hectic week

work has been at its peak. super busy.

ditambah pula dengan masalah sampingan, yang bukan level ala carte, tapi stock buffet. just feel that, it's too much on the plate. so, harus strategize, susun semula, prioritize and take one thing at a time.

alhamdulillah, mind is getting clearer. sangat memohon kepada Allah, agar semua kekusutan ini dapat dilerai dengan baik, dan memberi keputusan yang terbaik buat semua. amin, insya Allah.

tahun ni, cuti yang dicarry forward tak la berapa mewah, walaupun tak tolak masuk gratuiti. so, harus jimat cermat sedikit dalam bercuti, takut-takut ada emergency. (I REALLY NEED A BREAK! AN ISLAND BREAK WOULD BE GREAT! or DOWNUNDER.. :P ngade)

aidin has started uttering words. it has been an issue that concerned me all this while. aidin dah cakap, cumanya, agak lambat sikit dari abang-abang dia. but dr said, at this age, 15-20 understandable words is satisfactory.

okay la people. nak buat kerja rumah sikit.

daa!

Afiq, Adib and Camaro

orang lain wordless wednesday, aku punya concept pictures on friday. haha.

enjoy the pics.

lama tak tepek gambar the twins.

Balloon Sinuplasty

live update from prince court medical centre.

Kali ni, OH pulak warded. panjanggg kisahnya.

GP refer to respiratory specialist, after OH complained of prolong coughing. buat bronchoscope to check the lung, alhamdulillah, tak ada apa-apa. batuk pun kurang.

tapi lepas tuh, selsema pulak menjadi-jadi, sampai OH bila buang hingus (sorry ye kalau ada yang tengah makan!!) sakit kepala yang teramat-amat.

respiratory specialist refer pulak ke ENT. buat CT scan segala, n tengok-tengok, the underlying cause was chronic sinusitis. banyak sangat fluid ada kat pipi.

so, dr recommend to undergo ballon sinuplasty procedure. Balloon Sinuplasty (BSP) uses a small, flexible, balloon catheter to open up blocked sinus passageways and facilitate drainage of the mucus that builds up in patients suffering from chronic sinusitis. When the sinus balloon is inflated, it restructures and widens the walls of the sinus passageway while maintaining the integrity of the sinus lining. it involves no cutting and no removal of bone and tissue.

he didn't allow me to take AL to teman him in the ward. macho kunun! so, lepas office hours tadi, terus rush ke hospital to check on him. sampai-sampai ward jek, tgk-tgk masih tido. kul 5 lebih baru sedar.

he said, he can breath muchh better. alhamdulillah. now sekarang nih, OH sibuk suruh saya pulak mintak referral letter suruh check my sinusitis. hmm. nengok la cemana.

harapnya with this procedure, he'll feel much better. kesian dok pssrt.. pssrtt.. kat umah.

Impact of Cartoons on Kids

have you seen how tv series and toys could affect kids truly?

i've seen a lot, but this one really open my eyes.

biasala kan, anak-anak lelaki, mesti suka cerita-cerita or cartoons yang 'car based', 'robot based' dan seangkatan dengannya. Kartun cars, transformers, ultraman, thomas and friends, etc are among the top list for boys. kalau girls pulak, tinkerbell, barbie, dora the explorer are among the list. Mickey mouse, jake and the neverland pirate, spongebob pulak are universal cartoons.

ok. my kids love cars cartoon. and transformers. and jake.

i came across a blog, posting on chevrolet camaro --> ala.. kereta yang dalam cerita transformers tuhh. she said, there's one in chevrolet showroom, jalan ampang.

so, lepas balik dari lake garden with the kids masa thaipusam holiday, we enroute to our home via jalan ampang, with the mission, nak drop by satu used car punya kedai (sharing the grpund with wadi hadramawt) and chevrolet. yang used car punya kedai tuh ada display lamborghini & ferrari. bila nampak kereta tuh, i can see the sparkle from my kids' eyes. happynya la bebudak tuh.

then, carikla chevrolet punya showroom. the shop tuh just beside urban culture punya kedai. cik abang saya pun turun dengan machonya. asking about kereta cruze. sambil-sambil dia dok tanya macam-macam pasal kereta cruze tuh, adib, afiq and me dok tengok la kereta camaro ni.

afiq cepat jek cabut tengok tv kat dalam showroom tu yang tengah play cerita transformers. yang si adib pulak, haha, dok belek la kereta camaro tuh dari depan ke belakang, dari bawah tayar ke enjin kereta. kelakar gila. sampai la ke satu tahap, dia meniarap atas lantai intai bawah kereta camaro tuh.

i asked him, what is he doing?

and he didn't answer my question, but instead he asked me..

