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Tuesday, December 29, 2009

To Lasik or not to Lasik

Lasik is basically a laser eye surgery to correct your vision. But before the doctor can perform the surgery on you, extensive testing has to be done to determine whether you can do it or not. And contrary to some beliefs, most people I know only did lasik on one eye. Then the other eye will somehow 'correct' itself so that you may have 20/20 vision.

I recently found out that Lasik is the most performed surgery in the US. One of the well known centers for Lasik is the Stahl Eye Center located three locations in New York. They have been serving patients for more than 35 years and patient outcomes have been independently verified by nonprofit Lasik patient advocacy USAEyes to meet or exceed the national norms for Lasik results. Fewer than 100 doctors nationwide have attained this certification. It's also good to know that the doctors there are graduates from top notch medical schools such as UCLA, Yale and Johns Hopkins (my alma mater!).

I personally think Lasik is pretty cool because patients won't have to depend on contact lenses or glasses. I for one, have spent a ton on both those things. I heard that there is no pain involved and recovery takes as little as two hours. My boss did it and he was already off to Japan the next day!

I wish the centers here in Malaysia would emulate the Stahl Eye Center where they offer 24 months of low monthly installments and it's no interest too. Oh well, perhaps when any of the centers here offer that, I will consider to have Lasik done.

What about you? Would you do it?

Monday, December 14, 2009

Updates

Kids are getting bigger and cheekier. I think next year we might send Sa'eed to playschool...but not sure yet when and where. I think it'll be good for him since he can play with kids his age, hone his socializing skills and perhaps learn a few things :)

As of right now, I'm more inclined to the Montessori method since it is more wholesome and does not focus on making sure the kid performs or show results quickly. Their methods are individualized and they are assessed individually. I think this is good since kids don't get compared to other kids (e.g. ranking no.1, 2 etc). And if a child is advanced, he or she get to do activities based on his or her abilities and not be tied to an age specific curriculum.

There are a couple of Integrated Islamic Kindergarten around, but I'm not a 100% sure yet.

'Aatikah is growing up pretty well too. Walking like a champ, although yesterday she had her first major accident where she fell and cut her lips :( She likes to play with her brother even though Sa'eed likes to grab things from her....tapi kadang2 balas balik tuu! She's really into books right now and loves playing with water. Mandi bawah shower pun tak takut.

Oh and she has more girly clothes now, courtesy of her lovely Aunty Sheya...


Sa'eed with his cheeky face. Everytime he sees this picture, he'll say 'hensem!'


'Aatikah the little princess


Aik..#3 ke? Oh no no no...not yet. Ni lah dia adik baru...Fitrah Abd Rashid. Awat masam no muka tu?

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Chav

Just ran into this word today: CHAV

Do you know what that means? It is basically a label given to youngsters in the UK. They dress a certain way, they probably talk a certain way too. It’s quite amusing to hear all these kinds of labels given to our youngsters…especially the so called delinquent ones. Sometimes I don’t get it. We do not want them to act in a bad way, yet we label them negatively and expect them to change.

And labels usually have a different effect on these youngsters. More often than not, they bask in the glory of being called something and of belonging to a certain group. To them, this is an elite status. In my opinion, they just need to identify themselves, to belong somewhere.

Oh well…back to chav, the root word has its origins from Romani, meaning child.

So can we say that an acorn is a chav?

I don’t think so. An acorn is a nut.

You might think that this is such a random post on a Tuesday. Well, it is. Random.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Has it been THAT long?



My apologies for non-existing posts, therefore I hope you like these 2 pictures. We don't have internet at home and I don't have time to write from the office, except for today coz I skipped lunch.

Perhaps when we have internet at home I'll be more disciplined at updating the blog. Or perhaps we should move to another country to give me more reasons to upload pictures and every bit of detail. But until then, forgive me for lack of entries.

Monday, October 26, 2009

The Weekend that was…

..awesome!

It started on Friday with 'Aatikah's 1st Birthday. I gave her a dress which I bought eons ago but never got around bringing it home from the office. Anyways, instead of showering her with gifts and presents, she presented to us her ability to walk all over the house, able to get up to a standing position without holding onto anything and jumping…but of course without her feet leaving the floor. She has bloomed into a wonderfully happy baby. Far different from the wailing and yelling little baby. She's not too afraid of other people right now and can tolerate more pain without screaming her head off (of course this pain will usually be inflicted by her brother….haha)

Nothing really exciting happened on Saturday, but lots of things happened on Sunday.

SIL #1 had 2 free children's tickets to the KL Bird Park and we wanted to go before it expires on 31st October. So off we went at 9 am on Sunday…6 adults + 2 toddlers + 1 mini toddler + 1 yet to be born baby. As we parked and got out of the car, my dad came over to our car and said, 'ok, funny story #1'…..'somebody forgot the tickets'. Hahahaha….yes, the free tickets were left at home. So we ended up buying the tickets for the 2 kiddies.

Although this blog lacks pictures, I can assure you that the Bird Park is so worth going to. Lots of birds to see and the place is very clean. The birds there are also well taken care off. Although there's sometimes poop on the pavement, but that is very much expected since it's an open air aviary. Sa'eed and Idraki had the most fun, running all over the place while attempting to hold hands. 'Aatikah was well behaved too. Not a sound from her, apart from that one time she had to have her 'refill'.

The Bird Park even has a little nursery where they have eggs hatching and where they keep the chicks (as in baby chicken ye) and ducklings. My brother took one out for the kids to see. Unfortunately we decided to let Sa'eed hold one and he almost squish it to death. Thank God for small bones and fast reflex (of the chick). So, no more holding little animals after this.

