. The thing is, her book is very hard to find. I think kat KL banyak la kot, but JB & Kuching susah sangat. I remembered looking for 'Daddy's Little Girl'... punya la payah nak carik time tu! Even now, macam tak jumpa je buku baru Clark ni. And I only buy Mary's book, not the one she co-authored with her daughter, Carol.

*I just googled Mary Higgins Clark, and she has new books since 2008!!
So my next quest is to find all 5 of her books...

I have stopped buying (and reading) books for quite some time. Bukan la tak de masa, but I don't know what book to collect. I tak beli buku sebarangan, there's MUST be a reason to collect (same author or same series), baru I start beli buku tu. And since most of my ex-colleagues recommended Sophie Kinsella, so I decided to have hers as my next collection. I was very excited when I found the 'Sophie Kinsella's 5-in-1 Shopaholic Boxset'! So now I have all 5 of the shopaholic books. Tak payah nak beli satu-satu. Hehehehe....

And all my books, I'll make sure I'll wrapped it with plastics BEFORE I read it. No matter how excited I wanted to read the book, I will not read - not even the first page, until I wrapped it nicely & neatly. So I always make sure I have my plastic wrapper at home so that I boleh terus wrap lepas beli.

And this 'collecting' habit, terjangkit masa I pregnant. I don't have any craving for foods during both pregnancy. Makan macam biasa je, ade la jugak teringin tu, tapi takde la sampai kena cari sampai nangis-nangis. Tapiiii.... time tu I gile buat koleksi!!

Pregnant Iman, I gila collect gelang kristal...

Masa ni, I mmg suka berhias. Every day I wear matching bracelet with my clothes.

Then time Izz pulak, gile collect tudung Annur....
Yang ni still jugak nak sampai sekarang. Tapi dah berjaya kontrol sikit la, sebab hampir semua color wajib I dah ada.

I think I have spent more than RM1000 for each obsession during my pregnancy!!

5. I HAVE a strict daily rutine

This is the thing my hubby worry about me. Because I want everything to be as I like, I don't trust other people to do it. He's worried because doing the same housework everyday, made me looked tired. So as a husband who loves his wife very very much (love you too dear..), he only allowed me to cook dinner 3-4 days a week. So I can have few nights to play with the kids and rest (tapikan sebenarnya hubby nak diet, dia takut kalau dia makan heavy tetiap malam, nanti dia gemuk.. hahahah).

So everyday I have the same routine, from morning till night. I don't like to disturb my routine because if I do, then I need to think when and how I can do everything so that it will be 'normal' for me again. Sometimes hubby will lend his hand, but only on things that I trust him to do (e.g: angkat baju dr tpt sidai & wash the dishes - nothing to do with folding or hanging...).. Angkat baju & wash dishes pun ada cara jugak, tapi kadang-kadang sebab dah terlalu penat, I just let go...

That's why I don't think I want to have maid at home. I don't like having strangers living with us, let alone to trust her with all the house work. Maybe if I can find a maid that can do exactly as being told (yahh right...as if you can find one...), then maybe I'll consider to have one.

But one thing I don't like is to vacuum the house. Luckily I have a husband who HATES dust, so sweeping & cleaning & vacuuming the house (including the bathroom & toilets) is his job - this is the only thing we have in-common, both of us HATE dirty & untidy place...

And yang I paling I tak suka, let say I skipped one day of having this obsession, all my things and routines will be a mess, then I akan jadi malas untuk kemas balik dan I takut nanti I will be a HOARDER!! Seriously, if my routine or style is disturbed, I'll become lazy and just leave things in a mess. Bila dah jadi macam ni, then I need time to pull myself together before I start cleaning again. So let me do my routine and things will be neat & tidy. I don't think you want to see me becoming a hoarder!!

6. I LOVE to wash my hand!!

This is 'normal' for OCD. Especially since H1N1 ni kan. Kejap-kejap I nak basuh tangan, especially before I handle my kids, make their milk etc... The non-soap hand sanitizer is always in my handbag!

Six reason should be enough to categorized me as an OCD...is it?
What do you think? Do I have OCD? Not yet??

eerrmm.. let me think what else...

oohhh.... when I eat, I will make sure kuah tak melebihi nasi, kecuali bila makan sup or tomyam. Kalau secara tak sengaja terletak kuah banyak, then samaada I stop makan or I tambah nasi so kuantiti nasi & kuah akan jadi sama banyak. Then I jarang makan lebih dari 2 lauk. Usually there's rice, 1 serving of meat/fish and 1 serving of vege (ni kadang-kadang je la, ikut mood & if ada vege that I like...) only. Dan I tak suka kalau campur-campur kuah. Kalau amik ayam masak kicap, then kuah mesti masak kicap sahaja. Dulu I pelik, macamana ada org yang boleh letak macam-macam kuah, sampai nasi dia jadi macam-macam kaler. One more, kalau makan nasi lemak, nasi ayam dan nasi + tomyam, I mesti pakai sudu dan garfu. Rasa macam tak sesuai pakai tangan bila makan tiga nasi yg disebut tadi.

But (I think) I am better than before. Kalau dulu, baju dalam almari tu I akan susun ikut type (mesti asing yang bercorak dan plain) and color. Dan color tu, mesti yang gelap kat sebelah kiri, then cerah and lastly, kaler putih...

As for the collection, sometimes I don't know when or how to stop. There's some that I bought, I did not read or use or wear. Nasib I collect buku je sekarang. Dulu masa sekolah lagi teruk, I collect cassettes and videos too! Pantang Bapak bagi duit belanja lebih, for sure habis beli kaset , sampai Mak bising! Tapi sayang, because my family have been moving around so many times, I don't know where does all my collection goes.

Previously I also collect CSI:Crime Scene Investigation's DVDs, but since I skipped one season, I stopped. When my best buddy (a.k.a. my series supplier), Poja was around (she's now in Belfast, continuing her study.), I also collect downloaded series (American Next Top Model, Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewife, Grey's Anatomy etc) . But since I have Iman to keep me busy and my external harddisk was full with the collection, I stopped.

I can say that Monk have make me realized that I am sick. I know I need to control myself. I don't want to this OCD to control me and at the end, I am stuck with all the routine. and wasting money on things I do not need.

Now, I am trying my best to let go bit by bit. Hopefully maybe one day I can be cured and I can live my life freely - without having to think so many things in my mind.

But I guess, because I have this OCD, I am good in whatever I do because I always make sure my work is perfect. And again, I don't trust other people to do my work.

That has made the biggest problem when I was appointed to be the head of my department! When you are a leader, you must be good in managing your work and (most important) distributing work to other people is a must. I got involved in so may projects, I cannot handle it on my own. At first, I did everything myself, but when the work become a burden, I have to learn to let go and trust people. I began to learn to accept how other people do their job and accept that it may never be perfect as I wanted it.

Even writing my blog, I have to read the entry few times (at least three) before I am satisfied and click to publish... (FYI, this is my FIFTH time reading & rewriting this entry!)..

So there, my confession. I think I need to stop... Nanti become obsessed writing about this!

OK, now it's time to click the 'PUBLISH POST' button....
or maybe I should read it through one more time.... eermmmmm.....
(ooohhhh stop it.. just click the button!!)

A simple celebration...

2010-06-01T11:12:00.006+08:00

We had a simple celebration last night.

Finally (after few requests before this..) hubby cooked a simple dinner. He asked me, what I want for dinner, but say only western meal are available (boleh pulak Chef ckp cam tu eehhh.. hehehe).. At the end, we agreed for a simple lamb chop..

Simple dish, but I loved the effort he showed....

So taadaaa..... the main dish..

Lamb Chop with steamed vege...

Not forgetting our dessert...

Iced Mango

Even Iman get his own dish..

Dish Iman
(potato dah kena makan skit, before makan lupa nak amik gambar..)

Iman helped to prepare his meal.. Surprisingly, he finished his carrot & potato.. and half of the lamb... (lepas ni kena selalu la buat steamed vege, Iman loved it!)

The birthday cake..
We bought only a small piece from Secret Recipe, nak beli one whole cake, takde sape nak makan plak nanti... You can see 3 big and 3 small candle, representing my big "33"... :)

I love the simple celebration.... Tapi lepas ni Iman pulak yang asyik tanya....

"Hepi beday Iman belom ka Bu????"

p/s: hubby.. Thanks so much!

A year wiser (hopefully)...

2010-05-31T08:32:00.003+08:00

Today I'm 33 years old..

dah tua kan??

but I do not feel like 33.. am still young at heart...
(this time tak boleh nak terbalikkan nombor to feel younger, because it'll still be the same 33=33)..

very very thankful for everything in my life, especially my two little Iman...
am very very happy because at 33, finally I'm with my hubby..

my birthday wish..?
Since I moved to JB, I have everything I wanted....
but the one thing I am wishing very very hard this year..
is to continue my study as soon as possible...
and hopefully by next birthday I'm already there...

so HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me... :)

Mother's Day

2010-05-25T08:41:00.005+08:00

(Yaa.. I know I should post this two weeks ago. Again, I am blaming my busy new life..)

