7th Anniversary

Yes, we have been married for 7 years. Time flies so fast.

So, this year, we decided to celebrate it at our favourite destination, Penang at Hard Rock Hotel, which is also our obsession. We booked the hotel quite early as the earlier you book, the cheaper you get. As our anniversary is almost end of year, most hotels will have peak rates. So, to cut cost, we decided to celebrate it a week earlier.

I booked the opening rate promotion, and it is still cheaper than the promotion rate. We also got a framed CD as complimentary gift, saying that we are the 3271 visitor to Hard Rock Hotel Penang. The frame was quite big, which why I love it so much. We're going to hang it beside our shot glass collection of HRC.

The hotel is located at the end of Batu Ferringhi, after Rasa Sayang. The moment we laid eyes on the hotel, we fell in love with it. It looks marvellous and amazing.

I never expect the hotel to be crammed up with people. The lobby is next to the swimming pool, so everybody hang out at the lobby. Once you checked in, you will be given 2 complimentary drinks, which I never experienced before.

I also notice that their staff wears shirt, bermuda or even crocs. I hate them for having such a cosy, relaxing working environment.

The hotel look brand new and you can feel the HRC aura anywhere in the hotel. We got a room facing the sea, which is a gift for us since we booked the one without the seaview. We were given a seaview deluxe, which was supposed to be more expensive. An unexoected gift for our anniversary, I presume.

The hotel furnishing is simple. I expected the bedspread to have the HRC logo but it was plain white. The room is equipped with iPod docking station, DVD player and a LCD tv. We even can enjoy the live band from Hard Rock Cafe directly from our room. Everything about the room was nice for me. I love the bathroom so much, which features an opened or closed bathroom wall.

The swimming pool is like a waterpark. You have slides, water gun, etc. Eya loves the swimming pool. She even can play with the sand beside the swimming pool.

 
As it was our annual trip to Penang, we didn't forget to have our usual dose of nasi kandar Line Clear. The moment we reached Penang, we went to have our nasi kandaq before we checked-in to our hotel.  Some people doesn't really knows how to enjoy  it. There were 2 couples beside us and it seem they were new to it. They ordered everything from ayam goreng, squid, prawn and the guys could not even finish his rice as he couldn't stand the spiciness of the curry. Hubby laughed at it since Eya can eat the curry chicken.

However, when we had dinner with hubby's friend, he told us that nasi kandaq beratoq was much better than line clear.We went to look for it and its fit its name, nasi kandaq beratoq. There was a loooong queue for it and it opened everyday at 10 p.m. Next time we going to Penang, this nasi kandaq will be our top priority and hubby has to be the one queuing up.

So, to hubby, I love you so much and thanks for sharing your life with me....

Eya has passed the night-train test....

Yayyyy....We can save a lot now. Thats not quite a true statement. It just cut some of our major expenses in a month. So, now, I can use the money to spend on something else. Hehehe...

As in previous entry, she is diaperless in the day and only wear it during her sleep. After a few days the entry being wrote, she is now TOTALLY DIAPERLESS. Hooraayy for the three of us.

The chronology on how we started night-training her.

1st Day:

We asked her to wee-wee before she went to sleep. Later, we woke her up at 6 a.m., after the Subuh prayer. So, day 1 went smoothly.

2nd Day:

It was an accident. Hubby forgot to put the huggies on. He realised that she was diaperless in the morning. Pure luck.

3rd Day:

Again, asked her to wee-wee before sleep and again success.

So, the 4th day and counting, we did the same steps and she managed to be dry until morning.

We are a very proud parents of her. She is fully-trained at 3 years and 2 months old. Way to go, Eya!!!

No more pampers, mama....

Eya has been successfully potty-trained a few months ago. No more diapers during the day, just for her sleep at night.

Her teachers at nursery also informed us that she doesn't want to wear the pampers I provide for her. When her teacher want to put it on, she told them that she doesn't want it. So, when she takes her nap, her teacher will wake her up so that she could go pee. Hearing that, we were quite shocked as it is impossible for us to wake her up from her sleep without she being grumpy and cranky. Maybe she obey her teacher more than us.

