Owh wow, kemalasan berkadar langsung dengan penambahan usia.

Work life is pretty hectic, once I'm back to work in October - kerja macam gunung daik bercabang tiga, given the fact that we're still short of staff since forever.

My eldest is in standard 2 now, and a pengawas to boot. She's pretty excited about being a prefect at school and I'm just so relieved that we don't have to bother about white uniforms and white shoes anymore. It's all black and blue now - so easy to be cared for.

Owh, life of a mum of three is no joke. The only time that I get to really relax is when the kids are asleep.

Weekdays lah paling penat, I feel like an octopus (yea, sesuai la sangat mascot company pon Octopus.lol). I usually leave the office before 5.15pm, pickup the lil man and later wait for the eldest to finish school. Once we're home mak kena pump seround (depending on my pumping schedule yang pretty haywire at work, it's a miracle that I can still produce as much as I do, looking at my pathetic pumping schedule, sat lambat, sat cepat, sometimes sempat pump once je.haih).

Then I hafta figure out what to cook for dinner. Sometimes the kids are cooperative and don't mind eating what we are eating. Sometimes lorat and requested for something else, so I hafta cook different food for the adults and the kids. Macam kat kedai dah ok? Sambil masak sambil basuh the baby's bottles and pumping stuff. After dinner, the kids gonna mengaji so I get to do my ironing whilst the other half look after the baby (whilst he ajaq the older kids mengaji,lol, nak anak ramai kan? Sila la multitask) and if the baby runs out of food, mak kena la prepare a fresh batch of baby food. I usually cook enough to last for a few days and that includes the frozen purees.

So yea, kalau I can actually tidoq in less than 5 minutes after I got into bed, memang lah bukan satu keajaiban. I am that tired okay?

I know it sounds like I am whining - tapi nak buat macam mana - but I'm okay lah. Tired but okay and happy. What's there to not be happy about? Makan cukup (or terlebih), ada roof over our heads, baju terlebih cukup. I just need to remind myself to be thankful for everything. There are people out there yang lagi susah daripada kita, some people wished that they are in our shoes (just like how kita dok tengok those tai tai and rasa macam owh bestnya depaaa) so bersyukur la okay?

My (once owh so glorious) hair is starting to shed these days - which is menakotkan, given the fact that I already cut it short (shoulder length is my definition of short) but luckily I'm still enjoying my good skin moment.

Ever since the pregnancy, I've been blessed with normal-blemish-free skin - like I'm a combination-hormonal-acne kinda girl (ya know, with the pesky spot that gonna keep popping on the chin every freaking month), tapi for the past 12 months, satu hormonal acne pon tadak but since my skin is no longer oily, I hafta tweak my skincare routine a little, as certain products are pretty drying on me now.

It's either the pregnancy or memang I'm finally getting there..due to hmpp...old age. T___T

On a lighter note, my baby girl still detest to be bottle-fed - like it doesn't matter how early I introduced the bottle, tetap la tak mau. I initially thought that I won't have to face this kinda issue again now that I'm a mother of 3. In my mind macam, okay, I got this, but nope, all of my kids hate the bottles.

The first two only tolerated the bottle when they started with their solids and when they weaned off the boobs and started on FM, they weaned off the bottles too - as they took their FM (at daycare) and fresh milk (at home) with sippy cups. The only consolation is, we don't have any issue to wean em off the bottles which apparently is an issue for some kids. So yea, you win some, you lose some.

On another lighter note, I got myself a new ride during my confinement and said bye-bye to my 4yo ride but it's nothing fancy - because first and foremost, I'm a cheapskate and the car is solely for me to get to work (which is only 50km back and forth). I also still couldn't be bothered about the scheduled maintenance (coz the other half gonna take care of it) and whatnot - hence why waste money on something fancy?

In my other half's words  
" Until you learn to take care of your car, pakai jer lah keta macam ni". By keta-macam-ni, he meant the car manufactured by his company (so that we'll get staff discount for most of everything and it's convenient to schedule and send the car for maintenance .lol #cheapskateunited) .

Owh well?

Oleh itu, as long as the other half works for that particular car manufacturer, forever after lah saya jadi maskotnya. After all, we made a pact to only go crazy on rides once we're in our 40s. Yea, after all, I still wanna get my hands on one of those Countryman - tho I'm not sure if I'm willing to part with so much money for a car. Designer bags, yes (tho almost 2 tahun mak tak beli bag, another feat). Car? I'm not sure - but girl can dream no?

Well hello, I'm still alive and kicking - just a tad busy at work and at home - so this is gonna be a quick one, kot.

We had fun during our Perth getaway few months ago - yea, couldn't be bothered to write about the trip. Malas berkadar langsung dengan pertambahan usia. Anyway, it's a trip which I organized myself - sebab C*** claimed that it's my turn. Everything from the visa, car rental, apartments, itinerary segala and I think that I aced it - sebab there's no language barrier so takde lah mak mengagau.  So yea, what's next? Osaka? :P

Anyway, I think that I went crazy on the groceries, chocolate, fruits (so fresh soooo cheap) and kids' clothes. I only splurged on the drugstores stuff for myself. Makeup, facial cleanser, tons of lip balm/butter and makeup brushes. They are so cheap  - yes, even after the conversion that I wanna cry - especially the kids' clothes lah. No wonder anak mat salleh selalu berbaju comel. :P

Moving on, managed to try out a local Air BNB in Penang. I hafta say that it's a good one. I found a pretty luxurious condo that comes with its own personal elevator, salt-water pool (ada stingrays!), nice pools, awesome playground and whatnot. Money well spent.

Well, I hafta say that I'm at my heaviest weight right now, so much so that I decided to go for morning run with C*** whenever possible (especially when we're back in kampung - so there's someone to look after the kids when we're out running) and we'd usually bring the kids to the park during the weekend so that they'll be able to play and I'll be able to walk/run. Haih, hafta do something about this before I turn into a dugong. T_T

The eldest is going to the big school next year and I'm all serabut just thinking about it. Yet to figure out about the transportation and transit and whatnot.

The wee one is so talkative these days that he talks non-stop if you let him. Pot pet pot pet and his vocabulary is pretty impressive too for someone his age. He absolutely knows how to win your heart that little one. Kalau kena marah je, he'll go "Mummy, adik nak peluk" and just like that I'll melt into a puddle tho sometimes I'd refrain from giving in.

So yea, fast forward, we're supposed to go back to Kedah for EID Adha but mum decided to come over to KL instead - since Tok's here. Need to think of where to bring them jalan-jalan then and probably bring them out for a good satay hunt.

Well, Selamat Hari Merdeka & Happy EID Adha!

I cut my hair short, not short short but pretty short for my standard. I can hardly tie my hair up now, so yea, short lah okay?

