Bersawang

Its been ages since my last update. I will try to make an effort to update this blog soon. Workload is piling up at the moment...

Membawa anak-anak berterawih di masjid

Sejak Ramadhan starts, we have brought the kids to the mosque during weekends for Terawih. Alhamdulillah the kids behaved as they were supposed to be. It would be a good practise for them to get used to solat and masjid. At first, i takut jugak nak bawak the kids, yelah if they run around and make noise. But Alhamdulillah we could avoid those things :)

A few tips to bring your kids to mosque

1. Make sure the mosque is comfortable. i.e spacious. Kids would not always be sitting on our side. They tend to run around then sit and then run again. So its best to go to masjid yang selesa, luas and kalau boleh ada air conditioned. Kids get cranky cepat kalau panas.
2. For diapers wearing kids, make sure you change to a new diaper before u go to masjid. Manalah tau kan, dah penuh ke..then mula la merengek tak selesa.
3. Since both of kids follow us to the mosque, the brother will follow Mr Hubby and Nadhirah will follow me. So they wont run around. Kalau dah ada geng, memang melilau je mana-mana. So kalau separated, one will sit quietly.
4. Bring some toys or reading materials. Just in case they get bored waiting for us. Solat terawih je pun dah 8 rakaat. Takut lama sangat, the kids will get bored. Dari dia kacau kita solat, let them play with some toys and read some books.
5. For me, i'll make sure i'll be on the last row and the last in the row. So that my kids would see me and they can sit beside me. Karang dia confuse, sumer pakai telekong.
6. Bring water bottle. They may get thirsty, so prepare some water in their bottle. Kalau boleh the type that use straw so takdelah risau air tumpah
7. Wear comfortable cloth. Kalau boleh cotton. shirt with long pants. Kids will get sweaty, when they sweat they will feel uncomfortable.

So, which mosque next? We've tried Masjid Negara and Masjid Bukit Antarabangsa. Yet to try Masjid Wilayah. Maybe next time.

Things that you should NOT do while driving

We often hear the slogan

-          Don’t Drink & Drive - specifically NOT to drink alcohol
-          Don’t use your phone while driving

Actually there are 1001 things that you shouldn’t do while driving. What are those?

1.      Do not eat while driving – bayangkan tengah2 mkn sambil drive, ayam KFC yg dimakan terjatuh, mau tak menggelabah nak carik manakah jatuh ayam itu? Saying kan ayam KFC jatuh. Last2 sendiri masuk longkang.

2.      Do not drink while driving – this is not for alcohol drinks only. It should be applied to all kinda drinks. Imagining yourself tengah sedap-sedap minum caramel cappuccino yang masih panas..suddenly ada keta honk. You terkejut, zass, your lap rasa panas terkena cappuccino yang tumpah. Terus tak concentrate kat jalan, sebab lap rasa panas je. Akibatnya, terlanggar kereta kat depan.

3.      Do not drive when you are not emotionally stable – This is so true, esp ladies. If you just got a fight with your bf/hubby, please do not drive. You may end up accelerating and driving like mad (hahahhaa, macam pernah buat je). Do not let your emotion clouds your driving senses.

4.      Do not pump while driving – this is applicable to nursing moms. i understand that you wouldn’t wanna miss any chances of pumping your milk for your baby. Although, you maybe using Madela Freestyler pump, just imagine, suddenly botol terjatuh ke. Dek sayangkan susu yang tumpah, dah tk concentrate driving. Just adjust your schedule properly n don’t do it while driving.

5.      Do not makeup while driving – this is totally for women drivers (ke ada lelaki yang makeup? eerrr). Maybe you don’t have enough time to makeup at home. But how can you concentrate doing your makeup while driving. Ok lah, you maybe doing makeup while stuck in the traffic. Tengah-tengah apply mascara, kereta dah start moving.then ur mascara smudged sebab tergelabah kena honk orang belakang. Dari nak masuk gear D termasuk gear R. pastuh tekan minyak….dah buat scene di pagi hari.

Okay, only 5 Don’t for now..the list can go on…

Some may say that you will not get into these troubles. But trust me; it may at least slightly distract your concentration while driving. We are human, humans are prone of doing mistakes. So if you can avoid, please avoid doing other things while driving. The concentration should be on the road. Eyes on the road, baby!