After a couple of hours and after venturing into every nook and cranny (except for the children's park where we consciously decided to steer clear), we were exhausted and hungry. We ate brunch at The Hornbill Restaurant (that does NOT serve hornbills)…I thought it was a wee bit overpriced, but we got a 20% discount for being Malaysian..haha.

Next, we went to the Deer Park next door. It's free anyways and not as big as the Bird Park. 'Aatikah was asleep by then but the boys were still full of energy. We spent about 20 minutes feeding the deer and then went home.

All in all it was a good trip. 'Aatikah slept for about 2 hours while it took some cajoling to get Sa'eed to sleep…he was still running around the house when we got home. I have no idea how such a tiny body can be so full of energy J

Friday, September 18, 2009

Odds and ends

Wah wah wah....it has been ages since I've posted anything on this blog...nampak sangat bukan blogger tegar.

Anyhow...the office is pretty empty due to 'Eid holidays. I'll be taking the whole of next week off, so that is definitely something to look forward to. As usual we'll be celebrating the first day of 'Eid in Seremban then insyaAllah we'll be heading over to Penang for a few days.

On another note, the Sister in Law is back from the UK...yaaay...tak sabar nak tgk dia bawak balik apa...eh eh silap...tak sabar nak tgk dia :p

OK people, SELAMAT HARI RAYA, BE SAFE AND DON'T BE A GLUTTON...hehehe

Thursday, September 3, 2009

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Alif Ba Ta and Bawan(g)

Finally after 4 months, I managed to change Sa'eed's birthday ticker...heh..talk about procrastination huh.

Anyways, Sa'eed has successfully completed his lessons in capitalized ABCs. Later we'll start lessons on small letters. For the capital letters, he sometimes confuses J with L and E with F. He's also having some trouble with W. As for numbers, formal lessons have yet to begun, but he can count up to 5 and match it with the number of fingers.

Now we're moving on to Alif Ba Ta. Made a powerpoint presentation of the Alif Ba Ta two days ago and that's currently how we're teaching him. I'm also looking for the big chart of Alif Ba Ta but can't seem to find it. If you happen to see it in a shop somewhere, holler here ey.

The first time we showed him the powerpoint, he already recognizes a few letters, which to me is kinda impressive. Maybe coz he's watching that dubbed Arabic cartoon which teaches Arabic. It's on Astro Oasis at 5, I think. But one funny story: When we arrived at the letter Ha pusing/pintal (you know, the round one) he confidently said BAWAN(G)...hehe. Good to know he knows his veges. Currently he can't pronounce the NG sound yet.

As for 'Aatikah, she's cruising away and want to stand all the time. She can already fight for things with Sa'eed and will leash out her high pitched voice. Sa'eed on the other hand will keep on saying no no no no. 'Aatikah will always get all giddy and excited whenever Sa'eed is around and Sa'eed never fails to entertain her. Except for when one is bawling over something, the other one will just stare.

It's nice to see the relationship that those two kids are building. I'm sure there will be catfights and doors slamming in the future. But I do hope they stay close to one another like they are now.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Can you talk toddler language?

Before I begin, Selamat Hari Merdeka! In my opinion, merdeka day is a bit toned down this year. Not a lot of people are as 'semangat' like before. Perhaps coz it's Ramadan plus all the H1N1 virus.

Anyhow, try take a stab at what these words mean to a 26 month old kid (pronounced as spelled): HERE ARE THE ANSWERS
Ee-per : DIAPER
Tee-fee : TV
Aa-ju : BAJU
E-war, like 'enam' : SELUAR
Kek : SOMETIMES CAKE SOMETIMES CAT
Bou : SOMETIMES BOWL SOMETIMES BALL
Bobok : KEROPOK, OR ANY CRUNCHY FOOD LIKE CEREAL

Ok, that's all for now coz someone did a number 2.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Post Sarawak

The three of us went to Sarawak and left Sa'eed with his grandparents in Bangi.

Sa'eed didn't cry and didn't even look for us. But he did look for his sister....hmm, he's a grown boy, that little one...boleh masuk asrama dah. haha. Even when we reached home around 1 am from the airport and picked him up from Bangi, the kids were rolling around the bed like little lion cubs. Mak bapak dah pening2 lalat ngantuk, but the kids were wide awake.

Ever since that Sarawak trip, at home, he would look for three people almost daily.

Sa'eed: Atok?
Me: Where's Atok?
Sa'eed: Abisss. Nena?
Me: Where's Nena?
Sa'eed: Abisss. Sha (referring to his Aunty Sha..kalian yang lain jangan jeles ye)?
Me: Where's Aunty Sha?
Sa'eed: Abisss

And if Sa'eed plays with my handphone (or ee-phone as he calls it), the conversation kinda goes like this...

Sa'eed: Kummm....Sha?
Me: Sa'eed cakap dengan Aunty Sha ke? Where's Aunty Sha?
Sa'eed: Work

Hehehe...I'm sure someone's gloating by now.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Measles!

Sa'eed has been having high fever since Tuesday (~38 degrees) plus runny nose, coughing..in short, the works. So of course our first thought was H1N1, but alhamdulillah it wasn't. On Saturday, rashes started to appear on his body. So memang confirm, he has measles.

I googled measles and it is actually a virus on the respiratory system. No wonder it is more dangerous for asthmatic and people who have had pneumonia. But what I'm wondering is how come he got it since I did get the MMR jab for him. Come to think of it, I got measles in primary school and I'm pretty sure my parents got the jab for me. Ke zaman dulu2 takde MMR?

