The Hair-less Princess

After 14 months, there she is...I thought Hanis was the worst, nampaknya adik gak champion. Come on la dik...teringin ibu nak buat ponytail or at least letak hairclip. Dd, kasik rambut Iman sket, klu kat US bleh buat extension hahahaha

Any petua frenz, I've yet to try any actually. Konon nak tunggu, tapi rasanya dah terbabas threshold of 12 months.

In The Wake of Nurin's Tragedy

Al Fatihah to the little girl. Takziah for the family. We watched the Buletin Perdana on Friday night with tears. Non-stop. I hugged Hanis and wept. And Adan kept on asking 'Kenapa ibu nangis ??'. I just can't stop.

Ya Allah, apalah nak jadi dengan dunia ni. This will definitely turn me, the already over-cautious and paranoid mom, to a higher level. All this while, they're not allowed to play outside without adult supervision eventhough their friends are there. Will make sure at least one of my neighbour is watching them. Most of the time I will let all of them play inside our compound but bingit ya rabbi not to mention scrathes on our car. Ikut kawan pegi kedai dekat2 rumah, is a no no.

Pendek kata, they're not allowed to be out of my sight no matter how close. In crowded place they are not allowed to let go of their hands. I've planted that in them. So, my sweet dahlings..no more main2 tepi sungai for you if ibu and babah is not around. Everywhere I went, I can't help but always on the look for lost kids. Nampak je budak2 yg mcm lost, mesti aku approach. Else aku akan rasa guilty all the way sampai mimpi2, what if, what if. That's me.

With the latest tragedy, I don't know how paranoid I can be. But it made things easier for me that now they, especially Hanis, understood what can happen to them. I kept on mentioning to her. 'Ibu tak bagi Along pegi jauh2 sebab ibu sayang Along. Now you understand why? It is because I love you'. They can relate that with my rules. For now I would rather be a mother who is over-protective, biarlah org nak kata apa, apa2 jadi anak kita, bukan anak diorang.

Now I have mixed feeling inside:

• I don't feel bad for having kids who don't like strangers
• I'm blessed but worried that I'm gifted with 3 beautiful kids
• I don't mind being busybody
• I get mad all the times seeing small kids wandering on their own
• I don't feel safe
• School is not a safe place. Luckily tok wan is one step ahead of me in safety department :)
• many many more...

But, can you believe this ? Yes, their negligence in a way contributed to her death, they're wrong to assume that she was not alone, but as mentioned here, benda dah nak jadi, a fate. Why now baru nak invoke, this is not the first case that a child end up brutally murdered since the Act introduced. I don't know...but my personal opinion, it is so inappropriate to talk about it when the parents are still grieving and bigger issue is at hand...the killer, the ani-man (animal + human) is still at large.

Ikhtiar, Insya Allah

For those who knew my son, they are well aware of how fragile my son's health condition can be. Lately, he was coughing day and night without producing phlegm. Even when he did, takde plak yg tebal2 cuma kahak cair & berbuih. It is a heart wrenching looking at him coughing until he sweats and breathless and sometimes muntah2.

We have tried so many ways (medical & alternative). So today I bought this gamat-based supplement, IMUN0L. I went there to get the one goes by the name GAM0GEN upon friend's recommendation but when I explained my son's condition, he said this is the one for him. Price wise, cheaper than GAMOGEN. I'm willing to try alternative products but not drugs.

So guys, pray for me that this will help at least to stop the cough.

I was told by my colleague & from my googling about one petua, from chinaman. Using the asam kulit limau. Really ah ?? Boleh pakai ke...but again, why not ?? Rendam about 10 pieces of the asam in 1 cup of hot water, put the container's lid on and let it completely cool.

Follow the $$$

Blame it on SOGO Sale

I just HAVE TO buy the handbag to complement my purse. So as a guide, always start small (purse), then gradually move at a bigger scale (handbag) hahahaha. Okay la kot after working for so many years this is my 1st so called DECENT handbag. Kan Ayang kan ??