She also has outgrow all the Huggies size. Currently, she is wearing XXL, the largest you could find among all the dispo brand. Only Huggies and Drypers have XXL, but we stick with Huggies as Drypers is more expensive and it leak at the back. You could get Huggies for 44 for average of RM33.90 but for Drypers, yout get 32 pieces for the same price.

Now, she doesn't want to wear her Huggies at all during the day or even at night. We have to wait for her to be soundly sleep before we put her dispo on. The XXL Huggies is small for her that the side strap is hurting her. So, we only strap the Huggies as further as we can.

Now, I think we have to buy her only pull-up pant as the side is larger and maybe could not hurt her.

She also like to hold her pee for quite some time. I think she still does not understand when is the correct time for her to pee. Only after she really feels like it, she will go pee. We have taught her about this for quite some time but she still doesn't get it.

Now, she also does her 'big business' in the toilet. We bought her the potty seat few months ago but initially, she refused to use it. Only a few weeks back, she agreed to use it and now, she does all her business using it. Everytime she does it, we have to praise her, clap our hands, anything that shows that she is a good girl. Now, we only have to flush her 'thing', no more dispo. She will do it and we have to wait outside. After she finishes, she will call me or her ayah, and clean her up.

As for going diaperless in the night, we are still wondering and searching how to teach her on that. I asked my mom and even my maid, how did they teach their children, but it seem that they all forgot about the tips and tricks for teaching your children to go diaperless during their sleep.

I searched from the net and found out that you could set a schedule for your child to go pee in the night. As for me, I don't think its quite right to wake her in the middle of the night just to go potty. It may disturb her sleep and causing her to be moody in the morning when she wakes up for school. Some parents also said that you may successfully potty-train your child during the day but it may takes some time before they are ready for night-trained.

I think I can wait for that. She just turn 3 years old and we can train her slowly. Good luck to me and hubby.

Angel of Mine...

We used to have a special song dedicated to our better-half during our early relationship.

For hubby, I used to give him a few songs. So, today, one of his song was played by a radio station. When I heard it, I remember why I gave him the song. The lyrics are meant/made for him.

Hubby, if you are reading this, please take a look at the highlighted lyrics.

It was 'Angel of Mine', by Monica.




The lyrics that I got from Azlyrics.com.

When I first saw you I already knew
There was something inside of you
Something I thought that I would never find
Angel of mine

I look at you, lookin' at me
Now I know why they say the best things are free
I'm gonna love you boy you are so fine
Angel of Mine

How you changed my world you'll never know
I'm different now, you helped me grow
You came into my life sent from above
When I lost all hope you showed me love
I'm checkin' for ya boy you're right on time
Angel of Mine

Nothing means more to me than what we share
No one in this whole world can ever compare
Last night the way you moved is still on my mind
Angel of Mine

What you mean to me you'll never know
Deep inside I need to show
You came into my life sent from above (Sent from above)
When I lost all hope, you showed me love (Boy you showed me love)
I'm checkin' for ya, boy you're right on time (Right on Time)
Angel of Mine (Angel of mine)

I never knew I could feel each moment
As if it were new,
Every breath that I take, the love that we make
I only share it with you (you, you, you,you)
When I first saw you I already knew
There was something inside of you
Something I thought that I would never find
Angel of Mine

You came into my life sent from above (Came into my life, yeah yeah yeah)
When I lost all hope you showed me love (Boy You showed me love, uh huh)
I'm checkin' for ya, boy you're right on time (But boy your right on time)
Angel of Mine (Angel of mine, oh mine)

How you changed my world you'll never know
I'm different now, you helped me grow

I look at you lookin' at me
Now I know why they say the best things are free
I'm checkin' for ya, boy you're right on time
Angel of Mine

Phobias....

On the way to work, I switched on Hot FM and their topic for the day was phobias.

Some of the phobias that I heard was fear of 'mihun' (Vermicelli) . The guy was scared of mihun as he spent a few days in prison and all they served him was mihun. As for the girl, she said that she has phobias of man. In reality, she told the DJs that she has a lot of guy friend but afraid to have any serious relationship.

Its not that their phobias are not really phobias, but for me its just their attitude. For the guy, he can still see 'mihun' without fear. He just could not eat it. As for the girl, for me, it just commitment phobia as she can still become friends with man. Not that she cannot be near man at all.