Anyways, there are 4 AirAsia tickets with our names on it for tonight. We're leaving for Sarawak today and unfortunately Sa'eed has to be left behind. The rashes are still there and he's probably still contagious. Even if he's not, it's probably not wise for him to be in a virus/bacteria incubator aka airplane since he's immune system is probably quite weak from 5 days of fever and not eating very well.

And did you know that Malaysia currently has about 4 times more deaths (in terms of percentage) as compared to the global average.

Oh yes. It is contained. Don't worry. *rolls eyes*

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Milestone kah?

I haven't done any miletone updates for so long. So I will attempt to do it as best I can in 10 minutes:

Sa'eed

  • He is more vocal now and his vocab is expanding rapidly
  • If he's sitting somewhere quietly, he's probably sticking the stickers from his sticker book somewhere he's not suppose to
  • Loves any type of cars
  • When we are in a parking lot, will stop at each car (unless someone drags him along) to recite the carplate (tapi bukan betul pun...haha)
  • Says Allah when we ask, 'Tuhan siapa?' :)
  • Can say his ABCs if someone guides, but not when he is busy playing with his car

'Aatikah
  • Started to warm up to people, but still very cautious (READ: cries her head off)
  • Has begun to be more confident in standing up while having her death-grip on something
  • Yesterday she even let go for a few or maybe a fraction of a second before falling
  • Has 4 teeth. Her top 2 teeth a gapped (like Madonna)!
  • Has superb hand-eye coordination...everything goes into her mouth

Hmm....10 minutes are up. Tapi napa mcm lame (as in lame, not lama) je update? hahaha

Monday, August 3, 2009

The Rons and the Runs

This past weekend we went to Cameron Highlands and stayed at one of T*NB's banglos, which was in tip-top condition. Left home at around 10am for breakfast and headed straight to the Rons. The drive up was quite pleasant. We managed to stop by Kuala Woh and had a mini picnic with Krispy Kremes and a bunch of other junk food.

On the way to the banglo, we went up to Boh's plantation, but we couldn't get down from the car coz it was raining quite heavily. So after resting for a bit and changing drivers (yay I got to drive and as I am typing this I just remembered that my drivers license has expired). We reached the banglo and was later joined by sister-in-law.

Our activities included going up to the peak of Brinchang and climbing up the viewing tower, strawberry picking, tea & scones and visiting the local pasar tani.

The kids behaved well and were bundled up nicely because it was quite cold with the rain and all. Our car also behaved well even tho it threatened to not start a few days prior to the trip.

On Sunday we wanted to leave before dark, but we left at 7pm instead coz we wanted to wait for my husband's parents. And while waiting for them, Sa'eed must've done his number 2 for about 7 times. I think it was the strawberries. The water was pretty cold and I'm sure the boy was rather uncomfortable, so whenever I asked him if he 'uk 'uk-ed, he would reply 'tak' even if he did.

On the way down, it was already pretty dark. While we were on the swervy road, hubs suddenly slowed down almost to a halt. I was sitting in the back with the kids, so I didn't really know what was going on. Suddenly two guys came up to the window and I was like 'drive je laaa, jgn berhenti'. Hubs kept on driving and I turned to look; apparently, there were some tree branches on the other side of the road. I didn't see any cars or motocycles beneath the tree, so I dunno if those 2 guys were honestly in distress or were they plotting to con some people. But in any case, we called Emergency and they connected us to the Fire Department.

We reached home at around 11.30pm and 'Aatikah was wide awake! She was as happy as a clam, proceeded to poke and prod the sleeping Sa'eed when I put her on the bed and climbed all over me when I pulled her closer to me as to not wake Sa'eed up.

So yes, I'm like a zombie today at the office.

Friday, July 31, 2009

Confused

I was thinking this during my daily 10 minute pumping ritual in the office.

The government wants to abolish PPMSI (learning science and maths in English). But everyday we see English words Malay-fied. For example, capacitor is kapasitor, inquest is inkues. classic is klasik, lyrics is lirik.

Our alleged mother-tongue language is being butchered by the day.

So what's the point?

On another note, yesterday 'Aatikah pulled herself up to a standing position without any assistance except for gripping Sa'eed's table with her death-grip. I was nearby so I put tons of pillows around her, anticipating her fall. She did fall flat on her face (on the pillow) because she couldn't balance herself while happily holding her prize (the ASTRO remote) from on top of the table.

She was shocked for a second or two but quickly recovered and proceeded to play with the remote.

Sa'eed on the other hand, is bilingual...hahaha.

Scenario: Sa'eed wanted to sit at his table to eat. This conversation below is all Sa'eed, talking to himself.

"Mamam...mamam"

"Wait...wait" while pointing finger, gesturing to wait, while I put his plate down.

"Duduk"

"Sit"

"MMmmmm...nyam nyam nyam"

Hahaha...funny boy.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Now's the time to imitate

I think Sa'eed just recently found his voice. His vocab has grown by leaps and bounds (although not conversing or stringing sentences yet, rilek la beb). He likes to imitate words now, so we gotta be extra careful in what we say....not that we swear freely in the house, but still..

But I still can't figure out what go-ji is...whether it is roti or kunci.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Wah wah wah

Yesterday 'Aatikah turned 9 months. I was cooking in the kitchen while she was in the living room with Sa'eed and their Tok Nyang. Suddenly 'Aatikah went 'maaaa-mam...maaa-mam'.

Wah wah wah...pandai kau nak mintak makan ye.

So I gave her some rice with soup. Even while eating she kept on saying maaa-mam...maaa-mam. Dua mangkuk (baby size of course) habis licin dia makan.

