blogging.my.brains.out

Of family reunion

2011-12-18T11:50:00.003+08:00

Despite sleeping around 6am this morning *buat report la apa lagi* we made our way to Taman Tenaga to attend the "Majlis Waris Dan Keturunan YAM Pengiran Sura Negara Pengiran Anak Badarudin (Jurai Tok Mamat)" at 10am this morning.

Apparently kami adalah bau-bau bacang dengan the Brunei royalties. The details were presented during the workshop. The presenter is actually the seventh generation coming from Jurai Syarifah. *I think* I am on the other hand, the fifth generation from Jurai Tok Mamat. Our clan (i.e. starting from my grandfather - comprising of my dad's siblings) all came decked in white and/or black. Ramai kot. Kitorang je dah berapa orang, considering that dad had 11 siblings.. (2 passed away when they were little)

Had a blast though. So, what does this mean? Nothing much, really. Ancestry. It's always nice to know about where you came from.. Kalau ikutkan we are all Pengirans. Pengiran @dillazag , Pengiran Khadra, Pengiran Khaleeq and Pengiran Khaleeda. My hubby could carry Pengiran Bini @azrulx. ;)

Gotto get back to the talk now. ;)

-dillz blogging out-

Testing saja

2011-12-18T00:17:00.004+08:00

Hubs decided that he's getting an iPhone 4s for himself. He got one for me as my advanced birthday present. Sapalah saya untuk menolak rezeki. ;)

Sedang sesi menerai. Having a blast with Siri. Lawak siuts.

iHappy.

-dillz blogging out-

Focus! Focus! Focus!

2011-12-05T13:29:00.001+08:00

So much to do. So much to do.

There has been quite a lot that has happened this past month, concerning the kids. Especially concerning the kids. As usual, mommy hasn't had time to update, has she? hihihihihihi

It's been pretty hectic at the work front too. I have finally gotten some things finalized and am still gungho with several more projects in hand. Insya Allah. Dipermudahkan. Aminn.. I have also picked up on my reading in the past month. Somehow, I gravitated to malay fiction this time around. Finished reading several #BukuFixi publications - Jerat, Pecah, Kougar, Dendam and Kasino and @elviza's Kerna Terpaksa. In my reading list currently is FauziahAshari's Ombak Rindu and another #BukuFixi Ngeri. :P

At this juncture, most of the kids activities has slowed down somewhat. To date, we have completed:

Khaleeda's 4th birthday celebrations - this time around she had it at Barbie Store. Beria, I tell you. But, the princess had a great time with the makeovers and catwalk with her friends. :)
Khadra's Kickstart Internal Grading for her rhythmic gymnastics. The grading determined whether she could go up to Grade 1 level from Little Gymnast level.
Khadra completed her School Holiday gymnastics program - with a Russian coach. Woohoo!
Khadra and Khaleeq's TTG final performance for this year, in conjuction with Didance's year end showcase at KLPAC.
Khadra and Khaleeq performed their yearly drama at KLPAC last week, on the 30th November and 1st December 2011. This year's title is T3 = The Equation. The endangered animals in the highlights this year were the tapirs, tenggiling and tembadaus.
Khaleeq undergoing his prelim diagnosis for his condition. Insya Allah, will be concluded by month-end.
Khaleeda started her mengaji. Yeay!

Till I get more time to type in this space. I'll definitely try to elaborate the above points. With pictures too, if I have the might! Too-da-loo.

-dillz blogging out-

My Junior Masterchefs

2011-11-15T01:10:00.001+08:00

The two Khas entered a Scottigami competition at their school early this month. In simple terms, the kids had to fold Scott kitchen towel into an object. Thus, the name Scott + Origami = Scottigami. Khadra wanted to make lillies and Khaleeq wanted to make frogs. So, we googled how to fold them and spent some good time making them. Thanks to the abundance of accessories (pipe cleaners, flower cutout, feathers and googly eyes) to decorate the kitchen towels from our trusted Doodle drawer, we were able to come up with the following.

Tadaa.....

Boleh tahan, la... Seni tu ada...

Best part was, the Top 30 most creative entries stand a chance to participate in a junior cooking workshop with a celebrity chef and they were both selected. Wey-hey!!! So, mommy dengan penuh bersemangat ambil cuti hari tersebut to accompany my little chef Khaleeq and @azrulx was Khadra's partner-in-crime. (@azrulx cooking? Of course, I HAD to see this. hihihihihi)

Anak-anak, ibu-ibu, bapa-bapa - all excited for the workshop to start. Ampun, ada pulak gambar kaki ibu-ibu. Motif???

Inside the hall. Getting ready to cook. Aprons ON.. Let's go!

First menu: tortilla wrap. There wasn't actual or proper cooking per se - no pots nor pans needed - more like chopping, mixing, squeezing, whisking and assembling. I let Khaleeq do most of the steps, with guidance, of course. Especially while chopping stuff. Adoi, seriau acik... Tak sempat nak menjeling meja sebelah to see how the father-daughter duo was doing. OK lah tu. Cik mek Khadra tu boleh diharap. We successfully completed the wrap and both kids completely devoured their fruits of labour. Sedap juga.. Mommy dapatlah merasa beberapa bites.

Next up was smoothies making. Can't believe how simple the steps were. The chef encouraged the kids to try a few different combinations. Personally, I liked the banana-oreo the best. And I have also concluded that peanut butter does not go well into a smoothie. Period!

Session ended with group photos and interviews. Kids were happy. Parents were happy. Mana taknya, kenyang perut, suka hati lah...

I am actually very grateful that we got this opportunity to participate in this kind of workshop with the kids. It showed them that cooking is really not that hard to do and every single one can actually whip something up in the kitchen. In fact, we already bought a smoothie blender last weekend. Made a few batches of smoothies with the kids' help. (I added a few scoops of Bulla vanilla ice-cream into the recipe though. hahahaha) They are very interested and I hope to get the kids more involved in the future too. Sebelum ni pun, ada la jugak tolong sikit-sikit, especially when baking cookies and brownies. Part goreng-menggoreng, potong-memotong ni, I tak berani nak let them in yet. Maybe I should get them a safer knife macam dalam Junior Masterchef tu. Mana nak beli, ek?

-dillz blogging out-

apebarang?

2011-11-10T19:20:00.000+08:00

apebarang? Apa barang? Ha... tu dia.. Kalau tak tahu, sila tanya..

apebarang has now become one of my favourite online art shop selling cutesy art pieces. They have paintings on canvases as well as coasters. If you remember Stoodle from way back when, the artist who doodles based on facebook status(es). I've even written about them here, here and here. Tu lah dia.. si mimi @stoodlerist. She's the one who came up with all the genius designs.

LOVE.LOVE.LOVE.

During their opening launch recently, I bought 3 pieces from their I<3 series:
I <3 Books, I <3 Coffee and I <3 Monsters.

It's art on a 10cm x 10cm canvas. When it came to our doorsteps, we immediately that we need MORE, MORE, MORE. I was thinking along the lines of making a 3x3 matrix and framing it for our library.

Mimi advised us to go the commissioned way - we custom ordered 6 other designs, yakni:
I <3 Chili's, I <3 Cooking, I <3 travel, I <3 Golf, I <3 Apple and I <3 Roti & Egg. The actual object / wording commissioned was upon consultation with the other members of the family. A few days later, it arrived at our doorsteps. :)

Lihat hasilnya. Tarra!!!
Cantik kan?

So, anyhoots... Yang nak cerita ni is because apebarang arthunt is back. mimi had just uploaded her latest pieces, AND.. up till 11 November 2011, shipping is free!

It started yesterday at 3pm, and believe it or not, I actually missed it too. Baru ternampak dalam timeline tadi masa tengah training. So after I got my bargains below, I cepat-cepat la bagitahu uols. :)

Jangan jeles... ;)

-dillz blogging out-

It's Back! It's Toffee Nut Time!

2011-11-08T18:44:00.006+08:00

Ketahuilah sekalian manusia. Inilah air yang kutunggu - tunggu sepanjang tahun.

Toffee Nut latte is back!

Woot!

I was pleasantly surprised today actually coz we were lepaking at Starbucks yesterday while waiting for the kids to finish at Kizsport BV2. Takde pun ura-ura this Christmasy beverage would be available in a very near future. Today, tup, tup, ada pulak. :)

Along with the Christmas promotion, of courselah juga the anticipated "race" (dengan sapa saya racing tu tetap menjadi tandatanya) to accumulate the stipulated number of stamps to get the complimentary Starbucks organizer, kan? Soal whether diary tersebut digunakan atau tidak throughout the year, tidaklah menjadi persoalan. (My 2011 one was probably used up till February only) Yang penting, HARUS dapatkannya terlebih dahulu.

This year is no different. However, you'd have to do it in a slightly different manner. You gotta:

1. Purchase the Starbucks Card
2. Buy 15 handcrafted beverages
3. Redeem your 2012 diary

OK, apakebendanya Starbucks Card?

It's a kinda pre-paid card for Starbucks which actually holds some amount of cash. Like a cashcard la. So, from now on, I pay for my drinks with the Starbucks Card. Why should I bother, did I hear you say? Sebabnya mudah. You will get a complimentary grande handcrafted beverage with every purchase of any 10 handcrafted beverage OR any tumbler OR any whole cake. Dan macam-macam lagilah benefitnya. On top of that, there's an ongoing promotion for a free card caddy if you top up RM100 into the card.

Being a sucker that I am for all cards in this world and any chance to get stuff for free- haruslah acik membelinya. Ya, dengan card caddynya sekali. Sekian terima kasih.

Saya sudahi dengan ucapan, "Selamat berlumba" bagi other suckers out there just like me.

-dillz blogging out-

The Photobook Craze

2011-10-29T09:36:00.008+08:00

Hey there peeps! Seems like I am on a roll right now. Memanglah banyak nak cerita, am just finally putting it down. Like finally, right?

This morning, I wanted to share this other craze that I have been working on a lot, a lot, a lot! I started fiddling with Photobook quite a while back. When I thought I had to finish 5 books in 2 weeks, quite frankly. That was sometime in March 2011. Turned out I didn't have to and the expiry was really a year away. Duhh!!!

But it did force me to start using the downloaded application and make our very first Photobook. I made two albums circa April 2011 - one on our family photoshoot back in 2006 and the other one was our first stay in Hard Rock Hotel, Penang. I call these two my First Generation photobooks. :) Once we ordered the albums, it really only took about 4 days for the books to arrive. Of course, Khaleeda was the most excited. (Siapa lagi, ya tak? )

For me, when ordering the Imagewrap books (the one I was working on are called Imagewrap Medium Landscape books) , the cover is important as it gives the reader the first impression. Does it attract your audience or doesn't it? Then, the layout and flow of the whole book. How do you want to organize your pictures. Next is the first and last page. How do you start and end your story telling?

Gen 1: Photoshoot 2006

Cover: Three selected pictures on a black background. with a caption "Azlul Clan Photoshoot 2006". Simple and classic. The back is a picture of Khadra and Khaleeq walking hand-in-hand. Agak comel.
Flow: I divided the book into two. First half is the indoor family photoshoot we had commemorating our graduation from MBA. The other half is the outdoor photoshoot by the poolside.
Layout: I used patterned backgrounds to give it a more scrapbook-y feel. Frames. Lots of frames. When I have a certain picture that I wanted to highlight, I let it take the whole page.
First and last pages: A picture of me and Azrul on the first page and a nice picture of Khadra during the outdoor shoot for the last page.

Gen 1: Hard Rock Hotel 2009

Cover: Full picture of HRH on the front cover. For the back cover, I put on a cool Elvis quotation I got at the lobby entrance that says "Welcome back my friends, the show that never ends". I also included a picture of the three kids playing sandcastle by the beach.
Flow: It started with pictures of our roadtrip - the drive all the way up to Penang. Then the hotel ambiance, the awesome pizzas at the pizzeria, Lil Rock, kids having fun in the pool - basically all thhe stuff we could do there.
Layout: For this album, I stuck to just plain white background with black frames. Had a few captions here and there. I still highlighted a few pictures that I really liked - those ones take a whole page. We also had the view of the sea from our room. Two beautiful views captured at different times of the day next to each other. <3 <3 <3 I also liked a spread I made on the food we got from breakfast at the King's Club. I even added the breakfast menu there. :)
First and last pages: First page says "December.2009 roadtrip! Roadtrip!" Last page is a picture of the kids sleeping in their car seats on our way home with a caption "'till next time!"

Come early October 2011, two more vouchers were due. I got a real deal from Groupon Malaysia, something like RM54 for an RM256 worth of Photobook. Sangat berbaloi-baloi. The only thing is the expiry comes around a few months after. OK la, just have to organize your time a little better and get it done in time. That's all. Anyhoots, for this Generation 2 albums I have upgraded a little of my skills and decided to finish up the Melbourne trip and start on the Hong Kong Disneyland album. It has some obvious improvements from Gen 1, I think. So I really do recommend that you only work on a few (one or two) Photobook(s) at a time as your designing skills will improve over time. :)

Gen 2: Melbourne 2004

Cover: I chose the best two pictures that depicted the trip and made it as cover. The compulsory pose by the Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles.
Flow: Very much like the earlier HRH album, it's a story of our short stay there. As the page progresses, it showcased the things we saw and did.
Layout: This time I used plain black background with white frames and text. I started experimenting on opacity, whereby the pictures become slightly blurry and transparent. It makes other pictures layered in front of it pop out more if they are in full colour.
First and last pages: A made a little narration as the first page. A little summary of what the album is about. Last page was a picture of my mom and all her grandchildren in Melbourne at the time, Khadra, Nelysa and Naqib.

Gen 2 : Hong Kong Disneyland 2011

Cover: Picture of the whole family in front of a Mickey Mouse statue. Back cover is a smaller picture of me and the kids walking out of the theme park with a visible "Thank you for coming" on the arch.
Flow: Divided the album into two halves. First part is on our activities and pictures from Hong Kong Disneyland while the other half was on the hotel.
Layout: More opacity techniques applied. I experimented with different patterned backgrounds, frames with captions and scrapbook items sprinkled sparringly throughout the album. I played around a lot on the layout - trying to squeeze in as many pictures i possibly could in one page. :)
First and last pages: It's like a Table of Contents (ToC) kinda thing, 3 pictures of us at hong Kong Disneyland and 3 pictures of us at the HK Disneyland Hotel. I especially liked the last page as I simply dumped layers upon layers of pictures in different orientation. Looks like a snapshot of many photographs of the holiday being spread on the floor. Very nice.

I'm currently working on my Gen 3 photobook. Will share the resources, my inspirations etc when I'm done, ok?

-dillz blogging out-

Rumahku Syurgaku - Part 2

2011-10-28T12:37:00.005+08:00

Rumahku Syurgaku series | Part 1 | Part 2 |

One of the things that have kept me busy the past couple of weeks have been the furnishing of our home. If you can recall earlier, we bought the condo unit next door to ours and the major infrastructure works (complete rewiring, plaster ceiling, lighting, kitchen, toilets etc) has been completed sometime in February 2011. Come October 2011, the furnishing is still not done. hahahahahaha... But we have, however, made some very very significant progress. So, housewarming is not in the calender as yet sebab forevernya Work-in-Progress. Makanya kawan-kawan if you wanna, just drop me a BB message, sms or call ibefore you come visit. Amatlah dialu-alukan. :)

It has to be stressed that I am one who tries to find a "home" to everything that we have. For example, the heaps of stationeries need to be sorted and housed into a specific container / drawer. I need to know where to find them and I can be quite anal about it. So, it has taken me long-er than most to complete the furnishing. Plus, no Bibik in the world can help me with that. The "Mem" has to decide and carry it out. Darn it!

Also, we have applied the "don't buy anything until you are sure of it" and "mix and match furnishing". Maka, it is not as easy as buying the 3+2+1 sofa set for us. Hasilnya, there has been a number of rights and misses along the way, but it's OK. We do learn along the way.. :)

Anyways, the main objective of this post is to share with you what we have added to the house since. So far, I have not shared any "after" pictures here, so I can very well start anywhere, right? hihihihihi

Great!

The new "wing" now constitutes of the new Master Bedroom, Khaleeq's room, library, my "dry" / show kitchen and laundry area. We also redid the two toilets. The living area (with no TV) and main dining are in this wing too.

So, where to start, where to start? How about I start from the library? I love that room. I love the fact that we even decided to have one to begin with.

We decided that a book shelf is key! Therefore we custom built one complete with a ladder and the switches for the lights, air-conditioner and fan embedded at the side. When it first came, the space for the books resembled more like tempat baju, too deep, if you get what I mean. And it made the entrance too cramped and the room much smaller than it is. So the builders took it off once again and cut them to the size that I was happy with. The other end of the room opens up to a little balcony ala Juliet's. We decided to paint the doors white and up till now we have not decided on what to do to that area as yet. I probably want to have my pots of herbs there. We'll see..

When I started putting my books in, I realized that they were not all the same size. The novels were smaller, while the illustrated encyclopedia types were much larger. So it didn't quite make sense that all the shelves were the same size, right? Some words with the builders later, I was given a better organization for my books. It could fit much more without having to "make do" with stacking two lines of novels in one shelving. The ladder itself was a genius idea. It made reaching to high places a breeze. The construction is quite sturdy, it glides from one end to another by lifting the ladder a little before sliding it. My kids have tried climbing up and down the ladder but I try to keep their books within the lower portion of the book shelf. So, I'm quite happy with how it turned out in the end.

The wall that opens up to the balcony? Well, we decided to drape it all with patterned curtains and sheers to give that feel that it's larger than it is. (Curtains adalah one-stop solution from Macy's, Sungai Besi.) We decided on a simple wall light and a clock piece we found in a quaint shop in Solaris Mont Kiara. It worked well with the 4 white downlights and T-5 lights on the ceiling.

To finish it all up, we have only just installed the wall paper treatment some 2 weeks ago. The motive is the outline of skyscrapers with white background. It gives it a clean, coffee shop feel to the room. To complete the look, I moved my 2 arm chairs over (kidnapped from the living room). I think it now needs a little coffee table and maybe a stand lamp yang cantik to complete my reading experience. :) I'll be on a look out for that. On the other wall, I have the kids' schoolbooks and worksheets, our stationery cupboard and a doodle drawer . I have yet to finalize the arrangement and feel. As of now, we are just using what we already have in the house. Can lah.

Pictures a through d are the arrangement of the stationery cupboard. While e and f is of the doodle drawer.

a is where you can find the normal stationery stuff - pencils, erasers, rulers, highlighters, markers in one drawer and adhesives, tapes, stickers, stapler bullets in the other.

Warning: These items are chargeable to my kids. I find it a very effective learning tool. Kalau tak asyik hilangggg aje pensil, rubber and pembaris. Acik dah tak tahan. So, every lost stationery is charged at 50sen per item. Itu pun dah kira subsidi tau. My rulers cost RM1.80 each. hihihihi So far, even Khaleeda has to pay. It's so cute, she'll come with her tabung to buy a pencil. Tu la, lain kali, jaga elok-elok sikit..

b keeps all the colours. Pencil colour, crayons and magic colours.

c is all that you need to paint - smocks, aprons, old cloth, pastel colours, water colours, brushes and pallettes.

d is my A4 - sized printer paper and coloured paper. As well as the place where I stash the loot I got from the Big Bad Wolf sale. Shhh....

e is of course my favourite. We have googly eyes - small/medium/large, pipe cleaners, pom-poms, ice-cream sticks, feathers (small/large), stickers, scrapbooking stuff, laces, remnants, plasticine, tools like glue gun, styrofoam cutter, leather puncher, cutters, cutting board, etc. Basically, all that you might need for arts and crafts. We call it our Doodle Drawer (ambik feel Art Attack sikit)

f is where I keep the arty papers - crepe papers, manilla cards, wrapping papers...

The work is not done, however, I still have to sort out the mess that is pictured above. Old mails, recycleable items etc. Good to see that the pile has lessened from a mountain to a hill and hopefully soon to a mole. Entah bila lagi la nak buat tu, but I shall trudge along and keep at it. :)

Here's another project that we have been at. I bought three pieces from #apebarang by the very talented @stoodlerist. We fell right in love with the I LOVE series and commissioned 6 more! hihihihi.. So, we now have 9 to be framed and displayed in the library later. I am looking for a frame shop as I type this. So, when the space is all ready, I'll update it here lah, ya. :)

That's all we have so far from the library. Next Friday cerita pasal bilik lain pulak. :P

-dillz blogging out-

Back and Moving On

2011-10-27T20:40:00.001+08:00

This would have been our 15th or 16th week. Second trimester? Yes, I think that should be about right. I stopped counting a while back already. I had my D&C procedure last 18th of September 2011. My third miscarriage in the span of 1 year and 2 months. Taking quite a toll on my body and also my heart...

I THINK I have moved on. Sudah redha dan sudah move on. Insya Allah..

When it first dawned on me that it was not meant to be (again) this time, I felt more confused than anything else. So, here's the story.. (I just had to pen it down for myself. So bear with me, ya)

I spotted some bleeding that Thursday night of 15th September 2011. Multiple small spots of bloody stains. I was just glad I got to complete my Puasa Enam. Was supposed to beraya sakan thereafter. I started to get an uneasy seeing the similarities in my previous experience. Talked it over with my husband, spoke over the phone with Lily. We decided that it's best that I rest and get it checked as soon as I could.

We had the MASiF rehearsals that night, kids were supposed to be at KLCC concourse area by 10pm. After the rehearsals were over, we headed back to Ziezi's house for a sleepover. I didn't feel quite right about it. So, Ziezi and Zurin took me to Gleneagle's A&E at around 1am. The MO told me to rest, to take it slow. I asked if there were anything that they could give me to stop the bleeding for sure, which by that time wasn't that much anyways. She said that there are some things that could be prescribed, but she'd rather if I waited for my OB/GYN's advice. In any case, they can't really tell that much until an ultrasound is done to see the current condition of the fetus. So, OK lah. We went home.

