Pre-Raya

Raya this year i will going back to Sarawak, my husband's hometown. The most excited person is ofcourse my husband. Can't blame him la..because he only go back there once a year. I yang selalu balik Alor Star pun rindu & excited everytime balik sana. My husband's hometown is quite rural. You know how big Sarawak kan, his kampung is at Kabong. About 6 hours drive from Kuching or 2 hours drive from Sibu. A village with only essential shops & facilities. No bank or atm, no clinic only klinik kesihatan gomen, no supermarket only kedai runcit, no restaurant only kedai kopi. The nearest town would be half and hour drive away, which is Sarikei (town besar Kajang je kot). Tapi takdela ulu sangat sampai takde line fon or letrik, cuma water source je kureng sket...kena catu especially time raya where the kampung will be full of people. Well..walaupun ulu, Raya tetap meriah. Raya kat kampung memang suasana dia lain. And the kids, my children sure syok jumpa all their cousins because compare to my side, my husband's side memang lagi ramai sepupu sepapat because his brothers & sisters dah banyak anak. The only set back is that, i wish i can converse in my husband's (sarawakian) language. So far i can only understand about 70% of what they're saying, the rest memang blur la...especially bila old generation yang sembang...totally blur!

Here, most of stuff for Raya has been bought. Bought some biscuits, serunding, kerepek, and also 50 pieces of roti jagung Gardenia (favourite org Swak, because kat sana tak jual) to bring to Sarawak. Baju raya also semua dah ada. And also baju for mother & father in law. So i am now all ready to celebrate hari raya at Sarawak. We will fly there on this Thursday to Sibu (my brother in law's house) and probably drive to Kabong the next day. Will be staying there 11 days, till 4th September.

Okay enough with the rantings, now nak selit gak gambar. Some of stuff bought for Raya and also some stuff not raya-related but just to share. 

Some of the biscuits bought. Not much, just all the favourite biscuits that i love eat . Notice that most of them are chocolate covered! Some for Sarawak, some are  mine. Biskut bentuk ice cream tu Adam yang pilih, entah sedap ke tak.

Serunding daging yang amat sedap from Pekan Rabu, Alor Star. And my favourite popia ikat.

This is Dania's (obviously). Bought it at this shoe shop at Sunway Pyramids. Can't remember the shop's name but there are lots of cute & pretty kids shoes, rambang mata nak pilih and the price are quite reasonable as well.  If i wasn't being rational i would have bought a couple more shoes for Dania! Also got some adult shoes. Do check it out when you are there, it is located besides Starbucks (near entrance).

This is mine. The only baju raya i have. Stripes, polka dots & denim.  This pic taken right after i just washed them to get rid of the 'bau baju baru' or  'bau kedai'.

Like i've told before, these are Dania's clothes that never been worn and given by others. There are some others but i was too lazy to search for it. So no more clothes bought for Raya! 

This is unrelated. Not for Raya but i just recently bought it. It is a kimono jacket! I did make a post about buying it. At last i've bought one from Cotton On. Wish i got more money so that i can buy 2 more of this in other prints. 

Also another unrelated pic but gonna show it anyway coz i think this is cute.  Adam's new toy, the cute Spongebob & Patrick doll in superhero costumes. He insisted to buy both of them, reason being he wants to fight & wrestle them both. Me, having soft spot for Spongebob as well, belikan jela. Anyway, i think this pic is really cute, don't you think so?

Do Your Kids Need Lingeries?

I just came upon this news on CNN.com and was disgusted. What are they thinking? Letting kids expose like that? I don't know whether adult out there agrees with me or not but i can be sure most parents will be on my side on this. What angers me is that, those company that design this so called 'Adult inspired lingerie for kids' are so insensitive and profit oriented. Their defense is that those lingerie are not provocative or sexy for kids. Come on, if you name it lingerie instead of underwear or 'spender' it ought to be sexual elements in some way right? The only underwear for kids is those that have Dora, Spongebob, Disney's cartoon or superheroes characters printed on them. Not those lacy, frilly, ruffled lingerie that will aroused pedophile! Those designers either too ignorance or live in a world where there are no crimes involve children.