Till then, Drive safely!

Art time with the Kids - Collage

Last Saturday, we did something different. Instead of using water colors, this time we used scrap paper, scissors, glue and paper plate.

I cut the paper plate into 2 and tore off old magazine pages to small pieces

Muqtasaem working with the glue

Nadhirah looking boring..hhmm

Progressing

Half way done

I let Muqtasaem used the scissors. He was so happy he managed to cut the papers. This is part of motor skill that we can train our kids. More motor skill development can be found here.

Walla this is what we end up with. 

But i still think the kids still like to paint. 

My Experience delivering Nadhirah at home

It was Wednesday and I was on medical leave. From my previous experience I would deliver a week in advance. Thus my Gynae gave me a week of medical leave before my EDD. While hubby was at work, i lepak-lepak at my mom’s place. At around 5-6 p.m I started to feel the contraction. However it was not frequent. I got the feeling that I’m gonna deliver that nite. SMSed hubby telling him that I mite deliver that nite. 

Hubby picked me up and we went home to get my hospital bag. We left Muqtasaem at my mom’s place. We didn’t go to the hospital directly. We had our Isya’ prayers and dinner. Only then my contractions were frequent. Hubby wanted to get a shower first before leaving. So while waiting, I was lying on the bed sambil menggunakan breathing technique untuk tahan sakit.

Suddenly terdengar bunyi ‘pop’ and my kain basah. And I know my water just broke. I jerit panggil hubby saying that I dah nak beranak and that I can feel the baby’s head. Memang betul la orang cakap, rasa macam nak buang air besar. I asked hubby to call ambulance. That time, I memang cannot tahan the urge to push. I pushed twice and baby dah keluar. That time hubby was on the phone with my mom. My mom punya terkejut dengar suara baby.

Luckily my bro in law was living with us. Hubby asked for his help to call the neighbour. The neighbour’s wife helped me hold the baby. The baby cord was still intact. Hubby had to call a doctor which happened to be my bro in law fiancé at that time. So with her help, hubby cut off the cord. Tapi uri still kat dalam. I breastfed my baby for a while je.. tak tahan sakit sebab uri still kat dalam. When my mom arrived, I told my mom I cudnt tahan the pain. Then she braved herself to pull off the uri. Alhamdulillah, uri tercabut without any complications. Baru I rasa lega. After everything settled, then only the ambulance came. And guess what, 3 ambulances came and they took 45 minutes to arrive!

My baby and I were examined by the midwife before we were brought to the hospital. It was my first experience being pushed in a stretcher and being in an ambulance.I was lucky that my Gynae was on call that nite, and I’m her 7^th patients for the nite.

My nightmare was not over yet. The gynae had to clean up all the blood and I was only allowed to use the gas to ease the pain. Sungguh sakit. I think because I already recover from sakit beranak for a while, then when the gynae nak bersihkan blood inside my womb the pain was excruciating. Nasib baik la, my feet was strapped to the bed. Or else, memang kena tending la gynae tuh. I rasa I sedut gas tu sampai I pengsan.

My baby on the other hand had to go through series of testing. Yelah beranak in a not-sterilized environment. It took few hours before she could be with me.

Alhamdulillah, everything was fine despite the drama that we have gone through. 

And that’s when Nadhirah was born to the world on 9^th July 2008.

And because of this incident, we would never sell the house. It’s a reminder of where Nadhirah was born.

Its a BIG NOOOO to dresses

I am having a problem dressing my girl. Pelik tak? Usually a mother's dream is to have a daughter so she can dress her up. From head to toe - there are a lot of flowery accesories, colourful princess-like dresses and cute shoes.

Pics from gymboree

But my problem is my daughter does not like to wear dresses! Siap menangis melalak everytime i nak pakaikan dress. Drama queen nye melalak, satu kampung leh dengar. She will only stop crying if i pakaikan tshirt and pants! Sebabnya her brother is wearing like that. Parah.. i really need to simpan all the pants and buy more dresses. Is this normal when u have an elder brother?

Art with the Kids - Painting

Last Saturday, we had another art session. This time we used finger painting set bought at Times Bookstore. It consists of 4 colors, few pieces of shaped-sponge and a plastic apron

u can actually add other shapes

The kids memang suka this kinda activities..Melonjak kegembiraan whenever i open up the art box. Its just that i can only do it on weekends.