I went to SOGO again the next day to wrestle with others, in kids department. The long queue started way before 10am. My hubby was not in good health but willing to do it now instead of during puasa. We left Hannah with her babysitter and dragged the other two. Why ? Nobody to look after them and I want to avoid buying stuffs that they are not willing to wear. Since this was the first time we brought the kids along for raya shopping, I adopted a strategy which I think worked well. Prior to 'the battle', I've prepared the list and asked the kids what they want (color, long/short sleeve).

Hubby & kids settled down at the toys area. I just went there & picked everything in few sizes and colors. No basket for me, susah nak move, everything sangkut on my shoulder. Agak2 dah berat, I went back and let them choose. The chosen one will be in the basket with hubby and the process NEED TO BE REPEATED until hubby said 'Banyak lagi ke nak beli ???' kahkahkah.

Less than 2 hours, we're done. Buying 3-4 pairs each of baju raya for 3 kids in SOGO during weekend on (Member's Day somemore) from the box yg dah mcm tong sampah, that was an achievement...Excellent

After that I went to collect my rebate coupon (RM10 for every RM100 spent). You need to have SOGO Card to be able to redeem. I have none, then how do I collect my coupon ? That's a trade secret...Apa susah, I just went to those who queued (normally those yg dah dekat ngan kaunter) and used my sweet charms on them. Ayat paling simple. "Kak, saya x de SOGO Card, akak tolong redeem RMxxx, balance tu combine dgn resit akak, coupon lebih akak ambikla". 100% guaranteed.

But...How do I get into SOGO without card in the 1st place? I flashed my credit card maaa Direct Access, free for life, no string attached. So, who wanna join me for next SOGO spree before December ? I got RM80 coupon to spend.

Wisana Redang - Revisit

Another trip to Pulau Redang before monsoon season starts. Same spot : Wisana Redang. We won’t be going anywhere else la kot since this place is so private. Everybody were treated & mingled like a family, not a bunch of guests. This time we hauled 8 adults and 5 kids and 1 baby on trip.

We had to board the ferry from Jeti Shahbandar in KT much to my misery because the Merang jetty is so close to my house and I so wanna try the nasik minyak mentioned in somebody else’s blog. Anyway, we left the house around 8.00am to catch the ferry scheduled at 10.30am. 1 hour journey from Setiu to KT supposedly left us with ample time to find a decent breakfast. But, KT is having festivals here and there and we have to ‘fight’ for what’s left on the menu to feed 14 tummies. Dah la kureng sedap..belasah jek...

Boarding the ferry from here seemed safer. We had to list down our details before boarding the ferry as big as the one in Langkawi. Very comfortable & safe for those with kids. It took 1hr 30mins to reach the main jetty in Redang. A transit boat carried us to our chalet. That’s when my camera decided to die on me. So, no pic for the whole day because electricity will only be provided 7pm – 7am. This is a no-frills chalet, lagipun memang takde sape yg duduk bilik during the day except to mandi & pray, water supply ada la, even my baby pun tido kat hammock…heaven.

2nd day started a bit early, we watched the sunrise and the water was about 5-6 metres from our chalet. I was a zombie because of the trips to the loo that I made throughout the night. Day before, I wallop a duku (more than a kilo I can assure) and had to pay the price, big time diarrhea that no Chi Kit pill (kincit?? hehe) or ENO can handle. Had to skip the snorkeling trip. Luckily, Hannah slept the moment they left for Marine Park until they came back. So I just sat on the stairs watching her sleeping in hammock while making my every-5-minutes-trip to jamban.

By evening I was exhausted to the point of shaking (not to mention the painful & over-worked b*ntot) and had to ask for help. Luckily my ever-willing sister was there and the kids were outsourced to her and their dotted babah. Another sleepless night for me.

