For Missing Souls To Seek Solace

Turn the lights down low .....

2006-07-23T21:22:00.000+08:00

Bring the curtains down .....

3 years of blogspotting,

Has been fruitful, whimsical and most important FUN.

See you folks in MULTIPLY now!

P.S. Byk2 orang yg sedih I nak quit blogspotting, surprisingly is my harsben. Maciamlah selama ni dia pengunjung setia blog I. Rupe2nye, baru-baru ini dia jadi my faithful reader. Dia kata, sayanglah dear, byk memories. Well dear, I bukan nak shutdown, I cuma nak stop using blogspot. My archives are still around.

BORED. Thus this tag ...

2006-07-18T10:51:00.000+08:00

I SO want to quit/shut-down blogspotting, and convert to Multiply (in fact I had). But lemme attempt this long-overdued tag first, and think about it again, later.

Anyway, thanks Frina and Jenab for tagging me.

TEN FAVORITE
Favourite Colour: No doubt, it's BLUE!
Favourite Food: Potato-ish food
Favourite Song: Too many, but currently I love Sami's Al-Muallim
Favourite Movie: My wedding video. LOL!
Favourite Sport: Walking
Favourite Day Of The Week: Days I don't need to report to office
Favourite Ice-cream flavour: Anything not minty
Favourite Car Model: I love spacewagons especially Mitsu Grandis. Can fit my parents, 2 sibs, harsben, Amir and myself.
Favourite Subject in school: Mathematics
Favourite Snacks: Potato chips

NINE CURRENT
Current Mood: Lazy and BORED, but Hardworking enough to attend to this tag
Current Taste: Something sambal-ish
Current Clothes: Purplish tunic top with black pants and black tudung
Current Desktop: Amir Mukhtar
Current Toenail Colour: Natural colour
Current Time: 11.19 am
Current Surroundings: Cold nak mampos opis aku punye aircon
Current Annoyance(s): CT nak kaweng Datok Kay *giggles*
Current Thoughts: Kenapa CT nak kaweng Datok Kay?

EIGHT FIRST
First Bestfriend: Nor Diana, during Kindergarten
First Crush: Back in P5, with 'Superman'. Tqus, syyyyy
First Movie: JAWS with my father
First Piercing: Kindergarten
First Lie: I don't/can't lie, or else I will be like Pinochio. (Okay this is a Lie) *giggles*
First Music: Must be the thousand and one malay nursery rhymes that my mother so love to sing and hum to me, and now to Amir.
First Car: Wait till I've save enough, then I will tell you which car model I'm getting.
First Real Date Venue: With who? My harsben? Or ex-boiprens? *giggles* With harsben, it will be visiting Madame Tussaud waxworks together, followed by Sundae @ McDees, and then Na'an time at Scotts Food Court. Khalas. *tunjok icon muka ikan sardin*

SEVEN LAST
Last Drink: Plain water from my 1.5 litres yellow, sports-tumbler
Last Car ride: From my harsben's van rather. He's my dedicated, lovely chauffeur every daily mornings.
Last "Movie Crush": Jenab! I pun nak itu SAID (pronounce Sa-yid) from Paradise Now. Ikut2 ajer tau ...
Last Phone Call: Julie from Cellarmaster whose User ID got disabled
Last Song Played : Sami's Cave Of Hira'
Last Food Ate : Quaker's Chewy Bar Baked Apple flavor
Last thing I do before I go to sleep: Watched Grey's Anatomy, halfway dozed, and the next moment I realised Entertainment Tonight running on the google box. I'd forgotten to switch off the google box!

SIX HAVE YOU EVER
Have you ever dated one of your best friends: Tak main lah ni
Have you ever broken the law: I'm very law-abiding one
Have you ever been arrested: Never
Have you ever skinned dipped: YES! In some bathtubs in hotels. LOL!!!
Have you ever been on TV: Yes, in Chinese news, featuring my class in P1. I was reading aloud the gigantic-book to my fellow classmates.
Have you ever kissed someone you didn't know : YES! Some strangers' babies count in right?

FIVE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING
Tudung, tunic top, pants, wrist-watch and my 13-bucks moccassin-slipin from Mustafa which salvage me when my flip-flop die on me while grocery-shopping there.

FOUR THINGS YOU HAVE DONE TODAY
- Dropped Amir @ my parents
- Zoomed to office
- Say HI to Jenab & Esah in MSN
- Replied tags in my Multiply

THREE THINGS YOU CAN HEAR RIGHT NOW
- Sami Yusuf soothing voice
- Clicking mouse
- Keyboard punches

TWO THINGS YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT
- My faith in the religion I embraced
- My soul. Ye larrr roh aku kuar, terus aku tinggal jasad kan?

ONE THING YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE BORED
Like doing this tag?

I'm kind. I shan't tag no one.

We Missed This - So Near Yet So Far (click-on)

2006-07-11T16:25:00.000+08:00

We are back! And we are THREE!

2006-07-06T23:46:00.000+08:00

Some 3 years ago, the one above, was one of the 12 dulang hantaran, the bride presented to her groom. The one above, became the tug-of-war-object, among the groom representatives, because it's the lightest dulang, but the MOST in-thing-gadgetry item *at that time*, the early-bird Nokia video-hp.

Some 3 years later, the *belapok* groom still proudly carries the one above, which the *belapok, but not quite* bride finds a bit too suaku to carry the one above now. So let's see, next year, around this time, the *belapok* groom will still carry the *belapok* Nokia video-hp or not.

Anyway, we had a ball of time in East Malaysia, and celebrating our 3rd year anniversary in different manner. I heart hubby-then-belapok-groom for The Gift. And I heart Amir Mukhtar many, many for putting on his best-behavior throughout the entire trip.

So next bulanmadu trip? Where shall it be? *ponder, ponder, ponder*

The place where the Vietkongs were, perhaps?

Honeymoons .....

2006-06-29T09:09:00.000+08:00

15th Month TALI-Boy

2006-06-21T00:50:00.000+08:00

Geek in the Pink

2006-06-16T23:24:00.000+08:00

My buddy, tqus, requested me to put up Jason Mraz's Geek in the Pink video and lyrics in my blog. This is the aftermath of watching SI's finalist, Joakim Gomez, performed last piano-show.

He's sleek, but I think at one point he forgotten he's in SI, not So U Think U Can Dance. Vocal wise ... naye ...

Paul Dua Bukit still RAWKS!! *scream* *shriek*

You can say whatever, but I think Paul Dua Bukit RAWKS!!!!*scream* *shriek* *like want to faint*

Errr ... how come suddenly I sound like a teenyboppers in those groupies?

Anyway, tqus, my girl, hope you enjoy the video.

Ice-cream Sandwich

2006-06-16T09:13:00.000+08:00

Run to your nearest 7-11 now! Buy 1 get 1 FREE! (U.P. 4.50 ea)

Chewy Fudge-Swirled Chocolate Chunk Cookies & Vanilla Fudge Chip Ice Cream

Spot us?

2006-06-14T14:29:00.000+08:00

We are inn the yellow box (off the 2nd pic).

The 1st pic is the e-card version.

Click on the pics or this to get a clearer view of us in the Singapore-map-mural.

I actually submitted it for fun.

For more details smiles2006.

Nur Khairina Sophia

2006-06-09T10:41:00.000+08:00

Sophia was so oblivious despite the ruckus in the ward. Just by looking at her, I think it's all worth it, for her first-time mama, who went through 11 hours of labour sans EPI.

Thanks to father of the baby, Irul, for having faith in the not-so-expert-me to script the lil gem's name in Jawi (or rather, in Arabic).

Siaplah kau Irul, kene start bawak tekci, shift malam.

*As oblivious as his daughter* Takpe, World Cup dah nak on.

*rolled eyes*

Once again, my finest congratulations to the new parents. Insya Allah, UmmiZa & Kampeni akan latang romos lagik di masa hadapan.

NK-S

2006-06-08T09:40:00.000+08:00

She has burst-ed!

@ 2227 hours last night!

A hefty 3.22 kilos lil princess!

Insya Allah, I am going to get a 'scoop' of both mummy and baby later.

And if you folks are figuring out what is NK-S. It's the abbreviation of the lil one's name.

Let's call her Baby S for now!

Ciao romano!

1st scraping attempt

2006-06-07T17:27:00.000+08:00

Supposed to get down with above for Amir's 14th month. But procastination gotten the better of me. And now what? Like he's coming to 15th month in 2 weeks. However, for posterity sake, I put it up. Nothing fanciful, though.

*Start working on the 'Fifteenth' scrap*

GSS - Gone Sooooo ..... Sewel

2006-05-28T23:26:00.000+08:00

He-ICKS nailed IT!!!

2006-05-25T12:57:00.000+08:00

His last number for the FINAL and his first SINGLE

It feels like he's singing this for me *giggles*

Spot the difference?

2006-05-24T09:36:00.000+08:00

Kalau panas, bole kipas. Kalau gelap, bole suluh.

2006-05-18T09:51:00.000+08:00

5 Life's Simple Pleasure

2006-05-15T09:07:00.000+08:00

I've been memed by my neighbor.

Simple Pleasure 1 - Sunshine after rain, or rain after summer streak.

Simple Pleasure 2 - Holding hands (with my harsben).

Simple Pleasure 3 - Fresh, clean, new bed sheets.

Simple Pleasure 4 - Rise-and-shine to a not-working day.

Simple Pleasure 5 - Amir Mukhtar's chiclets-exhibit smile.

Simple Pleasure 6 - Nibbling crunchy fried anchovies.

Simple Pleasure 7 - Belting out songs that match my mood.

Simple Pleasure 8 - Indulging in one tub of B&J all by myself.

Simple Pleasure 9 - Books/mags browsing.

Simple Pleasure 10 - Sharing these simple pleasures of mine with you readers.

I gave 10, because I believe in life there's simply too many simple pleasures, especially for a simpleton, like me. In fact I have more! LOL!

Since the ball was passed to me from a fellow neighborhooder, then I shall roll the ball to all those under my Neighbor-hooders link. But you folks don't have to give me 10. I'm nice, yeahhh.

Missy oh Missy .....

2006-05-08T17:56:00.000+08:00

Ever since the one and only little sister in the family landed herself in school of nursing, there had been series of unstoppable teasing-antics, from us to her.

Missy tolong missy, wa kaki manyak sakit.

Nurse, saya kefara ada fening! Mintak obat!

With that, she will throw us her famous jeling.

Oiiiii, don't do that during your practicum, handling real patients horrr.

If there's any chance, ask her. Why she wants to become a nurse?

Because I want to marry a doctor.

Wooooops. Pun intended. That was from me, the notty elder sister. But that statement of mine inspired her other nurse-mates, hokay.

I did ask her what she wants for her upcoming birthday *only* in August.

A PINK stethoscope. No more, no less.

This funki-ness must be the direct influence of over-watching of Grey's Anatomy. Scrubs. Or the one-I-so-like Green Wing. But 'twas wrong. She watch none of the above.

And gosh, you should see her textbooks. Maciam nak jadi doktor bedah.

But I love to sneek-peek her nursing's dictionary and pick-up few unknown/known medic terms, with correct spelling.

But it's nice to have someone who once in a while volunteer to check your pulse. And wouldn't it be nicer, if she really brings back a doctor-son-in-law for my parents? *LOL*

Malacca, here we come AGAIN

2006-04-28T18:15:00.000+08:00

I know I owe big time the pics of my recent (2 weeks ago) family getaway during the Good Friday week. So before I scoot off again, I shall just 'nurse' you all with the above? (a lil snippet of 3 of us during last getaway)

The 3 of us are actually going Malacca *AGAIN* at the very last minute. Nak carik keris Hang Tuah, Taming Sari yang tak tercarik-carik dari haritu, gak.

To be exact, it's the Ikan Bakar Umbai yang memanggil-manggil kami. Last time we 'testwater' at Century Mahkota Hotel which actually black-out-ed on us during our 1st night there. We tried our luck on AFamosa Resort. But what can you expect with last minute bookings? Thus, this coming round, Water City Resort it shall be. Seems, more activities, more fun, expected.

So you folks, have a pleasant long weekend, while I shall head home and do some packing.

I have a phobia of ...

2006-04-25T12:48:00.000+08:00

lugging the stroller up/down the escalator with my Lil One on it. Beats me why. Seems after a year of embarking motherhood, I still haven't build enough courage and confidence to do it.

I have no whims with an empty stroller or simply-loaded with carrier and shopping bags. But with my Lil One straps on it, I always have this imagination of this horrific scene of me missing a step on the moving stairs and having my Lil One being strewn-off along-with the stroller down the escalator. *squint my eyes*

At times, I watch other people with strollers trotting their way up/down the escalators, in admiration.

Small steps towards the moving-stairs with my Lil One on his stroller in tow, is like a hundred miles away for me. Usually, I will just immediately hand-over the handles to hubby, who is SO aware of his wife's phobia. Thank God, he does NOT develop one. You know, I could even release a *HUGE* phewwwww once hubby safely landed my Lil One on the escalator landing.

If it is JUST me and my Lil One, elevator comes to the rescue. I rather endure the waiting-crowd of entering the lift, even if it is just a mere shift from the 1st to the 2nd level.

And I SO thank you for existence of travellators like those in airport, IMM, Carrefour, Giant SSC, NTUC Bt Timah etc.

Anyway, are there any slow-moving escalators with no crowd at all? Perhaps, I can put a lil practice on that. I can't forever live with this fear right?

Eye-Candy Treat

2006-04-18T18:04:00.000+08:00

Hi folks! We are back from the well-deserved holiday. Before I am down, updating details on the vacation, let me get down to this first.

Kesian tau puankekdlmcawan dok menunggu.

Here goes .....

For mini-celeb number 1

Close-up 1 - notice the green duck-duck? That is a marshiemallow lollipop, special request by yours truly (ummi of the bday-boi). And those balloonies and party-hat are paper-cuts. So very detailed, right?

Close-up 2 - The candle is edible. Tak caya? Yes? No? Kekeke....

For mini-celeb number 2. Another marshiemallow-lollipop comes in a form of a blue-snowman.

Close-up of the blue-snowman. And these were one of the 3 cuppie-cakes that landed safely in my tummy. The green-duck-duck landed in my sis, I think.

8 boxes of fours, like these distributed among very close, loved ones. It doesn't read AMRI, or read RIMA, or MARI, like hubby joked about it. Its AMIR, thank you very much.

Once again, if you would like to satiate your nose with nice-smelling of royal icing like the above, eye-candy treat yourselves with the cuppies above, filled your tummy with the above, do not hesitate to email her at opera98@hotmail.com. She's very accomodating, very fulfilling, simply-divine for a bit-fussy customer like me, kan Ah Yew kan, kan, kan? *giggles*

Ok, off from cuppiecakes, to my original cupcake .....

Lil Amir on the day of his mini-celeb

Model's apparel (top to bottom, minus diaper) courtesy of my mother, his Nyai. Boleh tahan *ehem* taste mak aku. But when we were shopping for it together, she kept shoving the cap-kuda white-pink smocking dress. In other words, she meant, bestkan kalau ade pompan. Yelah, yelah, nanti besok2 kite kasi mama cucu pompan.

Tapi kesian anakku dok pikiak. Ummi order kek, tapi brapa cubit dia rasa, minus the icing and all the sweet-sweet bits. Ummi tatut all sugar-rush in him and send him all hype-up.

Tapi takpe. Mini-mini celeb pun dapat Amir kompol presen. Alhamdulillah. Nasib mini, kalau maxi, konpem Abah kene sewa lorry dari Tampines ke Woodlands. Kekeke.....

Vair-ova-due

2006-04-07T18:28:00.000+08:00

Few snaps of De Joo trip.

Though it was bright with Mr Sun and all, no thanks to Mister Drizzling Rain on/off. Thus the baby had to strap on the Macky, poncho-ed-up.

Fortunately, he seemed to be enjoying every bit of it, inside his own world.

This cucu-cicit, kaum kerabat of Ah Meng vair notti u know. We were waiting, all-sweaty down there for some *paid* snaps. Even the keepers' sweet-talking with basketful of fruities did not seem to work.

KokLyn, ko kenal tak sedara sapa ni? *Points at KokNa*

Why Amir was sticking his tongue out liddat? And why was his Ummi looked as if she just worn celak, which she didn't?

Guess, what made Amir & Abah a bit freaked out?

It was a mere peacock (sipi2 snapped, see extreme right). Actually it's more of the peacock got freak out of 'em. And gosh, Amir looks like a super-mini-hobbit on his gigantic Abah.

This time round Abah really wanna freaked out, but maintained. Cos Ummi 'forced' him to snap with this cutie-long-tailed.

Yeahhhhh, this is the cool cutie-long-tailed one, close-up.

This entry supposed to read, trip to the zoo. But where are all the animals? Well, we did see 'em all from Carlos the sealion, to Raja Gajah, Satria the orang utan, lion, white tigers, babirusa, crocos, snakies, llama, Inuka the polar bear, proboscis, baboons etc etc.

But since the parents were so over-excited catching up with their long-lost-used-to-their-frequent-excursion-playground, that they actually forgotten to snap most of the time. You see, they do not even have a single pic of 3-of-us. Kekekekeke .....

Anyway, I will be breaking free, cos I wanna break free. From work for SOLID 9 days, happy holiday-ing, Insya Allah.

On the meanwhile, just stay tune, till I'm back again.

Box-up

2006-04-03T09:44:00.000+08:00

I was telling hubby to discard the box that contains the electronic keyboard (that Amir received from one of his generous nenek sedaras for his Big One), when .....

I saw something lurking from the box.

Eh ehh ... maciam familiar gitu eh.

Nasib tak ter-buang. Kalau tak, kes aniaya, buang anak.

John Perak Panjang - De Sequel

2006-03-29T17:17:00.000+08:00

John Perak Panjang Part 1

2006-03-29T16:58:00.000+08:00

This entry is merely to show-off sumbodee's new, very gahring, bau kedai ~~Canon~~ Olympus MJU 810. Sumhow rather these are the very few times I sunggo comfy posing for dg. Is it the dgcam or is it just ME?

Stay tune. To Be Continued .....

Cuppycake

2006-03-28T08:56:00.000+08:00

You're my honeybunch, sugarplum
Pumpy-umpy-umpkin, You're my sweetie pie
You're my cuppycake, gumdrop
Snoogums-boogums, You're the apple of my eye

And I love you so and I want you to know
That I'll always be right here
And I love to sing sweet songs to you
Because you are so dear

If you wanna get all ear on the song, kindly put ON the speaker, turn the volume up, and excuse yourself way into hers (tumpang yerrr cik-baru-balik-hk-disneyland).

Anyway, last weekend, I finally got my hands on Ah Yew's cuppycakes. Dah ibarat maciam orang mengandung mengidam, lepas setahun baru dapat. So can you imagine my gelojohness? All the 57 cupcakes are safe and sound in the tummy (but not all into my tummy lah deyyyy).

In actual fact, before I walloped those cutie cuppies, I kept cajoling 'em sayang nak makan, sayang nak makan. Even with the rest of the folks. And all this while, I imagine royal icing as in those icing-keras-nak-mampos-yang-kat-wedding-cake-aku-yang-aku-kene-trick-potong-sampai-muke-cramp-tapi-maintain.

Ah Yew dearie, I soooooooooo lurve it very muchie. The moist choc chips cake, the swirly frosting, the tiny-tiny bit details of A/M/I/R, mini M&M, the ONE candles, the paper-cutting deco bits, the marshiemallow lollipop, the frilly-frilly thingies.

So Ah Yew, I shall holler you again for Project August & October? *syyyyyyyyyy*

Hubby dearie, if you are reading this (I know you will), if you ever want to surprise me on special days with sweet treats, discreetly sneak into my hp and look up for her number, I store as puankekdlmcawan. *giggles*

P.S. My SD card is now stranded in Indon with SIL (selengerrrrr aku) since yesterday. Thus pics of cuppycakes will have to wait till next week.

Blog Marathon 10 - LOST

2006-03-27T09:50:00.000+08:00

I was reading Shsuya's childhood reminiscence, and at her mention of her went missing, I am very inspired to blog on this.

You know, I spent my younger days, always, went missing. My mother, spent most of her early motherhood days, having me - Gone Missing. No! Don't blame mother. She doesn't have this problem with my two other siblings. ONLY with me. So I guess, it's JUST me.

My first LOST encounter was at the former Metro Supreme, now defunct, where Park Mall stood now. I think I got LOST among the arrays of clothings. The moment I was discovered, one staff lady brought me to some counter, where I saw mother looking all dishevelled, tears et al.

She came up to me immediately. But if you think she did the sayang-sayang and all, you are SO wrong. She right-smacked and pinched me on the legs, marah-marah and all ..... then finally do the hugsies. It had became like a routine somehow.

