Yea, I rarely rants these days, not like I don't but some are better left unsaid. Between ranting and being grateful for the stuff that I've been blessed with, I'll go for the latter. Hence the endless posts about the little precious.

So yea, how about another milestones post? Not like you have a choice anyway.
 
Well, the little one is currently on a full speed in learning to talk. Her vocabs are getting pretty awesome - for a 2 years old that is - but I'm probably bias. :P

She's our full-time parrot these days, cakap apa pon, semua dia ikot - much to our amusement, tho we often have to remind ourselves to watch our language.

She knows her basic colors - black, white, red, green, yellow and her utmost favourite, blue. She once ran toward me (at full speed) when I got back home, only to get close enough to point at the blue flowers on the shirt I was wearing and went "blueee". (whilst me on the other hand, was expecting for a hug or something). T_T

She's super dramatic nowadays, silap sikit je, she'll go to a corner and sulk(fake cries included)
 - tho her sulking usually won't last that long, one minute top - all I have to do is call for her in the most mendayu voice that I could muster. "Mai la sini anak mummmmmyyy"(repeats if required). :P

She once tricked me into bringing her into the bathroom so that she could play with water. Well, ever since she knows how to tell us that she made a poo poo months ago, she'll always come to us with her busuk-face, little-hand-fanning-the-nose and a repetitive of "busuk" - usually a nanosecond after she's done with the big business, all eager to drag us to the bathroom for a wash. Yea, this little one enjoys to have her little butt washed - but that one time she did the usual ritual, I found out that there's no poo poo but she insisted to get into the bathroom anyway, so yea, I let her had a bath terus. Owh, how I've been used.

She still have to be lulled (& hugged) to sleep on our bed first, then she'll be transferred to her crib by her daddy. She's yet to learn how to sleep without the aid of my bear-hug, pat on the butt and whatnot - which the obvious reason why I'd always fall asleep with her. Tidoq peluk-peluk whilst sniffing on her vanilla-scented soft curly hair adelah bliss. he he.

She loves me (there's no doubt bout that. I'm her mum, gimme some face lah.) but she adores her daddy. During the weekend(yer lah, weekdays, her daddy will be off to work way before she's awake), right after she wakes up, she'll smile at me and goes "Ni daddy"( in the comel-est tiniest voice possible) whilst pointing to her daddy. Macam la mak tak kenal daddy kau, nak.

She's pretty helpful around the house, air tumpah? You can count on her to wipe em clean and dry. She soiled her diaper? She's ever so willing to bring it to the kitchen and dump it in the bin (followed by the hand-washing and drying ritual).

She's so cheeky these days that I can't stop smiling to myself each time I'm reminded of her.

It's true that having a child will bring a lot of things in your life, give you strength you never know you have (and need, and trust me, you'll need a whole damn lot) and open doors to things you never know even existed. I'm humbled and grateful for the wonderful 2 years and looking forward for more years (and kids) to come.

Thank you Allah.

It has been 2 years since the 1st time I laid my eyes on you, our little precious.

2 years of endless happiness, occasional sweat and tears (your mummy could surely cry buckets if not rivers. She's a hopeless sentimental just like that.).

It's funny that you could actually love a little someone, a little too much and it's amazing to think of how she changed our lives.

Honestly, I'm still pretty amused and amazed at how wonderfully she mirrors my life-long expectations of how it'd feel like to have a family, to give birth to a little one to call our own and more. I am blessed, we are truly blessed with this 'gift'.

I'm forever grateful to Allah for giving me you, every single minute of every single day.

May Allah bless and protect you my darling, here and heareafter.

Happy birthday Myra♥. Mummy loves you, to the moon and back (like seriously, tho not like you know how unbelievably far is that, for now).

P/S : We'll get you a cake, probably something that your daddy likes - he works hard for us, kasi chance la eh? :P

This post is way overdue but I'd like to have a written memory of it. Owh well, better late than never.

Well, our family trip to Beijing was planned last year, and it was half materialized in November - as that's when we bought our tickets during one of those seasonal promotions by MAS.

Why Beijing? As we wanted to visit both Pak Ngah & Mak Ngah which are currently living in the country and to...you know, splurge on the cheap China stuff (this particularly applies to my mum,MIL and aunts - which will be mentioned from here on as mak-mak, us? Not so much.he he) and do all those touristy stuff for a bit.

Our flight to Beijing departed on 22nd March at 6.20PM - we got to the airport like less than 2 hours earlier, thanks to the scary Airport Limo driver (which sadly I didn't get the chance to ask for his name).

Scary what? Well, to start it off, he drives like he's drunken/sleepy which was blardy obvious, so much so that C*** had to ask "Cik, mengantuk ke? Kalau nak smoke ke,minum air ke, stop je dulu" which he quickly rebutted with "Eh, tak tak tak" along with a silly grin. Padahal a few minutes before it seems like he's about to doze off.

I was about to ask him to stop and let C*** take over instead. Second, he took the blardy wrong route to the airport. Well, it's Friday and anybody sane would be wise enough to not take the MRR2 + DUKE + Jalan Duta highway to the airport. So yea, a merely 45minutes journey was elongated to almost 2 hours. God knows how I fretted that we'd miss our flight.

Long story shot, we got to KLIA, queued to check in our luggage when we heard the final call for our flight passengers which were yet to check-in and we were ushered to the priority lane and we later proceed to the departure hall. Mum and Mak Su were already there - waiting for us as they flown in from Penang earlier (owh my Dad couldn't join us as he got to much to handle at work and baby brother's currently attached to his chambering thingymajingy).

End of the 1st drama bit of our trip. :P

The 2nd one came in a form of, well, apple juice and toddler's puke. he he. Yea, our little one drenched herself with apple juice (thank God I was 'beringat' enough to pack some extra change for her) and later puked on me, luckily most of em was on the blanket,so I was pretty safe.

Since she's still considered as an infant, she didn't get her own seat, so yea, I am her comfy seat - so much so that I didn't get to wee wee throughout the 6 hours flight + I couldn't feel my legs. Imagine sitting with a 10kg of weight for 6 hours. Sila kebas.

Us, 6 hours + banjir apple juice + baby puke + not dressed for the weather later.

So yea, we got there 40 minutes after midnite & it was freaking cold tho we were indoor (I was not dressed for the weather, our down jackets were in the luggage, little that we know that they are going to be a part of our daily getup throughout our stay) - much to my dismay( I wanna see the spring blossom ya see?), as by mid March it's supposed to be the beginning of spring, but it wasn't the case when we were there as it was still snowing a few days before, so it's still somewhat wintery. The cold person in me was not happy, but at least, we were well prepared clothing wise, thank God for that.

We had to wait for a bit for our baby stroller,boarded the aerotrain(the new airport is huge) and after the usual immigration stuff (read: the immigration personnel simply stood at the side whilst looking at us with half closed eyes, like yea whatever,sila masuk), we got to arrival where Pak Ngah was already waiting. We ran walked quickly to the car park where the driver waited for us. Masuk kereta + heater = I could feel my nose back.

We headed to the National Defense Uni in Changping - which is where my uncle and aunt are staying (cum our accommodation for the week long trip). Got there within 40 mins. Honestly, their foreigner quarters are pretty awesome whilst the ones for local adelah kesedihan. Bias much? I think the same applies even in Malaysia, if it's for foreigners, 1st class treatment segala. Locals, well, pepandai lah yer, you'll live.

So yea, we kong out almost immediately. Duvet + electric bed warmer = bliss.


On Saturday morning, we're already up and running by dawn as we're already out of the house by 9am to catch the weekend tour bus that was provided by the campus. Field trip yo. Naik bus beramai-ramai. I can't remember the last time I was on one. The bus dropped us at the Street Market (kot? I is lupa the name) and the mak-mak went crazy over those quilt, bed spread, tablecloth and stuff. Me? Not so much, throughout our trips, I only ended up with a set of quilt and 2 small quilts for Myra, the mak-mak? Plenty ( some of them are still in Beijing, waiting to be shipped together with my aunt's stuff when she's coming back for good in August).

Mak-mak rambang mata session.

We later left our purchase in the bus, had lunch and shopped some more until it's time to get back home. Talks about shopping in China, you have to haggle with the sellers like your life depends on it, as if you're about to spend the very last cent of your money. Be prepared to have someone calling you stupid right in front of your face. (Grr grrr!) They'll scream and shout at you with life threatening words and whatnot but don't be timid. Shout back and you'll ended up happy (most of the time) as you'll get whatever you've bargained for - tho you might ended up with sore throat from too much of shouting and screaming. :P

Day 2.

We took the same bus, but on Sunday, it headed to a different place instead. The name escaped my mind, but it's somewhere which is very similar to our Low Yat - which didn't intrigue the mak-mak at all. Obviously. he he. So when we got off the bus, we quickly took the subway(which was quite confusing,they have like more than 10 lines, mengagau much?) to Tienanmen square to explore the city square, enjoy the crowd(not!) and yea, the mak-mak even went into Mao Zedong Mausoleum  to take a look at him. Me? I just (literally) sat around with C*** and the little one whilst people-watching. Dok bersila macam kat rumah sendiri. :P

These photos are my favorites. Someone asked whether I was freezing since I was pictured wearing my black skirt, well, nope, I had my thermal pants on else mungkin rasa macam pakai kain batik whilst sitting in a fridge. :P

Spot me!