Mother's Day have passed, but why have only one day right?? Every day should be Mother's Day! heheheh..

Guess what my hubby gave me for Mother's Day??

Yup.. a recipe book!

I admit that I am not a very good cook. It's not that I don't like cooking, but... when you have a great chef at home (a.k.a. my mother), who need to cook. She's a great cook, even her family always come to our home & request her to cook for them. But my mom, being a great cook, she is not a good teacher... and she doesn't like to be help while she's cooking because she'll say "Kacao je la, buat lambat je nanti...". So when I was young, she never asked me to help her in the kitchen, instead I have to make sure my brothers does not disturb her & kitchen is in NO ENTRY mode.

(Teruk nya anak ni, blame mak pulak sbb tak reti masak... hahhaha)

Since I am moving to JB, need to brush up my cooking skill. So after work, need to go to my kitchen and start cooking! (That's why I need the recipe book and also thanks to the internet!)..

Anyway, even though I cannot cook as good as my mom, but I think I have the talent. Because most of the time, jadi jugak apa yang dimasak, even if it's for the first time.. Selalu jugak Iman puji "Sedap Ibu masak, very delicious..." ehehehe...

I just want to share what I get for last year Mother's Day (because I love the gift so much!!)

It is a Mommy's calender.. It is full with words of wisdom and tips for parenting.

(There are reasons, why I choose those dates... can you guess???)

;P

p/s: HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL MOTHERS (especially my mum... Love ya..)

My (very) talkative kid...

2010-05-19T08:58:00.003+08:00

Dah lama tak update pasal Iman kan...
Well, end of this month, Iman will be 2 years and 9 months old.
I still think of him as my baby.. but somehow me & hubby rasa yang macam Iman tu dah besar sangat...

Why?

He can already talk... His vocab is very good, he understands what we tell him to do or what we said. And he also talks back at you... Macam-macam je jawapan dia bagi, kekadang macam geram je....

Here's few example of dialogues between Iman and people around him...

No 1: Tengok mulut Iman
He's watching TV with me, then grandma ask him:

Nenek : Iman tak tgk Walt Disney? (she was referring to Channel 613, Astro)
Iman : Huh... Wal Disney??? Pehaus Disney la nek..
Nenek : oowwhh.. Playhouse Disney...
Iman : Bukan... Tengok mulut Iman (sambil tunjuk kat mulut dia..) Pe... haus... Dis...ney... (cakap slow-slow)

No 2:Fesbuk
Ayah was selecting photos to be printed, and Iman was looking at his baby photo..
Then suddenly, he said, "Ayah, ni bagus letak dlm Fesbuk..." sambil bagi kat Ayah satu gambar...

No 3:Iman gemuk
One nite, during dinner..

Iman : Ayah, Iman dah sik mok makan nasik... (Iman dah tak nak makan)
Ayah : Alaaa.. makan la, ada skit je lagi...
Iman: Tak nak la.. nanti Iman gemuk....

No 4:Malas
Iman wanted to open another box of his toys..

Ibu : Iman... jgn la bukak toys lain dulu.. Simpan dulu ni...
Iman: Alaaaaa... Ibu la simpan....
Ibu : Ape ibu pulak.. kan Iman yang main.. Iman simpan la..
Iman: Iman malas.... (sambil tersengih-sengih)

No 5:Malas 2
We wanted to trained him to wear underwear..

Ibu: Iman, hari ni Iman pakai spender ye...
Iman: eerrmm... pampers la Bu..
Ibu: Alaaa... pakai la spender...
Iman: Macamane Iman berak (or kencing)??
Ibu: Iman cakap la kat Ibu... nanti Ibu bawak pegi toilet..
Iman: Iman malas....

No 6:Sape gagu?
In the car, on our way to Kota Tinggi.. he was singing loudly, sampai Izz terbangun...

Ibu: Iman ni bising la...

Iman: Ada ape Bu??? (sambil jenguk ke belakang...).. aik... adik dah bgn??
Ibu: ye la... bising sangat nyanyi lagu Hafiz...
Iman: Sape gagu (lagu) kuat-kuat sampai adik bangun???

Ibu: Iman la, sape lagi....
Iman: heheheheh (dgn muka bangga)

No 7:Patut pun...

One afternoon, Ayah bawak nite lamp pegi kerja, because he wanted to find bulb replacement for it after work. The day after, when Iman was saying goodbye to Ayah...

Iman: Ayah... ayah sik bawak lampu ka???
Ayah: Sik... (Tak)
Iman: Kenak ayah sik bawak lampu??? (Kenak = Kenapa)
Ayah: Kan ayah dah gantikan lampu semalam...
Iman: ooohhh... patut pun....

(apa yang 'patut pun', kitaorg pun tak tau... ehheheh)

No 8:Salah Iman

He wanted to go upstairs..

Iman: Ibu... Iman turun atas bole Bu??

Ibu: Bukan turun la, Iman nak naik atas...
Iman: oohhh.. naik atas... salah Iman... Sorry Bu...

(He always say "Sorry Bu/Ayah', when he mistakenly done something wrong..)

No 9: Malar Iman jak..
Ayah: Iman, tolong amik remote control TV..
Iman: Mane ayah?
Ayah: Tu kat kerusi..
Iman: Malar Iman jak amik kontrol (Asyik Iman je kena amik control...)

Ibu: Iman, tolong simpan baju adik kat bakul..
Iman (sambil jalan ke bakul baju kotor): Malar Iman jak simpan baju bakul... (Asyik Iman je kena simpan baju dalam bakul..)

No 10: Kenape sayang...?
Ibu: Iman, tolong tengok adik nangis tu...
Iman: Kenapa Dik??? Ala lalala... Kenape sayang??? Abang ada...
(dgn nada memujuk macam ayah..)
Selang beberapa saat,
Iman: Ibu... Adik mok susu kali bu... Adik mok Ibu.. Tunggu Adik, kak tok Ibu dtg..
(Rasa nya adik nak susu Bu... Adik nak Ibu, tunggu dik, kejap lagi Ibu dtg..)

Pas tu terus sambung main... tak nak jaga adik pun...

No 11: Kesian Iman...
I went to the clinic with Izz, because Izz need to take her 2-month immunization. I left Iman at home because he was still sleeping. When I arrived home, he was already awake..

Ibu: Iman OK??
Iman; Ibu pegi siney Bu? (Ibu pegi mana?)
Ibu: Ibu bawak adik pegi klinik... Sian adik kena inject...
Iman: Sian Iman kena tinggal Bu...

(Org suruh dia kesian kat adik.. dia kesian kat diri sendiri pulak... hehehe)

No 12: Patut pun 2
Iman: Ibu, kenape adik nangis Bu??
Ibu: Adik ngantok, nak tido..
Iman: ooohhhh patut pun...

No 13: Mandi
Ni time taknak mandi...
Ibu: Iman.. cepat la pegi mandi..
Iman: Iman taknak mandi...
Ibu: Apsal taknak mandi? Nanti bau..
Iman: Mun mandi, kelak Iman demam.... (Kalau mandi, nanti Iman demam)

Ni time nak sangat mandi..
Iman: Ayah, Iman mok mandi air ujan (he's referring to the shower)
Ayah: Tak boleh..
Iman: Tak boleh?
Ayah: Pagi-pagi tak payah mandi kepala.. sejuk, nanti Iman demam...
Iman: Mana ada Iman demam.. Iman kan best...

(mcm tak paham kan, ape kaitan dia best ngn demam...)

No14: Lokek
Iman ni lokek skit dgn makanan, especially yg sedap bagi dia...

Nenek: Sedap nye Iman makan.. makan ape?
Iman: Makan apel..
Nenek: Mintak skit...
Iman: Tak bole, pedas...

Usu: Iman, mintak skit keropok..
Iman: Tak boleh.. pedas...
Usu: Takpe la, usu suka makan pedas..
Iman: Tak boleh.. nanti usu sakit perut...

No15: Vacuum
Ayah adalah seorang yang tak suka habuk, pantang nampak habuk skit, mesti nak vacuum...

Ayah: Iman.. ikut Ibu masuk bilik..
Iman: Kenape ayah??
Ayah: Ayah nak vacuum...
Iman: Ayah tok malar jak vacuum... (Ayah ni, asyik vacuum je..)

After few minutes,

Iman: Dah boleh kuar ayah?? Dah bersih??? (sambil tutup hidung, konon-konon takut debu... hehehe)

No16: Apa la ayah...
Tgh sibuk nak keluar, Ayah silap bagi slipper Iman..

Ayah: Iman.. cepat pasang slipper...
Iman: Ayah.. salah la.. tu slipper Iman...
Ayah: Ooppsss... sorry!
Iman: Apa la ayah ni....

No 17: Handy Manny
Iman: Ibu, mane handy manny Iman? (Handy Manny - his toy tools)
Ibu: Ada kat tepi TV.. kenape??
Iman: Iman nak ator moto Iman, dah rosak nya... (ator = baiki, moto = his toy car..)
Ibu: Aik?? rosak???
Iman: Aok.. nya dah abis bateri...