Went to the saloon with mum when we went back to Kedah last week and even got to try the scalp treatment, the bill was pretty blinding. lol. Well, I'm the sort of person who doesn't spend much moolah in saloons - I don't do coloring, straightening etc. I'm more of a spa person, so yea.

Got myself a Clark wedges sandal, but merely 10 minutes of wearing it, my kaki ached like crazy. I'm probably so used to Fitflop soles that I cannot tolerate this one - and luckily Fitflop is on SALE (in UK that is), so mari lah order some.

A cousin is getting married next month, so must find something decent to wear for both solemnization and kenduri.

I neeed to lose weight.

The kids were down with something last weekend. I don't know what triggered their puking-fiesta. Myra started it on Friday, followed by Shariq and they took turn throughout the weekend with on-off mild fever. I had a hella bad time trying to get them to eat. Shariq terus macam nampak kurus.(I wish it was me instead) Haih.

The kids need to be fatten up a bit. Need to cook more fattening (but healthy) food for them and less food for us.

I need to lose weight, like seriously, before I run out of baju to wear. :P

It's crazy you know, that the only way for me to lose weight for the past 6 years is to actually gain em first (by being pregnant), then only I'd be much lighter, lagi kurus daripada sebelum pregnant. lol. Like gained 10kg (throughout pregnancy) and lose 16kg after.

It's sooooo hard to lose em these days, nak shed the extra few kgs pon susah. Damn my makcik metabolic rate.

Bought Shariq a balance bike but yet to get Myra hers - since she wants a 'normal' bike, but it's amazing that Shariq is already pretty fast on his bike. Kids are a bunch of fast-learner.

Our house still belum siap. I want to rant over and over bout this, but ranting about it won't speed things up, so yea, may Allah ease everything for us. We just want a better place to live for the kids.

I'm still not over my chemical exfoliants phase in my quest to battle the hormonal acne. Just added AHA in together with the BHA - even managed to stock up on this last month,( I got my birthday discount you see?) but I'm not even half way done with the current bottle - a little goes a long way for this one. Probably should put it up for sale on carousell. Nasib la I'm not a beauty blogger, so I couldn't be bothered to make a before-after photo, but so far so good tho I hafta remind myself not to skip on the sunscreen.

Still making breakfast for C*** daily, besides sandwiches, also made him a bunch of pastry puff stuffed with whatever we have around the house, beef and mushroom, tuna and whatnot. I'm soo tired and sleepy sometimes, but it's true that you'd willing to sacrifice for your loved ones. Bertabah je la mak.

So okay, it's Friday, happy weekend!

Getting back to work after a week long break is bleh. This (somewhat) old machine needs sometime to warm up. Owh, I turned 32 last Friday, a year older, so yeay? :P

Okay, let's ramble for a bit.

EID Adha was great - apart from the moment that MIL suddenly went "Nanti dD tolong masak sambal paru tu yer" to me on the eventful so called kenduri-day - cause we managed to korbankan a big healthy cow this year, C*** even went to hand-pick the bull whilst I locked myself in the car with the kids sebab the kandang busuk gila it gave me headache. I BS you not. T__T

Anyway, I don't cook on a large scale. For 6 pax adelah large enough for me, imagine cooking with a big-ass kuali for kenduri. Yea, still a kuali not kawah, if kawah, I give up. Cooking under the watchful eyes of the inlaws was not helping either. Owh well, one shall cook and move on. It's just sambal, how to screw up sambal right? It turned out okay, so yeah.*pats myself on the back*

Whilst we were in Malacca,we managed to somewhat satisfy our craving for Klebang coconut shake twice, tho now adelah macam ade sikit sakit hati sebab terpaksa beli yang special as they would always try to push you to buy the special coconut shake instead of the normal one and if you insist on buying the normal one jugak, kena tunggu like forever for the next batch.

I prefer mine normal sebab I think they got the sweetness and the vanilla-coconut ratio just right so I don't want to spoil it with the extra scoop of ice cream. Manis and too creamy okeh? Fine, some people like it that way, good for them. Why bother putting the normal one on the menu if you don't intend to sell it in the first place kan? Nak cepat untung ke camne? Is it so hard to put aside a bunch of non-special shake? Okay, emo sikit disitu. :P

Anyway, I didn't get to book myself a spa session on my birthday and I was having a pretty bad back from all the being-sandwiched between the little one and the other half - tidoq mengiring for like forever - regardless of the fact that the little one was placed on his little bed but sometime during the nigh time, he'd roll over to ours - sebab he'd be searching for his mum to nurse, so mak lah yang akan tersepit.

The only silver lining is, C*** adelah berbaik hati and gave me the most needed back massage. We don't have any of those aromatherapy oil and I don't like the hot oil so he ended up using the EVCO (that I bought when I was pregnant with Shariq, konon nak minum untuk kesihatan *cough*) - so yea, I smelled faintly like coconut but it's ok - I slept like a baby that night, sampai terover-slept and tak sempat to get up to make sandwich for C***'s breakfast.

Moving on, I forgot to write about our quick Singapore getaway during the peak of ZIKA.

T___T

Well, it's our long awaited quick getaway - dah beli zoo tickets and whatnot - so tawakal and I just made sure to spray like tonnes of mosquito repellent on the kids - walaupon I didn't see any nyamok. It has been more than 2 weeks since the trip and we're okay, Alhamdulillah.

Anyway, the zoo adelah awesome, the animals, the landscape, the man-made streams, the tram, the facilities, everything - they even have a splash pool/water park for the kids.

This is a typical mak-mak syndrome, pegi mana pon nak bawak anak pegi zoo. When we were in Tokyo pon sempat pegi zoo. I can't help but hope that our local zoo(s) will improve for the better too.

Our national zoo adelah sungguh menyedihkan - well, okay, the last time we were there was probably 2-3 years ago, sekarang pon still tawaq hati nak revisit - tho the zoo is merely 10 minutes away from our place. I honestly don't mind the ticket price jika berkadar langsung dengan keadaan zoo. You get what you give la kan? I don't mind giving if I know I'm getting something proportional in return, ke zoo negara dah best sekarang?

Moving on, we found a new place to satisfy our craving for mee-tarik.  The noodles are so fresh and so smoooth. Ahhh..would absolutely need to go there again without the kids, how to enjoy a piping hot bowl of noodles with screaming kids? :P

Okay, bye.

I have a handful posts that I managed to write midway - which were then saved jadi drafts sebab I already lost the mojo to continue writing whatever that I was rambling about.

Kesan penuaan sangat nih.

Well, I desperately need a vacation right now - but we don't have the luxury of time for a long getaway like we did last year. C*** is busy at work - what with the new model and whatnot. I'm yet to take my compulsory block leave and I honestly don't know when I should be taking them - tho I'm going to take a few days off during EID-Adha.