Maybe for these people, they need to understand what phobia really is. As stated in Wikipedia, phobia is an intense and persistent fear of certain situations, activities, things, or people. The main symptom of this disorder is the excessive and unreasonable desire to avoid the feared subject.

Fear for men, as googled is the abnormal and persistent fear of men, androphobia. So, basically I'm correct as the girl is only afraid of having a normal relationship, not afraid of men. As for the guy, maybe he could not eat the food but he is not scared of seeing or touching the food.

As for me, my ultimate phobia is coulrophobia, fear of clown. I could not even be near to clown or even be in the same room with them. I would automatically cried and trembling whenever they are around. If I go to any shopping complex, hubby would inform me if a clown is around and would protect me from it. Protect in a sense that he would not allow me to see it and take a different way/route, to avoid from coming close with the clown. And it not just clown, mascot also are considered as clown to me. I could not handle Ronald Mcdonald, A& W bear or anything that is in mascot costume.

Although family and friends keep telling me to overcome the fear by hitting the clown or just touch it, I would not dare. It just something that I could not do.

How do I became scared of them? It just I had a traumatizing experience when I was a little girl. Since then, I could not be near to them. I watched the movie 'It' after I was in secondary school. I did not even watch the movie until it finish.

I also had some other phobias like claustrophobia (fear of confined/crowded places). Thats why I could skip a very good sales since I could not be in the crowded places. I could not even take lift that have transparent wall as I fear of high places (Acrophobia). I also scared of blood (Hemophobia), even my own blood. Thats my main reason to my mom why I did not want to be a doctor. Until now, I could not go to 'korban' as I afraid of seeing blood from cow being slaughtered or even chicken.

For the other phobias, I can still overcome them if I have the need to. But, for fear of clown, I could not cure/overcome it as it will be very hard for me. Very, very hard. Impossible.

Some interesting phobias that I found from my googling:-

• Cacophobia - Fear of ugliness.
• Arrhenophobia - Fear of men.
• Caligynephobia - Fear of beautiful women.
• Chrematophobia - Fear of money (this is weird in today's world)
  
• Didaskaleinophobia - Fear of going to school. (if only children know about this phobia)
• Mageirocophobia *- Fear of cooking. (I can be considered under this)
• Macrophobia - Fear of long waits.
• Novercaphobia - Fear of your step-mother. (How true?)
• Paraskavedekatriaphobia - Fear of Friday the 13th.
• Pentheraphobia - Fear of mother-in-law. (This is so funny)
• Philophobia - Fear of falling in love or being in love.
• Politicophobia - Fear or abnormal dislike of politicians. (For me, it will be abnormal dislike)

Unfortunate Event @ BSC

No Kepong for last weekend as we decided to spend a night at Pullman Hotel @ Putrajaya. So, the day before, we did our grocery shopping in the morning and had a quick lunch at Jusco.

Night came and we were so bored doing nothing at home. Thinking and thinking, we decided to went someplace which has easy parking. No Midvalley or OU. So, the best option we had was anywhere near Bangsar and BSC it was.

We went there quite late as all the roads leading to Bukit Jalil was jammed. All because of the match between Kelantan and N9. Totally forgot about it since I was not a supporter for both of the team. I was once a Selangor fanatic when I was in maktab. During that day, I could sneaked during my prep to watch the match. How I love it back then. Now, I don't even know who are their players.

So, once we arrived there, our tummy was growling asking for food. We had our dinner at a 'small' cafe in BSC. After paying for the food, we wanted to go to SS2, to have weekly meeting with our dealer.

Hubby tried starting the car but failed. He tried for quite some times but still it could not start. It must be the battery, although the light and horn still work.

Luckily, our AIG insurance was bundled with AAM, so we called them to bring a new battery. If they could jumpstart the car, it will be great. They arrived almost an hour later, although they was just around Jalan Maarof. Anyway, the AAM guy asked whether we want to jumpstart or just buy a new battery. He said they have 2 sizes, with RM200 or 280.

Hearing that the battery was only RM200, I opted for the battery. Last year, when we bought our battery, it cost us RM230 for battery with maintenance. I don't know whether it could last for a year but as long we got a cheap battery for the car to start, it was enough for us.