(for Iman, anything that does not functioning, it's because 'dah abis bateri...')

No 18: Tois were us
He has lots of Thomas train.. He already has Thomas, Percy & James..

Iman: Ibu.. ney Gordon Iman? (Mana Gordon Iman?)
Ibu: Iman mana ada Gordon... Percy, James ade la..
Iman: Aiee.. Iman ada Gordon..
Ibu: Mana??
Iman: Ada rah Tois were us... Iman belom beli... (ada kat Toys R Us, belom beli..)

(ni sebenarnya skill nak mintak beli Gordon..)

No 19: Tak tahu...
Even when he don't know what to say, he still wants to talk..

Iman: Ibu..
Ibu: Ye ada ape??
Iman: Iman mok cakap.. sik tauk... (Iman nak cakap tak tau - sebenarnya dia tak tau nak cakap ape)

or..

Iman : Ibu...
Ibu: ye saya...
Iman: Iman mok cakap apa bu??
Ibu: Mana la ibu tau... Iman nak ckp apa?
Iman: eerrm... sik tauk... (tak tau)

(tapi sekarang dah tuka from "Sik tauk" kepada "Tak tahu...")

No 20: Non-stop Q&A
And this one is his favorite..

Iman: Ibu apa polah?? (Ibu buat ape?)
Ibu: Ibu polah keja... (Ibu buat kerja)
Iman: Kerja apa Bu?
Ibu: Kerja opis Ibu...
Iman: Opis Ibu apa??
Ibu: Opis ibu la.. tpt Ibu kerja, carik duit..
Iman: Duit apa Bu??
Ibu: Duit beli susu Iman, pampers Iman...
Iman: Susu apa Bu??
Ibu: ehhh Iman.. Oso dah start... (sambil tunjuk kat TV)

Bila dah jadi mcm ni kan, kena pikir macamana nak tamatkan Q&A ni... Kalau tak, sampai sudah tak berenti...

Ni kalau dia yg tanya, kadang-kadang ada gak dengki dia balik...

Ibu: Iman apa polah?
Iman: Iman main..
Ibu: Main apa??
Iman: Main Thomas...
Ibu: Thomas apa??
Iman: Thomas train Iman la... Nya pusing-pusing... (Nya = Dia)
Ibu: Pusing-pusing apa?
Iman: Pusing track la.... Apa la ibu ni, itu pun tak paham....

Pas tu dah menjerit-jerit. taknak jawab lagi...

So that's my Iman...
The only time he's not talking is when he's sleeping. Tapi ada gak, kadang-kadang cakap dlm tido, mengigau. There's few more that I wanted to share, but I'll do it in the next entry.

Sometimes I wonder... memang budak dua tahun lebih dah boleh cakap & pikir macam Iman ehh? Especially when I see his cousins or other kids yang umur lebih kurang macam dia, tak de la bercakap mcm Iman sangat... Kadang-kadang boleh nampak that he's thinking before he say something, and you just cannot expect what will come out from his mouth.

Ni baru dengar dia bercakap, belum dengar dia nyanyi lagi... Lagu Hafiz (Masih Jelas & Noktah Cinta), Faizal Tahir (or "Faihai Hahir"... especially the song Selamat Malam), Black (Aku Rindu Sayang Kamu & Drama King), Bunkface (Situasi & Extravaganza) and many more.. including Lady Gaga's Bad Romance... And when he sings, dia nyanyi dgn sungguh-sungguh & dengan lirik & irama yang betul dari mula sampai habis...

Doa makan pun dah boleh baca... Even munajat pun dah hafal & selalu nyanyikan kat adik..

So logik ke budak belum umur 3 tahun dah boleh berfikir sendiri & hafal semua tu???

p/s: owhhh... Sorry for the language..
but Iman can speak/understand 3 languages: Local Sarawak Malay, BM & English..

The Next Cute Little Kid - Cycle 2

2010-05-17T08:29:00.007+08:00

When I found out that I was pregnant, I told my hubby that we must have lots of photos of the baby, especially during their first year. I said that I want to make a scrap book, with all the important events in their lives... and hubby agreed.

Then I saw in my ex-colleague office room, there's a frame where she put photos of the first 12-months of her baby, and immediately I know that it is a MUST HAVE item for the our baby.

So for the next nine months, I was looking for the frame. Every time I went out, I go to the frames section or if I saw baby shops or gift shops, I'll go in and ask if they have any such frame. It was quite frustrating, because it was very difficult to find. And eventually when I was in my 37th week, I found it...

(photo from Kaboodle)

I've blog about this in August 2008, it was almost complete at that time.

So Cycle 1 was completed in August 2008.

Izzul Iman, born on 29th August 2007

So when I knew I was pregnant with the second one, my search for the frame started again. But this time I know where to find it, so awal-awal lagi dah pegi beli sbb takut habis & takde stok..

And now our Cycle 2 has started..

Izznur Iman, born on 7th Feb 2010

Just can't wait to finish putting in all the monthly photos...

p/s: owh.. and the scarp book that I wanted to do.. eerrmmm, we changed it to a photobook.. will blog about this later.. :D

A lovely farewell (the best gift..)

2010-05-13T09:35:00.018+08:00

I wanted to write about this once I arrived in JB, but due to my busy schedule, I postponed it until now..

One thing I love the most about my previous workplace was - the people... Everyone in the faculty were nice and we were a big happy family. Especially my "Ahli Mesyuarat Tingkap" - that's we call our group - I think it was Mimah gave our group the name...

We always have our lunch together... I love our lunch time because it will be the time where we update each other with the office gossip - few people got the privilege to have special codename ('syasya', 'jojo', 'jojoNo2', 'roro', 'mimi')... They always teased me because I was always the first to call everyone for lunch.... (It was because I was the only one kat Level 3 laaa.. takut nanti korang tinggalkan I nak pegi lunch...) hehehehehhe..

We tried to have our monthly 'ladies nite out' as often as we can, especially if there's a celebration - birthdays, promotions, weddings, farewells... Even when most of us are married, we always try to find time to have fun together..

I was the eldest among them, but being with them doesn't make me feel like one. Most of the time, they came to see me for advise.. and even though at times I always buli or tipu-tipu gurau or laugh at them (especially Poja... heheehh), I always thought of them as my little sisters...

So when I left, those are the people I really really sad to say goodbye to. I cried on the last day - during our hugging & goodbye session (Sarah le yg start dulu nangis-nangis ni...). Then on the day I left Kuching, Suriati came to the airport to say goodbye and gave me their farewell gift...

I was surprised, and I LOVED it!! It was the only thing I wished I can have to remember all the things we shared, and they gave it to me...

It was a photobook of us...

There were photos of the younger us (ehemm.. younger me actually, yg masih slim time tu..)..

There were photos from our 'ladies nite/day out'...

Most importantly, photos of our lunch session...

And the one that made it more special, there's a page from every one of them (dgn ucapan-ucapan yang buat saya terharu...).

Yang sedang cuti belajar kat oversea pun ada menyumbang jugak...

(Sorry ye, tak dpt nak amik gambar & letak every individual page...)

And this was the last photo from the book. We took the photo for a farewell gift for a dear friend (ahli mesyuarat tingkap gak) who left to Pahang about a year ago.

And now it's in my farewell gift...

I missed them and wish them all the best of luck in the world...

and yes girls, this is one of the best gift ever!!

Working mum...

2010-05-12T08:22:00.003+08:00

I am at my new office...
Things are fine, but must set goals and objectives to be achieved by end of this year..
Hopefully everything will be fine...

Another new role began this week... a housewife...
Back from work, need to cook, wash etc..
Very tiring... and the sad part is, I play less with my kids now..
I wish I can have more time with them... :(

I haven't really got my rest..
I haven't watch my favorite series in weeks..

But I'm loving it..
and I'm happy...

Spring cleaning...

2010-04-30T00:53:00.007+08:00

Landed in JB safely last Saturday... Few things have changed... I noticed the change because I've not been here since Nov 2009.

This week, both me & hubby were busy unpacking & doing spring cleaning to our home...
Since I am moving here permanently, we decided to decorate the house as what we have always imagined together.

Iman's room will be his playroom (for now.. until he is old enough to sleep in his own bedroom..)

The small area upstairs (which previously was used to store my brother & niece's belonging every semester holiday...) will be changed to be our family/reading/work area...

I'll make sure I'll do an entry about our home. One of my colleague (an ex-colleague actually).. once asked me to take photos and do a post on our home, because she heard from few colleagues that have been to my house in JB, said nice things about my home...

Maybe this time I'll do it... just give me some time... :)

Last day...

2010-04-20T08:44:00.005+08:00

Today is officially my last day in FCSIT UNIMAS..

(I still have to come tomorrow & the day after, few more discussion to join before I really leave - biasa le pekerja dedikasi...... hehehee)

Soon they'll remove my pic from the website... and maybe my pic will appear somewhere else (itupun kalu sudi nak letak la...)...

I am gonna miss this place... really really gonna miss it!

I can say that I grew up here..

I have learnt a lot from everyone that I met in the faculty...