Anyway,we're trying to put together a quick somewhere-near getaway for us. Dah mak-mak ni, all that you can think about when you're about to do/plan something is to include the kids - so this break is going to be something that the kids gonna love, hopefully.

On a lighter note, I'm sooo into skincare and makeup these days. ha ha. Another mid-life crisis, yes? I think I spent tons of moolah on em last month. I still don't wear that much makeup, not the complicated one at least. I'm still with my basic beginners makeup tho now I have like 20 eyeliners instead of 5. ha ha. I finally found my HG eyeliner that doesn't smudge on me and it's dirt cheap - bye bye pricey Dior eyeliner. I'm a big fan of Korean pencil gel eyeliner now. So cheap and so awesome. :P

I'm also in the midst of an experiment with one particular chemical exfoliant. The word chemical sorta freaks me out at first. Like yea, I'm going to slather my face with acid Pfbbttt.... This one is not cheap (I'm a cheapskate, so it's probably dirt cheap for you), but I invested on a trial bottle anyway and I sorta love the result but I shall wait until I'm done with the trial bottle for me to come up with the final conclusion and to decide whether I'd be repurchasing this or not.

C*** bought me a new rice cooker. Yea, after 6 years of marriage, instead of romantic gifts, you'll get a rice cooker instead. So makcik, but this is a rather fancy one with those multipurpose functions, ceramic coated spherical pot and whatnot. He paid close to RM400 for it as it was on sale, so yea, it's pretty awesome alright, makcik or no makcik. I cook on (almost) daily basis, so tidak lah membazir disitu. :P

I bought a new designer bag after berpuasa selama 2 tahun. *lompat bintang*

Told ya that I've grown out of my crazy bag-lady phase. Once every 2 years is just fine for now. The next time would probably be sometime after we moved in into our new place next year. Aminnnn.

Amiinn on new place okay, bukan new bag. I cannot wait to move out into our own place. Kids are growing up, they absolutely need more space and I hope to be able to give them their very own playroom - just like what I used to have when I was younger. Semoga ada rezeki rumah baru next year. InsyaAllah.

C*** wrote a complaint in our current place WhatsApp group - since we're having some issue with the water backflow from our yard's floor trap yada yada. He got sick of reporting it to the management office but getting no feedback/action in return.

I don't mind him going amok sometimes. The thing is, he intentionally wrote it in his annoying Manglish just to irk me up- gangsta paradise la konon, ayat bersepah-sepah - because he used my phone, so it looked like I'm the one who wrote em. Like urghh..I don't write perfect English, tapi boleh kah jangan dok guna bahasa tunggang langgang, kalau nak tunggang langgang macam nak masuk longkang, tulis la in Malay. Grr..grrr..

Then the maintenance guy pulak replied,  "I'll checked tomorrow."

Elok sangat laaaa tuu.

#grammarnazi
#tarikrambut

Ok lah, happy weekend. Tata.

I've been busy and lazy and it's not like anybody would be reading this anyway - not like I have any reader to begin with - except myself since it's pretty amusing to read what I've wrote years before - sorta give me an outlook of myself back then ya know?

Anyway, puasa has been good for us.

Yet to skip cooking (skip puasa is another story altogether. hehe), besides on certain I'm-so-tired-I-can't-think days - yea, I try to cook everyday for berbuka. Not because C*** loves my cooking too much and can't handle outside food, but because I don't know what to buy if we were to eat outside food. Geddit?

Like, when we went to the bazaar, we ended up with nothing or something that would only qualified for snacking. Like punya la macam-macam jual, tapi tak tau nak beli apa. Bazaar for me, is a place to find rare kuih/side dishes, not the main course. I'd go crazy if I were to bump into a gerai selling a decent arrays of kuih tapi kalau gerai lauk 100 jenis sekali pon, mak tak layan.

So yea, yesterday I made my first ikan merah masak lemak cili padi. Ya know I don't really do stuff with tonnes of santan in it, but C*** requested for it, so how could I say no? After all it's just a no-brainer 7-ingredients dish.  Also whipped up a plateful of veges to negate the fattiness of the masak lemak. Itu je la lauknya and I steamed a bunch of mini kaya pau and cut a bowlful of watermelon for berbuka.

It's just my luck that C*** is not fussy when it comes to food, so yea, unless I have a specific craving for something (last Friday it was roti nan with tandori), I'd be happy to cook for berbuka.

Moving on, we turned 6 last Saturday (June 25th!) but since we were back in Malacca, we didn't get to celebrate and tho we planned to go out for coffee and cakes later that night, tapi lepas tu macam malas pulak, so yea, we'll save the celebration for later, after raya perhaps?

Well, it's pretty surreal to be married this long, I know 6 years is nothing compared to those yang dah kawin for 40 or even 50 years but it has been a good 6 years, and I hope for more years and kid(s) to come.

Talk about kids, I'm turning 32 in Sept and I've decided to stop producing(kilang much?) when I'm 35, so yea, bila nak next ntah? 2 kids is tiring and handful enough for now, don't know if I can cope with 3 (& more) but yea, 2 is definitely not my stopping point. 3 is probably the magic number? Insyaallah. Nanti lah pikiaq. :P

On a lighter note, we're almost done with the raya shopping.

Bought loads of baju for the kids but yet to be able to find a pair of new shoes for Shariq - tho we already bought him a cute pair of capal (it's going to be useless I know, we bought it just untuk bergambaq raya), punya la syndrome anak ke-dua, umur dah 2 tahun, ade kasut 5 pasang je so far, how sad is that? Myra on the other hand, kasut banyak macam nak bukak kedai. So kesian, so yea, hopefully we'll find something for him this weekend.

Me? I'm a minimalist this year. Just bought a bunch of tops, a custom-made batik sarong and probably going to get myself a new pair of fitflop since C*** is against Birkenstock and because one of my fitflop got stolen (it's an amusing story, trust me, will write bout it later) and since my fitflop dah kena capped to 10 pairs at a time, so boleh la beli sebab nak ganti kan?

That's about it, happy puasa and selamat hari raya in advance.

Well, I'm still alive and kicking alright?

Anyway, as usual. I've been trying to write but I have like tonnes of stuff on my plate these days. Work's aplenty tho I hafta admit that's I'm not depressed or anything - like, kerja banyak but I can afford to do it at my very own pace - which is pretty laju if you ask me, sebab mak suka kerja siap cepat, lepas tu boleh goyang kaki. :P

I'm scheduled for a 2 months-long development for a system enhancement. A pretty big one and it's a one man show but I don't sweat much bout it. Lagi pening dok pikir on how to setup a UAT and Production deployment compilation folder for one of the systems under my care - sebab the current server gonna be decommissioned and it's just my luck that the system's compilation adelah a tad different than the usual, so yea, let's figure out on how to do that later. Sekarang malas.