Another LOST encounter I could recall vividly was down at the wet pasar at my old neighborhood in Kallang. Some of the Chinese vendors put up a prayer-altar with some offerings, plus a super-size suckling pig, at one quiet corner of the market.

Somehow rather, I managed to slip away from mother, to get myself amazed staring at the suckling pig. *Giggles*

And in those few minutes *I think* I was LOST, there was actually a MASSIVE (mini ajer, aku yang exagerrate) scavenge for the lil LOST me, when I suddenly heard my background all kecoh-kecoh ...

Ahhh tu dia budak pakai mickey mouse merah.

Makes me wonder, why I never realised I was LOST. And makes me wonder too, what if I was never FOUND.

Then I guess, I would be joining the McDonald boys, in Channel 5's MISSING, and Khairudin Sharom will be quoting something like this ...

Liza, who has been missing since 1983, when she was merely a 5-year old. It's been 23 years, but she's still in the heart and mind of her very loved ones .....

*bebual maciam world aku ni eh*

I seriously think getting LOST is no joke. Just look at Huang Na and Nonoi.

I hope NOT having those encounters with Lil Amir.

Blog Marathon 9 - Who should watch DIA?

2006-03-23T10:16:00.000+08:00

- For those who think their life SUX BIG TIME, DIA will do the enlightenment that their life ain't SUX afterall.

- For those who think their life is too GREAT, DIA will add a bit of SUX and Bitterness in their heart with those teeth-gritting-fist-clenching moments.

- For those who are contending in Suria's Anugerah Skrin.

- For those who adore Mister Wibowo and and couldn't care less even seeing him with fire-pink lips.

- For those who have nothing better to do on Monday nights, 21 30 to 23 30 hours.

- For those who do not want to get LOST on Tuesday mornings in chatrooms, surrounded by their MSN/YM-kahkinangs with conversations evolving watsap-in-DIA last night.

- For those pasar-goers on Tuesday mornings, who do not want to get miss out with the makcik-makcik conversations that go either like this, "Eh ehh kau, itu Fifie jahat maciam setan." or this "Itu loyer Andi talam dua muka eh kau." or "Nape eh dorang, sakit terlantar ke, tengah sembahyang ke, mekap tebal tak lepas kat muke?".

- For those who find Ms Tobing is HOTTER than Eva Longoria.

- For preggers who are in hope that their babies will terkenan muka hencem maciam Eka or sweet maciam Dwi (jangan gembeng sudah), and *not* surprisingly seeing their names imprinted on birth certs as Ivan or Nadia.

- For those who wants to pick up cool-lingo of street-Bahasa like bohkap, nyohkap, baygok ...

- For those harsbens, whose house unfortunately has one teebee ONLY, and want to be spared from kenna baling remote control from their wives.

I Thank Channel Five For Desperate Housewives.

*Liza standby shield takut kene lempar telur and kulit pisang*

Blog Marathon 8 - The Journey ONE

2006-03-20T15:17:00.000+08:00

That's my Amir Mukhtar, 364 days ago. Tomorrow will mark the fateful 21st of March. Some of you would remember receiving the MMS of the lil premmie, which hubby sneaked-snapped in NICU for the sake of still-bedridden-wife- then, who desperately wanted to take a peek at her first newborn.

The mother was spared from all 'calamities' of any other mothers experiecing labour. Zilch contraction. Zilch labour pain. Zilch enema. Zilch induction. The mother hadn't had the slightest idea that the Lil One wanted to see the world 6 weeks earlier. And what's more being told the Lil One had the slightest chance of survival, thus had to put herself under the knife, to be sliced up.

28 hours after the whole ordeal, the mother finally met the lil premmie. His visage was very serene, but every few seconds his whole body, hands and legs would jut up like a fish-out-of-water.

At one point of time, to soothe myself of the misery (guessed was in the state of PNB), deep in my heart I did tell myself, if Allah wants to take him away from me, I let it be. I did not want it to take too long, till the point I develop too much affection for my firstborn.

HE did not, Alhamdulillah.

Happy ONE my dearest-One-next-to-hubby!!!

And thanks Mas for the early pressies.

Blog Marathon 7 - I miss my CHILDHOOD

2006-03-20T08:42:00.000+08:00

I was watching one segment in SANTAI and the whole of IDOLA XS yesterday, when this thought just probe me. Both shows feature children, whom I think pose like adult-wannabes.

I have no problems with them wanting to hit the runway with that catwalk thing, or getting scout for their talents at tender age. Ye lah, kata orang lentur buluh, biar dari rebung. But I really wonder whether they are doing it out of pure interest, or kenna shove by their parents.

Shoot me Najib and Sujimy, if you want to.

But I find some of these children were trying too hard, and what's left is just some child-who-acted-so-unchild-but-still-trap-in-body-of-a-child. Is it the programmes, or is it just ME? But I'd watched Jobs4Juniors, AI (Aspirasi Inspirasi), and other children shows. I just find, the earlier-mentioned ones are maciam sunggo tak kene gitu.

Kids, you ONLY become CHILDREN once in your lifetime. There will be a time where you will be a full-fledged adult. Jangan nanti dah sampai masa jadi dewasa, nak lari jadi budak balik. So on the meanwhile seize the moment of being a child.

Learn your spelling and timetable. Do go out and play. Jump all that you want. Drink that glass of milk and spot that milky-moustache. Watch all the cartoons that you want. Get your mama and your papa buy apparels of your favorite cartoon characters, and wear 'em cutesie-wutesie till you can. Get your mum to do an ikat-tocang-dua, take snapshots so you can rave in your adult life later, how obit you were.

Blog Marathon 6 - Let Loose

2006-03-19T23:42:00.000+08:00

I should ... nope I MUST learn to let loose.

I MUST not be so particular even when the mugs' handles are not on the right-side. It doesn't make the thing you drink from, taste any different.

I MUST not get irritated when the bathroom mats are not in their *my* designated position. Just place 'em back at their *my* designated position.

I MUST not go amok upon seeing the lil clutter around the house. It's fine as long as it's not berserak maciam tongkang pecah and its clean *enough* for lil Amir to roam around.

I MUST not grumble upon receiving my IR8A form. Just get down with the E-file, and take it as a 'zakat' to the gahmen. Yahhhhh rite!

I MUST not get all restless if I left my handphone at home, or its cell runs flat. The most I will miss bags of SMSes and few missed calls.

I MUST not get so piss of if the bed I've nicely made, get ruffled again. Just think of it as night-n-day-bed.

I MUST not keep repeating myself to the harsben throw rubbish, throw rubbish. I know eventually he will do it, unless he prefers the kitchie to be stinking smelly. Sorry horrrrr, my harsben.

I MUST not keep asking to myself what if TOMORROW NEVER COMES. It's all up to HIM. Just live LIFE to the fullest day by day.

Blog Marathon 5 - Technology

2006-03-18T12:02:00.000+08:00

Then .....

Limah and Madon were neighbors. Madon liked Limah very much. Limah liked Madon too, but was hush about it. Since her mother was more keen towards Hanafi, a budak askar. However, Madon and Limah communicated secretly.

Madon would scribble lil, love notes for Limah, and discreetly passed it to her at any opportunity he could get. At some desperate measures, he would even throw pebbles through Limah's windows or make queer sounds to the surrounding, or even upah 2 sen to a reliable messenger.

Since Limah was illiterate, never been to school, she seeked her very good friend, Esah, to read Madon's love notes.

One of his love notes,

Aku berharap, suatu hari kau dan aku akan bersatu.

*touching*

Madon gave Limah sweet, lil pressies like hair-ribbons, hair-clips and candies. Once in a blue moon, Limah would skip her sewing class, and cabootz to be treated by Madon for some classic Malay or Hindi movies.

However, on one not so fine day which supposedly be another movie rendezvous day, Madon waited for Limah maciam buah tarak jatuh. Madon was hoping very hard that Limah would appear in sight, among other cinema-patrons and blackmarket-tix sellers crowds.

Even though, it was quite a number of years, after the post-war periods, there were no such amenities like public phones or of any other kinds for Madon to know Limah's whereabouts. The then-crowd were slowly flocking in their way into the cinema. The movie had started half-way. Limah was still nowhere in sight.

By then, Madon realised Limah would never come.

True enough, their share of sweet, secret romance were never meant to be. Limah got wedded to the budak askar. And Madon pi main jauh-jauh, belayar kapal.

(When The Aunt told me this lifestory of hers, I felt like watching the movies of Yasmin, the storyteller. But of course I could never depict it better, than they do. I am not poignant enough)

Now .....

DISCLAIMER: The following story has nothing to do with the DEAD or ALIVE. If hap oso, purely coincidence ajerrr.

Morning calls to each other were never without fail via their mobile phones.

SMS-es, needless to say. A few hundreds free from the network provider was never enough.

Back at their respective office cubicles, they would be sending LOVE EMOTICONS to each other via MSN.

If they were more rajin and more in the MOOD, they would composed love letters via electronic mails, or sent LOVE e-cards.

Even after having ended the day with each other, they were still energetic enough to bergayut ber-jam-jam until bill melambung-lambung. At times Lina had to cat-fight with her brother rebut-rebut tepon sampai nak tercabootz. Nak berasmaradana, bercekerama, tepi night-light and aircon sejuk dengan boipren dia, si budak Remy sangat, adik pun kenna tolak tepi.

One not so fine day, Lina saw somebody familiar in Remy's Friendster network. It was Mira, Remy's old scandal, or Lina would preferably called the b*itch.

Dengan rase tak puas ati, Lina SMS-ed Remy.

apsal u contact balik pompan tu? u nak mainkan i eh? u c her bhind my bac eh?

eh apsal ni main tuduh2. pompan mana u ni bebual?

u jgn nak eksenlah. i nampak pompan tu dlm fwenster u.

alah we juz frens ape.

@%@#$%#@$%@$@$@$@$%@$#@$%@%@$%@$%@%$@$%@$%#@$%@$%@%$@$%

@#$@$%@$%$%@#$@#$@$%@$@

@$#@$%@$%#@$%@$%@%$@$%@#$%@$@$%@$%@%@

@#$@$%@#%$%@$%@%#$@%$@%$#@$#@$%@#@$%@%$@$%@@#$%@$%@$%@#$@$@$%@$%@$%@$#@$%@

u ni cemburu sangat. dahlah i ceraikan u dgn talak satu.

oiii cik remy! awak nak ceraikan kite? sejak bile kite kawen dgn awak? tak tau malu.

Blog Marathon 4 - Orbituaries

2006-03-17T22:55:00.000+08:00

You may call it as a strange fetish of mine. Be it BH or ST, first thing first when I flip on 'em, orbituary page will be my first read.

I will always go-n-check-it-out whether I know any of the demised/arwahs. If I happen to know, I will think of past memories I had with the demised/arwahs.

I remembered coming to school, once upon a time, eyes bawling with tears, upon seeing an announcement of a former secondary skoolmate's departure. He was one guy who always jokingly said, if I stay unmarried until am 30, he's willing to take me in (with pun intended that I sunggo tak laku). To think all those while we never cross our paths, right after Os. Only from the orbituary, I learnt he's my fellow neighborhooder in Tanah Kayu. And he didn't leave long enough till 21, to be hit-n-run along Yishun-ChongPhang road. Everytime, even now, when I passed by that site, I will always have small thoughts of him.

It's from the orbituaries too, we learnt of the passing-away of our family doctor back at Kallang. And I usually do take notes of details like the number of children/grandchildren the demised had left. Browse through each of their names one-by-one.

In my wallet, I always carry one orbituary note, got it laminated et al. Of a very loved one. It's been 5 years since she had passed on. To be exact, 5 years coming early April. Time does flies yah. And I do still miss her very much.

Blog Marathon 3 - My New Kind of Lullabye

2006-03-16T16:19:00.000+08:00

(am writing this in edbance, since am will be on leave tomorrow)

Zap-zap tummy, zap-zap-tummy, zap-zap-tummy, zap-zap-tummy. Zap-zap-butt, zap-zap-butt, zap-zap-butt, zap-zap-butt. Zap-zap-thigh, zap-zap-thigh, zap-zap-thigh, zap-zap-thigh.

This new ohsim ad is very droning. It actually lulled me to deep slumber, abandoning CSI and my laundry half-way. My hubby told me that my baby son was not even asleep yet, until he had to prep for another feeding.

Evil right, that ad. Well, at least better than that corny I-GALLOP.

I have to admit though, that Fiona is HOT.