They had a blast and the next day we had a delicious fried beehoon. Tengok je la while having my plain roti. Everybody including Hannah sambung operasi mandi manda while me still befriending the dump place.

On Sunday, we left the heavenly place around 12.30 and reached KT around 2.30pm. As usual, loaded up our trunk with keropok and bought some turtle eggs for hubby’s colleague.

Reached home before Maghrib and start working on the laundry and packing for journey back to KL.

Exhausted but 100% satisfied.

For more pix, visit my Fotopages
Tips: To avoid having diarrhea after excessive walloping of duku, make sure you bite the last seed. Mcm mkn durian and minum from the pangsa to avoid panas badan.

Mother of All Procrastinators

No Sophie Kinsella's or Annabel Karmel's for me sob sob out of stock, small outlet, remember ? Next sale will be dedicated for school textbooks another sob sob. For now I'll settle for Ikan's book review

We procratinated BIG tIMe...the weekend went with no so called achievement. What a lazy bum...ada skali tu, both of us snoozed and woke up to a one big mess all over the hall courtesy of 3-tak-reti-mengantuk-kids.

Our raya shopping trip was called off due the the fact that the planner a.k.a ME forgot to consider that Merdeka celebration is back in KL. So trip to Jln TAR or anywhere in the city on Merdeka Day is as good as 'carik nahas'.

Malas2 and delayed some housechores to the next day and when Sunday came then only we realised that we have yet to buy any book as planned. So we rushed to the nearby MPH in Alph@ Angle, W.Maju. Small outlet, so we just make do with whateva that they have. We chose these for the kids.

They have their preferences as well. Along with her princesses thingy and Adan still madly in love with Captain Jack Sparrow.

Also another stack of latih-tubi-kind-of-workbook for both of them. Susahnya nak cari buku kerja for Pendidikan Islam. Can't wait until the next one in Dec. I'll make sure we do it earlier.

Note : Ikan, your Empress = out of stock

Sneak Peek

Happy Merdeka Day

I can foresee myself busy post-vacation, so I wish everybody a meaningful MERDEKA Day

Have a nice 3-days break to recharge yourself or redeem yourself. We will be doing some raya shopping and giving a new meaning to merdeka. Free the money from the wallet.

I Love Them Practical Innovators

I found this recently after looking for it since Hanis was born, at that time ada kat internet je, kena shipping, x baloi la plak. Bila dah jumpa tu haaaa..bukan 1, macam2 brand la pulak. I bought this one for Hannah

Bila dia nampak jek she will do her mammmamamamamam and angguk2 as a yes.

But the suction pad did not suck like it is supposed to be, so Hannah can actually move and slide the bowl to the edge and it latches. My fault for not checking. The pad can be removed from the bowl. Anyways, it still serves the purpose until Hannah decided to ignore the food and play with it.

This is how I 'detach' Hannah from me every night. She had dinner at babysitter's house but she can always have a 2nd helping with us. I'll 'park' her in her baby chair and that will give me ample time for other house chores. To prevent 'mega mess' on the floor, I'll put an old newspaper under the chair. The chair is another good investment, we bought that for merely RM20 and it lasted for 5 years (provided that u clean it everytime after use) and years to go.

I can't wait

come on come on 5.30pm

I'll zoom out from the office, hop onto the LRT and ready to pack my luggage. The travel checklist is ready, half of the items oredi piled on the floor.

Things that I need to find/buy :
- spare key for the car (where do u campak the thing dear??)
- Additional pack of Baby Bites

Big issue, how to pack stuffs for 2 adults 2 childs and 1 baby into 2 knapsack for 3 days 2 nights stay ?? Not to mention the fin and goggle and diapers and bottles and formulas and thermos and and arrrggggggggggghhh.

Packing is no easy task ok, especially when you have kids & babies on tow. Because we preferred to travel as light as possible.

...alamak baru pukul 8.27am...