We didn't get into the Forbidden City as the queue was very very very very very very very long. Waiting in  a line in the cold weather didn't appeal to us. So yea, we settled with looking from the outside.

We even went to this place that has the China Town feels to it for our lunch as there's a Muslim restaurant somewhere in the middle of the busy street- which the name also escaped my mind. The street were lined with antique-looking building, they sure are pretty. Owh yea,we got a handful of souvenirs from this street, I got myself a nice wooden comb and paid like 2 ringgit for it. Super cheap - maybe modal membuatnya is like 50 cents kot? I should have bought like sekodi of them - menyesal sudah tidak berguna lagi. Probably should have listen to my MIL, "Biar menyesal beli daripada menyesal tak beli". he he.  :P



After breathing in the scenery and whatnot, we headed back to the pick-up point to wait for the bus and got back home. It got really cold and windy after 5PM, so it's wise to head back and stay inside.

Day 3

On the 3rd day, we decided to take it easy and just went out to roam the small town of Changping in ehem, bicycles.  Well, the mak-mak rode the bicycle whilst C***, the little one and me rode on the electric bike. (Not like I don't know how to ride a bicycle, I is pakar mengayuh basikal you see?) Owh so romantic. Rasa macam from Taiping with love sungguh - too bad that we didn't manage to have our picture taken whilst on the bike.

There are a bunch of mall/hypermart around, namely the Wu-Mart(apparently the Chinese version of Walmart.he he), Walmart itself, Suning etc.We went to the local mall Suning that day,which is somewhat similar to the Street Market but in a smaller scale. Got my hands on some cute high-cut sneakers for the little one which cost us less than RM50. By noon, the mak-mak were not showing any sign of slowing down whilst our little one was getting cranky as she's getting sleepy, so we headed home and the mak-mak only showed up hours later (should I mention that they brought along like tonnes of stuff?) & complained about their aching feet segala. T_T

Later during the evening, I went out with mum and aunts to the ehem, rumah urut. We had to massage the stress away yes? So yea, my masseuse's partly blind, but she's awesome with her hands alright. I swear if we were to stay there longer, I'll drop by like everyday - after all it's only RM30/hour. Right after we're done, it's already super windy outside, so we just had a quick stop at the fruit stalls, bought a bag of chestnut, strawberries (they were big and cheap) and a bunch of unknown fruit which tasted like, hm.. guava + pear?

Owh, food in China - especially the Muslim food that we had throughout our stay adelah awesome. Their stir fry - especially the beef with leeks is to die for. Nothing beats a bowl of warm rice and a simple beef/chicken and vege stir fry. I can absolutely survive on that. :)

Will write about the 2nd half of trip later. Promise.

Myra's turning two in few weeks, a big red light is flashing - a sign for me to catch up on her milestones update.

Better late than never right?

22 & 23 month:

o1. It has been a while since the last teething-update and I'm happy to report that her teething stage is probably coming to the end (very) soon - which is pretty amusing, like c'mon, she got her 1st tooth during her 12th month and almost 12 months later, kapooff, gigi penuh satu mulut. The sprouting has been pretty quick lately that I'm losing count. Dah tak tau dah which one came 1st or whatnot for the past 2-3 months. She (almost) has a full set of teeth now - the better to eat all those yummy food - tho not like she gets to eat all the junk food and sweet stuff. he he.

o2. She's our little parrot (& clown). She repeats after us, most of the time. Absolutely the time to start being cautious of our words and actions. She calls her daddy, "yang" (thanks to me) sometimes. She'd act out her dad getting-ready routines (the perfume-spraying, deodorant-to-armpit rolling act & whatever not)  together with its sound effects. T_T

o3. During our last trip to Beijing, she actually learned how to count in Mandarin - from one to six. It's obvious that she doesn't know the different between one and six (tho she knows the different between satu and banyak)- but it's still rather amusing to listen to her chanting the numbers.

o4. She could tell the different between hot (both temperature hot and spicy hot) and cold. Yea, we let her dipped her little finger in chili sauce so that she knows what pedas is (from then on, she won't bother us when we're eating especially if we tell her that it's spicy) and let her touch our coffee cup to let her feel the heat. She'd go "sejukkkkk" especially during her cold bath with me (which she loves, sampai tamau keluaq bathroom unless being forced to) and upon browsing thru her own pictures clad in down jacket and mittens - point to herself in the pic and went "sejuuuukkkkk". heh.

o5. She's not a picky eater - as she's quite adventurous when it comes to food, just like her parents - but all in all it still depends on her mood tho one thing for sure, she never refuses her pasta.

o6. It has been a couple of months since we last weighed her, so I think she's probably around 11-12kg these days and I can't no longer stand to wear her on the front using the SSC, back-carry anytime - I even managed to climb the Great Wall with her on my back. Super mom. (yey).

o7. She's really really (I can't emphasize this enough) expressive these days. Tak dapat barang, menangis/merajuk. Not allowed to do something, she'd run into the room and trash herself onto the bed (oiih, drama la sangat but it's funny that she'd always find somewhere comfy and well-padded to jump onto). Upon being caught holding something unnecessary/dangerous/something she's not suppose to play with, she's most likely to hand em over/throw them away . he he. Well, none of those rolling on the floor drama yet (& not like I'm expecting it, like ever). Haih,temper tantrums much?

o8. Still could only be 'scolded' by C*** and never by me - not like I want to scold her or anything since it's not like she's big enough to heed my words, but then again, when it comes to me, it's like mencurahkan air di daun keladi (tetiba peribahasa). She'll tilt her head to the side and smile my scolding away. (Apparently giving your parents a big smile whilst tilting the head has a bigger heart-melting factor).

o9. She recognizes some animals (and their sounds), fruits and a bunch of alphabets, which is pretty amusing but I'm not crazy about pressing a toddler to learn numbers,alphabets and whatnot. Not like I don't want her to be clever and all that (which is the norm these days), but I just want her to enjoy toodlerhood and pick up on those stuff along the way on her very own pace. After all, she has years of schooling ahead, if semua dah terer by now, what more to learn in playschool? Calculus?

10. She loves wearing and trying on my shawls. Sungguh la makcik. Sometimes she'll cover her head with her bath towel and pretends that it's her telekung and performs her solat & whenever she sneezes, she'd close her mouth with her tiny hands and utters "Alhamdulillah" (in her baby slang of coz).

11. She's currently in her I-love-being-carried-by-mummy phase, she loves sticking to me like a baby panda - which sorta hurt my bad back sometimes (especially when we're out without the SSC or stroller), as she would refuse to be carried by her daddy by turning into a human-jelly(buat badan lembik) or cries her lugs out. So yea, to cut the drama (& staring accusing eyes) short, kena lah omak dukung. Sabaq je lah mak, if this ain't love, I don't know what this is.

Grow up well and healthy baby, I love you to the moon and back (despite all the drama).♥

I think that I'm losing my mojo to write - hence the almost-a-month hiatus. Fret not. I'm back (kot).

Well, it has been a week since we got back from our March gateway (& the bags are still pretty much unpacked except for those filled with dirty laundry & souvenirs).

I'm feeling pretty mellow since I've caught the flu bug few days back - so much so that I was on half-day MC yesterday. The runny nose, the sore throat and the urge to sneeze every 5 minutes finally got the better of me. C A N N O T tahan.

Gotta do something before people around me start giving me the accusing you-are-spreading-the-virus look, which in a way, I am lah. So I dragged myself to the doc office, got handful of pills to swallow and right after another signing session at the lawyer's office later. I drove myself back home - with the sole intention to sleep the flu away, but the moment I got back home, the little one started tailing me like a shadow as if the last time we met was probably a century ago.

So yea, I spent my so-called recuperating time entertaining her needs and sorting and ironing out heaps of C***'s work clothes and a couples of mine whilst watching Spongebob, catdog and the likes on tv. I am a super mummy. Yey me.

I'd like to write bout our week-long getaway (during which I somewhat learned to ride a bicycle again.he he), for memory's sake, but that hafta wait. Later.

We were home alone again last week, we = Myra and me. C*** was away for (another) brainwash company's retreat session. MIL went back to Malacca with BIL for her kenduri.

So yea, I decided to stay home to clean up for a bit. Managed to do a wee bit of spring cleaning on Saturday whilst the little one was asleep. I was on Herbalife until our early dinner with darling cousin (thanks for the dinner bebeh! :x ) - so yea, the kitchen was rather untouched except for some light cooking for the little one's meals - nasi goreng, pasta, chicken porridge and the sort.

Managed to iron 2 weeks worth of clothes and gathered a boxful of old clothes, shawls and whatnot to chuck - which somehow got filtered by MIL when she got back home, he he. Parents, they are like that. Semua pon sayang nak buang. Me? I just need more space for my stuff to grow you see? Not like I don't feel like donating, but people these days aren't too eager bout hand me down stuff either.