And because 'Aatikah was eating, Sa'eed also asked for food (1st dinner). Then when Abah was eating, he asked for food again (2nd dinner), and when Nyang was eating, he asked for food yet again (3rd dinner).

Friday, July 17, 2009

Whoaaa

Hrmm...first things first...

Welcome to the world little Syed Daniel! Syed Daniel is my cousin's (Rizal & Nafisah) 3rd kid. Hey guys, when you get number 4, please don't name him/her anything that starts with an 'S'. I don't want to state the obvious but Adam, Imran, Daniel spells A-I-D with their initials...heh

On the home front, 'Aatikah is getting bigger by the minute. She can commando crawl pretty well now. Last night when I was busy cooking, Sa'eed wanted to have the freshly made fried noodles although he just had dinner an hour before. I didn't have time to really watch him eat, so I just put the noodles is a bowl and asked him to go eat in front. And of course he HAD to eat right in front of 'Aatikah.

'Aatikah being 'Aatikah headed directly to Sa'eed's bowl and Sa'eed being Sa'eed terus menggelabah. So I put him and his bowl on his IKEA table so that he can eat in peace. Then the little girl started crying because she wanted what her brother was having. I had tons of things left to do because we were expecting a guest. So I just left her there (with Abah in sight). Nangis punye nangis and she commando crawled to the kitchen. Half way she gave up and Abah saved her from the torture.

If food is not in the picture, Sa'eed can be quite the big brother. I can leave them together to play and Sa'eed will be more than happy to layan 'Aatikah with games of chak chak or randomly hand her things to play with. If Sa'eed gets bored and looks for me (most of the time I'd be in the kitchen), all it takes is for me to say "Sa'eed, mana adik? Adik tengah buat apa tu? Pergi tengok kejap". And most of the time he'd saunter back to the living room while saying "diiiikk....diiiiikkkk...hahhahahaha...dikkkk"

Ok, one random thought. In my company, there are plenty of ladies who are around 40-ish who aren't married yet. Yesterday I ran into one and a thought struck me.

"Mesti loaded kan dia ni...bestnye. She can live wherever she wants. Her savings must be huuuuge"

But then another thought struck me.

"But who would she spend the money on? Anak2 pun takde...."

Hmmmmm......

Monday, July 6, 2009

Too close for comfort!

Oh my oh my.

A guy on the 35th floor of my building has been confirmed with H1N1. And apparently he had a meeting on my floor. But some are saying it's the floor above.

But anyways, a friend of mine on my floor was in close contact with him when they bumped into each other in the elevator. This friend of mine is currently sneezing etc and has gotten an MC for 2 days.

So yes, yours truly will be getting a bunch of hand-sanitizers during lunch.

And it pays to have a friend who's father is the Asst. Health DG. She said that this flu is like 'any other flu'. But is deadly to people who has pre-existing illnesses that compromise their immune systems, old people with weak immune systems and kids with not yet matured immune systems. And once infected, it takes up to a week for symptoms to show (hence the one week quarantine for suspected cases).

The treatment is the same for normal flu. The only reason you need to be quarantined is to help contain the spread. So far, patients admitted and subsequently discharged to the Hospital for quarantine since Case #1 has been certified with a clean bill of health.

So please have the courtesy to sneeze or cough onto a tissue and dispose of it properly.

Kiddies

Sa'eed

The lil boy is coughing and has a slight fever. Usually he would just lie down and won't even bother his sister. But he gets all cheery and excited whenever I offer him egg.

My mother-in-law recently bought an IKEA stool for him. The next day my grandma bought an IKEA table to match it. Sa'eed is thoroughly enjoying both items. Sometimes he would put the stool by the windows, sit on the stool while looking outside.

His vocab is definitely expanding. He knows alphabets when he sees them, but gets them confused. Main tibai je mana A, mana R.

If he's doing his business, he will say uk-uk. But if he's not done and I try to take his pants off to wash him, he'll struggle like mad. Hmmm....is this an opportune time to potty train?

'Aatikah

This girl is getting spunkier by the minute. She can commando crawl and is starting to heave her self up while holding on to a chair or Sa'eed's table. She can also walk while holding on to the sofa (and of course with someone holding her hips). She's also learning how to use the straw. She can get the water into her mouth, but she'll splutter some out.

And all this happened in one weekend...phewwww.

Friday, July 3, 2009

How alternative energy changes lives

I was in Tanzania, Africa a couple years ago over the summer working on a solar project. This particular post is about a small village area in Bagamoyo. To get to Bagamoyo from town (Dar-es-salaam) was a couple of hours and to get from the center of Bagamoyo to the village area was a couple hours more. I remembered the road (if you can call it a road) to be very extremely bumpy.

When I got there, I could see a couple of girls carrying buckets of water on their heads. If you look at the picture, the girl is actually carrying a baby tub on top of a bucket. They walk from their huts to a small watering hole twice a day to get water. Each trip probably last an hour.

The picture above is what their huts look like. I've been told that because it is made out of mud, after a while it gets 'holey' and snakes tend to come in uninvited.

Hmm...so what is this structure? Looks like a regular water tower you find in more modern housing areas. And that's exactly what it is. The government gave some funds to some people to build this thing to store water so that it could be distributed to the surrounding households.

How do they get the water in the tank? Via water pumps pumping water from the underground source (aquifer).

The above picture shows the water source. The pump is close by. Since the village is not connected to the grid, the only way to get the pump to work is by using alternative energy.

And in this case, they chose solar panels. We did the testing on that day and everything seemed to work ok. The pump had enough horsepower to pipe the water up into the tank and the piping network from the tank was working too. So the people in the village only had to open a tap and water would be flowing.