Help me find this...

Any of you seen this anywhere ?? Bought this handbag size wet tissue at the nearest Manjaku outlet few months back for pack of 6s. Very convenient compared to the normal bulky pack, I can even slot the pack in my back pocket. The brand : Pigeon

Went back to Manjaku to get more and they said they have none, I've never seen this in any shopping outlet that I frequent. So in case you have spotted the pack somewhere, shout to me yeah...

Help Yourself to My Early Lunch

This is my typical lunch, mind you, TYPICAL beb, bukan once in a while....then how to maintain below 50kg body ?? Dah la exercise = ZERO. Biasa la guna housewifey mentality, kerja2 rumah tu dah bakar beribu2 lemon of calories. True or not...true but some body parts will suffer la...tummy tuck urgently needed hahahah

I'm now rehersing on how to say 'Nasi separuh ye...!!', so for now still penuh but reciprocate that with heaps of vege, normally half the plate full of vege or ulam.

Satu lauk of the day, favorite would be ayam masak merah, sembilang masak cili, daging masak hitam. I can eat the same food for the rest of my life. Boring huh ? Another lauk sampingan will be something that I can hirup or eat without nasi, this one I chose siput sedut lala. or could be tomyam

Accompanied by drink, iced one. No ice no go. My very very bad habit is that I don't drink plain water. Hot cold warm or any species of plain water. I can go on without it for a week or more. Definitely need to change.

If you notice there is a packet of bun next to my plate, that one falls under Dessert category

And I had those at 11am++, not today

Wedding Planner That I Am

My brother will tie the knot with his girlfriend in a small do only for relatives and neighbors. The date was set to be on 24th November 2007.

And I appointed myself as the planner because I love wedding preparations. I love ribbons, flowers and nets. It heals me, whenever I feel like shit, I'll open my craft treasure chest and play with it. I'll add sequins to my dress or sew a ribbon flowers to my baby's gown. And now..I do feel shitty...

Waiting for The DAY rumored to be

My previous job requires me to be out of the office. I was an IT auditor in one of the main industry in the country. I opted out due to my nose-diving interest in the job. I’m no longer in love with it. Putus sudah kasih sayang...

Sounds like I’ve resigned, nope. I’m still in the same department. I asked for a transfer and managed to stay in the office and doing ‘boring’ and ‘non-core’ tasks. The hell with them, my motivation shoots the sky and I’m more than happy to do what I’m doing now. The satisfaction level is also sky high. What more do I need for myself ? Selfish you said ? I donch care...

But rumors reached me that I may be ‘unseated’ (this job can make my butt bigger, u know) from this position and re-assign to the previous job which I’m not willing to.

I want to stay but the management can always decide on my ‘fate’. My personal interest is so minor compared to the dept’s one. They’re short-handed. Number of juniors overwhelmed the seniors due to the recent recruitment and also the fact that seniors are leaving make things even worse. Too many factors contributed to the ‘trend’.

Pray for me guys. IF and ONLY IF, I need to resume the previous job, I will HAVE TO accept and do my best, but for now I can see myself leaving my used-to-be-heaven’s department as well IF things don’t change.

On Buying Kasut Sekolah

For SHOES, the best option of course BATA laa mana lagi, now they call it B-first…why ah ?? We also bought KIKILALA, CARLTON and both almost hancur and pain in the ass to wash. I advise you people don’t buy the one yang ada byk plastik because memang susah nak sental. The rubber jenis yg x hilang klu ada scratches. During our schooling days yonks ago, tapak kasut pun boleh scrub sampai putih, kan ? Not anymore, my other half pun surrender, memang x hilang warna hitam on the rubber. One more thing, easier klu beli yang strap. The one yang x payah slot dlm lubang. I'll show you the pix later.

Tips : Those yang ada bibik maybe tak kisah tapi it’s good to ‘kapur’ the shoes even before their 1st usage. So that masa menyental, all stains will be washed away dgn kapur without sticking on the fabric. Jimat masa dan tenaga.