"mommy, mana kepala dia?"

siapa yang fan toys transformers mesti boleh faham apa yang adib tanya. kan kalau toys transformers tuh bila belum rolled out jadi robot, dia jadi kereta. kepala robot tu kan bawah enjin. haha. that is what adib tengah cari.

siap tanya cakap ngan salesman tuh,"adib nak tengok kereta ni jadi robot!"

baiknye la salesman tuh, bila tengok adib punya la excited, dia unlock the car and let adib sit in camaro. haha. lagi lebar la senyum si budak kecik tuh. siap amek gambar ngan kereta depan, belakang, tepi, luar, dalam kereta. kalau husband dah transfer gambar, boleh la i share gambar si adib yang happy gila.

that's the power of media to kids.

pengajaran yang boleh diambil, screen what the kids watch. sebab they're 100% efficient in absorbing what they see.

Sunday at the Zoo

since minggu nih cuti panjang, macam-macam la plan dirangka untuk menghiburkan hati anak-anak bujang.

ahad lepas, bawak anak-anak pergi Zoo. dah lama plan nak bawak, tapi tak sampai-sampai. so, ahad lepas, for the first time ever, sampai la aidin ke zoo.

aidin, anak yang bongsu (buat masa ini. haha. statement..) suka sangat kucing. so, we assume that aidin is an animal lover. memang he enjoyed the trip.

we managed to catch the animal show at 11.00am. but i think the zoo management has to review the animal show la. it is an area to improve. bukan sebab show tu boring, tapi sebab some of the animal yang buat concert tuh kecik-kecik belaka, so 30mins show tuh boleh buat kids bosan sebab diorang tak berapa nampak. and the animal show punya stage tu perlukan facelift, so it will looks better. perhaps, instead of making the emcee cakap2 sahaja, it would be nicer if the animal show is turned into short drama. lagi best.

all in all, i think the zoo has improved a lot. memang tak sampai la taraf zoo overseas, but hey, look at the entrance fee! though mahal untuk poket rakyat malaysia, but it is waayyyyyyyyy farrrrr cheaper than zoos abroad.

made our way out at noon. baru masuk kereta, si afiq dah mintak nak pegi lagi. aidin pulak bila tanya best ke tak, dok jawab best. insya Allah, ada rezeki pergi lagi.

btw, anybody dah pegi petting zoo kat sunway? is it good?

Pesan Abah

I seldom talk about this old chap of mine, publicly.

Being the only daughter, he definitely hold a special place in my heart.

He's my hero. my superhero. he's there when you needed him the most. he's there giving you the loudest advice that snaps you and makes you look to real life, realistically.

there is one of his advice that i always remember...
"Kalau nak berjaya, jangan sekali-kali kau buang mak dari hidup."

itu prinsip abah.

sepanjang arwah wan hidup, memang aku tak pernah dengar abah tinggi suara dengan arwah wan. kalau pun ada yang abah tak berkenan, abah senyapkan saja. abah memang anak yang baik. mungkin dengan berkat itu, abah ada pada kedudukan dia sekarang.

perjalanan hidup abah penuh kesukaran. abah student yang bright. lepas LCE, abah dapat offer pergi MCKK. bayangkan anak kampung dapat masuk MCKK? tapi abah tolak. abah amek offer RMC. abah kata, sebab masuk RMC dapat elaun. masuk MCKK tak dapat. mana abah nak mampu.

pergi RMC pun sorang-sorang. abah kata, masa masuk tuh, abah rasa inferior. sebab abah sorang jek anak penoreh getah. orang lain semua anak orang kaya-kaya.

tapi, abah cakap, bila abah emerge as one of the top student kat RMC, all the inferior faded away. he's there because he deserve it.

but he messed up with his economy paper masa HSC, terus abah tak apply pegi overseas. he ended up in UTM, buat degree.

he worked really hard to provide a better living for us. he quits JKR, risking his career, buat business sendiri. alhamdulillah, rezeki was his. alhamdulillah, aku & adik-adik dapat hidup dalam keadaan cukup selesa. syukur.

bila aku reflect balik, aku tak rasa aku ada pada tahap abah. jauh benar rasa.

and worst is, i never thank him dengan seikhlas-ikhlasnya for what he has done for me.