*ketuk dahi*

How come I sound so blardy LESBO?

~~~~~~~~~~

Ridj, it's unbelieve-able I wrote 3 entries in one day (but I have to make it look like 3 entries in 3 days; playcheat with the date-ing). And this is sapping up my energy. I need KratengDaeng. Pronto!

I shall bring my curtain down for a while with some quotes from Oscar Wilde.

There is no such things as
a moral or an immoral book.
Books are well written
or badly written.
That is all.

And I believe, I will make a bad writer. Period.

Blog Marathon 2 - Luahan Liza-Rider-Tak-Menjadi

2006-03-15T15:11:00.000+08:00

What happens if one fine day, your child walks up to you and ask,

Can I take bike license?

I'd ever ramble about this, somewhere. My answer is YES, though I know jolly well hubby will veto to this, knowing he will read these. Hiak hiak hiak ...

I rather give him/her (YES, I won't be biase even if with daughters) my permission, than having them sneaking behind my back.

However, that YES comes with terms & conditions.

T&C 1 - I only said I allow you to take up bike license. I NEVER said I want to buy you a bike. I won't even pay for your lessons. Walau pong sampai ko nak cakap aku pelokek, nak...

T&C 2 - I MAKE sure your first-till-to-the-last-bike is a motor-carik-makan. No fancy-mancy motor-scrambler-jerangkung or any racer kind. Never mind if its only kapchai-with-bakul-telur-depan or cute-vespa.

T&C 3 - Do not USE your bike to pikap pompan jambu. That is why the kapchai-and-vespa T&C, which is quite least likely pompan jambu willing to pillion-on.

T&C 4 - I, as the MOTHER, MUST be the ONLY WOMAN-pillion, be it if I want to go Pasar, or even go jalan-jalan ambik angin East Coast, which your Abah will never be able to do so(since he's no bike license and againt bike-riding). No hek, no hok. If there is ANOTHER WOMAN, make sure she is called YOUR WIFE. Sounds authorative sak aku. Kekekekeke.....

T&C 5 - If YOU go against any road rules with the bike, plus all my T&C, I make sure I confiscate the keys, and let the bike engine freeze long-time in the carpark.

You must be thinking I am one crazy Ummi to even allow my child to ride a bike. Accidents inevitably happen everywhere, be it you a motorist, pedestrian or even train-commuter.

However, I always believe in the power of DU'A. I always DU'A for my loved ones, whenever they are embarking a journey, even if it is merely to work.

Blog Marathon 1 - Money Not Enough meets I Not Stupid

2006-03-14T15:32:00.000+08:00

Orait lah Ridj. I take up your challenge. Pantang tau anak mama ni satu dipanggil pemalas. *giggles*

I am very sure some of you could have seen the OCBC Wealth Management ad on teebee. It comes with a question which goes something like this (forget the actual quote),

What happens if your child's ability is beyond your savings?

Seriously, it does bring me to a lil bit point of kancheong spider.

Recently, the Chinaman boss was raving (dekni slalu step mengeluh tapi actually suke cakap besar) that his sec-3-study-in-RI son expresses his heart desire to earn his first degree in US.

*with his Chinese accent*

US, no joke you know! 400K! My wife and I have to pump in ah-lot in shares.

Dalam hati aku, mahal sampai gitu ye noh ...

*continued with his Chinese accent*

I actually bargain with him to ah-tempt local uni for his first degree. Masters-pHd can go US. At least local uni allow me to use my CPF. It's not as if sing-gah-porrr gahmen so nice to offer scholarships to PR like us.

Haizzz, dalam diam dia selit-kutuk gahmen kiter.

The chinaman story aside. A fellow colleague later on told me, that her BIL had some terms-of-engagement with her niece who wanted to further her study in UK.

She relented, she obliged, to her parents, to NUS-ing instead.

In return with a Toyota Vios.

So when my Amir's time comes, perhaps I 'bargain' with him ..... all-time-free-taxi-rides instead?

*SIGH*

Now am sitting here by the fence, trying to figure out, how to make a hundred dollar, out of every ninety-nine cents.

Bored-stiff-randoms

2006-03-14T15:08:00.000+08:00

I am still nursing my pinggang-terkehel-terseliuh which is so sakit maciam nak rak. Been haunting me since the weekend. Thus the no-mood to write.

I wanted to answer to the calling of Ridj's BlogMarathon. But blogging for 10 days straight, 500 words per entry? I am not up to game for it. So I choose to take the backseat to be the tukang-baca-and-tukang-komen-kalau-ade-komen.

Anyway while watching the Singapore Masters 'LIVE' on tee bee,

Mardan Mamat christian?

Asal bole ajer.

Abis dektu sebut, he doesn't like to be call Mamat. He prefers to be called by his Christian name.

Christian name = First name = He prefers to be called Mardan

Itu commentator pun main asal bole kan.

Anyway, he became the first home winner and first anak melayu to bag the Singapore Masters. Way to go man!

Read ON! Beyonce had a baby!

2006-03-10T08:49:00.000+08:00

Let's go the ZOO
There's a lot of FUN things to DO .....

Hubby and I have planned a ZOO trip for Lil Amir BASH ONE. Since both of us have long-lost-touch with the ZOO, I make that as an excuse, being the so-ever *meticulously* organised, to do a bit of info-gathering of The Singapore Zoological Garden. I SO love the Internet!

Hubby is in charged of getting the free passes (check! done!). Not exactly free, but it's dirt cheap compares to the exact entrance fees.

And so, I busily surfed my way, looking at it's map. Took notes of the show times and feeding times.

But something caught my mind, while browsing the New Births of animals in our ZOO.

What a coincidence the small primate shares the same birthday and birthyear as Lil Amir. So should I holler the ZOO to arrange an appointment with the other Lil One, to celebrate their birthdays together-gether? Kekekekeke .....

I wonder if I could get its mother to shimmy-shake-her-bon-bon to Crazy In Love since her name is BEYONCE.

And since the other Lil One seems nameless, perhaps I should come up with the same razz-ma-tazz naming the Other Lil One, like Anita did. And name it what? Amir? NO!!!!! How about Jay-Z or Destiny?

Anyway, what is TAMARIN hah? Sounds maciam tamarind, itu asam.

From my engine-search, Tamarins (sedara sepusat sepusing dengan monyet) live in diverse forest in tropical South America. The Cotton-Tops (white-hair on top) especially live in Columbia. Critically considered as endangered species. They weigh around 400 grams, with diet consist of fruit, seed, gums and animal matter including insects, mice and birds. They usually have twins around April/May (this is interesting fact). And they can live up to 13 years.

Ok, I am so looking forward to this ZOO trip. On the meanwhile, let me flash those Animal Flashcards right in front of Lil Amir's nose.

Anyway, today, based on Islamic Calendar, it's 10 Safar 1427 Hijr, my Lil Amir has officially turns ONE year old.

The Misfortunate Episode With The Vending Machine

2006-03-08T13:54:00.000+08:00

My colleagues and I were excited.

After more than a decade the existence of this building, finally we have the thing called Vending Machine.

It is located near our canteen and carpark, offering more fancy drinks. In our heart, sure Ah Pek lost business one. Only to find out later, it's the Ah Pek who leases the machine. Chet!

So one fine, hot, late evening, I decided to have vending-machine Green Tea. It has the hot/cold option. I chose hot, thinking of being sick of ice/cold water.

I almost JUMP (opocot!) when I took the can of green tea from the dispenser. It's HOT, as in really HOT. Not boiling point HOT. 95 degree celsius perhaps. That my poor, tender fingers couldn't take it.

And where do I get a carrier at that point of time? It's past 6pm, and the canteen's close. Or should I beg some passing-by car-drivers for a carrier? Or should I turned back, 4-storeys down to my cubicle and get a carrier? Or should I just simply abandon that HOT can of HOT green tea and waste my a-dollar-ten-cents?

BUT I still want to have that can of HOT green tea, but not the HOT can. Thus, I scurried my way to the nearby Ladies, tore down some toilet roll, which serves as 'my gloves' to port down that HOT can of HOT green tea to my cubicle.

Dear A/R/C/T/I/C Vending, next time horrr can lower the HOT-ness of the temperature? Or at least put a WARNING signage lahhh. A HOT-cuppa is fine. But a HOT-can? Try touching a HOT metal.

nu-yok ... nu-yok ...

2006-03-06T08:17:00.000+08:00

We ordered these .....

for home delivery.

We ordered 2 sets of pizza meal, comprised of, one slice of triangular pizza (flavor of your choice), one buffalo wing (spicy or non) and one pepsi.

Thinking it won't suffice, we ordered few more buffalo wings and additional cheesefries.

The thing that we miss is that, One Slice Of *SUPER* Triangular Pizza.

So when the delivery boy ding-dong the doorbell, hubby had the SHOCK *but not until to the point of his LIFE*.

When I saw the orders laid on the dining table, I had the SHOCK of my life. Liza part gini memang senang nak shock-shock sume.

The size of that One Slice Of *SUPER* Triangular Pizza is like almost my one-arm length.

I know my arm could be horizontally-challenged. But think 15 inches my dear. *I assumed because am bad with measurements* Yeah it's that longggggggggg.

Anyway, I enjoyed it, because it's my kind of pizza, thin and crusty. So no muak-ness.

But I wonder, whether are all pizzas in NY that longggggggggg? Anyone ever been to NY?

Sunshine on my Shoulders (John Denver circa 1971)

2006-03-02T18:09:00.000+08:00

It's that time of the year again, which I declare SUMMER.

Bag-off all the cooling stuffs from the racks .....

... and lots and lots of plain water DUNKING till BLOATS.

And time to flaunt my sunnies too.

Anyway, while stocking up those cooling stuffs, then I realised the Aussie Fair was on. Greedily, I grabbed one each, of these, minus the finger-ones ...

Tim-Tammy-Yummy!!!

Liza's version of Coffee Talk Hawker Wok, Location-Tampines

2006-03-01T14:10:00.000+08:00

I may be married to a fellow-Tampinesian-of-over-20-donkey-years, for barely 3 years. But I am very exposed to some good-food from that neighborhood, courtesy of MIL.

When we go to Afghanistan (not Afghan-Afghanistan or Afghan-near-Pakistan), but some kedaikopi in Tampines St 23, we MUST HAVE the nasi sambal goreng bungkos.

At S-11, block 506, we MUST HAVE the rojak mamak. The tepung-savouries are what I called besar-gedamak-SIZE.

If you want good roti prata alongwith good teh tarik, Saffron @ St 22 offers that combo. I am not into nasi briyani, but some say, I heard their's quite Pah-Wer.

Another good roti prata treat, will have to the one that MIL always get for us during Sunday brekkie. The one-at-dunno-wic-blk, but I know it's quite near to Pasar-Bulat-now-no-more-Bulat-after-facelift.

I haven't really step my foot to Pasar-Bulat-now-no-more-Bulat eversince the facelift, where formerly Al-Ameen stood in a nearby block. I miss the kuih keria and kuih chang (generously filled with meat and water-chestnut), which I got to enjoy during my pregger days.

And I wonder the Pasar-Bulat-now-no-more-Bulat still has the rojak petis cina, that I very like. Talking about rojak petis cina, many weeks back MIL bought some from was-it-at-Saffron-or-kedai-Salihin, which I very like too. But I would like it more if there is telur itam (century egg) alongwith the char kuey bakar and tahu bakar.

For afternoon tea treats, at times MIL will get the pisang goreng and chempedak goreng. I heard something like from kedai Norlin. Or was it kedai Salihin? Gosh ..... I got myself mik-sap. OK OK, this coming weekend I shall get more clear info from MIL.

But one thing I know kedai Norlin has one of my febret horfun.

DISCLAIMER: I am not *really* insinuating anything here. I guess different people has different tastebuds. But one thing I-dunno, that Afghanistan is one place to see chio-bu?? I MUST be BLIND. Cos MOST of the time, I see pakcik&makcik. Kekekekeke .....

OK, all this food-talk making me hung-grayyyyy.

*sipping my berry'd treasure*

Susu-Goncang

2006-02-27T09:56:00.000+08:00

It's back, and The Hubby was one of those on the frantic hunt for his long-lost-but-undying-love.

Fret tow pret set sow set makala ping pong

*ini bahasa marah, tapi bukan vulgar*

Of all the many branches of mekdonner in xinjapo, they so busok ati dowan sell in tanah kayu.

Since we were at one end of xinjapo, we tried our luck in pasir putih.

Sorry sir, our milkshake machine is spoil. Perhaps, please come again tomorrow.

What phish?

The next day, we resorted to the most geographically nearest one, long hill plaza.

Merk-dee-cow ... Q pey panjang ... dari jauh bole nampak maciam orang lenap beli nombor.

At the end of it, franctic Hubby turned happy Hubby, boths hands occupied with plastic-full-of-milkshakes.

Tonight, go back, we can have few more cups of milkshakes in the fridge, you know.

Cyber-Window Shopping

2006-02-24T14:23:00.000+08:00

Dear Amir, if you want to be a cyclist, I will buy you this. But horrrrr, you've already few of those 2-3 wheelers. So kensel .....

If you want to be a koboi (cowboy), I will buy you this. I so like the rattan seat. But horrrrr, what kind of occupation in Singapore can a koboi do? Jockey @ Kranji Turf Club?

Sheep-rider? Ade ker? I so like the bulu-bulu.

Tow-truck driver? Tarik-tarik kereta orang.

Firefighter? Nanti bole act dalam crite Lifeline or Cemas. Kekeke...

Amir, tell me you want to be a pilot. Ceyyy-day-bahhh.....

And I thought am suppose to hunt-n-recce stuffs with BUTTONS for him. And I thought once upon a time I was complaining that the playroom has been parked with lots of toy-vehicles.

1 1

2006-02-21T08:39:00.000+08:00

1 more to The BIG ONE.

And *phewwwwww* finally I got to snap him with his 8-teeth.

Anyway, during a tele-conversation I had with my mother during lunchtime yesterday,

Senyap ajerrr. Mana Amir? (It's quiet. Where's Amir?)

Kat bawah meja. (Underneath the table.)

Berak? (Pass motion?)

A ah, ape lagi anak kau tu. Pelik nah. (Yes, what else your son would be doing *underneath the table*. Very strange.)

Yeah, that's my baby son for you to know, how he implements his BIG Business. Kekekekeke .....

Over at my parents, he shall seek solace underneath the dining table. While back at ours, the coffee table shall be it.

Malu nak tunjuk muka dia meneran kot.

Seriously, I miss watching him with squirmish facial expression, while crap-production goes on underneath. Kekekekeke ...

My suka-berak-bawah-meja baby recently, has taken an affection on the doorbell. He makes sure he gets to press it once, when we leave home every morning, and another time when we reach home every evening. If the 'ritual' happens to slips off the mind of the can-be-quite-absent-minded-parents, at all cost, with his high-pitch baby-talk-voice, he tries to reach out to the doorbell with his lil, mighty hands.

Not only doorbell, the objects of his affection are practically anything with BUTTONS.

My lappy keyboard

My scientific calculator

The teebee remote control

The a/c remote control

The remote control of a remote-control car that he couldn't care less with the car)

Our mobile phones

The PS2 remote control, that everytime hubby and brother busy indulging with Vietnam-Complete or Winning-Eleven, they have to pass him an additional control attach nowhere to the console, for pleasing-him-sake.

Perhaps for his BIG ONE, I shall hunt and recce something with BUTTONS. Any idea?

Budget Oh-Six

2006-02-17T10:58:00.000+08:00

'moniker' as THE ELECTION BUDGET too.

Mention of the word BUDGET, I have exceeded the BUDGET of buying toothbrush for the year two-oh-oh-six.

I impulsively bought one dozen of toothbrush from NTUC few days ago. Back at my home storeroom, then I realised I'd actually bought a dozen of toothbrush from WATSONS, just last week.

What to do with 2 dozens of toothbrush? With only 2 of us minus Lil Amir, that could last us for 2 years or more *with regular change every 2-3 months*.

Hmmmmm ... perhaps I shall use one for each room's floorspace, in the abode, to clean all the dirt out from every single crevice, nook or cranny.

Anway, back to the Budget Oh-Six, for the uninitiate ones, it will be this afternoon, 3.30pm.

The less-kuasa-ones, like me, will simply dload it from the web. The more-tak-kuasa-ones, will just get the summary from sotkaba tomorrow. The yang-tak-kuasa-langsung ...

Budget? Budget ape? Mama tahu bulan-bulan, papa sama korang dua orang, kasi mama duit, mama pandai-pandai budgetlah.

And that comes from The Finance Minister of the Rojali's Household, yours truly mother. Kekeke...

Gives Charity a Bad Name

2006-02-14T16:45:00.000+08:00

I need to VENT.

The matter *initially* doesn't really perturb me despite constant complains from my poor ma. Being a homemaker, she has indirectly turn herself to a 'phone-operator' entertaining calls from various housing/insurance agents, who I believe randomly happen to pick my pa's name from the directory.

Well, it's not the above-mentioned agents that disses me. It's some bad-mannered people who represent (in quotes) a certain organisation to sell Nasi Briyani Amal, or Karipap Amal, or Nasi Ayam Amal etc.

There's quite a few organisations out there to name, but there was ONE in particular that not once, not twice, more than thrice prove to be ANTAGONISING. I very much want to type out the organisation name, but I know I would be creating a fiasco defaming them in the world wide web.

ANTAGONISING Number 1

With good intentions, my ma gave this organisation good support by ordering 5 packets of the Nasi Ayam Amal, which they promised to deliver between 12 to 6 pm on the very next day. With that, my ma declared, that very day, a No Need To Cook Dinner Day.

When hubby and I arrived near to 7pm to fetch Lil Amir, my ma was all restless. The Nasi Ayam Amal was nowhere delivered. Hubby and I volunteered to a buy-out dinner. But she insisted, what if they were on their way.

Near to 8pm, my father and brother reached home with dinner nowhere in sight. Except for the leftover fried bee hoon that my ma did for brunch earlier the day. Thus we seek solace to the nearby kopitiam for some mee goreng mamak.

And the supposed pack-dinner ONLY arrived at 10pm. And it came real cold, like it's been cook since 6am in the morning and left in a cold-room all day long.

One 'tight slap' to THAT ORGANISATION for stood-ing up on my ma, making her feeling all guilty-conscious.

THAT ORGANISATION representative called my ma again, and sweet-talked her to buy Nasi Briyani Amal this time round. So my ma ordered 2 packets, and this time round, they were punctual.

ANTAGONISING Number 2

After some hiatus, THAT ORGANISATION called again, *again* with Nasi Briyani Amal. Thus my ma jokingly said,

Asik Nasi Briyani aje. Cik jelak lah. Takde Nasi Lemak ke, Nasi Ambeng ke.

*Loud BANG of phone*

*ENGAGED*

What fish?

My ma was left stunted, still on the phone. Left me wondering too, is this one way to approach people to contribute for charity?

Another 'tight slap' to THAT ORGANISATION for being rude to my ma.

ANTAGONISING Number 3

THAT ORGANISATION had the cheek to call again. My very tawar hati ma kindly turned 'em down.

Tak lah nak. Makcik minggu ni dah derma badan lain (which was very true she did). Abis makanan yang dah order pun tak habis dimakan. Lain kali aje eh nak.

*Again, Loud BANG of phone*

*Again, ENGAGED*

Now I wonder whether this CODE OF CONDUCT is specially derived and instructed by THAT ORGANISATION to the fellow callers.

Another 'tight slap' to THAT ORGANISATION for being rude to my ma for the second time.

ANTAGONISING Number 4

I happened to be at my parents', after dinner, when I answered a call from THAT ORGANISATION with Nasi Briyani Amal *again*. What luck huh ...

The initially-sound-so-sweet when yadayadayada .....

I replied with intention to test her patience,

Mintak maaf, takpelah. Lain kali saje yerrr.

*Surprisingly* she went yadayadayada ..... again.

This time round, I curik dialogue my ma.

Bukan saya tak nak derma. Tapi saya jelaklah dengan Nasi Briyani. Takde Nasi Lemak atau Nasi Ambeng ke?

As expected .....

*Loud BANG of phone*

*ENGAGED*

She had indeed pulled the last straw of PATIENCE.

Am so inspired now from writing this blog entry, that after this, I am SO GOING to write a 'Love Letter' to THAT ORGANISATION. I even have in my mind to install a recorder to record down every single bit conversation with representatives from THAT ORGANISATION, just in case they turn to their UNCOUTH, FOUL, BOORISH manners.

Don't play-play OK?!

Chow for Thought

2006-02-10T13:37:00.000+08:00

'Ever Wondered About Food' on Art Central last night was all on about EGGS. The EGGS-pert goes from poached EGGS, to hollandaise sauce which made up by lotsa EGGS, to their version of Roti Telur, to souffle, also reek of EGGS. They also showed EGGS bottled up in powdered form.

EGGS-asperated Hubby said, he wants to hunt for it.

EGGS-ick Me said, No Thank You.

EGGS-asperated Hubby, dashed to the kitchen right after the show to scramble some EGGS, to satiate-Egg himself.

Never mind, next week will be all about my kind of food, POTATO.

So my Black-Chef 'abandoned' me to drool at the last episode of 'Chef in Black'. What? No more malam jumaat of Emmanuel Stroobant? I am so gonna miss him on the Harley.

For the uninitiated ones, the Belgian, blond Stroobant is a celebrated chef who will give a take on Singapore local fares, in his signature style, of course.

So last night, Stroobant had to cook for his fellow countryman, a Belgium Ambassador, who took a favour to Malay cuisine, despite being here for only 2 months. Stroobant took a ride on the Harley to Woodlands (my kampung!) to meet a certain, lucky, Makcik Jamilah, who demo-ed to him to cook Beef Ren-deng ... I repeat, Beef Ren-deng ... I reiterate, Beef Ren-deng ...

Bad me right, making fun of his slang. Well, am just sort of being tickled.

Anyway, I was all excited for the outcome of his version of Beef-Rendang-turn-Beef-Ren-deng. As expected, as I would have guessed, he omitted the santan (coconut milk). But I never guess he won't replace it with milk. Instead, he uses ciabatta bread spread with dijon mustard as thickener, which he puts on top of the Beef Ren-deng while it slow-cook.

And it beats me why he had to pour in a whole lot of BEER into the Beef Ren-deng. Beef Ren-deng has become Beer-Ren-deng.