The next day, the bleeding seemed to stop, it reduced to brown discharges and I went about my business as usual. Kids had a lot of fun during the MASiF festival but unfortunately, around Maghrib time that day, I noticed that the bleeding was back with a vengeance. We headed to Pantai A&E and the MO consulted my OB/GYN - I was administered an injection to the butt and was admitted for the night.

Next morning, Dr Hamid came to see me. He said to be sure, we need to do an ultrasound and the next course of action will depend on the results. It the embryo was stable, then he would suggest a week's worth of bed rest. Which means - stay at home, on the bed, leaving only if you need to pee and such.

I was wheeled for Ultrasound in my pajamas. Alone this time. Hubs was still at home and making his way to the hospital. Wah! Masa tu, perasaan memang tak keruan. I was, obviously, fearing the worst. When the radiologist was taking more time than I thought she should, I knew for sure, my nightmare had turned into a reality.

Dillz: "You tak jumpa ke?"
Radiologist: "Why do you say that?"
Dillz: "My uterus is retroverted, so it's quite hard to locate it"
She smiled and said, "Let me check for a while"
Jantung aku dah dup.dap.dup.dap. kencang gila.
She went about taking multiple positions, stopping and scanning and moving the probe around my belly once again. The silence was deafening.
Radiologist: "I'm sorry, but I can't seem to find the fetus. The sac is empty."
Dillz: "Blighted ovum, ya?"
Radiologist: "Seems that way. I'm sorry"
"It's OK" was what I heard I say out loud, but it really was NOT OK...

I BBMed my husband straight away. I appeared OK; I guess, but the emotions that was really bottled in me was really intense and confusing. Rasa nak menangis, but not even one tear materialized. I guess it was just waiting for Azrul to get there and hug me and tell me that it will all be OK.

Wheeled back to my room, to my waiting adik bongsu who kept me company for the night. Just told her that it was not meant to be and I patiently waited. He was there within a few minutes, but it really felt like eternity. As soon as he hugged me, whispering that "It's OK, dah tak ada rezeki", the tears came pouring down like I just turned on the tap. I was crying and sobbing, finally letting me feel my loss.

So, itulah ceritanya. Blighted ovum.

What that means in layman terms is that the fetus did not develop at all. I only had a growing sac in my uterus, with nothing inside. Not a blob, no heartbeat, nothing. It's one of the common reasons for early-term miscarriages. Dah memang tak ada rezeki. So, saya pun redha lah.

Buat masa ni, I am on a break. My uterus obviously needs it. Only time can tell whether temporary mahupun permanent. ;)

-dillz blogging out-

There's Something Baking in the Oven

2011-08-09T07:55:00.001+08:00

Alhamdulillah. Just discovered that I am pregnant with my fourth child last Friday. How I actually took the test is another drama in itself. (Typical me, apa yang tak dramanya)

I wasn't feeling too well last Friday, with my sore throat and had a fever developing. But, I had an interview with my auditee that I just could not cancel at the office. So, kugagahkan juga untuk bekerja. Tengah hari comes and the throat is getting sore-er and the temperature had gone higher. I felt miserable - must've looked like shite too. At one point I had my hoodie up and my hands tucked in the hoodie jacket coz it felt so cold.

On the same day, we had a sembahyang sunat tasbih for the muslimah scheduled at work. A very special once-in-a-year type of event that I didn't wanna miss. The seminar room was filled to the brim, it kinda reminded me of my days in STF. Lagi pulak the ustazah was excellent! Sangat syahdu. Especially masa dia baca doa. Memang mengundang air mata, maka dengan itu teresak-esaklah daku menangis. So, conclusion is my emotions memang dah tak stabil at that moment. What with my sore throat and fever. Nak telan air liur pun took a lot of effort. Sakit. Every single time.

Sangat emo. Sangat, sangat emo.

After some poking by my BFFs - Mira and Kynne, I decided that I would then go back to the doctor and get some antibiotics for the infection. But, since I was 4-5days late, I asked the doctor to run a pregnancy test so that he could prescribe me with the right kind of antibiotics that would be safe for pregnant ladies. Maka, kubuatlah test itew. And alhamdulillah, positif. :) I took the home test just this morning and the Clearblue pee stick showed a very strong + sign that indicated that I am indeed pregnant. Yeay!

Anyhoots, I am taking extra caution this time around in view of my 2 miscarriages last year in August and October. It doesn't hurt to be extra careful, kan?

So, the plan of action is as follows:
1. Make an appointment to see Dr Hamid Arshat as soon as possible. He might want to prescribe me with some other medicine as well as the normal dosage of folic acid and/or obimin and what have yous.
2. Jangan merenyah. Kena maintain ayu until at least the first trimester is over. That means I need to walk less and not carry any heavy items.
3. Sort out my remaining PT classes. Have to postphone it till the baby is here.
4. Just relax and enjoy my time. With loads of tidur. Lots and lots of sleeping. I loike. (Kudapat rasakan yang Imma be very tired most of the time. Dah berumur lah katakan)

Here's to a healthy and smooth pregnancy. Insya Allah...

-dillz blogging out-

Ahlan Wa Sahlan Ya Ramadhan 1432

2011-08-02T12:44:00.005+08:00

Salam! Salam!

Tup tap.. Tup tap.. Dah Ramadhan sekali lagi. I feel so blessed that we are given this chance yet again to welcome this holy month of Ramadhan. Alhamdulillah. Masa untuk beribadat. Berlatih untuk jadi lebih baik. Moga-moga amalan di bulan yang penuh berkat ini dapat dipanjangkan into bulan-bulan yang seterusnya. Insya Allah.. :)

Khadra and Khaleeq are back at fasting again. Alhamdulillah. We did not promise any incentives for fasting this year as we did back in 2009/1430H. (Read my post for welcoming Ramadhan in 1430H here , the DSLite post, the challenges for fasting kids and last year's post for 1431 here) So, we'll have to see how they fare this year.

Not much drama coming from Khadra. She really is a big girl now. I am trying to get her to solat 5 kali sehari now. It'll be easy when I am around. She'll just follow me when I perform my prayers. Masalah problemnya bila dia keseorangan - when I am not there due to work or whatever. Hmm.. Camna nak buat ni. Try je lah. Kot-kot berhasil.

Khaleeq pula. Well, he has many questions for me this year. I took leave on the first of Ramadhan, so I was there when he had a little meltdown. Wailing and crying and asking out loud, "Why did God ask us to do this? I am hungry. I am thirsty." Kesian tengok dia, but it was a little comical too. I instantly goggled images of "starving children" and shared it with him. He stopped his drama immediately and asked what was the matter with those kids. Boleh dikatakan menjadi jugakla tactic itu.

Khaleeda? Well, she'll be 4 in November this year. I asked her whether she wanted to try to puasa this year and she replied "No". Adoii... However, she does follow me to the mosque for Terawikh. Sometimes pakai telekung, sometimes just duduk aje kat tepi saya. OK la tu dik. Pelan-pelan kayuh.

Anyhoots, have a blessed month of Ramadhan to my readers yang seciput ini. Selamat berpuasa. Selamat berbuka. Selamat beribadah. Selamat bersahur.

I think I am finding my writing modjo this month! hihihihihi.. Talk to you soon..

-dillz blogging out-

Late Night Mini Adventure

2011-06-16T08:30:00.006+08:00

Ladies Market.

Khadra and I had set this as our destination of the night. Right after we left the younger Khas in their pajamas with their daddy at the hotel, that is. :)I was told that the operating hours were until 11.30pm so when we headed out of the hotel at 10.45pm (walking, mind you) we would had just enough time for some girly shopping of oh you know, the usuals - tops, dresses, pants, vest etc. Wee-hee!

The receptionist told us to head "Thataway" down Nathan Road.

"Very near. Only 5 to 10 minutes walk", she said.

Adventure pun bermula. Just me and my firstborn child. Let's go.

Walk, walk. Turn right at Portland Road into Nathan Road.

Turn left and walk, walk, walk somemore.

Walk, walk, walk...

We started the walk very near to Yau Ma Tei MTR, down Nathan Road. Then, we passed Mong Kok MTR. That sounded about right. Dah dekat lah ni. :)

Walk, walk, walk.

Walk, walk, walk somemore.

Walk, walk, walk...

Then, another MTR station appeared. The Prince Edward MTR stop. Hmm... Ada sedikit musykil di situ.

Walk, walk, walk.

Walk, walk, walk...

We walked right to the end of the road, coming up to a cross-junction. By now, it was already 20 minutes of walking and I felt like I have just lost my legs. And it doesn't look anywhere near the Ladies Market. Ayyoo... :( (Sila refer to Leg 1 of the journey in the map below)

So, decided to be smart and turned back to Prince Edward MTR to take us back to Yau Ma Tei MTR. That turned out to be a good decision. At the end of Leg 2 of the adventure, we noted a map distinctly showing where Ladies Market were. Sebenarnya, dekat aje from the hotel, okeh! Just take the second turn to the right and then you could see the buzz already! Ayyoyo.. Awatla tak tengok map, makcik oi!!!! Gungho bebenor... Leg 3 of the journey, barulah kami tiba di destinasi. :)

It reminded me of Petaling Street, really. With hawkers setting up their booth in the alley. There were a variety of stuff on sale. Tops, shirts, pants, dresses, socks, jade, watches, etc. I was only interested to get some outfits for Khadra and/or me. We checked out a stall which tried to sell us almost everything on display at "Cheap! Cheap!' price. Tapi, rasanya macam kena ketuk je... Memula tu memang dia bukak price mahal. I started to haggle, macam nak dapaaat je.

Pastu, dia tambah lagi :

"Take this one nice."
"This one also nice."
"This dress look very nice on you."
"All , 6 pieces, HKDXXX"

Aku macam kena pukau, ambik je semua. Dah habih bayar, kira-kira macam, "Wei! Kena ketuk la! " Doink!

We were walking back to the hotel, when I noticed a shop (like a proper shop) in one of the alleys. Macam menarik je baju-baju dia. And best of all, the price was sooo blardy much cheaper. And very very nice too! So, demi economies of scale, I had to buy a few pieces to lower the average, right? And we did! Khadra had a fabulous time choosing, as well. Here are some of our catch!

Tu je lah cerita nya. Macam ya-ya je suruh tunggu. hihihihihihihihi

Next on the Hong Kong Travel-log would be our days in Disneyland. :)

-dillz blogging out-

Day 2 in Hong Kong : The Day of Transport!

2011-06-14T08:26:00.008+08:00

Mari sambung ceritera Hong Kong. (You can read the Day 1 post here)

Couldn't exactly wake up early on the second day of our mini holiday, but what the hey... We were on vacation, man... Our mantra was, "Have a plan, but be ready to just wing it" ;) Kids were decked in purple today. Saje je, kasi theme colour sikit... :)

"We are ready, Dad! Let's go!"

Annnnnyways.... According to the second day plan, we will be going to The Peak to visit Madame Tussaud's. So, even early on, we knew it would involve a whole lot of transportation. MTR, taxi, double decker bus, ferry, tram.. You just name it. :)

Seeing that we were already running late, we had our breakfast at McD in Nathan Road (ya, kami jalan kaki) with Khadra enjoying her hotcakes as usual and Khaleeq discovering that he actually likes Filet-o-Fish. Since we were there during the breakfast to normal menu transition time, Khaleeda was able to have her fries. as well Apa-apa je lah labu, asalkan makan.

Breakfast at McD

We had a very loooong day ahead of us. We took the taxi (couldn't bother to figure out the public transportation, I guess) straight to the Star Ferry Jetty.

At the jetty, we were approached by a Big Bus Tour representative. We figured that hop on - hop off bus was a good way to know the city, right? We immediately bought their package inclusive of:

ferry tickets to Hong Kong island
the Red tour route (this route goes thru the city and stops over at Lower Tram Terminal to go to The Peak)
return tram tickets to The Peak
the Green tour routes (this route goes over to the Ocean Park dan kawasan sewaktu dengannya)
sampan boat ride at Aberdeen
the Night Tour (for Kowloon area that ends at the Avenue of Stars)

On hindsight, we didn't actually have enough time to go through the Green route, so if you wanna complete both routes, it's probably wise to start earlier on in the day. There's also the option of the 48hour validity if you wanna spread the tour out a little bit.

Anyhoots, sebelum naik ferry to Central, masih sempat lagi kami buat nama anak- anak in Chinese calligraphy. Me and Azrul got ourselves a stamping block of our name in Chinese. Pretty cool... Since it took a while to complete, we decided to come back later on that night to collect the items. No pictures taken at the store as the sales lady strictly showed me the signs - "No Photography" Hmm, O.K! *but I could upload a picture of the finished product later*

The ferry trip was very short indeed. Probably around 5-10 minutes. Tak sempat pun nak mabuk laut. I terasa ala-ala naik ferry kat Penang je, but much briefer.

Mengembara naik feri. Mak bapak pun jakun sekali. Sila abaikan ilusi gemuk saya ittew.

We got down at the Central ferry jetty and looked for the Big Bus Tour stand. We had just missed the Red tour bus and had to wait for the next one. Good thing about it though, we found a Halal kebab store at the terminal. Yeay! (Tak beli pun coz we were still very full then. But we bought it before the Night Tour started and it was oh so sedap!)

Moral of the story here: Please check the timing for the tour as the bus leaves at an interval of 30 minutes for the Red route and 45 minutes for the Green route. Jangan dok sibuk nak beli souvenir aje. *Sheesh*

The hop-on, hop-off Bus Tour was pretty awesome. They had a narration going on about the places we visited with the option of getting off the bus at the pre-determined stops. There were many anecdotes told, one even pointed out that we could buy some kind of misfortune spells. Once you are done exploring the area of attraction, just hop on to the next bus according to the schedule given. We were pretty happy at the roof-less top, even though it was so darn hot! Adoii... Touristy betul lah!

Touristy mode. Biarlah panas pun tak apa..

As planned, we came down at the Lower Tram Terminal to catch the tram up to The Peak. there was a photobooth set up near the ticketing counter where you are able to snap a picture of you and/or your family/group with a backdrop of the tram and the view. They will print out the pictures in an A8 size and also make it into keychains or snowglobes. Being the suckers that we were, we bought them, at about HKD130 per picture and 3keychains for HKD165. (I think) On hindsight, I think that photo op was totally unnecessary as you are able to take nice pictures in the tram, up on the Peak etc. So, tak payah pun tak pe sebenarnya. Tahan ajelah naluri tourist tu..

Posing - posing sikit...

By the time we got up there, we were rather famished. So we went for a little loo break and attacked Bubba Gump. All things seafood. Yumms. Cuma a little pricey, which is to be expected lah since we were up in the hilltops! :) Did a little bit of reflecting and looking at the time we had left, we decided to skip the rest of the Red route as well as the Green route in the Big Bus Tour. So, we had a little time to spend in Madame Tussaud's before catching the shuttle for the Night tour later in the evening.

Madame Tussaud's was next. Each adult tickets cost HKD160 and kids HKD90. (I think la, tak berapa ingat) Tapi kami amat jakun dan teruja sekali. Main activity was camwhoring lah , apa lagi.. There were soo many famous (and not too known by us) faces in such unique settings. Celebrities, dignitaries, accomplished sportsmen, artists.. Eh, tapinya kitorang tak jumpa Justin Bieber pun. Tak cukup glamer kot.

Of course, there were opportunities for the museum to make some quick bucks too. There were photographers stationed in various strategic exhibits all around. They will give you a little photo chit that you shall need to preview your pictures near the check out. We bought a few photos (but of course) and even took one with a Madame Tussaud's photo frame.

Some of the exhibits had additional costumes, wigs and props that one could use for a great pose. For example, the crown and robe near the Queen of England, the fat suit near the supposedly famous sumo wrestler, robes at the exhibit for Rembrant. It was rather fun trying to create funny poses. Well, we certainly did. I especially liked @azrulx's Marilyn Monroe pose. hahahahaha

My regal pose nect to the Royal family, cheeky Khaleeda with Janice, Albert Einstein and also the potrait by Rembrant. Check out Khaleeq smiling away sebelah perempuan sexy ittew.

Mahatma Gandhi, Spiderman, Obama, Captain Jack Sparrow and of course, @azrulx Monroe -only thing missing is the white dress!

Me in the sumo fat suit and chilling with Gaga. @azrulx with Tiger woods and The Beatles. Kids balik kampung jumpak atok Jepun.

Once done, we went up to the Sky View for some more picture opportunities. There's a minimal charge going up as well, but the view is breathtaking. Even when it was a little misty (hazy?), one is able to see a 360degree view of Hong Kong island and it's amazing skyline.

At the 360 Sky View, taking in the sights of Hong Kong from the Peak.

We quickly took the tram down and caught a taxi back to the Central jetty to catch the shuttle for the Night tour.

Sudah mahu pulang...

The route for the Night Tour explores the main attraction in the Kowloon area. Famous for their neon signages, we got to experience the Kowloon night life up close and personal. They also pointed out the Ladies' Market , Kowloon's famous street market where almost absolutely everything is for sale. We ended the tour at the Avenue of Stars to catch the Symphony of Lights at 8.30pm. Make sure you stand near the Intercontinental Hotel to catch the neon and laser lights from the Hong Kong island buildings dancing to the tune of the selected music. Pretty, so very pretty.

Kowloon Night Tour

We took a walk along Avenue of Stars (again) to the Star ferry Jetty to collect our souvenirs. Then, we decided to embark in a little "Jalan-jalan cari makan" to find halal food. Budak-budak dah kemaruk nak makan ayam, so upon some consultation through blog reviews and stuff, we decided to check out Islam Food at No 1, Lung Kong Road, Kowloon City. It is one of those places where the locals get their food, so don't expect anything fancy, yeah. A lot of pointing at the menu afterwards, we got our food and it was yummeh! Kids had the fried rice with shredded chicken. Worthy mentions are the Curry mutton with Pot-pan with scallions and the beef with spring onion. I really wanted to try the veal goulash but there wasn't enough room in my tummy.

Jalan-jalan cari makan

Hari sudah malam, perut sudah kenyang.. So, balik hotel la... Just that me and Khadra had a little mini adventure later that night. Ceritanya? Tungguuuuuu..... ;)

-dillz blogging out-

Meet Our Mini Snow White!

2011-06-06T13:10:00.005+08:00

We are already back from our short vacation in Hong Kong and boy am I glad that we ended it all in Disneyland. Kids were on high and great positive vibes were all around. :)

One of the activities that we signed up for at the hotel was the "My Little Princess" program - a makeover session for your little princess into Cinderella, Aurora, Tinker Bell, Giselle or Snow White. Seeing that we will be checking out of the hotel at 11am on Saturday, 6th June 2011, I had already booked a slot for Khaleeda on Saturday 9am right from our check-in day. Booking and reservations can be done via the phone or at the souvenir shop in the hotel lobby.

When the day came, we marched to King Triton room at Level 3 (i.e. Ground floor).

There were three packages - Value (HKD 350), Deluxe (HKD630) and Premium (HKD830) Khaleeda chose to be Snow White which is a Premium package, but she gets to keep the costume, tiara, wand and wig at the end of the day and given one free photo (8" x 10") to bring home. Here she is trying out the costume for size in the changing room. :)

Make over in progress - Face, Eyes, Lips, Hair and even a wig and tiara! During this time, the sales assistant will offer you the accessories (wand and glove and trendy bag) for another HKD190 and princess shoes for HKD200. Since Khaleeda already got a wand included with the package, we said no to the additional accessories but she really liked the silver shoes, so we got a pair for her.

Next was the photoshoot. The photographer had an assistant who helped coach the child to do different princess poses. Put your wand up, hold your skirt, play with the curtains, face on hand, princess pose, etc. Wah! So professional... Looks like they'll have quite a collection of good pictures to choose from. It'll be difficult to just choose one, (or so) I thought.

I was trying to get some of the shots myself with our oun trusted camera. But it was rather difficult with the assistant being so close to her and I didn't get any of the tight shots.

True enough, they did offer another package for photography. A complete photo album of 10 additional photos and single use instant camera and Disney princess pouch for an additional of HKD1,600 (or so). Adoiii... Tapi, memang gegar iman la bila tengok the shots. So beautiful.... So professional... Can't believe it's my daughter. So, yeah. We succumbed to it and got them too.

But I truly believe the experience was well worth it la. Just to make all that investment lebih worth it, we took many more pictures of Khaleeda in her costume around the hotel. Nampak macam tengah nak pergi ball, kan? She put those coaching to good use. She knows a few princessy pose already. hihihihihihi

She also kept it on all the way back to Malaysia. Yes, the plane ride included.

She was lapping up the attention too. Many strangers stopped to take pictures of her, say Hi to her and pointing at her. "Princess, Princess" , "Hi Snow White" and there she was, replying to her subjects "Hi!!!!" siap dengan wave lagi. :) After touching down on Malaysian soil, we dropped by my parents' place coz she wanted to show off to her Tok Ki and Nenek. After about 10 hours in that dress and complete makeup, baru bukak. Barulah worth it...

That's all for now. Will get back to my Hong Kong travel-logue in the next entries. Tarra!

-dillz blogging out-

Hai Hai Hai dari Hong Kong!

2011-06-01T03:22:00.009+08:00

We have arrived. Alhamdulillah... @azrulx's first impression was "It had an air of efficiency to it". Sungguh lah, courteous and informative officers placed everywhere at the airport, no nonsense taxi cab driver (though he did not speak a word of English), highwaynya besar, tak bumpy, sekejaaap je dah sampai Kowloon from the airport. (sila ambil red coloured taxi - Urban taxi kalau nak ke HK island and Kowloon area) The pakcik taksi didn't quite know the way to our hotel, but he got us to Yau Ma Tei MTR station fairly quickly and it was just a matter of time that we found our temporary abode.

We were told that the rooms in Hong Kong hotels were rather small and the maximum occupancy is 3 pax per room. Anak dah ada 3, so secara berhemahnya, kenalah ambik 2 bilik, ya dak? Hmm... Bajet ada lari sikit nih... Anyways, we chose to stay in MHotel that is in the Kowloon area (28 Portland Street,Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon 85227106666) - booking.com had a good deal when we checked!

