I Guess I'll be Watching Reruns All Day

Today is my last day in the office for the year. How liberating, yet somewhat totally dull. Our family trip to Langkawi may have to be postponed due to the floods in Kedah and Perlis. It doesn’t look like its going to subside anytime soon. It doesn’t look like I have any other plans for next week either. Ho Ho Ho..Merry Christmas.

Yesterday out of boredom, I bought a new laptop from DELL. The things I do to spice up my life. Sheesh..it’s not like I don’t have enough debts every month already. But I figured by having a laptop for myself, I can transfer all of my digital photos from my office PC and start some serious projects with them. Plus, I can blog from most anywhere.

Nothing else to write. No mood. Have a nice holiday everybody.

If You're Happy And You Know It, Clap Your Hands

Or show your teeth. Whichever works best.

My Babies, My Life

I was watching this episode of House MD last night. There was one case where his patient was diagnosed with lung leukemia. The only way she could live is by doing a major operation to get rid of the tumor (I saw the show halfway through so I may be wrong on some of the details). Problem is the patient was already 30 weeks pregnant and was very adamant in bringing the baby to terms. Of course, Dr. House gave his usual sarcastic-yet-I-really-do-care-about-you speech and the lady agreed to have the surgery. Then entered the Big Bad Wolf (Volgar, that ultra-rich guy who lately donated USD100 million to the hospital). He cancelled the procedure, infuriating House and basically caused a big uproar, resulting in Wilson getting fired, House almost getting fired, and Cuddy herself put on the line.

Anyhow it was, as always, a great episode of House but it made me wonder about what I would do if I were in that woman’s position - pregnant but in need of surgery that could be fatal to my baby. I love my babies with all my heart and as every mother would feel, I would gladly risk my life for their sake. However in this case, I would probably have to think about my living children, apart from the one I am carrying. Also there’s hubby to think about. I’m pretty sure he would have wanted me to live, even if it meant putting our unborn child at risk. If I was only 2-3 weeks pregnant, then maybe it wouldn’t be such a difficult choice, but at 30 weeks...I would have already felt the baby inside me, kicking and moving about. I would have already pictured him/her playing with Dania and Dina. I would have bought all new clothing, especially if the baby was a boy.

It’s a hard choice to make, and I pray I’ll never have to make it.

Ps: In House, the lady died in the end due to internal bleeding in her stomach. They had to do an emergency c-section to save the baby, which they did. I cried when the Dad held the baby and kissed his wife goodbye.

Our Weekend Adventure...to KLIA and Narnia

It’s 11.09 pm Monday night and tomorrow is a workday. We’ve just got back from seeing Narnia; we being hubby, Dania and myself. Poor Dina got left behind the entire day with Nisa, but then a 1 year old doesn’t belong in the theatre.

It’s been an adventurous 3-day weekend for us, to say the least. I have several blog posts roaming around in my head but I’m too poofed out to jot them down right now. As a brief, Saturday as planned, was ERL train ride day with the kids. We spent Sunday at my parent’s house, while today…well, today didn’t turn out exactly as we planned it. Let’s just say a 2-hour movie turned out to be a 10-hour ordeal for us.

But those are stories to be told tomorrow, if I can find the time. I have pictures of our trip to KLIA and on the ERL, so I’ll post them up tomorrow. Till then, sweet dreams everyone. Hope all of you had a great weekend.

I could kill someone..just to see some action around here.

I am so bored right now. So, utterly, freaking, sad-that-it-could-be-mistaken-to-be-pathetic kind of bored. There are stacks of proposals on my table but I’m in no mood to read them. Just looking at the PowerPoint slides, and my eyes glaze over and become watery. My mind starts humming the theme song to the A-Team.

Thank God It’s Friday. This week is particularly nice coz we get 3 days off. Those in Selangor, that is. Other states, Boo Hoo to you guys for not getting Monday off!! A’ha!!

I’ve made some plans for the weekend. Tomorrow we’re taking our overdue trip on the ERL. The girls are excited about being on a train, especially Dania. I should learn never to expose a trip a week ahead, thus being put into a position of having to explain why Today is not THE DAY for the trip. Everyday since Monday it’s been “Is today Saturday? Is it train day TODAY?”

Depending on what time we all wake up tomorrow, our plans are to take the train to either KL Sentral or KLIA, then come back to have lunch at Alamanda. Then maybe we’ll take in the sights at the Putrajaya Mosque and take some pictures down by the lake.

I’m not so sure what we’ll be doing on Sunday but hubby has promised to bring me to watch the Chronicles of Narnia this weekend. Angah said the movie was awesome. Having read all 7 books of Narnia several times, I’m a bit afraid that I’ll be setting myself up for disappointment when watching the movie. Must remember to bring an “open mind”.

Off for prayers. Have a nice weekend everybody.

Dania, her ears and the chocolate

So last week Dania had her ears pierced. She had been begging us for weeks for this so finally we relented (actually her father did, I was ok with the idea from the start) and we took her to my uncle’s house to have them done. He’s a doctor so he has all those torture tools stashed at home. Evident of torture can be seen from the earlobes of his daughters, all 5 of them.

Pictures of the “ceremony” are as below. I view it as a ceremony coz for me, it symbolizes another milestone and another indication that my baby girl is growing up so fast.

Smiles and funny faces. Holding hands with her Maksu Aqilah for encouragement
Right ear first
Yeah!! Everyone clapping, Dania smiling
But not for long!! Just realized, there's another ear to go
Damn, that hurt!! Luckily Wan Teh had some chocolate ready as a reward

Our 3-1 Weekend event

Last weekend was rather hectic (when is it not?). We all went back to Melaka to my in-laws for a 3-in-1 family gathering which was to celebrate Dina’s Qiqah. My sister-in-law’s wedding and Doa Selamat for my in-laws who are going to Mekah next month.

Hubby and I took Friday off so we could help with all the preparations for Saturday’s event. The agenda for Saturday was as follows; 10am – Marhaban and Dina’s Qiqah, 11am – Anom’s (my SIL) akad nikah, 12pm – Anom’s sanding. 3pm – End.

I realize some of these terms may seem foreign to oversea readers. Here’s something to help you with the vocabulary.

Qiqah – an Islamic ceremony to praise god and give thanks for new babies. Usually the ceremony is done when the baby is 7 days old. Nowadays, people do it when they can get leave from their ever hectic work life. The ceremony starts with Marhaban (a group of people singing versus from the Holy Quran) and then the cutting of the hair of the baby. Pictures of Dina going through this process as below.

Dina with a full head of hair, before the ceremony. The gown she's wearing was a hand-me-down from Dania. Thank God it fit her.
Where are there so many old ladies here, ibu?
What does she think she's doing with that pair of scissors?!!"
This is not nice!! I REPEAT, this is not nice!!

Please, kind lady. Have mercy on this defenseless little girl..sob, sob.
As you can see, it started out good, then towards the end she got tired and irritated because these old ladies kept grabbing her hair and putting weird coconut juice all over her head. One can only take so many cheek pinches in single day!!

Akad Nikah – basically it’s the ceremony where the couple officially becomes husband and wife. It’s the Islamic version of “Do you take so-and-so as your wife, blah, blah, blah......I Do”. No kissing scene though. I cried during my akad nikah. Silent tears of joy and anxiety. Pictures of my SIL’s akad nikah as below.