I was so lucky that the battery 'kong' when hubby was around. If it just me and Eya, it will be a total chaos.

By the way, we also changed 2 tyres as they had totally wore out (in the morning). Another RM400 flew from our pocket. So, last weekend was shopping day for the car.

Due to the unfortunate event, we had to cancel our Pullman plan. Our car was so choosy that it planned to 'tersadai' at BSC with all the posh car.

Mama-Eya Outing...

It was an impulse decision. We went to had a nice breakfast with hubby at first. Then, hubby went to work and the both of us had nothing to do.

So, I decided to bring Eya to watch movie or just doing window shopping. The nearest place to go was Jusco Cheras Selatan. I browsed around Jusco to shop for my home knick-knack for a while before Eya pestered me to bring her to watch 'wayang'. So, I bought 2 tickets for Cloudy Chance of Meatballs.

She really enjoyed the movie and later told me that she wanted to watch another movie with her ayah. After the movie ended, we went back to Jusco to continue our window shopping before we went for lunch.

She ordered chocolate pearl bubble tea for lunch and fries. She was quite exhausted after lunch and wanted to go home but I need to do my grocery shopping. So, I found the trolley for her and continued with my shopping.

We spent almost 4 hours together and it was so fun. She went to bed early that day and I bet she know that going window shopping with her mum is a tiring task.

Eya turns 3...

Eya, 3 years old with her birthday cake...

Eya, Ayah and mama...

This signified that my little angel just turn 3 on 24th September.

Again, I did not plan anything big as her birthday fall on a long holiday. The birthday celebration was just between the family. Initially, hubby planned to celebrate it at Taiping with all her cousins but something came up so plan was changed.

She knows how a birthday should be celebrated as every week her friends from the nursery will have a birthday bash. She kept asking us to have Happy birthday for her. Everytime she sees a big cake, she will sing the birthday song.

So, this year we plan to have a small celebration with cake at her favourite fast food restaurant, KFC. Kaklong volunteered to buy her a birthday cake.

We put the candles on and asked her to blow the candles. And she knew how to do it. Maybe from her observation at the nursery.

Me and hubby is happy to see her growing up so well but at the same time quite sad as she is no longer our small baby. I hope time will slow down as we don't want her to grow up so fast.

I can still remember the moments I held her in my arms 3 years ago. It was the best feeling in the world to have your own flesh and blood.

To Eya, mama and ayah will always love you. You are our little angel.

Bangkok Trip II

At last, the continuum from Bangkok Trip I.

6/9/09

The plan was to go to Pratunam, which is a shopping heaven for those who want to find cheap and nice cloths. As we crossed the road from our hotel, a man told us that the place is closed due to the visit by the King. I was quite confused as I don't think a place like that would be closed. So, all of us went back to hotel and decided to go out after lunch time.

After we had our lunch at Makyah Place, we went to Siam area to find Hard Rock Cafe. Unfortunately, it was raining, so we strolled around Siam Paragon. One thing I can say is Thailand has the best shopping mall. It is greater than any mall we can find here in Malaysia. Hubby managed to buy 2 Wrangler jeans which was not available in Malaysia anymore.

Then, we went to Hard Rock Cafe. I bought a HRC t-shirt, one for each of us. Abo bought the collectors pin and adik bought the lanyard.

Our next agenda was to go to Suan Lum Night Market. My ever genius Abo and Adib suggested we took a walk in the Lumpini Park as they don't want to take the MRT. We agreed thinking the it was a short walk. The park was very nice and one thing that surprised me was they all respected their national anthem and stop jogging/walking. Something that we could not see here in Malaysia.

It was a long walk and we were truly exhausted when we reach the night market. The market was a heaven as I can find a lot of knick-knack for my house. I bought a few frames for the house and light balls. I planned to go back when my house is ready so I can buy a few more things for my house decor.

The final part of my Bangkok trip will be published soon.

p/s: Busy with the financial year performance.

Bangkok Trip I

Bangkok trip was meant for my family vacation. My big, extended family. We purchased the ticket during the RM1 promotion by AirAsia last year. I thought everyone will go but due to the H1N1 break, only 7 out 0f 14 went for the trip. Nevertheless, it was a great trip and experience for all of us.