Mujurlah ambil dua bilik, tuan-tuan dan puan-puan sebab MasyaAllah... Memang kecillah..

Siap see thru to the bathroom lagi, jangan marah. Nasib baik we specified to be put in the same floor during the booking. Bilik kami sebelah-sebelah lagi. Kellasss gitu... :) The girls were in one room and the boys in the next.

After checking in and figuring out what to do for the night, we decided that we'll go check out the Avenue of Stars. It's kind of a cool thing to do if you are based in the Kowloon area. One gets to see the Hong Kong island skyline and there's even stars on the pavement to celebrate renowned Hong Kong actors. Definitely worth checking out lah! So we kinda headed towards Tsim Sha Tsui MRT station , all the while following the directions towards Avenue of the Stars.

Now, herein lies the challenge. We haven't had our dinner yet and kids and parents alike are getting rather testy. Lapar wei... Nasib baik jumpa bakery and bought some Cheese Sticks and Chocolate Croissant, before we had some speghetti's at Italian Tomatos in the Food Paradise a.k.a food court at Sogo TST. Lepas dah dapat carbo, barulah semangat nak ambik gambar yang berikutnya...

The directions to get there is very clear. Just follow the signs. Kalau tak silap tadi, exit J at TST MRT station. There were many statues built at the walkway. So, apa lagi? Camwhoring time. Yang paling excited adalah sikenit K3. Macam-macam pose dah keluar. Hilarious. Anyhoots, we were really trying to find the more famous HongKie actors. At least yang kenal lah. Ni tah sapa-sapa entah - Fong Yim Fun la, Tang Kei Chen la, Tang Bik Wan la.... Ng See Yuen pun ada.. Akak tak kenal, you alls.... Rupa-rupanya yang femes-femes semua dah dikumpul dekat dengan Kiosk 2, kat tengah- tengah tu. Jumpa lah Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, Andy Lau, Anita Mui.. Macam-macam ada.... :)

At the end of the walk, we crossed over the road via an elevated foot bridge, of which we chanced upon the Middle Road Children's Playground. So damn cool. The place was very well lit, with huge area for play. They even had seats surrounding the park for parents to wait on their children. Kids were super duper psyched, though dah banyak jalan malam ni. Heran ya, how they maintain their facilities so well. Security was in abundance. Makcik tukang sapu and angkat sampah tu pun ada lagi. And this is like 10pm at night, babe. Suffice to say that kids were stoked and getting their asses back to the hotel wasn't easy. Hihihihihihi...

Kami tak jumpa cari TST East MRT staion, so we just took the taxi back to the hotel. Lepas mandi-mandi bersihkan diri... Nilah agenda utama:

MAGGI MIDNIGHT PARTY!!!!

(K1 with invited guest dari sebelah, siK2)

Sila makan......

-dillz blogging out-
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Never Too Many

2011-05-25T13:00:00.003+08:00

It has been said, a girl can never have too many shoes. I just simply love them. I remember my first ever purchase of a pricey, luxury brand was for my wedding 9 years ago. We saved up every penny to get my Salvatore Ferragamo black pumps. It was on Sale at KLCC at the time, and how I really treasure that pair of shoes. I still wear them to go to weddings and functions.

Then there was this one time when we loved Camper (pronounced Kam-per) so so much. Me and @azrulx were the regulars at their KLCC outlet. Berapa banyak Camper ada, daa... (mostly belongs to @azrulx, obviously) Semenjak dua menjak (probably 5 years ago) tahu dia banyak pakai pig skin lining ni lah yang tak beli langsung. And berakhirlah era Camper. My only other kasut mahal is my Jimmy Choo's Star Stud Western flats. Bought it in Jakarta last year at 30% discount. Other than those two, my shoes are really the biasa-biasa ones. I love variety and VOLUME! hahahahahaha...

Sempena masuk rumah sebelah ni, my shoes have been neatly stacked in our shoe cabinet. Those in boxes will have a laminated tag to indicate what's in them. Gambar dah ambik dah semua, belum print and laminate je lagi. Ambik feel celebrity sikit, buat shoe catalog. Apa cerr???

Namun, ada pertambahan keluarga kasut baru-baru ini...

My Gladiator Wedge from Charles and Keith. Senang nak pakai, due to the zipper up front. I love it, terasa sexy kan? But, @azrulx tak berapa setuju I pakai tinggi-tinggi ni. Adoiii... Pakai dengan baju kurung jer lah..

These next 2 pairs I bought at Shoezobsession. The outlet we went was in Berjaya Time Square. Pembelian terpaksa sebenarnya, I was out and about doing my audit fieldwork which required me to visit the malls and walk and walk and walk. Nak jadi cerita, my feet were already killing me softly and I so desperately needed flats. Me and the team went into Shoezobsession and came out with those two babies. So comfy and murah je. RM49.90 rasanya.

These next ones were custom made for me. Ada Uncle Henry (016-2868236) yang datang our office with his sample of shoes. Not too pricey. The ones I chose pakai sarung je RM60, kalau nak yang ada belakang tu RM70. What's more, you can pick and choose the texture, colour and cut that suits you.

Tapinya, Uncle dah salah buat daa.... That red one is supposed to be golden yellow. So he sold it off to me cheap, cheap. RM40 only. *rezeki* Semalam dia sudah hantar yang betul punya.

Ini dia..

-dillz blogging out-

Bismillah...

2011-05-23T08:23:00.008+08:00

Image from: here

K1 and K2 will be having their PKSR1 exams starting today. Four days of exams.

Today : Bahasa Melayu and Agama
Tomorrow: Math and Science
Wednesday: English and Music
Thursday: Arab and Pendidikan Seni

Khadra is no stranger to exams, but this is officially Khaleeq's first. We are not stressing over it though. Buat je lah apa yang terdaya. Best part is, after this whole thing is over, we have our vacation to look forward to. Woot!

Khaleeq was telling me the other day, "Mom, this exam thing is killing me. "
Drama King.
Exam pun belum lagi.
I'm thinking this could be due to the imposed conditions I have put in place during exam week - no TV, no iPad, no DS Lite. Only toys and story books allowed for break time. I have also stocked up the fridge and pantry with loads of sugary stuff - packs of Milo, Vitagen, Calci-yum, Oreos, Pringles, Twisties, Cheezels, etc. Just to get a lot of brain activities going.

Preparation pun biasa-biasa je. Normally, we would go through the optional activity books for Khadra. But, most of the topics have been covered during Formative 1 and 2 exams anyhow. So, this time around, she's doing some past year papers. For Khaleeq, since there has never been any exams for him ever, (Standard One takde Formative exams) I thought, well.. belasah je lah Khaleeq. He has done some BM revision in his Bahasa Melayu extra classes that he's been going to for the past few months anyways. Agama and Arab pun ada jugak sikit-sikit revision at the Ustazah that he goes to mengaji to. We have also started to prepare the stuff he needs for his Seni exam. He's making a collage, so loads of menggentel-ing of crepe paper involved. This time around, biar dia tau je what exams are all about. And that he will not die from it. *Sheesh*

After going through the normal pep talk, "Do your best", "Answer all the questions", "Check your answers", "Jangan tidur"... we recited the doa penerang hati together in the car this morning.

There's nothing else to say now, just ..

image from : here

Tawakkaltu 'alAllah.. :)

All the best kiddos!

-dillz blogging out-

Planning for the term holidays

2011-05-20T04:26:00.001+08:00

The schedule for the PKSR1 Exams are already out. Which means the end of term is near. Which also means the kids will be out for a 2-week break starting this 28th May 2011.

Plans have been made. We just finalized the air tickets some 2 weeks back together with the main agenda -- Hong Kong Disneyland!!!!

Picture from: here

We have a 5day , 4 night itinerary in which the first 2days and 2 nights will be exploring Hong Kong and the remaining 3days and 2 nights spent in Hong Kong Disneyland itself. best of all, our stay coincides with Khadra's 8th birthday. So, she will be celebrating her birthday there, Disneyland-style. Complete with decorated room in Mickey & Minnie theme and a special Disney character appearance during dinner with photo op. OMG! Dream come true?

However, the plan is still hazy on the Hong Kong part, but I've told Khadra to research on things she'd like to do there. Apparently, there's Madam Tussaud's there and they have a Justin Bieber wax figure. Definitely worthy of a visit, don't you think? hihihihihi..

Yeah, so any ideas on what to do in Hong Kong is very much welcomed. Plus, where to stay, ah? Somewhere nice for a family of 5, near to the things that we would probably like to see and do before we head on over to Disneyland.

For now, the elder kids would have to revise and prepare for their exams first. Khaleeda, on the other hand, has already made her selections on what she'd like to wear while roaming around Disneyland.

Uuuuu... I can't wait! (eeh.. Ibu dia yang berlebih)

-dillz blogging out-

Busy as a super honey bee

2011-05-18T08:28:00.001+08:00

Anak dara saya will turn 8 (eight) this 3rd of June. She is so big already. So matured, so independent. Tak lama lagi nak dapat menantu la kami. huhuhuhu

This picture of Khadra was taken during the 2011 New Year Party in KLGCC. What did I tell you? Dah besar kan, anak dara saya?

Anyways, just wanted to share. Her schedule sekarang ni mengalahkan ibu dia. She's busier than me. Like no joke, okeh. Besides her normal schooling time, she has mengaji 3 times a week for one and half hours every session. Her year-long extra curricular commitments are rhythmic gymnastics on Mondays and Thursdays and drama on Tuesdays. On weekends, she has piano on Saturday afternoons and swimming class on Sunday mornings.

She is also in the school team for action song. They have just been crowned the Zon Bangsar champs a few weeks back and are now intensively training for the State level competition that happens to tomorrow - Thursday, 19th May 2011. So, that training somehow overlaps with her existing schedule, which forces her to drop drama for a term and continue in the next to be able to perform in the year-end production.

As for rhythmic gymnastics, she has to replace one of the sessions on Friday nights at a venue in Ampang, from 8-10pm. Seriously. Nasib baik lepas habis action song competition ni, baru start grading untuk rhythmic gymnastics. So, second week of the school holidays will be intensive training for the group routine pulak.

On top of it all, she's also part of the team representing the school for Disney Channel's My School Rocks. Yang ni untuk suka-suka je because of the sheer love for performing and the chance to be on TV (maybe) and the winner gets to go to Hong Kong Disneyland. So, have to slot in some training time for that new routine pulak. Which basically means weekends.

On the out-of school activities pulak, she is part of the Tree Theatre Group - a non-profit organization for kids that promotes environmental issues and the performing arts. Pretty awesome stuff. They go tree planting and performing mini shows for environmental causes and there is in fact an entourage going to the International World Children's Festival in Washington, USA this June. Sadly, we won't be joining the group this time around. Kalau tak, sure dia bertambah busy with practices for the performance during the weekends.

So, basically for these few months at least, she'll be in school after school every weekday and most weekends. Adoi, penat aku pikir schedule dia. Itupun she didn't enrol in cheerleading. Kalau tak, pengsanlah ibu dengan anaknya sekali. :(

Kadang-kadang, kesian jugak tengok dia. She comes home tired and sometimes I catch her crying due to exhaustion. Tapi, bila cakap dengan dia, we didn't force her to do all this. She was the one who wanted to pursue it all. She said she doesn't want to give it up. Perserverelah Khadra. Sikit je lagi.

We just have to take it one thing at a time. For now, let's just focus on the action song state level competition tomorrow. Gosh, it's tomorrow, y'all! Ibu dia yang nervous lebih. I have already taken leave for it. Have to. Our day will start very, very early tomorrow. Need to be made up and be at school by 6am. I'm thinking of stopping by for hotcake breakfast at McDonald's with my daughter tomorrow. She'd like that.

All the best, darling. I know you'll do great. No matter the outcome, just have fun and dance & sing your heart out. I'll be there by the stage, cheering you on! Love ya, Kakak Khadra!

-dillz blogging out-

We Have Expanded a.k.a. Rumahku Syurgaku! (Part 1)

2011-05-16T12:32:00.005+08:00

Rumahku Syurgaku series | Part 1 | Part 2 |

I've always thought that a 3-bedded condo of 1,300sqft was a little small for our growing family of 5 (+1 campur Bibik Parmi). Considering the space that the kids need to grow, amount of stuff/junk that we have accumulated all these years and my need to have the dedicated place for each thing that we own, we have decided that we simply needed more room. I was getting rather demotivated by the state of "tongkang pecah"-ness of our home. Howlah nak jadi Rumahku Syurgaku, liddis? :(

Despite loving the location we're at, finding more space (= landed property) in the Bangsar area was pretty darn expensive. So, we searched other towns as well, termasuklah Petaling Jaya, Kelana Jaya, Bandar Kinrara, Alam Impian, Shah Alam, Bukit Jelutong etc. Various types of properties, at so many locations. Semuanya mahal and/or jauh.

*Iklan kejap - Mengapa property mahal sangat kat Malaysia ni? Bordering gila, okeh!*

Anyhoots, at the back of our minds, the ideal solution to our predicament would be if the owner to the next door condo unit would sell off her house to us. As theirs is the exact mirror -image of our current abode, our space would have doubled whilst maintaing our current location. No need to uproot the entire family. Perfect!

However, since there are only 4-units of houses per floor, the only adjoining unit to ours belonged to a lady (let's call her Lina - *bukan nama sebenar*) who is currently staying in Dubai (*bukan tempat sebenar*) with her family. She only comes over, probably 3 times a year to check on the house. She doesn't even rent the house out. She only gets her friend to house-sit it once in a while.

Here we are, sambil mencari rumah yang lebih besar, sambil berangan-angan dan berdoa that somehow, Lina would sell her house to us.

To keep the story short, by a stroke of fate and sheer luck, we managed to convince her to sell the unit to us. And after a long long wait for DBKL to sort the change of title deed, we finally got the keys to the condo sometime back in June / July last year. Yeay!!! Alhamdulillah.....

Serious! Macam tak percaya kan? Ini buktinya!

The living room and balcony.

Kitchen and dry area.

Some of the rooms and restrooms.

So, selesai most of the renovation works in the new unit , we brought the walls down (just a little bit je, the opening is around 6ft or so) on the 29th December 2010. Kami siap dok Double Tree, wak masa diorang tebuk lubang ni. :)

We officially have a front entrance and a back door now. Woot!

Status terkini:
Kami dah selesai meng-renovate rumah sebelah and it is now classified as a Work In Progress. The old condo unit will also be touched-up (a.k.a. Phase 2 renovation) once I have figured out where everything goes. The main mantra is NOT TO BUY ANYTHING NEW unless we are SO DAMN CERTAIN about it. Have to figure out whether we want to keep the stuff, where would it be in the new house flow and sorting the giveaways should we need to. Ni lah kerja saya setiap weekend selama beberapa bulan ni. Mengemasnya tak habis-habis.

Insya Allah, I'll share the after pictures section-by-section. I'm so excited. Ngee.. *bak kata @MarlizaRadzi*

-dillz blogging out-

May Already?

2011-05-15T23:58:00.000+08:00

Hola people!!!

I am so sorry yet again for neglecting this blog. I have truly missed it, for sure! No excuses this time around, I'll just try to be here more frequently, updating you with the happenings in my life. Which has been plenty, I have to assure you. :)

So, Monday will be a pretty slow one for me and the company, I guess. With Wesak Tuesday coming, a lot of my colleagues are taking the opportunity to have a long 4-day weekend. I don't blame them, really. If I had more annual leave days to my name, I would have taken the day off too. hihihihihi But, I don't. So, I shall trudge along slowly to work and just hope that the day passes by ever so swiftly. It won't be too bad either, methinks. With most people on leave, the traffic would be better and best of all, I might even get a shot to park for free!

The kids will be having their Teachers' Day celebration in school. Telematch for the teachers in the morning, class party during recess and some performances later on. So, not much schooling going on tomorrow. Except for Khaleeda that is. She has the day off. *lucky girl*

BTW, May is a double celebration month for us. My dad turns 66 today and my only brother turned 31 on Saturday. So, here's a Happy Birthday shout out to the two men in the Zaghlol household! Hope you two have a good one this year. Boy, Bila nak kahwin? ;)

-dillz blogging out-

Earth Hour 2011

2011-03-26T19:12:00.003+08:00

Where will you be?

Me and my kids will be joining WWF celebrating Earth Hour at Sunway Pyramid tonight. Kids will be part of the Tree Theatre Group performing during the one hour lights off. I think we are on at 8.50 pm. Khadra, Khaleeq and Khaleeda are the Kecak-kecak kids. :) Sayang tough, can't tape them coz I'll be behind screen - handling one of the lights for the wayang kulit show. Kids can't wait. It'll be fun.

-dillz blogging out-

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

My (con)Current Project (among others)

2011-03-18T17:52:00.002+08:00

I have been pretty tied up with all sorts of things lately. This particular project happens to have a deadline, though. Sometime back (prolly 3-4 months back) Ziezi came across a great deal from photobookMalaysia - so I happily joined the bandwagon and bought 5 vouchers for Medium Landscape Imagewrap Hardcover books. hihihihihihi.

Ampun tuanku! 5 photobook to be finished in about 2weeks. Maka, teruslah hamba mengdownload the Photobook Designer software and mess about with it. Firstly, I needed pictures. Scouring my laptop and Azrul's MacBook, we managed to get pictures of la famiglia from as early as 2004. Prior to that dah takde in digital format. I decided that I could start off with our trip to Melbourne then. If my memory serves me right, I was 7months pregnant with Khaleeq and Khadra was just a little 10 months old tot. She had such a straight bop - the days before she acquired her curls.

Here's the sneak peak. Very the raw, I know. This is only the draft. The actual one I decide to check in could very well be very very different. hihihihihi

I hope it turns out well. This is my first attempt, so am not putting too high a hope. Nanti dah dapat hasilnya wa update lagi, orait?

-dillz blogging out-

Hi Sawang-sawang!

2011-03-17T18:33:00.002+08:00

Assalamualaikum!

hihihihihihihihi

Deja vu pulak rasanya. Been here a couple of times already. ;)

Anyhoots, just to update. Saya dah selamat gagal dalam percubaan CIA:Part 3 di bawah. (refer previous post) Kena cuba lagilah di lain kali. :)

On a more recent front, I have been reprioritizing. There's a lot going on. (of course!) Will probably make a more frequent appearance in here. I'll find the time lah. Enough with the excuses already.

-dillz blogging out-

Mode Study : ON

2010-12-15T00:27:00.002+08:00

Been a little tied up these couple of days. I have been diligently hitting the books, don't you know? :) I am sitting for the final installation of my CIA series. (It's the Certified Internal Auditor exams, if you don't already know) Already sat for parts I, II and IV within this last year and before I knew it, the expiry date for Part III was nearing. *Sheesh* Knowing me, kalau tak paksa, memang la tak buat. So, me and Linda sneakily registered for Part III some 6 months ago just to make sure that we would be forced to sit for it by year end. hihihihihi

So, I had no choice, but to make some time to study for it, walaupun busy yang teramat sangat. There are 380 pages of content to read, and of course to attempt the online questions. Insya Allah, cukup lah preparation untuk exam. I actually had the awareness pretty early. We (Linda and me) even met up at the office on fine Saturday to study together-gether. Semangat tu... Siap bekal Hot Grande Toffe Nut Latte sorang satu and some pastries / bun/ cheese cake from The Loaf. :)

But, as usual lah, typical me at the last minute baru nak ramp up the studying. Masalah problemnya, awal-awal tu, baca pun macam kura-kura. Adoiaiiii... Benak lah pulak... hihihihi As I write this, Linda will be sitting for her exam in the next 12 hours, while I shall follow suit 24 hours after her. Currently, I just finished Section A and onto Section B - about 130 pages down. Finished the online questions for Pre-test as well as Section A. Adoii banyaknya lagi nak buat. namun masih sempat untuk squeeze a little time to write this. *Hey, everyone needs a break, no?*

So, do send some great luck along my way. I sure need them. Tak tidur lah malam ni nampaknya... ;)

Updated : 15 December 2010, 7:24am
Morning!

I am already back at the grindstone. Managed to finish a whole segment before I went to sleep this morning at about 4.30am. Thanks to my bottle of Tazo, loud reading, multi-coloured pens and highlighter and the frequent twitter and fb breaks. :)

Decided that I needed the sleep more than anything, so I succumbed to my bed. I did promise to wake up early and try to finish at least one segment (consisting of 30 or so pages) before we go off to Khaleeda's presentation. Apparently, we need to be there by 10.45am. Namun, masih sempat download BloggerPlus to blog from iPad. :)

When I went to bed this morning (for a measly 2 hours plus) I could swear that I was trying to slot 7 more segments of 30+ pages into the day. Esok dah nak exam,wei. Sempat ke ni?

Ayyoh! Stress aku! Hihihihihihihi

Updated : 16 December 2010, 8:24am

Morning....

I got word yesterday that my colleague did not make it through the exam semalam. Dah kata dah. Part 3 ni susah... :(

Memang saya pun down giller. Tapi, since memang fees pun dah bayar, baik pulun je la... Do my best and see how. At the very least I have gone through the studying part. And if ditakdirkan saya pun menerima nasib yang sama, next time around boleh concentrate on the questions pullok. Makanya, decision is to just bulldoze sahaja and do as much and as best as I can.

Dapatlah tidur 3plus hours this morning selepas memulun. Status sekarang -
Completed reading (sometimes speed) 324 out of 380 pages.yang tak terbaca is Section E about Information Technology.
Online questions dah siapkan Sections A, B and D. Started on C. Yang tinggal to do are: the Post test, Sections C and E.

Memandangkan dalam waktu yang getir sebegini, Imma skipping the rest and concentrating on the online questions this morning. Kalau sempat karang, high speed reading lah apa-apa yang patut sebelum masuk exam room at 12 pm today! :)

I really need the luck! Sat lagi, berita suka atau duka, saya update. ;)

-dillz blogging out-

The (Attempt of an ) Explanation

2010-12-11T18:08:00.004+08:00

*bringing in the vaccuum*

Hola! Soi Dilla.

Sorry for the awkward long silence. Guwe busy. Ni baru nak tulis-tulis balik. Coz I have really missed writing.