Since there is only 1 apron, Muqtasaem got to wear it..sib abik tak gaduh

Muqtasaem yang sangat teliti

Nadhirah yang suka hati

Nadhirah's work

Muqtasaem's work

I like this set since the colors are washable. Even the sponge can be washed without leaving any stains. If i'm not mistaken its only RM34 per set. And if you are Times Bookstore member, you can get discounts.

3 shops - when i entered i wont go out empty handed

Women always be associated as shopping machine aka shopaholic. We have extra nafsu from men rite? so we do love shopping but not only for cloth, shoes and bags. We do shop for groceries, toiletries, etc. There are 3 shops that if i go inside, i will definitely buy something!! just couldnt help it

1. Bakery

I love bread!! Love the smell of bread, especially yang baru masak. Yummy kann. memang i have a thing with bread. I can live with bread alone. Masuk bakery memang akan beli something walaupun perut dah kenyang.

2. Supermarket

When you are a wife and a mother, automatically you would be the chef in the house. So supermarket is like heaven on earth for women...hehehhe..you can get everything you needed for the household! My favorite section is the wet section where you can find meat, fruits, vegetables. Some people like to go to pasar borong or pasar basah. I love it too because its cheaper, fresher with wider variety. But as a working mother, shopping at supermarket is more convenient for me.

3. Pharmacy

Kalau masuk Guardian or Watson, ada je benda nak beli. I pun pelik tapi its true. Ada la benda yang dah habis. Be it for myself, hubby or the kids. Paling cikai pun i akan beli mineral water..hahahahha. See what a truly shopaholic a woman can be.

Petrol Naik Lagi???

On my way home, my car's fuel was running low. So i stopped by a gas station. I was shocked, ramai nye orang at this hour. it was about 7ish pm. So i fuelled the car and went off..
And only today that i know the fuel price went up by 5 cents! laaaa...patut la ramai kat petrol pump semalam. Ni laa..dah lama tak tengok Buletin Utama..hahahahaha.

So the government decided to act bold now by just reducing the subsidies for petrol, diesel and sugar. However Malaysian's petrol price is still lower than other coutries in the region.
Now if you think long term, its not the price of the car matters..it will be the cost of maintaining a car does matter most.

So do we have to take the public transport? I don't mind if our public transportation system is like those that Tube in London, Italy. We are not there yet, but i do hope the government should take more serious action about our public transportation.

Kes Ragut

Yesterday i witnessed snatch thief in action for the second time. It happened in front of my office. This chinese man was walking with his friend. Pakaian sempoi je with paper bag. And suddenly datang this one mamat rempit snatched his handphone. He was not talking on the phone but he was just holding his phone in his palm. This mamat rempit terus merempit and this chinese man tried to kejar him. Luckily the handphone fell off on the road. tergamam kejap tengok the incident. It happened so fast.

Actually it was not the first time it happened at the same spot. It happened before to couple of my colleagues. That place macam jadi hot spot tempat orang nak meragut.
Some tips for ladies and reminder for myself
- kalau ada kaki lima, jalan kat atas kaki lima. jangan la jalan kat atas jalanraya.
- if jalan kat kaki lima make sure jalan side yang jauh dari jalanraya.
- Kalau pakai handbag, pakai kat tangan yang not facing jalanraya
- avoid talking on the phone kalau tengah jalan.

Nostalgia Menulis Surat

Today in the HotChat (HotFM), they were talking about Nostalgia Menulis Surat. Hahhahaha...bila ingat balik zaman dulu-dulu mana ada email, facebook, twitter ni. Handphone pun tak secanggih and semurah sekarang. So the main communication media adalah surat. Handwritten ok. Sebab time tu computer pun tak semurah sekarang. Teringat zaman duduk kat boarding school dulu, kalau dapat surat je melonjak kegembiraan. Suka bangat dapat surat. Hati berbunga-bunga, walaupun dari kekawan dari sekolah lama. heehhee..tapi part membalas kekadang malas :). Kalau dulu jarang sangat tulis surat kat parents, sebab lagi suka call or terus je balik rumah. Tapi time University dah ada boifren, kalau dapat surat tu hati memang berbunga-bunga. Time ni rajin skit tulis surat. Seminggu sekali!