It's not my first job, but there are so many 'first' thing I've learnt from here...

I am dedicating this entry to everyone in the faculty...

Thank you so much for everything that you have made me become..

Thank you for giving me the responsibility to lead very special & talented people...

Thank you for all the sweet memories...

Enough said... I almost cried already.....

in dilemma...

2010-04-19T09:35:00.003+08:00

As I was driving to work last week, suddenly I felt a very strong feeling about my children... suddenly I missed them... I just went to work for a week, but I really really missed them... and I think I understand how my hubby must have felt everyday...

It's hard to be in our situation... For almost 5 years, we have been going back and forth Kuching-Johor Bahru.. I can still remember Iman mengamuk masa dalam plane because of the air pressure.. Kesian Iman, he literally grew up in airplanes... at least once a month naik kapal terbang nak jumpa ayah.. Kadang-kadang sampai 2 kali sebulan... (ni dah dekat 6 bulan tak balik Johor, so sekarang ni asyik tanya je "Bu, Iman pegi Johor sik Bu???" or "Iman mok balit umah Johor")..

But this will change soon... I'm moving to Johor, got a job there & will start in May... and now I am finishing my 3 months notice...

As I was feeling happy & excited (because finally we'll become a normal family), I am worried about my children... I have been blessed because for almost 3 years, my mum has helped me to take care of Iman at home, & she has did a very good job... Next month, Iman & Izz will be send to a babysitter house... I am worried & so many things has come to my mind... Will they be OK? Can the babysitter take good care of them as my mum did?? Will Iman be OK to the new environment? How is the babysitter....?

So many cases of child abuse we heard lately, made me really really worried of them... I just prayed that both of them will be OK and that all four of us will be happy....

Little Izz birth story...

2010-03-16T10:44:00.007+08:00

(Finally, I got the time to write the story...)

The contraction started about a week before the birth, - on my 38th week, and it always happened on midnight. And every time, I'll call my hubby and we started to debate whether he should come or not. But when the pain become unbearable for the 2nd time that week, we decided that he should.

So on Thursday (4 Feb 10), my hubby took emergency leave and came to Kuching on the first flight that morning. But, nothing happened on that day or the day after, and again we were in dilemma - whether he should go back to JB or stay until my due date. I wanted him to stay, but then I have another 2 weeks to go and that means he have to take a very long leave.

The main reason for the dilemma: it was near Chinese New Year holiday, and there's no flight out from JB to Kuching from 10th-13th Feb. So, if I'm in labor within those dates, he'll miss the birth of our baby. But then, at the end, we decided for him to back to JB on Sunday (7 Feb) and we're just hoping that baby can wait for Ayah to come again on the 14th.

Then on early Saturday morning (6th Feb), the contraction started again. Hubby wanted me to the hospital, but I refuse - it's not the time yet...

But in the afternoon, I noticed there were bloody show and hubby insisted that I go to the hospital. After the check-up, I was already dilating 2cm, but the doctor concerned that time was my BP- it was quite high. So I was send to the ward, but the contraction stopped. I asked my hubby to go home because I knew Iman will be looking for him - and I don't want Iman to stay at the hospital.

And on midnight, the contraction started again. At 1.30++am, it became very painful, but still only 3cm. So the nurses refused to send me to the labor room, they said, not yet. Called my hubby, he asked if he should come, but I told him to come tomorrow morning. Then at 2++am, the contraction became stronger and I noticed there's blood on my bed. I asked to be checked again. And to my surprise (and the nurses too..), I was fully dilated!!

Immediately, they send me to the labor room, which was one floor below. They were running while pushing the bed and told me not to push and keep breathing (easy for them to say...!). As I reached the labor ward, the doctor told me to wait first, while they prepared the room (again... easy for them to say!!). They changed my cloth (sempat lagi tu... dan sakit sangat nih!!). And as the doctor said "Okey, now you can p...", I was already pushing!!

First push.. "Try again.."

Second push, my water broke..

Third push.. "Another try..."

Fourth push... and little Izz was born at 2.36am, 7th February 2010 (and she was little, only 2.3kg).

All of this happened in less than 30 minute.. and no episiotomy needed!

The sad part was, hubby was not there to witness it.
He didn't even know I was in labor. They send me to the labor room in a hurry, I did not have the chance to call him!

Then, after everything was settled, the doctor began to deliver the placenta. But after 15 minutes, I heard him said to the midwife (whose busy writing all the form etc...), " I think her placenta is still in there. The umbilical cord snapped..."

I did not think it was serious. Not until after himself, the midwife and the supervising OB/GYN failed to take the placenta out, and when I heard they decided to bring me to the OT.

So in less than an hour, I was already in the OT. The doctor came to inform me about the procedure- I'll be given anesthetic in my spine to numb the lower part of my body. Then they'll try to pull the placenta out - or in other word, they'll put their hand in my uterus & korek placenta (uri) tu keluar- I don't even want to think about it!!

I have what they call 'Primary post partum haemorrage' (meaning excessive bleeding within 24 hours post delivery - or tumpah darah in Malay). The cause was 'the retained placenta in the uterus' (another cause for this is 'tear in vaginal wall').

Then he informed me about the risk. He said I may bleed out and I may need blood transfusion. After all the explanation , he asked me to sign the consent form. I nodded and signed, but my mind was only thinking about my hubby and the kids (wah!! dah plural dah...). I really wished he was there, but I know right at that moment, he's asleep at home..

The procedure took almost 2 hours - I was in at 3.30am and out the OT at 5++am. Only at 6++am, I was send back to my bed. I was so tired, sleepy, very thirsty, and still feel numb from my waist down, but I managed to reached my phone & call my hubby. He was already awake, but still very sleepy. So can you imagine his surprise when I told him I have already delivered. Then I started to cry when I told him I just came back from the OT and about the complication. So he rushed to the hospital.

I was very glad when I saw my hubby. And I can see that he was worried, keep asking me if I'm OK, and he's sorry that he was not there. Then before he left (because he brought Iman, yg tiba-tiba terbgn masa Ayah nak keluar then terus nak ikut & belum mandi), I asked him to bring me to the toilet. Ni nurse tu jugak yg tanya dah kencing ke belom. Bile ckp belum, then dia suruh pegi toilet and pee...!

As I was trying to sit and stand, I blacked out and luckily fell on my bed! Then I found out that I was not suppose to move, I have to lie flat on bed for at least 6 hours! And no one informed me about that! Kecoh jugak la time tu, nasib baik ramai nurse & ada sorang doktor pelatih tgh buat report...

So when my doctor came to check on me, kena marah la nurse-nurse kat situ when I informed that no one tell me not to move. Then he told me that I lost about 1 litre of blood during the procedure and I will need blood transfusion. He said, they'll put me on IV and will be given 2 pints of blood that day. And I will need to stay at least another day, so they can monitor me after the transfusion.

Izz was only send to me at 9am, and hubby only saw her when he came later in the afternoon.

I was discharged the next day (Monday), but it felt like I've been there forever! So before I left my doctor give me lecture on my complication and what I should do next. He advised me not to get pregnant for the next 2-3 years, because there might be risks that I'll get the complication again.

I was OK with that, and hubby too. We have a boy & a girl now, no pressure to have another child. So Iman & Izz have to wait for another 3-4 years for another sibling... :)

So there's lot of medicine to take for the next month utk tambah darah, and I was asked to come to the hospital if I have health problem (pening-pening ke, pitam ke, keluar darah byk ke...)..

Alhamdulillah... I was getting better at home. Except that my legs were swollen after few days, but the doctor informed me that it's common after blood transfusion.

Now, my confinement is almost over, just few days to go.
I can't wait for my retail therapy this weekend..
I can't wait to eat out all my favorite food..
and owh... I can't wait especially the spa treatment my hubby promised me!

p/s: dear hubby, I think it's time to change the blog banner..

My new gadget...

2010-03-14T18:48:00.005+08:00

I have been a bit stressed this few weeks...

Mainly because I was really worried about Izz. She was not well, with her jaundice, sticky eye and blocked nose... and plus hubby was not around.

Izz is getting bigger and better now, she has gained 1kg since her birth . Still got her sticky eyes, but getting better. No more jaundice or blocked nose. The only thing now is she sleeps all day & stay up all night. I'm lucky if she's able to sleep at 2am, but few 'bad' times, she only went back to bed at 4am. I'm getting used to it by now. Just hope that she can adjust her sleeping hour before I start to go back to work. And now, can't wait for her to be stronger, dress her up and bring her out... We'll be BFF, Izz!!

Then, as I mentioned in previous entry, my handphone pulak rosak... Tensionnya!!
Tried to fixed it, but it became worst. I don't know what the technician at the phone shop did to my phone. (Warning: If your handphone is broken, don't leave it at the shop if they told you that they need to 'find out' first the problem and let you know in the next few days!!)

I love my phone, the model was Sony ericsson K810i. It was a birthday gift from my hubby in 2007. It was among the first handphone with video call function. We decided to buy new handphone when I got pregnant with Iman, because hubby wanted to 'see' baby everday after he was born. So hubby bought two set, one for me as the birthday gift and another one for himself.