Around 10PM when the little one already went to bed, finally managed to catch up with my reading for a bit. I have tonnes of books that need some good-loving-reading in the laundry-room (yea, that's where I keep em, I don't even have a proper book-shelf for them.Kesian. The more reason to be somewhat jittery whilst waiting for our crib to be completed, in say..err..2 years? T_T )

On Sunday, we had our Mummy & Myra day out (thanks for strapping in the baby car seat daddy!)  - I drove the both of us half an hour before 11am to one of the nearest malls - KLCC was on the top of my list, but I think it's going to be too crowded due to the ongoing baby expo so we went somewhere else instead. I brought nothing much but some change of diapers, light snacks, water and our Boba SSC. It gets easier to jalan-jalan when the baby gets older - absolutely less stuff to drag around.

Yea, we were out early as I wanted to get back home by 2PM, as the little one would usually take her day nap sometime after 1PM.

After some groceries shopping and whatnot at the mall, had a quick stop at the OneBabyWorld (where the little one had fun rearranging their stuff on the display shelf, putting em all at the wrong places. he he) to restock on Myra's organic hair conditioner (yea, taking care of a little girl with a head of curly hair is not easy).

I'm not a big fan of putting baby oil on her hair tho it works to manage the tangles sebab rambut adelah melepek di kepala (me no likey) - so the leave-in conditioner is the best alternative so far and it smells yummy - vanilla and tangerine yo. Bau lemak-lemak, warm but citrusy. That's the reason why I loveeee smelling and kissing her head/hair - tho not like I won't when she's masam and all that. Masam pon mak kiss kiss jugak nak (just in case you're wondering if you're reading this when you're older). :P


If you're in the same shoes as mine, this product is a must buy. A bottle usually last me for 1-2 months. Work wonders when applied on wet hair - for tangle-free combing, tho it's not like it could keep the curly hair straight or something. he he. (Why am I suddenly reviewing this? Impulsive much?)

Owh yea, I even discovered Suavinex bottles. They are super cute as it comes in nice colors and design on em - compared to our (boring) Avent bottles and it cost more or less(depending on the type of teats) the same with the usual Avent PES bottles that Myra's currently using. So yea, more cute bottles please. (Yea yea, she'll turn two soon, I should start to wean her off from the bottles, tapi no harm in buying a bunch of cute bottles whilst she's at it kan? he he)

Moving on, MIL got back home around 6PM, C*** around Maghrib and I cooked a bunch of simple dishes for their dinner  - whilst me on the other hand gulped down my chocolate protein shake (which I mixed with nothing but plain cold water so it's an acquired taste), err..sodap? :P

Less than a month before our getaway but can't seem to get my hands on any good walking-shoes. Can't drag C*** out this weekend, so let's wait for another week (or two), for the tense to build up then I'd probably gonna be less choosy,then maybe, just maybe, the search gonna be pretty easy. Dah kelam kabut nanti, beggars can't be choosers (kot).

I've been scouting around for something online for the past week and I'm pretty much amused with the different types of online sellers. Some just replied with a simple one word, yes or no regardless of your how and why questions. Some would sweet-talk you to oblivion. Some would magically turn into an Along Bkt Beruntung the moment that you thank them for their kind responds but would like to keep your options open and scout around some more, saying

 "If you dont like to buy it from me...dont ask me. Thx"

Okay that's a direct quote. I just don't get it. Did she expect me to blindly buy something without asking? Adekah once asked, considered sold? Might as well, put on a note on the website saying "You ask, you buy - else die". Sungguh la gangsta paradise. T_T

Pbttt...

I just started  to resume my long lost journey with Herbalife. The last time was before the marriage and the almost 2 y/o baby, circa 2008. It was that long. I'm well stocked up for now - which gonna last me for 2 months or so. I'm not a skinny person to begin with so it's not a dream of mine to be super skinny.

I'll be happy to just get back to my pre-pregnancy weight again which I actually managed to do in less than 2 months after the little one was born, but sadly it has been increasing for a quite a bit since I've weaned off the baby 5 months ago.(It's true that BF helps to shed those nasty fat off).  I'm just trying to put a stop to the mega fatness journey, before I turn into a dugong and before I have to start dragging myself around instead of walking. he he. After all, I do have a toddler to run after (& C*** to look after). I have to stay up and running for that. 

So yea, berusahalah! :P

Loads of stuff to write but I hafta admit that I'm enjoying my offline life.

So yea, we joined the balik-kg-during-CNY bandwagon - it's such an easy wagon to jump in, cuti panjang harus la head up North jumpa keluarga tercinta, bad traffic or not. Being stuck in the traffic was sorta tiring - especially during our drive home, but spending the break with the family is priceless. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

We had our pit-stops in Ipoh during both of our drives to and from Kedah. The 1st one to stuff ourselves with fast food and the 2nd one with the famous (claimed by C***) Mee rebus Ramli (kot?). If you ask me, I'd say "Boleh lah."

The little one loves kuih karas. She also digs kuih siput, maruku, kerepek bawang and the lot. I love those stuff too, so I'm not complaining - tho her daddy was like "Biasa la taste orang kampung" - but she prefers pasta from rice. So orang kampung Malaysia and (sometimes) Italy ka? :P

We signed the SPA for our (InsyaAllah) 1st crib sometime earlier this month. My first real (financial) commitment (because it's HUGE compared to other commitments yang agak picisan and the banker thought it's funny for a 28y/o not to have any credit history - that's probably why I just signed up for my 1st plastic money last week - which I'm just going to use for emergencies, promise.) . I'm hoping for a breezy journey and for it to be completed on time. Haih, I can't wait to have my own 2 in 1(Playroom/Mini Library) room and a cute kitchen!

Managed to submit our Visa applications (like finally!) during lunch time yesterday (the queues were terrible, so terrible that I had to cheat for a bit, else I'll be glued until the end of their office hour and probably mine T_T) and it's going to be ready by Friday. So yea, 1 step closer to our March getaway. :)

I'm hoping for something big this year, so yea, time to lose those extra ehem, fat for a bit.Oih, I've been holding on to these fat for far too long. It's not even baby fat since I've lost em all during confinement. This is more like too-much-TLC fat. Endless kasih sayang and too much good (fatty) food gonna do this ya. I need to cut em off, no, not the kasih sayang,but the fatty food. Sila la insaf, need to shake the fat away before I turn into a dugong.

Insisted on wearing a down jacket since there's a stray butterfly tetiba masuk rumah - she detest the idea of the little creature landing on her, butterfly pon takot T_T.

The little one is so manja these days, so much so that it breaks my heart when I can't spend more time watching her doing her clever stuff during weekdays. Her bedtime is getting a wee bit late now. 10-10.30PM compared to 9.30-10PM previously as she prefers to drag me into playing one of her puzzles or just simply lie on top of me so that I could just give her a bear hug or simply rub her back - probably to compensate for the time lost when we're not together. 

Haih la anak, if only money grows on tree.

My little baby turned 21 month old last 2 weeks, she'll be two in 3 months. Time flies indeed.

She's a little clever copycat. Whenever she asked for the tablet whilst it's being charged, I'd switch off the charger, unplug the connecter and bring the tablet to her, that's the normal SOP(standard operation procedure). Later we discovered that she self-taught herself how to switch off the charger, unplug and hand it over to me whilst saying "Haa..nih!" yang bermaksud "Mum, switch this on for me". (Yea, we didn't teach her how to switch it on,else she'll help herself with it 24/7 lak nanti) .Sometimes the same thing goes to C*** cellphone,pantang dia nampak the charger light turned on, nanti dia pegi tutup. So C*** would sometimes ended up with a half-charged cellphone. :P 

She's afraid of C***(sometimes) and never ever seems to be really afraid of me - despite my angry face, high-pitched voice segala - tho sometimes she'd cry for a few seconds whilst running to me for a hug. Yea, mummy yang marah, tapi still nak datang hug mummy. Hai la anak. Remind me again why it's hard to be angry or even stay angry at you.

She loves corn, be it corn on the cob, corn in a cup etc, as long as it's corn. Few weeks back whilst we were doing some grocery shopping, she saw one of those cereal drinks with a pic of a bunch yummy-looking golden corns on the packaging. It goes without saying that she went and drag the packaging off the shelf and asked us to open em for her - much to our amusement lah. Beria suruh bukak sebab nak makan jagung. he he. How she screamed when we put the stuff back on the shelf, so we quickly went to the Daily Fresh kiosk to get her a cup of corn. :P

She'd tell us each time she made a poo poo by making the 'smelly' face - little hand fanning nose included, and she'd drag either one of us to the bathroom for a wash. So these days, I don't have to peek into her diaper each time something smells funny anymore. he he. :)

She inherited our love for food and quite adventurous at that. Awesome appetite. She'll survive even on a simple olive oil + garlic + pasta + herbs + cheese meal (which makes traveling easy).  Her current favourite snack is the jumbo seedless raisins, could actually finish up a big pack of em in a day. Mak kena bukak ladang anggur la gini. T_T

1 more lower lateral incisor is peeking out, so 14 cute little gigi so far. Owh, she bites (sometimes).