So far, after many bottles & brands, The Best Kapur Kasut award goes to…..BATA again, ooops B-first laa. Tapi yang tu dapat free masa beli kasut. Yet to check whether they are selling it. Should be la kan ? How do I ‘evaluate’ ? The liquid is thick so it will remain on top of the fabric instead of being absorbed into the fabric like other brands. Main objectives to protect the fabric kan ?

What about SOCKS ? You gonna need this A LOT. Why ? Wait until you see them kids doing the slides on the floor and within minutes, it changes color. Teach your kids to remove the socks whenever they remove the shoes. But, Hanis said "Cikgu kata tak payah bukak stoking dalam bilik muzik", dush !! To reduce the effort in 'sental'ing the socks, I bought the one in duo-tone. White sock with black sole. Classic. I love practical inventors...they make my life easier

On Buying School Uniforms

Based on my experience buying uniforms for our eldest, I feel like sharing. Sharing is caring kan kehkehkeh But again, this is my personal experience, based on my personal preference, so my view may not be parallel with others.

Banyak brand in the market but the BEST OPTION is to buy the fabric and tailor made to your kid's measurement. Your have full control over the type of fabric and size as well as design.

The most common brand that we found in the market were C@nggih, N!chii and a lot more kids clothing line coming up with their version of uniform. Why can’t they just stick to their line of clothing instead of offering over-the-moon-priced uniforms ? Departmental stores are also offering their proprietary brand like K@mdar, Parks0n, Ju$co and Metr0.

Hanis will definitely wear baju kurung to her primary since she didn’t wear any skirt or gown since she was a child (the sweet revenge is on Hannah). So pinafore is totally out. We need to buy the baju, kain and tudung. BTW, she opted for tudung herself, ok. For kain we need 2 colors, the normal navy (dark blue) and red for her sekolah agama. I can only vouch for a few that I bought.

C@NGGIH
For baju, the white is excellent, you don’t need to nila very frequent, blue-tinted white. Super easy to iron and the pocket is deep. But, the fabric is plastic-like and thick. Once the stain sets in, it stays, no scrubbing can cure, even bleach won’t help. And they used the butang with the loop, not the butang ketip (betoi ka ? In TrgSpeak, we call this ‘kacing tah’). Nightmare for a little clumsy hand.

For kain, it uses buckles not the pinggang getah. The fabric is the same as used for the boy’s pant, tebal nak mampos. Berat plak tu. Limited to navy color only.

You can find this brand everywhere, the cheapest in Mydin. Price wise, a bit expensive, can’t remember either kain or baju selling at more than RM20. But no tudung sighted.

KAMD@R
For baju : The fabric is sweat-absorbing-cotton, if I were to tailor, I will at least buy this type of fabric. Quite easy to iron, the wrinkles are manageable even after being stacked for 2 days. The white is more to off-white, nampak kusam without nila.

For kain : Perfect, pinggang getah, good fabric, no bleeding

Tudung : Perfect, both 1 & 2-layered type

Very cheap for the comfort it can offers, 1 pair without tudung is less than RM25. Tudung is RM5

N!CHII
We only bought the red kain which bleed like no tomorrow until now, dah 8 bulan beb. Sib baik aku ni kiasu, all dark & red colored shirts wash separately until confirm a non-bleeding type.

Price wise, in the middle, cheaper than 1st though. Baju banyak kain licin not cotton.