Talks about work I also need to work on the encryption thingy for our SMS-getaway system.

Okay, enough on geek talk.

My parents were here in KL for 2 weeks earlier this month - to berubat. MIL insisted on bringing dad to try out on another alternative medicine - and since it doesn't revolve around ayam golek 2 ekoq, teluq ayam kampung color putih 10 bijik, pulut kuning segala - we decided to give it a try and I like it when they're here. I got to see them often. They were staying at my aunt's place (which is only 10 minutes drive away) and they went out often. Jalan-jalan la, eat out segala. Mum also got to shop and relax for a bit - she went out shopping la, massage etc with my aunt. Which is nice.

Talks about jalan-jalan, now that dad's confined to his wheelchair (tho not like he cannot walk, he can but slow lah kan, and it tires him out pretty quick), it's great that the malls (especially the new ones) are disabled-friendly. Kat Kedah, especially in my hometown, it's pretty tricky to get him out and about but in KL, most malls siap boleh rent wheelchair segala - which is great. Talks about when something's related or affected you, then baru lah nak perasan on these sorta thing kan? Dulu tak heran pon. 

I'm counting days now, can't wait for the arrival of my newest addition to my addiction. Haih, ever since I started working. I've been wanting to get my hands on Pandora but those days, I was crazier over designer handbags so that put a halt to this, but after Shariq was born and instead of spending my money on another gold jewellery or a bag that I couldn't be bothered to wear much - gold, sebab I don't like gold to begin with. Bag pulak, after being a mom of two, I hardly change my bag anymore, pi mai pi mai dok pakai bag tu jugak.

So yea, mari lah beli something that I don't mind wearing daily. I also collect Mantra Band sebab comel. :P

On a lighter note, I think that I'm currently battling a hormonal-skin. Like these days, I look like a teenage, fresh out of high school. Those little pimples are every where, okay it might not look so obvious since they are real tiny, scattered all over my forehead like some sort of rashes, but if I'm standing under the sunlight, urgh..rasa sungguh gross. Haih, I honestly don't know where to start on fixing this. I mean, the last time I had these sorta stuff was ages ago, I'm 31 now, shouldn't I live with a healthy glowing pimple-free skin already?

T______________T

Ni nak kena start balik pakai facial wash for teenagers ke camne? I'm so depressed - well sorta.

On another lighter note, I ran out of my mineral makeup - I used to stock up my stash from LovingMinerals but I guess that they are no longer in business, the website/FB looks like it has been inactive for months. Haih, where la to stock up now? 

I'm currently trying to finish up my latest read, Stephen King's From a Buick 8 - it's a slow read - for me at least. I'm always slow when it comes to Stephen King's. I like how he described things and would tend to go slow as I'd be busy reading and imagining all at the same time. he he.

Absolutely a different read compared to my usual non-fiction and BBW 2015 is coming in December!

Yea, I need to stock up for the kids. My kids are a bunch of book-eaters, like literally and whilst I'm at it, might as well grab some for myself - tho I still have a handful of books - untouched. Talks about getting way out of my reading-plan. Nak habiskan a book monthly is such a chore these days and to think that I only got myself like 15 books to read from BBW last year, tu pon tak boleh habis. It's already October and I think I have > 5 more to go. Haih, I don't know myself anymore.

My favourite leave-on hair conditioner is on SALE (again!). The one that I've been using since forever on Myra, but I still have another huge bottle at home from my last haul - but there's no harm in stocking up when it's on Sale right? It's not like it's going to wilt or something, righttt? Haih, mom's dilemma.

Contrary to the last post. Shariq now eats like a champ (and he loves oranges!). It's such a joy to watch him eat. Suap, telan, suap, telan. Macam bagi makan ulaq sawa. ha ha. I must be imagining things, but I swear he is a lot heavier now - tho it's impossible to wish for the return of pipi-kuih-pau but looking at his yummy buncit tummy is a definition of happiness to me, I'm so easy to please.

I've stopped pumping at work, yup, no more EBM for Shariq. I guess that I just got too busy and too tired of pumping but he stills stick to me like a baby koala when I'm home (and there's no way for him to take the bottle when I'm around), like the first thing that he'll ask for when I'm back from work is to be fed. Bila mak dia balik, macam eureka moment sangat. ha ha. So yea, for the record, there's no more EBM when Shariq's 18mth old, but the direct feeding will go on as long as Allah permits. Next baby, mummy will strive harder okay? InsyaAllah.

We've been trying to go somewhere (not abroad) for a quick getaway. Ya know, stay at a good hotel, pool time whilst eating good food. That sorta thing, but the haze is yet to go away, so we're second-guessing our decision - must not expose the kids to the unhealthy outdoor, so how la?

I'm trying to lose weight. There I said it. I think ever since I've stopped pumping, the weight spiked up a little, so yea, in the spirit of maintaining the weight that I've lost effortlessly , thanks to child-birth and breastfeeding, mari lah hmppp...try to eat clean for a bit.

I'm back to my milk + bird food(read:cereal, the less processed the better) or salad with homemade dressing or anything-healthy-that-I-can-grab-from-home breakfast routine.

Last weekend, whilst the kids were asleep, I almost died of boredom (C*** was away on a work trip on Sunday - which explains the boredom) so I made myself a batch of pesto - mixture of walnut, almond, cashew, olive oil, garlic and thai basil. I skipped the cheese. The nuts combo are creamy enough for me to forgo the cheese. Lagipun kan nak ehem..kurus, we must cut off the calories whenever possible. This is my logic, I'm no Kevin Z@hri.

Back to the pesto, it tastes divine. I had it with pasta - seasoned with salt, pepper and dry chili flakes - topped with grilled chicken breast (which I dry-rub with black pepper, paprika and salt) for dinner. Mak memang suka jadi chef syok sendiri dekat rumah. My ig is flooded with #mycookingadventure photos. I'm not a great cook, but I hafta admit that cooking is pretty calming.

Whatever floats your boat lah kan?

Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin.

Raya kan sebulan? :P

Okay, this is probably quite basi already, but I'm going to write a bit on my Raya anyway.

Well, we had a long break for raya,took 5 days of annual leaves out of the 12 days break - which was sooo good, we even managed to nudge the festive traffic, our trip from KL -> Malacca(15th) -> Kedah(19th) -> KL(24th) was pretty much hassle free. We even managed to have a quick pitstop in Ipoh for Nasi Ganja. Nasi Ganja is awesome after all those raya food.

Raya in Malacca is okay. Nothing beats raya in your own kampung, but since other half's kampung is my kampung too (since the past 5 years at least) - so okay jugak lah - tho you know, I sorta missed the usual fares back home - the ketupat palas, Tok's version of kuah kacang - it comes with tonnes of beef, mom's nasi daging and whatever not.