Saiful placing the ring on Anom's finger

Officially Husband and Wife
Sanding – the part of the ceremony where the bride and the groom sit up on a platform and relatives and friends come up to wish and bless the couple good luck. Pictures as below.

The happy couple, up on the pelamin (platform
Doa Selamat – means prayer for someone’s well-being. My parent-in-laws are going to Mekah end of December. Here’s praying they go and come back safely.

I Miss....

Blogging. Or rather finding the time to blog. I can’t blog at work because of the massive pile of camel dung I have to go through everyday. I can’t blog at home coz I’ll feel guilty for not spending those precious minutes with the girls. Blogging after they’ve gotten to bed cuts into quality time with hubby...or rather the TV. Sigh...what’s a former blogger to do?

Did I say former? NO...I’m not going away. Not permanently. I guess I’ll be dropping in less frequently.

Pictures of Raya coming up soon. And by soon I mean before 2006.

Raya '05

Sorry for the long silence folks. It’s the holiday season and I’ve been away from the office for…not long enough. I’m typing this from home, so in between watching The Incredibles with Dania for the 11 hundredth time and playing hide and seek with Dina, I’ve decided to update you guys with how we spent our Raya.

Oh, before that, I want to wish all Muslims around the world Selamat Hari Raya AidilFitri, Happy Eid Mubarak. Please forgive me for all my wrongdoings, intentionally or unintentionally. Nobody’s perfect, you know..and I’m certainly am not nobody. Hehehe, but on a serious note, hope everyone had a safe holiday.

Raya was ok for us this year. This year we spent it with my side of the family first, which meant over to my grandma’s house in Keramat. Everyone was there; my parents, my brothers, all my aunts and uncles, my cousins. I took a few pictures, which I’ll upload once I get back in the office next week.

Around 5pm, we headed back to my in=laws house in Melaka. Traffic was minimal so we made in record time. Once there, we all took a breather then headed out with my SILs to visit an aunt of hubby’s. We stayed there for a few hours then returned back for bed.

The next day, we all headed out to visit relatives of my FIL in Muar. Going there, traffic was ok but coming back we were unfortunate enough to get stuck in a jam. I think there was some kind of accident or something, coz we were moving an average of 10km/hr. Thank god, the kids were like angels and didn’t make a peep the entire trip.

On day 3, my MIL invited her relatives over to the house for makan-makan. We cooked chicken rice, recipe courtesy of Me (hehehe), prawn cooked in chili sauce, rending and other delicacies. Since my parents and brothers were also in Melaka, over at my aunt’s house, my Mil invited them too. After eating, we (my family, my parents and my brothers) headed to Chaah to visit my dad’s younger sister. We arrived around 8.30pm, had dinner and settled down for the night. At least everyone else but me, that is. Dina, being in a new environment, wanted to explore every nook and cranny of my aunt’s house. She just wouldn’t go to sleep. Finally I had to bring her upstairs and quarantine her in my cousin’s room. We went to sleep around 1.30 AM. Haiya!!

Day 4 was tiring to say the least. Getting everyone ready and out of the door was one thing, Imagine 8 adults, 8 teenagers, 2 toddlers plus one grandma…and only two bathrooms!! Finally when everyone was ready, we headed off to Keratong so visit my dad’s stepbrother. Then we headed back to Segamat to visit my dad’s elder brother. Then we headed to Batu Pahat to visit my dad’s stepsister. My parents and brothers went back to Chaah to stay another night, but we all headed back to my in-laws. We arrived around 2am. Tired, was putting it mildly.

Day 5 was supposed to be a day of rest but my MIL wanted to visit her sisters and uncle so we headed out after lunch. We ended up at my aunt’s house for tea. Around 8pm, we all headed back home.

As you can see, it was a lot of traveling around and meeting relatives we hadn’t seen in a long time. It was tiring but fun. It made me feel so lucky to have lots of loving relatives. The girls collected a lot of duit raya…hehehe. I’ll be sure to put it all into their bank accounts soon.

How was your raya? Hope it was fun.

Another Meme

I took this from Dictator Princess. I hope she won't mind.

10 FAVORITES
Favorite Color: Blue. Even when I’m anrgy and feel firey-red inside, it’s still blue.
Favorite Food: Chocolate. Dark chocolate. It’s almost better than sex.
Favorite Month: May
Favorite Song: Don’t call me corny but it’s On Bended Knees by Boys II Men. OK, ok, maybe it is a little bit corny.
Favorite Movie: Too many to choose from. Favorite Sport: Hmm, bowling? Eventhough I haven’t played in a while. I used to love playing badminton. And basketball.
Favorite Season: I love Spring. Not too cold, not too hot. And the flowers are beautiful.
Favorite Day Of the week: Saturday. Coz I can wake up late and still relish the fact that tomorrow I can do the same thing AGAIN.
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Chocolate mint. Joe once took me to Baskin Robbins and I had a triple scoop of Chocolate Mint. I got icecream headache for a week.
Favorite Time of Day: Mid-day.

9 CURRENTS
Current Mood: Content
Current Taste: Taste of what? Taste in my mouth? Err..minty, from this morning’s brushing.
Current Clothes: Light brown baju kurung, with brown hijjab and my NEW BROWN SCHOLL SHOES. :D
Current Desktop: A picture of Dania and Dina riding their bikes.
Current Toenail Color: Err…pink. Natural pink.
Current Time: 1.01PM. It's lunch time, I can blog if I want to.
Current Surroundings: In my office space.
Current Thoughts: Of Nathan Scott from One Tree Hill. He is one fiiiinnnneeee dude.

8 FIRSTS
First Best Friend: Katie Rennick. She was the fisrt person that befriended me when I went to kindergarden in the UK. She was the person who cried the hardest when I had to come back to Malaysia. We’ve never seen each other since. I hope she is doing well.
First Kiss: Ahhh, some things are best left unsaid. *blush*. But it was nice.
First Screen Name: Mrs Pheonix. Coz I was sooooo in love with (the late) River Pheonix back then.
First Pet: A big bad SOB cat named Sinbad. Got three female cats in my neighbourgood pregnant and came home everyday with war scars on his body. One day, he just never came back.
First Piercing: My ears, I can’t remember how old I was. Probably I was still a baby.
First Crush: Ahh…another trip down memory lane. I’ve forgotten his name…Amin or Amir or Adam. He was popular and I was 8. I remember giving him a valentine’s card. He gave me a flower he picked from the side of the road. Ahhh, young love.
First Album: Good grief. I’m pretty sure it was either New Kid on the Block or Tommy Paige. Arghhh…the shame!!!

7 LASTS
Last Cigarette: Emmm, year 2000. Cranky from having finals (and I’m pretty sure hubby and I were fighting at the time), me and my room mates went to the playground to smoke ciggers and play on the swings. At 3am. In wintertime.
Last Drink: Sirap bandung.
Last Car Ride: With hubby, coming to work
Last Kiss: Hehehe…bedroom tales are not to be told.
Last Movie Seen: Does it have to be in the theatres? Or do DVDs count? In the theaters, Spiderman 2 (it’s been THAT long). DVD…Red Eye. Very good movie. Go watch.
Last Phone Call: My boss, who didn’t pick up coz she’s on MC.
Last CD Played: Hubby’s rock compilation CD. It has Alone by Heart. I love that song.