My lovely phone.. RIP... huhuu

So for almost 2 weeks, my brother lend me his 2nd phone. A simple Nokia phone...

Then I decided to buy a new phone. So after 2 weeks of surfing the net and reviewing handphone model, I choose Sony Ericsson Satio..

My new gadget.. SE Satio in Bordeaux colour..

I am still exploring and learning to use the new phone. Maybe I'll write a review about the phone after few months... :D

So I am happy now, this has definitely lighten up my mood...

(both photo was taken from http://www.mobilegazette.com)

I'm so tired...

2010-02-27T12:10:00.005+08:00

eermm.. I wanted to write about the experience when giving birth to Izz today...
but I am so tired... physically & mentally...

I hated it when my hubby left to go back to work last week...
He has been really helpful after Izz was born... I managed to rest and get some sleep while he cleaned the room, took care of Iman and Izz etc.. I was in heaven...

Then he left after 2 weeks of paternity leave & CNY holiday.. so I was left alone with the 2 kids..

In the internet or books on child care, they told you to rest/sleep when the baby sleeps.. I think that only applied for first child, I managed to do that with Iman... But not this time...

Izz sleeps during the day... And when she sleeps, Iman needs my attention... He wants to play and do all activities we always did when he was the only child..

Izz loves to stay up late night... She'll be awake, with her big cute eyes wide open, until 1-2am everyday... and always wake up at 4am for her milk...

and now, Iman also sleeps late because he wanted to play with Izz...

I am not complaining, I love spending time with them..
it's just I am tired...

and Izz is just so fragile... She got sticky eyes & jaundice last week... and yesterday she started to have flu & blocked nose... Will bring her to see our pediatrician this afternoon... :(

and now Iman also started to cough.. Malam tadi pun muntah-muntah lepas minum susu, showing signs of asthma again... :(

When hubby was around, we managed to do it together... and I really really hate it when I worry about the kids when he's not around...

to add to that, my handphone suddenly shut down this morning... I loved my handphone, it was a birthday gift from my hubby 3 years ago... should I start to look for new handphone??

so, it's a very sad day today...
and hubby is not around to comfort me... (nak call pun susah sbb handphone dah rosak...)

:'(

Announcement...

2010-02-18T19:10:00.005+08:00

Have been really busy this past two weeks... and now still busy...

But proudly I would like to announce the birth of our baby girl, Izznur Iman, on 07 Feb 2010 at 2.36am...

Little Izz first photo...

Izz's first smile...

brother & sister first photo together...

Our favorite photo of Izz (for now)...
and she is Daddy's little girl, seriously - very the manja with Ayah

I'll blog later about the experience.. This time was very different, yea I know every pregnancy & birth of a child is unique... but this time it was 'different' and painful... Not because of the contraction or the pain, but the experience itself...

... counting days...

2010-02-01T13:41:00.002+08:00

If you see my pregnancy ticker on the right side panel, you'll see that I have about 19 days to go (if not earlier) before the due date... tick tock tick tock....

Actually I am not very nervous of that... Excited and cannot wait to see how the little baby will look like... but I have another countdown that I am more concerned about..

I am very nervous about this... a life changing event that will happen in the next 90 days (and plus another 10 days).. and I think most people misunderstood my status in my Facebook that I've updated today...

I think they think it's about the delivery...

well friends, it's not...

It's about something else... xoxo

My little helper & the finished product...

2010-01-07T13:48:00.007+08:00

Firstly, I would like to wish "Happy New Year 2010" to all...

1st January was also my hubby's birthday... and this year I decided to bake the birthday cake for him... So I took leave on 31st Dec, so that I can start baking (cehh.. macam susah nak buat kek sampai kena amik cuti)... Thanks to my FB friends that gave me few recipe to try...

And as usual, Iman offered to help... Awal-awal pagi dah cakap kat Ibu, "Ibu, Iman toyom poyah kek hepi bey ayah..." (translate: Ibu, Iman tolong buat kek birthday Ayah)

And I let him helped.. Before this, everyone else's birthday is his birthday.. All birthday song will end with "Happy Birthday Izzul Iman Azmi"...

So this time, I got him involve in everything for Ayah's birthday. I got him to help me to warp the gift, helped him to write the birthday card (so cute!! forgot to snap a photo of the card...) & most importantly, teach him to sing the birthday song without his name in it!!

I didn't took any photo of the baking process and this was because I need to monitor what Iman was doing when he was "helping"... I have to make sure the measurement was right, and need to see in case he put "extra" ingredient in the mixer...

Luckily, he was a very good helper... and at the end, he did what little kid would do... Licking & eating the batter from the mixer...

Guess it was not enough, so he took the whole mixer...

It was fun... and finally on 1st January 2010, we presented Ayah the birthday cake...

Nice huh....?

5 years ago....

2009-12-24T09:30:00.002+08:00

5 years ago today, I became Mrs Azmi Kamis...

Happy Anniversary, my dear...

I am so grateful for the wonderful years...

Thanks for being a great partner...

Love

Lin

The surprise...

2009-12-10T13:25:00.004+08:00

I think it's time for me to break the news... for those who still doesn't know, that is...

I am now pregnant with our 2nd child.. :D

Already in my 30th weeks... so it's ten more weeks to go...

I am still very excited, and both of us decided that it's time for Iman to have brother/sister...

So you can see, this was the reason for the incident!!

I found out that I was pregnant few weeks after that..

So I would like to introduce our baby... and officially, this is the first photo of the baby...

This was when I was in my 12th week.

And this one was when I was 26-week pregnant...

We wanted to get 4D scan of the baby, but because the baby moved too much, the doctor could not capture the face...

Boy or Girl??

eerrmm.... just say that maybe (and I stress again 'MAYBE'..), we're expecting lots of pink this time..

The Burger King Incident

2009-11-24T13:54:00.003+08:00

This happened few months back..

When we were in Athens, it was so hard to find halal food. We ate Maggi Mee that we brought from Malaysia almost everyday. And on the last day, we finally bought Fish fillet & French fries from McDonald's. Even in Dubai, where halal food is everywhere, we still craved food from Malaysia.

Especially myself, I was craving for Whopper from Burger King... I kept reminding my hubby, once we are back in Malaysia, we must get one, for myself at least!!

The burger that made me cry....

(photo taken from Burger King)

So the 2nd day in JB, before I went home to Kuching, my loving hubby brought us to Burger King. I was so happy that I told him I'll 'ciya' lunch and told him to go find seats with Iman.

Before I came to the counter, I noticed there's a promotion of Whooper Jr Twin. I knew my hubby would like Whooper Jr, so I thought it would be a good deal. In my mind, I thought the set consist of 1 Whopper and 1 Whooper Jr...

So imagine my surprise when I saw TWO Whopper Jr being placed on my tray. Then I read again the poster, and of course, the set was for TWO Whooper Jr (Twin set la kan...)..... I was so sad that I was speechless... I paid and walked to our table.

Just as I sat, I CRIED!! I really really cried.... Tears just burst from my eyes.... My hubby panicked, thinking that someone has offended me... and asked why??

Then I told him... I was so frustrated that I did not get my WHOPPER!! I want Whopper, NOT Whopper Jr!!

My hubby was emotionless... He wanted to laugh, but he's afraid that it will offended me. He wanted to help, but he does not know exactly what to do.... He offered his Whopper Jr, but two Whopper Jr is not the same as ONE WHOPPER!! All that I want at that time is my WHOPPER!!!

He offered to buy another one, but I was still rational enough to know that I don't think I can finish two burgers, and eating later will not have the same feeling as eating it at that moment. Rasa macam nak merajuk je dgn Burger King time tu...

Luckily not many people in the restaurant, if not, people may wonder why this crazy woman cry??? Even Iman was puzzled to see me cried.. he also almost cried himself, luckily my hubby managed to distract him with his toys...

At the end, I ate my Whopper Jr in tears...

Funny huh.... thinking back, I also wondered why I was so emotional that time... and only few weeks later, I think I know why...

Wait for my next entry and I'll tell you why.... :-)

The Cartoons....

2009-11-18T13:23:00.004+08:00

I like the cartoon at my side bar.

In a way, that's how I like to represent us, as cartoon characters....

But Iman has another idea on how he wants us to be...

Suddenly one evening he gave us cartoon names.... don't ask me why he wants to be the monkey... I guess maybe because they have the same big ears... hehehehe

He loves puzzles...

2009-10-30T13:16:00.006+08:00

As a first child, Iman has lots of toys. Gifts from the parents (us..), from his uncles and not forgetting, his grandparents.. My mun said that all his toys can open up a nursery... heheh

But lately, he showed interest in puzzles... I gave him puzzles when he 22 months old, and it started with Anmum Essentials' Thomas Learning Puzzle...

The first set

The milk formula comes with free puzzle, and it was Thomas and Friends set. He loves Thomas, so it really get him excited.

The second set

The first two sets were quite easy for him. He managed to do the puzzle all by himself in two weeks..

The final set

The third set was a bit tricky... so his progress was a bit slow compared to the first two.