It might not matter to us coz we are so used to having water whenever we wanted it, but to them, this small effort is worth so much more. Now the girls won't have to walk to and fro for long hours just to get water.

But I bet the small kids would continue going to the water hole to bathe (read: dangerously dive) just because they can :)

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

I am the party poop-er


Ada ka, this penguin pooped right when I was snapping this pic. But the most tak tahan thing is that the penguin pooped while nuzzling with its girlfriend.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Langkawi Pics

As promised, here are some looooong overdue pics from our Langkawi trip. Not a whole lot coz it takes ages to upload. Oh, and these aren't in any particular order.

'Aatikah and Auntie Blossom at the nikah ceremony.

'Aatikah chillaxing at the airport with a bottle of H20

This was at Perdana Quay aka PETRONAS Quay near the cable car ride. PETROSAINS here is free! Since it was a hot day, we decided to hang out at the fully air conditioned place while waiting for 'Asr prayers.

Some waterfall that has lost its mojo because water was trickling instead of falling. Can you spot hubby?

Hmm....asyik 'Aatikah je, mananye gambar Sa'eed nih?

Ah, ni dia Sa'eed...hehe, and I HAD to put an embarassing photo of him first. Oh well...this was him passed out while we were up on Gunung Raya.

Practicing some karate moves on the beach.

Talking to the fish....

Monday, June 29, 2009

Spring cleaning

Hmmm....my apologies for not updating ever so frequently. Work has become really hectic. Have been going home late more frequently too.

But anyways, job satisfaction is on an all time high, which is good I guess.

This pass weekend was mostly spent outside the house. Saturday morning we went to DSH to get 'Aatikah's 6 month jab...yepp, at 8 months. Then we sent the car for servicing. Or was it the other way around? But anyways, papa loaned us his car and of course we forgot to take the house keys from our car keys. And maktok pun was painting the town red with makngah, so we did the next most sensible thing...headed to makngah's house konon2nye nak tunggu derang balik. Plus, Umairah and family were home. Umairah looks like a carbon copy of her mom, but apparently I'm the only one who sees it...hmmmm...other people claim that she looks a whole lot like her daddy.

At makngah's we got a call from the service center saying that our car was ready, so we picked up the car and went home. Heh...got a call from sister in law asking if we were going to the wedding. Our reaction? Haaaaaa? Whose wedding???? Rupanye it was hubby's cousin, the one we went to Langkawi for. Langkawi was for the bride's side and Saturday was for the groom's aka hubby's cousin's side.

So after Zuhr we headed off to Bandar Tun Razak for the wedding and ended up lost. (But not as lost as someone who wanted to drive to Melaka but ended up going to Ipoh....muahahahahaha. That, my brother, will never be forgotten).

Hmm...Saturday evening was a blur.



On Sunday we went to Ampang for my cousin's kenduri do'a selamat. Baby Noah is so cute! Tido bagai nak rak even though the house was full of activity. 'Aatikah on the other hand was very very very clingy. Fortunately or unfortunately she only wanted ME. If not, she'll start crying her dinosaur tears, her eyes would get all red and she would shriek like there's no tomorrow. Maybe coz she's still recovering from her on and off fever + runny nose.

Came back from the wonderful lunch and relaxed with some Simpsons reruns.

Fabulousmoms.com recently opened up a branch in TTDI and was hoping to visit, but no time yet...even though we drive pass it every single day...heh

Hmm...back to work...oh so much fun dissecting the recently passed American Clean Energy and Security Act...



My little princess

Aiseyh, sorry Sa'eed, ummi nak put your picture also, but tetiba cannot upload. Sorry babe, we don't love you less k :)

Thursday, June 18, 2009

First word?

Oh yeah baby, the girl is beginning to be a talker like her aunties (on hubby's side...hahaha). Just yesterday she let out her very first word...and it had to be 'bah'. Why can't it be 'ummi' or even 'mi' instead? Sa'eed's first word was 'bah' too.

But anyways, apparently today she's miaowing. Called up the house to ask if her fever has subsided and that's what maktok said. 'Aatikah's miaowing. *slaps forehead*

Will update later on our holiday in Langkawi :)

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Holiday-ing

Yaaay....insyaAllah tonight we'll be leaving KL to go to ******. This will be the kids' second time on a plane, hopefully everything goes well. We'll be attending a wedding on Saturday, but we extended the stay to Tuesday to maximize the RM 1 Air Asia deal we got (in other words, we were to kedekut to pay extra to come back on Sunday).

Sarah, we promise to not leave Sarip stranded anywhere :)

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

How apt


Source: www.babyblues.com

Annoyed?

I always frequent this one particular forum for breastfeeding to see what problems other mommies have and then if I've had the same problem and was able to solve it, I'd give my 2 cents. Or to just get other people's experiences in breastfeeding. But lately I don't go to that forum anymore coz it has started to be quite annoying.

Some new 'forumers' would come in and ask a question such as, why is my pumping output so low or maybe something like what do I do if my baby doesn't take the bottle? and my maternity leave is almost over? All innocent questions and very much a common problem. But then, some experienced forumer will be like, 'oh, we've answered that question before. look it up'. And that pretty much annoys me.

Why don't you just answer the question, if you're too lazy to type coz you've typed it a million times, copy & paste je lah or just keep quite. Not that hard, huh. Come on, even if the question has been answered before, some of the discussions don't really address the problem. Plus, do you expect the person to go through god knows how many pages of discussion.

That is why it's called a forum in the first place. To have healthy discussions and debates. If you expect people to just read through old postings, then just freeze the whole freaking forum.