We went to the usual houses for raya, even went back to Rembau (FIL's hometown) on the 2nd day - tho we didn't get to see much of the rumah kampung, since it is well..sorta abandoned (long story), so we went to visit the nearby relatives instead. Had a field time picking rambutan. Fat yellow juicy rambutan.

Once we're back in Kedah. Mom made her yummy nasi daging on the day that we arrived, so yea, tho we got there sometime before 10PM, nasi daging at 10PM lah jawabnya. Diet what?

The next day we went back to visit Tok, glad to see her looking well (she was dehydrated due to puasa and was not eating well days before).

So yea, at Tok's place - instead of ketupat palas and rendang, we had ketupat palas with durian instead - which was awesome. Probably the next best combo after ketupat and susu pekat. I'm weird like that. :P

The day after we went for the usual rounds - the must visit every year houses- got updated on the current news and whatnot. Had another round of rambutan picking at an aunt's place.

The rest of our stay in Kedah revolved around spending time with the family and eating good food and making good food - and mom would be asking me what to eat every single day. Terasa disayangi sungguh.

Even drove mum to the fresh market and hyper market to stock up on food. I feel so grown up tho mum even wanted to pay for the groceries, like gosh mum, I'm 30 (going 31), let me pay with my plastic money okay? he he. :P

Yea, unlike my dad, I'm not the one who likes to bring around tonnes of cash. More often then not, I'd resort to the plastic money - tho when it comes to plastic money you hafta be careful to spend wisely - kot tak the next day after the paycheque came in, kena makan roti or megi - you get the drift :P

Back to work in full swing due to the on going UAT and some pending production issues and another round of graveyard shift - accompanied by C*** obviously - told him that I'd drive myself to work, but he's not having any of that. So yea, when we're done with the deployment at 2am, I even made him drive us to the uptown.  

Saja nak feeling-feeling muda mudi. We ended up strolling around, bored(we're probably too old for this) and pretty upset - because we bumped into parents with wee kids (those that are still in swaddle and all), like wth are you doing here with little kids at this hour? Balik rumah boleh?

We're not parents contoh by all means, but c'mon, this is no place for kids. People smoking, vaping, the loud crowds. Tak rugi apa pon kalau tak pi situ - that's how my mum would put it. When Myra was born, we even stopped going to the mamak for our weekend roti canai breakfast and all those super crowded places during the first year. Tunggu la anak besaq sikit kan?

Okay lah, enough ranting. Later.

Yes, still alive and kicking here.

Pretty swamped with work in the office - never-ending since the day I got back from our long-awaited trip - now that I'm done with the documentations, scripts and whatnot for the upcoming deployment, baru boleh bernafas sikit.

Like yea, I only had a day to cool off from the trip sebab just a day after I got back, busy kerja macam orang gila. Berdedikasi sangat mak. *flips tudung*

Shall (briefly) write about our trip later. Yea, we went back balik kampung, to C***'s 2nd kampung - the land of rising sun. I've been wanting to go there since forever. Honeymoon tak sempat since we were pregnant immediately after the wedding, so yea, lepas tu we couldn't travel with a baby so we only ended up with a bunch of local trips and a couple of overseas trips before I got knocked up again and we had to go through the whole cycle again.

I digress.

Anyway, the week-long trip was a fun one (albeit the not-so-fortunate event when we got back, will write bout it later). We walked a lot (like few kilometers daily) - I reckon it's C***'s way to slim me up for EID. Owh thanks hon.

I should be thankful that we got back with my knees intact. Rasa macam dah bersenam untuk setahun. :P

The kids were cooperative during the trip, no excessive tantrums and whatnot so we're pretty sane throughout tho adelah sesi merajuk 2-3 minit in between but nothing severe dan tiada aksi meroyan mak bapak banyak anak (2 is plural so banyak la kan?).

Thanks for making my life easier sweethearts - else you know that your daddy won't take us anywhere for the next 10 years or until both of you are over 20. :P

So yea, I hope we'd be able to travel again soon. Now that we know that it ain't that hard to travel with kids, so let's.

I've been wanting to write, but I've been pretty overwhelmed at work and at home. So yeah, we spent the long weekend back in Kedah, everything was great except for the long drive thanks to the horrendous balik-kampung traffic.

I think we should have a balik kampung schedule or something, our highway just can't cope with the traffic anymore, no matter if we multiples the lanes by four, let's not talk about the RNR - the endless queue - nah, I'm not talking about the queue at the loo, queue nak drive into the RnR pon dah jem berbatu-batu. 

Your luck just ran out if you desperately need to wee wee, like yea, good luck with that - you'll fare better if you can pee in a bottle or something - not like I did, just saying. :P

So yea, Myra turned 4. Had a mini celebration at school. The cake was awesome. A pink-purple My Little Pony chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting, like yea, I was expecting something regular, ya know, chocolate cake and err..butter cream (that's how oblivious I am, I asked for chocolate cake and specified the color of the frosting, not the type of the frosting) - so when we were given a huge slice of cake to be taken back home (so nice of the teacher to ask whether I wanted to have a bit of it or not, else mak tak merasa lah cake birthday), I was pretty blown away.

C*** thinks so too, no fake-butter taste and cheap chocolate after-taste whatsoever - so I was not being delirious or something. The baker is nice too, absolutely worth every penny. So yea, I absolutely know where to get em cakes next time. :)

We already booked an apartment for our getaway, it helps that the place that we're going is like C***'s 2nd kampung, else we wouldn't be able to grab such a place. Like yea sure, they have a website and everything, but it's in their native language, no English version whatsoever and even if you Google-translated it (yea,I tried even tho it's not like I have any use of it), the language is pretty hard to comprehend.

Well, another crucial part - we're yet to finalize the itinerary,  I hafta admit that it's pretty hard.

C*** simply went  

"List down everything you wanna do and places you wanna go, I'll take you there."

Like easy for you to say, sure I have tonnes of stuff to buy to see and places to go to, but that's me. C*** doesn't care much, as long as I'm happy (which is great, adakah project memikat hati bini? haha) but we're traveling with another friend (C***'s friend to be exact) and his family (they decided to tag along right after we bought our tickets) and they didn't even bother to chip in on this - which annoys me a little.

Honestly, I don't like to be the travel planner for  people that I don't know much of, like I've told C*** that I already have a list of stuff that I want to look for once we're there.

These people might not like the same thing as I do (they are somewhat older, the age gap probably gonna divide our interest), so if they let us know, boleh la we arrange something for them or whatnot - ni bukan macam pegi KLCC, this week pergi then lupa nak beli something, next weekend pegi lagi - we're not freaking billionaires. I want it to be meaningful for them as much as it's for me. Help me to help you la kan?