Planning

I was the trip planner. Once I bought the tickets, I started surfing for the trips. I searched on the best map, accommodation, transportation and anything that was related. After a few month research, I found out the best for everything was:

Map: Groovy Map for Bangkok
A complete, easy-to-use map that cover everything. My sis bought it from MPH Midvalley.

Accommodation: Samran Place
Budget hotel that near to Halal food, nice staffs and got a high ranking in Tripadvisor.com for its range.

Transportation: A mix of BTS, Boat, Tuk-tuk and taxi.

Shopping: Will be covered below.

The real itinerary

4/8/09:
Our day started with departing to LCCT. Our dear Chu brought us there. My flight was supposed to depart at 6.50 but we arrived at LCCT around 2 p.m. We did not take the same flight as mom and abo was in the earlier one at 4 p.m.



We hang around the LCCT, had a light meal at a very expensive Marrybrown. Although I hate anything that is associated with any celebrity that I hate, I need to put that aside as there was no any other cheap food. (Tips: The celebrity name start with M) If I had the money, for sure I will have my hot chocolate at Theobroma.

Exactly at 6.30 p.m., we boarded our flight. It was Eya's first time in a flight. She was not that excited as she thought it was just another mode of transportation.

We arrived on time and searched for mom and abo. Once I found them, we started searching for taxi to bring us to the hotel. They had public van but we were unsure what they meant by public. So to be safe, we took the airport limousine, but due to our number, they give us van. The van was so great, and it was large. It can fit 10 people, I think. It was called Toyota Kommuter. If they sell it here, my mom was sure to buy it.

The traffic was horrible although it was 9 p.m. The first thing we did after checked in was thinking what to eat for dinner. Although the halal food was opposite of the road, we were afraid it was closed and being just a small lane, maybe we could get lost finding the food.

So, me and hubby being an adventurer, we proposed to have dinner at the hotel. We asked for squid and shrimp fried rice. Mom ate fish and chip. Luckily, it was nice.

5/8/09:

Our first plan was to visit the Grand Palace.There was no bus or BTS directly to get to the pier. So, the best option was to take BTS to Saphan Taksin and from there, we would take boat from Sathorn, the Central Pier. The boat ride only cost 1.30 and we took the orange flag ferry.



The Sathorn pier was N1 and the stop for Grand Palace is at Tha Chang, N10 so it was quite a boat ride from me. I was not a fan of any transport that is related to water. Thats why I stayed near to the life jackets in the ferry.

From the stop, we need to walk a little bit before we arrived at the Grand Palace. We need to pay 35 per pax for the entrance fee. If you took any tour service, it will cost you the cheapest of RM70 for the trip to the palace.

The GP was quite a big area. Due to the hot weather, we just briefly visited some of the main attraction and left the palace.



The next plan, was to have lunch. So, the only thing I could think of, was halal food at MBK. The food was great but pricey. For fried rice, it was 80baht and for something like nasi paprik, it cost 150 baht. Food was expensive here even if you go to stalls. I love the Iced Milo there. It was heaven.

We rest at the hotel before going for dinner at Ali Selatan. The owner is a Kelantanese. All the halal food you find on Zabihah.com can be found here at the street. The food was marvellous and the sirap bandung was great.

The next plan was to go for Suan Lum night market. So we took BTS to Silom but failed to find the market at the Lumpini Park. So, changed plan to visit Patpong night market. It was similar to Petaling Street. If it just the both of us, I would go to see of the night show but as I went with family, I cancelled the plan.

The market is located in the middle of Patpong 1 street, so when you were walking, you can get a glimpse of whatever happened in the bar. I managed to see some pole dancing and girls doing their show. However, in the Patpong rate, it was still considered a decent view.

So, as I read that Patpong night market is expensive, I did not buy anything. Once we arrived at our hotel, we had a foot massage at a place beside it. It was cheap, just 200 for an hour. The guys tried the body massage for just 200 baht.

That was my trip for the 1st 2 days. Will blog the second part of the trip later.

p/s: Pics will be included later.

Keds and lot of bracelets...

What was the happiest shopping moment during my trip to Bangkok?