Anyway, with all the foodtalk, I anticipate the coming weekend, which is tomorrow. I will be attempting hubby's all-time favorite Lauk Lemak Siput Sedut for the very first time. I have digested the recipe, thanks to a certain blogger's good buddy. But bad me left the chore of 'KILLING' the siput sedut (reads: de-tailing, cleaning and boiling) to my ma.

Insya Allah, if the dish materialise without a horrible tang, I do not have to take further guilt trips to make hubby going back to MIL for his Lauk Lemak Siput Sedut indulgence.

06.02.06

2006-02-09T08:04:00.000+08:00

was the EDD.

Nice date right?

And he *obediently* came to this world on the estimated DD.

Presenting .....

Baby Syahmi
3.5 kilos
51cm

First baby of the very elated parents, Niza and Syahril, who had waited quite number of years for the arrival of these bundle of joy plus uber chubbiness which makes me uber geram.

He's so oblivious of his surrounding, that even with my uber ROMOS-ing did not make him 'shaken or stirred' one bit. I think he comfily thinks he's still in his mummy's tummy.

Anyway, his mummy narrated to me that she surrendered herself to the hospital on the morning of 06.02.06, after experiencing spotting and contractions the day before. She went through 10 hours of labour, which is a real BIG deal for somebody asthmatic. She succumbed to epidural, dilated 7cm, yet baby Syahmi was *still* shy to enter the world, until the experts decided the slice-and-open-up manner (reads: Caesarian).

When we put on our thoughts together, then we realised Niza is one lady, who betul-betul terpercik kene my baby dust. She first saw Lil Amir during attending a wedding of Azlina's twin sister, in May 2004. Niza and her hubby 'kidnap' my Lil Amir for some good half an hour. Konon-konon amik berkat, kata orang-orang dulu, which until now I am quite uninitiate.

So you go figure lah, 06.02.06 is some 9 months or 40 weeks later than that day. Kekekekeke ... aku ni pasal calculate-calculate champion.

So, the very kelakar Syahmi's daddy parting-greeting to us when we about to take our leave from the hospital , Lepas ni you all punye turn pulak eh?

Isy isy isy ... ni kes nak kasi balik baby dust nampak.

Kelap Kelip Bintang Kecil

2006-02-07T14:38:00.000+08:00

My latest purchase, from Sis BQ, The Allah Series and this .....

(tune based on Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)

Hush a bye baby, so pure and small,
He created you, created us all,
Hush a bye baby, we've no need to fear,
We're never alone, when Allah's so near.

Hush a bye baby, breathing so calm,
He will protect us and keep us from harm
Hush a bye baby, so still and serene,
You are a Muslim and Islam's your Deen.

From here then I discover that hubby can't grasp the-which-I-thought-the-basic-est-nursery-rhyme-ever, when I requested him to sing it for Lil Amir. I think I heard the tune goes from Twinkle Lil Star to Potong Bebek Angsa. Kekeke .....

He claimed that he only remembers MIL lulled his lil sis then, with Potong Bebek Angsa. Indeed, the only song I heard MIL lulls Lil Amir to sleep, during those ocassions when we sleep-over or vice versa, is Potong Bebek Angsa.

Then I asked hubby, Do you know what is Bebek?

Yes, anak kambing.

LOL!!!!!

Hubby dearie, Bebek is itik (duck) in Bahasa Indonesia.

LOL!!!

Operation ZzZzZzZz.....

2006-02-03T08:09:00.000+08:00

I promised Ezayu to share my *not-so* secret tips on how hubby and I managed to put Amir sleeps in separate room from ours. Well, first and foremost it's nothing for us to be proud of. It was actually, quite a 'painful' experience for me, with the separation anxiety and all. *Sigh* And I thought this will occur only to a child during his/her first day of school.

To make things more tarty, we received some not encouraging words from very few others upon hearing our intention, like killing the bond lah, baru anak satu tidur nak dipisah-pisahkan lah ...

Still, why did we do it, when we can spare ourselves from that just by continuing letting him sleep in our bedroom.

For some reasons ...

We think Amir is prepared to sleep alone, because he is so over the wake-up-for-feed-every-night stage, pretty stably eversince he passed 6 months old. When at home, he is so routined to sleep by 10pm and rises earliest by 6am.

Even, when he was sleeping in our room, we do not have the luxury to put him on the same bed with us. Lil Amir has been sleeping 'alone' in the comfort of his playpen, all along, most of the time. For the reason, we don't have the luxury of having a king-sized bed. 2 oversized us will jeorpadise the Lil One being *worst imagined* squashed up (reads: by The Hubby very sotong hands).

Even when I insisted on that, during those occasional nights when Lil Amir was under the weather, poor hubby had to be summon to the ground with the thin mattress. Kekeke ...

Once in awhile though, 3 of us, will pig out at the living room, with 2 thin mattresses in front of the teebee. But the rule still, me in between the 2 men; to spare Lil Amir from his Abah's very sotong hands.

Golden Rules That I Observe:

- Good Elements. Invoke aspects that contribute a good sleeping environment. Be it from a no-mess room, soothing fragance, cosy temperature, not only Lil Amir experiences the wonderful sleep-tight feeling. We, The Parents, too.

- Dry Butt, Filled Stomach. The earlier takes a lil bit of investment. My ultimate choice for Lil Amir's night-use is Mamy Poko. I notice he wee-wee much more during sleep-time at night, than the day. Perhaps, it could be contributed by latter plus the coolness of the night. However, with that last feed, I am very assured *so far* he doesn't wake up in the wee hours for another feed.

- Bedtime Is Not Playtime. I avoid all meants to introduce Lil Amir to any toys i.e. his favorite ones. Understand, this will cause the Lil One less anticipate on the bedtime, and set his active mind and body to playing instead.

- No Long Siestas. Well, this factor depends on the caregiver of the Lil One during the day. I know for some *no offence*, would just put (or force for the harsher word) the Lil One to sleep, in order for them to tend to other chores. The formula here states, lesser sleep during the day, longer sleep during the night. For this, I have to say my highest gratitude to my mother, for willing to take the duty of caregiving Lil Amir while am off to work, and managed her chores (e.g. cooking, cleaning) right before I drop him off.

- Exit Upon Switch OFF. I will only leave his bedroom till he asleeps. This takes a bit of sacrifice, that explains why I miss most prime-time shows at night in the teebee. But it's nothing compare to have that lil tete a tete ala babytalk followed by bedtime story with the Lil One.

- Turn ON The Baby Monitor. Gives more assurance, that I will be there when he needs me. I have sensitive ears which react at the slightest sound.

- When Sick Must Stick. I shan't leave him sleeping alone at night, if he is to fall sick. It's either we *conveniently* push the playpen back to our room, or I will seek refuge on the single bed in Lil Amir's bedroom. A sick baby needs the highest attention, especially when comes to nursing a fever; constant check on temps, sponging and all.

It works for my child, but it may not work for others. I believe it could be of different factors all come together. As a start, Lil Amir is not a difficult baby. Be it crowded or brightly-lited place, when he wants to zonk out, he just falls zZzZzZ..... No bantal busyuk (smelly pillow) required. FYI, Lil Amir has none.

Anyway, 2 months has passed, and it's proven, no such threat as what has been quoted earlier as bonding-killer.

Edited: I forgot to mention the use of night-light when Lil Amir is in slumberland. His night-light came in the form of the downlights along the aisle outside all the bedrooms in our abode. But of course, we ensure the lightbulbs are of power/energy-savers.

A blue Peugeot stationwagon ...

2006-02-01T10:09:00.000+08:00

with an orange door.

3000 miles, from southern of France to Italy ... Bulgaria ... Croatia ... Slovenia ... Turkey ... Saudi Arabia.

Why didn't you fly to Mecca? It's a lot simpler.

When the waters of the ocean rise to the heavens, they lose their bitterness to become pure again.

What?

The ocean waters evaporate as they rise to the clouds. And as they evaporate they become fresh. That's why it's better to go on your pilgrimage on foot than on horseback than by car, better by car than by boat, better by boat than by plane.

Back at home, I even spread the world map, to have an idea, if we are to go for pilgrimage, purely by a roadtrip.

Singapore - Malaysia - Thailand - Myanmar - India - Pakistan - Afghanistan - Iran - Iraq - Kuwait - Bahrain - Qatar - Saudi Arabia .....

How's my geography? Even if it's good, I still need a good navigator.

And I wonder, will a roadtrip cost less or more than the norm 8 to 10K off the pocket.

Anyway, I shall re-iterate Nymph's words.

Le Grand Voyage, is a MUST SEE. Quick!

I am too much into it, until at one time I even told hubby, if we are to have a second boy, I want to name him Reda.

Hmmmmm ... how does Ali Reda sounds?

Mat Motor

2006-01-24T08:40:00.000+08:00

The untypical sort.

Abah got it all assembled under 45 minutes, last night, with a hammer, knocking around and all. Surprisingly no surrounding neighbors lodge a complaint against the ruckus he made. Abah was determined to get it all done, or else it will be like an incomplete mission, before he goes on to another mission ..... leaving the 2 of us behind ..... on reservist. *SIGH*

Where is your safety helmet, my boy?

Nothing could stop him from being distract with the clutter in the kitchen. Not even his new bike.

Yeah, that's my boy. Smile for the cammy.

After putting him on that for good 10 minutes, then we realised the toy is suitable only for tots 1.5 years old onwards. Wooooops! But at least we observe the maximum weight rule (below 23 kilos). So on the meanwhile the toy parks comfortably at the playroom.

Already 10, 2 to go!

2006-01-21T08:36:00.000+08:00

Lil Amir is 10 months old today. 2 more months to the BIG ONE?! Oh my lil man, please don't grow up too fast.

Anyway, my papa was a lil tad impatient in getting his first grandchild's pressie. He bought for Lil Amir, his second tricycle. The first one being a hands-me-down from his cousin Aisyah, which is still occupying a space in our storeroom, until Lil Amir is ready to cycle it all by himself.

Lil Amir's new tricycle came with a barricade around the waist area, or should I call it waist-protector, to prevent tot from falling off. And a foot-rest which can be detach once the tot is all ready to cycle by himself. Plus a handle-bar attached behind for supervising adults to push/pull the tricycle, and to even manouever it turn leftie or rightie.

Yok Ummi, jalan-jalan bawak Amir naik bai-si-kal. Depan bai-si-kal, ade basket. Ummi bole borong and isi telur kat dalam.

See my Lil One all ever excited.

Anyway, on another excited note, 2 nights ago, Lil Amir made us all over-excited. He stood up for the longest time, with hands-off thoroughly from anything. And we, the over-excited ones, of course kept cheering him,

Tateh Amir!!! Tateh!!! Amir tateh!!! Tateh!!!

And we recalled clearly, he took 3 steady steps frontwards, before he was down on his knees.

Hubby puts his best bet that Lil Amir would be able to *really* walk, when he's 11 months. Well, am not putting on high hopes. Referring to history of his parentage, both sides are late-walkers. I *really* walked on the eve of my 1st birthday, while hubby at 15 months.

Another note on Lil Amir's development, he's able to say call Abah (father) clearly.

Ab-bahhh ... A-babah ... Ahhh-bahhh ...

Jealousnyer aku...

When ask, where's Abah?
He will turn and point at his Abah's picture on our family portrait.

When ask, where's Ummi?
He just smiles and chuckles. Pfffttt...

And everytime we ask him for a kiss or a salam, he would plant his tongue and lick our cheeks or hand instead. *shakes head*

He rather blow kisses on his Maisy The Mouse plush, which never nuts show him any kind of affection. Yup, my baby son has taken affection on a mere tikus bacin.

It's very easy to comprehend his expression, or should I say Lil Amir is one expressive baby. Whenever he's happy, especially during sing-song time, even with his Abah very-out-tune-voice, he will clap his hands non-stop.

When he doesn't want something given to him, he will shake his head vigorously, and shoves the thing away forcefully.

I conclude Lil Amir is a MHOB baby. MHOB reads Mind His Own Business. I could simply 'dunk' him in his playpen with his favorite toys, and leave him alone minding his own business.

On the lower side, I find he's quite unsociable with other tots, when being surrounded *SIGH*. He rather MHOB with whatever possessions he has. If any tots were to come by to 'disturb' or kai-kai with him, he will crawl away to another corner where he can continue to MHOB. If further provoke, then he will show his 'samseng'.

Gosh, I can't believe that's from my less than 10 month old that time. I wonder from where he inherits his unfriendly traits.

Be friendlier ok my dear son. Else Nani said she won't buy you that 4-wheeler.

Yes, Amir loves to be in a 4-wheeler, because this is what he does practically every weekday morning ...

Tolong start the engine. Maciam real ajerrr.....

It's good that the 4-wheeler is put on hold. Because I found my storeroom has turn into a mini garage. With another early pressie from Auntie Adzah, who bought for him a 2-wheeler motorbike from Lil Tikes, yet to be assembled. Reserved for the next entry perhaps.

A Toothy Story

2006-01-16T08:31:00.000+08:00

Apart from books and flashcards, Ummu Amir is very interested with infant dental care too. Al maklum anak bujang ku sorang tu dah bergigi lapan. Dan mak amboi gigitan dia power menyengat.

So, Ummu Amir went to her regular dentist, not only to attend her schedule appointment. For also some Q&A session on infant dental care. Maciam-maciam Ummu Amir bombard itu doktor gigi.

Like ...

What kind of toothbrush is suitable for babies?

Is toothpaste safe for babies?

Is it necessary to bring Lil Amir to visit the dentist now?

Mister Dentist said it's not necessay for dentist visits. Although I ever heard some parents bring their *still* toothless babies to the dentist as early as 4 months old.

Check ape kot? Check gusi ke?

Anyway, I'd gotten for Lil Amir his first Trainer Toothbrush Set, which comes in 3 types of brush. As for toothpaste, get a non-fluoride one, like Biotene. It comes in yummy apple, banana or orange. Safe to be swallowed. But on the meanwhile, toothpaste aside untill all Lil Amir's milk teeth make their appearances.

Toothbrushing Lesson Number One ...

For babies with 2-3 milk teeth (normally 7 months). The thick and contoured handle is easy-to-grasp for baby (but still must be use under adult supervision). Elastic rubber head feels soft on baby's gums. The certain attaching shield (pacifier-like) is to prevent choking hazard.

Toothbrushing Lesson Number Two ...

For babies with 8-10 milk teeth. Let's take a closer look at it's durian-like bristles.

The rubber bristles are soft and tender to baby's gums. Fine bristle ends allow cleaning every part of teeth as well as between the teeth.

Toothbrushing Lesson Number Three ...

This is for child whose all milk teeth (incisors plus canines) are in. With this then I learnt, that canines (gigi taring) pops up much later than the pre-molars (gigi gaham), roughly when the child turn 15 months or so. Back to the 3rd bursh, which is actually a child's first real toothbrush, and the toothpaste as well, just like the adults'. The rounded bristles-ends are soft and gentle to the child's gums.

Lil Amir's first experience of toothbrushing, some months back, was pretty comical. Everytime I stick the toothbrush towards his mouth, he would stick out his tongue, all ready to lick the brush, thinking it's some popcicle.

Eventually he gets the drift, and more than a willing party to let his Ummi rolls the bristles around his toothy-gummy.

Fun enjoyment of toothbrushing, for a lifetime of healthier teeth and gums.

*Smile ala Darlie*

High-Fun

2006-01-11T14:23:00.000+08:00

Lil Amir experienced his second trip to Pasar Geylang for some EidulAdha marketing, before its official closure and shift to the *temporary* new site, still quite nearby.

But of course we were considerate enough not to bring Lil Amir inside the wet market area, which was lecak and worsened by the pouring cats and dogs. It's either me or papa dashed inside for that supermarket-sweep, while the other stoodguard one corner with Amir on the stroller plus the marketing loots.

These were taken with my Sis's.

Rasa-rasa laku tak aku jual budak ni kat Pasar Geylang?

Buy 1, get 1 free trolley. Hurhurhur .....

Ok Amir, enough of that hankster-mankster on the trolley. Abah is already here to fetch us.

Mine was better snaps, but my Pana-HP died on me. I dropped it dead on the lecak ground of Pasar Geylang. Yes, I dropped it after my mesej kambing to some lucky folks out there, and the midst of getting the kirim-list from a fellow sister. Nasib so maciam kambing one. Mbekkkkk ..... So you nicey folks out there, could kindly either email/MSN or SMS me *at my old number* of your contact numbers.

And so, yesterday was EidulAdha. Despite the heavy rain, Alhamdulillah it did not dampen the spirit of Qurban. And yours truly was high-spirited to witness the Qurban. In the many past years, we'd been doing the Qurban overseas (so not a chance to witness it). If am not wrong the last Qurban, I witnessed LIVE, was when my parents did Qurban and Aqiqah for my then-preschooler-sister. She is now 17. So you do the Maths lahhh.

Edited: I actually saw my brother tangkap glamour in Suria's Detik Eiduladha Qurban Special last night. He was in the midst of the crowd waiting for upon our queue number to be called to collect the meat of our qurban-ed kambing. Chettt ... I shouldn't have sat down rilek one corner, or else I can join the tangkap glamour. Keekeekee ...

Ok, from kambing issues, let's talk about children development issues.

I love reading. And I *seriously* hope Amir will inherit this good leisure pursuit of mine. And I *seriously* love it when someone gives him books for gifts. You know, children books ain't that cheap leyyy.

I love children toys too. But not too many of it. In fact, I find he receives too many of it, which most he can't play with it yet, so most on hideaway. I promise myself not to let Lil Amir indulge on too many toys at one time, leave it all over there to create mess. I just abhor seeing too much serak-serak. Buat ana fening kepala.

Having a SIL previously working with some reputable bookstore, is so fortunate. Cos she really knows to get good book stuffs for Lil Amir. I especially love the Touch&Feel ones like these...

Lil Amir loves to touch-touch and feel-feel, especially the furry-furry ones. And he has two bedtime books...

The Touch&Feel one

And from Maisy the Mouse series. Yes, it comes with a small plush of the mousey that your Lil One can held on, while you telling him/her the bedtime story.

Some of the Maisy series do come with the CD edition. A few owned by Lil Amir, compliments of The BIG Boss...

These came with each page slitted with open-ups. Ideal for curios babies like Lil Amir who enjoys lurking and perking.

SIL gotten for Lil Amir some cool flashcards too...

They are way so cool which comes in those large, sturdy manual flip, or the flip-o-matic, or even those slide-enabled ones.

And YES! Please give US (Amir & His Ummi) more of these, for more fun and enjoyment. Keekeekee.....

Edited: Hubby asks me to go on a hunt for Islamic children books and flashcard. I guess it's Wardah Bookstore, here I come ...

Hati ku masih terpaut di sana

2006-01-03T08:35:00.000+08:00

Madinah, Two-oh-oh-four

At one of the gate entrances of Masjidil Nabawi, where Rasulullah laid rest in Taman Raudhah with his 2 other Sahabat.

I so love the tranquility of Masjidil Nabawi and Madinah.

This area opposite of Masjidil Nabawi looks like some kind of posh business district, right.

Hubby with the amiable Nepalese shopkeeper and amiable Paki shopowner where we bought parfum and kayu gaharu.

Hubby with the amiable staff of Hardees (their version of Burger King). They even willingly gave us their premium of language converter calculator (supposedly could only be won in their Scratch&Win contest).

The street-sellers around Madinah.

A candid-shot I took of hubby at the street market at Jabal Uhud, on the way to Mekkah.

Mekkah, Two-oh-oh-four

I think this is the best shot I took during this trip. Macam ala-National Geographic gitukan? And this is the last I saw hubby with thick shrouds of hair on his head.

After that, it was skinhead all the way, right to this day.

And this was where he got himself skin-headed.

That's me, walking back to our lodging which is facing exactly one of that two towers of Masjidil Haram.

Paused jap kat lampost, and POSED.

With this 'unta', Grandis, Estima or Prado is nothing man. I doubt typical Singapore parking lots can fit this.

Another shot of another two towers of Masjidil Haram behind me, after some retail theraphy at Bin Dawood (a shopping haven in Mekkah).

At Bin Dawood ade ni.

Dan ade ni jugak. Uber cool kan?

At one shop in Bin Dawood, tended by this man from Jambi, Indonesia, who knows nuts spoofing the Bahasa, English half-past six, Arabic power gedamak. Hubby bargain rabak-rabak sama dia sampai dia gibap beb.

Masjidil Haram at another angle, during the day. Hubby posing while eating real tantalicious gelato-like ice-cream he'd gotten in the famous Pasar Zinc nearby.

This part of Masjidil Haram is called Darul Arqam, where one of Rasulullah's Sahabat, the known to be ferocious Saidina Umar Al-Khattab, first embraced Islam, although moments before that he sworn to end Rasulullah's life. See the escalators inside that area? Yes, they do have escalators in the mosuqe.

Siapa tak pernah tengok unta, tengok ni muka unta dekat-dekat.

Ini Jabal Nur, yang aku nak daki.

Haizzzzz ..... boleh ke aku naik? Bila mau game? My pa and company already halfway up there (see the black arrow with text in white box).

Almost gave up at one point of time.

But I finally made it to the peak, thanks to constant encouragement of hubby plus a bit of my picking-up determination

Panjat Jabal Nur ada apa? Nak tengok Gua Hira' lah. Ni entrance nak masuk tengok gua. Tapi gambar gua terlupa nak shot. Tak sangka badan ku yang big-size bole selit masuk situ.