Ni bila tanya what they have on their mind, *crik crik* diam seribu bahasa.

Well, this trip supposed to be our family getaway but you wanna join in, okay, I don't mind that. The more the merrier eh? - tapi sila don't take us for granted. Like yea, you're so busy that you couldn't be bothered to do anything and expect me (yang mungkin depa rasa pegi office dok goyang kaki) to do all the research - where to go, when, how much to pay for the tickets etc.

C*** already did his part as he had to sort out the accommodations and flight tickets (yea, we even booked the tickets for them, tak biasa katanya *cough*) 

Like yea, we're running a freaking travel agency now - but for free. ha ha. 

I don't wanna be bitter about this as we'd be spending times together, tapi I just hafta say this, I'm a wee bit annoyed with people that couldn't be bothered to show some interest and effort. Dah namanya pon self-planned trip, mari lah sort things out together, else you are probably better off traveling with an agency - so that someone else gonna have you sorted out from A to Z, just bagi duit jer.

Owh dah terlajak jadi whiny, here's a bit more - bear with me.

There's this once place that I really really wanted to go when we're there because I'm such a hugeeee fan, but sadly, my luck ran out, because the tickets for this particular place adelah sudah sold out on our intended date - we could try to squeeze it in somewhere, tapi I rather not tire the kids. Like yea, killjoy sungguh. Sob. Probably a good excuse for a second trip sometime in the future. :P

How's that for an update? he he.

Later.

Shariq turned 13 mth old 2 days ago and when I thought that he'll grow out of the baby koala phase when he's at this age, nampaknya tidak.

He just wouldn't leave me alone when I'm around, so much so that C*** or MIL hafta pry him off me. Yea, it's that bad.

He's been such a good eater for the past week (3 full serving of meal + 5 bottles of EBM whilst I was at work), but came Saturday, he was down with a mild fever and refused to eat much. Yea, mom's world problem over here = kids not eating = much worse than planning for a world domination.

On a lighter note, I have to reconfirm my order for Myra's birthday cake by this week, to finalize on the color and whatnot. I still need to hunt for the raisins in those tiny boxes for her party pack. Also need to finalized the design for the custom stickers. It has been ages since the last time I did any editing work, demi anak ku gagahkan jua, tho I hafta admit that I'm not much a designer to begin with.

Anyway, I'm still in the middle of arranging our itinerary for our week-long getaway. Tho we just gonna stick to one particular city, still lah rasa macam so little time so much to do - since we're traveling with kids, so I think it's wise not to tire them up so much. We hafta put a limit to our activities, kot bujangan boleh la keluar pagi balik malam, with kids, more like keluar pagi and balik before they get too cranky. :P

C*** on the other hand, is still hunting for our accommodation (which doesn't come cheap *lap peluh* ) as I'd prefer for us to rent an apartment - so that I can whip up easy meals for the kids. Jalan-jalan bawak bekal so that I'd be able to stuff them up whenever they are hungry. It would be so much easier on my conscience too, knowing that my kids are not being neglected just because the parents are too eager to travel. he he. Mak bapak dia macam-macam boleh makan, so I don't worry much about us.

Moving on, sometimes last week, during one of the phone calls, I told my mum on how Myra has been wanting to own a play-doh set. Sure, it's not really a grand request, but Shariq is just one and he's not really over the I-put-everything-in-my-mouth phase. Play-doh is the exact kinda toy that I'm trying to avoid - like seriously, play-doh looks pretty yummy to me, if I'm one, I'd probably eat it - I think that I used to have a go at it when I was a kid, I had like tonnes of play-doh set when I was younger, best okeh? Except when you accidentally mixed all the colors together and they turn ugly like shit. :P

So yea, few days after that, mum sent me a picture through whatsApp - a picture of a huge box of play-doh, coz ya know because she 'happened' to be at Parkson and 'accidentally' saw a good play-doh set. Right, as if she hangs out at the toy section often la kan? :P

Pbbff...grandparents, they spoil the kids rotten.

MIL is back from her umrah on Monday, but Shariq is still at the daycare until the end of this week - so that MIL can chill for a bit to beat the jet lag and whatnot.

Planning to grab a box of brownies or japanese cream puff to be given to the nannies at the daycare, a token of appreciation or the sort, tho it's not like they are taking care of the baby for free (heck, the fees dah nak sama macam kakak tho it's just for 3 weeks, ad-hoc rate katanya *cough*), now I just need to find a baker to accept my last minute order. :P

Moving on, we had a pretty laid-back weekend. Went out on Saturday for ribs and jalan-jalan for a bit.

We even took out the new stroller for a spin, the kids love it. Now both of them can comfortably sit and stroll but we hafta let Myra sit on the upper seat else her legs gonna dangle awkwardly if she was to be seated on the lower seat. We can't really have a fixed seating arrangement as we might have to switch if the baby nak tidoq because the lower seat couldn't be reclined much compared to the upper seat. The hood is hugee, so much so that we took it off during our stroll in the mall, macam serabut la pulak. ha ha. Tapi when we travel later, kena lah angkut. 

Owh, the stroller comes with a neck support pillow, a cup holder, a matching diaper bag and a rain cover. The storage basket underneath is of a decent size, boleh la nak sumbat apa-apa yang patut.

The stroller is pretty awesome. It's as small as our single stroller but just a bit longer when folded (dan tak muat kalau nak letak dalam my compact car or C***'s small car, so it got a permanent place in our MPV instead). Maneuverability wise is pretty decent, the handles are at a good height for both of us tho it's not adjustable.

Sure it's a wee bit heavier than what we're used to, but it's a double stroller so it's somewhat expected. It's an umbrella fold too, tho the folding and unfolding need a bit of getting used to. If dulu can fold with one hand and a kaki, now kena lah use both hand and a kaki and fasten the straps to lock em in place and whatnot - we even bought an extra strap to further tighten the fold. Dulu less than a minute, now probably 4 minutes. ha ha. Well, it's C***'s job, so yea, have fun hon.

On a lighter note, when we got the stroller, we noticed that the front wheel is a wee bit wobbly. It's probably not a big deal, but knowing that we're buying this stroller for our next trip and we couldn't afford the risk of the wheels tercabut or malfunction in any way as we'll be walking a lot, we contacted the seller and even sent her a video of the said wheel. The feedback was pretty quick, we'll be getting a replacement front wheel coming our way soon, so yey! Brownies point disitu!