Please, do allow me to blame it on:
1. twitter - guwe lepas gian di sinun. (If you haven't already, follow me at @dillazag to read my mumbles and rantings.) Though di sinun pun not as prolific as I want to be. But at least ada lah appearance.

2. Work - there has been a tremendous amount of work to be finalized by year-end. Managed to clear a few already. But, I still have a few more layers of "mangkuk tingkat" i.e. outstanding work.

Can't think of anything else to point at. So, this shall have to suffice. I will be checking in regularly (Insya Allah) from here onwards. There's a lot to tell. A lot to share. Till later, though. Too-da-loo!

-dillz blogging out-

Peeking In

2010-12-10T18:22:00.001+08:00

*dust* *dust*
cough cough

Hi there!

*runs back out the door*

-dillz blogging out-

And Another Long Unplanned Leave

2010-10-17T07:42:00.001+08:00

Well, not very long this time. Just 7 days of MC from the day I was warded in Pantai Medical Centre, Bangsar.

Warded, did I say?

Sorry, getting a tad ahead of myself.

This is how it happened.

I was having breakfast with some of the mommies from Khadra's school at Pekan Kopitiam. A joint that was very near to the school. I actually was not very keen on going since I was experiencing "tummy upsets" since the night before. "Upset" here, actually refers to pains in the tummy without the urge to go to the toilet. Gassy, cramping - enough to make you cringe and just wanna curl up in bed with a pillow firmly pressed on your stomach. That kind of "upset".

So, back to my story. ( Suddenly having an eerie feeling that this narration is a little bit like How I Met Your Mother. Hahaha. Influenced by @azrulx lah ni)

We were about to leave when suddenly I realized there was a small puddle of blood on the Kopitiam floor.
And on my seat.
A little check on my hiney revealed that I had a bloody spot on my baju kurung too. (mind you, we are talking about 2 layers of kain and 2 layers of baju here - both had lining)
Panic set in.

I told my breakfast buddies about it and they were very quick to respond.
A little convo exchanged on whether I have had my menses yet since my last D&C procedure on 18 August 2010, to which I replied a No. We decided that it was best to send me to the hospital right away to have this checked. Ziezi thought it would be a better idea to send me straight to Dr. Hamid Arshad's clinic that happened to be some 50meters away from where we were. Fiza took of her cardigan for me to wrap around my waist. Melor was beside me already memimpin me to walk. All the time I was literally dripping blood trails and my head was slightly woozy already.

Nasib baik the clinic was already opened by then and the good doctor had surgery thst morning. So the place was not its usual packed self. Me and my entourage waited by the registration counter in the lobby. It was pretty gruesome - I could physically feel the gush of blood coming out in batches. They had to put a liner on the stoll I was sitting on as well as under my feet. There were just sooo much blood. Rasa macam telenovela pulak. Punyalah drama. :( A few phone calls ensued - packing my stuff at the office, getting some items from home to change into seeing that my panties and my baju were drenched in my own blood, getting all the said stuff over. (Thank God for Saufi)

Anyhoots, the doctor suspected that I was pregnant - very early pregnancy lah coz the ultrasound image showed there was a sac of blood in my uterus. Another D&C procedure was scheduled that evening. Myself? Entahlah. I felt numb. Takda perasaan. It ran on auto-pilot right after. Getting myself checked into the hospital, yadda..yadda..yadda..

Fact is, I've had 2 D&C procedures in 2 months. Wow! That is some kind of record in the Zaghlol clan. Thing is it can not be good for the body, can it? Bottom line is I have to start taking better care of myself. *Sigh*

So, that's my update. How have life been treating you this past couple of months?

-dillz blogging out-

Mencari Inspirasi Nak Kerja

2010-09-06T07:48:00.002+08:00

I really should be on holiday already. But since I am not, I thought I'd spice up the day today and come to work in abaya, smokey eyes complete with stilettos. Apa lah sangat, right. Prolly, for some of you, that is your standard uniform to work. But it is kind of a big deal for me. I am more the clean-your- face, tone and mosturize kind of girl. Slap on the sunscreen and I am ready for work. Maybe a swish of black liquid eyeliner and gloss when I am in the mood. That's the extent of make-upness.

The other thing was, I had no idea how to make this smokey eyes look. A quick reference to Mr Google landed me a picture clear enough on how it should look like.

Picture from : here

So, berbekalkan my multiple coloured pallette that I have had since my wedding (yes, it has been that long), I just gave it a shot. Since the pallette memang dah lama gila, I DO NOT even own any proper brush for the challenge. I just made do with my four fingers on my right hand, each finger dedicated for one colour :black, dark brown, brown and white. (Tu la, banyak gila kaler, okies.)

And the result?

Tadda!!!!!

Boleh la kan? Hahahahahaha
Bangga siut!!!!

This will be my reference for my other baju rayas:

Pictures from: here , here , here and here

Have a good day, y'all. No matter if you are on leave or still stuck in the office like me. :)

-dillz blogging out-

We Didn't Make It (This Time)

2010-08-17T12:52:00.002+08:00

I was experiencing slight bleeding last weekend. It got me worried that we headed to the Emergency Dept in Pantai Hospital, KL. They reconfirmed my pregnancy with a urine test and proceeded to take a syringe-ful of blood for a Full Blood Count. They results came in as everything was normal. I was prescribed some hormones to stop the bleeding and was then to go for a check up with my gynea the next week.

Next week came and I had an appointment with Dr. Hamid Arshat this morning.I was shuffling my work schedule around, thinking that I could make it to the 11.30 meeting with an auditee and the one scheduled later at 2.30pm. All in good time.

Was I wrong.

As soon as we got the doctor up to speed with everything, he summoned me to the ultrasound room. He always started with some doa and that always calms me down. He was very matter of fact about it. Short and clean. Told me that "the uri dah pecah-pecah. The sac is also irregular in shape. I think we'll put you down for D&C this evening at 3.30pm".

Suddenly I realized how things may not be OK. Things can so easily go wrong. It was only after a few seconds that it actually dawned on me that I would be losing my baby. No one could hold back my tears then. It was just streaming down... I was just glad I did not have to go through that moment alone. That I had my husband beside me to keep me strong.

Dr Hamid said, "Walaupun kita bersedih, we have to remember that this may be the best for you and the baby." I knew that, but it was good to hear it out loud. I guess I was more taken aback by it all. I was expecting to go right back to work that same morning, so this D&c was definitely not part of the plan. It kinda throws everything back and your plan for the day, for the next two weeks down the drain. I guess I am still coming to terms with what went on in the consultation room. Plus the anxiety and not knowing what to expect in a D&C procedure.

Just let me have a moment to mourn for my loss, and Insya Allah I will be OK.

-dillz blogging out-

Ahlan Wa Sahlan Ya Ramadhan 1431

2010-08-12T16:30:00.002+08:00

Ramadhan is here once again. Alhamdulillah.. :)

For the first terawikh, the Azrul clan (minus Miss Khadra) was at Masjid Wilayah. Penuhnya ya amaaaaattt, we literally parked in the middle of the road. Anyhow, Khaleeq went with his dad. Menurut kata report, he was OK. Just that he was reading "Subhana rabbiyal azimi wa bihamdih" really loudly for rukuk AND sujud. hihihihihi. Khaleeda came with me to the muslimat section. Boleh tahan behave jugak, the little makcik. She keeps herself busy whilst waiting for rukuk by looking around and walking around me. Whenever there were major movements, such as rukuk and sujud, she would follow suit. (Just that bila sujud, dia terlentang. hihihihihi. Will have to remember to correct her position later.)

From their track records, Khadra started fasting last year and managed to complete the whole month without fail. Khaleeq on the other hand, completed a commendable 29 days - itu pun sebab he didn't quite understand the concept the first day and was too tempted by the sizzles of fried chicken for lunch! Khaleeda has yet to start. Bagi chan lah itu makcik, she is only 2.5 years old after all. ;)

Of course, we had a little incentive scheme in place that was really really working last year - a DS Lite each, up front. :) At that point in time, a big reward was vital coz that was their first time fasting ever.

This year, we have not yet cemented any agreements with the two Khas. Just a little reminder here and there on how the fasting month is coming and one is not allowed to eat and drink from dusk to dawn. I thought Khadra did a good job explaining it clearly to Khaleeq.
Khadra: "It's when you can't have breakfast and lunch, Khaleeq"
Khaleeq: "You mean, I can only eat at night time?"
Hmm... Boleh la tu...

Anyways, to keep them motivated, our First Sahur was a little extravagant. Mandy rice from al-Rawsha, Jalan Damai for Inche @azrulx , me and Bibik Parmi AND KFC for the kids. (Though, Khaleeda had her mashed potato and original drum stick before she headed to bed that night) I thought we overdid it that time. Probably 2 mandy rice packs would have suffice. Waking up K1 and K2 was alright. The real challenge was really after they came back from school the next day.

At 12:30pm I got a call from Saufi and Khaleeq was crying and wailing on the other end.
"I am hungry mom! I am so thirsty. I am so sad coz I am hungry."
Hmm.. Macam mana nak buat ni?
Had to go into rescue mode right away. I told Saufi to pick me up from office and the coaxing, pujuking, pep talking, usap-mengusaping began. I was just cuddling him on our way home and he really looked beaten at that time. Keluarlah segala cerita kesian kat orang susah, at least you get to eat at night, you have done it before, you are a strong boy segala. Wah!! Tak jalan juga. Masih menangis. Still wailing his heart out.

In times like this, I had to bring out a toy that he really wanted from our secret stash. (Nasib baik dah prepare earlier) I took out Decepticon Lockdown and he immediately changed his demeanor. Tetiba jadi energetic, jumping up and down.
"Is that surprise for me? I love it!"
I told him that this toy could could be his if he fulfill his fast that day. Nampak semangat semacam je. Tetiba, OK pulak. Things were finally looking up! :)

The toy did help him feel distracted for a while. Alhamdulillah, he completed the fasting yesterday, but not without more complains. One thing for sure, I really needed to keep on reassuring him time and time again. He needs to do other stuff so that he gets distracted and not focus on the hunger and thirst. Come on, boy.. You can do this. I foresee these 3 days to be a little tough. Transition time. After he gets through this few days, Insya Allah.. He could do it on his own for the coming days. On top of that, ada pulak distraction from Lil Miss Deyda. Boleh minah tu minum air sejuk depan abang dia, siap panggil nama Khaleeq lagi. Ish.Ish.Ish.

Second day - same story. Sahur was OK. The drama really started after school was over. Extra challenge today coz Khaleeq had his gym session today and not allowed to drink. So, as expected, the call came sometime around 12:40pm, he was asking for permission to drink coz he was thirsty. I asked Saufi to pick me up so that I could talk some sense into the boy on our ride home. Rupa-rupanya budak bertuah tu already took a bite off a biscuit he found in his bag. Bukan banyak pun, just one tiny bite.
His justification:
"It's not my fault, mom. My belly button is controlling me."
Adoiaiii, Khaleeq.

Nak gelak pun ada.
Anyhoots, I took away Lockdown for the day. Told him he could get it back once he fulfills a day of fasting. And the next 7 consecutive fasting days, he can get another toy.
He kept apologizing and saying that he'll try to do better tomorrow.
Takpe lah , Khaleeq. Esok kita try lagi..

Khadra on the other hand is not complaining walaupun nampak penat dan letih. Good job, Kakak! Onto day TWO! :)

-dillz blogging out-

Action Song Goes to Singapore

2010-08-09T08:13:00.001+08:00

I know it's been a while. Sorry, sorry... before I forget, here's the piece on Khadra's adventure to the City of Lion. :)

***

The action song team would be performing their 1Rhythm, 1 Malaysia routine in a few primary schools in Singapore in conjunction with the Racial Harmony week over there. It was Khadra's first time on a sleep-over school trip anywhere, so obviously Ibu had to follow her 3-day adventure. :)

We started bright and early at the school compound. Ticking checklists and making sure everyone that was supposed to be there was there and everything that was supposed to be onboard the bus had been brought there. There were a few daddies who stayed on to see their precious princess(es) off. Maklumlah, kanak-kanak Tahap Satu, ya tuan-tuan dan puan-puan. :) Nasi lemak breakfast filled our tummies and after a few photo shots, we were ready to leave Kuala Lumpur.

Seronok juga naik bas ramai-ramai ni. I really thought the girls enjoyed themselves. Of course, we were aptly prepared: snacks, drinks, books, mp3 players and Zoobies onboard!

Our temporary abode was the Fernloft Little India Hostel. It was a budget backpacker hostel going like SD16 per head per night which suited well into our budget. :) Eventhough it was a budget hostel, the reception area was air-conditioned with 3 PCs offering free use of internet. There was an elevator and every room was air-conditioned. The toilets/shower room were really clean with hot water supply. Best thing was, we got the whole 2nd floor to ourselves - a 20-bedded dorm, a 5-bedded room and a 6-bedded room. So, it was really convenient for us to get the girls ready in the mornings. Most were double-decker beds anyway and the girls had a fun time trying out the bunk bed and having a sleepover of sorts with 10 of their friends. :) Lights off was at 10.30, but the moms were up late chit-chatting still.

The other plus point was we were within walking distance to Mustaffa. Suffice to say that night we were spending a lot of time at the neighbourhood malls! :) (I got me 2 Charles and Keith shoes that were going at 70% off! hihihi)

The next day, we got the girls ready for their first school visit at Teluk Kurau Primary School. OK. I was so impressed with this school! Period. The principal is such a sweetheart. Just take a look at the school's operating principles. Don't you just love "Catch them doing right" ? Catch them, when they do the right things - such emphasis on positive reinforcements! :) I loike!

The infrastructure is to die for. They have a Heritage Gallery that showcased their history and their famous alumnus. We also found out that Allahyarham Tun Hussein Onn went to the school while he was young, so we got Raina, Tun's great grandchild, to pose with an exhibit that was his - his Report card. So sweet, kan? I especially LOVE the library. So conducive for reading. They had walls of Jungle Book murals and even a pillar disguised as a tree. There was a space that was wood laminated for chilling area, complete with throw cushions and a stage for story-telling. Just heaven! :) I noticed that their stairs are wider too, with the multiplication table painted on the steps. The quadrangle where kids play during their recess was huge, with 4 hopscotch rings, a garden at the sides and and a rock-climbing wall to boot! *seriously*

After their performance, we made a quick stop at the Merlion in Marina Bay. Photo opp!!! Imagine 18 kids all dressed up in their 1Malaysia costume appearing at a tourist spot. The other Japanese and Korean tourists were busy snapping their pictures instead. It was so darn hot, I tell you. We just took a few pictures in front of the Merlion and quickly dashed back to the bus.

Changed their clothes in the bus and we were set for an educational session - next stop: Science Centre. They had fun goofing around while learning a principle or two. Truthfully speaking though, I think the mommies had a bit more fun than the kids. Especially when we invaded the souvenir shop. hihihihihi

We then went to the Snow City which was in the same compound as the Science Centre. Getting the right getup was a challenge - the jacket, the pants, the boots and the gloves. No cameras were allowed in the snow area, so we had to rely on the professional photographers there. In any case, the kids were having so much fun taboganning down the snow slope! One by one or in groups of fours! It was really fun! A dozen times later, they were about to call it quits , but not before some photo taking in the snow. After, we had some hot chocolate and hot bowl of noodle. Yumms. Just the right combo after freezing in the snow.

In the night time, we took the opportunity to visit the Night Safari. We just made it to the last "Creatures of the Night" show where the nocturnal animals took centre stage. After the tram ride around the Safari, it was time to call it a night. Sleepy time before visiting two more schools on the next day..

First up was Nan Chiau Primary School. The key take away from this school was how they incorporated ICT into their daily activities. It was really wonderful seeing that Primary 1 and 2 kids are utilizing the iPod Touch for some creative learning. :) The elder kids use the Android as well as notebooks for school work. I was also particularly impressed with their Lab of the Future. 3 screens that is able to project different items and the dynamics of the detachable desks and chair which is able to be arranged into different class layout. (They also have bean bags in there. *serious*)

Last school we visited was Rulang Primary School. The staff were waiting for us to show the different instruments from the three major ethnicity of Singapore. They had the teachers stationed at every booth, waiting to explain and let the children experience the classical instruments themselves. How very, very sweet. :) They kids made their final performance and was treated to lunch later.

All in all, I really think it was a very good exposure for the children (and adults alike). There is so much positive takeaways from the trip. I am so glad we had the opportunity to be part of it. :)

-dillz blogging out-

Khaleeq Turns 6

2010-07-30T13:27:00.005+08:00

A "happy birthday" shoutout to my son who turn SIX years old today.

From a chubby baby

To the Transformers (AND Batman:The Bold & The Brave AND Ben-10 AND IronMan AND many more) fanatic

But ALWAYS ALWAYS Ibu's precious little boy

Happy Birthday , Khaleeq Mohd Azrul. I wish you all the joy, love, success and wealth in this world and the world hereafter. Aminnn!

Malam ni Chili's , jom?

-dillz blogging out-

Fourth Time A Charm

2010-07-28T08:27:00.000+08:00

I have been a little anxious these past few weeks.
One : Coz I am late.
Two: The pee stick always says it's a NEGATIVE.

Alhamdulillah, the fourth test yesterday after 17 days past my mensus was due revealed that it was indeed a POSITIVE and that the 4th KHA bun is baking in the oven as we speak. :)

-dillz blogging out-

Date Night Is Movie Night Is Date Night

2010-07-16T08:23:00.003+08:00

Had a little WE time last night with Inche Azrul.

Agenda biasa = dinner then the movies.
He was craving for duck confit so I obliged. To Alexis we go. Dapatlah makan mixed berry meringue for desserts. Yeay!! :)

Happy. :)

The movie of the night?

picture from: here

Best giller okeh. A bit long , about 2 hours and a half. But I really liked it. Intellectual, gitu. Plus there's Leonardo DiCaprio, that mamat from 3rd Rock, Joseph Gordon Levitt and this child prodigy Ellen Page *no wonder she looked fimilar, adalah Juno* for good acting . Whoever thought of that story is a real cracko. Giller complex dan out-of-this-world sekali. However, I find that it could be summarized by this tajuk lagu rock kapak dari tahun 90-an. Inception = Umpama Mimpi Dalam Mimpi. hihihihihi

Happy. Happy. :)

Here's another reason to be happy. My first Choos made her debut on Malaysian soil.
Happy. Happy. Happy. :)

Happy Friday, all!

-dillz blogging out-

Whoopsie!

2010-07-13T13:54:00.001+08:00

Dear readers,

I am proud to introduce you to Miss Whoopie Pie.

Sedapnya....

Sedapnya....
Sedapnya....
Kan, @kaezrin?

I have 9 more of these to share with the Azrul household.

The baker herself wrote about some Whoopie Pie lovin in her blogshop. Kalau korang nak, sila contact Madamme ShoppingQueen di: shoppingqueen78@gmail.com , ya? It's going at RM30 for 9 whoopie pie pieces.

Sedapnya... *terbayang-bayang lah pulak*

P/S: Harus kerja lebih keras di gym after work today.

-dillz blogging out-

Look What the Cat Brought In

2010-07-12T12:50:00.000+08:00

Cashed in my nuffnang earnings a month back after about one-year joining the web-advert community. When I got home from work last Friday, this baby was waiting for me. :)

Seronoknya. Alhamdulillah. :)

The next envelope was this letter from the Cawangan Trafik.

Ala.... Nasib baik ada duit nuffnang.

*doing the myeg dance till fade*

-dillz blogging out-

Khaleeda's First Day at School

2010-07-09T08:28:00.001+08:00

Khaleeda, my 2 years and 7 months old girl has been asking us since forever to let her go to school. We have been meaning to send her to Early Years Playgroup since March this year, but they were not admitting new kids into the Nursery class at that time. *had to let the triplets cool down and ease into school first. :)* So, when I called Aunty Zai a few weeks back, I was estatic that she agreed for us to have a look see around the school for Khaleeda and Eva. (Zachy and Emelia's firstborn) Just to see whether the kids like it there and whether they are ready for school.

Early Years Playgroup and us go way back. Khadra started her early development days there in August 2005. She just turned 2 years and 2 months. When she went in she could hardly speak. Prolly only had 5 words in her vocabulary. Among others are: Abibu (for Ibu), Amimok (for selimut / blankie), Shishu (for Susu) and.. Maybe that's it. hihihihihi But, at the end of the year, in her December concert, we were just amazed on how she had blossomed. Truly, truly amazing. :) Then, there was Khadra's 2006 concert where they had the musical-inspired theme. Me, Inche Azrul and Kira worked hard on the backdrop screens! Hmm.. those were fun times!

Khaleeq joined in January 2007 , when he was 2 years and 5 months. Similarly, he couldn't speak when he first joined. But, when he left 2 years later, he was speaking in an American slang. hihihihihihi *must have picked it up from the telly, tho* In 2007, we had two stars performing in the year-end concert. This year it was the Children of the World. Khadra left for Beaconhouse the year she turned 5, so in 2008, Khaleeq was the only one performing at the year-end concert. (Whoa! I din't blog about that year's concert. Must have been REALLY busy or lazy!)

So, anywaaaays... (Panjangnya mukaddimah)

Lil Miss Khaleeda and Lil Miss Eva went for a look-see the other day and ended up really liking the place. *Am so glad* They joined the class right after breakfast and stayed on for the storytelling, playtime and music time. It really helped that Eva, her new BFF, was around. But she kept calling me to be near her. Must have been a little overwhelmed with all the new faces, I think.