6 HAVE YOU EVERS
Have You Ever Dated One Of Your Best Guy Friends: No. I’ve thought of it but never acted on it. Too complicated.
Have You Ever Broken the Law: I’ve driven at night without headlights, accidently. I got pulled over by the police. Batted my eyes a few times and did the whole Oh-Officer-I’m-so-sorry-I’ll-never-do-it-again routine. Got off with a warning.
Have You Ever Been Arrested: Almost arrested. Caught being “together” with hubby (then boyfriend). Outside of Sunway College. We were in the car. Eating pizza. Coz it was windy outside and we didn’t want to swallow dirt alongside the pepperonis.
Have You Ever Skinny Dipped: Never. I’m daring, but not THAT daring.
Have You Ever Been on TV: Yes, the first time I was 4. They were doing a stint on public libraries and wanted to shoot cute kids reading. I was one of those cute kids. Last time I was on TV was 2003. Work purposes.
Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: Cute babies. Old people. Friends of my parents (on the cheek).

5 THINGS
Thing You're Wearing: My wedding band, my anniversary band, and my anniversary necklace. Hubby sure does give me a lot of jewellry.
Thing You've Done Today: Finished two approval papers and one brief paper. Reorganized my desk. Daydream about Nathan Scott.
Thing You Can Hear Right Now: People typing on their keyboards. My colleague on the phone talking to someone she obviously doesn’t like.
Thing You Can't Live Without: Sleep. Love. Air
Thing You Do When You're Bored: Ask hubby “What do you want to do?”

4 PLACES YOU'VE BEEN TODAY
1. Bedroom
2. Toilet
3. In my car
4. At my workplace

3 PEOPLE YOU CAN TELL ANYTHING TO
1. Hubby
2. Allah
3. Myself.

2 CHOICES
1. Black or White: White, like snow.
2. Hot or Cold: Cold, like snow

1 THING YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
Travel more with my family. And not have to worry about money.

I won't tage anybody but feel free to do this meme if you want to. Cheers.

Its Called R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I don’t understand some people. Its called common sense, ok. It’s called respecting other people. What’s so difficult about that, I wonder?

I’m ranting against people who think its ok to make noise in places where you’re not supposed to. Take for example, the surau (small mosque). The surau is a place for praying, for reciting the Quran, in a peaceful and serene environment. The only “talking” that should be taking place is between mortal and Allah, not between mortal and mortal.

But of course there are those that see prayer time as a time to catch up on the latest gossip amongst their friends. They take up hole in one corner of the surau and start opening up their latest stories and jokes, talking and laughing, regardless of the other people praying around them. I seriously don’t understand these people...are they blind? Are they just disrespectful of other people? Do they not know the true purpose of the surau? Why can’t they just shut up for 15 minutes, coz really, that’s how long it takes to take ablution, wear your praying attire, complete prayers and get ready to go back to work. JUST 15 MINUTES!!

Don’t get me started on those who refuse to shut/silence their handphones when coming to the surau. There’s nothing worst than trying to pray with I Will Survive or Aduh Saliha playing in the background.

I’ve tried going to the surau at different time intervals, with the hope there wouldn’t be many people there, thus less noise. Today was the worst. There were not one but two loud, obnoxious groups, chatting away while other people tried to perform their prayers. I gave the groups 10 minutes to disperse, but after hearing them go from one topic to the other, I figured I might as well just pray and try to block out all the noise.

I hate when I have to do that. I hate all the distractions when I’m trying to pray. I take prayers very seriously and I try, in my efforts to be a better Muslim, to concentrate while I’m praying.

I wonder why this happens. I find that it only happens in the female part of the surau. Over in the male section, you hardly ever hear people talking and laughing. I guess it’s true when they say; A woman’s downfall into hell is mostly because of her mouth. However I see that other religions don’t have the same problem. From what I’ve seen in the TV and from a far, in churches, temples and other religious places, everybody there is focused praying and reciting doa. Everyone is respectful of each other, making as little noise as possible; unless of course there’s a wedding taking place.

I know I’ve been guilty of talking in the surau too. Now I make an effort not to, or the very least talk in soft whispers. I also silence my handphone. I figure the cycle of respect should start somewhere, and the only person I can control is myself. I just hope other people can do the same.

Al-Fatihah - Datin Seri Endon dies

Today is a sad day for all Malaysians. The beloved wife of our Prime Minister passed away this morning at around 7.55am. She died from breast cancer. She was 64 years old. She leaves behind a loving husband, a daughter, a son, a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law and several grandchildren.

Nori, I know it’s been 20 years since we’ve seen each other and you probably don’t remember me, but I just want you to know that I’m praying for you and your family. I hope you will all be strong and get through this tragedy. Even though I never knew her personally, I’m sure your mother was a truly wonderful lady. My sincerest condolences.


I look outside and it’s raining. Even Mother Nature is mourning.

“Dari Allah kita datang, dan kepadaNya kita kembali”.

Husband Vs Wife

Nooo...this is not a post on who is better, the husband or the wife. We all know the answer to that already so no need for me to elaborate. This is just a in-between post between my regular rants coz I'm currently ateenyweeny bit busy with work.

I know..lame...so lame...booo!!

So just to have some updates on my blog, here are some Husband Vs Wife jokes I got from my friend, Joe. Trust him to come up with this kind of crap. Hah!!

WIFE VS. HUSBAND
A couple drove down a country road for several miles, not saying a word. An earlier discussion had led to an argument and neither of them wanted to concede their position. As they passed a barnyard of mules, goats, and pigs, the husband asked sarcastically, "Relatives of yours?" "Yep," the wife replied, "In-laws."

WORDS
A husband read an article to his wife about how many words women use a day... 30,000 to a man's 15,000. The wife replied, "The reason has to be because we have to repeat everything to men... The husband then turned to his wife and asked, "What?"

CREATION
A man said to his wife one day, "I don't know how you can be so stupid and so beautiful all at the same time. " The wife responded, "Allow me to explain. God made me beautiful so you would be attracted to me; God made me stupid so I would be attracted to you!

WHO DOES WHAT
A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee each morning. The wife said, "You should do it, because you get up first, and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee." The husband said, " You are in charge of cooking around here and you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee." Wife replies, "No, you should do it, and besides, it is in the Bible that the man should do the coffee." Husband replies, "I can't believe that, show me." So she fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament and showed him at the top of several pages, that it indeed says.......... "HEBREWS"

THE SILENT TREATMENT
A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment. Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight. Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper, "Please wake me at 5:00 AM." He left it where he knew she would find it. The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM. Wake up."

Amazing Race - my family team

Tonight is the 3rd episode of the new Amazing Race, Season 8. Are you guys into it?!! I am. I’m totally into it. This is one reality show that never fails me.

So far I haven’t got a favorite team yet. Most of them are pretty much supportive of each other and portray the average family situation. There is one family I’m started to despise though; the Paolo family. The sons are rude, the dad is rude and the mom keeps on whining. Seriously, this family is giving Italian families around the world a bad name. I know the race can be stressful, but when your own son tells you to SHUT UP, that shows a definite lack in discipline and respect among the family members.

Previously I wanted to do run down of the teams and maybe some predictions on where they might be going and which team might win the million dollars. But Kampung Gal already did an awesome job here so instead I’m going to tell you who I would have chosen for my own family team.