Then we manage to find one giant floor puzzle at MPH, so Ayah bought him this one:

We bought that in JB, and I left it there... He understands the concept of puzzle (putting the piece together), but he still need help to finish it.

The his uncle gave him this puzzle set (also from MPH) for his birthday...

And surprisingly, he managed to finish the puzzle all by himself within one week!! One day after work, I was surprised to see him do it without asking for my help.. And the giant puzzle that we gave him earlier in JB, was very easy for him to solve himself!!

Then for his birthday, us (the parents) gave him this puzzle set from Toys R Us. It is a giant ABC and 123 trains puzzle set..

The 'ABC' was easy for him to solve, manage to do it in just 3-4 days..

But the '123' was a bit tricky.. It took him few weeks to finish it all by himself..

He's able to do all his puzzles within minutes, so I bought him another set from MPH after raya...

We were hoping the new puzzle will get him busy for a week or so. But... it only took him few minutes to do it by himself... As soon as we reached home, he just can't wait to open it, then finish it up himself on the first attempt. He did not want us to bother or help him in any way....

And the puzzles was for the age of 3-5 years old...

Iman is only two...

Si anak beruam...

2009-10-19T14:24:00.006+08:00

When you were a kid, did you know the "Anak Beruang" song?

It goes like this:

Bulat kecil, Bulat kecil

Bulat la besar

Sayang mama, sayang papa

Hingga dewasa (but some sing it as "Sayang semua")

Enam kali enam

Jadi tiga puluh enam

Lorek lagi, lorek lagi

Anak beruang....

It comes with a drawing.. so at the end of the song, you should have this cute (???) little bear:

Few weeks ago, I taught Iman to sing and draw this little bear...

After few days of me singing and drawing this non-stop (at his request, of course...), he finally got it:

His version of it:

Ulat kecil, ulat kecil
Ulat a besa
Sayang mama (papa), sayang papa (mama - depends to him..)
Sa...
Enam kayi nam, adi tiga nam...
loyek agi, oyek agi
anak eek uam...

heheheh.... more traditional song to come from little Iman...

"Ibu salah....."

2009-10-07T13:49:00.018+08:00

It has been so long since I updated about Iman's progress...

He is a two-year old kid now... His brain is "growing" (my theory >> otak tengah berkembang sebab tu kepala sentiasa panas je.... heheeh)...

He's able to talk now, can made up few simple sentences... but if he talked too fast, then you do not really understand what he said...

We always buy him books and toys that can help him to add more vocabulary to his sentences. And he loves to correct you and said that you are wrong... He loves to ask, and he has a mind of his own.. When he asked you, he has the answer in his head and will not stop asking until you get the 'right' answer based on his understanding... The cutest part is, when he said you are wrong, it will always have "laaaa..." at the end of the sentence (e.g: "Bird laaa...", "Miam la...", Salah la....")....

And when we meet friends, they always ask, "Iman cakap Sarawak ke Johor?"...

My family speak Sarawak language, and his Ayah speaks Semenanjung Malay language to him...

So he speaks both, it can be "sik mok" or "tak nak"...

"Tok tok?" (translated = apa tok?) or "Ape ni??" or "Ni???"...

"Sitok la" or "Sini la"...

(owh.. and all malay word that ends with "...ng" is replace with "...m" (e.g: Hilang = Iyam, Pulang = Pulam, Abang = Abam")..)

as for me?? I speak both to him.. but for numbers and things, I choose to teach him English..

Why?

I read somewhere that, English (or Chinese language) is easier for kids to learn and remember. Because most English words have single syllables, so easier for them to pronounce... and also I want to introduce to him as many language as I can...

So before he was two, he's already memorize One to Ten.. (and now until Fifteen - which he pronounce as Five-teen).. And he also can remember few things, especially animals, for the alphabet, example:

A is for Cocodile (it's actually Alligator, not a crocodile... but never mind la..)

B is for Bird

C is for Miam (a.k.a. Cat)

D is for Dog or Donald Duck (all ducks, no matter big or small.. is Donald Duck!)

E is for Efant (a.k.a Elephant)

F is for Fog (a.k.a Frog) or Fish

G is for Giraffe (sometimes he's confuse with Zebra) or Gorilla

H is for Hippo

I is for Giguana (a.k.a. Iguana)

J is for Jellyfish

K is for Koala

L is for Lion

M is for Mouf (a.k.a. Mouse) or Ackey (a.k.a. Monkey)

N is for Baca (a.k.a. Newspaper)

O is for Bird (a.k.a. Owl) or Octopus

P is for Donald Duck (a.k.a. Penguin, he confuse again because the Penguin is wearing a bow tie like Donald Duck)

Q is for Arissa (a.k.a. Queen... confuse agin, there's a lady wearing crown in the picture.. and yes, all little girl is his cousin, Arissa)

R is for Rhino or Rocket

S is for See-nake (a.k.a. Snake)

T is for Tiger

U is for A'ella (a.k.a. Umbrella)

V is for Vylin (a.k.a. Violin)

W is for Fish (a.k.a. Whale)

X is for Zaiphon (a.k.a. Xylophone)

Y is for Yoyo

and Z is for Zebra (or sometimes confuse with Giraffe)

So no matter where he saw ABC... that is what he remembers...

Last night, I was teaching him ABC using Malay words... So randomly I selected few letters and say the Malay word... Then I point to this:

and said... "S = Singa"...

Guess what he said:

"S... See-nake laaaa.... ni Lion...", he smiled and then said, "Ibu salah..."

H1N1 scare...

2009-10-01T14:12:00.007+08:00

It has been few months now since the outbreak of Influenza A H1N1..

We had a scary experience on this too..

3 days before Ramadan, Iman was admitted to the hospital due to high fever.

I can still remember clearly what happen each day during the incident...

On Tuesday (18/08/09), Iman had fever... His temperature keep increasing since morning and when we took him to the clinic, his temperature was 38.8^oC. We were in JB during the time, so we brought him to a normal clinic ( I always bring Iman to a child specialist if we are in Kuching). The doctor said he was fine & gave him all the "usual" medicine.

At home, I became so obsessed to check his temperature, like every 30 min... and he also began to cough.

Then in midnite, his temperature was increased to 40^oC... We were so worried that we decide to bring him to another clinic. The doctor said he's fine, and his lung was OK (we were extra worried of this because Iman has a long history of asthma...), then he was given a stronger fever medicine..

We went home, but no improvement. His temperature was 40^oC until morning. Both of us did not sleep because we were monitoring the temperature and tried methods to cool him down. Then we decided to go to the clinic again and ask for letter to refer him to the hospital.

We arrived at Puteri Specialist Hospital, JB at about 10am. After consulting the paediatrician, he informed us that Iman had to be admitted, due to the fever, and also need to x-rayed his chest. He has already developed asthma symptom and also need to be tested for Influenza A.

So we were asked to go to the x-ray department, then to the emergency department and lastly to register for ward admission. Since I am not allowed in the x-ray department, Ayah went with Iman... Then in the emergency department, we were asked to wait outside because they need to take some blood sample.. We can hear his scream, crying for us and the moment was so sad... Both of us almost cried hearing his scream.

Then when he was ready, his hand looked like this:

It was prepared in case he need to be put on drip or medicine later. His eyes were red and he was clinging to my hubby all the way to the ward.

At the ward, he was tested for Influenza A... They had to take mucus sample from deep inside his nose, and again he was screaming because of the pain... They informed us the result few hours later, he was tested positive for Influenza A, so they will start him on treatment (he was given the antiviral for H1N1).

At that time we were so worried because we thought it was H1N1. But actually if you are infected with Influenza A, it does not mean that you have H1N1... There are a lot of categories for Influenza A, and H1N1 was one of it. You will only be tested for H1N1, if your condition becoming worse and the sample is send to KL for H1N1 testing. His doctor said, there's no need for the test, because they must cure him for the influenza first.

However, the bad news was, his lungs was infected with virus and they also must start treatment for pneumonia.

Iman... all of us were tired...

They also started him on drip because he was weak and drink less milk. And also he has to be nebulized for every 4 hours, given medicine for every 8 and 12 hours, and temperature check every 2 hours!!

On 2nd day, he was getting better... But, in the evening, his temperature suddenly increased and he started to refuse to take his milk, food or drink!! And because of that, he began to be weaker and weaker...

3rd day, no progress... he still refuse to take any food, and his temperature was unstable. The doctor decided to take another sample from his nose, to be send to KL for H1N1 testing. But he said the result may take few days to 1 week. That night, when my hubby went home to take few things, the nurse noticed that his arm (the one with the drip) was swollen. So they had to stop the drip and changed arm. It was difficult because he was still little, 5 attempts by the nurse failed, so they had to get one of the doctor from the emergency department to start new drip. It was so sad, because he was calm, but crying and keep telling me it was painful.

4th day... it was first day of Ramadan, me & hubby had to take our sahur at the hospital... We hoped we can be discharge that day.. We knew Iman refuse to take anything because he was traumatized by all the things happened to him within the 3 days. I had to forced him to take his milk and tried to make him looked active... In the afternoon, the doctor came and thankfully he looked better.. His temperature was stable (below 37^oC) for 12 hours straight, so thats mean he's recovering. So we were allowed to go home that afternoon.