She quickly warmed up during playtime though. Especially when they discovered the water tank. The two little ladies must have scooped the pink water onto the water mill like a million times. Don't they ever get bored? I wonder. Khaleeda also enjoyed music time very much. It really helped that Miss Maria's songs were familiar to her - especially Row, Row Your Boat where she got to partner the dashing Mika (One-third of the triplets) and also Heads, Shoulder, Knees and Toes. hihihihi *Thank you, Barney!*

So, we decided that Khaleeda would definitely join Early years Playgroup and after the approval from Tok Mummy, yesterday was the first day of school for Lil Miss Deyda! :) I just accompanied her for awhile before I left her to enjoy her day. *Exit timed nicely as she went for the water tank*

Picking her up at 1pm was an entourage consisting of me, Khadra and Khaleeq. She was smiling from ear to ear when she saw the sight of me. Screaming "IBU! " from the top of the stairs she looked so excited and happy. Khadra and Khaleeq were smiling too, probably proud of their baby sister. Khaleeq siap declared to the two teachers that he used to attend the school before too. Good to hear that Miss Rina and Miss Tini reported that she didn't even cry that first day. Only asked for me once in a while. Yeay, Deyda!!!

Looks like a good beginning for Lil Miss Khaleeda. Now, I just have to think of her day-to-day clothes to school. They are allowed to wear normal clothes, the uniform is just an apron. :) My little makcik is a diva, suka melawa. Ikut aunty-aunty dia lah tu. (Not me, definitely)

-dillz blogging out-

Tit for Tat

2010-07-08T08:09:00.004+08:00

Stayed up late to teman the hubby watching FIFA World Cup 2010. It was the semi-finals : Germany versus Spain. *also for the adorable Messut Ozil, but don't tell Inche Azrul. Shhhh! * Actually , we slept first and woke up at 2am for the 2.30am game. Damn so many alarm clocks were blaring at my ears.

The game was really menyedihkan for me coz I was rooting for Germany. *think doe-eyed Messut Ozil, yet again* They were slow, macam kena rasuk pun ada jugak. Spain, on the other hand, played a very aggressive game and held possession of the ball almost the entire game. Ozil was sadly, slower than usual. Inche Azrul said it was due to that Mueller guy not playing. Sheesh! Apa nak buat, memang dah ditakdirkan kalah. As predicted by the Oracle, Paul the Octopus. Sigh.

Mamat yang score goal tu celebrating.
picture from : here

I think in a way, Inche Azrul appreciates my company, coz guess what we will be watching at 10pm tonight? *plus also because he enjoys the Twilight series*

picture from: here

Wee-hee! Can't wait!

-dillz blogging out-

Widuri Laduree

2010-07-06T08:15:00.003+08:00

How awesome is this? I wrote about macarons a few weeks back and my awesome Srikandi sister has connections that could make my very own batch of Laduree macarons very very possible! Her brother stays in Switzeland and apparently, this chick has been getting her constant supply thataway! :)

As luck would have it, her brother is back in Malaysia now and brought back some Laduree macarons and the kind-hearted Deyna decided to share some with moi! :) :) :) Thanks to the FOC messaging by Berry, we scheduled a little rendezvous at Mothercare KLCC and I picked the lovelies up last Saturday. Her reminder was for me to have a macaron at the Laduree salon to experience first-hand the magic. Apparently a smart looking waiter with a bow in a suit would be attending to that tiny macaron. Can not wait! :) Bila mau pergi, Inche Azrul? hihihihihihi

*Oh, dan sempat buat demo pakai tudung untuk gym using that Mily and Cole tudung, ya. The pirate variation. I'll try to shoot astep-by-step video of it and post it up for you, ok Deyna? *

Thus, we, the Azrul household, have been Laduree macarons for desserts ever since. hihihihihihihi

Ada chocolate, caramel, pistachio, coconut.... Hmmm Hmmmm Gooood!! :) (Sorry, Maween they are all mine!) You were right, Deyna. As soon as the outer shell hardened and crisped a little it was pure heaven! Just need to finish it alllll up before it becomes too dry. Hmm.. Party macaronnsla nampaknya. hihihihihihihi. I loike!

*suara suara apungan* Diet? Apa dah jadi dengan diet? Ahhh.. Persetankan aja.

So, thank you so much Ardena Aziz. Me love you mucho!! You soooo didn't have to but you did!! Wee-hee!!! Love ya! Love ya! Love ya!

Moral of the story: Masuk STF, please to get awesome friends for life such as Deyna. :)

-dillz blogging out-

Ala-ala Supermodel

2010-07-05T07:20:00.000+08:00

Just to share another one of Khadra's advertisement in the media. :) Alhamdulillah.

She's part of the kids turned professionals - signifying our futurelah in the new Maybank Islamic product, WAQF. Currently running as the highlighted product on maybank2u (sila refer inset) and a one page advert in The Edge, today. :)

p/s: Yang lagi 3 orang tu pun kazen-mazen dia jugak. Habis Zaghlol cucus tapau! :)

-dillz blogging out-

Siksaan Dunia

2010-07-02T08:30:00.000+08:00

Aircond takde.
Starting to sweat already.
I feel like I am in a very warm sauna room.
Berlengas, okay.
Nasib baik ketiak tak basah lagi.
Could hardly breathe in here.
Very, very uncomfortable.
I could hardly think.
Subconciously I am thinking, "Panas, panas!!"

Tulah, take for granted that air and ventilation is always there for you.
Nah rasakan!

-dillz blogging out-

She's Up! She's Up!

2010-06-30T08:24:00.003+08:00

Presenting my little angel on a billboard along the NKVE.

As captured by @azrulx by the side of the road. :)

The billboard is in-between the Damansara and Subang tol plaza, on both sides. (i.e Northbound and Southbound) If you see her, do holler!!! hihihihihihi

We were so darn excited last night when we got news from my sister @ewazag on the BBM;

OheMmgLee!! Nak nangis pls!!! Guess what??? Pls lalu NKVE coz Khadra's already Up Up on the billboard yo! So proud of her & darn happy sampai nak nangis!! Couldn't capture her coz I was too happy! Weeee~

Me and Inche Azrul actually just got off the plane from Jakarta and we were dying to see it! Maka, haruslah detour on our way home, siap lalu NKVE bagai. Our trusted Saufi parked by the roadside and Inche Azrul went down to capture her daughter on her first billboard. Proud, proud moment. :) (Ya, kami jakun sikit sebab memang taklah tiap-tiap hari anak kau masuk billboard, kan? )

We were extra excited coz this has been a long time coming. I think we went for the shoot some 3 months ago. Here's a little snippet of her "behind the scenes".

Amazing, kan? From the few stems of sunflowers in her hand suddenly transformed into a field of sunflowers on the billboard. It was definitely an awesome experience for her and me both as we got to experience the actual work that went into a production such as this one.

Kaki jangan bukak sangat.
Tunduk sikit lagi.
Look up.
Smile.
Look at mommy.
Okay, good job...
One more time.

She must have done the pose a million times. It was so darn technical. But everytime she would just smile even when I knew that deep down she was truly exhausted. So, yes, I have a greater appreciation on the hard work models do now. Looking pretty is not so easy after all. :)

-dillz blogging out-

Quick Stop

2010-06-28T18:52:00.000+08:00

Finding time in between my hectic liburan schedule to drop by this side of the world. Am actually being ~~fond~~handled by two persons as I type this. One doing the cremebath treatment on my head and another doing reflexology on my feet. So, yeah. Agak busy. Hihihihihi

Going to the spa has always been a highlight for my Jakarta trips. Kalau boleh memang nak pergi hari-hari. :) I told Alina Kansoor via fb that I'd review the spa I'm currently spending 5-6 hours of my time in today. She's going to Jakarta this Friday. Hopefully I won't disappoint.

Mean time lemme just relax and NOT think about work. Ngee.

-dillz blogging out-

Taking A Break

2010-06-26T12:51:00.002+08:00

Taking a few days off from work to be with Inche Azrul. Just him and me in the land of cheap spas.

*Not looking to shop this time around. Duit bonus dah habis kat Shingapore. Kalau Inche Azrul nak belanja, itu lain cerita. *

Picture from: here

So, see ya in a couple of days. Or not. I might just blog from Jakarta. We'll see.

p/s: I actually brought some work over with me. Can't seem to leave them behind. Shites.

-dillz blogging out-

Her Last Call Was From A Cellphone

2010-06-25T13:05:00.002+08:00

Got a forwarded e-mail from Ibu early this morning. *She's currently in Egypt, btw, visiting my youngest sister Kira for a whole month*

The message was;

Dearest Ema, Kaklong, Bangteh, Ewa, Kakngah, Kak De and last but not least ,Enciknya in order of priority
--tolong jangan guna handphone semasa memandu pleeaseee!
It is not worth it,all the texting and smssing and the phonechatting while driving are not worth dying for.

*Author's note: nasib baik I was listed 3rd last. Pheww!

In any case, I think I am also guilty of this. Talking on the phone, smsing, Blackberry-ing. I tell you that BBM is the devil. Can not resist everytime the BB vibrates - it just compells me to grab and read it. Must must must resist the temptation to reply instant messaging instantly, lah. It's just sooo dangerous!

Anyways, being the caring citizen that I am, I'd like to share the forwarded e-mail with you, as below:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sometimes only a picture can get our attention!

Her last call was from a new cell phone...

Doyou see the motorcycle?

Now do you see it?

The Honda rider was travelling at approximately 85 mph.

The VW driver was talking on a cell phone when she pulled out from a side street, apparently not seeing the motorcycle.

The riders’ reaction time was not sufficient to avoid this accident.

The car had two passengers.The bike rider was found INSIDE the car with them.

The Volkswagen actually flipped over from the force of impact, and landed 20 feet from where the collision took place.

All three involved (two in the car and the bike rider) were killed instantly.

This graphic demonstration was placed at the Motorcycle Fair by the Police and Road Safety Department.

Pass this on to car drivers or soon to be new drivers, 0r new motorcycle owners...

ESPECIALLY EVERYONE YOU KNOW WHO HAS A CELL PHONE!!!!!

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Save a life …

Stop talking on Cell phones and Texting while trying to drive.

The life you save may be your own... or mine...

This community service reminder was brought to you by dillazag's Ibu.

-dillz blogging out-

Trudging Trudging

2010-06-24T11:28:00.006+08:00

It's already Thursday. That makes it almost a Friday.

The week has been long for me thus far.

A day would go on where I would work hard at work, come home late and carry out some more work at night. Maybe even manage a 2 hours nap in all that time. Next day continues and I try to put in some kind of exercise - be it PT based or just a good cardio or group exercise. Then, I'd get a full 6hour sleep.

Repeat cycle.

So far I am still managing. Maybe the slot of exercise has kept my stamina going further. Ideas are creatively flowing, thoughts are clear and analysis still sharp. Alhamdulillah. Business as usual. Just that I don't get to see my kids as much as I want to.

This would go on till Saturday, before I leave for Jakarta to join Inche Azrul. Will be back in the home country on Tuesday.

Honeymooning, just the two of us.

So, yeah. Am really working hard to earn that 2 day leave. Saturday can not come soon enough.

Till then, I might just make a run home for lunch. Only possible with the help of Saufi. Really missing Miss Deyda. See you in a while , baby!

*updated: Miss Deyda during my lunch run!

-dillz blogging out-

Fish! I Screwed Up!

2010-06-23T07:20:00.000+08:00

I was in my car, at the office car park when I finally realized that I totally forgot about my kids' mengaji class tonight. Reached my phone - battery's dead. Fished the other phone out of the handbag - dead also. By this time, I was already 45 minutes late.

Picture from: here

Knowing how the kids dispersed after mengaji classes, they were all gone in the first 5 minutes. Suddenly my own experience waiting for my dad in the dark with my 2 other sisters flashed quickly before my eyes.

**
I think I was 8 years old or so. I was attending primary school at Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Petaling, Petaling Jaya with two of my sisters at that time. The three of us ; Ziezi, me and Illa ; were waiting for our ride home as per usual.

We waited and waited and waited and nobody came for us. The day was getting darker (we went to the evening session) and slowly turned into night. We were the only three beings left outside the school compound, hugging each other tight (Probably crying too). Then, a car approached and there was our dad asking us to get into the car.

A stream of complaints came from the three princesses - "Mengapa lambat?" "There's no one else here" "We were the last ones, Encik"

Sekali kena tengking, daa.... hahahahahahaha

It turned out that our then 4 year old brother drove the Isuzu Pajero down the hill and ended up in the ditch. (He didn't actually, drive, he just released the handbrakes and the car slid down the hill) So, itulah sebabnya lambat, dan of course he had other things in his head at that time, with the balik kampung plan screwed up and all..

**
Anyways, pointnya adalah, I know how it felt to be the last one waiting for your parent to arrive. Been there and done that. It's a lonely feeling and one gets pretty restless. And cranky and teary-eyed. So.....

Panic.Panic.Panic. Aduh! Lagilah pressure!

Luckily, I spotted the Blackberry car charger in the car. Plugged it in and immediately called Ustazah Yati. She said she tried to call but it didn't go through. I apologized profusely and told her I was on my way. The journey to Kota Damansara was a smooth one, I was there in about 15 minutes. I must have driven at 120km/h where I could.

Anyways, as I arrived, her house had the gate and the front door closed. No lights in the foyer. Dark and a little scary. Called Ustazah to tell her I was already there. Her sleepy voice greeted me and said, "OK". Turned off the engine and ran to her house to quickly hug my two sweethearts. More bouts of apologies ensued. Luckily, both kids were smiling widely. Ustazah shared with me another great news - Khadra has gone to Iqra' 5. Yeay!,Khadra! Gave them a quick kiss and a last kopek apology to the Ustazah. We made our way to the car.

Talking, talking, talking in the car. We made it home safely. All is well once more. :)

Moral of the story: Lain kali ingat la nak ambik anak , weh!

-dillz blogging out-

jíshí jiàoshī

2010-06-22T07:05:00.000+08:00

jíshí jiàoshī or, in the full mandarin character, 即时教师 means an Immediate Teacher. At least that's what the mandarin translator website tells me. The instructions are completely in Mandarin. Just a blue stamp of "Home Work" to tell me that this particular page needs to be completed before he returns back to class tomorrow. I had to turn to the worldly knowledge of the web to help Khaleeq figure out his Mandarin homework.

Just in case you are caught in the same predicament - by predicament I mean not knowing how to speak, read or write the language but having to assist your child anyways.

It's basically a two step process.

First: Character dictionary
Use the brush icon to invoke a clean white screen where you could "write" the characters and a bunch of character will be filtered for you to choose from. It's important that you kinda know the order of the strokes as it affects the filtration process. Just pick the character that resembles the character that you want the most and it will appear on the top left screen. SHould you wish to define this character, click "Go". Do this for every character that you need before you go on to the next step.

Second: Translate
Translate the bunch of mandarin characters that you have gathered to form the instructions that you need. I missed a couple of characters so, in the end it read: "The activities of a sub-rain line.." Hmm..

We figured that we needed to cross the box in the activities that you can't do on rainy days.

Bantai je lah Labu... hihihihihi

-dillz blogging out-

Shingapore Trip

2010-06-21T00:10:00.000+08:00

It was really a last minute trip. 2 whole days at the Summit that ran in conjunction with CommunicAsia2010.

The visionary address was by Josh Silvermann, the CEO of Skype. Then there was the CEO's Perspective forum that brought together the CEOs of Skype, TM, Telstra and StarHub in one sitting. Later we adjourned to the individual tracks. I was registered into the Next Generation Broadband Business Model and Next Generation Fixed Broadband tracks. I came prepared though - several varieties of multi-coloured pens for taking notes, several bottles of mineral water and a Starbucks Frappuciono as back up. :) I really thought that it was interesting. Well, at the very least, it definitely brought some new insights to what was happening in the telco industry.

As usual, bab makan je la kena hati-hati sikit. I only stuck to croissant with strawberry and butter, some juice and cereal at the buffet breakfast. There were, of course nasi goreng, kuey teow goreng and stuff. I didn't take 'em. I just worry that they contain bits of meat in it. The following "assorted leaves with condiments" served at the Summit lunch, for example, contained little bits of reddish pink specks of what I suspect is bacon bits. So, yeah. Be careful, yah. Besides fast food that are certified Halal in Shingapore ( I know KFC, McD and Burger King are) we also tapaued some macarons from this dainty cafe called 1837 TWG Tea at Ion Orchard. All are infused with tea (but of course) and selling at SGD2 per pop. Sedap! :)

Since our adventurous nature was really burning that Monday night, we went ahead and got a cab to Beach Street Food Garden to try out some Singapore Soup Tulang, only at the authentic haji Kadir's place. It's red, I tell you!!!! Kinda gruesome and canniballish but pretty darn good - especially when cicah with roti. They had mee /meehun goreng that was blood red too, but we felt it was way too much lah. hihihihi. Takut...

Despite being caught in training the whole day, sempat juga pergi the Great Singapore Sale. Among the stuff I got:

That nudie jeans will not be washed in at least 6months to get a really nice "wash" to it. What's special about it is that it would follow the natural creases that is unique only to my body = unique "wash". Wah! Tak sabar! Apparently, the tip says that to get rid of any odour, one should put the pants in the freezer. Adoiai! Habisla jeans bau ayam nanti. hihihihihihihi

On the night I was packing the stuff, I realized that I needed to get more stuff for the kids sebab pembahagian harta tidak adil between the three Khas. Seeing that it was already the last night in Singapore and wouldn't have time to shop after training finishes, I did a little more shopping at the airport. (Ya, selepas check-in semua) Suffice to say the kids were pretty happy with what they got. Ibu pun happy, sebab dapat the following at Gucci. :D

-dillz blogging out-

I'm Backkkk!!!

2010-06-18T13:22:00.004+08:00

Been away from the home country for a while. Attended the CommunicAsia 2010 in Shingapore. Great timing for a seminar as it coincides with the Great Singapore Sale! Yeay! The travelling and catching up on work after the travels. Well, let's just say I have been a little tied. ;)

Anyways, just wanted to share a possibility on this lovely Friday. My weight as per what the scale in the hotel told me.

63.3kg?

Biar betul... If that is so. I have lost 3kgs already since. (I doubt it would stay on like that even, looking at what I have been eating while I was there. hihihihihi) Biarlah, betul ke tak betul ke.. It's a moral booster anyways.

BTW, you heard about the flood at Orchard Street? Thank God I already left my hotel and made my way to the Singapore Expo. There's just sooo much to update! :) Talk to you soon, lovelies.

-dillz blogging out-

Three Days into the Mid-term Holidays and still NO Plans for Vacation

2010-06-09T13:55:00.001+08:00

Pictures from: here, here and here

Kesianlah pulak kat anakanda - anakandaku bertiga. Cuti dah cuti. Tapi tak ke mana pun. Bukannya tak nak bawa ke mana-mana. But time is kinda tight. Before I knew it, it's already Wednesday of Week 1. My husband is away for a business trip till the weekend. Add to that Khadra's commitments on her full week practice schedule for her Action Song and Rhythmic Gymnastics next week. So, that basically means these kids are not going anywhere far - not in this school holiday, anyways.

Just to let them have a little bit of holidaying spirit, the kids have been shipped out to my mom's place in Puchong since Saturday. Just them kids. I also posted Bibik Parmi at Pondok Azlul for a helping hand. Me and the hubs have been sleeping in our own home. The kids are kinda enjoying it coz ZZ and her kids are also staying in Pondok Azlul. (Maid gone balik kampung) So, they have the company of their first cousins there - Naqib, Teyta, Neyna, ChenChen and also Shoshoff. It's like camping over - but indoors. Everyone is happy.

But it's not all play there over in Nenek's house. I have assigned Khadra and Khaleeq daily school / homework and exercises to be completed. I would drop in at my mom's for 2-3 hours to go through their work every two to three days.

Kesian punya pasal, I am taking a day of leave this Friday to take them prolly to Sunway Lagoon ke hapa ke. Jangan tak, ya dak? Ews, JOM!

-dillz blogging out-

My New Man Hunk PT

2010-06-09T07:40:00.002+08:00

Just to let y'all know that my old Personal Trainer (PT), Jess has left Celebrity Fitness and left me into the cares of Jeff. I was told that:

he was the finalist of Man Hunk 2008
the competition was organized by a Chinese magazine, called Newicon
the finale event took place in Sunway
he made it to the final 12 and was featured in their calendar

From the available info, I could only assume that he was one of these finalists as described in Kim Ong's blog.

The StarOnline also covered the story along with the cover of the said 2009 calendar with the 12 guys strutting their stuff topless. Of course.

Just a little confused though, coz the Star listed the "deliciously dishy dozen" as Jack Gan, Dennis Lee, David Chan, Vincent Wong, Vinvent Kho, Kelvin Boon, Tanggo Khor, Lee Kok Yang, Desmond Cheah, Jenson Lee, Kitson Chea and Sean Ooi.

Tak de pun manusia bernama Jeff, kan? Maybe dia pakai nama Chinese dia kot. Hmmmmm...

Anyways, akhir kata kepada sesiapa yang dok mengata saya sebab dapat PT perempuan awal-awal dulu (refer exhibit di bawah):

Ketahuilah, Tuhan itu Maha Adil. Look who's smiling now... :)

-dillz blogging out-

Just Enjoy the Show!

2010-06-03T23:02:00.000+08:00

Performance on Teachers' Day by SKBD's Fabulous Moms.

I'd rather not tell where I am coz I did forget the steps a little. hihihihihi...
Bantai je lah Labu.. Yang penting kita happy!

First the pictures, then the show. Enjoy! :) (or not!)

Video is uploading on youtube. Be a lil patient, okies. :) ~~(I'll embed as soon as it's done)~~ Updated!

-dillz blogging out-

Last Kopek

2010-06-02T10:36:00.001+08:00

Bling my I ♥ SKBD T-shirt. Checked.
Dark purple wig. Checked.
Black structured tights. Checked.
4-inch heels. Checked.

One more round of dance practice in the Bilik Akses and we are ready to rock the stage for the Teachers' Day performance.

Wish us luck. Or in show talk, say "Break a leg".

-dillz blogging out-

TIme for the World

2010-06-01T13:04:00.001+08:00

Managed to catch up a little on the worldly news re #FreedomFloatilla. First it made me sad. Then mad. Very, very mad! Grrrrrr!!

Don't be ignorant, guys. To catch up, please read on:

A Mere Whimper of A Prayer (he also has a list of must reads in this post)
Guardian: Gaza: From blockade to bloodshed

Here's their version of the story:

Did you expect them to serve you tea at midnight instead? Freaking Unbelievable!