Owh, I forgot to mention which stroller that we bought. Didn't I? he he. We got our hands on this Merricart tandem stroller at a good price - ours is the black frame in red polka dot (pasrah je C***). ha ha. We decided to grab it from a local seller, instead of jadi kiasu and tunggu dah sampai our destination baru beli stroller sebab nak brand lagi best dan lagi murah - like what I mentioned in my previous post. I mean, kalau sampai sana baru nak beli stroller, jenuh la nak heret budak berdua sans stroller - what with the luggage and all, and there's no guarantee that the stroller is readily available in the store, buatnya takde?  So yeah, out with the kiasu-ness, in with the practicality.

So yea, there goes my quick review, will post up a photo in my ig when I feel like it. ;)

Well, later.

It has been more than a week since the 1st day for the wee one at the daycare. How he's doing? Good I guess.

How am I doing? Hmpp..not so great. I feel like a balancing act in a circus. he he. Imagine me, with a baby, 5 bags (FS bag, handbag, cooler bag, the kids' bags) and a toddler in tow. Not a pretty sight.

Pagi-pagi dah rasa macam running a marathon (not like I ever join one). Habis cayaq makeup mak - not like I wear much makeup to begin with, but ya know, whatever left of it pon dah habis by the time I dropped them off to school.

That my friend, is just the first half of the marathon because once I picked them up from school, the 2nd half began.

The cooking (both for our dinner & Shariq's food for the next day), the cleaning, the ironing, the washing - minus the folding. I don't do folding - doesn't matter if there's a mount Everest of clothes unfold pon. :P

I tried to skip the cooking part, so I could relax for a bit, but the fridge is so well stocked that it makes me feel guilty. Owh, the cooking for us I mean, not the kids, I strive to cook for them everyday, especially Myra lah (Shariq memang pagi petang siang malam makan food mak dia masak, susu pon mak dia produce.hahaha. TMI), during weekdays, at least she gets to eat my cooking once/day for dinner.

Like yea, seronok membeli groceries tapi malas masak just doesn't sound right - tho it's not like I'll be doing something fancy, last night it was fettuccine carbonara with brown mushroom and streaky beef which was done within 30 minutes. 

By the time I hit the bed, I'm truly drained but pretty contented. Looking at the amount of work done - rasa macam super mak sangat. ha ha.

On a lighter note, I already bought the double stroller, calmly waiting for it to be shipped over. Will write a quick review about it once it's here.

We have 2 months to work on the passports for our upcoming trip - more than enough time to procrastinate . Mine and Myra's expired last year and Shariq is going to have his first passport photo taken - I can't wait.

Meanwhile, I also have to work on the party pack for Myra's 4th birthday. I'm yet to look around for her cake. *lap peluh*

Well, later.

I want to rant about this nagging feeling in my guts about sending the wee one to daycare.

Yea, a change in routine for him, for us starting next week.

I don't fret much about mine, but I'm pretty worried about what it gonna do to the little one, what with his baby-koala phase and everything.

I hope he won't fuss much. I hope he'll be an easy baby for the nanny. I hope that he'll finish up his EBM and food. I hope that he won't have any trouble sleeping at the daycare, he doesn't sleep much during the day nowadays.

I hope that they don't find him too spoilt or troublesome to be taken care of.

I don't know what to expect.

This is my 2nd baby but I'm still fretting like a first-timer.

*sighs*

How la?

Nope, not talking about doubling up the number of kids, I'm not that crazy yet. I need another year, or two or three. :P

Anyway,we're in the midst of planning our 1st trip as a family of four.

Honestly, our last quick getaway was months ago - and it's only a few hours drive away - and it's starting to irk me when I'm not traveling. Like seriously, what on earth is stopping us? Money? Work? Kerja sampai mati pon tak abis.

Anak kecik? Susah travel? Yeah, that sounds more like us :P

I mean, I'm not much of a globe hunter pon, but I'd like to make it a routine for us to go on our own getaways every now and then, be it near or far.

We didn't go places last year, I was heavily pregnant during the 1st quarter and later, it goes without saying that we decided not to travel with a newborn.

Shariq gonna turn one this month and once he's done with his vaccinations ( MMR & last dose of pneumococcal), mari lah travel.

So yea, during our last trip to Beijing, Myra was almost 2 y/o. We dragged along our trusted Peg Perego stroller and Boba SSC (which has been ever so useful, I climbed the Great Wall with a toddler sleeping on my back).

Now that we have two babies (albeit one is a real baby and the other one is more like a cry baby), I'm thinking of getting my hands on a double stroller. A stadium seating is a must (there's no way around it) and if possible a light umbrella fold.

I'm not crazy about bulky, super expensive strollers, no matter how attractive they look.

I'm practical and a cheapskate just like that. I mean, even with our current stroller pon mak mengah nak fold and unfold (exaggerate sikit), what if it's a huge bulky double stroller. I might as well, sit in a corner and cry - or maybe not. :P

Okay, drama much? - but ya, that's the point.

Did I tell ya I'm not really into super expensive strollers? Like 2k is my limit, anything over that is bleh, it's just a freaking stroller, tapi if I could get my hands on an el-cheapo (but reliable) one, lagi mak gumbira.

I only have 3 strollers in my KIV list, a Miniwalker double stroller (or now known as Merricart from our jiran Spore), Kinderwagon double stroller (from US tapi sebijik macam Miniwalker/Merricart jugak, tak tau who copied who,I think the former. he he) and Cosatto Shuffle All Star stroller.

All of these are within my budget and whilst I was browsing around, I just found out that 2 (the Kinderwagon & Cosatto) of em are being sold way cheaper in our destination country, like here, I want that, take my money already.

Now I'm counting on the possibility of C*** going there for a quick work trip - so that he'd be able to hunt for the stroller before our travel date which equals to penjimatan berganda (RM500 is good money to me, mak bleh beli Fitflop sepasang), else I hafta settle with the the marked up Malaysian price.

Owh, Miniwalker is just around RM1200, cheaper compared to the former two - Malaysian price that is.

Hmpp...

so how now brown cow?

How does one measure love?

I have no idea.

When a husband gave in to your you-are-over-your-head idea. It's a sign of love kah?

It surely sounds like love to me. :P

Will ramble about that later.

Two of the cousins are getting married this year - which is awesome.

MIL is going for another umrah this year, about the same time as last year, probably just a wee bit later - I have to make some arrangement for Shariq's daycare.

I need a new Fitflop. Decided that my 9th pair should be a Skinny croc in Bronze, a simple one for the win - too bad that the last time that I went to Bratpack, they didn't have it in my size.

I need a new wallet. I hope there's something extra in March's paycheque *cough* bonus *cough* to accommodate this need.

I'm currently scouting for party pack ideas for Myra's 4th birthday - playschool edition, 35 kids altogether, which includes the kindy, play school and day care. Kalau her group, baru 8 orang. :P
I'm thinking of toxic-free crayons( gonna buy them in bulks) and probably some air kotak/choc milk, Oreos, small bars of milk choc (maybe? A wee bit of chocolate wouldn't hurt. Kot? My Myra loves dark choc, but I don't think other kids would appreciate that), little box of raisins, Twiggies (maybe? Keji tak bagi cake/roti? ha ha.) and the sort,but nope, no jajan.