She's quick to gauge her parents mood, especially when she's about to do something sneaky - like trying to tear a page off from my novel, the moment she realizes that we noticed that something fishy is going on and when we're about to tell her off, she'll put on her biggest smile and hand over whatever item she's holding. Yea, melting the parents' hearts with a sweet innocent smile is the key.

Depending on her mood, she'll thank you each time you give her something - "macehh".

She loves to make friends these days tho she still have some sharing-is-caring issue. The other night when our insurance guy came over with his wife and 2 year old daughter, the little one was all friendly and nice (they even baby-talked with each other) tho sometimes she'd try to reclaim her toy back. Gotta teach her not to be too kedekut. How la to have a adik like this? :P (Fine, no adik yet, but the possibility is endless. he he).

She's super clingy nowadays - she'd prefer to be with me over anybody else, even her daddy when I'm around. Like menangis-macam-kena-dera-because-she-was-being-left-with-daddy-sebab-mummy-pegi-dapuq-nak-goreng-ikan clingy. Just when I thought that we're done with the clingy-ness. T_T

Starting to love to play masak-masak. Kacau-kacau sudu dalam her plastic cup and suruh minum or she'd spoon you some of her imaginary home cooked food. he he. Probably a good time to invest on a cute cooking set eh? I'm liking the idea, the daddy? Not so much. he he.

She's already on her 3rd toothbrush.(Berus gigi pon kira okay.1st baby syndrome much? T_T ) We started the brushing routine when she was 1 - since her 1st little gigi peeked out when she was 1 (should have familiarize her with it earlier, but her mummy is malas just like that). She's great with brushing tho when she's feeling lazy, she'll just open her mouth let you do the brushing instead. Takpe lah nak,asalkan gosok gigi. :P

She drew her 1st "pishh" on the draw-board. Yea, she drew em and showed em to her daddy. "Daddy, pishh!" .Much to her daddy amusement. (Bangga giler anak dia pandai lukih pish, he even posted em on FB, tho honestly, it actually looked like an blind whale to me. he he) :P

She's getting smarter every single minute of every single day with clever ideas of hers - that it's getting pretty tough to catch up and as a mom, I'm hoping for nothing more than her well-being dunia and akhirat.

Be good for mummy darling ♥

P/S: The additional 10kg baggage allowance for MAS = more space for cute souvenirs. Yey! Can't wait for March getaway.

I'm still somewhat drained from our short Bandung getaway.

The bags are still pretty much unpacked - except for the dirty laundry bag of coz, will try to get it done during the weekend.

Well, the short trip was awesome and since it's our 1st getaway of the year (& the little one's 1st international jalan-jalan), I'm going to write bout it for memory sake. We shopped a lot, ate a lot. Had our bits of the usual touristy stuff - Tangkuban Perahu, Kampung Daun, Pasar Baru etc - and if you asked me, there are only a handful of worth-going factory outlets tho there are like tonnes of em, as the rest are pretty boring with dull outdated looking clothes and stuff - rasa macam shopping kat Warta.

Tho we got there on Thursday, our shopping spree and sight-seeing officially started on Friday - as we decided to do nothing but to settle down at the hotel and went out for dinner at Kedai Belacan, yea it serves Indonesian food, bukan jual belacan.

We stayed at the Golden Flower hotel during our stay in Bandung, our room was pretty neat as it's quite spacious (big enough for Myra to run and hop around) and comes with a big king-sized bed, a playpen for the baby and the usual utilities - except that the bathroom was way too small for my liking. Breakfast buffet was decent as you get to sample the local delicacies as well as the usual western breakfast - arrays of fresh breads and toast, made-to-order omelet, sausages, pasta and the lot. We usually tapau some of the food (fried rice, fish fillet, corn etc) for Myra's lunch besides the pasta that I cooked every morning (yea, we brought along a portable cooker/steamer).

Moving on, on Friday, right after breakfast. Our driver drove us straight to Pasar Baru - as it's wise to be there early and preferably during weekdays. Lemme just say that I'm not that crazy about this place so my catch was pretty boring, a couple of telekung, printed shawls, some cottons and 2 yards of silk for Myra's EID caftan. No exquisite laces whatsoever for me, thankyouverymuch.

Owh, to commemorate our 1st visit to Pasar Baru, the little one actually decided to do her big business there. It goes without saying that there's no such thing as baby room. So yea, imagine me, cleaning a little bum in a sink(whilst people were staring) and the water supply was puny. Rasa macam nak menangis. We even had to put on her diaper and pants whilst standing - but thank God for diaper pants.

Yea, the joy of parenting. No, I'm not complaining. he he.

After we're done with the cleaning up. We decided to just hang out at one of the fabric shop that we went to earlier - as I was already sick of the place by then (the place was stuffy, people in there were actually smoking like chimneys indoor and we're constantly being tailed by the souvenir sellers). We sat at its seating area and fed Myra lunch whilst waiting for our friends to be done with their shopping. We finally left Pasar Baru by noon and headed to Restoran Sederhana for our nasi padang.

Right after lunch, we started to roam the factory outlets. Managed to get a few stuff here and there. My favourite of the day hafta be Secret, their selections are not as kodi as the rest. he he. Later we went back to the hotel and went out again after Maghrib for dinner at the Rumah Sunda. After dinner, we went back to our hotel and kong out. End of day two.

On Saturday, our day started pretty early, right after breakfast, we're already on our way to Tangkuban Perahu by 8am. It took forever to get there and the roads sucks - not recommended for someone who's prone to motion-sickness (like me, but somehow I managed to refrain myself from puking).

We finally got there after an hour drive, it was pretty cold and really windy up there - as you could actually smell the sulfur even before you could actually spot the volcano. We were not dressed for the weather so I was freezing for a bit but I carried the baby in Boba SSC, so she was kept pretty warm and close to me. C***? He didn't mind it for a bit tho he was only in his cargo pants and tshirt.

The place is worth a visit tho it's obvious that it's going to be the 1st and the last as there's no point of revisiting a volcano. Like any other tourist spot, there were like tonnes of those souvenir sellers which will bug you endlessly and tirelessly. If you are into berries, rabbit-fur tissue holder, key chains, spoon made of horns, fridge magnet and the sort, you might like em. I don't - tho not like I detest those stuff they were selling, tapi kalau dah beli kat sorang, mati la kena hurung by the rest of em - so my one and only souvenir are 3 packs of fridge magnets which we managed to grab hastily. he he.

After we're done with the volcano. We headed straight to Kampung Daun, which was another hour drive. T_T

Yea, the roads leading to this place are equally bad but to compensate the hardship, the place is a gem. We were assigned a hut once we registered at the front desk. We had to walk up the endless stairs and a bridge to get to it. So yea, we quickly made our order and it came pretty quick. I had the bebek bakar which was scrumptious.The drink on the other hand adelah quite bleh, I blame my adventurous-self for wanting to order a drink with a name that I couldn't even pronounce, sekali sampai, super la tak sodap.

After 2 hours of lepaking and few mosquito bites later, we decided that we had enough of Kampung Daun, so we proceeded to roam the FOs & Rumah Mode is my favorite of the day - as we managed to get quite a good haul for the three of us. Jeans for C***, tops for yours truly and a down jacket and tops for the little one. Our trip in March will be a rather cold one - at least for me (because I'm a cold person) and the little one, C*** lain cerita, dia orang Jepun T_T - as the temperature is going to be lower than 10°C at times tho it's going to be the beginning of spring.

Right after we're done with Rumah Mode, we decided that we're already sick of factory outlets, so we went to Paris Van Java mall instead. It's huge, probably as big as One Utama, so we window-shop for a bit but somehow managed to be lured into buying a Converse sneakers in purple with white and pink laces for Myra - on 40% discount, so it's pretty cheap. I like.

Talking bout cheap, do you know that toiletries are like dirt-cheap over there? My usual shampoo that usually set me back RM18 (more or less), is actually being sold for RP25000, which is less than RM10. How fantastic is that? So yea, I bought bottles of em and some random facial cleanser that never made it to our shore - and only if I knew that our luggage were still 10kg lighter than the allocated weight, harus borong shampoo and toiletries lagi banyak - but fret not, Jakarta's C*** 's second home now, he could easily be requested to get em for me. :P

We later left the mall and had our early dinner at Rumah Nenek and went back to the hotel to rest and start packing as we're going back home the next day - well, I should thank C*** for being such an awesome other half, as all I have to do was to gather and dump all our stuff and the 3 days worth of shopping haul next to the luggage for him to pack. Thanks darling. :x

On our final day, we got up early, had breakfast and dropped by at nearest Kartika Sari for their famous brownies. I'm not a fan of their brownies, so I settled for only a box of them, a box of Bika Ambun (my favourite, but those from Medan are much better) and a bunch of local snacks. By 9.30am, we're already at the bandara (airport). The airport is small and boring, so expect nothing interesting whilst waiting for your flight.