Activities with Kids

I've read somewhere, long time ago, the article said that parents nowadays spend less than 20 mins of quality time with their children daily at home.

masa tuh, i belum ada anak. bila baca artikel tu, rasa macam ridiculous. tapi bila anak-anak makin bertambah, i admit, it's challenging to strike balance between work & family life. (memang saya tabik spring kepada ibu yang bekerja tapi takde maid, tapi masih punya masa berkualiti dengan anak-anak)

masa berkualiti means u spend with your kids. bukan tengok tv sama-sama, but more of getting involve with kids, talk to them, listen to them, do what they do. mula-mula nak start, memang la payah. but kena buat jugak cemana pun.

so, skang nih, i'm trying to get more involve with their activities, actively.

among things:-
1. day out at park
- bawak jek gi mana-mana playground. go run with them and play with them. i love titiwangsa & lake garden lots!

2. day out at the zoo.
- kena add budget sikit. kalau anak satu, tak terasa sangat. tapi kalau anak ramai, agak terseksa poket.

3. painting at home
- invest in cheap water colour, drawing blocks, brushes. they'll be super happy! (suruh colour pakai underwear saje untuk mengelakkan kejadian-kejadian baju comot)

4. main mould clay atau dalam bahasa mudah - plastesin.
- ini memang kena close supervision. especially with 2 year old kid macam aidin, yang nampak plastesin tuh macam sedap dimakan.

5. play hide and seek
- mommy jadi supervisor saje. :P

6. bake a cake together
- in my case, i let them sprinkle the choc chip in the batter and make big fuss about it, making them feeling super important.

7. basuh kereta sama-sama
- done this past weekend. washed the MPV at home. last sekali, bila dah habis basuh kereta, simbah air kat diorang. fun!

i want to carve sweet childhood memories with my kids, because i want them to be proud to share the sweet stories with my grandkids, insya Allah, oneday.i want them to be able to tell, "dulu-dulu, masa daddy kecik, daddy selalu tolong wan buat kek." i don't want them to stare blankly, trying hard to remember, what sort of memory they had with us.

yeah, i'm getting old. i've started to think what kind of family i want to have when my kids are all grown up. memang itu semua ketentuan Allah, tapi kita pun perlu usaha to knit the family closer, so that everyone will always feel warm when gathering up together.

it's worthwhile, thinking & reflecting our daily life, for only 10 mins before sleep.. Fikir, what kind of life we want to lead di hari tua. That will definitely change the way we look at life.

and it's also important to look at the way we treat our parents and in laws. macamana kita buat mak bapak kita, macam tuh la anak-anak kita buat kat kita esok masa tua. kids learn through observation. so, treat your parents and in laws the way you want your kids to treat you. ye la, kita nih dok vow nak jadi parents yang lebih baik, tapi tak pernah langsung cakap nak usaha jadi anak yang baik. sedangkan, syurga di bawah tapak kaki ibu.

dah jauh ke laut dah aku melalut nih.

in short, i want my family to grow as a happy family, as i spend my old life insya Allah, one day. aminnnnn

Comfort Food

what is your comfort food?

mine varies. but normallyyyyy falls under the category fattening. :P

selalunya, kalau duduk petang-petang, mulut mesti rasa nak mengunyah. cukup la suka kalau petang-petang dapat makan cucur.. cucur tu boleh varies. dari cucur udang, ke cucur jagung, ke cucur pisang, ke cucur durian. boleh tak dinner kalau dah makan menda-menda nih!

pastuh, kalau gi mamak tapi tak nak makan roti canai dan sahabat-sahabat, aku akan order maggi goreng. sedap woo. (memang la sedap, pakai perencah maggi!) kena plak kalau ada bajet lebih suruh top up ngan ayam goreng. walauwehhh.

kalau time demam pulak, atau pun time tak sihat, i just love simple rice congee loaded with lots of ginger. makan ngan ikan bilis goreng, daun sup and if health permits tambah telur masin, lobak asin & sambal kicap. terus terbukak selera!

time malas masak tak sempat masak, pizza will definitely top my chart. dengan oozing melting cheese, chilli flakes, perghhh..... laju jek makan, sambil cakap makan sikit jek. makan sikit jek. ye la tuh makan sikit.

dok imagineeee jek la semua makanan nih.. sebab ni dah tengah malam. takkan ko nak makan lagi shaaaa!!!!