-dillz blogging out-

Al-Fatihah

2010-05-31T08:24:00.009+08:00

Got news that Azura Hani Ahmad a.k.a Zoorek and Norhashimah Wahid a.k.a Sheema both succumbed to their illnesses this morning. They both have passed on. As and when there is info, I shall keep the updates coming on this post.

Al-Fatihah to my two lovely sisters. Ya Allah, grant their loved ones the strength to carry on.

I was totally numb, trying to make sense of things. It was so overwhelming that I had to stop the car and park by the roadside and cry and cry and cry. What a devastating way to start the week. I shall miss them dearly.

*Update on Allahyarhamah Azura Hani Ahmad

8:55am : Jenazah akan dibawa ke rumah aunty dia di: No 48, Jalan 17/4, Petaling Jaya. Kebumi sebelum Zohor.

10:28am : Directions to her aunty's house - if u are coming from the Masjid Bulat Section 14, at the Rothmans roundabout, take the 3pm exit. Take the ~~first~~ second left turn and look out for Jln 17/4 on your right after Pasar Seksyen 17.Go straight on until you get to a cross-junction. No 41 is the first house on your left.

10:55am :(via sms) Azura Hani, akan dikebumikan @ Kota Damansara, Seksyen 9. 2:30 today.

6:00pm : Tahlil arwah will be carried out at her aunty's house (same place) after Isya' for the first night.

9:00pm: Zoorek's mom confirmed that the 2nd night tahlil will be carried out at the surau instead of her aunty's house. The 3rd night will be done in Meor's house - 105B, Menara Jaya, Section 14, PJ (Opposite Milleneum Tower) Tahlil as usual will be after Isya'. She encouraged that we come to the one in Meor's house. :)

2nd June 2010 : Tahlil arwah malam ke 7 akan diadakan di rumah Abang Hak - No. 78, Jalan Lee Woon (Belakang Zoo Negara) The itinerary would start after Maghrib. Aunty reminded to be there a little earlier, takut sesat.

*Update on Allahyarhamah Sheema Wahid

9:05am : Jenazah akan dibawa ke: No 41, Jalan Enggang Timur 1, Taman Keramat. Kebumi estimated around 11am.

10:07am : Jenazah bertolak dari Hospital Klang pukul 11am. Burial will be a little later.

10:25am (fr sms) : Skrg arwah sheema di bilik forensik, after that dimandikan di Masjid Al-Ansar, Jln Enggang 1, Tmn Keramat, all details about arwah ada di nst, utusan n few local newspaper, all press n govt ppl ada di hospital, arwah akan dikebumikan selepas zohor atau tgh hari ni..time x confirm lg

5th June 2010 (fr sms) : Salam, Di jemput utk menghadiri Kenduri tahlil malam ke-7 for arwah Norhashimah Wahid on 060610; tomorrow nite will be held @sheema's mother house @ keramat after isyak. Please forward to other family member and friends as well.. TQ

-dillz blogging out-

Send your Prayers and Love for Sheema

2010-05-31T01:44:00.003+08:00

I just got home with my sister Illa from visiting Zoorek in the UMMC ICU last Saturday. Right after Maghrib, I got a phone call from Jaja (Khairiza Kurdi), my junior in STF. She was calling to update me on Sheema's condition in the ICU. The beautiful Sheema Wahid is a friend of ours from UNITEN. She is married to Zul, who happens to be a friend of my hubby and also my brother. They make the sweetest young couple.

Jaja called to say that Sheema wasn't doing too well. I could feel my heart literally sink to the pit of my stomach. Me and @azrulx rushed over to Hospital Tuanku Ampuan Rahimah in Klang that very night to see how she was doing. We were allowed to go into the ICU two at a time. Sheema was strapped to the life support machine with all sorts of lines attached to her body. Her feet was propped up a little and Zul was always, always by her, stroking her face and speaking to her. There was another lady there too, whom I assumed was her sister. She was just rubbing her feet, kissing her hands and making sure that she was covered sufficiently by the blanket. Such exhibits of unconditional love and adoration that really tugged at my heart. I managed to recite for her the Yaasin. Though with some difficulties. I couldn't contain my tears and I was actually sobbing between the lines. It was such a sad sad sight.

The thing is with Sheema, everything happened too abruptly. We were caught by surprise with the news and how quickly her condition had worsened. Sheema was taken to the Bangi Hospital on Thursday and transferred to the Klang ICU on Friday. The day that we visited her, that was a Saturday. It was only two weeks ago that she organized her daughter, Hylda's 2nd birthday party on 15th May 2010.

Pictures from Sheema's facebook on Hylda's party

Last update I heard today via sms:

Alhamdulillah she's improving. Her lips colour came back, bruises on d hands gettin lesser n her BP is rising 2 normal. But her condition is still critical. Jazakallah 2 all who r praying for her.

Things are looking up. Please don't stop sending your prayers and positivity for her.

-dillz blogging out-

Sisters in Cyberspace

2010-05-29T02:40:00.000+08:00

It's already 2.30am. I have been tossing in bed while my three kids are already sound asleep. It's nice to be children. Not much to worry about, just what games to play today, eat when you're hungry, go to the loo if you need to do the number one or the number two. Sometimes, maybe worry about homework or exams. Not too often, though.

But this morning, I had someone specific in my mind. Her name is Azura Hani Ahmad or more fondly known as Zoorek back in my high school years. I was made aware Zoorek's illness a few months back. News and updates travelled quickly in this Information Age - mainly on facebook, twitter, blogs and BBM. She was diagnosed with leukimia and had undergone the first round of chemo with such strength.

A few days back, I was informed of a solat hajat for her on twitter. Informant was noneother than @idlan who was physically in the land of the original Fish and Chips. Zoorek's condition is deteriorating.

In facebook today, it was Ryzah's mobile upload that really caught my attention. It was a snapshot of Norzu's column in NST -From KL to Cape Town that was published yesterday.

@idlan with her trademark kerut

The caption of the picture read:

My first thought when I saw this page on NST today was "mak aii, besornya muka Idlan in Nor's column hari ni"..
But I was reduced to silent tears by the time I finished reading the column for it mentioned Zoorek (our schoolmate) who's fighting for her life in UMMC now and Mike (also a schoolmate) who passed away of cancer last year. Just like Nor, I too didn't manage to see Mike before she left us for eternity.. I hope I will be able to make my way to UMMC this week to visit Zoorek.
Good luck Nor for your second leg of adventure and Al-Fatihah to allahyarhamah Mike, Anor, Pet and Noni (our batchmates who have left us).

(Norzu also blogs about her 5month adventure on My Lost Year: From KL to Cape Town ) Read Idlan's post on Zoorek - I think I thank .

Apart from that, facebook is also providing us the platform in the form of status updates from Srikandis who have visited Zoorek. On Friday, for instance:

Zasya Evilblue : latest update on kak zooreq (as of my visit tghari tadi): her bp ok, temp 37.5, wbc 0.7 (still low), urine dah yellow-brownish, lungs are deteroriating coz of infections altho bleeding dah takda (but this is very bad), ventilator and oxygen on 100% (high setting - she's 100% depending on machine since her lungs are weak, n oxygen level kept dropping since last nite). she's not doing good. :( keep praying ya sisters
Marisa Ahmat : Update on Zoorek as per my visit 7pm: her lungs deteriorating, the antibiotics yet to function but ptg td the docs changed her ventilator to a stronger one to help her lungs pump at an optimum level. other than that she's still the same. but today, my heart broke once again becoz the sight of her labored breathing (...due to the new ventilator) was too devastating. :((

It really made me think about how trivial my problems and issues really are. On one hand, we have a strong 33 year old girl whom I have known since she was 13 years old, fighting for her life. On the other, me stressing about exams and my weight and all other things that wouldn't even matter when I permanently leave this world. How about what I'll be leaving my kids? Do I have enough amalan to answer the questions of Mungkar and Nangkir when I am alone, in my dark grave 6 feet down under?

Life really is temporary. Everybody goes. There's no exception to the rule. It's really how you prepare yourself for the afterlife and the balancing between living for today and beyond. But when bombarded with information of someone so young, so close, so real is actually fighting for her life - it just struck a nerve , I guess. Technology also make you feel so close to the scene - with almost real time update on what is really happening.

I really need to make my way to UMMC tomorrow. According to Zasya, Zoorek is in ICU, Level 3 Menara Utama. In the meantime, dearest sisters in cyberspace, please keep Zoorek in your prayers.

-dillz blogging out-

I Miss My Munchkin(s)

2010-05-27T16:04:00.003+08:00

I really miss my little Deyda. Yes, we live in the same house but I hardly see her on weekdays. By the time I leave the house in the mornings, she is still in La La Land. Sleeping and occasionally snoring. :) By the time I get home at night, she is already preparing to sleep or already asleep. The only time that I really get to gomol her is on the weekends.

Such a drama queen, this one. Just like her sister, I guess. :) She is cheeky and mischievous and so loving. Always putting up a smile and ever willing to shower me with her bear hugs and sloppy kisses. Anak bongsu agaknya.. :)

Since it's a public holiday tomorrow, we decided to take the kids out for a special treat to the movies tonight. Shrek 3 Forever After it is. :)

Picture from: here

This is my other munchkin that I miss.

My sister, Kira who is in Alexandria, Egypt right now, studying Medicine. Year 1 out of so many. *updated* In the above picture she was a measly 3 year old, giving me a visit in ole Cobham Hall during my A-Level years - she actually sent me this picture with the subject "found a nice pic of us that wld have been perfect for your blog entry" haha! (looking at the two - Deyda and Kira, they have a lot of similarities, don't they? Yeay Deeds! You're gonna grow up pretty like your Achu)

For the rest of her, sorry Ki, saya cilok gambar awak.

Beautiful and talented. But, I really miss the time that we spend together. The karaoke-ing, the eating and especially the goofy things that we do. Case in point, see below:

Adik, bila mau balik? Kanda sudah rindu, wooo!!! ( Anak bongsu, kot)

Er, boleh ke pergi Egypt je, Inche Azrul?

-dillz blogging out-

The Quest for the Perfect Tudung Gym

2010-05-27T08:25:00.000+08:00

Semenjak-duamenjak ber-eksesais ni, I have been scouring high and low for a suitable headgear for my gym sessions. In the olden days, (referring to my high school years throughout my university days) we would normally wear the tudung bawal, ikat belakang. Then, the time finally came when the tudung bawal is no longer in fashion. I moved on to tudung Donatella - alah, yang patterned and very nipis and light tu. And that too went out of fashion. (which basically means I don't have them anymore) I have also experimented with some bandanas, which served the purpose but kinda made me look a little Rempit. Wearing the Syrian to gym just makes me really uncomfortable , especially when I start to sweat. So, needless to say, the quest for the perfect tudung gym goes on.

Then, I came across this magnificent product. It's the multifunctional headgear by Mily & Cole that comes with instructions on the varied ways to wear them on the very distinctive monkey board. This particular kiosk that I went to is located at the Lower Ground Floor of Bangsar Village I. Opposite the F.O.S. There's a lot of patterns to choose from and they priced one headgear at RM29.90. But, if you get 3, they go at RM69.90. Apa lagi? I picked up 6 pieces on my first visit. hihihihihihi

1. Mily & Cole Instruction Board. Please see overleaf.
2. Hasil tangkapan hari itu.
3. The pirate look.
4. The cap

Macam menarik kan? The actual headgear is just a long piece of fabric that has been sewed on one end. It looks like a sleeve. However, you can do all sorts of styles with it. Pirate lah, cap lah, apa lah.. Just follow the instructions on how to wear them. It comes in many colours, patterns and textures. I chose those without holes and were lightweight - senang nak jaga (as opposed to the wooly ones)

Now, let's see how it fares on the ground.

In the gym locker room on one very early morning.

OK, apa....

From my first hand experience, it was very snug and stays on the head very well. Takde la nak tercabut cabut ke apa. So far, I am very happy with it. Nanti boleh tambah collection. hihihihihihi

-dillz blogging out-

Preparing for the Show!

2010-05-26T13:54:00.004+08:00

Told you about our upcoming Teachers' Day performance earlier . So, we finally met up for dance practice last Sunday. About 10 parents showed up for the choreography. We will be performing Dancing Queen from the Mamma Mia musical and the Wonder Girls' hit - Nobody But You! :) Two full hours flew by while you were having fun!

The other fun thing was preparing for the show - searching for the costume and the accessories. We went scouring Pavillion and Sungai Wang for the perfect short can-can skirt to be worn over our black tights. ZZ of course was entrusted to find masks and wigs for the show. Excited nya... hihihi

Here's a little sneak peek of MY wig:

Me in my Dark Purple wig

So natural, kan????

-dillz blogging out-

Just a Teensy Stressed Out!

2010-05-25T08:23:00.004+08:00

Could never had imagine how much stress this PKSR is putting onto the parents until I am actually going through it myself.

Picture from: here

Khadra's done with the Bahasa Melayu and Agama exams. Today is Science and Maths. I am a little worried about tomorrow's schedule. English and Arab. So, I made her an A4 size notes on the 5 topics she needs to know already last night and asked her to go over it with me on our way to school this morning. Yes. In the car. Later, I have asked Saufi to send Khadra over to my office after she's done with her papers today and over my lunch break, we'll be going through that Arab revision. So, lunchtime is more focused on trying to do the activity book.

Seems like I had to craft some way to get her revisions done. In time. Within my limitations as a working mom. Wa-emma over my lunch break sekalipun. Takut tak sempat when I come home tonight. Coz she'd be too tired to go through any hardcore memorizing already. I left her some practice questions for English that she could go over on her own. Malam karang baru I can have a look at it. Nasib baik also we've done some English over the weekend.

I need to start thinking about the other exams on Thursday too- Music and Art. Oh, I need to go get the supplies for her topeng watak kartun and maybe a trial run for tomorrow night. So, a big fat YES. I am a little stressed over here. hihihihihihi

Just am a little glad I got to talk to some of the other moms after sending her off for her second day of exams today - apparently, I am not alone. We are all losing our minds here! hahahahahahaha

So, YES. This shout out goes out to all parent(s) who has at least one child undergoing the PKSR1 exams this week. Some of might have gotten that over and done with last week (lucky you!) but some of us are actually going through it right now. Right now. Right now.

Please, please take a breather and give yourself a pat on the back. You are doing a good job so far. Just two more days till it's done. If you find yourself just losing it a teensy little bit, just remember these words. Two.More.Days. If you find yourself crying in the toilet, just let it out and then get your butt out there (again). Persevere. Keep it together , guys! Your child needs you! hihihihihi

-dillz blogging out-

My Road to Health : Week 2 Scorecard

2010-05-24T08:11:00.004+08:00

I do believe that the key to making this work is not to deny your desires, but to control them. I have to make this a part of how I live my life. Not just a temporary way of doing it. So, as such, there will be engagements and birthday parties to attend to, as well as reasons for me not to check into my gym - kids' activities, dance practice, work commitments, what have yous.

Anyways, this is how I have done last week:

Exercise-front
Not too bad. Not too bad.

2 PT sessions this week - my PT let me experience the different kinds of cardio machines. This time around it was much harder, resistance was high and we were on the "Weight Loss" program - I sweat like a pig under the blazing sun. She also worked on my weakest muscles - the tummy are and the thigh. Loads of crunches in many different ways. Pumpinglah , apa lah. I didn't know I could hurt and sweat so much while staying put at a single point. Menggeletar, OK. More flexibility and stretches akin the stuff they do at a traditional Thai massage parlor. Needless to say that some of my joints popped and I was excreting wind from places you don't want to know about. Sorry, Jess. hihihihihihi. I like it that my PT does different things every time I come in. keeps it interesting. Just that I think I have to keep a journal on all the stuff she's asked me to do. After this PT sessions conclude, I at least have a reference point. Nak ambik PT sampai bila-bila, mau bangkrap. hihihihihi
Walked up the 12 flights of stairs, all 144 steps of it 4 times last week. Itu pun, without my partner-in-crime who was out for training. So, extra effort and perseverance di situ. I also tried running up the steps for 4 floors and walked up the remaining 2 floors. Yeay me!
Couldn't make it to Kids' Yoga or Dance last Saturday due to attending the 3 parties we had lined up.
I made it up with 2.5 hours of dance practice at Khadra's school last Sunday. (This one is for the Teachers' day performance) On top of that my gluteous maximus and feet had loads of exercise courtesy if the amount of walking I made hunting for the perfect short can-can skirt for the performance. We scoured Pavillion and Sungei Wang and back. :)

Dietary-front

Except for the trying to eat more home cooked/prepared meal, I only tried to keep up with what I have done the previous week :

Sukses on the air kaler-kaler thing. Absolutely NO carbonated drinks, or coffee, or teh ais on weekdays.
The drinking of 2litres of water in a day is going on effortlessly on weekdays. Needs a little more concious effort to pass my mark on weekends.
Drinking water only 30 minutes after my meal is becoming more a second mature to me. I am making this work even when I was out for a buffet lunch last week. Yeay! Succumbed to it a little at @mimpimurni's engagement party though.
Bought 4x4 packs of Anlene concentrate, so that's going well. :) Still snacking healthily with cherry tomatoes and baby carrots.
Started making more home made dinner. The secret to this is planning. Need to have the ingredients that makes up a quick, healthy meal in stock in my fridge. Wholemeal bread, cold cuts, cheese, salad, cherry tomatoes, etc - Walla, you have a home made sandwich! :) It really brings down my eating out , especially at night.

My Indulgence

The team was treated to a Japanese buffet lunch on Monday. I had loads of oysters and salmon sashimi. :)
3 parties lined up on Saturday - Teelong's engagement , @mimpimurni's engagement and LJ's birthday bash for Kya and Kash. So, foods galore!

-dillz blogging out-

Exercising the Rights of Free Speech

2010-05-21T08:20:00.001+08:00

Just got to know that yesterday, 20th May 2010 was the Everyone Draw Mohammed day. Apparently, there's a facebook fan page encouraging everyone to draw the face of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) as well as blogs dedicated to this cause. From my readings, the event transpired in protest of the death threats by Islamic extremists to the several people such as Salman Rushdie, Matt Stone, Trey Parker and the Danish cartoonists. If one could pin it down, it is bacisally the fight of freedom of speech vs. Islamic fundamentalist. The logic goes, if death threats were issued to those who publish images of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w), there is no way they (referring to the extremists) can kill everyone if everyone draws a picture of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w), is there? Hence, proving a point.

Pakistan, as a nation, has blocked facebook and youtube altogether - read here and here - over 'sacrilegious content'.

I tend to agree with what Ahmed Rehab, the Executive Director of the Council of American-Islamic Relations, Chicago, has to say in his piece regarding the matter;

Just because one has a right to do it, it does not make it the right thing to do.

In another article, Zeenat Rahman, the Director of Strategic Partnerships of Interfaith Youth Core wrote:

... interfaith engagement is not only up to rabbis, imams, and priests--we all have a responsibility to know one other. Yes, we can draw pictures that we know will offend others, but should we? Is that progress?

In the end, it is all about tolerance, innit? It's just sad that some (a lot, actually) people have to go to this extent to proof a point.

As for myself. I am exercising my own rights of free will - tak nak masuk facebooklah dalam seminggu ni. Merajuk.

-dillz blogging out-

Thursday Morning Reminder

2010-05-20T08:23:00.001+08:00

Got an email from momsie , delivered at 7:29am this morning. The subject was I Still Know Who She IS. (She sent me another mail too about the miracle soursop fruit that can kill cancer cell, but let's not dwell on that)

The e-mail read:

It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80s arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would be able to see him.

I saw him looking at his watch and decided since I wasn't busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On examining it I saw it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors and got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.

While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife.

I inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while. As she is a victim of Alzheimer's disease. As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now.

I was surprised and asked him, "And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?"

He smiled as he patted my hand and said, "She doesn't know me but I still know who she is."

I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm and thought,
That is the kind of love I want in my life.
True love is neither physical or romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.
Peace is seeing a sunset and knowing who to thank.
The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.
Life isn't about how to survive the storm but how to dance in the rain.

Beautiful, innit? Just a little reminder to be happier with the cards that has been dealt for you. And I do pray to have that kind of love in my life.

Thanks, mom for sharing and a very happy Thursday to all!

-dillz blogging out-

Macarons Smacarons

2010-05-19T13:14:00.001+08:00

By its Wiki definition;

A macaron is a confectionery whose name is derived from an Italian word “maccarone” or "maccherone". This word is itself derived from ammaccare, meaning crush or beat, used here in reference to the almond paste which is the principal ingredient. It is meringue-based: made from a mixture of egg whites, almond flour, and both granulated and confectionery sugar.
The confectionery is characterized by its smooth, domed top, ruffled circumference, and flat base. Connoisseurs prize a delicate, egg shell-like crust that yields to a moist and airy interior. The French macaron differs from other macarons in that it is filled with cream or butter like a sandwich cookie, and can be found in a wider variety of flavors that range from the traditional (raspberry, chocolate) to the exotic (truffle, matcha tea)

The most famous one is of course the luxurious Laduree Macaron. As quoted from its website; these small, round cakes, crisp on the outside, smooth and soft in the middle, are made every morning in Ladurée’s "laboratory". The Laduree tea salons can be found at Champs Elysees, Royale, Le Printemps and Bonaparte in Paris; at Harrods and Burlington Arcade in London, as well as in Switzerland, Monaco and Tokyo.

Picture from here

They look so pleasing to the eyes with the vibrant colours and so sinfully tasty, don't they? Their permanently available flavours consist of: Chocolate - Bitter Chocolate - Vanilla - Coffee - Rose - Pistachio - Raspberry - Blackcurrant Violet - Caramel with salted butter - Red Fruits - Orange Blossom - Liquorice - Lemon.

So, yes, I have secretly been longing to try some macarons. More specifically, the Laduree macarons, to be eaten with my Inche Azrul at the Champs Elysees cafe.

Pictures from here

How very dreamy, right? Jom ah, @azrulx.