The last shot I took during my last night in Mekkah, before I left for Jeddah, then Dubai, then finally homebound Singapore. The congregates outside Masjidil Haram. Mekkah, the city that never sleep, and the holy city that I never stop missing.

Like I ever said, and said it many a time, that trip beats any exotic holidays I'd ever been too. I pray, with the blessing of good health and wealth from Him, hubby and I able to make another trip there, with Amir Mukhtar in tow, Insya Allah.

It's a week more to 10 Zulhijah. So to all in advance, Eiduladha Mubarak.

Hyperactivity

2005-12-30T12:35:00.000+08:00

Long before I was pregnant ... I overheard this conversation.

(Colleague no 1)
You know, my son is such a hyperactive.

(Colleague no 2)
Be careful with what you are quoting your child. If he's really hyperactive, I seriously think you need to see a doctor to refer him to some specialist.

I know very well that Colleague no 2 meant no joke. We always hear parents typically complain of their children being hyperactive. But do you folks know what is HYPERACTIVITY. It's from this Colleague no 2 that I learnt the real meaning of HYPERACTIVITY. It's because her elder son suffers a condition calls Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or in shorter layman term, HYPERACTIVITY.

Kids who have ADHD are not bad or stupid. They have this disorder which means they may have problems on paying attention, sitting still on their seats, act on impulse like doing things without thinking, causing themselves to get hurt (self-inflict) and problems in cultivating friendships too.

WHO GETS ADHD?
On average, 5 out 100 kids have ADHD. ADHD usually start to develop during preschool days. Boys have ADHD more often than girls, though there is no scientific explanation on why such tendency.

A kid might have greater chance of developing ADHD if one of his/her relatives already has ADHD. But no one is sure why anyone has ADHD, although scientists and doctors think that it has probably has to do with differences in the way people's brains work. No one gets ADHD on purpose, so it isnt ever anyone's fault. And ADHD isn't contagious - you can't catch it from someone like the flu.

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF ADHD?
ADHD can caused kids to act in different ways. Most kids with ADHD have problems concentrating and paying attention. Some kids with ADHD might also have trouble sitting in class and waiting for their turn. They might yell out the answers before other kids have a chance to raise their hands.

Sometimes they can be disorganized, distracted or forgetful. They might lose things and have trouble finishing their homeworks. They may wiggle around in their seats, move around a lot, talk too much, or interrupt other people's conversations.

It's important to remember that everbody does these things once in a while. It doesn't mean these people has ADHD.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU SUSPECT YOUR CHILD HAD ADHD?
The first step is to visit to the doctor. He/she may refer the kid to a psychologist, psychiatrist or even a neurologist, who knows about kids who have ADHD and other kinds of behavior problems. Part of the doctor's job is to check for other illnesses that look like ADHD but need different kinds of treatments.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOUR CHILD IS DIAGNOSED WITH ADHD?
Once the doctor diagnosed the kid with ADHD, he/she will get the parents and teachers to begin to work together to find out the best way to help. Starting off with medications to treat.

But children with ADHD need more than just medicine. They also need help learning how to change the way they act. Some kids with ADHD can learn to do this by relaxation theraphy or behavioral theraphy. In relaxation theraphy, counsellors teach kids how to relax and stay calm by doing deep-breathing exercises and relaxing different muscle groups.

Behavioral theraphy helps kids with ADHD by teaching them to set goals for themselves and by using rewards to help them reach goals. Teachers can give a kid with ADHD a reward for sitting still in class, for example. And parents can do the same thing at home, by rewarding the kid for paying attention, completing his/her chores, or keeping track of his/her things. Kids with ADHD may need extra help learning how to do things other kids find easy.

Kids who have ADHD can become depressed or anxious. So for many kids with ADHD, the key to success is not only following the treatment plan from the doctor, but working to build friendships with other kids, too. Many kids with ADHD find that their symptoms get better as they get older. Adults with ADHD can have happy lives, and can be very successful in whatever they decide to do.

So, folks, if you think your child is hyperactive, they might just be plain active, which is very normal and positive for a growing up child.

Ok, from HYPERACTIVITY, let's talk about my active Lil Amir. At the period of 7-month-ish, he managed to stand up on his own, so straight like a toy soldier we sometimes call him. At the turn of 9-month, recently we learnt he starts to take those steps, but of cos with his hands still holding on that table/chair/wall. So we thought its perfect time to put him on THIS STRIDE-TO-RIDE WALKER.

He loves it so much. And his Ummi simply loves it watching him steadily striding it. Steady-Pom-Pee-Pee lah anak Ummi! And now, am counting the days, weeks, months where he will really WALK. With, no-hands, no-hands .....

I really hope I will be the first to catch it, I do.

So as the Gregorian Year 2005 bidding us goodbye, I shall declare this will be my last entry for the year. And I shall declare Amir Mukhtar has been the BEST THING, BEST STUFF, BEST ISSUE, BEST HAPPENING for 2005. That's why it's Amir, Amir, Amir throughout my blog. Jelakkan korang?

Splish splash

2005-12-28T11:39:00.000+08:00

Amir Mukhtar was born with a diagnose of weak heart and lungs. Alhamdulillah, that hey moments had passed. His paedi adviced us to let Amir exercises swimming, which is of course good to strengthen the heart and the lungs. And eversince then, swimming has been a regular activity for us and the baby.

Yesterday, we hit the pool again. I am still in that period of clearing annual leave. Right after his ninth month assessment, we took that march to YCK pool.

His morning-after-bath-time face

All dressed up. That shades is a must, since it was a SO Sunny Day.

Amir hit the pool with Abah supervising.

Abah slowly let go of Amir to stand-float by himself.

Swimming is FUN!!!

So after taking the last shot, I had some time to dip in the pool. Nope, not for leisure dipping. But for some serious swimming. Hubby and I take it as some serious exercise regime that we badly need, looking at the 'love handles' we both are slowly developing.

And seriously, I feel pancit-ed. Baru 1, 2 laps dah termengah-mengah. But must go slow. Take it one bit at a time. So next swimming activity on the agenda is on the 2nd. Any kakis want to join?

I am HIGH on the FIVE. Hi-5!

2005-12-22T08:56:00.000+08:00

My worst nightmare come yet again. I've been tagged by her.

Ten years ago:
I was sweet 17, though not exactly sweet, squirmed my way into first year of polytechnic life. And during those days when people ask, "Kau masuk mana? Poly? Oh polyclinic eh?" I knowlah I don't quite make the cut for Juvenile Centre (JC). Kekeke ... sorry, pun intended. Cos aku cuma aim 5-top JCs aje. Maciam real ajerrr ...

Five years ago:
Y2K. Working girl liao. My hubby then-boipren ajak kawing, kita boleh step nak go to school (kire2 nak buy time, tak nak kawing muda). So back to school lah I. Slogged another 2 years as part-timer juggling with the most stressful work in the entire world (ahh yang ni over sikit).

One year ago:
Found myself pregnant after one year of marriage.

Yesterday:
Amir Mukhtar turns 9 months old, and I actually forgotten all about it. And back home I tried very hard to snap Amir with his 8 toothies. Yes, he has 8 now, and they just grow and grow. Unfortunately, below is the best I could capture.

Today:
Am slogging hard to do this tag, kalau tak takut Kynne merajuk buruk.

Tomorrow:
is eve of Christmas eve.

5 snacks I enjoy:

1. Anything potato; potato chips, french fries, potato sticks, wedges, begedil .....
2. Any ice-cream but mint-flavored out
3. Any chocs but mint-flavored out
4. Any kind of krepek or kropok; krepek pisang, kropok ikan, muruku,
5. Bread; I can live with bread as staple food. No need gimme rice.

5 bands [artists] that I know the lyrics of most of their songs:
(dah jadi dewasa ni, banyak liriks lagu terlupa, nanti kita ingat2kan balik)
1. U2
2. Cranberries
3. The Corrs
4. Boyzone
5. Westlife

(ye saya tau yang saya ni sungguh pro-Irish bands)

5 things I would do with $100,000,000:
Is that call one hundred million? Wahhh banyaknyerrr duit. *garuk pala pikiran jap*

1. Semua
2. simpan
3. masuk
4. bank
5. boleh?

5 locations I'd like to runaway to:
hmmmm..... this is tough man
1. somewhere rejuvenating
2. somewhere not too hot, not too cold
3. somewhere where Halal food is readily available
4. somewhere where the people can communicate despite speaking in different languages
5. somewhere that doesn't need me to fork out a single cent to go

5 bad habits I have:

1. Get sick, see doc but get rid of the medicines.
2. Buy mags to merely browse and see pictures.
3. Buy books and take yonks to pick up and read.
4. Forget to clip my nails at home, and use the scissors (personal one in the office) to cut my nails cos I can't stand long nails.
5. Always forget to switch off the storeroom's light.

5 things I WOULD like to do:

1. Slim down all the way to get on how it feels to be a cicak kubin, cikudut, cikeding, kerempeng ..... kekekeke ...
2. Breed more bunnies ... I mean give birth to more babies. 2 or 3 more at least.
3. Stop bloghopping *like real*
4. Stop blogging *lagi macam real*
5. Bid goodbye to Career world, and build a new career as a homemaker, be a more mithali wife and mother, and educate my lil bunnies ... i mean babies, to be good souls/citizens pada agama, bangsa dan negara.

5 things I would never wear:
When I am out of the house
1. Butterfly robes
2. Shorty bottoms be it shorts/skirts
3. Spaghetti straps
4. Tubes
5. Senang cakap, anything flesh-revealing lah

When I am at home
1. Any
2. thing
3. also
4. can
5. wear

5 TV shows I like *at this moment*:

1. CSI LV, Miami, NY, in order of preference
2. Law & Order: SVU
3. Japan Hour
4. Masked Riders 555
5. Gransazers
6. Jobs for Juniors
7. Chef in Black
8. Debby Travis's Facelift
9. Designer Guys
(ehhh orang mintak 5, dia pandai-pandai kasi 9)

5 movies I like:

1. The Godfather's trilogy
2. Starwars' trilogy
3. LOTR's trilogy
4. English Patient
5. Walk on the Clouds
6. When Harry met Sally
7. The End of the Affair
8. Moonstruck
9. Tootsie
10. La Vita E Bella (Life is Beautiful)
(can't help it, am such a movie buff)

5 famous people I'd like to meet:

1. T.T. Durai, to ask him why he wasn't my boss to grant me from peanuts to a 12K plus paycheck. Ooops, sorry, no pun intended. How I wish they could do something like granting the kidney patients with years of free treatment with the reserve said to last 6-7 years.

2. Mario Puzo (author of The Godfather) if he's still alive and tell him, let's do the 4th instalment of The Godfather.

3. JRR Tolkien (of LOTR) if he's still alive and discuss on the elves, hobbits and dwarves.

4. CS Lewis (creator of Narnia series) if he's still alive to discuss on how he came out with this Narnia world, which reminds me go-go fast to catch The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

5. Siti Nurhaliza, to tell her personally if she ever gets married, and gets a daughter, could we matchmake her with my Amir Mukhtar. LOL!!!

5 biggest joys at the moment:

1.Get
2.done
3.with
4.this
5.tag

5 favorite toys:

1. Plastic-rubber top (gasing) which serves as stress toy when am stress at work.
2. My handphone with pathetic games like Wallbreaker and Move Box, serve me when am so damn bored.
3. My Magic Wiper mop which I so love to 'tango', 'waltz' or 'foxtrot' with it cos it really wipe my floor cleans magically.
4. My electric iron cos I so love to iron and don't you just love putting on crisp clothings
5. All Amir's current favorite toys will be my favorite, cos those keep him still.

5 People I tag:

I have no intention of making others suffer ..... NOT. It's not fair to me. So am tagging who ever in my linked list. Hiak hiak hiak ..... *evil*. I suggest, for those who are inactively blogging their entries, to take this challenge, wokey.

Sopping Giler

2005-12-19T11:11:00.000+08:00

Ida dearie ...

I finally got my hands on this .....

last weekend at Centerpoint's Mothercare.

Same model, same colour. Same macam Amirah punya tak?

What I am going to say next has no intention to make you sour. Tapi kalau you nak sour jugak, nanti hari Sabtu ni I jumpa you, I kasi you gula-gula many-many, ok.

The buggy goes at you-know-the-price-lah. Mind you, it was a very tough decision to make you know. I was actually eyeing at the Kate Spade, which originally was a whooping 700 bucks, but mark down to the same you-know-the-price-lah. Then I saw the slightly cheaper Triumph, but it's almost similar to Volo, which comes in only 2 recline positions.

I set my mind. Quest it shall be. Then hubby's friend, by the name of Mr Din, who is a Mothercare staff, render his staff purchase discount. 30%!!!!!

So Ida dearie, you do the Maths lah and figure out how much we paid from the original you-know-the-price-lah. Pakkal itu Kate Spade dah on promotion *means cannot impose further staff purchase discount*. Kalau tak I sapu yang itu nohhhhh.

So Cik Ida sayang, hari Sabtu ni kita sama-sama tolak my Amir dan your Amirah in Quest buggy to rumah Farizah together-gether, can?

My hubby jeles tau. Dia cakap untuk anak, I belikan kereta MacLaren. Untuk dia, bila nak belikan dia kereta MacLaren, with that engine called Mercedes, and we call it Mercedes. I bilang dia, dream long-long.

Pssssst Ida, I nak share dengan you, senang-senang turun Paragon Kids, kat Paragon tingkat 5. Kat sana sunggoh elok membeli-belah macam nak gilerrrrr untuk orang-orang macam kita yang ade anak. FoxBaby, BabyGuess, Kids21 (BabyDior, Timberland, Polo), dah macam nak setengah mati dompet I last weekend. Tinggal nak buat CPR aje. I betul-betul tarik hela nafas panjang, hampir nak terkulai duduk kat Parents' Room dia *yang sunggoh tiptop*.

Haritu sopping, ni sopping lagi.

Itupun macam tak puas hati. I masih terbayang-bayang, terngiang-ngiang sebab tak dapat belikan Amir 2 stuffs ...

Clarks' sandal. My hubby kata nasib takde size *sep duit kot*.

And the self-float swimsuit. Hubby cakap swimsuit yang ade, Amir pakai entah sebulan berapa kali.

Dah azam haritu gaji masuk, nak gigit jari. Sekarang dengan kuku kaki sekali kena gigit.

Salam Dari,
Jiran-Belakang-Blok-Mu-Yang-Sunggoh-Terkopak

Queen of all Excuses. Am I?

2005-12-15T16:10:00.000+08:00

Dear Husband,

If you seriously want to whisk me away for that GETAWAY, could you please take a look at .....

this ...

and .....

this.

No, no husband, don't get me wrong.

I am not asking for you to re-make and re-live another wedding for me.

To be exact, I want to tag along these talented people to do a journalistic photo coverage of our GETAWAY (reads: another HONEYMOON).

Can we?

Loveliest Regards,
Your Wife

My husband would be thinking what fish to tag along someone *stranger* to some rendezvous he is planning, plainly for just TWO OF US.

Dah tak nak pergi tu, maciam-maciam alasan dan benda yang dia mintak.

Well, let's drop the subject for the moment.

On another note, I am guilty as a dog can be.

The news has come with evidence of an early-bird issue of payslip few days back. A month pay plus a thirteenth month pay. Bonus, *as usual* wait for CNY.

Even before that amount being debited into the account *scheduled tomorrow*, this woman *yours truly* had jumped on her shooping rendezvous like MAD. I can't help it, because ... because everything on retail looks very good when everytime X'mas is coming. Why horrr?

So when the moo rolls in tomorrow, I just have to pretend myself blinded, and bit my fingernails till it chip like hell.

But on the other hand, I don't really feel that guilty as the dog can be. Because all those retail theraphy madness is solely dedicated to my lil Amir. Everything *almost* for Amir. Only some kitchen towels for me, and not forgetting Ritter Sport raisins & hazelnut choc for hubby (only???!!!).

But ... but kan, I still need to do one more shopping. I promise to get for Lil Amir that McLaren buggy, which I've been eyeing since God-knows-when. See? Everything also for Lil Amir.

Mission ~ Holiday (Madonna circa 1983)

2005-12-13T13:08:00.000+08:00

This is MISSION POSSIBLE but made IMPOSSIBLE by yours truly.

My husband dearest wants to whisk me away to some foreign land which most people call Holiday, some call it Getaway.

Twice he attempted, but came out futile.

For that lil condition pose, S/A/N/S A/M/I/R.

I SO can't live with it.

Amir has never parted from me during sleepnights, except for that fact during his almost 2 weeks stay in the hospital right after his birth-day *that almost drove me nuts, even till now when I ever think of it*.

And on another occasion during that ONE working trip I had, after my maternity leave. As of now, I don't even mind day-working trips, even if I have to catch the earliest-flight out and returning with the last-flight in for the day.

Not even when, MIL, who is so kind and nice, voluntarily shoo-shoo us away to go on that Holiday/Getaway, and volunteer to caretake Amir.

I just guess it's not the time yet, for me to be ready yet.

I haven't reach that stage where I feel I am so deprived of only-hubby-wifey quality time together.

Goodness gracious me, we've only been parents for barely nine months. There isn't the need to complain about quality time right?

We do have that quality time, don't we?

Those once-in-awhile quickies (reads: Quick Edible Lunch), we had during my lunchhour, at our favorite Bukit Batok coffeeshop, when he's around the corner.

Those once-in-awhile late-shows at Tampines Mall, followed by quick supper, when we sleepover at PILs.

Those half-a-day trip across the Causeway to our favorite City Square to DVD-hunt and dine at Secret Recipe.

And how about those morning and evening drives, when he sends and fetches me to and fro my working place.

And not forgetting the time we have every night, after Amir lights-out (zZzZzZz.....).

Nope, hubby is not complaining of anything as of right now. I know he's very sweet to offer me a treat for a Holiday/Getaway, because he believes I *we* deserve one.

The time will come ok, my dear.

On the meanwhile, you just hang on as a sacrificing, understanding and patient husband and father. While your wife mentally prepares herself for the MISSION.

untitled

2005-12-09T14:08:00.000+08:00

Why, why, why? Why must it happen in that way? When I first learnt of it, true enough I was devastated, and turn myself super-EMO, though I know it's not very much needed. Yes, I may look tough and thorny like durian on the outside. But deep inside, I am so squashy like the overripen durian on the inside.

And why am I like this? Cos I so heart for her. My mum heart for her. And I know, all those who learnt of it, heart for her.

Oh the Almighty, please put riddance the easily-weepy me. I so need to brace up myself, pick up the phone, to tell her that I am here for her *like I used to*.

Actually, I never cease to be all ears and there for her. All this while, I never. But perhaps, she never know.

Rise from Relax-hood

2005-12-08T13:06:00.000+08:00

*yawnnnnnnnnnn*

*crack my finger bones*

Nothing much.

Just some belated pics of the past Syawal.

Ehhh bukan ... ini bukan kerbau-kerbau untuk dibuat qurban untuk Eiduladha akan datang. Saw flocks of 'em before hubby drove to 'Dead End' while heading back to 2nd Link after Hari Raya-ing in Kota Masai and Skudai in Johore.

At my aunt's (mum's elder sis) abode in Kota Masai. Notice the majority of Indian-ish looking in this pic? Well, my aunt married an Indian Muallaf, and 2 of her 9 children (yes, 9 of 'em, very pro-procreation right?), married Indian Muallafs too. And my aunt is blessed with 20 grandchildren (another one coming in 2006, makes it 21), compliment from her *only* 4 married children. Too bad, majority of 'em were not present.

At my mum's aunt's (from a different grandmum) in Skudai. My mum's grandad has 9 wives. Yes 9! Earlier we are talking about my aunt having 9 children. Now, we are talking about 9 wives here. Technically, my mum has 9 grandmums, but physically of course not, because my great-grandpa wed another after the earlier-wedded passed away. My mum's mum (my grandma) came from the 2nd grandma that my great-grandpa wedded. And I was told she's a Cina-Baba. No wonder the Chinese-Oriental looks dusting around my maternal side. This shot was not the best-taken by husbter. It was on purpose to put the lil cranky-o girl of her's on display (see extreme right). Why was she cranky? Because she had just risened from her beauty nap. Kekekekeke .....

And me ..... shall retire again, for now.

Days of the bes-day

2005-11-30T14:25:00.000+08:00

It seems, the celebration, or rather, the surprises start showering a week before the actual day.

On 24th, night, it was Ben&Jerry Phish Food, settling among the many frozen food we had in the freezer. Yours truly have been hunting for that, ever since pregger days in all the pump stations they stopped over. Even the friendly 24 hour convenience store seem not too friendly to have that.

On 25th, night, it was a bottle of perfume on my dresser. He said it's parfum ... not eau de parfum, ok. Ok ... kekeke ... I think he's sick of the male EDT I so love to splash on. Yes, I love male EDT because most of 'em are lighter than female's one. I don't kapur his one, ok. I bought 'em myself.

On 26th, near midnight, after receiving the last batch of guests for the day, I discovered a spanking, new wallet. Goodbye to my fake Ferragamo. Hello *again* to my favorite, trusted brand in most wallets that I ever owned. *sniffs the leather* Sunggo sayang nak pakai.

On 27th, near midnight, after one tiring day of 2 weddings and 4 open houses, he handed me the original DVD of La Vita e Bella (Life Is Beautiful - Roberto Benigni). At that point of time, indeed, I find life is beautiful. And the next day, in the morning, he greeted me with the famous line from the movie, Buono giorno Principessa (Good day my Princess). I'm feeling princess-y all over liao.