The funny thing was, when the doctor said he can go home, he was suddenly active and busy walking here & there.

walking & playing in his ward....

It was funny also when he first started to stand and walk... he has been on his bed for 4 days straight, so he actually fell few times because his legs was a bit weak. He had to be hold before he was able to walk on his own...

Finally we went home at 2pm.. But were advised not to go out so much.

Then on 28/08/09, we had our follow-up appointment.

Waiting for his follow-up check-up

I had to extend my leave for another week, had to stay in JB and wait for the follow-up check-up.

The doctor said, he was getting better, but asked us to be careful with his environment. Had to make sure his environment is clean.. no dust, no smoke or anything that can make him get asthma attack. Because all those thing can harm his lungs.

Alhamdullillah.. everything was fine...

Trust me, you wouldn't want to be in my position at that time....

Hopefully that will be the last for us!

One night stop-over in Dubai... and home!

2009-09-04T15:46:00.005+08:00

This is will the last entry of the trip...

The first thing we did when we arrived was to find food!!!

After 4 days in Athens just eating maggi mee, bread and fruits, it's time to find some meat!! and of course, KEBAB was on the list... so yummy.... (We were really hungry & craving for halal food, that we forgot to took photo of the mix kebeb that we ordered!)

I just let the photos tell the story...

Streets of Dubai..

At the back entry of Gold Souk.... lots of gold there!!

It was hot there... Iman didn't let go of the water!

At night, we went round Dubai in a cab... The cab driver was very friendly & we talked a lot about Dubai.. He was actually from Pakistan, so we talked a lot about his life working there...

First he bring us to the famous Burj Al-Arb..

Just before we came, from far, the lights of the building was yellow... and as we reached the hotel, it changed to purplish-blue... nice huh...

Then he brought us the the famous man-made island, The Palm al-Jumeira..

Not much photo because it was dark, but I can say, the place was magnificient!! I wish I can have one house there!!

Here's the photo of The Atlantis, one of the hotel on the island. It was situated at the end of the island, right in the middle of it!

eerrmm.... wonder if I got the chance to sleep in either one of the hotel!!

Sorry, not much photo to share...

We're still very tired after the Athens trip, so we didn't go out much.. I was also a bit moody (wonder why... ;) ) at that time, so a bit lazy to go out.

The next morning, we on our way home...

Iman waving good bye to Dubai... he's still in his pyjamas!

Dubai was OK, but very very hot! and also expensive... :(

Sayang we didn't really do our homework of places of interest in Dubai... We missed to chance to go to the biggest shopping mall in the world! Hopefully, one day, we can go there again...

and after 7 hours flight, we finally reached Singapore... another hour to arrived home!!

Iman at Changi Airport..

Over all, the trip was OK... but I enjoyed the trip to Brisbane more than this one.. ;)

THE END.

Tour of Athens part 3: Last day...

2009-08-14T11:03:00.013+08:00

On our 3rd day in Athens, we didn't really go anywhere. Just few places near the hotel. I had my meeting on the 3rd day at 2.00pm, and the place of meeting was not in Athens city itself but in Marousi, which is quite far from the city. Had to took the metro train and the journey took me about 45 minutes. From the metro map, you can see I had to pass 13 stops, from Monastiraki station to Marousi station.

Athens Metro map (from http://www.mlahanas.de/Greece/Cities/Maroussi.html)

My hubby was worried when he knew I had to travel that far all by myself. So on the first day of the meeting, he (plus Iman of course..) accompanied me for the trip.

And again I saw a scary fight... and again this time the fight was between an old man and a woman. I cannot really recall what initiated the fight, but I think it was because, the woman accidentally stepped on the old man's foot while entering the train. There were lots of people in the train and this type of accident is normal right???

The man was screaming and throwing money to the woman (again I do not understand, as they were arguing in Greek). Luckily there were policemen in the train with us (oohh.... I forgot to mention that, we were there during the EU election, so there were lots of police in the city... and also lots of campaigning and public gathering...).

So the policemen took both of them out from the train on the next stop. Seriously, it was scary.. and I was worried because Iman was also there... AND I still think both men (the one at the Acropolis ticket booth) were really really really rude!!

The first day of the meeting started in the afternoon.. and lasted until late night. My hubby & Iman went back to the city after making sure I arrived safely at the meeting place.

The hosts took us out for dinner, so I stayed in Marousi until 10pm. The dinner was great, I orderd grilled fish (not sure the name of the fish). And all group members really impressed me.. They knew I was a Muslim, so all of them avoided to ordered pork or alcohol.. and they make sure all dish were vegetarian (no meat etc) and all was cooked using olive oil (of course la, Greek people only cook with olive oil!!).

I tasted some of the Greek food, there were vegetable salad with cheese.. and I liked it a lot (was surprised that I liked the salad, since I am not a vege lover... hehheh). The bread and butter, and Greek dipping (I have really bad memory on this..) was also pleasant. The dessert was the best... but I was really full at that time, so I just took a little! But I forgot what it was, but I know it has cheese with it.. hehehe

It was really late, luckily one of the project member was taking the same route with me, so we left Marousi together. I arrived at the hotel at almost 11pm... I bet you can imagine how fast I walked from the station to the hotel!! And of course, my hubby was worried and Iman was already sleeping... and I was tired!

The 2nd day of the meeting, I went to Marousi on my own. The meeting started at 9.00am and finished at 3pm. I had to rush back to the hotel because we had our flight back to Dubai that night... and not to mention that we have not bought any souvenirs to bring home!!

So Ayah & Iman waited for me at the metro station...

The happy Iman, playing on his own...

(My hubby said, he attracted lots of attention while there...)

The boring face waiting for Ibu... :(

Finally, Ibu arrived... it was cute, he missed me!!

We noticed that the Acropolis was just round the corner...

The first stop was Plaka... that's where you can/should shop for souvenirs. Ironically, we only found this place on the last day of the trip, and it was just less than 3 minutes walk from our hotel!!

Plaka.. lots of souvenir shops

But Athens does not have much variety of souvenir (unlike Brisbane).. and it was expensive too (after you convert la...). We bought fridge magnets, keychains and the tradisional olive oil soap for our family and friends... and of course, Athens' t-shirt for the three of us. What I like about the t-shirt shop was... we can choose any design there, then choose the size & colour, then they'll print it out for you. You can just wait for 5 minutes for each t-shirt to dry.

After went souvenir shopping, we took a walk one last time in the Athens city. We went to the Syntagma Square, lots of people there because there will be a gathering for the EU election that evening.

At Syntagma Square

Then across the road of the square, there was the Greek Parliament. We were lucky because when we reached there, the ceremony of changing-guard was just started.

look at the shoes.. so funny!

After the ceremony ended, we took photos with the guard... Iman was scared, heheheh...

But he loved the birds there...

After that, we went sight seeing (by walking)...

Here's so photos to share.... I called it "The Streets of Athens"...

Not forgetting, lots of statues on the streets...

The Hop On- Hop Off bus we took on the 2nd day..

eerrr... I am not sure why my hubby took this photo...

to show pretty Greek ladies maybe..?

One thing about Athens that I was surprised of... there were lots of vandalism in the city... just look!

There were lots of "wall-drawing" in the city... and I really mean a lot... Sayang tau, because there were lots of history in the city... I think the government should do something on this, or at least also do preservation on some old buildings there..

Then it was time to go... we waited for the taxi at the hotel.

Iman playing at the hotel door...

Oohh.. I forgot to mention the place where we stayed. We stayed at the Amazon Hotel.

The hotel was nice and the people was friendly too. The room was small and you should see the elevator!

It was very unique... I forgot to took photo of it!!

We had a nice ride to the airport.

The taxi driver was very friendly and informative. He tried his best to explain and entertain us during the ride. We actually wished that we met him earlier!

The very nice taxi driver..

At the airport..

We arrived at the airport very early... The flight was at 11pm, we arrived at about 6pm.

We changed clothes, Iman get to take a simple bath.. we wanted to shower too, but there were no shower room there!

me & Iman tried to figure out where to get some food!!

That's all on the Athens trip. It was a nice trip, but not sure if I want to go there again... maybe when the kids have grown up, and left with me & hubby only... then spending time on one of the island (not the city!!)...

I can say, Athens is not a place of holiday for family with little kids... but will be great for honeymooners and party people... and owhhh, not forgetting, for historian and archeologists... :)

Next entry will be on our Dubai adventure!

Tour of Athens part 2: The National Archaelogical Museum

2009-08-13T10:20:00.012+08:00

After the tour to the Acropolis, we went to the National Archaelogical Museum. There were actually few other sites to choose from (Benaki Museum, Panathanaic Stadium etc), but we choose to go there because the tour guide in the bus said that it was one of the best museum in the world.

In the bus, Iman imitated his Ayah taking photo skill..

"Awah, Aga... cik"

After a 15 minutes ride, we reached there..