My Husband.

Of course he would be on my team. He’s a terrific driver for one thing. He can drive long distances and not get tired easily, which is a huge plus in the Amazing Race. Also he’s very competitive and can be very devious when it suits him. He’s strong so he’ll be great help for when it comes to physical activities but he can’t stand eating strange food. Not to say he has a sensitive stomach but you ask him to eat 8 pounds of meat (like in the last season), he’ll probably do a Rob and fold. And get other teams to fold too.

My Dad.

I’m choosing my dad coz he’s been around the world more than any other person I know. I know, most of the time on business trips but still ANY knowledge about a foreign country is vital knowledge when it comes to the Amazing Race. Plus my dad is a very patient person so most probably he’ll be the one holding the team together when the going gets tough. My dad is quite healthy for someone his age, and loves walking around when he’s traveling. He can walk miles and miles and not get tired. Of course, walking leisurely around the golf course is not quite the same thing as dashing along the bust streets of India. But still, my dad gets a vote to be on my team.

For my last family member...here’s where I’m a bit torn. My mom would be a nice addition, but frankly speaking I don’t know how she would hold up in the Amazing Race. For starters, she gets tired easily. She hates walking long distances and does not like to get dirty. On the other hand, she’s very thorough. She’ll be the one who reads and rereads the clue to make sure we’ve got the right directions. Also, she’s the type who would suck it up for the team. If it meant having to paraglide over a cliff or scale a rocky hill, I’m sure she’ll do it...slow and steady, she would do it.

Another person, or rather three more people to consider would be my brothers. Hmmm...out of the three, I would probably go with my second brother, Zulhazmi aka Alang. No offense to Angah and Kamarul, I still love you guys. It’s just that Alang has more spirit and urgency when it comes to stressed situations like the Amazing Race. Angah, for one thing, just CANNOT wake up early in the morning. So if our departure time from a certain location is at 2.36am, then we would be in trouble. Kamarul....well, I still see him as the baby of the family.

So there you have it. The IDRIS family. Hehehehe...yours truly, my hubby, my dad and my mom or second brother.

I predict we get in first place throughout the race. HAHAHAHAHAHA....

Who would you chose to be on your family team and why?

The Big Red

No, it’s not about that Richard Gere movie.

It’s only been 7 days going into Ramadhan and I’m already 5 days behind. Its times like this I just hate being a woman. Stupid period!! You’re early, you know that!! I’ve asked hubby to buy me a big can of pineapples. It works..I’ve tried it. Of course, there are repercussions like having to change my pad every hour but I can live with that. What I can’t live with is having to “ganti puasa” up to 40 days again.

Having lunch at work is a hassle during Ramadhan. You have to be discreet; don’t give a chance to your male colleagues to use the “PMS” excuse on you. Most food outlets don’t open in the afternoon and when you’re working where I am, your choices are limited to begin with.

So today I did the next best thing. I bought food from home. Except today I was in a rush and didn’t have time to reheat the soto hubby had bought yesterday. So I slobbered some jam on five pieces of bread and took those instead. 5 pieces of bread with strawberry jam, that’s all I have to last me through the day. I should really start a food stash instead.

Our Morning Ritual

Nowadays my girls have a new morning ritual. After waking up, both of them climb onto our bed (Dania does, Dina yells from the side until hubby or I pick her up). Sometimes they just join us under the covers where we have family hugs and share morning-breath kisses with each others. Most of the times, the girls like to look out from our bedroom window and count how many cars, lorries, birds and people go by.



This “tradition” carries on even when we’re in other places, like my MIL’s house.



Sigh..I know I’m going to miss this as the girls get older.

What's your morning ritual?

Mini Meme

MaryBishop just tagged me for this mini meme:

The Rules:
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five other people to do the same.

My sentence: She had a husband and a baby, not even a year old.

This statement was made in reference to the sudden death of my colleague, Allahmarhamah Syikin. Reading back the post, it brought fresh tears to my eyes. Hmmm...

Ok. I tag....Kampung Gal, Maiz, Sity, Apit and Nadya.

Selamat Berpuasa...Happy Fasting.

To all my Muslim friends, no matter where you may be, I want to wish all of you

Happy Fasting

May this Ramadhan month bring prosperity to us all.

Sapa2 yang boleh sembahyang terawih tu, hehehee...rajin-rajinlah yer. Macm adik kita kat bawah ni.

* Image taken from http://jowharaschamber.blogspot.com. Check out her blog.

A Birthday Note to Dina Yasmin - One Year Old

My Dearest Dina,

Today you are one year old. How time flies!! It seemed like just yesterday I was panting in the labor room, high on gas and then plump!...one push and you were out in this world. I remember smiling, thinking how easy this labor had been compared to your sister, who had forced me to endure pain for 4 ½ hours before coming out, kicking and screaming like the little Dive she is.

But this birthday note is about you, and for you, so I’ll try not to mention your sister too much. Because you’re both unique, and I don’t want to be one of those parents who likes to compare their children...WHY CAN’T YOU BE MORE LIKE YOUR SISTER? I promise not to be like that, and if you ever find me doing so, you can print out this birthday note and show it to my face. Remember this, ibu? Remember?

I’m been thinking about what to write for your 1st birthday note. Such an important occasion, one that would either make me forever Mother of the Year in your eyes, or the person that is CONSTANTLY EMBARRASSING you.

I want to begin with telling you how badly your father and I wanted you...and how close we came to never having you. You sister (I promise, this is the last time I mention her) was already 1 year 8 months and both you father and I figured we had enough money to feed yet another ravenous mouth, so we got busy. We didn’t have to get busy for long because I got pregnant almost instantly (I can see your father beaming with pride as he reads this). The first few weeks were bad for me, extremely bad that even your father was worried and was constantly buying me stuff to eat and TRY to keep down. I finally dragged myself to the hospital to do some ultrasound scanning and I’m telling you, my heart dropped...dropped thousands of miles into the earth’s core when the doctor mentioned how “unhealthy” your sack was looking and how it might be in the best interest to terminate the pregnancy.

But I held on to you. I told everybody, if Allah didn’t want me to have you, then my body would just have to dispose of you through its natural way because there’s no way I was going to do it consciously. And how you’ve proved everybody wrong. Today, not only are you healthy, you are LOUD. And funny. And cheeky. And so beautiful.

Now that you are one year old, I can see your personality is completely opposite from that of your sister. While she is aggressive, you are calmer. While she is outgoing, you can be dreadfully shy at times. Remember when we went to Nenek’s house in Melaka last weekend? We had a family function going on and everybody wanted to hold you and kiss you and that must have FREAKED YOU OUT because after a while your grandma came to me with you in her arms, crying your heart out. When you saw my face, you reached out to me as if I was the only force that could calm the storm and when I carried you, you buried your face into my shoulder and held on for dear life. You stopped crying almost immediately and scolded me in your baby talk voice for handing you over to those cheek-pinching, small-feet-biting monsters. Tell me, what kind of mother wouldn’t have melted then? How I wish I could have stopped time to relive that feeling again and again.

Dearest Dina. There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t count my blessings for having you in my life. Everyday I look at you and I feel like I want to hug you and kiss your sweet smelling hair and feel your soft cheeks against mine forever.