But now, mana ada lagi orang tulis surat. Now dah ada facebook. Nak tanya khabar pun thru facebook. Dah kurang dah the feel kan. That's the effect of technology on us. Tulis surat ni feel dia lain skit, kira macam leh luahkan perasaan melalui penulisan (yang secara tak langsung boleh meningkatkan vocabulary, mungkin?). Dan juga dapat meningkat confident menjawab soalan subjektif masa exam. Laju je tulis kannn?

I remember masa amik IELTS, masa tu kira dah keje setahun dua. So kira dah lama tak pegang pen dan mengarang. Yelah keje ngan komputer je, skit2 type. When i took the exam bertulis, berpeluh-peluh tangan nak menulis short essay. Tangan jadi kaku seh, Tulisan jangan cakap la..kalah cakar ayam. Memang mendalam jugak effect teknologi ni. dah biasa menaip, tetiba kena menulis - memang fail!

But its not all bad about the technology. Cuma teringat peredaran zaman yang berlaku terlampau pantas. Kelmarin hanya ada kertas dan pen, Semalam hanya ada monitor dan keyboard, Hari ni sumer dalam handphone..Esok? ntah la apa lagi teknologi baru yang akan diperkenalkan.

World Cup is Over...And Spain Won

Yeay, Spain is the champion.
And now i need to adjust my sleep time again. I'm not a great fan of football, but when it comes to World Cup i'll make sure i watch it. World Cup is much different from EPL or Euro cup. You cant predict which team would win. Unlike EPL, you are more or less would know who would win. Lagipun World Cup happens once in every 4 years so why not watch it. And i'm so like need to readjust my biological clock. dah tunggang terbalik ni

Art with the Kids - Painting

It was a sunny bright last Saturday. I decided to do some art activity with the kids. I carved few potatoes into some shapes. Not exactly carve it myself but with the help of cookies molds. Firstly i cut the potato into half. Then i pressed the mold into the potato about half of the mold's depth. I carved along the mold's shape.

some of the shapes that i managed to carve

Now the fun begins. I pour few colors in a container and do a few demo in front of the kids and within seconds the kids started doing on their own

Artist to be

err..mama couldn't see any shapes

Muqtasaem is good at this

walla...the art by the kids

Some precautions
1. It is advisable to do it outdoor
2. If you don't want the kids to get too messy, wear an apron. But without it, much better. that's where the fun is!
3. Prepare a lot of drawing paper. They mite never get enough of it cos it was fun!
4. Please monitor them. Manalah tau, tetiba masuk mulut plak kan.

Overall the kids enjoyed the art activity. Will think up more activities with the kids.

Al Fatihah

When i was in primary school, my parents would send me to my grandma house for a week during the school holidays, without fail. At that time, i thot my parents were punishing me. I resented but i didn't object. I learnt a lot of living in 'kampung'. In the morning, i would feed the chicken and went to mini pasar to buy some groceries and breakfast. In the evening, i would do some gardening - watering the plants or tanam pokok. And at night, mengaji and massage my grandma. The living-in-kampung routine went on till i was in lower secondary school.

When i went to boarding school, the routine stopped. Yabedabedu. I was happy...but when i went back to kampung on Tuesday, the memory flashed in front of me. But this time, it was different. On 29th June 2010, my beloved grandma passed away. Al Fatihah.

*still in emotional mode

Mothercare Sale

One of the sale that i would never miss.

Extra discount for VIP card holder, i likee..

I love to buy socks and rompers from Mothercare. The socks are of high quality and usually priced at RM49 for 5 pairs. and that is excluding the discount. I tried other brand but i must say nothing can compare with Mothercare's socks. 

So lets go to the sale mamas, coz i will ;)

Vitamin for the kids

Breastfed babies are normally will have better immune system. Although i breastfed my two babies, i also started giving them vitamin C. Cold and fever are normal for kids. At least in 2 or 3 months they would catch cold.. But i read an article on the internet saying that there are no scientific evidence that Vitamin C could prevent cold. But at least vitamin C makes it a little harder for your body to become infected with an illness.  At first i started them with Nutrilite Chewable Vitamin C for Kids.

image googled

When they were small, i crushed the tablet and dissolved it in water or  sometimes their milk. And when they can chew, i gave them directly.