Come on la....there are already too many child rape cases and pedophile laying around. Just look at the website pictures, it is enough to attract those disgusting pedophile and god know what they think & feel upon seeing them! You may not think those pictures are provocative but believe me those pedophile do think so! Not only kids do not need lingerie but kids also are inappropriate to pose in one.

You may think i am over-reacted and negative or old fashioned. I can't be hip or happy when i see kids been exploit to another dumb marketing scheme right? I am a mother. News about child rape & abuse hurt me deeply. And i will object anything that can contribute to even more crime or feed the hunger of those sick pedophile out there. Why does nowadays kids are too fast to grow up? Kids from my era and now are totally different, they know lots of adult stuff and would like to grow up fast or act like a grown up. And there are loads of manufacturer markets their stuff to cater this so-called can't wait to be adult children. Make-up, heels, designer bags and other god know what. Now come this lingerie, if kids want to have a lingerie and even worse trying to wear it sexily to attract the opposite sex, then how? Young girls don't need lingerie, they need to be kids...playing around with friends and learning something new. Not thinking what to wear that makes them sexy or what lingerie to be matched with today's outfit. It just not right!!!

Truly speaking. Even provocative & sexy pic posed by a grown woman disturb me. Whenever i saw them i will question who are this woman? why she has no shame? is she somebody's daughter, girlfriend, mother or wife? if yes, how do they feel of her posing like this? does she know guys want to do bad things when they see her pic? Lots of such questions bedazzled me. So what do you expect me to react to a kids lingerie that promotes  sexual attention for kids???? Haihhhh.....

Kid Says The Darnedest Thing

Adam: Mak, nanti belikan adam toys ye
Mak: Tak boleh, mak takdak duit
Adam: Mak beli la duit banyak-banyak

Note: Habaq mai nak beli duit kat mana?

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Bapak: Lepas ni Adam tak boleh makan udang dah, nanti gatal lagi badan tu.

Adam: Nape bapak? Dalam udang banyak nyamuk ke??


Note: Dia ingat nyamuk ja boleh bagi gatal badan

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Bapak: Adam, kenapa aunty tak pakai tudung tapi mak pakai tudung?
Adam: Oh, aunty tak beli tudung lagi.

Note: Sucinya hati budak tanpa prejudis & prasangka buruk


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Bapak: Adam kena makan banyak-banyak, baru kuat!
Adam: Tak nakla..nanti Adam jadi gemuk macam mak, baju Adam pecah nanti.

Note: Mak dia nangis dalam hati bila dengar T T


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PARAM

Pejam celik..pejam celik, dah 10 hari kita berpuasa. Doesn't feels like it right? How was your puasa so far? Rajin masak beraneka juadah or just frequent the pasar ramadan at your place? I am guilty on the latter. The truth is, so far i did not do any single cooking for break-fast, unless goreng telur mata is considered cooking! I salute to all mak-mak out there yang bertungkus-lumus masak dan mencuba berbagai resipi for berbuka puasa. Bahagia perut suami & anak-anak kan? Maybe i will be that mother when my children obliged me to..somewhere in the future! For now, this year, dengan Dania dok bergayut kat kaki time masak or sibuk punggah sampah & kabinet or trying to reach the stove or whatever within her reach i don't think i can cook in peace. Please note that usually, my husband will jaga the sibuk Dania whenever i cooks but now during fasting month if i would to wait for my husband back from work, dekat isya' baru dapat makan kot.

Soooo every afternoon, after work i will go to pasar ramadan (or Param as people now called it in short). Round 5x pun still takdak idea nak beli apa. I would usually buy for my husband, my sister, my son and me. This resulted in me consuming rice lesser, due to the dishes sold at Param are soo not tempting enough and mesti tak sedap! Kalau kuih muih lagi la tak lalu tengok..still dare to charge me 40sen each. Memang tak berbaloi beli. So usually memang dah ada selected seller that i would only buy from. Sebab tu kalau dah 10 hari dok beli kedai tu jeee memang muak dah la. hahahaha...Unless i am adventurous enough to go to other places Param, memang sorry la nak tempuh all the jam plus finding parking spot just to ubah selera. So now no choice but to just buy whatever sells at Param here. Less than 1 month je kottttt.