I love the way you dance and move your body to any sound that you hear. Even the sound of the plane engines going over our heads during our evening walks is enough to set you off. I love the way you’re not afraid of cats, and birds and other animals and how you feel that everything requires a taste test before receiving your stamp of approval. I love the way to smile at me with your crunched up nose that I’ve nicknamed you Popeye for obvious reasons. I love the way you laugh and shriek with joy when your father throws and catches you in the air.

I love you so much Dina Yasmin, and not just because you’re my daughter. I love you for all the joy and love you’ve brought into our lives and for showing me that your laughter and your smile is enough to pull me through my bad days.
Happy First Birthday, little girl.

Love, Ibu.

Maybe It's the Song..Maybe It's the Vibrant Colors..

Dina has a favorite TV commercial. Guess what it is.

No, it's not Fisher Price, where the babies get to play with fancy looking toys that ring and talk and light up.

It's not even Pampers with the cute boy and his equally cute elephant friend.

It's...



REMPAH KARI...ALAGAPPA'S!!

Whenever the ad comes on, she would stop crying abruptly and start wiggling her hands in the air like she’s doing the Mexican wave. If she were in the kitchen, she would crawl like Superbaby and plump herself in front of the TV.

I have no idea what to make out of this.

Portraits of a Drama Queen

These are my eyes....

This is my mouth...

This is my nose...

I took these pictures myself...can you tell? I also take pictures of my baby sister, check them out.

Dina, trying to climb ibu's bed. Shhhhh..ibu abah are still sleeping.

Isn't my sister cute? I think she needs a haircut though.

Dina likes to put everything in her mouth. Including stuff that belongs to me!!

As JD Sang..You Can't Always Get What You Want

JD Fortune is the new singer for INXS. Ah bein. My dear MiG got 3rd place. I knew he shouldn’t have sung Bohemian Rhapsody. But I still love him. And his FABULOUS body. :D

My project scheduled for the 20th went on without any major glitches. I really must learn not to fret over minor details too much. Alas, the downside of being a perfectionist, which I am not, so it may just mean that I DO go crazy once in a while.

I love doing events and I get such a rush when they’re successful but I hate the fact the work keeps me in the office for so long and I miss the few precious hours I have to spend with the kids before they go to bed.

I’ve been doing some calculations. The girls usually wake up at 7am. They play together, and then they wake me up at 7.15am. I spend 15 minutes playing with them, and then send them downstairs so I can get ready for work. I get out of the house at 8am and if I’m really lucky I get back around 6pm. Dina goes to bed around 9pm but in between those 3 hours, I take time to bathe, pray and have dinner so average time actually spent with her is around 2 hours. Since I’ve stopped breastfeeding Dina, she doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night anymore. Dania usually goes to bed around 9.30-10pm, so I have a little bit more quality time with her.

Still....

15 minutes + 2 hours + ...... argh, that’s it!!! 2 hours and 15 minutes a day spent with my babies. That’s like only 9.4% of the day spent with them.

You know what kills me? The fact that Nisa, my maid, gets to spend more time with the kids than I do.

I know this is the cost for being a working mom and I’ve told myself many, many times that I’m ok with it, but sometimes...sometimes, I really wonder if I’m doing the best for my kids. I want them to be happy, I want them to be healthy and I want to be able to buy stuff for them. And we wouldn’t be able to do that if we were to become a single income family. So I guess this is for the best.

Weekends are when hubby and I try to make up for all those “lost” hours. I plan all those trips to the Aquaria, Petting Zoo and other places because of that. We take the kids shopping, go out for lunch or take them to my parents’ house.

And you know what. Yesterday, Dina was being rather moody and Nisa went to pick her up but she refused to be picked up instead she crawled over to me. ME!!! The person who carried her in my womb for 9 months!! So what if I only spend 2.25 hours with her a day, she still loves me and still prefers me to all other existence in the world. YEAH!!!

Suddenly I’m not feeling so bad.

Do Not Eat at Delifrance!!

Because it sucks. And the food is overrated and overpriced. My story as below.

Last week, hubby took Dania and myself to Sunway Pyramid. Our initial plan was to get him a Wi-Fi SD card for his new iPAQ, which I had been duped into believing already HAD built-in Wi-fi in it. Anyway, we got out of the house around 2.00pm, so we decided to have lunch first before going window-shopping. We had the usual debate (where do you want to eat? I dunno, where do you want to eat? I dunno, where do you want to eat?) then after 15 minutes of walking around and reading the store directory twice, we finally decided to eat at Delifrance. The pictures they posted on the walls of the restaurant looked sooooo promising and delightful.

So we went in and the waitress came to take our order. I ordered the salmon, hubby got the beef something while Dania had the pasta. I ordered apple juice for hubby while Dania and myself had ice lemon tea.

After taking down our order, the waitress gave me the order slip. HUH? Oh, apparently you have to take the order slip and go to the counter to pay first. Okay…like you can’t do it for me. Honey, you just got your tip slashed off!! So I headed for the counter with my trusty Visa and after watching the cashier punch in, delete and then punch in the order 3 times, I had finally paid and we could now alert the chef to start cooking our order.

Dania’s order came first. First thing that came to my mind when seeing the dish was…is that all? Come on, at least Secret Recipe makes an effort to drown the pasta in meatball sauce. To give you an idea of how small the serving was…Dania finished it. Ok, almost finished it.

Next was hubby’s order. What came were two lumps of beef, DRENCHED in raw barbeque sauce (believe me, they just poured barbeque saucer right out from the bottle over the entire plate), 3 slices of carrot (hard), two broccoli stumps and two moles of baked potatoes (burnt). I asked hubby how it tasted like; like boiled meat saturated in BBQ sauce.

My order was no different. I had ordered the Salmon with lemon herbs filling. Let’s just say, the salmon…well, I had to squeeze out all the lemon juice to cover the “undercooked” sensation the fish gave me. The carrots I got were also hard and the potatoes were also..surprise…burnt. I dunno if they meant to do that but whatever it was, it didn’t taste all that good.

All in all it was an eating disaster. But the best part had yet to come. Remember the two lumps of meat hubby got? Well, actually only one of them was actual meat; the other was…wait for it…fat!!! A whole big inedible lump of fat!! Hubby waved over the waitress as soon as he found out.

“Err..excuse me. Ni…this is just fat. There’s no meat.”

“Let me check with the chef, sir.”

Two minutes later.

“Sir, it’s supposed to be like that.”

Blink. Blink. Blink. “Suppose to be like that?!!”

“Yes sir.”

Okaaayyy…looks like we paid RM26 for a BBQ sauce drenched meat and a lump of fat!! Wonderful.

Seriously. RM26. And hubby was still hungry after we had finished eating.

I had initially wanted to take a picture of the fat, but hubby didn’t want me to make a scene. So I’m just gonna type out what we ate and how much it cost us…and you can all tell us how big of a loser we are for eating at Delifrance at the first place.

Iced lemon tea – RM5.60
Apple Juice – 6.50 (it wasn’t even served in those tall glasses but more of like those whiskey glasses, where you can drink the entire contents in one gulp. Sheesh)
Pates A La Forestiere (I guess this was the Pasta) – RM15.90
Poitrine De Boeuf Au BarBeque – RM25.90
Filet De Salmon Au Beurr – RM23.90

Plus tax, everything came up as RM81.65. Good grief!!