*snap*snap* Back to reality. Seeing that Paris is sooo far away and what with the volcanic ash and everything else, *cheh konon* this longing has remained a longing until an opportunity opened up just recently. :)

mimpimurni was looking for Malaysian made macarons and in her quest she had found RainDough. To top it up, they are having a promotion on Nutella Macarons, more fondly called the Nutte-rons. It is going at RM35 per 16 pieces. I jumped at the offer and ordered mine yesterday. :)

I got them lot this morning , after a self-pickup from RainDough's house in PJ. Tested them with Inche Azrul in the morning (our dessert). It was crispy, crunchy at the outside and soft and lumpy in the inside. Reminds me a little bit like a crispy but gooey brownie and a little like Ferrero Roche (must be the nutella) So sedap.. From that 16 pieces, let's just say there's 11 left and I am tying the pretty pink ribbon back before it all vanishes. Need to keep them for my kids, pulak. These people at the office are monsters, lah! (Cheh, padahal, dia sendiri dah makan 2!)

Hurry, girls. The orders close today. Email Raindough@gmail.com for the details. (Ordering info can also be found on their blogshoppe and they are also on twitter - follow / reply to @RainDough)

-dillz blogging out-

I am the Foursquare Mayor of Marmalade Cafe, BV II (for now)

2010-05-18T13:05:00.000+08:00

Just caught the foursquare bug a fortnight ago and here's my stats this morning.

After 15 nights out, adalah dimaklumkan Dilla Z. dah maju... Not bad, eh??? :) hihihihihi Woot! Woot!

So what the heck is foursquare? To me, it is an interactive explorer game that I enjoy on my Berry. Yes, you would need some kind of smartphone, I think - either Berry or iPhone, just pick your poison. What you would need to do is download the foursquare (or 4sq) application on your phone, register a username and you could check-in straight away.

Check-in? Check-in? What's that? You check-in(to) a place when you are in the vacinity. (Can not lie one, the phone got GPS maaa) For every check-in, you will be given points. Higher points if it is the first time you checked into that location. If you can't find the location, then you could even add the venue on 4sq. (and get some extra points while at it) Points are not thaaat exciting.

The thing is, is you check-in enough times at the specific location, you might even be crowned as the Mayor of that venue. At some locations, look out for the "special deal". A Mayor could even be eligible for special discounts, you know. I was told by @inaleem, true story this, that one Kopitiam in Bangi gives out free ommellette for its 4sq Mayor. Exciting stuff that! I am proud to be the (current) 4sq Mayor of 5 venues :

Marmalade Cafe
Carrefour Market @ The Sphere
Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Damansara
Level 9 S, Menara TM
Pondok Azlul

The other thing that I am interested at is in collecting badges. It makes me feel like a pengakap trying to collect as many as possible. hihihihihihihi. Here are some of mine.

The full list of known badges could be obtained via TonyFelice's list or from IwasAround.

What fun is a game without having friends to play them with, right? Connecting your friends couldn't be any simpler. You could connect your 4sq account to your twitter and/or facebook accounts and the contacts will be linked automatically. Just add the ones you wish. There are also options for you to send your location / achievements to the said twitter / facebook accounts. In a way, it is also like the friend-finder application. However, there are some cool privacy settings too. Uncheck the "Tell my friends" box, and your location will be kept a secret. They could only see "Dilla Z. @ [off the grid] Checked in, but hiding their whereabouts". This is especially useful if you don't want stalkers to know where you are at any precise moment.

Just to get up to speed with what this foursquare thingy is all about, please read this 4sq review

In the mean time, lemme explore and work on those School badge - need to check-in after 3am on a school night, SuperMayor badge - must have mayorship of 10 places at a time, GymRat - 10 checkins into a gym in a month and Jobs-three checkins into an Apple store. ;)

-dillz blogging out-

My Road to Health : Week 1 Scorecard

2010-05-17T08:25:00.002+08:00

I was touched by toughcookie's tweets yesterday. Our replies to each other went something like this:

toughcookee reached d pool n realised it is actually raining. baru semangat nak swim nightly... huhu how to kurus la @dillazag??
dillazag @toughcookee hahahaha. Not heated pun you berani turun. Bagus2. teruskan semangat! :)
toughcookee @dillazag hehe... the semangat came from u la.. tu yg i semangat tu. tapi sekarang potonnnggg... :(
dillazag @toughcookee Takpe2. Start again, babeh. Every day is a new beginning. Esok plak try!
toughcookee @dillazag susah sgt want to get off my butt but i kept thinking abt u so tht i can be strong. tu yg a little frustrtd. takpe... esok eh...

So, miss toughcookie, I thought I'd keep both our semangat going. Instead of telling you want I wanted to do, I decided to tell you what I have done. This is, of course, in regards to all things related to me getting healthier (and hotter). The rights and the wrongs. Yes, even that McDonald's dinner will be included. ;)

I wanted to keep the scores for myself. You know, to keep me motivated. And maybe to keep you going too. :)

Exercise-front
All in all I thought I have been really good this week. The intent to do as well as actually doing it :)

Had my first PT session on Monday where I did a little bit of cardio and was introduced to the various muscle machines. Then we did some stretching. I was told to continue with my cardio after PT session was done. I did 20 minutes on the bike, maintaing 85rpm (or above) all the while.
Walked up the stairs twice this week, from the 3rd floor (where the office cafe is) to my office on the 9th floor. Am proud of that! Have enlisted @adnil9 as my companion. We try to keep each other motivated. :)
Went to the gym again on Wednesday, this time before work. After I dropped off Khadra at school, I did a quick cardio on the elliptical and had a quick shower. Was all hyper and it really started off the day tremendously. :)
PT was cancelled on Friday, but I went in anyways and joined the Latin Mix group exercise. Danced and got sweaty all in one. Me likey!
Accompanied Khadra for her Kids Yoga on Saturday while I did a quick cardio on the elliptical. Did the weight loss program this time.
I had time to go to the gym on Sunday, but decided against it as I declared Sunday as my rest day! Didn't want to overwhelm my body with too much! :)

Dietary-front
Started slowly this week with:

Cut out my air kaler-kaler. No carbonated drinks, or coffee, or teh ais on weekdays. Can only indulge on weekends.
Drank at least 2litres of water in a day. Did marvellously at the office coz I have one of those water tumblers with the measurements on it. Somewhat a challenge at home coz I was not keeping tabs on how much water I have drank.
Only drank water 30 minutes after my meal. Sukses! (I drink before my meals)
Started on the Anlene concentrate - a lil packet a day (on weekdays, coz I keep stock in the office)
Snacking healthily with cherry tomatoes and baby carrots.

My Indulgence

Could not resist the calling of McDonalds on my way back from the gym, Monday night. Had the burger and fries and a few sips of Coke. Can't help it, the drive-thru was calling my name! hihihihi.. Indulged in it. But didn't have any more fast food the rest of the week.
One caramel macchiato from Starbucks on Saturday. Oh, how I have longed for thee. Sedappp!!!
Nasi lemak ayam rempah Village Park and cupcakes from Wondermilk for dessert on Sunday

-dillz blogging out-

So I Think I Can Dance?

2010-05-14T08:27:00.002+08:00

My elder sister, @ziezizag BBM-ed me this morning, the verbatim conversation is as follows:

@ziezizag: Dilz
@dillazag: Yes
@ziezizag: Nak join parent dance grp for teachers day?
@dillazag: Ha?? Aku bukan reti menari wei. Hahahaha
@ziezizag: Nak tak
@dillazag: Tak pe lah
@ziezizag: Asal gedik n ingat step
@dillazag: Thank you for the offer
@ziezizag: Bila lagi. I ngan fiza dah confirm
@dillazag: U and fiza mmg la sessuai!
@ziezizag: Nora aili karen lin. Jom la
@dillazag: Can't commit
@ziezizag:Kd will be so proud of u (Editor's note: Ayat killer ni. Mana boleh masuk nama anak guwe wei. Meruntun lah hati ibu)
@dillazag: As is I hv too much on my plate. How many u guys need?
@ziezizag: 12
@dillazag: Mak aih
@ziezizag: They know we working. So I guess shd b ok. 2 class with becky (Editor's note: Becky of Soul Krazy in Showdown2010. She rocks.) Pastu w fiza. Hahahaha
@dillazag: Tanya la melur
@ziezizag: 2 jun 10am. Practise 2 sundays. with becky. Free. Cepat confirm seat
@dillazag: OK la
@ziezizag: Yeay

Mati la guwe.

Picture from : here

-dillz blogging out-

Results Are (almost) Out!

2010-05-12T08:25:00.010+08:00

Khadra just finished her Formatif 2 Exams (fancy name for what used to be our Ujian Bulanan, but done every two months) last week and some of the results are already in.

This was her very first exam ever. She has been revising for it by doing the practice questions on her elective activity books for English, Maths and Science. Ibu assigns her specific pages in the book and finds it done by the end of the day. Sometimes, when she gets stuck on a question, she would get irritated with it and would not move on. So, I told her to mark the questions that she was unsure of answering with a question mark. Sometimes , I get a big question mark in pencil that fills the whole page at the end of the day. hihihihihi Maknanya tak pahamlah macam mana nak jawab tu. Then, Ibu would mark the work and leave little notes of encouragements and stars and smiley faces (wherever applicable) This went on for a full week prior to the exam.

**start of digression

Disclaimer : I didn't even dare go NEAR Bahasa Melayu. I wanted to just gauge where she really is on her own accord. Standard of Bahasa Melayu is high these days, even for Primary One.

Sample of questions that baffled me in her Bahasa Melayu activity book:

Q1:

Picture form : here

A.Sang Rimba
B. Sang Lamri
C. Sang Bedal

Q2:

Picture from : here

Kereta ______ itu kepunyaan abang Asraf.
A.Persona
B.Saga
C. Waja

Q3: ____ ialah suami Puan Norliza.
A. Encik Rahman
B. Cik Rina
C. Puan Asmah

Advanced,kan? You are expected not just to know vocabulary, but general knowledge is tested as well. Case in point:
Q1: If you've never read any kisah dongeng or fables, how would you know that a singa could be called as Sang Rimba? BTW, what is a Sang Lamri anyways.
Q2: The question on the car thing. I mean , unless your dad /relatives/people you know drives one, would a child be able to tell the difference between a Persona and Waja and Saga? I memang buta kereta - so I don't know the difference. Dah tu, kalau dapat gambar googled as per above , OK lah jugak. Ni dalam activity book tu, it's just a lame sketch that vaguely resembles a car. Boleh?
Q3: The name thing is also a general knowledge kinda question. I mean, you need to actually know what kind of names are generally feminine and what are masculine. In turn, the title of someone would also indicate whether it is a male or a female and either married or otherwise.

*** end of digression

So, on the night of the exam, I made sure that she had a good sleep and rested well. No more revisions. Chill aje lah. On the first morning of the exam, we went through some do's and don'ts of a typical exam. Don't chit chat. Not to look at anyone around you. Don't sleep during the exam. I told her to try to answer the questions, just skip if you don't know the answer and come back to it later. Once done, check your answers - once, twice, thrice. Then, if you have more time, start colouring the pictures in the exam paper. (Tak nak kasi tidur lah ni) Don't leave any sections blank - even if you are not sure of the answer, at least attempt to answer.

Last sekali, before masuk sekolah, we would recite the doa that my mom taught me for penerang hati. ~~Allahumma Bariklana~~ (*Sheesh , itu doa makanlah, Ketua Pengawas!) Allahummaftah and Rabbishrahli. Tawakkal je lah, wahai anakanda...

When I got hold of some of the exam papers, I was pleasantly surprised that her writing was neat and she had coloured objects on the exam papers - with boarders and blending, no less! :) Aanyways, here's how she has done ~~(so far)~~ :
Pemahaman - 94%
Penulisan - 88%
Bahasa Inggeris - 95%
Mathematics - 100%
Science - 94%
Bahasa Arab - 91.5%
Agama Islam - 93.5%
(~~The rest I don't really know. Once I know, I updatelah~~ *updated*)

BM was OKlah - she:
Mixed up between:
a) rumah teres and rumah panjang
b) Lembu tinggal di dalam hutan and Harimau tinggal di dalam kandang
c) Kakak mandi pokok bunga setiap waktu petang and Azman gemar menyiram di kolam

Boleh tahan jugak exam skills dia. There was a question on body parts and she really did not know what the knee is called in Malay. However, she knew her rambut, mata, leher, jari, kaki, tangan, bibir, gigi, hidung and rambut. By the process of elimination she got lutut right! Yeay!
The other subjects I wasn't too worriedlah. Some silly mistakes here and there. Looks good to me and I am proud of what she has achieved. But apparently, the results are not THAAT goodlah. Some kids are getting 100% in all subjects (by some, I am generalizing here and may include pupils from other Primary One classes in her school) Maybe we need to look into the option of tuition for her Malay. Don't knowlah. Would have to see how this unfolds.

One hurdle done. Yet, her PKSR1 (ala-ala midterm examlah zaman kita dulu) will be on the 24th of May 2010. That's in another 2 weeks time, y'all! Stress betul ya, jadi anak-anak zaman Millenium ni.. Kesian..

footnote: Sila kesian kat ibu dia sekali

-dillz blogging out-

#1b1t

2010-05-11T07:51:00.002+08:00

First off, what the heck is #1b1t ?

According to Dr. Idlan, it stands for One Book One Twitter. Idlan is my junior back in my high school, Sekolah Tun Fatimah and she happens to be my reference point for anything nerdy and intellectual. hahaha!

I have been intrigued by her tweets recently about the hashtag #1b1t and was enlightened today through her her post . Any chance to do something good and engaging in cyberspace. I am all ears! :) (Plus to proof that I am not too much of a bimbo! hahah!)

In Idlan's words:

In sum, the project is about getting everyone on Twitter to read one book over 2 months and discussing it, using the #1b1t hashtags to identify content. The book that has been chosen for the project is Neil Gaiman’s American Gods; which is not surprising given Gaiman’s (@neilhimself) popularity among tweeple.

The first thing you need to do is get your hands on a copy of Gaiman's American Gods. Then, follow @1b1t2010 for updates and to add the #1b1t to your tweets for discussion of contents. To ensure that there is some structure to the whole project, also read the discussion reading schedule. In essence, it is an 8week project, starting from May 5th 2010 and by the week of June 23rd, those who are in the project would have already completed the entire book. It's still not too late, people. Here's the schedule!

Week 1 : May 5-11
Caveat, Warning for Travelers
Epigraph
Discuss Chapters 1, 2, & 3

Week 2 : May 12-18
Discuss Chapters 4, 5, 6

Week 3 : May 19-25
Discuss Chapters 7, & 8

Week 4 : May 26-June 1
Discuss Chapters 9, 10, & 11

Week 5 : June 2-8
Discuss Chapters 12, & 13

Week 6 : June 9-15
Discuss Chapters 14, 15, & 16

Week 7 : June 16-22
Discuss Chapters 17, 18, & 19

Week 8 : June 23-30
Discuss Chapter 20 and Postscript

There's another link that you should be aware of, called the One Book, One Twitter: The Lab Notes. Additional notes and the how tos will be posted here. For example how to go about with the hashtags once the discussion is underway. It's a page so that there are rules for us to follow and that everyone have the same understanding.

This is what I picked up from the Lab Notes:

We have established an official system of hashmarks. It goes like this:

#1b1t: General Discussion

#1b1t_1c: Discussion of Chapter 1 (and prologue material)

#1b1t_2c: Discussion of Chapter 2

... and on until we hit Chapter 19.

For all you tweeple out there, come on, let's join in the bandwagon! Happy reading!!

-dillz blogging out-

And the Award Goes to...

2010-05-10T17:21:00.005+08:00

Yeay! Been a while since I received a Blogger award. This one is from miss Amy from her post here. Thank you baybeh! Saya terharu! All this while I have only gotten 2 awards before sahaja:
i) the I love your blog from chicsinred, Kucingorengemok & floweRinthedessert and
ii) the Uber Amazing Blog from ms ngantuk.

hahahahaha.
Dapat award! So comel! But it does kinda make me feel good. To know that at least one other person reads my blog and sayang juga sama saya! Me love you too guys! :) So, here I am spreading the love!! I am gonna do this tag!

The Rules are as follows:

Step 1. Accept the award and put it on your sidebar. (Ya, saya tambah rule ini - haha!)
Step 2. Describe 7 things people do not know about you.
Step 3. Award the Award to 7 other Beautiful Bloggers and describe why they deserve the award.

Step 1 :
Done. Completed it a while back, really. Long before I actually composed this entry. hihihihi

Step 2 :
7 things people do not know about me?

1. I go through my family's stuff at least once a year. We live in a condo, so space is always an issue. One way to cope is to run through the inventory of things in the house - especially clothes for each and every one of the family member. Sort it into things I would want to give to my siblings/nieces and nephews/ immediate relatives / friends or to be given away to a needy home/ kampung /organization. Result? Salvage some space for our new clothes. hihihihihi :)

2.Still related to the home. We have bought the adjacent condo unit and Insya Allah, the keys will finally be with us come July or August. Never knew we would have to wait so long for the process to go through at the local authority. It's been 10 months of waiting already.

3. When we finally get a hold of the keys, the plan is to make an opening between the two mirrored units. Existing unit would be the family area - kids' rooms, maid's quarters (Cheh! Grand je bunyi dia) , family lounge and work area/bilik solat. The other unit would house the new Master bedroom, a guest room and a possible walk in closet. (Maybe not. Tak tahu lagi)

4. I used to offer face painting services to parties and events before. But now I pencen already. Took my little sister under my wing and she has turned it into quite a handsome money-making hobby. :) I still have the tools and materials , and they are of the best quality - Krayolan tuh.. Just that I couldn't be bothered to do it commercially any more. Malas. hihihihihi I do it still on special requests lah, especially if those requesting are my kids, kakak , adiks or the teachers of my kids' schools. :)

5. I used to scrapbook too. Bought the book, enrolled into a few classes, bought lots and lots of tools and stocks of materials. Now? Well, let's just say, "What scrapbooking?"

6. Maybe this is old news, but I proclaim myself as the Queen of HHTA (Hangat-Hangat Tahi Ayam) I am always excited when I begin a project or so-called passion, but somehow I don't see it through in the long-run. Please refer to: Exhibit A: Face-painting, Exhibit B: Scrapbooking, Exhibit C: My previous gym experience, Exhibit D: My numerous diet regimes.

7. I love food. Eating them - loads. Making them - not so much. I love exploring new eateries. Thankfully I have my Inche Azrul who loves to eat too and I have several friends who would jump at the chance of a eat and gossip session! hihihihihihi

Step 3 :
I would like to award these following bloggers.:

1. mimpimurni - She's a beautiful person , inside and out. A famous blog entrepreneur who makes such exquisite jewellery. Also, follow her plans for her wedding with her 7 year boyfriend (who happens to be a friend of ours!) at murni&jamil.

2.KS - Walaupun dia privatise blog dia, this does not disqualify her from being my nominee, yaww! I love this lady. Known her since my PPP days and she is married to one of my adik angkat. haha! Also owns the shopping services at shoppingqueen78.

3. toughcookie - I stumbled upon this mommy blogger a while back. Since then, she has been reading my blog too. We finally met at a mutual friend's - welcoming her new born baby, no less. Such a beautiful, bubbly and genuine character, I felt an instant connection with her. She's also been inducted into the TEKBES! hihihihi - read her tagreply

4. Ngantukalways - Another gem I chanced upon during my days in PPP. :) The beautiful kaynie who writes about her life with his boy Jibby. She has not been blogging of late. Maybe this will bring back the enthusiasm, girl!

5. Ica - The cousin of my BFF, LJ. Known this mommy since way back when - almost as long as I have known LJ, kan Ica? She's only been blogging since this year but is much more prolific than the rest of us. Way to go, girl. :) Keep on writing coz I do enjoy your writings!

6. noordinarymomster - One of my favourite finds in the blogosphere, I can relate to her writings very well. Yet to meet her in person, though. Her stories are simple and sincere, that's what I love about her blog. Next year would be our year , dear - both Imtiyaz and Khaleeq will be going to Primary 1. haha! - read her tagreply

7. Bagaholic Anonymous - My junior in STF and love her sense of style! This bag-lover is a fashionista and loves all things beautiful and classy! :) Me likey! - read her tagreply

Here's a feel-good way to end your Monday, spread the love, y'all!

-dillz blogging out-

Happy Ibu's Day!

2010-05-09T05:10:00.004+08:00

I am a mom of three. The first is a girl, Khadra (7 yo in June 2010); the second one is a boy, Khaleeq (6 yo in July 2010) and my baby girl is Khaleeda (3 yo in November 2010). So, every 2nd Sunday in the month of May I am entitled to celebrate Mother's Day with other mothers in Malaysia and probably Asia. (coz apparently people from other parts of the world celebrate them on different days ;) )

I am in no way a perfect mom. Never claimed that I am a supermom. Simply coz I am not. Just a woman trying her very best in raising three kids and balancing her career, family and social life. Sometimes there are good days for this Ibu and sometimes there are bad, ugly ones. After a disagreement / fight with my kids, I sometimes get little notes such as below slipped under the door of my bedroom. It simply affirms that I am just human after all.

First paper reads: Dear Ibu, I don't like you. I'm so sorry. Love, K1 Picture of a broken heart with "Broken" written on it.
Second paper reads: I'm sure you don't like me too. Put a (Tick) if you like me or an (X) if you don't like me.

To which I answered as:
(Tick) and I love you too. Love, Ibu.

After she read that, she gave me a hug and smiled the biggest smile. It saddens me, that she would think I would love her any less since we had a disagreement. Khadra, do know that you would always be my first born daughter and I would love you unconditionally till the day that I die. Yes, she has a lot of jiwa, my Khadra (takes after her Achu, I think)

But being a mommy brought me a share of many happy memories too. The little DIY gifts and art pieces, the achievements be it little or big, the running around and round the bean bag, the completion of a milestone, the great big bear hugs, the incessant kisses, the private family performances and the checking up on you to make sure that you are OK. Those are the images that I hold onto so dearly to give me the strength and perseverance to go on - to keep doing what I am doing coz it is a sign that I have been doing something right too. I wrote about some of it in my Mom's day 2009 post last year and another one in the Mom's Day 2007 - she said that I was the best mother in the world, then! hihihihihi.