And I have no idea why I am so sore about this...standard answer: hormones kot.

Papejelah

KANGAR: The Raja Muda of Perlis has advised youngsters not to record sex scenes on their mobile phones.

Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail expressed his concern as there had been many cases of photographs and shocking scenes of youth, especially young women, engaging in sex being widely circulated on the Internet.

He said the scenes were usually recorded by the boyfriends and later used to threaten the women.

Source


Erm…good advise. But shouldn’t the advise be to NOT have sex out of wed-lock?

Monday, June 1, 2009

Oh my oh my

Guess what?

I can feel a tooth on the little girl's lower gum. Can't see it yet, but can definitely feel it with my finger. Hoooo boy, hopefully she doesn't bite! On another note, she can already sit unassisted fairly well. She can even lean forward or sideways and sit-up properly again.

At this point, I think she's a tad bit more active than Sa'eed when he was at the same age. And I sense it's gonna get more fun around since both of them can interact a bit. Well, Sa'eed does all the goofy acts and 'Aatikah acknowledges it by laughing or looking at him as if he's weird.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Thinking Out Loud

Here I am at the in-laws. Kids are asleep and hubby is in Johor. And in the background is sister-in-law's soft (loud) snores...hehe...which sister-in-law, I shall not name.

Anyways, I was planning on doing some reading on renewable energy since the team's intense one month work will start next week. I am totally not prepared. Fortunately or unfortunately I've been roped into this team where everyone else is really smart and know their stuff. I on the other hand....ehemm....The team's task is a rather big one. We're suppose to map out exactly which part of the renewable energy value chain the company's suppose to enter. And of course, the business expectation is for us to enter the most lucrative sector.

But hey, in this country, no renewable energy business is lucrative. Unless you are a foreign company setting up a manufacturing plant. You'll get tax relief, cheap land, cheap labor etc. And what's in for us is a measly number of employment. I understand that the government wants to attract foreign investment. But come on, you're practically giving everything to them at a cheap price, and you tell us they will create job opportunities for fellow citizens. But seriously, their product is not even for the local market. So, the obvious states that they will probably reap in tons of profits. To be fair, the government should give the same incentives to locals doing the exact same thing.

Another hindrance is of course the subsidies. It's like crack cocaine. We are so addicted to it.

Oh yeah, just remembered. I was at a conference recently and this guy from the States did his own testing from the hotel room. He's from an energy efficiency company, so it is his practice to randomly check the grid's stability based on its frequency, whenever he's traveling. And surprise surprise, our country's grid is soooooo not stable as compared to other countries. The frequency was jumping up and down. So what is means is that the grid is having trouble stabilizing itself. Oh you who are in the Planning Division of TNB, please fix this...haha..yes, you.

Ok...I think it's time too sleep.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Eih....wait a minute

'Aatikah has always been wary of strangers holding her. I think I've mentioned before that 'Aatikah will only allow strangers to hold her 10-15 minutes max. Every time someone holds her, she will turn her head to look at that person, turn her head to look at me, get red-faced and start wailing.

But then, we were like, oh like this cannot lah. Tak cool lah ni taknak kat orang. So we kept handing her to people and to test out how much she will last with so and so.

Then suddenly it clicked. After Odah's wedding on Saturday, suddenly she was okay with other people besides me, abah, maktok and makcik holding her. Siap boleh tinggalkan dia dgn the in-laws while hubby and I settle Sa'eed's smelly poop (while we were in Alamanda).

Oh but I hope she won't be as gung-ho as her brother.

Sa'eed is a different story all together. It is quite dangerous, I think. He is not afraid of anyone (except for cousin Firuz because Sa'eed rammed into him and that knocked the daylights out of the little guy....). So much so that he voluntarily climbed into a makcik's car during the nikah ceremony at the inlaw's house while the groom's entourage were about to leave the house. Hmm did that sentence confuse you?

And he didn't even mind spending half the day with Mr. Hubby's aunt's family + Tok Yang. Heh, but when they sent him home, the aunt asked if Sa'eed wanted to follow them home for the night. Sa'eed replied with a resounding shake of the head...nasib baik reti nak duduk rumah time malam :p

Sa'eed the handsome boy in baju melayu with aunties. Pic by Aunt K kot.

'Aatikah si mata bulat. Pic by Aunt K.

'Aatikah si comel ikut template ummi dia...haha. Pic by Aunt K.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Planning

My degree was in Environmental Engineering, but I'm currently doing Strategic/Technology Planning. So what exactly is Planning?

Planning can be viewed as an exercise to optimize resources. We do it subconsciously every day. For example if you need to go grocery shopping, get fuel for the car and settle your bills at the post office, you will plan your route and take into account waiting time (if any), if you need to grab lunch in between, are the places close by and so on and so forth. Once you have that plan in your head, you implement it for the day or even spread the activities over a few days depending on how your schedule is.

In terms of Corporate Planning, there are two types. Strategic Planning and Business Planning. In simple terms, strategic planning is sort of planning for the future (say over 10-15 years) and business planning is more towards short term activities. So for example, you want to be worth RM 500 million within 10 years and RM 1 billion by the time you're 50 (strategic planning) so what you do is you invest in property, mutual funds etc (business planning). But to plan, you need your background information, so this is where the analysis tools come in. Some that might be familiar to you is STEEP, SWOT and Porter's 5 Forces.

On paper, it looks easy enough to do either strategic or business planning, but in reality it is not that easy since you need to do enough benchmarking activities to understand your competitor's own strategic plans so that in some ways, you'll be able to leapfrog their achievements. This is where radical thinking comes in.