So lesson learned. Do not eat at Delifrance ever again. Their croissants aren’t that good either.

If We Had A Chandelier in the Office, I Would Be Swinging From It

I’m sliding in Full Blown Craziness. My project scheduled for the 20th is not going as planned. Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. Everything that should be ready is not ready. I’ve realized that maybe I don’t have great “people skills” after all. Next time I really should make sure I’ve hung up the phone before I shout FUCK YOU out loud.

That been said, my colleagues have been angels. Everybody has been so supportive and are all trying their best to get things right again. If not for these people, I would have hid under my table and cried quietly.

I should go back to work. Please pray for my sanity.

The Past & The Future

I was tagged by Azalea. Here we go...

20 Years Ago, 1985
I was 9 years old. Err..where was I? Living in KL, I think. Went to school at Convert Bukit Nanas. Believe it or not, one of my classmates and dearest friend at the time was Nori Abdullah, the daughter of our Prime Minister. I was always top of the class, either first or second. First time I was hospitalized for severe diarrhea (taun). Don’t drink water from the roadside vendor. Oh, this was the year I chipped my front tooth from falling off my bike. And landing in the drain. After getting hit by a lorry driver. Who was half drunk. Stupid apek sayur!!


10 Years Ago, 1995
I was studying in Sunway College, doing my A-Levels. Which I hated coz I was so stuuupidd at it. Family was staying in Taiping, a place I love dearly for its wonderful cool weather. Then they moved back to Subang, which I also loved coz I got to go home and do laundry every weekend. No boyfriend at that time but several admirers. I just wasn’t in the mood at that time. Still hung up about SN, I guess.


5 Years Ago, 2000
I graduated from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. With a 3.48 CGPA. Hehehe…in the most boring honors degree known to man, Double major in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Mathematics. Can you say DORK?!! My family came for my graduation and we all went to LA for a holiday.

It was during this year I started my first job. Which I am still stuck in, but enuff moaning about that.

This was also the year hubby proposed to me. OK, so he didn’t actually propose. In fact it was the most unromantic thing ever; he blurted out “Fine, then let’s get married” while we were having a 10,000 megawatt fight with each other. Of course I took it to heart, so the next day I announced to my mom that hubby and I wanted to get married. Within 20 minutes, every single member of my family had been informed and my aunt was already picking out my nikah dress.


3 Years Ago, 2002
Dania Jazmin came into this world and changed our lives forever. One of the happiest day of my life. I can still recall everything that happened; the bleeding, the calm wife (me), the panic stricken father-to-be (hubby), the wonderful doctor and nurses, the admission into the labor room, the dilation (5cm), the lack of pain, the drip, the pain, the great-grandmother-to-be pacing in the hallway, the pain, the absence of both grandmothers-to-be coz I was 3 weeks early damn it, the pain, the pain, oh god the pain, the frantic hubby, the epidural doctor, the first game of the 2002 World Cup on Astro between France and Senegal, the epidural not working, 10cm dilation, major-major contractions, the baby coming out as the commentator shouted GOAL!!! Senegal beats France 1-0.


Last Year, 2004
Yet another wonderful addition to our family, Dina Yasmin. Horrible pregnancy, to think we almost didn’t make it in the beginning. But Dina has proven to be a fighter, coming out into the world at 3.49kg. Only 2 days shy of her due date. Much easier delivery than Dania, thanks to heaps of gas that made me high as a bird the entire time.


This Year, 2005
Got a new maid to replace the old one. Began obsession with MPVs. Sister-in-law got married so finally another person to contribute to the grandchildren-making fund. Dad took early retirement. Work wise, still the same.


Next Year, 2006
Planning major holiday family trip overseas. Hopefully the apartment we bought will be ready so we can start renting it out and getting some extra income coming in. Further studies, perhaps? Parents will be moving into new house in Shah Alam, so will spending a lot of time there too. Is my brother planning on getting married? Ello, ellooo..are you?


10 Years from Now, 2015
Insya’allah will have 5 kids by then; don’t care how many girls or boys. Will be living in a bigger house with a nice big lawn so the kids can run around and play outside. Will finally have my dream MPV. Will have quit the rat race and opened up my own business of being a wedding planner. Inys’allah, will live a long, happy and prosperous life with hubby and the kids.


Everyone I know has already been tagged with this post. So I'm leaving it open, whoever feels like doing it, let me know in my comments section and I'll check your post out.

Happy 4th Anniversary!!

Actually it was yesterday but everyone was too busy preparing slides for today’s Business Plan presentation meeting, so I didn’t have time to do my entry.

What did I finally get for hubby?!!

JENG, JENG, JENG!!!!!

After much deliberation and discussions with my fellow colleagues, I finally decided to get him this......

A HP iPAQ 6500 Series.

This thing rocks!!! It has Bluetooth, GPRS, quad-band GSM, Wi-Fi, Intel processor , 1Mg camera, video capture, MMS, GPS ( in case you can’t find your way home), speaker phone, Window Media Player. 64MB built in memory, dual memory card slots (SDIO and miniSD) and loads more features. It’s like a PC, phone, camera, camcorder and MP3 player rolled into one. Click here for more info.

Luckily HP was also doing a promotion until the 18th, so with the standard package (which had the cradle, headset jack, battery, power cable and clip on casing) I also got the complete car kit, the battery charger with extra battery and some other stuff like the wipe cloth for the screen, 2 of those pencil thingies (what do you call them?), and screen protector. The shop owner also threw in a 256 SD card and I added in a 256 miniSD card, which I got at a discounted rate.

How much did it cost? DON’T ASK!! But everything’s available when you can use the Easy Payment scheme. Thank God for 0% interest.

Thanks to Maiz and Ju who followed to Sunway Pyramid to buy this. Muchas gracias!!

What did I get in return? Errrr...lot and lots of hugs and kisses. Hehehehee...I dunno. Hubby though we were waiting until Saturday to celebrate, but I couldn’t wait to see the look on his face after getting his present. It was priceless, to say the least. So now he’s worried about what to get me, coz I’ve set the standard so high. Hahahahahaaha...

But I love him and he works so hard and he’s totally worth it.



Maybe I should ask for a Perodua Myvi as my new car. Hehehehee..

Our Underwater Experience

Everyone has gone out for lunch. Since I’m on my fasting marathon (12 more days to go!!), I’ve decided to take a breather and update my blog. I promised all of you a recount of our family trip to Aquaria KLCC, so here it is.

We had heard about the exhibition from some office mates and had decided to take the girls since they loved animals and we figured they would get a kick out of seeing live sharks up close. Watching them on Discovery Channel just doesn’t do much justice to these magnificent creatures.

So we headed out to KLCC around 4pm. The whole exhibition was indoors, supposedly in an air-con environment so we weren’t worried about the girls getting too hot. We debated about whether to park inside or out, coz inside the parking rate is hourly (and we had planned to spend quite some time there) but parking outside, we would have to make quite a walk to the exhibition hall. Finally we decided to park indoors and pray that the rate wouldn’t be too extravagant.

After going up the escalator and going through the tunnel to the hall, the first thing we noticed was this looooooooonnnnggg line of people queuing up to buy tickets. Great!! Fortunately the girls were in relatively good moods and there were other kids lining up with us, so the whole 35 minute process of getting the tickets wasn’t too painful. Tickets were RM20 for adults and RM10 for children, but I think these were special pricings until end of August. Luckily, both Dania and Dina got in free.