I hate to admit that I've..hmppp..thrown away some of the stuff in the party packs that Myra brought back home - almost weekly. I mean, some of those looks soo...inedible. Eg. Colorful jelly/candy made in China - especially those with all-wrritten-in-Chinese packaging.

I don't know bout you but I have a thing about food made in China. Rasa sungguh, unsafe, but I'm anal just like that.

I feel bad - the thought of the money spent on those jajan, but I'd feel worse if I were to feed those to my kid.

I'm not much of a kiasu mummy, I have my kiasu moments for sure, but what I deem unfit for my kids, the same goes to others. Takkan nak kumpul pehtu bagi kat anak orang lain pulak?

Moving on.

We found a place to satisfy our craze for mee tarik. The noodles are awesome, so is the cumin lamb chop. My ultimate favourite. If I couldn't be bothered of what those fatty juicy lamb gonna do to my arteries, I'd go there weekly. :P

Anyway, we went back up North last week, C*** had to work in Penang on Friday, so we tagged along. After 2 long weeks, baru lah dapat jumpa the little nephew (Hello Muhammad Adam Rayyan!). He's so small and smells owh-so-heavenly. I'm yet to get him anything big - except for a set of cute bandana bibs.

Haih. I love newborn, they are so easy to please, bagi susu, tukar diaper, tido, settle - everything is dandy, except for the bangun-200-kali-malam-malam-for-milk that is.

Dah anak dua, boleh la cakap. :P

Don't mind me whilst I gloat in my mak-anak-dua glory.

Back to work then. Tata.

This is my 1018th post.

Like yea, what in the world could I have possibly written the previous 1017 posts about? Tho the number is not something unusual or spectacular in any way - as this rambling space of mine started off ages ago, way back in 2003. So obviously,my posts varies - from student life, families, relationships and romance (or the lack of it), my daily rant as an IT slave, my transition from a bridezilla to C***'s other half, soon after as a mom-to-be, later - as a frantic mom of one and now, two.

Honestly, it's amazing to see how far I've come and grown (emotionally and ehem, physically). It feels like years before I started to write bout the kids' milestones, I'm actually writing mine.

Since today is the last day of 2014, let's wrap it all up.

Personally, I have my own ups and downs this year. The end of a year-long project at work. Myra's going-to-school drama (& dilemma on my side). The birth of our son. Mom's retirement. My 2nd confinement. My little brother's wedding.

Dad had a stroke (which has easily been one of the most terrifying days in my life) - but on the bright side, it brought us closer as a family. It made a very reliable and responsible man out of my baby brother - and now that he's going to be a father himself, the timing couldn't have been better - every cloud has a silver lining, that much is true.

My constant battle with trust, is something that I still have to work on.

Some bridges burned tho I'm yet to find out why. Sadly, it just did and we're just too in-denial to admit. Thanks to our Malay root, you know how our people would refrain from doing or saying anything, thinking that we are just being polite so we'd usually prefer to wait things out whilst to someone on the other side, it seems like we just don't care.

Someone close to you is in distress, you'd go "I have nothing to offer and I'm afraid of saying anything out of key, so I'd just wait until she/he feels better" the next thing you know, days, months and years have passed and everything is forgotten, including the relationship.

I do hope to make amends. I just have to figure out how.

I am, however, eternally grateful for everything. For the comfort, love and the stability that Allah has given me. I'm hoping, praying for a better year.

Let's hope for the best.

We went to a wedding yesterday, a good one I hafta admit - due to its kids friendly location. A well air-conditioned, brightly-lit, huge, nicely decorated hall.

I don't even know the bride or the groom, supposed to be a daughter of someone from C***'s side of the family, but he had no idea who it's either. So yeah, we were there because MIL took us there - tho we did see a bunch of familiar faces.

The food was okay, tho I detest those makciks who were in charge of serving the lauks onto our plates - coz ya know, I didn't get to choose what I wanted. Like, I don't do nasi minyak kuah dalca banjir (even after I told the makcik, tanak kuah tetap la penuh kuah sepinggan ) or chicken breast, especially when I'm at a wedding, most often than not, those parts gonna end up tasting like rubber, hard and dry - but under the scrutinizing eyes of those makciks, I couldn't simply go

"Makcik, saya tanak yang banyak-banyak isi nanti keras, nak drumstick plis? Kuah pon tanak banyak-banyak sikit jer each, saya tak makan acar jeruk jugak. Makcik, saya tamau buah orange letak atas nasi." 

Kena lempang pulak kang. 

Yea, I'm fussy just like that, but it's better to choose something that I'd absolutely eat than having a plate piled up high, tapi ended up tak habis. Negating the whole idea of portion control = tak membazir + enough food for everyone.

Honestly, I totally get the idea of placing those makciks at the buffet table to do the appropriate portion control, but they just irk me sometimes. After all, a kenduri is 'jamu orang makan' (as my dad would put it) so what's up with the rigid control? Kot suka dia la nak makan/pilih apa pon.

Owh well?

Lain padang, lain belalang.

Had a lil detour after the wedding and managed to get myself a little something from Habib Jewel, something to be stacked against my (replacement) wedding ring (I lost my real wedding ring, remember?) since it's a pretty loose fit now. I'm not big on resizing, so getting a ring one size smaller than the current one is the solution to 'lock' the ring into place. Some of the retired rings and charms from Pandora are on sale too, but nothing tickles my fancy and the one that I want is yet to make its way to Malaysia, should probably start looking for it online.

We got back home, put the babies down to sleep as they were starting to get pretty cranky and off we went out for our lil rendezvous - a short one I hafta add. We managed to get back home in a wee bit more than an hour.

Oh yea, C*** finally got me a new iron, to replace the old temperamental one. I made him got me one those fancy Tefal turbo steam, super glide whatever not irons. I'm all about fanciness and efficiency, so yea, had a blast ironing (and face-steaming) last night (C*** even came into the laundry room to check on me, saying "Tengok mummy tu, dah dapat iron baru, iron baju lama-lama pon takde complaint.")  

No complaint? Riggggght. Me and not complaining do not sound quite right. I can complaint about anything. he he. Not like I love finding fault in everything, but if you want something honest, I can absolutely tell you my mind.


Anyway, the iron is great tapi terlebih turbo pulak steam function dia, even at the lowest steam setting - so the next time I'm about to do the ironing, might as well put a layer of charcoal mask on, 2 in 1 you see?

Okay, I'm not complaining, it's just an honest feedback. :P

Thank you handsome.  

Lepas ni get me the Dyson bladeless tower fan pulak, can ah?