Its when I discovered Siam Paragon does sell Keds shoes. I love flat shoes, in fact, now I have 6 of them . Mostly are Nike as they have nice flat shoes. So, once when I was web surfing, I found out that a US brand, Keds produce flat shoes.

So, I tried to ask hubby to persuade his friend in US to buy it from me as the brand is not available in Malaysia. But, his friend will be there for 5 years, so I need to wait for some years before I be able to wear it.

I never thought I could find it. So, during the trip, when I found Keds is being sold there, without any hesitation, I decided to buy it. The choice was not that many but I bought one. Even my lil sis bought one for her. So, now I have an extra pair of Keds.

The two pair of Keds...

The other highlight of my trip was to Platinum Shopping mall where I found a small shop selling bracelets. This shopping complex is known for it wholesales trade so mostly everything are cheap. All the bracelets and necklaces is similar quality and look to Diva's and DP merchandise but with very low prices. Usually DP or Diva bracelet cost about RM20 for the simplest bracelet but here you can get one for only RM3. So, I bought every colour of bracelet that I could find. It was such a happy day for me.

Now, I have complete collection of every colors for my bracelet combined with a few from my sis. Even my bracelet tree could not handle all the weight. I need to find a new tree for all those new bracelets.

.......................

I was so shocked when I heard the news of Yasmin Ahmad. And I was sad when I woke up Sunday morning and my mom told me she passed away on Saturday night. At that moment, I felt like something going to be missing from my life.

She was the reason why I watched Malay movies. Although she entered the industry quite late, she did make a big impact to the Malay movie industry.

She was the reason why I started spending my money to watch Malay movies in the cinemas. I watched almost all her movies at cinemas, except for Talentime. I had wrote an entry that I was so frustrated that I couldn't watch Talentime. I even asked my friend to find Muallaf cd in Singapore as Malaysia banned the movie. Until now, I'm still searching for Muallaf cd.

I felt like Malaysia is missing a valuable icon in the movie industry. It is sad to know that there will be no more good Petronas ads, no more good movies to be watched.

This is the first time I ever felt sad when someone in the movie industry passed away. Even when MJ died, I felt nothing. But just hearing the news that she passed away, I was really sad.

Maybe someone like the DT or RM will feel happy that she can no longer make movies but for me, sincerely, I will miss her movies so much.

Now, I can only look forward to Afdlin, Kabir or Mamat Khalid movies. The next one will be setem. Need to make booking a.s.a.p.

At last, we succeed....

We had been trying to potty-train Eya for some time. We knew that she could follow orders but the first time we tried, she was confused when its the small and big one.

When she told us she want to go, then, at that exact moment, she will just let go. I read from somewhere some children, they are confused when they want to let go. So, we did have a few accidents.Luckily, our home are not 100% carpet-covered.

So, I bought her a common, cheap potty. We told her everytime she want to go, just use the potty, instead of going to the toilet. The first few times, she did have accidents and didn't manage to use it on time.

Then, last week, suddenly she managed to use it and we were so happy that we gave her compliments. It turned out she did like compliments and we need to praise her after she do her small or big business. Now, she use the potty for both of her business.

It was a great achievement both for us and her. Now, she do not need to wear huggies in the house anymore. She still wear it when she goes to nursery or for outing as we do not know the nearest toilet.

Now, our next milestone is to transfer her from using the potty to real toilet, although she know how to use it.

A rockstar in the making...

Rockstar in the making...

Abo and adik just bought a PS3 complete with the Guitar Hero set. It includes a guitar, drum and microphone, complete to create a rock band. As for the games, Abo had bought about 15 games from Ebay UK.

Previously, when they played PS2, they also played guitar hero using 1 guitar. So, when they bought the set, the old guitar could not be used with PS3.

I respect that adik and just anyone who could play the guitar as it was really hard for the player to follow all the colours from the game. For those who are unclear of the game, the guitar and drum have 5 colour keys/buttons. They have to follow the color exactly when it is being displayed on the tv.

For me, I could only play the drum set with easy level. The guitar was out of my league, it was quite hard for me to play it.

As for hubby, he become the vocalist of the band. To sing it is quite easy, as you only need to know the rythm and lyrics of the song. You need to match the tempo and lyrics.