However, once we got in, it was a whole different story. For one thing, the place was dark. The only illuminated areas were the glass panes were the animals were showcased. I kept running people’s feet over with the stroller which caused me to keep saying “I’m sorry. Forgive me. Excuse me.” like a mad parrot.

Secondly, the people who managed this exhibition must have really underestimated the number of people who would visit. You’d think lining up for 35 minutes to buy tickets was bad. Try lining up and being ushered like herds of cows, trying to catch a glimpse of the fish and other animals they were showing. It was madness!! And extremely frustrating, especially for my daughters coz they couldn’t see anything. A picture of the crowd is below, just to give you an idea.

Arghhh!! Cannot see anything.

Why there are Tarantulas is beyond me

Managed to push through and take picture with this fish

If that wasn’t bad enough, the underwater tunnel (where you can see all the sharks swimming overhead) had no air-conditioning!! People were made to stand on this conveyor belt and watch the sharks and other fishes swim about in sweltering heat. The entire trip must have taken not more than 15 minutes but it felt like the longest 15 minutes ever. Some pictures of the sharks (who were totally cool, by the way) and hubby with Dania looking hot and bothered.
Cool shark #1

Cool shark #2

Cool shark #3

Hubby trying to be cool..but actually rather pissed
We were already kind of tired and rather hungry by that time so we just strolled along with the rest of the herd to the end of the hall. I managed to take some pictures of the seahorses and ribbon eels. We zipped through the souvenir shop (I was kind of mad about having to pay RM40 for the entire experience, I wasn’t about to give these people a single cent more) and made it out of the hall alive. After prayers, we had dinner at KFC then decided to call it a day. Parking charges cost us another RM7. Good grief!!

Many friends have been asking my opinion on the Aquaria and whether they should take their kids and families there. For RM32 for adults and RM16 for children, (I’ve heard those are the new pricings) there are better and much cheaper places for you to do some family bonding. However if you desire the feeling of having a shark swim over your head, then go to the KLCC Aquaria. But if your intentions are to educate the kids on fishes and other types of aquatic life, you’re better off watching the Discovery Channel or taking them to the local fish market.

I'm Still Here

Yes..yes, I know. I’ve been neglecting my blog for quite some time now. People have been smsing me, YMing me asking if I’m alright. I’m so touched!!

Let’s see..reasons for me not updating my blog.
15th-21st August – Busy with a international games event.
22nd – 25th August – Busy with I.D.E.A workshop, organized for secondary school students.
Other projects: Music portal, agreements, meetings, usual paperwork...

*Yaaaaaawwwwwnnnnnn*

Actually last weekend was rather long for me. Our National Independence Day was on the 31st August, which fell on a Wednesday. After busting my ass for the past two weeks, I decided to take book off for Thursday and Friday, giving me a 5-day weekend. Yoohoo!!

So hubby and I decided to do some family bonding activities. We took the kids to the overpriced and over hyped Aquaria at KLCC (more on this in a different entry) and also to the surprisingly nice and fun Sunway Petting Zoo (write-up and pictures in different entry too).

Until then my Dear Friends, that’s all from me. Just a quick note to let you know that I’m not dead (alas!! Hahaha) and that all is well. I’ll be posting up pictures of our family outings soon, so until then...take care everybody.

*********************************************************

Just remembered!! Anniversary is THIS THURSDAY!!!! This happens EVERY YEAR!!

What I have so far:
1. A card
2. 2 DVDs – Collateral and Meet The Fockers.

Yesterday I bought him a pair of sunglasses. But that’s no surprise anymore, coz he was there to pick it out.

I suck. Big time.

Help anyone? Any great, last minute ideas?

A True Story

What's worse than not ever meeting your one true love?

Meeting him......then finding out he's gay!

*To F, hang in there sis. Jodoh tak ke mana. You'll find him eventually.*

And My Yahoo Messenger Status Says.."Going Mad!"

Reason Why I am Pissed Off

1. It’s 4.30pm and I haven’t had lunch.

2. I sent out hundreds of application forms to schools to join the workshop I’m organizing next week, to which only six..yes, six!! have replied to. The rest, when contacted, gave the usual bullshit reply of “Oh, are you sure you faxed it to the right number? We haven’t received anything.”

3. I have an ulcer or ulcers on the bottom of my tongue. How on earth is that even possible?!! You get ulcers on your lip, on the roof of your mouth or on the sides. How do you explain getting ulcers under your tongue?!! It’s insane!! It defies logic!! And it FREAKING HURTS!!!

4. Looking at my schedule of events and work load, the soonest I can take a much needed leave is end of September. By then, I would have exploded and disintegrated into a million pieces.

5. My email has fucked itself up and no longer wishes to send or receive emails.

6. Dania has decided that joking with her is no longer seen as a loving and warm gesture between parent and child but rather an attempt to make her life a MISRABLE HELL as much as possible thus the reason for her to scream and cry crocodile tears whenever one of her parent would suggest going to the park with her sister, but not her.

7. Dina is no longer amused by Bob the Builder or Jojo’s Circus thus finding a cartoon that would hold her attention for those 5 minutes I need to go to the toilet has proven challenging.

8. I woke up this morning at 9am to the sound of my handphone shrilling its head off and a message from my PR blinking away, “Where are you? Please be reminded of our meeting with GM at 9am today.”

Reason Why I am Happy

1. The haze has subsided and I no longer feel like jumping off a cliff.

2. Putting Dina to sleep is a night time ritual that I look forward to as it gives me one-on-one time with her without her messy sister butting in. Plus what parent doesn’t look forward to serious discussions on artificial insemination and global heating issues with their child?

3. Dania knows her ABC’s and her 123’s and she’s only 3!! Wonderful, we have a Mensa member in the making. Next up, I’m teaching her how to drive and buy groceries. The girls have to earn their keep somehow.

4. I have a wonderful family that accepts me for all my faults and weird antics. I could give up bathing and lay on the couch drooling all day and hubby would still say I’m adorable and the girls would still insists on snuggling up to me.

The Woes that Loom Over My Skies and My Vagina

So I’m back. Not that I’m 100% well yet but I’ve already been MIA from the office for a whole week and I was getting pretty worried about the ever increasing pile of donkey poo that had accumulated in my IN tray.

I want to shout out a quick THANK YOU for those who dropped by and wished me Get Well Soon to my last post. It meant more than you know, that people actually cared enough to jot down a few kind words at a time when I was truly feeling like shit.

So I’m back in my prison known as The Office and I’m looking outside the window. Good god!! It’s like Gloomy London!! This is bad..this is really bad.

I’m, of course, referring to the haze situation that has been going on for the past 2 weeks. Usually people wake up to a beautiful morning, nowadays it’s more like waking up to smoke and smog and everything evil in this world. How I wish I could just take refuge in my bedroom with the kids forever..or at least until the haze goes away. You can see how bad it is in the pictures below.

On my way to work. As you can see, visibility is down to 200 meters or less.