CoNncluSion : K@mdar offered the best uniforms (Globe ada jual lagi kaa ?) in terms of comfort and price. C@nggih looks good, nampak tahan tapi yg akak tak tahan, kainnya memang berpeluh la as what Hanis experienced. Kesian anak ibu. Sorry ye sayang

Ramai yang tanya…laa dah tau kain tu tak selesa apsal beli ? Long story maa…we went to S0G0 to buy EVERYTHING. Senang 1 tempat when you have 2 whining kids yang asyik tanya bila nak balik. Upon inspection, I told the banker, kain tak elok, panas, kesian anak. But being a guy, banker replied ‘beli je, dah ada semua kat sini’. Ni yg buat my blood went upstairs ni, time dia tau plak nak beli Dockers, Levi’s sbb selesa, takde kat KLCC cari kat 1 Utama, time anak nak jln ke K@mdar yang seco’et pun tak mau. Boiling..boiling...maleh nak kontoversi so beli jelah, dah la mahal nak mampus. So balik dgn mulut moncong2 & bengkek inside. Everytime Hanis complaint panas, berpeluh, ibunya pun sure naik ‘berpeluh’ je…

Bila bibik dah takde, we need extra pairs because I can’t afford to hand wash the uniform every single day. So I took it on my own hand and K@mdar is RM80++ richer. That’s the story mory morning glory and the reason why we bought C@nggih. Thinking of ‘retiring’ the kain for next year. Kain tu mau tahan sampai darjah 6 kalau anak korang tak membesar. Baju tu acceptable la cuma naik kematu aku berus stain especially kat lengan & poket tak hilang jugak. But heyy…I lost my flabby arms, no more goyang2 kakakakka

That was in December 2006, they may come up with new version this year.

Then suddenly….rasa nak belajar menjahit…

My black day

Today is my black day. I may not be blogging in few days until the air is clear. Or I will blog like mad.

Still in the office, having some tea for my buka puasa

Marhaban Ya Nurul 'Ain

Last Saturday, we had an aqiqah for our youngest, maka tumbanglah seekor kambing tempatan dan terus dijadikan gulai yang marvellous...other dishes that we paid for : ayam goreng, gulai nenas ikan masin, tenggiri goreng berlada for 200 guests. My MIL added in sambal udang petai and ulam2an with sambal belacan and cencaluk. Masak-wise, I just took care of the desserts, the easiest was agar2. I finished off the last box of my ready-mix choc cake and made about 40 cupcakes, snapped even before the event started.

In the morning we served some kuihs to the geng marhaban, about 40++ of them. We had kopi ala kapal api, teh o and teh tarik (Go and try the F&N Teh Tarik condensed milk). Kuih yang ada : tepung talam, apam, peneram (telinga k****g), kuih koci etc so the very traditional. The event started as early as 9am with reciting of the surah Yaasin. The event is a combination of aqiqah, tahlil and do'a selamat. 3 in 1 gitu. They finished about noon.

Half of them

Hannah cried, no, she actually wailed... all through the renjis2 ceremony. Normally they will do the potong jambul as well, but where got jambul ?? So we excluded the potong jambul part.

Melalak jangan tak melalak

Took her away ASAP

Healed with a mini tub of Calci-Yum

We turned our porch into kedai kopi-like and it only ended about 8pm when the last guest left. The post event, as expected, was the most painful part, luckily throughout the day, our soon to be SIL on both side were there. Ala2 menguji gitu, they passed with flying colors...hehe

One of them family-to-be

Thank you to my family (my SIL, BIL, MIL. FIL, my policeman bro) who helped me with the event, as well as to the soon-to-be family members J@mie & Aishah. Sadly none of my family from Trg can make it because our uncle had a kenduri as well. Anyways...all in all it was another good experience and I can conclude that :

1. if you have the dosh, just pay the caterer.

2. do the aqiqah & marhaban thingy earlier on when the baby preferred to sleep not wailing. On their 7th day is better.

Nostalgia : He used to be...

Like this...

Like this...

and this...

BUT NOW...look at him

Go get your breakfast

Ni la padahnya klu x breakfast, I had this for lunch yesterday. Fettucini with Carbonara Bolognese sauce, lovely teh tarik and rich choc cake, that's only RM8.80 !!