Owh yea, we took Air Asia as we couldn't bear the thought of taking MAS from KL-Jakarta and another few hours ride by car from Jakarta-Bandung. It would be too much for our little one - so we braced ourselves for AirAsia. It was a quick flight on the new Airbus  - less than 2 hours - so all was pretty dandy tho the tight seating arrangement sorta hurt my back.

That's about it, for friends and families, pictures gonna be uploaded on FB.

p/s: Now that I know that we'll survive the whole travelling-with-a-toddler thing, we should do this quick getaway more often C***, yes? ;)

It has been more than a week since the new year and I'm yet to write a single post in the brand new year.

Owh well?

I'm never keen of new year celebration or whatnot. Call me indifferent, but honestly, it doesn't have to take a whole new year for us to finally resolve to be a better person or write up an endless list of resolutions etc.

Yea, new year resolutions give people like tonnes of reasons to procrastinate. Yes? I'm quite awesome in procrastinating, so I resolve not to have any - besides the customary I-wanna-be-a-better-person resolution that is - I'll just set my goal as I go (trust me, I have many), so there won't be any case of 4 years old resolution yang tak jugak tercapai.Ehem.

Anyway, I slept my new year eve away with the little one. It was blissful. Woken up for a bit by the exploding fireworks but I'm no longer a 5 years old who could be mesmerized by fireworks so I couldn't be bothered to stay up for em.

We spent the 1st day of new year with a trip to Seremban to visit C***'s grandfather at the GH. Seeing him at the massively crowded hospital was somewhat heartbreaking.

Instead of giving out money for those young people to get themselves a smartphone so they won't be denied the chance to camwhore on Instagram,(if they could even consider buying an Ip5, obviously kena la mampu, yes? Buat ape la nak bagi rebate bagai for an expensive phone. Lain la kalau setakat nak beli smartphone brand Cokiah pon kena 4 tahun menabung. Like, owh takde Ip5 yer? Tak cukup duit? Kesian, nah duit. Pi beli. Nanti amek gambaq muka duckface banyak-banyak yer. Blurrgh.)

It would be better to use em in refurbishing the hospital instead. Replacing the horribly faded bed sheet and hospital attires would be a good start. Awesome sangat la kan, orang sakit bagi pakai baju dengan color yang equally sickening. What a way to boost their spirits, reverse psychology kot?

Owh, I have nothing against government rebates scheme. I'm all about helping the needy and whatnot. Some are good, but this one is rather funny. T_T

Moving on, C*** has to work during the weekend, so I brought Myra to our favourite Paed for her scheduled immunization with the MIL. The queue was pretty long, so we had to wait for more than an hour before our turn. How she screamed her lungs out the moment the doc started with the checkups. I reckon she's still somewhat traumatized from the recent incident. Poor baby.

I even asked the doc to prescribe something better to cure the rashes on her right knee. Like yea, it has been there since as long as I can remember. Surely a toddler and itchy rashes are a bad combo. Baru je nak baik, dok pi garu-garu until it was a bloody mess. Pehtu kena ayaq, tau pedih. Stress mak nak. *pull hairs*

The more reason for me not to dress her up in fancy schmancy thousand layers dresses - which gives her an easy access to scratch on her knee. I like her better in simple (but insanely cute) short dress/tops/tunic paired with a legging/quarter jeans. No messy fairy princess dresses please. Forgive me for your non existent fairy princess dream baby as it's such an overkill for me. Malaysian weather and fancy dresses don't go well together, unless you live in a house that comes together with a throne.

On a lighter note, we'll be off to Bandung for our 1st getaway of the year sometime this week - a plane ride to better prepare the little one for the 6 hours long flight coming in March. It gives me goosebumps just by thinking of it. Balik Kedah 4 jam pon dah mengelupuq, how lah to be cooped in the plane for 6.

I have nothing much on my shopping list. A shopping spree with an active toddler and the not-so-shopaholic other half could be such a bore sometimes as I could never ever shop hastily like a man. Where's the pleasure in that kan? Kena la belek empat puluh baju like seratus kali dulu before eventually, ended up buying the 1st baju that you saw. :P

So yea, I'm just going to enjoy my time with my babies whilst hauling whatever that caught my fancy as long as my moolah permits.


 Owh, Happy New Year people.

Our little previous turned 20 months yesterday! Alhamdulillah.

After the frantic moment that we went through last 2 weeks, I just can't be thankful enough to be blessed with our little one, it's like an eye opener, of the joy, sweat and tears of being a parent.

The frantic bit aside, let's ramble a bit on the little one's (19 month and 20 month) progress so far, shall we?

Well, in addition to her existing 10 little gigi, 3 of her lateral incisor peeked out - which somewhat explained her renewed appetite for food. Semua pon nak makan.

She's super expressive these days and takes instructions like a champ. In her good mood, you could actually ask her to put away her own toys, pillows and other stuff after she's done messing with em.

Every night when it's about time for her to sleep, ya just have to ask "Myra nak sleep? Jom sleep dengan mummy." If she's ready for bed, she'll abandon whatever she's doing and terus datang melepek dengan mummy, just like a baby koala - tho getting her to really sleep, is another story altogether. Sometimes it comes easy, sometimes not (sampai mummy yang tertidoq dulu).

If ya give her something, food, etc. She'll utter something that sounds like maceh (read: terima kasih), tapi kekadang, when she gives something to you pon, dia cakap maceh jugak. he he.

I don't really like saying no to her, so when she dipped her little finger in the small puddle of chili sauce on my plate, I just let her be, but when I do say no to her, she'll ended up mengadu to her daddy as she'll go "Owhh deddiii,blelelelelebalala".  Yea, berjela-jela mengadu, tapi paham the 1st 2 words je.  :P

She loves to play the kid puzzles on the tablet so much so that we installed like tonnes of em, like yea, we previously thought that she memorized those puzzles before - as she could finish all of em in a jiffy(so much so that when we went out with my cousins, they thought that she already played the puzzle like 10 juta kali) and we know how kids absorb new stuff like sponge - but when she could actually solve a puzzle that I just downloaded like few minutes ago, I know for sure that she has developed the skills of puzzle-solving instead of pure memorization. Which is good as she gets to learn and play tho we're still limiting her tablet-time. Kena la ada jugak time to ride on her train yang kena tolak-tolak dengan kaki tu, ya dak? :P

I think it's pretty common for toddler her age to love singing and dancing. We have like a couple of videos of her dancing and singing. She could actually sing and dance to herself without music as sometimes tetiba jer start nyanyi and menari. Sendiri nyanyi, sendiri menari. Syok sendiri sungguh.

She's generous when it comes to kissing. he he. Kata je la nak kiss then she'll press her cheek onto your lips and if you're lucky, you'll get a big wet kiss on the mouth instead.She also doesn't mind to be hugged and whatnot, so memang selalu la jadi mangsa gomoi mummy and daddy.

She'd wave me goodbye to work everyday after countless time of salam -  her salam is somewhat reserves for the special people tho, nak salam dengan certain orang je, eg: When we went to C***'s best friend's wedding, she refused to salam anybody except for the groom! Amboih.

She can't stand sitting on her stroller for too long, baru half way mummy nak shopping dah lorat nak climb out. So we rotate between stroller + babywearing instead. I can still front carry her for a while, lepas tu I could actually feel my back screaming so we're now now going to do more of back-carry with the ssc. The last time I did, she fell asleep in it, too bad we forgot the sleeping hood, kepala dok tergolek2 that I hafta swift to front carry balik.

Haih, she'll turn 2 in 4 months, time flies. I love you baby please stay healthy and bright for mummy. ♥

Last week was somewhat frantic for me and for us, as a family. The little's one vomiting which started on Friday took a bad turn on Sunday (tho she was perfectly fine on Saturday besides the lack of appetite), when she suddenly had a seizure.

There was nobody else at home, yea, we're basically home alone as the MIL was staying at an uncle's place and C*** went out to Rawang for some errands. I was not feeling like myself that day - that I actually spent the entire morning curling up on the couch whilst the baby took her morning nap and C*** worked on the house chores (yea, he helped to wash and fold the laundry, he even cleaned the kitchen for a bit) before he went out, thanks love.

So yea, half an hour or so after C*** was out of the house, I dragged myself up and cooked a batch of vege soup for the little one - which turned out to be rather unfruitful as she was still refusing to eat much. So yea, there was no indication whatsoever of what's coming. I mean, she was more or less her normal-self minus the normal appetite which was worrying.

Few minutes before the incident, she was dancing and singing to herself then it just happened. I freaked the hell out. Feeling helpless is one thing, feeling useless is another. Like yea, seeing my a-few-minutes-before active baby suddenly went kejang and limp adelah beyond me.I'm not exaggerating, but I felt like dying myself. My dear cousin would probably know how my panic-self sounded like. Okay fine, I panic like a headless chicken quite a lot, but that was a panic of a different kind. The one that makes ya feel like hyperventilating, the one that drains you out of your blood.