But overtime, they didn't want to take in tablet form anymore. So i have to find an alternative and Scott Emulsion is my choice. During my childhood time, i had to take the original cod liver oil. It was yucky. Hanyir. But my mom forced me to.

image googled

So far the kids like the taste. And Alhamdulillah, they didnt get sick too often.

Horaaay No exam!

When DPM announced that UPSR & PMR may be abolished, i disagree with that. IMHO, the exams act like a measurement for the children. Macam milestone checking. But i do agree that our Education system as a whole is too exam oriented. If we look at today's education system, you will have exams twice a year. Not only that the kids will have to take monthly tests and also weekly quizzes. I would agree on the twice a year exams, but not to the monthly tests. That what makes the system is too exam oriented.

The ministry may want to relook at restructuring the UPSR & PMR exams. Maybe its not 100% exam based. Put some weightage in coursework. Maybe 40% coursework and 60% exams. Macam kat universities kan?

We need some sort of measurement on how our kids are doing. If these exams are abolished what are the other options we would measure our kids performance. If the ministry wants to implement school-based assessment, a thorough study has to be made. If its a public exams, then the questions would be standardized across all. But school-based assessments? I'm not against it, but i dont really agree to the idea.

However i would prefer the PMR exam is not to be used to determine whether our kids go to science or arts stream. Sooo not right. We dont have any indication subjects in PMR syllabus to tell us that we can do science but not arts or vice versa.

May the Education Minister make the right decision for our kids. And maybe after this, they may want to relook our tertiary education system. From my observation we do not produce the right graduates for the working force.

Tips when your car was stolen

We lost our car in April. Bulan 4 memang takde ONG la. We were getting ready to go to work then suddenly Mr Hubby came rushing to me and say " Sayang, kereta takde". At first i thot he was joking (post April Fool) but apa kes nak joke pasal kereta hilang di pagi hari kan? Memang betul, the car was gone!!! we parked right in front of the house but its outside the gate. Among all the cars parked on the road, ours was the target. I was shocked and furious! It took me several days to accept the fact that the car has gone forever. 
So just tips share some tips when you lose your car..


1. Do a police report. It is best if you could go to the nearest police station to the crime scene. the one that covers your area. Not Pondok polis yeee..We were panic up to the point we went to a further police station. We couldn't even think the nearest police station. Last-last after buat police report kena redirect to the nearest balai polis because the investigator needs to be in the same jurisdiction. After meeting with the investigator, then only they open a case. They will ask all sorts of questions la. 
When we did the police report, i felt that we just need to report it for the sake of insurance and not so much of hoping that the police would investigate it. formality only. Even though its the police job to help us find the culprit kann..tapi whateva la


2. Call your insurance agent/company. - Tell them that your car has been stolen. They would ask for the police report and insurance policy. So fax it to them.


3. Call your bank (if necessary) - it may not be necessary because you still have to pay the installment even tho car gone already. Sakit hati kann..paying for something yang takde...uhuk uhuk..what to do


4. If you have any documents, ATM cards, bank cards, etc in the car make sure you called all the necessary parties to make cancellation.


5. After few days (depends), your insurance agent will appoint adjuster. Adjuster ni mcm investigator on behalf of insurance agents. They would need copies of your IC, driving license, pictures of your all the keys (including duplicates). They would also come the the crime scene and take some pictures. Police pun tak datang k. Adjuster will then submit a report to the insurance company for further actions


6. Sila harass your insurance agent/company..keep calling them asking for status. Please be annoying. or else memang lambat laaa dapat claim. Usually it would take min 4 months to claim. In our case Alhamdulillah, we already got the offer within 2 months. They offered us a good price laaa. Tetapi......


7. Insurance company would need more documents from you - Letter from your financier, your keys, and final police investigation report. Please bear in mind yaaa...police will only release the investigation report minimum 3 months after the initial report.. so memang takde harapan la nak dapat claim awal dari itu yeee..So we wait...


Moral of the story - please consider installing Captor atau seangkatan dengan nya to avoid these kinds of hassles. Memang sangat sedih bila kereta hilang. It has been with us since we were about to get married. Kira sempat la merasa dating sebelum kahwin ngan kereta tuh.. Too many memories..Plate number yang paling sayang :(. Tapi nak  buat macam mana kena redha. Itu adalah satu ujian for me. 