From my office. You can hardly make out the trees in the distance. No blue skies out here.
Of course, the weather hasn’t been helpful in me getting better. My throat still hurts and my nose is still running. My medication (that has been casing me diarrhea!!) is nearly all gone, but I’m not going to the doctors’ for more. There’s only so much those happy blue and yellow pills can do for you. If you’re breathing up smog and thousands of dust particles with every breath, you could be chugging down liquid vitamins and it wouldn’t mean a thing. Something seriously needs to be done about this...and soon!!

The fact that I’m having my period also doesn’t help much. I’m on my 3rd day and as every female person will tell you, the 3rd day is also known as Heavy Flow Day. I hate it coz I’m still coughing so with every cough, I feel gallons of...err..liquid...just gushing out of my southern region. If you’re male and getting somewhat queasy with all this...then click on the X box you can find on the far upper right hand corner of the screen. This is my blog and if I’m gonna talk about the pains of being a women and having to deal with heavy menstruation, then so be it. God knows, everyone else at the office is sick of listening to me grip about it, so Dear Reader, now it’s your time. Just be thankful I don’t have any pictures to accompany my description.

I'm so sick..of being sick!!

I'm sick. I've been sick for 3 days. Actually if you count from Friday, then I've been sick..on and off...for 5 days. I was fine on Sunday, but Monday saw me with a high fever, runny nose, chills, and soreness all over. I feel like I've been run over by a bus. And my nose...no matter how many times I blow it..the snot that keeps coming out...ARGH!!!

It's hard keeping away from my girls. Especially Dina. Everytime she sees me, she keeps pulling my blouse, trying to get me to breastfeed her. I've had to resolve back to using the breast pump.

I'm running out of mediaction and eventhough my fever has gone down a bit, I'm still pretty much weak. Everything I eat tastes like....nothing. I have no taste buds.

This sucks. It sucks coz I have so much work to do. I have 2 meetings tomorrow and right now I can't even make it to the toilet without taking a breather.

It sucks being sick!!

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

I finished it in one day!!

Thanks to Jue for lending it to me.

No thanks to my brother for being a snort and taking forever to read his copy.

I'm going to do like Krissy and not reveal any spoilers in my post but I welcome all debates/questions/reviews about the book in my comments section.

CAUTION!! COMMENTS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. DON'T GO THERE IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO READ THE BOOK.

I don't believe I have to wait another 2 (maybe three?!!) more years to read the next book. It better be worth it! My heart can't take all the suspense.

Can't wait for the 4th movie to come out though. The trailer looks spectacular.

Reasons Why I Go Home on Time

Why should I suffer any longer at the office than I have to when I can go home and play with my gals?

Hurry ibu, take the picture. Can't you see I'm raring to go?

Ibu, my horn won't make any sound

You can say we're like Thelma and Louise..on bikes!

I'm sorry officer, I didn't realise I was speeding.

The Genting Trip

Good grief! I need to take a breather. I started a post last Tuesday but lost it. I think I wrote “The Genting Trip was anything but relaxing” and then stopped there.

So to continue my great story about our trip to Genting. As I mentioned, it was anything but relaxing. Imagine, 12 adults and 4 kids (plus one infant) running around the theme park, bundled up in winter clothes, getting knocked around on the roller coasters and stopping to eat/drink/shop/pee/poo every 20 minutes.

We arrived at Genting around 5pm, Friday evening. I had booked two units of the two-room apartments at Ria Apartments, so after unloading the 30 odd bags, sleeping bags, bath tub (Dina), loaves and loaves of bread (my mom) from the cars, we all huddled at the receptionist counter to check in. We huddle because a) It was pouring outside plus the high altitude made it Freaking Cold, so body heat from a relative was, surprisingly and uncommonly, most welcome and b) Everyone was still giddy from the winding ride up the hill so body support from a relative was, again, most welcome.

As it rained the whole day, Friday night was spent indoors, watching TV and playing cards. Sorry Joe, I must have ridden that elevator alone 4 times, but alas, no ghosts made their appearance. Either I wasn’t projecting the right aura or the ghosts themselves were also on holiday.

The next morning, everyone woke up extra early and scrambled for the toilet. Did I mention that each unit only had one toilet? It reminded me a bit of my dorm days, where we had to book the toilet in advance from the person already in there..pstt, after you, me ah? Don’t let anyone else go in!! Many promises, negotiations and threats were made out during this loooong process of getting everybody ready. I believe, in one desperate case, money even exchanged hands. THAT’S how lovey dovey we are in my family.

This is the view from my bedroom window. Kind of nice, huh? I didn’t realize that the cable cars went by outside until I was semi naked, getting dressed. I think I may have flashed some people. Unintentionally, of course. I hope I didn’t; I didn’t actually bring my supermodel bod with me that day.


The view that greeted me in the morning.


The cable car outside my bedroom window.

Lining up to buy tickets was an event of itself. Of course, I HAD to volunteer. How many of you want to go on the rides? How many of you just want to walk around? Yes mom, you still have to pay even if you’re not going on rides. Dania’s a little over 3 but I guess we can say she’s still two and get her in for free. No dad, you do not qualify for senior citizen rates. Not even if you rent out one of their wheelchairs.

I think we spent nearly RM500 on tickets alone.

Below are pictures of us going on the rides/lining up to go on rides. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves.


Dania and Aqilah taking a Jumbo ride


The kids on the Merry go Round


The next F1 driver in the making.


Dania taking a donkey ride.


Hubby giving milk to Dina during our ride on the cable car.


During one of the many toilet breaks.

I want to take a moment to thank my mom, for being who she is, and for obsessively overpacking her bag and making everyone else overpack too. It was Freezing!!! Pictures of everyone bundled up as below.


Dina, all snug and warm.


Everyone bundled up. How cute is Dania?


Jackets were a must!

Lunch was also an adventure. It rained a little bit in the afternoon, so we went to the indoor theme park and had KFC for lunch. Again, my nobleness got the better of me and AGAIN I volunteered to line up to buy food. It took 4 trays to carry over all the food. Surprisingly, it all disappeared in matter of 20 minutes.


Mom and dad stuffing themselves with KFC.


Dina and ibu at KFC. Dina, after finishing a whole tub of mashed potatoes.

The rides were fab. Well, not as great as Disneyland but still if you have a chance to go to Genting, make sure you try out the Flying Coaster. Even my mom, who’s a MAJOR scaredy cat when it comes to roller coasters, gave it a try. In fact, she rode it twice. Hahahaha...hooraa for my mom!!


My mom, suddenly regretting her impulsive decision to get on the roller coaster.


At the end of the Flying Coaster ride. Notice how much my mom enjoyed herself. :D

We had purchased tickets for two days, so the next day was pretty much the same thing. We checked out of the apartment around 11.30am and decided to walk up the hill to the theme park. It didn’t look that far but at an angle of 30 degrees, walking up that hill gave my inner thighs the workout they so desperately needed. The weather was nicer and it didn’t rain so we went on all the rides until we couldn’t take it anymore. Even Dina went on some rides, like the Ferris wheel and the merry go round. I love that child; she was on super good behavior the whole time we were there.


Dania, Aqilah, Dina and myself taking a ride on the Ferris Wheel.


Taking a breather.

All in all, except for some minor stuff (people cutting in line, poor prayer room situations, horrible signage system), we had a glorious time. Mom has already decided that Langkawi would be the destination for our next family trip. I just need to remind myself NOT to volunteer for anything this time.