I called C***(whilst crying, heck I was crying and screaming at him I think) and called a dear cousin for help. C*** even called for an ambulance but Malaysian emergency service surely needs to be improved as they only managed to arrive when we were already in the hospital, tu pon boleh pulak silap pi rumah tah mana hala. *sigh* T____T

So yea, thanks again cousin bebeh for driving us safely to the hospital.*hugs* The hospital, despite the reputation adelah lembab. The nurses in the ER adelah sungguh bersenang lenang that they didn't bother to check or ask much. Hoi, rasa macam nak lempang. Okay, excuse my french.

Long story short, our little one (together with the mummy of coz) was warded in APSH for 3 days and 2 nights, we didn't even get to have our own room since they insisted that we stayed in a 4-bedded room for easy monitoring - as the room is exactly behind the nurses station. It goes without saying that I didn't get much sleep, much from worrying and the room was noisy. Budak menangis like 24/7, it's was magical that the little one managed to sleep through it all, it was probably due to the medication she was taking.

Merasa lah omaknye feeling-feeling duduk hostel sebab kena share bathroom segala. Anak oh anak, if this ain't love, then I don't know what this is.

Another long story short, after several blood test, a CT scan (it was scary and heart-breaking, seeing your little one being strapped onto the machine) and EEG (yang equally scary) which came back with nothing scary so the nice paed concluded that it was probably the stomach bug that caused everything - we're good to go FOC (tho the bill amounted to RM6K) - thanks to the company's GL.

She got back to her normal self 2 days after we were discharged. Alhamdulillah. She's eating well now, in fact, macam terlebih selera makan kot which I'm not complaining. :)

We even managed to make it back to Kedah for my little bro's engagement (which I'll write on later).

Well, I hope that I don't have to go through such thing again, like ever - but I'm eternally grateful that we managed to strive through it all, unharmed. Thank you Allah.

Owh, to the families, terima kasih lah datang melawat. Thanks to MIL for the yummy home-cooked food(tho I'm for once adelah tak lalu makan).

Last week was pretty eventful for me.

Managed to worked on the batch jobs that are quite a pain in the arse (& brain) . I'm already more than a half way there, say 75%?  -  but somehow still caught up in some never-ending data transformation issues, no thanks to indecisive users. Like,get it over with already.

So yea, work aside, the highlight of the week hafta be the long awaited BBW 2012.  It's my 2nd year of jumping-into-cheapskate-book-lover wagon. Yea, I'm a noob. Last year was my first and I'm hooked. Who would have thought that book-shopping could be this addictive?

I mean, I love books, but in a normal case scenario, with RM200, you could only get yourself a couple, or maybe 3-4 books, depending on its type (which could be easily 'khatam' in merely a week) - probably that's why I ended up not buying em at all, after all, my priority changed ya know? :P

Well yea, I went to the MIECC on Friday, managed to get there by 8.30 a.m - thanks to the sometimes-reliable GPS. Parking was still aplenty and armed with a mid-sized IKEA bag (I have to set my limit you see? If it's a huge trolley bag instead, I'll go bonkers), I was more than ready to spend some hard-earned moolah on yummy books.

Quarter of my book haul.Yum!

Long story short, 4 hours, sore shoulders and arms, hungry tummy, few hundreds ringgit poorer later, I headed straight to the office with a bagful of books - feeling exhausted (but deliriously happy). Thank God I only took a half day off - as if I were to spend more time at the book sale than I already did, I'd probably forget my way back home.

Owh, now that they are having the 60 hours weekend sale thingy, I'm planning to drag C*** along for a second helping of em books. A midnight book-hunting date sounds lovely, yes? I need to get my hands on some Jodi Picoult, couldn't find em during my 1st time around - probably they were still hiding somewhere in the storage but apparently they are out now. Must.get.my.hands.on.em.quick.

Anyway, we went out to visit my parents at the Shangri-la last night, they got here yesterday for an event and we managed to hang out with em in their room for a bit as it was too late for anything else (we got there at 10.15pm and waited for a bit for my parents to be done with their dinner event). The little one was enjoying herself tho, dancing and singing way past her bedtime whilst munching on bits of apple (which stained her new off white Korean tops which I forgot to soak).

We bid em goodbye sometime after midnight and headed back home. The parents are probably at the KLIA right now, waiting to board their plane to Jakarta, till we meet again next week.

On a lighter note, we're going to inspect a nursery/playschool tomorrow. Hopefully the little one gonna like it. :)

Happy weekend!

p/s: Cousin bebeh, if you're reading this, let's go for a book-hunting girls night out, gimme a call when you're free.Hey I already told you, the book sale is crazy, you obviously got my number, so call me maybe? :P

My weekend was pretty hectic.

Saturday started off with a trip to Shah Alam for a colleague's wedding reception and later a all-you-can-eat durian session in SS2 with the BIL and his family. The durians were great but I stopped before I started to gag from durian-overload. Owh, we just discovered that the little precious loves durian too. Good for us - at least we won't have a little person screaming to us "I hate duriann..busukkk"- just like what I did when I was smaller.

Yea, hate em durians when I was younger. It was too exotic-tasting for me previously, only started to like em when I was in high school, but sadly, I'm still a choosy mediocre durian-eater. I only eat certain durian with certain taste(I like my durian with a specific level of creaminess, sweetness and bitterness) not like C***, for him durian is durian, doesn't matter how it tastes, he could eat like tonnes of em in one sitting.

I don't like people touching and messing with my durian as I like em fresh on their 'pangsa', not penyek, slimy looking whatsoever - so it goes without saying that I don't do tempoyak. he he. The sight of em turns me off but please don't mind me, silakan makan your tempoyak. :P

Moving on, we got back home after a quick baklava hunt and not long after, darling cousins came over with a special delivery of pulut durian - a dish that only the Northerners would appreciate (I guess, since C*** never heard of em until he's married to yours truly) - as I've been wanting to have pulut with durian since forever but since I might be the only person in the house to appreciate em, so malas lah macik, jadinya, terima kasih daun keladi cousin. Nanti masak best-best tu hantaq la lagi.

Myra even came over to the dining table (the moment we unwrapped the plate), pointed to the plateful of pulut durian and said "Nak ni!"

So yea, we had fried meehoon, pulut durian and glassfull of Eno lemon for dinner.

Moving on, on Sunday - we headed to Subang for a cousin's engagement . Got there just in time before the ceremonial bits of it started. Had to skip the meal since I'm still somewhat full from breakfast. After a bit of family-time, off we went for our so-called Japanese lunch date at the Holiday Inn Glenmerie. It was supposed to be my birthday lunch date but after much procrastinations on our sides, postponed sampai December.  Just like how I hafta wait until January for my so called birthday gift.

T_____T Awesome.

Well, we got home sometime before Maghrib after jumping from one hyper-market to another in search of Myra's diapers and to stock on yogurt drinks and fresh milk.

I guess that's about it. Have a good week.


p/s: The BBW book sale is just around the corner. I can't blardy wait.

Last weekend was eventful for me tho we (read:Myra and yours truly) were home alone - as the other half was away for a company retreat(somewhere in the middle of nowhere) and MIL was back in Malacca.

It's not the 1st time for me to be home alone with the little one, we've been left alone for a couple of times before, but this time, I managed to take the little one out for a wee bit of shopping spree - which was a first. Yey us!

So yea, I waited for a good long 18 months to build up the guts for our mummy-daughter day out - as I couldn't imagine myself facing the hassles of driving whilst trying to soothe a wailing baby (who probably might refuses to be strapped in her car-seat) . C*** even reminded me to be very very careful when I told him about my plan. Like yea, I could be such a makcik-who-panic-like-a-headless-chicken sometimes that it probably made my plan sounded like a bad idea to him. :P (C'mon hon, gimme a break.)

Anyway, come Saturday, I'm very determined to make it happen, like now or never lah kan? The little one is a toddler now, she takes a good heed of instructions (most of the time, unless she doesn't feel like it), C*** already helped to strap the car seat in my car the night before, so how hard could it be? I just need to get her out of the house, strap her in, drive the car (the drives to the targeted locations are pretty quick, both are within 10KM radius from my place, dekat sangat), get out of the car and enjoy our shopping spree. So yea, my theory was pretty easy. he he.

By 10 am, I've already bathed and fed the little one with breakfast - I even took along some baby snack (cereal & raisins), a bottle of plain water and a bottle of warm milk for good measure. At 10.30 am, equipped with the baby bag, a Boba and a large wristlet( to stuff my stuff in), I was good to go.

Where I was heading? Tiny Tapir warehouse sale yo! :P

Yea, what a cheapskate to do, I love warehouse sales. he he.

Moving on, we got there (should I mention safely?) 10 minutes before 11am and was lucky to find a nearby parking space and I buckled on my SSC and put the baby in which was a breeze.

The warehouse sale was partly crowded when I got there. Being the one with no particular thing on my to-buy list - except for a Zoobie - I wandered around, went through few boxes full of Zoobies (whilst a bunch of ladies nearby were hauling em in bulks into their IKEA bags) and got myself  Myra, an adorable wolf pet blanket (I always love to have a pet wolf, macam la boleh). I also bagged a cute pink string bag and Ah Goo Baby plush pad - which is a changing pad that comes in cute prints and could be rolled for compact storage during travel.