On 28thth, near midnight, after Las Vegas, he handed me a brand, new apron. Before this, I pathetically, only have one ugly, green, striped apron, premiums complimentary from my company. I love my new apron which has some words of love on it.

Last night, when am about to start some night-cooking, clad in the new apron, he handed me soundtrack of Love Actually. Am so addicted with the number by Norah Jones's Turn Me On. My hi-fi is waiting for a new tune, my glass is waiting for some fresh ice-cubes, I'm just sitting here waiting for you, to come home and turn me on, turn me on. Kinky I know, but who cares ...

So this is like what they said, sambut 7 hari 7 malam, ehhh? Now am so, very anxious. Tonight is the eve. I wonder what he has in store for me. And tomorrow is the actual day.

As usual, like any past actual day, am ritually will be on leave. This time round on longer leave. Don't miss me ya peeps! Nope! Not on vacation of what so ever. Just in the name of clearing leave. You folks think it's a wastage right? Well if you folks haven't known me better, I am a very homely person you know. So am taking this opportunity to be homely, feeling homemaker, spending time with my Lil One, giving time-off for my mother.

Sweet daughter, ain't I? Well am starting to adopting the idea like my husband that birthdays are meant for moms who gave birth to the birthday person. So am granting time-off for my mom on my birthday, where perhaps she can relax and reload the memories of her very first-birth, once upon a time 27 years ago.

And I know there are some mothers and mothers-to-be about to pop their 'buns from the oven', where their lil buns will join me in becoming it's-cool-to-be-a-Decembrian-babe club. You ladies know who you are, my du'a be with you all.

Seriously, I can't ask for anything much this year cos am simply blessed just to be able to rise and shine daily morning to my Two PhishBalls .....

Muka kopet di suatu pagi buta

Amir-ism (reads: extreme overdosage of Amir insight)

2005-11-21T12:55:00.000+08:00

WARNING! Further browsing will cause fellow netizens so-want to see Amir NO MORE.

Can I do a Hari Raya update cum Amir-turn-8-months? Yes, my Lil Amir turns exactly 8 months today. His Ummi purposely wait for this day to *finally* do an update after some hiatus. In other words, she's simply plain lazy.

Muka basi (stale-face) Amir on the morning of 1st Syawal. He just recovered from a fever he gotten during the Eve, and was still a bit under the weather. And guess what? A week later, he surprise-murprise us with his first 4 tooth lurking. 2 up, 2 down. Nyai was oh-so-excited that she called me in the office right after her amazing discovery.

1st Syawal ever for Lil Amir, and 1st Syawal ever for us as parents. And we continued the ritual to be Sepasang Kurung Biru (all-dressed in blue).

Amir and his Yayi (my father)

Amir with my parents and his favorite-test Bibik (my lil sister)

Lucky Amir. Nap-time also gets 'ang-pow'. Ni namanya makan-tido-makan-tido-hasil-tetap-masuk-kocek. Or is it makan gaji buta? Kekekekeke ..... jeles aku.

Amir with Atok (my FIL)

Amir with the baju kurung cheongsam that once upon a time I raved about. Toopid me never take a full view of it. Anyway those mandarin buttons are still to-die-for.

Amir with his bully-ish Paman (my lil brother)

Clad in telok-belangah suit. Dah macam wak-wak mana entah.

Sampai aje rumah Nek Ngah, habis kene togel tinggal singlet dengan diapers.

Amir with Nenek and Atok (my PIL)

Amir with Aunty Layla (hubby's cousin)

Amir with Aunty Hidaya (hubby's cousin too)

The Trio at it again. Sepasang Kurung Biru Air (all-dress in baby-blue)

There are buckets more of pictures, with the past weekends *and weekdays too* non-stop Hari Raya rounding. I think by the time thy will be done with it, Amir turning to 9 months perhaps.

Approaching end of Ramadhan

2005-10-27T12:21:00.000+08:00

Unlike the past Ramadhans, this time round is more tone-down, relaxing one for hubby and I. No rushy-rushy of delivering Hari Raya cookies, goodies, drinks house-to-house fulfilling customers' orders, for the name of making extra moo for the Syawal.

This year, and Insya Allah in many coming years during Ramadhan, we decide to focus on more rewarding things, especially this is the month full of baraqah. Alhamdulillah, this Ramadhan, which is approaching its end soon *sadly*, we managed to realise that.

During before and early of Ramadhan, we pathed our ways to some children homes. This was our nawaitu, to share an unsignificant small pie of ours, to them, the needy ones. Unsignificant we may think, but the gratitude they showed to us, from the look of their eyes, simply moved us to the core.

And we received this yesterday ...

Ya Allah!
Kami panjatkan doa kepadaMu yang Maha Esa
Semoga setiap penderma
Dan siapa saja
Dianugerahkan sebesar pahala
Dikurniakan semewah sejahtera selama-lamanya
Insya Allah

*touching*

Agaknya, ini yang dikatakan rasa nikmat menerima du'a dari anak-anak yatim.

Preparations for Syawal this year is pretty ala kadar. Nothing much to splurge on myself, hubby or even the home (al maklum, tahun lepas baru pertama kali beraya rumah baru), because most things are as good as new. Exceptionally for Lil Amir, who has 6 brand-new sets of traditional Raya suits plus 2 songkok. We only bought one suit for him. The rest are gifts, not including the hands-me-down. Murah rezki anak ku. Beraya sakan nampaknya first year koleksen.

I did a bit of packing up few nights ago. The packing up that is quite long overdue. It was all the infant clothings that lil Amir has outgrown. The tops, bottoms, rompers, bootees, mittens, color-schemed in whites, blues, yellows, greens (no pinks), neatly stashed in the Ikea storage box. In my heart was saying, Insya Allah for lil Amir's future adik. We want four, remember? Hee hee ... Well, it's there for us to plan, but we still leave it to the hands of God.

For heart-tickling sake, I took a pair of mittens and slipped into the hands of already-sleeping Lil Amir. Sungguh tak sajak betul nohhh ... kekekekeke ......

Anyway, I won't be back blogging with new entry, until 2nd week of Syawal. So in advance let me wish all Muslims out there .....

Cease the last few days of this Ramadhan
Have a joyous Syawal
Eidul Fitr Mubarak
Maaf Lahir Dan Batin

6+1=7

2005-10-21T08:55:00.000+08:00

Happy 7th Month Old my Amir Mukhtar!!!

Latest of him from the dg .....

After-bathing pose

Another one of those sessions where Bibik played Dress-Amir-As .....

MamaNa's request of a pose on the high-seat (permanent place for him while we break the fast)

Look Aunty Nur! Amir wearing the shirt handsmedown from Abg Irfan. All gear up to go jalan-jalan.

On another happy note, a girl pal is pregnant - 7 weeks. Wahhh ... Amir is 7 months, and she's 7 weeks pregnant. Maciam lucky number gitu. Am so very, very, very happy for her. Girl, if you are reading this, my finest congratulations. Enjoy the pregnanthood, which I always believe is one of the most wonderful thing a woman ever experiences.

Story of Mdm Hamidah and her lil 'Atiqah

2005-10-19T15:21:00.000+08:00

We were breaking fast when I suddenly had my eyes on an article underneath my plate, from the recycled newspaper we used to cover the tablecloth.

I was glued reading the article, until I teared.

The article was a actually a letter from a reader, featured in a special column this Ramadhan in Berita Minggu (BM - Malay weekend newspaper) on October 9th .

The reader, Mdm Hamidah lost her 8 months baby daughter, during Ramadhan 7 years ago. During 24th week of her gestation, Mdm Hamidah experienced severe bleeding, and was brought to the hospital.

*Memories flashback* I experienced severed bleeding too, while I was with Amir at 24th week. If bleeding persisted, my lil Amir would had been force-delivered. And that also means 50-50 survival and having my lil man incubated for some 2 to 3 months. Thank Allah, that never happen. My bleeding ceased on the 2nd day.

But Mdm Hamidah was not as fortunate as I am. Her waterbag actually burst. So she was left with no option other than to force-deliver out lil 'Atiqah in a viable state (am not sure via normal or caesar).

Lil 'Atiqah spent many, many months incubated and on support system in the hospital. Despite being in that condition, she was claimed to be one joyful baby, with ability to recognise her parents and siblings.

One fine day, the doctors came with good news that lil 'Atiqah could be discharged soon. So they arranged shifting lil 'Atiqah in a special room where Mdm Hamidah and her husband could spend some nights with her before she's homebound.

The elated feeling took a turn, when doctors suddenly came saying that lil 'Atiqah was hit with chronic lungs infection. But Mdm Hamidah was still full of hopes until ..... the doctors came to her saying her daughter can't make it anymore.

Lil 'Atiqah, whom I saw from the photo her mother submitted as one very chubby baby, took her last breath few days before Syawal.

After reading that, I immediately carried my lil Amir off from his high-seat and kissed him many a times like I never kissed him before, while tearing profusingly. It's been twice I felt that God been trying to take my lil Amir from me. I know I shouldn't think in that way, but I simply can't help myself. In my du'a, I always hope of no more such episodes.

Came last Monday, was lil Amir follow-up at KKH with his PD, Dr Victor Samuel Raja Durai (now I wonder if he has any connection with TT Durai).

I was so highly elated, when first thing first the doc said upon seeing lil Amir,

My oh my lil boy. One look at him now, makes me thoroughly forget he was an ICU baby.

Of course he will, because lil Amir is such a hyper now. Even Dr Syarifah, his ENT specialist, had difficulty plugging the earphones on him during the test.

But seriously, who would turn down my lil boy, who's always all-generous with his mentel-smileys. And he's proven it all during my last iftar gathering with my fellow SPMLS gang. Macam passing parcel anak aku dibuatnya.

But of all the many, many aunts and uncs (ade jugak yg nak step kakak abang) lil Amir had met, he is still 'shy' with PurpleSal's hubby lahhh .....

The moment Mr PurpleSal carried him, he will dispel the crying thing. Musykil jugak kenapa dengan dekni sorang aje. Sorilah Sal, bilang Asyari, insya Allah nanti time Raya, Amir jadi brave sikit, boleh salam mintak duit koleksen lagi.

*Chettt betul tak malu Ummi dia ni tau*

Of Hijab and Tamar

2005-10-14T15:28:00.000+08:00

Simple

What is your style of 'hijab'? (for ladies only)
brought to you by Quizilla

But I don't think I am as sweet, pretty, simply irresistable like Wardina Saffiyah (above), right?

Currently she's playing in one my favorite Ramadhan season dramas in TV1, Cinta Madinah, every Sunday and Monday, at 10pm.

Melihat kota Madinah Al-Munnawarrah, membuat ku kembali amat rindu sekali dengan kota suci itu.

Talking about Madinah city, it makes me so want to talk about Tamar (kurma, dates fruit). During Ramadhan, it's a must-must to have that Tamar during Sahur and Iftar. Well in fact during any other days, we are never shortlived with supplies of Tamar in our household.

When I was younger, I used to abhor eating Tamar. I used to even say that Tamar looks like a roach. *scratch head* I wonder how I came up to such an imagination. But as I grew up, knowing the nutrional value of it, and discover more varieties of Tamar in the market, I learn to love it.

My household family especially loves Kurma Ajwa' (Kurma Nabi). Thus every year, few days before Ramadhan, my father will borong at least 1 to 2 kilos of Ajwa'. This Ramadhan, my father not only bought the Ajwa', he bought another kind called Safawi (I find it's as good as Ajwa' too) and some half-ripen kurma.

Initially I was skeptical to mouth the half-ripen kurma. Well, this brought my memory back to the little scene I had in Pasar Kurma, Madinah. My hubby and I being the most newly-married jemaahs in that trip, basically it drew the concern to rest of the jemaahs in our group, that we were TTC (trying *hard* to conceive).

So one very concerned jemaah, actually introduce us to one local Arab man during our Kurma shopping there. The man was carrying a bunch of half-ripen kurma and passed each of us one seed of it for us to consume. The very concerned jemaah intepreted to us that by eating that , it would boost our fertility.

Yang kita berdua, si blur pun ape lagi, gigitlah kurma setengah masak tu macam gigit anggur. I think in split seconds, my face berkerut seribu. Mak ..... sungguh kelat. I was looking at hubby, who seems so cool as cucumber. But of course I daren't to complain. Back on the bus, hubby sniggered at me on how "CUTE" I look of savouring the kelat thing. Member pun agree, tak boleh angkat itu rasa kelat. But macam kira member boleh step muka cool?

So I seriously think thrice before mouthing that half-ripen kurma my father bought. But after seeing the rest of my family munching it like nobody business, I believe this could be the different sort. Indeed! These ones are much, much better. It has a slight aftermath of kelat-kelat too. But not as bad as the ones we had in Pasar Kurma.

These half-ripen kurma, is pretty seasonal. If you are lucky enough, you can simply pick it up at your most nearby Cold Storage store, like my hubby just did yesterday.

Ape crite?

2005-10-12T13:18:00.000+08:00

What to blog ah? Now I have the time and space to blog, I simply go topicless.

Maybe I will just update some a bit up-to-date pics of my Lil Man aka Si Kenit.

Muka budak baru baik sakit selepas that KKH A&E episode

Since dah baik sakit, dan dah masuk bulan puasa, jom Amir mari mengaji. Nyai ajar. Kekekekeke ... step pakai songkok aji tapi berbaju rompers. Apa dahhh...

Ahhh ni keje Bibik dia lah, yang suka sangat main Lets-Dress-Amir-As ... Kononnya ni nak step jadi orang Arab. Tapi itu tasbih nape tergantung kat leher eh?

Ahhhhh ... dah update-update gambar Amir baru teringat sesuatu. Few weekends ago I had a girlie-girlie phonetalk with a close girlfriend of mine. Gosh, I think it's been ages ever since I am married to be doing that. Well, so much for the current high-technology with SMS, instant messengers, we have simply abandoned the object created by Mister Alexander Graham Bell.

Back to the conversation I had with this girlfriend, actually she has recently don the tudung. Alhamdulillah ... getting the hidayah from the then-upcoming Ramadhan. But I simply couldn't help myself laughing off so hard when she told me something.

She being a teacher as profession, teaching in the AM session some more ...

GF: Kau nak tahu Lis, tiap kali aku nak pakai tudung makan 20 minit sampai setengah jam aku ngadap cermin nak adjust tudung aku sampai aku rasa dah reach to its perfection. Masa first day tu, aku sampai datang sekolah terlambat.

Isy isy isy .....

Dah habis aku laff-laff kat dia, aku pun cakap ah ...

Me: Takpe beb tu sume baru-baru. Nanti lama-lama dari 20 minit turun 2 minit aje. Sampai nanti dah bole lilit belit dengan tak yah pakai brooch lagi.

If people say they have Bad Hair Day, I also sometimes 'suffer' what I call Bad Tudung Day. It's the day where I simply take ages to put on my tudung, and people will see me a few times mirror-hunting to keep adjusting my tudung. Funny kan? Kalau tak funny, saya ketawa sendirilah. Kekekekeke .....

Back to my girlfriend, she memang one funny girl. When anybody ask her about who is she talking about (Siapa?), she loves to quote this statement ...

Alah si dektu yang utang aku tiga posen makan nasi lemak tak bayar.

Kekekekeke ...

Hud ... aku sunggo tau dan baru tau itu statement tak ori dari kau. Nasib aku tengok Labu Labi last Sunday. Itu statement pakai time scene koboi kan? Kekeke ...

Whatever lah ... But I so can't wait to see this gerfwen of mine this coming Saturday, with her *ehem* new image. And of cos I can't wait to pass her a packaging which contains a new tudung, a token from me to her.

I have a BUMP on my head

2005-10-10T11:07:00.000+08:00

I *actually* fainted down at my parents' place right after iftar on first Ramadhan. The last that I recalled, I excused myself from the table to rest, wobbly dragging my feet. *BLACKOUT*

Hubby said I was unconscious for a good 5 minutes. When I revived, I heard familiar voices of hubby, my mother and brother, but barely could see them. Next moment I knew, I puked buckets, mostly clear liquids, because I only had appetite for few tablespoonfuls of bubur asyura during iftar.

So what's wrong with me? If you folks think am pregnant again. Disappointingly NO. My good friend came lurking after MIA-ing for some 3 months or so. Blood pressure 85/100. Normal. GP diagnosed it could be a combo of attempting saum while haid, plus overwork, plus lack of sleep (nursing to then-sick Amir), plus plus plus .....

Prescribed some pain tabs and giddy tabs, and 2 days of MC *yahoo silently*. Hubby passed some instructions too, like ...
No laundry ...
No scrubbing ...
No mopping ...
Haiyahhh ... easiest said no housework *AT ALL* for me
No carrying of Amir *sob sob* while me standing *especially not within hubby's sight*

2 days of complete rest *seriously* do me good. And guess what did I do on early Saturday morning while my 2 men were still sleeping? While I let the laundry ran, I squeaky-cleaned the masterbedroom's bathroom, revamped/rearranged the toiletries and accessories, to create some relaxing, romantic mood. Hehehe ... dalam bilik air pun nak romantik-romantik. Isy isy isy puasa puasa ni ...

Seeing the healthier me, hubby suggested on hitting the Woodlands Bazaar Ramadhan. But it was a totally wrong idea. The crowd simply sent me dizzy ... glitzy ... giddy. After bagging off my favorite Kuih Jongkong and few other kuih-muih, we splitted .....

Sunday was definitely a better day for me. Off again to Bazaar Ramadhan but sans supercrowd, down at Pasir Ris East CC. We actually came down to give support to my cousin and family who tend stall no 12 (or is it 15?). Her signature Ayam Masak Sapit is simply MUST-TRY and MUST-HAVE every Syawal. We tried her Nasi Pilaf and Lontong Goreng Pachitan too. Gosh ... at this point of time, I wish I can cook half as good as her.

So, Monday is here again. Giddy NO MORE. But I still have this bump of the back of my head, aftermath of THE FAINT. *hums* Bumpety-bump-bump-BENJOL

Birthdays

2005-10-05T10:29:00.000+08:00

Today, first of Ramadhan also marks hubby turning a year older. Unlike any other years, during our courtship, marriageship or whatever-ships, this time round he is spared from being in-camp for his reservist. Hubby and I have the exact sentiments on our own birthdays. We prefer it to be very low-key. The only difference is I never go to work on my birthday for the name of pigging at home the whole day, while he prefers to go to work like any other day.

Thus after good-wishing him after sahur today, he called up his mother. I believe MIL was surprised he called before she can even good-wish him. He expressed that birthdays are meant for mothers who went through the experience of birth-giving to their children. *Emo* Later hubby said he will tell Lil Amir the same thing once he is grown-up. *touching*

Hubby and I have this ideology on Lil Amir's First Birthday Bash. No thoughts on balloonies and confetties or cakes and candles. We always dream of that day as Just-3-of-us Day, where Lil Amir will be tugged on the buggy stroller, and we all head to the ZOO. Yes, the ZOO, where Lil Amir will be introduced to all kinds of God's creation in the animal kingdom.

I guess as of now, we just shall wait and see whether our dream will materialise.

And as of NOW too, I am cracking my head what would be an ideal gift for him. Usually, I don't wait for his birthdays to get stuffs for him. But ever since Lil Amir pops out, I think hubby is pretty 'neglected' from the shopping list. Kikikikiki ..........

October liao?

2005-10-04T09:57:00.000+08:00

Wake me up when September ends .....

And I actually slept through till it's October.

My lil man was down with a very, very bad cough. On very early Monday morning, as early as 2.30 am, hubby decided to hit straight to KKH A&E.

Did I hear hospital? I almost turned myself paranoia, but I tried to be as cool as a cat, as hubby was. Thank God, his diaper bag is always on the ready mode. And I never got myself dressed up in the speed of lightning. And I even left home with a unironed tudung. Who cares! I need to salvage my baby here.

But pourgetfool Ummi left his healthbook at Nyai's. So after tugging Amir safely on the carseat, we vrooooomed across the street where my parents anxiously passed the book to us.

Hubby appeared composed throughout the drive. If it was me, I think I would have step on that accelerator and bring it over 120. But I know, safety comes first.

Amir, surprisingly comfortably sleeping upon arrival in KKH A&E at 3 am plus

Haizzz, kalau dah dikatakan baby, sakit tak sakit, jalan punya pasal, tetap dia syiok tido. And he actually slept throughout the entire time there. Even the doctors were so pleased that they suggestively wanted to take photos of him to be submitted to some ads on some babies' PJ-wear.

Thank God, it was nothing like the bronchitis or asthma that I had on top of my head. 'Twas mere block nose and phlegm. We collected the prescriptions of some antibios, phlegm med and Iliadin (block nose) from the E-Pharm and hit home around 6-ish.

Alhamdulillah, as of now, my lil man gets better. But it's his Ummi's pink health takes an OFF. Yours truly is currently blogging away in the office while nursing to her flu and sore throat.

Anyway, to all Muslims out there, Ramadan Mubarak.

10 sets of 7

2005-09-28T15:17:00.000+08:00

Finally, the reply to your tag Mama Alisha.

But before that, I want to wish a lil something. To a good pal out there (you know who you are). All the best for tomorrow. My du'a will always be with you. And I have a lil something for you. Something to fill up your 2 weeks leave.

Yes! You-know-who, you've been tagged.

Se7en things that scares me
1. Being tag of any sort like this again.
2. Trap in the lift with some suspicious stranger. I rather be AH-lone.
3. Electric shock
4. Bees
5. Lizards
6. Lizards
7. Lizards. 3 times quoting this means am REALLY SCARE of this lil creature. (Actually I have no idea to quote for last 2 points. I want to quote DEATH as it is. But I realise DEATH saddens me, rather than scares me.)

Se7en things I like most