Last weekend was iftar with my cousins. The cousins who resides within KL & Selangor. This is a must event every Ramadan and this year the crowd are bigger & merrier. We dine at Dorsett Regency Hotel at Subang. One of my cousin got 50% discounts on their Ramadan buffet so apa lagi, ramai-ramai serbu la. The food was abundance, and some are good. There are mixes of  Malay cookings (lauk-pauk), Mid-eastern cooking, kambing golek, pasta, sushi, cold cuts and some traditional kuih & desserts.  Did not took any single picture of the food because i was too caught up with food and also taking care of my lil girl Dania that keep reaching out on my plates. Only picture of us cousins..happy just being together and full from all the eating.

Lovely cousins. The best people around!

The ladies

The happy children.

On a positive note..or maybe a happy ones. I am going back to my hometown Alor Star this Friday. The best thing in life is eating your favourite food & dishes back home at your childhood hometown. Heaven gila makanan dekat Alor Star...homecook or outside food, both are much much more delicious and berbaloi dari kat sini. Really..really looking forward to iftar at Alor Star!!! *excited*

Dania's Birthday In Photograps

A small celebration with just us family. 

Adam was more excited than anyone...as usual. 

The cake was pretty but not as delicious.

I hope Dania knows that we love her very much.

Excuse the lousy picture. Taken with my lousy handphone because my camera was out of battery. 

Again, Happy Birthday Dania!

1 year old Dania

Today is Dania's 1st birthday. Oh how time flies! It did not feel like it, Dania been in my life, our life for one whole year. She completes our family, because now i have a son and a daughter. Her laughter, the funny sound that comes out from her little mouth, her silly moves that she keep repeating because it makes us laugh, her eagerness  when there are foods and her clinging habits that follows me around everywhere. I will always cherished all that and it will be a sweet memory that i'll keep in me forever.

Since it is Dania's birthday, i want to share my pregnancy & labor experience. Just a brief story, so that Dania or anyone interested to know about it for future references.

My pregnancy was actually planned but somehow miscalculated. We decided to let off any precaution and ready to conceive our second child, because we wanted 3 years gap between Adam and his sister/brother. On just one try between 1 month, i was already pregnant. But like i said, it was miscalculated because by being pregnant on that time, means that i would deliver my baby near Ramadan, won't able to fast the whole Ramadan and still on my confinement when Syawal comes. And also my mother has to leave my dad alone at kampung during puasa month, just to take care of me during my confinement period. Kesian & leceh kan? Well, what to do kan?

My pregnancy was a challenge to me. Not because of the pregnancy itself because i did not experience any nausea, morning sickness, fatigue or anything that bothers my well beings. It was a challenge to me emotionally & mentally because at that time my dear late brother was sick and hospitalized. I was up & down to the hospital like it was my second home. Both my mom & husband was worried at me being exposed to hospital environment and also from the stress. But they won't dare to stop me because my mom still needs me handling everything and my husband knew me better that i would be stubborn and refuse to just sit quietly only because i am pregnant. My focus was my brother, my pregnancy was not my primary concern and i would only pray that Allah help me to ease my burden. Final blow was my brother's death, i was about 5 months pregnant that time. I was in grief, extremely sad that my soon to be born daughter would not know or meet her uncle.

So the rest of my pregnancy period after the great ordeal gone very smoothly. Till 4th August 2010, i went to work as usual but feeling a bit unease at my stomach. More like a period cramps. Keep running up & down the stairs to toilet (i use second floor toilet) thinking maybe i need to pass motion. Came noon, the pain were stronger but bearable. I still refused to accept that it was the sign for labor because my plan was to wait for my mom to come, which was still 5 days away. I was on my 38th weeks at that time. My husband dah kalut & worried. After work, i went home. I still can tahan the pain which came every 15 minutes. Sempat lagi suruh my husband bought KFC for dinner. Went to hospital at 8pm. Admitted, only 3cm dilated. Was given drips to fasten the dilation and doc came to manually pecahkan air ketuban. After that i was struggling like hell, battling with the pain. Shooting anger at my husband, making him even more kalut. The pain was extreme...only Allah knows! 10pm i was already 7cm dilated and was sent to labor room because i dah start nak teran. It happened so fast, all i could remember was that i push and push like crazy and finally this wonderful & precious lil' human being was put on my arm. She was born at 10.30pm, weighing 3kgs (the same weight as her brother). The pain instantly gone when i saw Dania's beautiful face. Alhamdulillah you came out healthy! We decided to name her Dania because it resembles of my brother's name which is Danial.