Yea, got my hands on those three items ONLY (which is somewhat magical as I managed to stop at 3) and they cost me less than RM100. The normal price for a medium-size Zoobie is already more than a hundred (got mine for less than fifty), the same goes to the changing pad, so my purchase is a steal - tho the wolf needed a wee bit of stitching on the zipper area to fix the loose threads which I managed to do (easily) in less than 5 minutes.

Wolf wolf!

Like who cares if it's a defected item? It's cheap and it gives me a good justification on why do I need to buy a pet blanket for the little one (if C*** ever ask,which rarely). After all, it gonna be useful during out future trips and it bounds to be defected in the hands of a 18 month old - as she could be quite a little monster sometimes. Rosak pon takde la mak dia menangis sebab ter-membazir. :P

Moving on, we were out of the sale by 12PM and I drove us straight to our 2nd destination, Jusco AU2 for some groceries. Yeah groceries, do I need to elaborate? :P

Long story short, we were back home safely by 1PM.( Thanks for being such a sweetheart baby girl, next time mummy wouldn't think twice of having another day out with you.) Fed the little one pasta for lunch and she dozed off after a bottle of warm milk for good two hours whilst I went on to work on the house chores - the washing, folding, ironing. Ya get the drift.

Sometime around 5PM, dear cousin text to ask me out for dinner which was great as it has been ageeeesss(I just can't emphasize this enough) since we last met - tho we're practically living in the same building. Haih. T_T

Right after maghrib, we went to pick up another little cousin in UIA and had our dinner somewhere they fondly called Kubur. :P

We got home before 10PM and I quickly put the little one to sleep after changing her into a fresh diaper and sleepwear and I spent the night watching some odd shows on TV whilst trying to finish up the 2nd last novel - from heaps that I bought last year.

Yea, am trying to finish em all before my upcoming trip to the BBW book sale next month. I'm going to stock on tonnes of baby books, random novels and maybe a cook book or two (yea, cook book, don't laugh). Just can't wait to get my hands on em, probably gonna take a day off so that I'll have the entire day to book-shop.

Well, the Sunday? I spent the entire day at home being the domestic goddess that I am. :P

Made some beef mushroom noodles for C***'s dinner and a plateful of grilled lamb goodness with mint sauce on the side.

So that about it, my weekends for weeks to come are pretty well packed - weddings (of colleagues & C***'s buddy), engagements ( of cousin & my very own little brother), the playschool open day, the pre-booked lunch date, trip back to Kedah and whatevernots. 

Have a good week.

Last week is probably my favourite week of the year. Sehari keja, sehari cuti, sehari keja, sehari cuti. We should have more of this - especially when I'm about to explode from too much coding and data mapping.

C***'s away again for work (again). I is bored. It's weird not to have him around to ramble with. Sob.

We've got our tickets for both of our January and March getaways - there goes some of our hard earned moolah, or should I say C***'s? Tho I promised that I'll chip in later. he he. So yea, now we hafta work on the passport for the baby and me by December for the January getaway and visas for the 3 of us by February, in time for March trip. I can't wait.

I need to start hunting for a suitable playschool for the little one, as we're planning to send her to one by the end of the year. We're forever in debt to MIL for her willingness to stay with us and care for Myra since she was 3 month old, it's probably the right time to start living and sorting things out on our own. I just hope that the little one gonna be able to adapt later, ya know, after all the lavishness of staying at home and getting whatever she wants.

I was invited to my ex-housemate's wedding on last Friday. Too bad that I have nobody to go with as others don't live in the same area as I do so we can't car pool and I can't possibly drive myself there alone, with a baby, at night - as I'm as good as being stressed out (due to the screaming baby) and sesat(regardless the gps-ready ride). Haih, just when I thought that I could meet up with others - as it has been ages since the last time. Owh well?

Went out with MIL for another round of groceries shopping on Saturday. Just noticed that we ran out of the normal rice, so we had to settle with the calrose rice that we bought for sushi-making for  quite sometime. Bak kata MIL "Beras jepun beli seguni, tapi buat sushi sekali je", he he. Owh well, we are ambitious just like that. Weekend ni lah buat another batch of sushi for myself - since I don't have C*** to make em for me.

I was craving for lamb chop and sometime last week BIL came over with a pack of marinated lamb shoulder, ready to be cooked to perfection. *lompat bintang* Now I just need some mint sauce to go with it. Nyam.

I've sold off my BabyBjorn, hope the new owner gonna love it as much as I used to. Now I'm truly loving my Boba 3G. Why didn't I pay much attention to SSC before? Switching from the crotch-carrier to SSC really makes a different. Babywearing never been so easy on my bad back and the little one seems to love it too. Okay, I'm starting to sound like some sort of advertisement, but trust me, SSC adelah awesome.

It breaks my heart to see the photos of casualties in Gaza - especially the children (the tears come easy for a mom, tengok gambaq budak kecik terkebil-kebil pon nak nangis). I won't preach, but do donate some of your hard-earned moolah to help them with the basic necessities. It's the least we can do. (Don't tell me you don't know where to donate. Google it.)

I have nothing against people who loves to give ethical/religious comments, tapi do watch your limit. Days back, a friend posted a status of his joy of owning something new and the next thing ya know, somebody dropped the "kalau kau guna duit tu untuk derma untuk anak yatim/ gaza bla bla lagi afdal, berkat yada yada". I do appreciate the gestures, saling ingat mengingati sesama manusia, tapi please don't ruin it for others. Like, apa laaa masalah kau?

If someone were to donate for a good cause, perlu ke nak post em on FB saying "I just got myself a new car that I don't even need, but fret not people saya tak lupa kepada the unfortunates, saya dah menderma RM10 juta untuk anak yatim." at the 1st place? So that they won't  be attacked and  reminded by the kind people of the more afdal way to spend their money? Haih.

Yea, that's about it. Good week people.

Our little one turned 18 month old a week ago, like yea, time flies faster than ever. I wish I could spend more time at home watching her growing up - as lately, there have been too much of " eh? When did she learn to do that?" moments for me. Not good.

So yea, let's have a recap on her 17 & 18 month milestones.

After months of  waiting, akhirnya, 4 new gigi peeked out. She now has both of her upper and lower first molar. So 10 little gigi to-date. :P

She's now an expert when it comes to the tablet. Previously she could just select the video to be played. These days, she could browse through the screens, select whatever application her heart desires, play em if she likes it, or close when she doesn't - except for those applications with complicated child-lock lah, tu jangan kata budak, mak budak pon confuse camne nak unlock it at 1st, as if it's some sort of puzzle on its own. Like " tap every corner of the screen clock-wise before pressing the Home key", that sorta thing. T_T

It's sad to admit that she's now totally weaned off from bf , but it has been a long wonderful journey and I'm glad that I've made it this far. So yea, I'll thrive for a better record next time ( upright freezer plis!). The little one is currently doing fine with fresh milk and FM.

At this age, she's not much of a real talker yet (should I be worried? I hope not) - unless her endless blabbering counts as talking, but she already mastered the basic words, ya know

mummy - maaa, mami, miii and sometimes amma! T_T
daddy - dedi
fish - ishh (with silent f)
this - ni
cat - tet/maw
hello = hewwo
bye bye = bai / ta ta
water = terr

Ya get the drift. If you play her a song, particularly something that she loves, she'll 'sing' along to them, walaupon sebenarnye sambung nyanyi word hujung hujung je. Head, shoulders, knees and TOOOESSSS :P

She has no problem with solving her stacking and shapes puzzles - but she probably think that scattering em all over the house adelah lebih fun tho sometimes in one of her rarest house-keeping moods, she'll pick up on the alphabet blocks and put em back into its storage.

She loves books so mummy need to stock up on em during the next BBW book sale in December! Yey! :D

She runs like nobody business, in fact she prefer to run compared to walking. She also loves to walk backward nowadays which is pretty funny is ya ask me. (I'm a mum, I'm bias like that).

She absolutely knows how to get what she wants these days, she'll point and drag you to grab whatever she wishes for, kalau tak dapat, ribut petir! She even loves to fake a cry, menangis sambil pejam mata so that you won't notice her dry eyes. Drama punya budak. :P

She's my little copycat. Saw mummy pakai tudung, she'll run to fetch another shawl for herself. Saw mummy put on the moisturizer, shows her open palm to mummy so that I could dot a wee bit of  lotion onto her hand - thank God for Sebamed baby's face cream, I won't be caught guilty of using anti-aging creme  on a 18mth old (yes, anti-aging creme, I'm getting old) - then she'll use her index finger to dot the lotion onto her face, just like mummy did. T_T

Sometime last week, when we were sending C*** off to work in the morning. He kissed the little one good bye then kissed me and to our amusement, the little one made the chup chup sound (the kissing sound ya know) whilst C*** was giving me a kiss. ha ha. Kissing each other goodbye pon dah ada background sound effect sekarang. :P

She loves her pasta and fruits tho she still takes the occasional rice meal. I'm still watching her salt and sugar intake. So yea, nothing too sweet and salty for her. Fast food is a no-no - hotdogs, burgers, nugget adelah pangkah. So I made her my very own version of chicken nugget and fries. She's not really the fussy type so whenever she sees me munching on something, adelah lorat nak rasa jugak. Sometimes I relent, sometimes I don't - depending on what I'm eating.