1. Potato-ish food (begedil, french fries, curly fries, wedges .....)
2. Cheese-ish food (pizza, quiche, cheese fries, cheeseburger .....)
3. Non-working weekends
4. Watching my Lil Amir grows
5. Quality time with Hubby
6. Being homely, staying indoors.
7. Keeping my house spick and span thus make it more welcoming for me to go home to.
(I want to quote liking my loved ones (family & friends), but I don't categorise them as Things, and I don't like them. I simply LOVE them to the bits.)

Se7en most important things in my room (I assume my bedroom ahhh)
1. Fan/aircon
2. Burner
3. Essential oils
4. Night light
5. Vicks Vaporub
6. Mattress, good enough for me to slumber. Not necessarily with bed, pillows, quilt.
7. Alarm clock

Se7en random facts about me
1. I abhor smell of honeydew, thus never eat it at all.
2. If onions involve in MY COOKING, I have 'em finely blended. No chopped, no diced.
3. My TAUGEH must be de-tail-ed (buang ekor).
4. When I go Burger King, the ONLY burger I order is Mushroom Swiss.
5. My *pathetic* make-up kit consist of Clean & Clear complexion powder and lots and lots of lipsticks.
6. I always start reading another book before I complete one book.
7. I don't siesta, unless I am very, very, very ill.

Se7en things I plan to do before I die
1. Give birth to more children.
2. Watch them grow and extend the family tree.
3. Make them all sit around me while I tell old days stories.
4. Make a will.
5. Perform Haj once in my lifetime.
6. If am blessed with more rezki n good health, perform Haj another time.
7. To have my last breathe at home, in peace.

Se7en things I can do
1. Spend whole day on ironing basketfuls of wrinkle clothes to the crisp.
2. Debate with hubby over some topic and stop until am convince I won *though at times I actually lost*.
3. Drag myself to work even when I am sick like chicken shit kapur.
4. Hold my bladder for the whole day, despite dunking gallons of H20.
5. Paint a house. I painted my own house, together with hubby.
6. Pick up a casual conversation with *amiable-looking* strangers while waiting/queueing/boarding bus or train.
7. Bargain an item till the price I want, else I just walk away.

Se7en things I can't do
1. Siang ikan esp BIG fishes. The BEST I can handle is ikan selar.
2. Drink coffee and fizzy drinks.
3. Run 2.4 kilometers. I will run the first 0.4 km and walk the remaining 2 km.
4. Past motion anywhere else, except in toilets of my abode and parents'. Not even in PIL's. 2 weeks holiday also means 2 weeks of no passing motion.
5. Tell a lie, even a white lie. I am a bad liar.
6. Discipline myself in medicines-intake, especially antibiotic course.
7. Fly an airplane.

Se7en words I say most
1. Bismillahirahmanirrahim (In the name of God ... everytime I start on something)
2. Aisey bedah (although there is no Bedah, kekekeke)
3. Okay orait (noticed by my former students when I was a tutor)
4. Orait ahhh
5. Yahhh man
6. I see, I see
7. Insya Allah (God's willing)

Se7en celeb crushes
1. the late River Phoenix
2. the late Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
3. Jins Shamsudin
4. Jeff Probst (host for Survivor)
5. George Clooney
6. Robert Redford
7. Sean Connery. I know, the majority I like are either dead or 'senior citizens'. Don't ask me why.

Se7en people I'll love to see doing this
1. mrsbeki
2. babyhd
3. salha
4. lynn
5. ms mumbles
6. shsuya (hahaha! this time you tak selamat.)
7. already mention at the start; You-know-who

Sidetrack

2005-09-26T11:12:00.000+08:00

(track 12)

tiada lafaz yang lebih agung
kalimah cintamu
yang ku tunggu-tunggu
biar jasadku yang menanggung
permainan darimu
rela ku pujuk

(track 1)

gosok jangan tak gosok
gosok lampu yang satu
gosok sampai kau nampak wajahmu
gosok jangan tak gosok
gosok sampai berkilat
gosok sampai tertanggal semua karat

(back to track 1, then track 12, track 1, track 12 .....)

One of the loots I got from JB yesterday. Saya ni bab lagu Melayu memang ada sikit terbasi. But I just have to check out this labah-labah group, which I *just* heard is Sifu M Nasir's (my very febret you know) protege. Konfem saya ni ketinggalan zaman kan.

Anyway, the BEST BUY I made in JB has to be the baby 'male cheongsam' suit for Lil Amir. I guess Lil Amir will be clad in out-of-the-conventional-hari-raya-suit for 1st Syawal then. The suit is so Kawa-I, comes with a Kawa-I headgear which could function as songkok.

Abah Amir kept mem-bebel-ing that paying RM75 for that is extravagant. Well, me thinks RM75 divides by 2, around SGD37 is reasonable, considering of its very fine work, and those mandarin buttons you simply die for, intricately sewn on it. And MOST important it's cooling material, friendly to baby's skin.

Abah Amir who still tak puas hati says he wants to get Lil Amir a kurta suit. Ye lah tu. Pi lah carik.

I am suppose to reply to Frina's tag to attempt that 'deadly' 10 sets of Se7en. But am still not up to it. Some other time ye Mama Alisha. My otak is berfikir *berkarat* now to Ahli Fiqir (another loot from JB).

samseng samseng samseng samseng
ini bukan zaman samseng
samseng samseng samseng samseng
bukan zaman banting-banting
samseng samseng samseng samseng
tiada tempat tunjuk samseng
samseng samseng samseng samseng
ini bukan zaman samseng

I find Dayat aka MawarBerduri of Ahli Fiqir simply cool .....

It's been half a year ...

2005-09-21T17:50:00.000+08:00

since I embark MOTHERHOOD.

It's been a journey ..... of undescribeable feelings.

Let's take a walk down the *short* Memory Lane .....

...

...

...

...

...

...

Barely 2 weeks old, still reddish and lots of hair.

Happy 6 Months My Kawa-I (cute in Japanese) Boy!

And yes! He starts crawling since few days ago. But not that conventional crawl. Instead of lifting his knees to move around, he slided both knees backwards. Apa deyyy, anak Ummi main gostan.

E L A T E D

2005-09-19T09:02:00.000+08:00

It was kenduri (prayers&feast) at my parents' last Saturday. But I am not about to drool you folks with foodpix.

(snapped and edited by a cuz, freelance-turn-pro photographer)

Amir & Yayi (grandpa)

Amir, changed to Gamis (Male Arab dress), posed with Ummi

Finally, a proper family portrait, though I find the way hubby sits *not* that proper (kekekeke)

Nope. These were not taken in any studio. No make-up, no make-over of what-so-ever. It's the plain-est, natural-est of us, just at the beck of my parents' home before the kenduri commenced.

Lost ..... & finally Found

2005-09-16T10:58:00.000+08:00

First, I was LOST. Really, really LOST. She said 520, and I think she did mention the Greenridge and the church. Smart aleck me told the ah pek teci to halt between 519 and 521. Under the scorching heat, I searched high and low for 520.

One makcik said, Makcik tak tinggal daerah sini nak. Makcik tinggal empat ratus lebih.

Another makcik *resides in 518, groundfloor*, Entah ehh nak, makcik kurang pasti. Cuba tanya amah tu.

And so I asked the passing-by Maid, Lima dua kosong? Oh, belakang sana buk.

Now I SO-BELIEVE, women are really bad in directions and locations, including yours truly. I did follow The Maid's instructions, and ended up being more LOST. I ended up in some quiet voideck, with prowling eyes of some mat-kotai.

So I bukak step lipas-kudung, with one hand plastic-full of turning-cold lunch and melting cake, and another hand fastediously dialling her up. And SO, I KNOW, 520 is just beside 518. How come that first makcik doesn't know horrr?

Phewww! Mahap ye Cik Syahidah. Berpeluh-pelih kita sesat sampai rumah awak. Itu air fruit punch, cam nak dekat setengah jug saya togok. Peyot dah kenyang, hati dah senang, haizzz mengantok pulerrr. Puan rumah bole sediakan bantal pulak tu. Tapi bantal si Azza kecik saya kerjekan. Lepas itu si Azza saya kerjekan. Saya sunggo suke kerje kerje-kerjekan ni sume. Jangan serik yerrr Cik Syahidah nohhh.

Anyway, in advance wishing u a Happy Birthday!

I've been tagged ...

2005-09-13T14:01:00.000+08:00

... by BQ

3 random facts about myself that *most of* you don't know:

1) I have this queer habit. Every morning, when most of the time, I will be the first one utilising the bathroom, where most of the time the bathroom floor is dry, I will stand for sometime, enjoying the dryness feeling under my feet. Later on, arm with the spray-pipe, I will spray all over the bathroom ground and enjoy the wetness, then I proceed with the rest of the necessary business.

2) I was a leftie, turn rightie (right-handed). Perhaps that is why my handwriting is wormish (cacing krawit ulat gendon), beyond legible-lity.

3) I have a minor speech defect in pronouncing certain words (don't know whether it's a case of dyslexia or what). For e.g.
Baldi (pail) always ter-blurt as Bladi
Kelapa (coconut) always ter-blurt as Kepala

So I'm supposed to tag 5 lucky bloggers:

1) Sherry
2) The Maid
3) Booby-Baloony
4) No-Salah
5) Hang Li Po

You ladies know who you are. Jangan eksen tak tau. Aku POKOL nanti tau.

Another kind of horse ... jing jing jing jing jing .....

2005-09-12T13:11:00.000+08:00

I believe my Lil Amir has finally reach the stage of 'kenal & takut orang'.
If any person not in his database-of-people-he-mingles-daily-or-weekly carries him, he will turn and look at his Ummi or Abah *whoever available*, gives that cebik-cebik-muka-kesian look, and finally break into cries. Aiseyman, tak friendly betul lah anak Ummi ni.

I know some parents and their lil ones are spared from experiencing this stage. If Amir really grasps most of my genes, am not surprise he's like that now. Once upon a time when I was a lil girl, I is memang the sunggopenakut.com and sunggopendiam.com. You know, the clingy sort where I-will-follow-you-Mama-where-ever-you-go. Suro makan saya makan, suro minum saya minum, suro mengaji pun saya tahu.

Calling all parents or non-parents out there ... do you folks have any tips for Amir Mukhtar & his parents to overcome this stage? Or simply let nature take its course where we should believe one fine day he will 'open up' like his Ummi, who started to turn to becokdanberani.com since she was 4.

So last weekend, SIL bought a lil dear something for Lil Amir, in the pretext of joining in the database-of-people-he-mingles-daily-or-weekly.

This lil dear something comes in the form of this .....

It is call The Pococo Slipper. Cozy slip-on suede slipper with ultrasoft shearling inner and outer lining. Padded insole and soft suede-and-rubber outsole for comfort. Mocassin-inspired detailing around the upper. And of course, not forgetting that famous polo player logo embroidered and adorns the top. Pristine-ly packaged in a special denim bag before it goes into the shoe-box.

The price-tag. Can easily buy a few pair of Ummi's footwear in Charles & Keith or Noda. Hai Amir, even the Polo Ralph that Abah wearing are the ciplaks from Patong, MBK and Petaling St. The only Polo Ralph possession that Ummi has is her Romance eau de parfum. Itu pun orang present kan. Pakai lokek-lokek, sikit-sikit.

Despite the gift, Amir still cries upon carried by his Auntie Ayyy-Dahhh. GUESS why? Cos The Pococo Slipper can only deem fit his feet when he's 3 or 4 years old. It's a real case of misjudgement on Amir's feet when Ayyy-Dahhh was shopping for it. But she manage to console herself to the fact that lil ones feet normally grow uber fast.

And the last I heard, she's taking another march to that shop, to get another something for her nephew that can *really* fit him this coming Syawal.

Cerita Dongeng Rakyat

2005-09-09T12:12:00.000+08:00

Seriously, I've been staring on the blank space for the longest time since morning, occasionally giggling to myself like a super-nuttish-nincompoop. Pass me the IMH number please. I think I am at a verge of surrendering myself. I've wanted to yak in this blog so much about the wonderful luncheon plus the impromptu bowling session yesterday. But I'm so lost for words. To cut the long the story short, lemme just summarise it.

On The House, we had

The Diva, Rafeah *kenna* Buang and the 3 Kids.

And The Diva's The Maids.

The Maid no 1, Mummy Indah *si cucu Ah Pek*, Tiongkok mari.

The Maid no 2, Ratna 'Brandy' Must-Tee-Car *some Jawa-tok-tok-ketoprak I think, who adopts Mentel-isme to the point of infinity that is so wah-lau-damn-contagious* and her lil Mamat.

Not forgetting The Diva's 3 Associates.

Cik Sal Boleh Nak Ajerrr who loves waving-in-2-piece-dancing.

Putri 'Sherry' Aliyah who loves Meow-and-Chick-dancing.

And one and only yours truly, Princess Leia who loves the pure and innocent Baby-dancing.

Ms Booby Baloony couldn't make it at the last minute due to unforeseen circumstance. However she was greatly missed by the above especially si Putri 'Sherry' Aliyah, her kaki-gado partner.

K, lemme take a breather before I go on.

*do the Banana-dance*

Done. Continue.

They really brought down The House.

I think the Fountain of Wealth outside also mintak ampun. Nasib ia tak menyimbah noh.

Sad to say, The Maids took their leave earlier, thus not able to join the rest to continue to bring down the house over at Long Hill Plaza Bowling Alley.

Over there, respective significant others join to make things in bringing down the house the more the merrier.

Putera 'Sheikh' Irul, husband of Putri 'Sherry' Aliyah, cum driver of The Diva & her Associates. *ku pohon ampun dan mahap sekiranya unta KIA awak punya suspension tak boleh carry kita semua*

Encik Phisherman Boleh Nak Ajerrr, and the 2 boys.

MrBecky, si mata cokelat, The Diva punya laki lah.

My one and only, Hansolo aka Phishball.

And not forgetting, someone around the corner, Puteri Hang-Lynn-Po and her daughter joined them too. Cian member main sampai kuku manicured dia patah.

As a matter of fact both Princess Leia and Hansolo are non-eloquent in Bowling Ball Matters. Hansolo doesn't fancy BIG Balls like Soccer Ball, Bowling Ball and wathavyu--BIG-Ball. He loves small Balls like pool table Ball, billiard Ball, golf ball and also eating PhishBall.

Princess Leia loves another kind of Ball. Make a guess. For any correct answer, you will be entitled to play with this Ball for solid one hour. The answer will be revealed at the end of this entry. So quick-quick.

So, after 1 game of bowling, some left, some continue with 1 game of pool while some watched. Then, everybody decide to split up.

And Princess Leia was elated to finally came home to her One Ball.

His hair all grown but head still round like a Ball is simply nice for me to rub-a-dub-dub. I know some of you out there *you-know-who-lah* must have thought of some dirrrty ball. Chet! As I said, I am pure, innocent, decent one. So no winner at all.

Hmmmmm, so much of me supposedly to do a summarise.

P.S. Thanks ladies for the gift. Though it's not my birthday, but I feel like it's my birthday. Next time do not stand in this kind of ceremony, k? And also sorry for the late-night SMS. Ada orang tu sampai frust dan mengaku dia tengah half-way buat bisnis afdal. Kekekekeke ....

Strength

2005-09-06T08:21:00.000+08:00

The class went on smooth like any normal Monday night. However it ended with heartending-ness last night. We recited prose of Fatehah, led by Ustaz, to those who perished in Indonesia jet crash earlier the day.

Seconds after takeoff, the airliner shook violently and slammed into a bustling neighborhood in Medan, bursting into flames.

Dozens of people on the ground killed, 15 passengers survive. Number of death toll, 147. And 2 of them, are the loved ones of Ustaz. He received the news just before reaching his teaching destination.

to Walker or not to Walker

2005-09-02T16:33:00.000+08:00

Let's talk about Baby-Walkers. They come in 6-wheelers, 8-wheelers, all-sorts of colours et cetera.

Some people out there *perhaps some readers down here* are against babies on Baby-Walkers. The common reason that I heard is that a baby-walker won't encourage a baby to walk, plus it will pro-create some back-problem for the baby.

One hard believer of the statement above happens to be a nurse-friend of mine. She told me she received 2 baby-walkers for her firstborn. Neither she lets her baby sits on it, nor giving it away to other babies.

Some months ago, hubby and I watched the repeat telecast of Zuriat in Suria. The program also bore the similar explanation on baby-walkers.

So, now, with Amir approaching 6-month-er, the age where infant are commonly put on the walker; the question is to put or not to put him in a baby-walker. Strange, but the truth is, that is one item we never receive at all during his 'baby-showers'.

And so, we were thinking, if we want to get him one, perhaps this would be the ideal one .....

It's from Fisher Price. The Stride-to-Ride walker is a walker cum riding toy. Suitable for ages 9 months to 2 years old. As an infant walker, it rewards baby for accomplishment of walking with lights, sounds and music. When the little one masters walking and wants to ride, convert the walker to a riding toy.

And we already have one potential buyer who actually volunteer to buy for Lil Amir. *squeals*

Block-Hill

2005-08-29T09:35:00.000+08:00

We rarely had popcorn-nite when the next day is a working day. But last night was exceptional. Hubby and yours truly sanggup sengkang mata nak tonton ol-skool movie you. Cerita ape tu you? I bilang, you nakmo ketawakan I ye you. Cerita Bukit Kepong you.

TV1 kasi show timing banyak bagus. From half past eleven to half past one in the morning. I hampir-hampir nak gibap. Tapi demi minat I pada hero Melayu febret I, Mister Jins Shamsudin, taruk lidi kat mata pun I sanggup you. Over-nye ...

For those who never watch Bukit Kepong The Movie, it is actually a true account during Communist Period in Malaysia. The pinnacle of the movie is the shooting massacre lead by some 180 communist, surrounded and attacked the famous Bukit Kepong Police Station, in Muar, Johor.

3 times the Communist Leader blew the bugle to signal them to surrender, but not once the policemen faltered. Not even their wives, despite seeing their husbands perished right in front of their eyes. 2 of 'em actually took their hubbies' rifles and joined in the counter-attack.

In fact the few survivors from that massacre were mostly the women and children, who watched traumatically the police station fell into ashes when the communist put it on blaze. These women and children, live to depict the whole of the massacre, which was made into Bukit Kepong The Movie circa 1980, directed by Mister Jins Shamsudin himself.

That movie boast familiar faces of the-now-'6milliondollarman'-of-maysia, Yusof Haslam; and famous crooks Hussien Abu Hassan and A Rahim. Even our local-boy, ermmm ... now more of local-man, J A Halim acted in it. Majority of the cast were played by real-life policemen. Hmmmmm ... no wonder the surreal dramaticism.

Now, I so want to get novel plus its DVD or VCD or whatever D they have on Bukit Kepong. But before that, I so want to get something to perk me self up. *Yawn*

Speak Eng-rish, Cakap Mah-lay

2005-08-24T16:56:00.000+08:00

Although, I may be conveniently conversing in English most of the times, I do not admit that my English grades were that fantastic. I excelled much better in my Mother Tongue (Malay) subject. I find MT was the easiest subject to pass well, hardest to fail badly.

But that's not what we heard of nowadays. I have an acquaintance who is all flustered, because her Primary 4 daughter barely make the grades for MT. At one time she almost got markah telur ... kosong ... zero for MT.

A friend of mine, who happens to be an MT teacher, shared with me of facing such experiences. She even has one Primary 1 student's parents who came banging at her. Ironically, my friend learnt that the parents themselves seems not conversing *or rather like avoidable* spoofing in Malay.

The young boy ever told her, that back at his home, English is the medium of his family's communication. But on a funnier note, his English teacher ever mentioned to her, his English grades were not that fantastic either. Sekadar Band 3 gitu.

What I forgot to mention here earlier is, true indeed the whole family speaking Lon-don. But more of like ... you know ... half-pass English.

Alah ... sekadar, I-you-I-you, yes-no-yes-no gitu.

Aku terfikir, sudah tidak laku ke bahasa Ibunda kita? *dengan tetiba mode cakap Melayu ON* Mereka cakap Bahasa Melayu kita tidak ada nilai komersil, nilai bisnis. Betulkah itu? Kasihan guru-guru Bahasa Melayu kita.

Ada lagi yang mengadu, sedangkan banyak jawatan kosong dalam pekerjaan memerlukan kecekapan ber-dwibahasa dalam Bahasa Inggeris dan Cina *bukan Bahasa Melayu*. Itu aku setuju. Pada suatu masa dahulu, aku hampir-hampir terfikir hendak menukarkan nama ku kepada Goh Li Sha.

Tetapi yang aku juga saksikan sekarang, semakin ramai orang Melayu tidak bertutur Bahasa Melayu, makin ramai bangsa asing yang mempelajarinya. Pada suatu masa tidak lama dahulu, aku melihat dan mendengar orang bangsa asing, si omputeh-omputeh bertutur dalam Bahasa Melayu *no broken-broken you know*. Aduhhhhh ..... sungguh malunya diri aku ini bila mendengar.

Mereka menambah bahawa Bahasa Melayu, bahasa yang paling chicken-feet-mak-dodol untuk dikuasai dari bahasa-bahasa asing lain.

Mungkin kita boleh mengambil contoh dari seorang kenalan ku ini. Beliau menghantar anak-anaknya ke kelas Kumon untuk mempelajari Bahasa Cina. Investment, kata dia. Beliau dan suaminya pun duduk bersama, berlatih penggunaan Bahasa Cina itu, dengan media-media seperti CD, pita rakaman dan buku-buku.

Dalam pada masa yang sama, beliau tetap menerapkan penguasaan penggunaan Bahasa Inggeris *yang bukan pasar*, dan turut berkomunikasi di dalam Bahasa Melayu. Beliau khuatir adanya Generation Gap antara anak-anak dan The Grandparents. Takut satu berbual-itik, lagi satu berbual-ayam ehhh ...

Ehhh, tapi ada jugak datuk-nenek sekarang yang terror speaking-London kan?

Apa pendapat kawan-kawan semua?

My New Lunch-Kakis

2005-08-23T09:21:00.000+08:00

Anak siapa tu?????

Anak si deknilah. Apa yang mak dia excitedkan sangat tu?????

Mango Salad ye cik kak? Hmmmmm ... kalau mak mertua lalu, konfem member tak toleh kiri or kanan. Pakkal ni jumpa kawan baru, so kene eksen demure kan? Hihihihih ... jangan marah ye Cik Lynn. Kita bergurau aje.

So sweet right? Mummy Lynn and Lil Rayyan. Macam ada chemistry gitu.

It was good chatting plus munching over *beef* char siew, hotplate, wanton and cold salad. Pssst ... tapi kan, mak kita bilangkan, makan tak boleh berbual tau. Nanti terbekik. Tapi takpe, itu air lychee ade kat sebelah. Habis sampai dua gelas aku togok. Heheheh ...

So next time, where shall it be? Kay-hap-see? Mek-donner? Sue-went-sen? Or KPT?