Here's someone who's been doing it right. My very own Ibu - she has 7 kids, an illustrious career and loved by all. (Am still wondering how she managed that!)

She is my source of reference and I do adore her so very much. Now that I have my very own kids, I appreciate her even more. I understand where the nags are coming from, all from a beautiful heart filled with love. I remember one time I was so overwhelmed with mommy duties that I wrote an entry for my mom. She was in London at the time, visiting my sister Ema and she actually commented on the post. hihihihihihi. There was this other time when i was ranting about what I sometimes want from life, she wrote almost an entire paragraph in the comments section that went like this:

datuk azizah said... Syabas i am so glad ibu2 muda sekarang dah pandai menyesuaikan diri sebagai ibu. do only whatever u are capable of, don't stress yourself semata2 only on perkara duniawi ini, ingatlah give the kids whatever yg menjadi your tanggungjawab as orang ISLAM semoga mendapat kejayaan di dunia dan akhirat. Give the best to your husband and children. But...remember anak2 dan harta hanya merupakan perhiasan dunia,yang akan ditinggalkan apabila kita kembali menemui ALLAH, yang kita bawa adalah bekalan ASA {amanah saham akhirat) bukannya ASB. Oleh itu jangan lupa isilah tabung ASA anda sekarang juga selagi masih hidup dengan melakukan amalan soleh kerana mati tak mengenal umur, lebih2 lagi dunia sekarang yang penuh stress ini. tak menjadi kesalahan kita mencari harta dunia asalkan halal dan tidak menyeksa diri sendiri dengan melampau. Jangan jadi orang yang cari harta dunia sampai tak sempat beramal ibadat kejalan Allah, tiba2 sakit , mati, orang lain yang enjoy. ASA kosong ,dirinya diseksa terpekik melolong, tak ada siapa dapat menolong! fikir2kanlah. sekadar ingatan ikhlas seorang ibu.

Ya, Ibu saya IT savvy - she has a facebook account and she sometimes reads my blog (and leave comments too). I love you so very much, Ibu. She is just the best!

So, to all mommies out there - in good times and in bad times , have a very Happy Mother's Day, y' all! :)

-dillz blogging out-

I'm Serious This Time (I Hope)

2010-05-08T20:40:00.007+08:00

People who see me on a regular basis could sometimes (Duh!) tell that I have gained weight. Some would even politely enquire if I was pregnant. On better days, when I successfully camouflage my outfit, I could look slim, even. haha!

I have just announced to ~~the whole world~~, (OK not quite the whole world. *I'll rephrase that*) all 45 (45 adalah bilangan follower saya. So sweet. Thanks, y'all!) of you that my current weight is 66kg in this previous post in response to Kak Shana's Minus-4 Mission - to lose 4kg by 30th June 2010. And Yes, 66kg is a far cry from where I really wanna be right now. Considering that I maintained a healthy 55kg throughout my university days right up to maybe the year 2008. Even at full-term of my three pregnancies, the heaviest I have ever been was 64kg. So, at 66kg currently and not even pregnant - well, that speaks volume, literally! Add to that the problems I have been having with my asthma lately - shortness of breath, sometimes the coughing got so bad that it translated to a bad fever, even and then there's the once-in-a-blue-moon headaches. So, yeah, I have been mulling about this, "I should really do something about my health / weight" for quite some time now.

I really think the culprit to the state I am now, have been :
1. no execise what so ever for the past 3 years
2. lowered metabolism rate after I stopped breastfeeding Khaleeda
3. unhealthy meals

So, to start off my journey from gemukness to hotness. I have made that first commitment - I signed up at a gym yesterday. Yes, congratulations, ME! :) It is a sign that I am trying to take this seriously, but I know it is a challenge in itself. I know so, simply because I have been down this road before, and true to my Queen of HHTA (Hangat-Hangat Tahi Ayam) title, I failed. Miserably. I signed up on a 3year tenure and out of that time, I probably went to the gym about 8 or 9 times. (All inclusive) So, in my opinion, it is gonna work this time due to these reasons:
1. Do it coz YOU wanna do it.
I want it really bad this time. The motivation and drive are in me. I want to lose the weight and I want to be healthier. (Last time, saya kiasu nak ikut jugak laki pergi gym, padahal bukan nak pergi sangat pun)
2. Choose a gym location that blends well with your current life. Maybe close to your office or close to your home.
The place I chose to go is close by. Bangsar Village II is where my life is. It's close to my home and office. I get all my other ME treatments there - facials, massages, mani/pedi, hair salon. I can almost call it as my third home. (I shall be the 4sq Mayor of BVII, just you wait!) So, this goes well with the plan. Previously, I signed up at a gym near my husband's office and I came up with all sorts of excuses not to go. Jauh la, penat la.. :)~~
3. Commit specific time for gym and try to stick by it.
I am planning to go at least 3 times a week. It would be a combination of before work and after work, depending on my work commitments.
4. Make it part of your life. Fitness is a lifestyle.
Seeing that the gym has Kids Dance and Yoga on Saturdays, I will be having some quality mommy-kiddo time with Khadra and Khaleeq (if he's up for it). They can dance/yoga and I do my workout! That seals one weekend workout for me. Weh-hey!!
5. Get help from a Physical Trainer (PT)
To help me start off in the right directions. I have decided that I shall be engaging in the services of a PT. She could coach me on the right way of doing things to help me achieve my objectives. At least she could really hassle me if I am going off track.
6. Get friends to work out with you.
Some of my friends are interested to join me in this journey. Weh-hey!! If you don't have friends with you, then make some at the gym! :)

Let's just hope that by the end of this all, Dilla Zaghlol = ONE HOT MOMMA!

Fuhhh!!!! hahahahahahaha

Picture from: here

-dillz blogging out-

Tea-ing in Style at Harrod's KLCC

2010-05-06T11:36:00.000+08:00

Did y'all know that one could actually have some food at the very cozy cafe in Harrod's KLCC? Me neither, until I saw some tweets/fb statuses about the famous Harrod's afternoon tea set. It just so happens that me and a couple of girlfriends from way back when have been meeting up for food. The modus operandi has always been that one person would pay for the eat-out, and we have been taking turns. Not much different from a structured "kutu" scheme that our moms and aunts used to indulge in. The other unspoken rule is that the place chosen has always been a little on the up-scale side, bordering gourmet, if you will. *Cheh cheh cheh - cultured lah konon*

So, aaaaanyways.... It was my turn to host and I chose to have tea in style at Harrod's with my girls. Before that, I did a little research on the place and found this very useful review on masak-masak blog. She wrote it in May 2009, so adalah terlambat sikitla kami yang baru nak pergi menerai ni kan? (Oh, she took great pictures too)

Vitals: Lot No 137, First Floor, Suria KLCC - it's opposite California Pizza Kitchen, next to Godiva.
T(+603-2166 6000)

I got word that the afternoon tea is only served up till 6pm. Also, it was also worth noting that the cafe is very intimate and there are not very many seats available. So, it really seemed like a good idea to call in for them to reserve us a place as well as keep a few sets of afternoon tea for us working mommies. (Rushing through mad #kltraffic after work, well.. we were bound to reach KLCC after 6pm, right?)

1. Entrance to Harrod's KLCC. There's the display of bags, coin boxes, pastries etc. Walk in and head to the left for your ultimate tes-ing experience.
2. My Old Grey (eh, ye ke? ke Jasmine, eh?) - everyone got the stylo little teapot with strainer and such
3. Butter - salted and also the sun dried tomato variety.
4. Mira showing off her scone. Mine had jam and clotted cheese on it.
5. The whole set - 3 types of sandwiches, fruit tartlets, some choc bites and 2 pieces of scones. (each)

Each Harrod's Afternoon Tea set is priced at RM60. We took a set each, which in retrospect I think is a little membazir. For a party of four, I really think two sets and two additional orders of pot of tea(at RM20 each) would be more than sufficient.

Let me just tell you, the experience is awesome. Syok jugak borak-borak over tea ni. So English. So wannabe. hihihihihihi. The ambience is just so perfect for chit -chats, really. Seems that the clientele do not leave. Chit-chat.Chit-chat. Sip tea. Chit-chat. Chit-chat. More tea, anyone? One lump or two? (Ke kitorang je camtu?) hihihihihihihihi We were truly enjoying ourselves tremendously, living the lifelah, kata orang. That was until we saw what the table next to us was having.... We decided that we just had to order dinner right there and then. :)

Here's what we ordered:

1. My soup of the day - pumpkin soup. Comel that little cream dollop in the middle, kan?
2.Lobster Thermidor for the craving mommy, Mira.
3. Salted Beef Sandwich
4. Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding

Lemme get the prices out first and foremost:

Soup of the Day RM20
Lobster Thermidor RM100
Salted Beef Sandwich RM38
Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding RM50

Everything was shared amongst us. So we had the order in the middle and the waiter set up empty plates for everyone. There were four of us ladies and we only ordered 3 entrees. Which was more than enough, I thought. OK, side note here; the lobster - so not the place to have one. It wasn't fresh live lobster to begin with. But since we had a craving pregnant woman amongst us, we ordered it anyhow. Fortunately, the food were generally good tasting. I especially liked the Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding. Sedaaaapppp!!! Mixed reviews on the Salted Beef Sandwich. I liked it (but not screaming like, kinda like); but Shan thought it was just OK.

BTW, the mineral water? Ty Nant Sparkling /Still is priced at RM15 per bottle. I really liked the place. Nice corner of the Earth to lose yourself with your companion / girlfriend to sit and talk and talk and talk. One should really try it. I, for one would highly recommend it! :)

-dillz blogging out-

Shopping-shopping Bandung!

2010-05-05T08:10:00.004+08:00

Apa gunanya pergi Bandung kalau tak shopping kan? hihihihihi

We went craaaazy at Pasar Baru for textiles and telekung. (Definitely NOT one for the men coz we literally spent 4 hours at Pasar Baru getting our loot!) I'll share with you my favourite outlets too. For textile, we went to Vogue Textile and Tailor at Lantai 2. It looks a little like the insides of a castle - with gold coated pillars and what not. The Sales Assistants are very friendly and helpful, don't be surprised if you are being entertained by the brother to the owner himself. Siapa nama dia, ya? Ram, rasanya. Real dashing young man (with two kids already?).

Really nice cotton fabric going at Rp25k per meter, the chiffon ones at Rp12.5K per meter, with satin lining at Rp15K per meter. Our brocade set siap 6m lace and 4m lining was only RM90. Seriously murah and mata dah jadi rambang, OK? Pilih. Pilih. Pilih. Beli. Beli. Minum air Teh Sosro kotak. Pilih. Pilih. Pilih. Beli. They take credit cards too, so don't waste your cash here! Wallawei....Suffice to say that my little family are all set for our Hari Raya stocks. hihihihihi

For telekung, go up to Lantai 3 to Toko Garuda 35 and talk to Milala. He gives the best deals - at wholesale price. I got a really nice telekung for Mimy's wedding hantaran and one for yours truly. Then a couple of those mobile, foldable, parachute-like fabric telekungs for jalan-jalan. Sangat puas hati. :)

Next are the Factory Outlets (FOs). We only went to three that are worth mentioning. I loved Grande Resort Outlet at Jalan Ir. H. Juanda. I got loads of tops, pajama pants for myself. there were some stuff for the kids too. I was truly a happy camper. The other place that was worth it for me is Rumah Mode Factory Outlet - more so on the kids' selections. My best buy would have to be the costumes I got for them - High School Musical cheerleading outfit for Khadra, Cars racing suit for Khaleeq and fairy outfit for Khaleeda. Each going at Rp139K. Oh so worth it! :) The last FO that I went in was Stamp FO where I got all the swimming towels and panties/underpants for the kids! Gumbira does not even begin to describe the euphoria inside me!

Mission completed. Saya happy!
-dillz blogging out-

The Other Side of Bandung

2010-05-04T13:15:00.007+08:00

Was on a sans-kids holiday to Bandung with Inche @azrulx and other adults of the Zaghlol clan a few weeks back. So, before I totally forget about it, I'd better blog about itlah, kan? It was one of those el-cheapo tickets from AirAsia - like RM160 per pax and we booked it like yonks ago. By the time it was actually time to go; 2 people chickened out of it , even - @emazag had to study for her exams and @nazz2121 had a make-up class for his MBA. (Apasal I am referring to people using their twitter nick nih?)

We stayed over at Grand Serela Boutique Hotel which was right smack in the middle of the shopping district. So much so that the earlier group consisting of my sister @ewazag, BIL @eski7 and Banati walked along Jalan Riau to get to the FOs the day prior to our arrival. ;) My mom and dad opted out of the crazy walkathon. (Wise choice, if I had to say so myself! :)) Me and the hubs got the Deluxe room while the rest got the Family room - adalah menakjubkan sebab adalah merupakan bilik duplex, with two twin beds at the bottom and a Queen-sized bed at the loft.

Anyways, we also did other stuff besides shopping that is, albeit only that one daylah. The other side of Bandung, if you will which would be the main focus of this entry. :)

The driver that we hired, Pak Nanang (+612-81-214 76468, sila mention Ibu Ewa) took us to Tangkuban Parahu in the morning. It is actually a national Park with a few volcanic craters - one active and a few dormant ones- in it. The journey took us about 1.5 hours (kot? I forgot already) in the APV. Agak pening, ok sebab jalan turun naik bukit/gunung and berpusing-pusing. Our first stop was at the lower Kawah ~~Dorman~~ Domas (Ye ke? Memandai je kamu.. Lain kali blog lambat-lambat lagi, kan dah tak hengat!) and a tourist guide was already waiting for us. He (and his assistant) said they could take us on a half hour walk along the dedicated trail to the active crater. Can boil egg maa.. Got reflexology and can also dip your leg into the hot spring. Bagus untuk kulit, katanya. The price was just Rp 250K for an hour for our whole group. Seems like a good deal. Rupa-rupanya kami hampir di-taken advantage of! With a little kid in the group (read: the adorable Shoshoff) and my mom with a bad knee, rasa-rasanya boleh siap segala nak rebus telur tu in 1 hour, to and fro? I think not. He said, Rp500K for 2hrs, etc. and went down to Rp400 for lebih dari 2 jam pun takpe. Jadi, the moral is, you need to agree with the guide on the price up front. Kalau tak the price would be so ridiculously expensive. Bisa tarik rambut, deh!

Hujung-hujung tu , kitorang skipped the guide altogether and drove up to the dormant crater, Kawah Ratu and took some pictures there. Another thing, be careful of the mobile street merchants. So many souvenirs sold at almost unbelievably high prices. If you are comfortable, hanggle and buy. I got a stack of pretty cool rattan pipe while we were up there. Else just nicely say "No" and move on with your life. :)

On our way down, we asked if we could take some pictures near the tea plantation. Pak Nanang went into one and we jumped out for some photo op. *Cheh, nak menunjuk sling bag Longchamp dia tu la sebenarnya..*

Next stop was at a strawberry kebun called Kavling Stroberi. They have a few kebuns and we went harvesting at kebun 6. It's like a little gated tempat tanam sayur with strawberries planted in little dirtbags. Tak banyak pun buahnya, tapi thrill je lebih. They charge Rp15K per head to pick your own strawberries and each oz. priced at Rp6K. Not too bad, actually coz each one of us got a strawberry ice-blended drink at the end of it. (Adalah sedappp!!!) The picked berries? We ratah only. Sedap. Even without anything. Or a little bit of sugar. (Can't believe they don't have creme to eat them berries with.)

Next up was Kampung Daun - a cultural village where people can lepak and eat. The walk up was a little long - it took us maybe 15 minutes of walking. Along the way, my mom bought some local kuehs and delicacies. Mana lagi nak try kan? At least nampak macam bersih. But the ambience is oh so perfect. Macam jalan-jalan nak pergi kolah air terjun - sejuk, shady and very very relaxing. There were little ,comfy huts along the climb, where groups of people were having their meal. Looked like they were having fun too. We were placed at the very top balai - on a long table with very comfortable extra cushions. The food was wonderful and unexpectedly reasonably priced. We were definitely pleasantly surprised. :) Berbaloi datang sini. Serious.

After Kampung Daun we went back to the hotel. By then it was almost 4.30pm. So, we dropped by Roger's Spa to make an appointment for cremebath and reflexology a little later.

So, in conclusion, sapa kata pergi bandung untuk shopping saja, haaa???
-dillz blogging out-

Tak Ngantuk Pun?

2010-05-03T13:57:00.002+08:00

I was getting a little sleepy over our early lunch today when I remembered what my hubby bought me over the weekend.

It's a headphone, yaww!

Selama alam ni pun, I have been using the earphones that came with my ancient and ever obsolete iPod Nano. Memang la macam susah sikit since saya pakai tudung. Nak kena godek-godek baru jumpa lubang telinga, kan? At the back of my mind though, I have always, like always wanted a cool headphone. Lagi pulak one that can lipat-lipat and be stuffed easily in my handbag. Macam senang, kan? Dan sangat style!!!
It's the Sennheiser PC-100 II model. We got the one in black. Jangan la tanya saya brand ke tak brand ke hapa. Entah-entah cap Ayam je. As far as I know this is as chic as it gets. And have I mentioned it yet, adalah style? I loike!!!!!

Harus terus pasang iTunes.
Dung.Dung.Dung.Dung. (Bass tu..)
Lagu Bad Romance, babe..

hihihihihihi

Terima kasih ya Inche Azrul. Sekarang, saya tak mengantuk lagi!

-dillz blogging out-

Out of Coverage Area

2010-04-27T11:12:00.001+08:00

been coughing the whole night and morning.
have been getting bouts of asthma attack since 4 days back.
nose is running a marathon.

guess it's time to take a break.

Saya dapat MC ini hari. :)

-dillz blogging out-

Gratitude Log - Healthy Kids

2010-04-26T07:39:00.006+08:00

It's Monday. It's BLERGH day.

I refuse to be bitchy today. Instead, I choose to be grateful. If there is one thing that I am grateful for today, I am grateful for the health of my three children - Khadra, Khaleeq and Khaleeda. Even more so for Khaleeda as I was reminded of her fever episode in Pantai Medical Centre early this month.

Khaleeda had a bout of fever and coughs and runny nose - the whole works. The fever was controllable, but there were a few things that concerned me.
1) She did not take her meds well. We had to force it into her , so every medication time was hell time.
2) She did not have a very good appetite, not really eating and was getting kinda dehydrated.
3) She was lethargic, not her usual jumpy self.

So, I made the executive decision to get her referred and ward her. She was to be poked with the IV needle to administer some much needed liquid into her body. It was not a pretty sight , obviously because Khaleeda is a true Srikandi. She was kicking and wailing her arms around. Ibu mana yang tahan tengok anak dia meronta-ronta macam tu? Of course, it kills me inside, but it had to be done. We wrapped her around a blanket and the doctor poked - nasib baik once je dah enough. The next three days, we were warded. And the drama ensued - each and every time it was medication time. She was so traumatized and afraid of the nurses and doctor, that every single person who was wearing blue would make her cringe and hop onto Ibu. Yes, even the Amahs and makcik sapu included. Kesian Khaleeda. So, YES. I am grateful for their health and I am grateful for the benefits that comes with this job that I have. Her medicals are all paid for, Syukur Alhamdulillah..

Have a good Monday, y'all!

-dillz blogging out-

blogging.my.brains.out

Of family reunion

Testing saja

Focus! Focus! Focus!

My Junior Masterchefs

apebarang?

It's Back! It's Toffee Nut Time!

The Photobook Craze

Rumahku Syurgaku - Part 2

Back and Moving On

There's Something Baking in the Oven

Ahlan Wa Sahlan Ya Ramadhan 1432

Late Night Mini Adventure

Day 2 in Hong Kong : The Day of Transport!

Meet Our Mini Snow White!

Hai Hai Hai dari Hong Kong!

Never Too Many

Bismillah...

Planning for the term holidays

Busy as a super honey bee

We Have Expanded a.k.a. Rumahku Syurgaku! (Part 1)

May Already?

Earth Hour 2011

My (con)Current Project (among others)

Hi Sawang-sawang!

Mode Study : ON

The (Attempt of an ) Explanation

Peeking In

And Another Long Unplanned Leave

Mencari Inspirasi Nak Kerja

We Didn't Make It (This Time)

Ahlan Wa Sahlan Ya Ramadhan 1431

Action Song Goes to Singapore

Khaleeq Turns 6

Fourth Time A Charm

Date Night Is Movie Night Is Date Night

Whoopsie!

Look What the Cat Brought In

Khaleeda's First Day at School

Tit for Tat

Widuri Laduree

Ala-ala Supermodel

Siksaan Dunia

She's Up! She's Up!

Quick Stop

Taking A Break

Her Last Call Was From A Cellphone

Trudging Trudging

Fish! I Screwed Up!

jí​shí​ jiào​shī​

Shingapore Trip

I'm Backkkk!!!

Three Days into the Mid-term Holidays and still NO Plans for Vacation

My New Man Hunk PT

Just Enjoy the Show!

Last Kopek

TIme for the World

Al-Fatihah

Send your Prayers and Love for Sheema

Sisters in Cyberspace

I Miss My Munchkin(s)

The Quest for the Perfect Tudung Gym

Preparing for the Show!

Just a Teensy Stressed Out!

My Road to Health : Week 2 Scorecard

Exercising the Rights of Free Speech

Thursday Morning Reminder

Macarons Smacarons

I am the Foursquare Mayor of Marmalade Cafe, BV II (for now)

My Road to Health : Week 1 Scorecard

So I Think I Can Dance?

Results Are (almost) Out!

#1b1t

And the Award Goes to...

Happy Ibu's Day!

I'm Serious This Time (I Hope)

Tea-ing in Style at Harrod's KLCC

Shopping-shopping Bandung!

The Other Side of Bandung

Tak Ngantuk Pun?

jíshí jiàoshī