As it was hard to follow the key colours, some people who play the guitar, concentrate really hard and was very static when they play it. So, we love watching Eya playing the guitar. She was really cute and act just like a true rockstar. She can sway to the music and move the guitar to the beat. She can do that as she don't play the game. She just follow whatever her Acu did and I did teach her to follow the colour keys.

Now, it become our family pastime favourite to play Guitar Hero.

Eya and Dede

We can sing, so surprising...

Me and Eya having a good time

Just a gimmick! We still could not sing well like even a average person could sing. My SIL planned for the whole family to go for karaoke. I resisted the idea but love being with my family, no matter what, I just agreed to it.

So, last Saturday, after my cousin had finished her cupcake lesson, we headed down to Ampang Park. It was quite cheap compared to what Red Box @ The Curve charge. Just RM35 for an hour for a medium room, which can accommodate up to 15 people. So, my whole family including Adib went to have a 'melalak' session for the first time except for my SIL, who was quite a pro.

Along, Kaklong and Zidane

We booked the room for 4 hours which for me was quite long. My SIL said 4 hours was too short and we might ask to extend the hours. Me and hubby being quite an amateur in this area was quite 'kekok' with this whole karaoke thingy. We didn't know how to choose song and set for it using the karaoke machine.

Me and hubby chose our fav song which includes Hotel California, some oldies for hubby and for me too. My first choice of songs would be N' Sync but their collection contained songs that I didn't really like.

Hubby and me trying our skill in karaoke'ing

Hubby who was so reluctant to the idea at first started enjoying the singing. He tried to conquer the mic and almost all the songs. The funny part was he is tone deaf. He just follow the lyric blindly without knowing how the songs sounded. It was funny but it was exciting to see how hubby enjoyed the whole session.

As for me, I got to sing my most favourite song, Januari by Glenn Fredly. My Eya sang her Ketahuan song by Matta. Both she and Zidane enjoyed the session too.

Eya n Zidane is starting from young

Really looking forward to have another karaoke session when Abo is here. Okay, guys, start collecting money as it going to be a really long session.

Eya's eating habit...

Eya is almost 3 years old. Only a few months before she turns 3. Her weight always like a yo-yo, sometimes up and sometimes down. For now, her weight is okay, which is about 17 kg. One of my friend told me that her weight was 19kg when she was in Standard 1. A difference of only 2kg. I think it is normal for her to be at that weight for now. The weight is reflected by her tummy. Yes, I do love the tummy. She knew it and when we asked 'perut sapa', she will replied 'perut mama'.

Lately, she eats like an adult. Sometimes more than me or even her ayah. We are not worried about worms as we had given her the worms vaccine.

In a normal routine, she will eat 3 times. These meal usually will be a plate of rice, with a 'telur mata'. She likes her rice to be a little bit 'banjir', just like her ayah. So, sometimes we put her with kuah sayur or kicap. She will finish the whole plate.

As with the milk, she still drinks her milk. She drinks Nespray 1+. So, when the ads with Sheila Majid in it, she will shout, 'susu Eya, susu Eya'. A lot if I might add. If she forget to drink her milk before sleep, she will wake up in the middle of the night and asked for it. Not everyone could prepare her milk. Depends on her mood before her sleep. Sometimes it can be her ayah or me. However, I always wish it will be her ayah.

She also loves Ribena. We introduced her to Ribena upon her paed advice. When she was a baby, she do not like to drink and always got constipation. So, her paed advised us to give her prune juice or ribena. She hated the prune juice but luckily she can accept the ribena. So, its Ribena until now. However, to balance it out, we only give Ribena when she is at home. Outside, we will give her plain water.

The best thing I ever saw of her eating habit was when we ate 'nasi daun pisang' as our dinner. After she finished eating the rice, she folded the daun pisang. Just like what we normally do after eating nasi daun pisang. Someone told me that if we fold the daun pisang towards ourselves, it means we like the nasi. So, Eya did just that. We were really surprised as we never told her to do that. Maybe she watched us do it and learn from it.

My mom also noticed that when she eat spaghetti, she will use her fork to twirl the spaghetti. Only after that, she will put the twirled spaghetti into her mouth. We never taught her this but I think, again she learned from observation. She will twirl even mihun.