Cinq Mois

2005-08-22T08:43:00.000+08:00

Amir Mukhtar turned 5 months old yesterday. Apart from rolling his body and spending sometime lying on his tummy plus doing 'push-ups', he loves to make 'dancing' moves too. Hmmm ... how do I describe that? Lying on his back, he will wiggle his butt, wiggle his head, his hands and legs along in the motion. You know, just like those hanging string puppets, prancing around.

The past few days, I caught him doing this new action too. He would lift his legs up high to a certain 90 degrees, he would stare at his socked-up/nakey-toes. Then he would forcefully drop 'em down, and broke to giggles. This is what I call self-humouring.

For the past few days too, Ummu Amir has been burying herself in an interesting read on Baby Sign Language. If anyone of you ever watched Meet The Fockers, you folks perhaps could remember Mr Byrnes (De Niro) on how he non-infantilise his first grandchild, Lil Jack.

To sign-languaging means, no baby-baby-pelat-talk like

Nak mamam (Wants to eat)

Nak cucu (Wants millk)

Nak bobok (Wants to sleep)

Most babies acquire visual and muscular coordination long before their verbal abilities develop. One advantage that signs have over words is that they are usually more intuitive and easy to remember and use. For example, the sign for 'milk' has the hand mimicking squeeze open and close like milking a cow (see pic below).

To call Father/Daddy/Abah/Ayah is by spreading palm and tap thumb on forehead twice

And of course, to call Mother/Mummy/Ummi/Ibu is by spreading palm and tap thumb on chin twice

Sounds fun right? When I shared this reading to hubby, he spent the whole of Sunday, yesterday, experimenting it on Lil Amir. But of course we don't quite see any results. The book mention, we will much results if the child is seven months of age and above. But the keyword is Patient. We have to be patient in giving our baby some time to get used to our signing and start producing signs.

How to introduce signs:
1. Eye contact
2. Show your baby the sign just before or just after you do the action.
3. Use body language may help, such as mock shivering when signing 'cold'.
4. You may guide your baby's hands to imitate the sign after you make the sign.
5. Repeat the sign each time you show it - babies remember best through repetition.
6. Be consistent! Don't confuse the baby by using different signs for the same thing.

Hari ini kau datang riang, tersenyum, buat ku senang .....

2005-08-17T09:03:00.000+08:00

WORK, has seriously over-filled me *unwillingly*. Thanks to our Maysia counterparts, I terasa jasad I macam dah terbelah kepada 14 states of Maysia. Some parts of torso in Johor, which further amputated to Kulai, Tampoi, Pasir Gudang and Senai. Another part in KL. And another in Malacca. I heard after we are done with Maysia, its khop-khun-kha-THAI ... chee-cheong-fun-ROC ... gooddaymate-Aussie. Aussie? Dah nak masuk 7 tahun aku slave-drive kat sini, baru aku tahu kompeni aku ada property biz in Aussie.

Dah nak masuk 7 tahun aku lapuk kat kompeni ni, dengan tetiba BOSS PALING BESAR kompeni ni panggil aku masuk. Tak pernah seumur idup aku tau. Kancheong spider rabak aku. Dalam benak hatiku, agaknye dia nak up-down-left-right aku tak. Tapi adakah patut? Kita dahlah kerja dalam situasi understaff, overproject. Kirakan dah bagus apa implementasi-implementasi yang telah kita lakukan, walaupun disaat setengah nyawa, nak setengah mampoos. Hehehe ...

So Liza, how's your baby boy?

*jantung kencang nak mampoos* Fine Sir. Going 5 months.

Here, something for him. Make him read and listen to it. Will be good for him.

*dengan tangan sejuk nak mampoos aku terima apa yang dihulur* Thank you very much Sir.

BOSS PALING BESAR kasi Amir, Maisy the tikus series books and CDs.

*here comes the best part*

BOSS PALING BESAR hulurkan aku sepucuk surat.

Bila aku baca itu surat, aku nak menangis.

Keluar aje dari bilik BOSS PALING BESAR, aku terus ambil wuduk, dan sujud syukur.

Agaknya ini yang orang selalu katakan rezki anak ku Amir. Kartu nama ku bakal bertukar dari Senior AP kepada SA. Yang lucu sikit pasal kenaikan gaji aku. Dalam surat menyatakan kenaikan XX persen plus 20 dolar. Kenapa ada 20 dolar eh? Pelik. Tapi nak bertanya kurang kuasa.

To you ladies-you-know-who, Insya Allah 8th September will be on me, ok ...

But before belanja they all, I kena belanja my Sis lah. Today orang tu turn 16, babe. Tapi member stress nak celebrate, al maklum nak perang besar. She deserves the treat, not only for studying hard. But for continuously holding the throne as AMIR'S MOST FAVORITE PERSON. And kakak du'akan semoga cita-cita adik nak jadi NURSE tercapai. Tapi ingat, jadi NURSE cannot garang-garang sangat tau. Nanti patients kejung keras. Heheheh .....

Anyway, a happy day ends with a good day with good company of
Mrsbeki and Salha, and family, over carrot cake and fresh spring rolls.

Selalunya kan, outing2 macam gini, suami2 yang selalu komplen/signal time-out sebab isteri-isteri macam tak habis pek-pot-pet. Ini kan, the other way round. Lagi2 chip dia si Cik Irwan tu. Hehehe ... jangan marah ehhh Cik Sal. Kita bergurau.

And thanks Chip for that one plasticware of Choc Tarts!

Ke-bah-boom ... boom ... boom ...

2005-08-15T02:44:00.000+08:00

Xie-xie ni lao kong for giving in to his wife's persuasion to catch the Fireworks which denotes the closing of the Marina Carnival. Despite having to endure the jam driving down from PILs to Marina. Despite the hump-y ride in hunt for that scarce parking space in Millenia Walk. Despite having to oblige to his wife's sudden craving of Rhumba Frappucino from Starbux. Despite having to go on foot to get that spot underneath the Benjamin Sheares bridge which had turned to sea of human beings (elehhhh ... not that far ... heheh).

But lucky the wife never asked the hubby to turn back to PILs to fetch the forgotten-to-bring digicam that SIL lent to 'em. Dhang!!! They got the mem-card but not the digi. So only hp shots.

But no cam can capture the exuberant feeling of it. The uhhhhh-ahhhhh-wahhhhh in unison. And the BIG round of applause at the end of it.

The wife was hoping hard that baby won't turn 'berserk' during the fireworks. And he didn't. He was busy observing the sea of human-beings surrounding him. And occassionally, he giggled. What so funny, my baby?

And a friend spotted us despite in the mid of sea of human-beings. Thanks to hubby aka Giant Phishball. Wife thought with Phishball Junior in clad, it makes detecting 'em much easier. Right, Srie? And that video of us your hubby captured, nak buat Project Pilot ke?

After the almost-15-minutes treat of firework, The Phishball Family decided to hunt for supper. Before that, they entered Giant. The wife spotted nice, neat ladies khurta in stripes. But the wife simply gave up on the queue. She also gave up on the long queue at Rotiboy. She practically gave up the idea on supper-ing. Cavana pack. BK pack. LJS pack. Went back home.

The baby despite the long day, he appeared fresh.

Despite gorging him with 6 ounces of Similac, he continued goo-goo-gaa-gaa-ing until 1 am. The hungry parents called McDelivery. Some 45 minutes later, Big&Tasty, DoubleCheese, Ice-Lemon-tees, and cold-turn-hardened Fries started to fill in their stomach.

Time-check, half past 2 in the morning. Three and half hours left to sleep.

Kiddy Pay-less

2005-08-11T14:11:00.000+08:00

Evil. That store (KP) is evil. Or shall I say, Causeway Point (CP) is evil. There was one particular week, all-straight after work, instead of heading to parent's to fetch Lil Amir, I walked straight into CP instead. It's like calling me to enter. And when I entered, two escalators up, I started my 'supermarket sweep' frenzy in KP.

Most of that times I had no intention to get anything what-so-ever. But I always leave that evil-place with at least a thing or two. But of course it's all for Lil Amir. The last time I shopped there like mad, I had to fork out like only 10 dollars. Yes! Total bill of 260, I only had to fork out 10 bux.

Thanks to some nice folks out there, that I had KP's vouchers with accumulated amount of 250. I bought stuffs from baby-monitors, to stroller's fan, to wet tissues, to cotton buds, to cotton swabs, fever patches, MaxKool sweater for Amir, MaxKool jeans for Amir (MaxKool kids apparel really cool), and lots more.

The bill came to an exact of 250. But why the additional 10 in cash? Well the cashier counter happily told this freak shopper *yours truly*, that by merely paying 10 dollars cash on any item, am entitled to signup for KP's member card valid for a year. And thanks to that card, it's being more evil. Just for the fact that I can get 10% discount. Durrrhhhhh ...

And so, everybody did a National Day entry. I am like 2 days behind right? Unpatriotic me right? We were rather torn in between whether to catch the fireworks at the sourthern part or the heartlands. Ended up homebound, with me scrubbing away both toilets, the kitchen top and cooker. I love my Dettol All-Purpose Cleaner Lavender Fresh!!!

Hubby said looking at me, he was reminded of the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, who went around with bottle of Windex. And me, going around with spray-bottle of that Dettol thing. Perhaps the only thing spared from my spray-bottle was hubby and Amir. Hehehe ... I would love to disinfect them with Dettol soap or bath-cream.

No real-live fireworks. But we got to catch the fireworks launched one shot at all 5 areas via tee-bee. And not forgetting, the picnic we had *in-front of tee-bee*. We wanted to home-deliver McD. But we made do with fat wrinkle fries, sausages, onion rings and teriyaki chic nuggets that had been in the freezer for some time.

*end with Woodlands-wave ala Singapore-wave*

Amir & His Musical Disco-Light Ball

2005-08-08T11:07:00.000+08:00

This is Amir, the 'PhishBall' *junior*
This is his Musical Disco-Light Ball
When they come together, they become Amir & His Musical Disco-Light Ball

This ball is best played in dark, with the disco-like effect lightings. When you roll one side ...

(tune) Old McDonald had a farm, eeeyah eeeyah yorrr

roll another side ...

(tune) DO a deer, a female dear, RAY a drop of golden sun ...

roll another side ...

(tune) Mary had a lil lamb, it fleece as white as snow

roll another side ...

(tune of something that goes something like about the one thousand legged worm, lost a leg, became nine-hundred-ninety-nine-legged, and searching for that one lost leg)

Altogether, 6 tunes. Cool right?

JK Rowling I am not
But I can write a lot.

My sambal lonteh did materialise, but I admit, it's not as great as my mum's. NVM, practice makes perfect. Insya Allah will reach that point of perfection in future. Watch out you Mr Braun. *evil lafter*

Since her comeback from Bangkok, and her mention of Mango Salad plus a pic of it, I was inspired to savour something Thai-ish, or rather something Mango-ish for the weekend. I asked Mama to make her Kerabu Mangga (what the Malaysian call it, but am not sure whether it's the same as the Thai's Mango Salad because I never tried 'em myself).

So Papa hit JB early Saturday morning to grab some young mangoes. He got his hands on a young papaya too, which is good to compliment into the Kerabu Mangga. Before anybody hit me with the gimme-the-recipe request, I think I better do so. But let me forewarn you. No exact measurements, simply agak-campak-buang. OK?

2-3 young mangoes (depends on size), grated
1/2 small, young papaya, grated
Onions, pounded
Bird-eye chili, pounded (the more the hotter merrier)
Red chili, finely sliced
Fish sauce (taste first before you decide to pour more of this sauce)
Limau kasturi (lime) juice
Salt and sugar to taste
Peanuts, grinded

Mix everything well, except for the grinded peanuts which normally you sprinkle when serving.

I believe this will make good fillings for those fresh spring rolls (popiah basah) too, by adding turnips, taugeh, carrots etc.

Sambal Lonteh

2005-08-05T16:38:00.000+08:00

Hubby is head over heels in love with Mama's sambal lonteh. Imagine this, with that sambal lonteh on any meals' menu, he could simply mouth 3 to 4 plateful of rice.

Sambal lonteh is like a sibling to Sambal belacan. Except its ingredients consist of green chilli, red chilli, birds-eye chilli,shallots, belacan (shrimp paste) and udang kering (dried shrimps) need to be fried before grinding. Then mix well with salt and sugar to taste.

The chore of making sambal lonteh is that, when grinding the ingredients using pestle and mortar, imagine the oil from frying, spluttering all over. Its very convenient for Mama, because she uses the food blender I bought for her few Mother's Day back. A normal wet mill blender, won't grind the ingredients to the exact perfection. Unless you pour in water when blending it. And water will bring down the exact taste of sambal lonteh.

So, hubby made me learnt to make the sambal lonteh. He even bought me a Braun food blender for me, to 'instigate' me to make it. I guess I have no choice. The food blender seems to be screaming at me, "Hurry up! Quick, quick! Use me to make sambal lonteh!"

Errr ... I guess ... tomorrow making you know .....

Bookworm-ish

2005-08-04T10:08:00.000+08:00

Check out the new bookworm in the house .....

Errr arhhh ... errrng gairrrr ... That's how he sounds while reading

Amir must be thinking "Reading Is Fun!!!"

Yes! My lil man is botak liao like my other man (hubby). I know sooner or later my hubby will make him botak, with Amir developing fronthair like Donald Trump, and on the back cukur bantal. I made hubby promise me that if he is to botak Amir's hair, die-die I MUST NOT be around. I have a fetish for Amir's hair, I love his hair so much, and I know I will miss his hair BIG time. It will be a very emotional departure if I were to witness the botak-ing process.

So last Tuesday, Hubby did the botak thing on Amir. I imagined the 'evil' grin on him, shaving Amir botak to his heart's desire. So on Tuesday night, I came back home to 2 botak men in the house. Or rather more like Dr Evil and his mini-M. My lil sister calls them The Two Fishballs.

I abhor FISHBALLS cos it's so fishy. But hubby loves FISHBALLS, I guess that's why his head is round like a FISHBALL. And now Amir's head is round like a FISHBALL too. So will he love FISHBALLS too?

See, I am supposed to story about Amir & His Musical Disco Light Ball. Instead FISHBALLS crap came out. So, please, be patient and stay tune for Amir & His Musical Disco Light Ball. On the meanwhile, let me wonder and ponder, how will Amir's hair grow into.

Weekends of .....

2005-08-01T14:31:00.000+08:00

As usual we hit the PILS like any other weekend *fortnight-ly*. But before that we did a lil guests-receiving. Since, we declared Dapur-No-Asap (DNA) Day, we simply ordered 2-4-1 Pizza. I was thinking of having Durian-Picnic, but the other half of my guest simply abhor the heavenly fruit.

Like my last weekend guest, the last time I saw them, or rather her was also on my wedding. Their upcoming wedding will be a Happy-New-Year-2006 wedding. I was wondering whether there will be any fireworks, since both of them are suckers for fireworks.

Belek-belek kaki si kenit ke tu?

Si kenit with his magnificent FISH teether

Talking about my kenit, I seriously miss bathtime with him. Unlike during my maternity break, I only get to bath him like once or the most twice in a week, now (depends on my working saturdays week). Amir enjoys his moments in the bathtub too. His legs are way much stronger now, which he utilises to splish-splash water with. Strong enough to send 'Tsunami' splashes on me. LOL!

Amir, towel-hooded, during last precious weekend where I get to bath him

And before I forget, let me tell all of you this. Amir can laugh with all-sounds now. You know, no more of those soundless, wide-mouthed, toothless-grin. He displayed that latest development of him to his parents, right after our guests left last Saturday. Hubby and I couldn't stop laughing along with him, and it almost drove me to tears.

Anyway, SIL got Lil Amir a toy-ball. So stay tuned for Lil Amir & His Musical-Disco-Light-Ball soon. Eh ehhh ... sounds like Harry Potter & His Sorcerer's Ball, right?

p.s. I have given up on tag/shout/whatever boards. They seem to be errorneous, making access to my blog crawling. So I decide, please kindly say hello to blogspot comment function. Don't worry, I allow no-username requirement.

One early morning .....

2005-07-27T15:14:00.000+08:00

peha ayam sapa tu???

ohhh ... si dekni rupanya

alamak Ummi, orang nak iyak pun nak amik gamba. takde privacy langsung.

ok, dah lega. butt all cleaned, dried and lotion-ed up

*yawn* Ummi ni bukan nak tolong tutup mulut orang. kan masuk lalat

Time-check 07 45 hours. Arrrggghhh ..... going to be late ... late ...

Amir memang naughty tau. When he has urge to poo-poo on weekday mornings, he simply knows the PERFECT TIMING. The time when his parents in madness rush to send him off to his Nyai's and off to work. With his Ummi busy adjusting her tudung, his Abah busy applying deodorant on his ketiak *busyuk*.

There was one attempt where we simply decide to quickly shove him to Nyai's across the street, let him do his 'business' half-way the journey (which was like a good deal 5 minutes) and get his butt clean down there.

The attempt resulted in MISSION ACCOMPLISH. But ended up having one loud-wailing baby right until Nyai's doorstep, plus both Ummi and Abah kenna-sai. Ehh no ... kena dressing-down by Nyai.

Lil Amir is sunggopenggeli.com when comes to poo-poo matters or issue. He does his 'business' quietly. But when he starts to rengek, its a signal that he demands to be clean ASAP.

Nevertheless, I enjoy cleaning Lil Amir's butt after he poo-poo. He seems enjoying it too, with his butt underneath the running tap in the toilet basin. Ummi dia apa lagi, ambik peluang butt-spanking, dengan gigit-gigit lagi. But of course not with the taik still smudging lahhh.

Another weekend has passed? That fast?

2005-07-25T10:41:00.000+08:00

Saturday, did some guests-receiving.

Early afternoon, was a long time pal way back from primary school. The last we saw each other was way back my wedding, two years ago. Ironically, she's a Woodland-rian too, not-so-many streets away from me. With she, submerges in her super-shift work, and me busy with what-so-ever married life. We hope-NOT to take another 2 years to meet each other again. Insya Allah won't. Because that pal of mine going hit the bridal dais sometime around next year. To be exact it's a JULY wedding, like mine too!!!

So her visit this time round is not mere catching-up, but introducing to her significant other too.

They look quite a handsome couple kan? Dua-dua Cheena-ish. Amir aje buat spoil dalam gambar tu kan? Heheh ... Takpe ... for memories keepsake. And kasi-kasi dorang early training sikit.

At night ...

Anak siapa tu???

'twas hubby's childhood pal pulak. He came with his wife, his 7 month old son, and a bag of durians all the way from Simpang Bedok!

We 'picnic' at the balcony, blinds all up, n brought out our leftover-dinner-turned-supper, and of course the DURIANS. While both couples busy munching, gorging, chatting ... these two ...

busy fan-tanning under the ceiling fan, watching some cheerleading-flick on Channel 5. mek-cow ... kecik-kecik tengoklah cartoon ka-pa ...

Macam tiga beranak sejoli. Tengok tu Amir Mukhtar sama Bilal Ahmad. Dah pukul 1.30 pagi pun mata masih bulat-bulat.

But at 2.30am, after all guests left, kemas-kemas and gave his last feed, Amir turns this .....

Penat sangat anak Ummi bermain ehhhh ..... Sampai keesokkan hari keletihan dia masih menyerlah.

On the way to jalan-jalan to my aunt's place.

Tapi yang heran, at the end of the day kat rumah Nyai, 'main' PS2 sama Paman dia, bole celik besar pulak tu.

Macam real ajer .....

Amir got mail .....

2005-07-22T09:38:00.000+08:00

which came with a Blue B-shaped card which I believe B is for Boy

when you flip open the card, B becomes Butterfly

The mail came from her. Thank you, you!

And the mail came with this too.

No-no! Not my Lil Amir. But the cute headgear on his head.

If you folks notice, Lil Amir posed most of the time with his thumb/finger/fist-sucking. He especially loves his left-thump-thump much-much-more than his first-love-pacifier now. And my oh my his drool ... like a pipe leaking. He practically 'draws' map on his clothes, pillows, bolsters, his playpen, my bed, my parents's bed, my parents daybed ..... Good thing he doesn't thumbsuck during feeding. Imagined, teat on one side, thumb on another side, all in his mouth. Oh what a sight.

Some folks even convince me that thumb-sucking is better than bottle/pacifier-sucking. Like he won't get air/wind, or won't develop bunny-tooth. Can someone help me to justify that? On the other hand, my Chinese colleagues told me that they believe lil babies fingers like Amir's ones, tend to be sugary-sweet. Really?

Amir ... pass Ummi some of your fingers and let me suck it to experience the taste of that saccharine.

But when I did inspection on his fingers, I realised there are no ANTS. Silly me! Of course there are no ANTS.

Seeeeeeeee ..... Teeeeeeeeee

2005-07-21T09:45:00.000+08:00

I didn't make it to the Perempuan Cantik concert. It's all due to my 'jual-mahal'-ness when hubby offered to grab the tix for our 2nd anni gift. You see, the men just don't get it. When women say don't want, women actually want lahhhhh ..... But can't be blame lahhh ... my fault.

Otey ... next time I want, I say, I ask ... hihihih

But a very kind, sweet someone, actually obliged to my silly request by sacrificing her hp bill. I only asked for my ONE favorite song. But she gave me TWO.

RINDU was enticing. I could hear the crowd in Indoor Stadium went frenzied. I put on the speaker phone so that my two guys could listen along. In fact Lil Amir, with his eyes bulat-bulat, muka tercengang, seems concentrating hard on what he's hearing.

When the next call from her came in, I know its my favorite ONE. I sang along to the chorus .....

Takkan mungkin kita bertahan
Hidup dalam bersendirian
Panas terik hujan badai
Kita lalui bersama

But I doubt she could hear my katak-bentung voice, cos it's way LOUD on her side.

And to my one and only Cik Pol. I dah recce my bakal menantu dah. Kalau Cik Siti tu ade anak pompan, I nak chop-chop for Amir dululah. *LOL* So Amir kene menabung lagi kuat-kuat dari sekarang ehhh ... hihihih ...

On the meanwhile, Happy Four Months My Lil One!!!

Mama Mika, next time I pwomise pic of Amir's peha ayam.