Teringat pesanan Ustazah - segala nikmat yang Allah beri itu ada keburukannya. Segala ujian yang dikenakan terhadap kita adalah untuk menguji keimanan kita sebagai seorang Muslim - adakah kita tergolong dalam golongan yang bersyukur atau menderhaka? 

Appetite for feverish baby

Kids will always lose their eating appetite when they fall sick. Muqtasaem is the worst. Memang takmo makan langsung except for water and milk. I tried feeding him with all his favorite food - noodles, nuggets, curry. memang tak jalan. if he eats pun setakat 1 or 2 spoons. 

But Nadhirah on the other hand, she can still eat although she's not well. Memang takde masalah. But at the moment she was having fever and she didn't want to eat. That worries me. I tried feeding her favorite food but she would only take a bite. Even milk, she refused formula milk. Only breast milk. Dahla my breast milk pun mcm hidup segan mati tak mau (read: stock makin berkurangan). So i try umpan her with chocolates. Yes she loves chocolate. I didn't encourage it but people surrounding her keep giving her. She only took 1 bite jugak! kalau tidak tak muat tangan pegang chocolate. 

Akan tetapi...when i offered her ice cream,

This what happened

yummy mama

Is it good to feed her ice cream? My mom said it will help reduce her temperature. But i doubt it. Tapi i bagi je la, since she wants it.

mama...itu burung apa? itu burung murai....

Everytime we brought the kids out, mesti masuk mall. so this time around, we planned to go to Bird's Park. We went out quite late. cuaca dah panas, tapi area kat Bird's park is cooling sebab banyak pokok. So not so bad laa..

When we arrived, its nearing to Bird's Show. So we went straight to the Amphitheater. Most of the shows are by parrots or kakaktua. Ada lah burung naik basikal, mengira dan bercakap. Towards the end baru ada show by burung helang. The show ended in half an hour's time. 

the Amphitheater

Tapi before the show ended, the kids dah restless. Luckily ada taman permainan just behind the amphitheater, the kids apalagi jumping in joy. 

ni jugak yang the kids suka

From the amphitheater, we walked pass flamingo pond and waterfall aviary. It is a breathtaking view..with the birds flying around and waterfall as the background

waterfall aviary

flamingo pond

Then we headed to World's of parrot. Macam-macam jenis parrot. You can also feed the birds in here, just pay RM2 for the food. actually RM2 will be used for the birds' care. The caretaker gave us a small bowl of kuaci. I memang tak berani nak pegang, so Mr Hubby yang pegang. Oh the birds sangat pandai. At first i thot  they would terus makan the kuaci with the kulit. tapi tidakkkk, they actually kupas the kulit and makan the isi only! So clever one.

Feeding the bird kuaci

Birds all over Mr Hubby...Nadhirah maintain macho dalam ketakutan

There are also hornbill park. Macam-macam jenis hornbill. Hornbill Gatal pun ada ..hahahhaa

Then there are 1 area for all the flightless birds. So you can see ostrich, peacock, ayam hutan..peacock memang bebas bersepah-sepah. 

You can only feed the birds when there are supervision and the food is provided. Otherwise, you can't simply feed the birds. BUT you can feed the fish! there are a number of ponds in the area. Yang ini the kids enjoyed the most. You can buy the fish food at RM1 per packet. But please bring 50cents coins. i think we stopped at 3 different ponds to feed the fish. gi taman burung tapi lagi enjoy tengok fish..hhmmm

The Bird's Park is a big area. Memang penat berjalan. But fret not, there are a lot of pondok-pondok where you can have a rest before continuing exploring the park. There are also small cafes to have your snack in the park. Overall it was an enjoying walk for your kids. 


The Entrance fee is RM20 for adults & RM10 for kids (below 12years old). But remember to bring your MyKad & MyKid to get the price. Or else the price for adult is RM42 and RM32 for kids. Kids below 3 years old get free admission.


The Bird's Park is located near to National Mosque. Actually there are other attractions near to the Bird's Park like Butterfly Park, National Islamic Art Museum, Orchid Park, Hibiscus Park, Planetarium, National Monument and Memorial Tun Abdul Razak. 

The kids enjoyed the trip and balik rumah terus tidur kepenatan.