The National Archeological Museum

I forgot the ticket price to go in... I think it was €7 per person.

But we were amazed with what they have inside. And something new for us was, we were allowed to take photo or video of the exhibits, except in two rooms (I cannot remember the rooms' name...).

There were few sections in the museum, and the have lots of collections, namely Prehistoric collection (Neolithic, Cycladic, Mycenaean), Sculptures collection, Vase and Minor Objects Collection, Santorini findings, Metallurgy Collection, Stathatos Collection, Vlastos Collection, Egyptian Art collection and Near Eastern Antiquities Collection.

Going thru history

There were lots of scupture there...

Then Iman wanted to walk on his own, so we let him. There were few exhibits that interest him..

With the wall paintings

Wanted to imitate the statue, but can only stand still for less than 1 minute!!

He was amazed with the mummy...

and the baby statue... (he waved bye bye to the statue when we left...)

but he liked this horse very much!

You may think that he was behaving nicely when we were in the museum, but.... no!!!

He was running here & there... and tried to touch everything.... At last I gave him a little warning...

"Iman... DO NOT touch anything!!"...

(was surprise when I saw this photo, didn't notice my hubby took it...)

After that, he behaved (a bit)...

My hubby actually really enjoyed the visit.. He get to practised his photo-taking skill, and he was amazed with the ancient work... Look at the scupture, figurine... a very detailed work!!

The small figurine..

The famous helmet

Some of the bronze crafts

I think you get what I mean by looking at the photos... Sorry, no descriptions. I was unable to enjoy the history because have to make sure that Iman was not touching anything (since Ayah was busy taking photos....)

Iman was already tired and bored after one hour there... so time to go!!

One last photo at the front gate...

That was our last tour for the day. All three of us was tired and hungry... We did not have any lunch, just light snack & crackers... It was so hard to find a halal restaurant in Athens. We googled map to find a restaurant, but didn't get to any of it... :(

So back to the hotel and ate Maggi-in-my-mug, fruits and fresh milk...

and of part 2..

to be continued..

Tour of Athens part 1: The Acropolis

2009-07-17T12:42:00.014+08:00

Eerrmmm....

First of all, sorry for delaying the story of our trip...

I am not giving any reason for the delay, just plain LAZY....

But I have few other stories to tell, so I am forcing myself to write about the trip...

Let see what I can remember of the trip..

Here goes....

On the 2nd day, we took the City Sightseeing Tour, a.k.a. the Hop On - Hop Off bus tour. It costs us €18 per person & the ticket valid for 24 hours.

The bus

I insisted to go up... even it's hot!!

Few views of the route the bus took us.. I can say, Athens road is very complicated...

Our first stop, the historical Acropolis...

The sign to go up....

We debated for a while whether to go up and see the Acropolis. At the end, my hubby decided to go... "Once in a lifetime chance" he said...

On the way up with sleepy Iman...

Half way to the hill, we can already see the building (???)

When we reached up, there were lots of tourists. Most of them were old people coming in groups, seems like we were the only one without any tour guide.. It was hard, all signs were in Greek (see sign below), it took us almost half an hour to figure out the ticket booth... All the people we asked were tourists, so they didn't know where to buy tickets because theirs were paid together with the tour.

The signage and the declaration of Acropolis as UNESCO world heritage ( I think..)

The ticket (€12)

Oohh.. I had a scary experience while queuing for the ticket.. There was a little fight between an old man and a woman... and the reason was only because she stepped accidentally on the man's hat.. I mean, it was clearly an accident, people was pushing to get to the counter and he was moving away from the counter, accidentally pushed the woman and his hat fell (that's when she stepped on his hat)... He actually slapped the woman on the face!!! For me, the man was very rude.. because she apologised and he did not accept it, kept mumbling and screaming and even throwing money to her (but his wife quickly took the money back & get him away from the woman..)... I do not understand what he was saying so I did not know what the money is for...

But we didn't regret paying the tickets and went up!!

The view was magnificient... and it was an honour to be able to stand and witness one of the most historical places on earth... My hubby kept saying " Mesti Socrates penah lalu sini..." hehehehe..

All the way up and around, i wonder how did the ancient people build this with what they have during the ancient time... tapi sayang because Iman was only 18 months old at that time, I hope he can learned and cherish the history when he grows up..

Almost there....

From the top, you can see the city of Athens...

My two heroes.. (Athens as background)

At last, the Parthenon, stand at top of the hill.

Acropolis is actually a city itself, with few sites... (Parthenon, Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Erechtheum etc..)

The one and only picture we had as three at the Parthenon..

As you can see, Parthenon (actually the whole city) was under preservation. The work actually start in the 80's!! It is hard work, because they had to put together the pieces just like puzzles...

The back view of the Parthenon

When we went around the Parthenon, I was surprised to see that the city of Athens actually situated around the Acropolis hill..

Here's some view of the city when we around the hill..

Few photos of the other sites in Acropolis..

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

Erechtheum

We spent almost an hour there... Then it was time to go...

While waiting for our bus, we has a little snack...

End of part 1..

Next: The tour to the National Archaeological Museum

The journey begins... Dubai International Airport

2009-06-23T15:31:00.007+08:00

As promised, our trip to Athens & Dubai...

We began our trip on 2nd June 2009, 1.40am (we actually start the journey on 1st June, left to Singapore at 9.30pm...)...

Both of us were actually very tired when we arrived in Terminal 1, Changi International Airport, Singapore... We just came back from kampung the night before & busy packing right after we reached home.

I continued packing & repacking on the next day (Monday - 1st June) & my hubby still have to go to work on 1st June, & due to his work commitment, he only reached home at 6pm!!

So sorry, no photos were taken when we reached Changi Airport due to the tiredness... It was hard to stay awake until we board the plane.. Iman la yg paling best sbb dpt tido...

We reached Terminal 3, Dubai International Airport at 4.30am.. Both of us were extremely tired!! We can't really sleep during the 7 hours flight.. I had to be alert, in case Iman woke up from his sleep in a very small & tiny bassinet (lupa plak nak amik gambar..). We can't hang the bassinet because he has reached the maximum (12kg) weight, so we asked if we can just put it on the floor. So both of us have to sacrified our legs, to give way for Iman's bassinet. He was not comfortable sleeping in my arm. He's growing, and my arms could not support his body...

Tired face after reaching Dubai

Iman was still sleeping, luckily Emirates stroller was provided to all its infant/ toddler passengers. So Iman continued his sleep... Few minutes after that, he woke up & we managed to bathe him before the next trip. The flight to Athens was scheduled at 11 am.

After we changed Iman...

The lifts area..

Iman loved the stroller!!

Want to win the car??

Iman was the one that get the most rest... So he was running around the the huge airport..

See.. always go to the opposite direction from us...

at last... jatuh!!

(we captured the moment he fell in video.. he laughed the most when we replayed it...)

We had our breakfast at McDonald's.. We changed only RM50 (about AED46) for breakfast, thinking we can buy other stuff or kepp the change until we reached Dubai on our way back...

But, see how much breakfast at McDonald's cost us...

AED44!!! (about RM43)

Only left with AED1!!! hahahahaha...

After breakfast, we went to our boarding gate (Gate 232) to wait for our flight...

Iman fell asleep again while waiting..

On our way to Gate 232

Again, me & hubby tried to get some rest while in the plane... We managed to get few short nap before reaching Athens, but Iman... he got all the rest he can possibly gets!!

So no photo during the flight (again), but my hubby took the photo of the Emirates plane & its engine (view from our seat)..

The plane

The engine...

to be continued... Adventure in Athens..

updates.. updates...

2009-06-09T15:02:00.003+08:00

wow!!

almost a month since the last entry...
no other reason, but I have been very busy...

lots has happen after the Bario trip... sorry, no entry on this..
I don't really like writing without photos, and I went to Bario without my camera..
So no photos, so story... heheheh...
however my friend Sarah have wrote nicely about our trip, so maybe you can read it in her blog.

Actually I just came back from Athens and Dubai..
My boss asked me to represent him in a meeting..
and as usual, long distance trip was confirmed at the very last minute!!

so I was really busy settling works in Kuching, then plan for Athens-Dubai trip...
the trip was during Gawai holiday & every year, Gawai holiday means holiday in JB & also my birthday (on Gawai eve..)... so lots was going on..

Then to keep me busy, my mother-in-law decided to have kenduri arwah on 31st may.. so extra work for me, because need to balik kampung and help preparing for the kenduri & also prepare for the trip (the flight was on 2nd June at 1.40am via Singapore - so technically we went off on 1st June!!)..

I'll blog later about the trip (promise!!!)...
but for now, I still need my rest...

the face I missed the most!

2009-04-24T13:52:00.002+08:00

hi all..

Came back from Bario yesterday.. it was a tiring trip... but it was fun!
Bario people was nice & we get all the info we need for our project (will blog about this again later.. waiting for photos from Sarah & Lau)..

I missed Iman terribly, but I managed to hide it (kan Sarah kan..)..
and according to my mum, he was OK...

so, this is the face I missed the most!!

(and Sayang.. I missed you too....)