The other day, I caught her trying to stuff her Abby Cadabby's mouth with her pacifier(which works more like a teether/toy rather than a pacifier coz she can't never be pacified with a pacifier). She pressed on the doll's tummy so that the doll gonna go "Hi, I'm Abby Caddaby!" and  terus dia sumbat pacifier into the doll's mouth - as if to pacify the doll from 'crying' . Dah pandai pretend play sorang-sorang - don't get me started on her trying to feed her squeaky toys.  T_T.

She's a drama queen. The other day I caught her trying to lift up a hug-full(such word?) of her pillows whilst pretending that they are as heavy as bricks - muka berkerut and groaning included. 

She sleeps around 9-10pm and wakes up around 7-8am sometimes earlier. So it goes without saying that I'd never get to sleep in even during the weekend. Yea, the sacrifice of a mother (sebab daddy boleh sambung tidoq). I'm not (really) complaining, I take it as a blessing of being a mother, like ya know being a parent is hard work and all, but ya never know how it feels until you're one, the hardship and (mostly) the joy.

After all, I'm thankful to be given the chance to be a mother when others are struggling to be one. Just because it comes easy for us, doesn't make it less meaningful pon kan? So sila lah bersyukur.

Ya Allah, thank you for our precious little one.

Yea, I've been busy doing nothing for the past 11 days that writing a post feels like a monstrous chore. he he.

We had fun, both my other half and I - tho I hafta add that it's somewhat tiring due to the endless travelling. We spent our long break from work at my parents place for the 1st few days - a short Langkawi getaway included and later headed down South to celebrate the EID at C***'s hometown.

Our short island getaway was splendid. We got to revisit some of those historical/tourist spots - Oriental village (the view from the top of the mountain adelah superb,Mashaallah), Mahsuri Tomb (corny, I know), Hot Spring (this place needs a serious dose of good maintenance, the water was too muddy looking, I is geli.Yuck) and finally numerous walks at the sandy white beaches (which scares the little one, adekah dia takot ayaq? Tapi mummy adelah gumbira as she got to collect cute seashells and the broken and not to mention dead coral reef in various size and shapes that she gonna use as foot scrub. heh).

We even got to satisfy our (or should I say, my?) craving over seafood. During our 1st night at the island,we had a good dinner at one of those recommended places- thanks to PacikGoogle. The food adelah fresh but I think we've been ripped off for a bit - since its price for 100gm of prawn is mind boggling (like half of our total bill adelah untuk membayar the udang) - minus the prawn, everything else - the squid, fishes and crab that we ordered adelah sedap.

On our 2nd night, we had another seafood-hunt again. This time around, we skipped the prawn (it's never a favourite of mine anyway, I'm a squid & crab person.) So we settled with a medium size grilled fish, squid and tom yam  - yang menjilat jari (according to C***).

Yea, that's about it. I managed to get myself some fridge magnets and few bags of chocolates. No periuk belanga, pinggan mangkuk corning ware correlle tefal shopping for me. I usually got em FOC from my mum. he he. She has tonnes of em(from dad's various trips and whatnot) and loves to donate em to her loving daughter. So yea, isn't she lucky?

We got back to my parents place on Wednesday, since dad just got back from his Korea trip and all and needed some bonding time with the cucu(she even got a bunch of cute korean baby tops.Oih). Had the usual lavish and cholesterol-laden dinner - we had prawns as big as our plate. I couldn't help but gave C*** a knowing smirk over the dinner, like "ya see, we got to have this for free, fresh-baru-tangkap-tadi summore." Ya, I was obviously not over the being ripped-off issue - tho C*** yang paid for it. His justification was simple "We ate em, paid for em and the food dah selamat masuk and dah selamat keluar. What's there to think of?" Hmpp..fine, I'm not the most berjimat person in the world but I detest being ripped off. I'm anal like that. :P

On Thursday's morning, we headed down South to Malacca. Boy it was one of the longest drive as we reached PIL's place by Maghrib dan adelah penat. The little one kong out right away after a warm bath, a quick dinner and warm milk.(She even woke up at 9am the next day!Penat sangat lah tu as she usually wakes up by 7am).

The EID was a normal affair. I stayed at home with the little one as everyone went for the sembahyang raya. We had the usual rendang, ketupat, lontong and whatnot. The ketupat palas(the plain no yucky beans type - my favourite!) that my mum gave us vanished in a jiffy. he he.

By Saturday, I had to drag C*** to hunt for ais kacang (or ABC to most of you) - thanks to my  sudden crave for something icy due to the terrible hot weather. Yea, C***'s the perfect other half for food-hunting adventures, tho sometimes he might needs a wee bit of persuasions (& sulking if necessary.he he) - but more often than not,at the end of the day, you'll get what you craved for. Thanks love.

Moving on, by Sunday, we headed to C***'s kampung in Rembau for a kenduri. Like yea, the 1st time I went there after we were married 2 years ago, it was sorta unbelievable. I mean, I thought my kampung (my grandparents' place) is kampung enough, rupanya tidak. he he. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad thing anyway. In fact, it is quite thrilling in a sense. To get to the house, you hafta use the small one-way road and around the place siap ada pokok manggis, jering, bunga kantan segala. Not the usual kind of pokok in our areas, yes?

Long story short, we got back home in KL by Maghrib. Very, tre, sangat penat.

I'm yet to properly unpack our luggage. Tunggu lah weekend. So yea, happy back to work to me.

I hate, detest, loathe all the messy documentation thingy magigy that I hafta endure before the development phase. The formality, the endless diagrams, flowcharts, the discussion bits etc. Me no likey - tho yea, we have the other team to do most of the documentation stuff, we are still the one to come up with the initial drafts and whatnot.

Never mind that, I need to ramble a little.

I've been getting slow or sometimes nada reply from the online sellers for the past 2 weeks - I tend to buy from the popular (thus reliable,I hope) ones, they are probably too rich (already) and too busy to reply. I take it as a cue for me to slow down with the online shopping a little.

Talking about SSC, I think that I have to sell off my red BabyBjorn. No, it's not collecting dust somewhere on the top shelf or somewhere dark at home as it has been lovingly cleaned and vacuum-packed and stored in the closet. I love it to bits but since we've stopped using em months ago, might as well let it go to make way for the new SSC, kannn? Kat mana mau jual? Aih.

C***'s away again for work trip (again) last week and I had a superb night dealing with our crying and screaming 17mth old toddler, alone. On normal nights, she'd cry a little (sometimes) to protest on her early bedtime (10PM tu tak cukup lewat ke nak?) but she'll be off to la la land within a few minutes once ya put her on the bed.Tapiiii...one of those nights she cried her heart out and the usual coaxing didn't work, so much so that I had to carry her in my arms until she fell asleep. Haih, I think she misses her daddy (or maybe not? he he).

It was my little bro's convocation day last week and I was not there to celebrate his achievement for years of hard work.Sob. Sorry adik, I'm truly am. If only it's not being held mid-week and C***'s not away for work, I'd be there in a heart beat. Well, tho I'm not there, I'm really proud of you. How bout a fancy dinner somewhere nice once I'm back home later? My treat.

We're currently in the midst of purchasing something big. Well, not literally. It's nothing fancy all right, but I guess it gonna suffice for now - after all we have the work-home-locations constrains to consider. So we'd settle with it for now, the bigger dream hafta wait. The good thing is, there wouldn't be much different to us, financial-wise, except that we hafta fork some good amount of moolah for the renovation bits. Yup, we're so going to make it as homely as possible - my dream part of the house included, tho it goes without saying that I might just get half of em, looking at the size of it. Better than nothing,yes? Wish us luck. ;)

I feel like having another dose of homemade sushi. Probably gonna (force C*** to) make em for dinner tonite. Nyum.

I got a reply from the SSC maker saying that the fabric that I've chosen is taken. Well, it's probably for the best since we already got ourselves a Boba 3G SSC yesterday and it's awesome. Baby-wearing a 10kg toddler never been lighter and easier even with my bad back and all (for that amount of money we spent, it better be, else guess who gonna kill me? he he) -  and yeah, the little one seems to prefer to be carried by me instead of the daddy. Owh well?

Anyway, I sorta promised C*** that I won't be purchasing anymore SSC and the Boba gonna be fully utilized for the little one and the next little one to come (which I don't know when) - tho C*** obviously didn't buy it.He knows me a wee bit too well, that man. T_T

We had quite a scare rushing the FIL to the ER on Saturday. I detest hospitals, so yea, imagine the ketakutan, but Alhamdulillah at the end of the day, FIL's doing fine, he absolutely need to relax a little.

I'm off for my block leave starting this weekend.We're squeezing a quick island-getaway into the break just before the EID. Just the three of us, yey! Probably need to ask for dad's help on the accommodation and whatnot, it has been ages since the last time (albeit the no-far-from-home location).

That's about it, I'm counting the days to my long break.