How exactly do we think radically? If you've taken chemistry before, you'll know that a radical is an element that disassociated itself from other elements. For example let's take oxygen - O2. If the two Os disassociates, you'll get two O radicals. That is actually how you form ozone. When the O radical meets O2, you'll get ozone, 03.

Aaaaanyways, if you take that as an example, you can rightfully conclude that to think radically, you need to disassociate yourself from the norm.

Hmmm....what is the point of this post? I pun tak tau. Just writing my thoughts, I guess. Sorry if I have bore you...heh

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

One of those days

Oh tidak.

I am so the very stressed.

Sarah, jom gi retail therapy on Friday. Let's ditch the nikah petang tu....muahahahahaha...kidding :)



On the homefront, En. Hubby is at home babysitting the kiddies because Makcik is unwell. En. Abang did the babysitting for us on Monday and Tuesday. Thanks ye my bestest big brother in the world.



Monday, May 18, 2009

Happenings

Haha...baru seminggu tak update dah ada suara suara bingit suruh update blog...so, hambik ni.

Sa'eed

What can I say about this little kid? His vocab is expanding, but still on one word 'sentences'. Favorite word is probably 'nak'. Semua pun nak. My sister in law is getting married this weekend and the living room is filled with candy. So of course Sa'eed would point everywhere and say nak nak nak nak non stop. Once he gets a candy, he will sit quietly and eat it. Then the nak nak nak nak frenzy start all over again.

Sa'eed absolutely loves to go jalan-jalan. One time he was asleep and I was half awake. Abah was already off to work. I suppose Sa'eed was half awake too at that time coz when he heard the car engine immediately he woke up and said shhh shhh (meaning shoe).

In the eating department, he is a tad bit more picky. Give him a plate of rice, fish and veggies, he would want to finish up the veges without eating anything else. Kalau ada egg or tofu lagi dahsyat. But ok la, at least he eats healthily. And he loves fruits also. He can easily finish half a papaya or 2 apples at one go.

Heh, and I seriously think we need to go on a shopping spree for him. He's fast outgrowing his clothes for 3 year olds.


'Aatikah

Hmmm...this little lady is more on the emotional side. Currently she won't last for more than about 5 minutes with people she's not familiar with. She'll cry like she got beaten or something. Oh I hope this is just a phase.

And currently she can sit unassisted, but someone will have to put her in the sitting position first. But of course she will topple here and there after a few minutes. She also loves to grab objects and put it in her mouth. And she has started to become more mobile by rolling.

By right she can start on solids, but I'm keeping that to a minimum since she's already 'solid'...haha...and of course so that she maximizes her milk intake. I have about 3 liters of frozen EBM and she's the only one who consumes it in the house...Lets not put all that output to waste ya.

I think Sa'eed absolutely adores his sister. Nak peluk lah, nak angkat lah. And he has learnt to agah her...quite amusing to see. She doesn't seem to mind the affection, except when she's not in a good mood lah.

Hmmm....I thought this entry would be quite long...but after a week out of the office, I have tons of things to catch up to....workwise ye, bukan gossip...haha.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Are we worthy?

Last weekend I received a very heartbreaking news. My friend's husband's sister's baby died in the womb...at 9 months. She was due in a few days. Apparently the baby's umbilical cord broke in her tummy. That news was very much difficult to digest..even though for the life of me I can't remember her name and I've only met her once.

To have a person grow inside you is a very exhilarating experience. Every day you think about whether you've eaten enough for him/her to grow and wondering if you're doing the right thing traveling to and from the office everyday. As you feel the baby kick, you shriek in delight and wait in anticipation for that moment to come even though sometimes it does hurt. Towards the end of the pregnancy you feel the kicks and movements ever so often and sometimes you dread it. But when you can't feel it anymore even for a second, you keep telling the baby inside you to keep on kicking. And once baby gives you even a little nudge, you heave a sigh of relief.

When the baby is born, you trace your fingers on the outlines of her face. You welcome into the world with love and care. As the nurses wrap her up, you just stare at your baby, hoping to be able to hold her as soon as possible. Her newborn scent wafts in around you and you bask in the happiness of holding someone you've been wanting to meet for the past 9 months.

But to have that feeling taken away from you is unimaginable. I can't imagine what is running through her mind when the baby is no longer inside her but yet the baby's not with her. For 9 months the baby was growing and connecting with the mother. For 9 months the mother's heartbeat was the loudest and most reassuring sound. And for 9 months she built her hopes and dreams for the child in her womb. But after a split second, it was all gone.

That got me thinking as to how lucky we are, alhamdulillah. To have 2 beautiful kids within 3 years of marriage. Indeed we are blessed, and hopefully the kids are lucky too to have us as their parents.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Comel bangatttt

Since takde orang lain nak puji anak I, mari I puji anak I sendiri. (Notice how if it is related to cuteness and all round good behavior, they're my kids, otherwise, they're our kids).

'Aatikah yang comel gile tak tahan





Sa'eed at around the same age...



BTW, Krispy Kremes is finally opening on Monday at Berjaya Times Square! yummehhhh

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

As per some requests, here is the recipe for the delicious cinnamon rolls. This was copied verbatim from here.