Now, after 1 year has passed, she still makes me happy and lift up my problem & pains away whenever i see her. Now i have 2 kids that makes me happy each day, both are equally love by me & husband. After one year, Dania can do lots of thing. She started to walk at 9 months, calling 'mak', ' bapak', 'abang' (eventhough sometime they sound the same), sips water from straw, imitates whatever we did or talk in her own funny way, has interest in books or colorful pictures and learn to play with toys.

Since it is fasting month, we won't be having any celebration or party. Just going to buy a small cakes as a momentous to signify a special day. Dania, my curly haired daughter..i wish you grown up to be a beautiful, healthy & happy child. I love you sooooo much! Now please enjoy the pictures.

Fresh from the oven!

About 2 months old, after shaving her hair.

3 months old, with he brother Adam.

Has grown to be a beautiful girl with unruly curly hair!

Lately, she loves doing this. Yoga maybe??

Sipping her own drinks

I love this picture. I think so far, the only pic that she genuinely laughs.

Latest pic of her. Just to show the state of her hair now. Semak betul, it's a jungle!

'Jimat'

Hi..how's your Ramadan so far? Mine was fine. The only set back is that i am in that 'time' of the month where i am excused from fasting. Tak syok la kan..orang semangat nak puasa tapi on first day itself dah tak dapat! Haisy..what to do..it's out of my control.

Yesterday was the first day of fasting, i was at home with my kids. Off from work because their nanny went to Sarawak. Since i am not fasting, syok la dok rumah makan dengan anak-anak. I did not feel like the fasting month already started..teruk sungguh kan? Came noon, i went to nearby Pasar Ramadan. When i was there i keep reminding myself  "Bulan puasa jangan makan..bulan puasa tak boleh makan", because usually whenever i go to Pasar Malam i will buy some kuih (keropok lekor/karipap/cucur) and munch on the spot, i know buruk prangai kan..hehehehe. I almost drink Adam's milo ais that he asked me to hold. Haih..nassiiiibbbb! Aftter 2 rounds, i bought kebab kambing for me & my sis, nasi beriani and kuih buah melaka for my husband, char koay for Adam, rojak for all. My total money spent was RM20++. I think it was quite jimat, i hope everyday also can jimat like this.

Remember my last post about Raya shopping? Well, i have some confession to make. After determined not to shop any raya clothes for me, i failed! I just bought a bag & a jubah for myself! Benci! Suka tapi benci pasal habis duit!

I was contemplating to buy this bag for quite sometime. Since now the foreign currency got cheap due U.S financial crisis, so i thought now is the right time to buy them. And another reason (every purchased goods sure got some reasons attached right??) is....polka dot prints! My baju kurung fabric for this year is black & white polka dots, so you gotta get a matching bag right..right? But i still won't call it as 'Raya Bag' because i still would buy it if not because of the upcoming raya. Good thing was that ASOS (world famous online shopping hub) give worldwide FREE shipping..imagine buying as many as you want from oversea and no postage charges!

Spot print bowling bag from ASOS

This is the print of my baju kurung fabric

This is the print of Dania's baju kurung fabric

I also just purchased a denim jubah from Little Ilsya, an online boutique for muslimah. Since i worn hijab, been looking everywhere for the right jubah. Some looking too 'ustazah' others either too glamorous or so simple it looks like 'baju tidur'. The caftan ones make me look even rounder and pregnant. So finally i chose this denim jubah and it is on sale as well. I think it was a good buy.

A simple denim jubah. Wish i look this poised when i wear mine! Hahaha!

Talking about jimat..jimat la sangat kannnn? Hahahaha...Ok my shopping for this month stops here..hopefully! Actually i still wanna buy Schanaz  satin scarf in black and also a pair of jeans (the jeans i have now is either skinnies or too baggy due to one size bigger). We'll see how..if i have more money i will proceed with the jeans. If not,  lain kali jela yeee..