Have you ever been shopping at the local mall when suddenly you smell something overwhelmingly delicious? If you follow the scent of cinnamon and butter you will usually end up at a Cinnabon kiosk with gigantic hot cinnamon rolls covered in gooey icing! That's what these taste like, only better! These are a little more cooked on the inside than the typical Cinnabon and a little less sweet, a little more cinnamon and spice... I pretty much followed the recipe below with the following exceptions: i added more spices (cardomon and clove) to the the filling and then i mixed it all together to form a paste and spread that onto my rolled dough. The other change i made was to roll up the dough into a log and then cut in half, wrap well in saran wrap and foil and put into zip lock bags so that i could freeze them for a few days. I took the frozen logs out and let thaw in the fridge... then cut the logs into rolls, put into a baking pan and left on the counter to proof for a few hours, then cooked. They turned out just as good as the fresh-dough cinnamon rolls and its great to be able to make the dough in advance and then have cinnamon rolls whenever you feel like them. Next time i think i will actually cut the dough into individual rolls and freeze those in bags of four... then when the urge for buttery cinnamon hits i will be ready!

Cinnabon™ Knock-off Cinnamon Rolls

Rolls:

1 pkg. active dry yeast (1/4 oz. size or 2 1/4 tsp.)
1 c. warm milk (105º to 110º F.)
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. margarine, melted (used butter)
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
4 c. all-purpose flour

Filling:

1 c. packed brown sugar
2 1/2 TBS. cinnamon
1/3 c. margarine, softened (used butter)

Icing:
1/4 c. (1/2 stick) margarine, softened (used butter)
1/4 c. (2 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 TBS. whole milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. lemon extract

For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl
Mix together the sugar, butter, salt & eggs. Add flour and mix well
Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands lightly dusted with flour (i used the KitchenAid with the dough hook and kneaded for about 10 minutes). Put in a bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place about an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough flat until it is approximately 21 inches long and 16 inches wide. It should be about ¼ inch thick.
Preheat oven to 400º F.
For the filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Spread the softened butter evenly over the surface of the dough, and then sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar evenly over the surface (i mixed my sugar and spices together with the softened butter to create a spread).
Working carefully from the top (a 21 inch side), roll the dough down to the bottom edge.
Cut the rolled dough into 1 ¾ inch slices and place 6 at a time, evenly spaced, in a lightly greased (i used Pam) baking pan. Let the rolls rise again until doubled in size (about 30 min.). Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden on top (i baked mine for about 15-18 minutes to get them nice and browned on top).

While the rolls bake, make the icing by mixing the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed. Add the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, then add the milk and flavorings. Mix on high speed again until the icing is smooth and fluffy.
When the rolls come out of the oven, let them cool for about 10 minutes. I scooped up the gooey, melted caramelized cinnamon butter mixture from the bottom of the pan and drizzled over the top of the rolls for more flavor and texture. Then I coated each roll generously with the icing.

Good Luck!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Anak siapa tuu....

Pic ripped from Sarah's

Sa'eed is becoming cheekier by the minute! And he knows a lot more words now. The latest ones being:

1. taaaa-tiiihhh, accompanied with stomping motions coz that's what I do with 'Aatikah
2. mars, courtesy of Aunty Ruqayyah
3. tido, suruh Aunt Rumaisa tido
4. nyaa, which means Nyang for his Tok Nyang

And yesterday he showed his ability to totally own the iPhone. He knows how to unlock it by sliding the 'lock' thinga-majig. Slide sana slide sini, pasang lagu. Slide sana slide sini, call aunty kat US.

Ummi dia first time pegang iPhone pun pegang terbalik...haha

Mega project


Hehe...alhamdulillah this time menjadi jugak the cinnamon rolls. The first time I attempted to make it, I uneventfully killed the yeast by dousing it with hot milk. This time I made sure the milk was only warm.

Looks delicious kan...hahahaha

Friday, April 17, 2009

Ummi, not too close please...

Honey, you're only two and yet you've started to resist public displays of affection....

*hadoiii*

*kerana ku terlalu cantik maka gambar ini telah di-delete...hehe

At Treats, TTDI.
Picture courtesy of Kak Sarah

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The Giants vs Smallville

When we were in highschool, Hawa and I always joked that when we got married, we'll get kids as big as a soccer team. Then our kids could play against each other. After a while, we toned it down to a basketball team each.

Both of us ended up marrying in our early 20s but neither of us married our 'old flames'. Hawa's husband has 13 other siblings while my husband has 5 other siblings. I thought my husband's family was big but as you can see, Hawa's husband's family is even bigger.

Come April 2007, Sa'eed was brought into the world and later in October of the same year, Hannah came along.

When I found out in February 2008 that I was pregnant again, Hawa said "ala bestnye pregnant sekali lagi. Makes me want to have one too". And that was exactly what she did. Our girls were born about a month apart.

So, are we on track to have our soccer/basketball team? Perhaps, but that's not in our hands.

But, since hubby and I are both baka gagah perkasa, our kids are quite chubby and tall. Hawa and hubby are both comel lote, so their kids follow suit. And so, I have arrived to the point of this post:

From L to R: Sa'eed, me, 'Aatikah, Mr Z, Kols, Sophie, Hannah and Hawa
Picture by Aini

Here are both our families and notice the size differences...hehe. Oh well, kalau manusia sume tinggi berat sama, tak thrill la kan.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY, SA'EED!

Wife: So, are we going to buy that house?

Husband: I'm not sure. I think it's too far from the workplace.

Wife: Ok. Which area do you think is best then?

Husband: Hmmm....why don't you find out. It's in your portfolio.

Wife: Huh? Since when? What's in your portfolio then?

Husband: Human Resource.

Wife: !!!


So, to our first HR recruit......


HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY, SA'EED!

You have grown by leaps and bounds and will continue to do so.

Please be kind to your sister and everyone around you.

Jadilah anak yang soleh.

And please don't throw your parents in the old folks' home...har har

XOXO