She also likes to have roti canai for breakfast. However, she will only eat it if there is kuah dal or kari. She will dip her shredded roti into the kuah, and eat it.

I think she learned a lot by observation and I'm sure she likes to eat. A true AL clan by heart.

I will remember you always, no matter what...

In my previous entry, I wrote that I received the best anniversary gift that I could ever hope for. It was actually I'm being pregnant for the second time. It was so unexpected as I had some late period episodes before.

So, in March, when my period was late, I bought the cheapest pregnancy test. Why the cheapest? This was because I always spend my money buying these stuffs but never get positive result.

I did the test after got back from work and to my surprise, I got 2 pink lines. I was so happy that I cried in the bathroom. It was 2 clear lines, not like when I was pregnant with Eya. Just to confirm that I really am pregnant, I decided to visit my obgyn. He scanned but it cannot be seen as I was only 4 weeks at that time. He did a urine test and confirmed that I was really pregnant. He informed me that my EDD will be on the 30th Dec 2009.

I straight canceled my Bangkok trip and decided to sell or change the tickets. I bought material for my pregnant shirt to be worn during Hari raya. I even think of names for the baby, a girl and a boy's name.

I was really happy and keep counting the days. I even registered again at the BabyCenter website for this second pregnancy. I was so happy.

Then, on Monday,11th May, around 11.30 am, I felt like I was having a lot of discharge. When I checked on it, it was bleeding. Not reddish, just pinkish but it filled up the whole pantyliner. I cried and called both hubby and mom. I didn't know whether it still can be saved or not, but I really want it to be safe.

I decided to visit my gynae. He scanned the fetus and it has a small pulsation, which mean it still alive. However, my condition is called threaten miscarriage, which later I might miscarried the baby. He gave me a few progestoren pills and I was injected with some progesterone hormone. I will have another scan the next week.

During the whole week, before the checkup, I was bedrest and just hoping for the best. I had some brown spotting on Saturday, which worried me a little bit.

Monday came and we went to have the checkup. The doctor scanned the baby and could not see anything. He told me he was not happy as at 8 weeks the baby should have grown and clearly to be seen in an u/s scan. So, he ordered me to have a detailed scan at the radiology.

The wait to be scanned was hell. I had to drink couples of litres of water and vomited afterwards. Although I was not a radiologist, I could see the fetus have no heartbeat. I was sad but I have prepared myself for this situation.

So, the next day, he informed me that I had to undergo a DnC procedure. At this time, I was terribly sad but I could not shed any tears. I just think that I'm lucky to have Eya. If this was the first baby, I would crack so much.

The procedure was okay but when I was awake, I was crying. Maybe, it was my subconcious mind. The fetus was given to me and hubby decided to bury it at the surau near mom's home.

Really, I am sad that I lost my second baby but everything happens for a reason. I will still remember my baby always and love it no matter what. The baby will always be in my heart and mind. The baby will always be my second child.

A decade has passed...

Me and hubby declared as a couple on 30th April 1999, which made yesterday, 30/4/09, a total of 10 years we had been a couple. He proposed to me to be her girlfriend on the phone at 2.30 am. after making several hints before that. I agreed without thinking and that decision was among the best decision I had ever made.

We had a few obstacles along the way before we were married. If he was not that strong, witthout the support and encouragement, I wouldn't be what I am today.

We never really celebrate the day we became a couple but this year, we had the best present we could wished for. What is it? I couldn't really reveal it right now but I might write about it later.

To hubby, I love you so much. Thanks for everything especially for the gift.

What kentut have to do with Eya and Hubby?

Hubby and Eya were watching tv, while I was doing something in the kitchen (I think). Suddenly, hubby shouted, "Sapa ajar Eya ni? Tak senonoh."

I asked why and hubby told me that Eya farted in front of his face. It began when Eya complained that she smelt something smelly. Hubby thought she wanted to 'bom-bom'. Then, suddenly, Eya turned her back to hubby's face and farted at him. Poor hubby. He was so shocked that his lovely little princess could throw a dirty trick upon him.

I bet she must got this trick from someone at the nursery.

Eya's Mak is no longer available...

Eya had her mak since she was almost a year old. I didn't give her mak but she started using it when I sent her to nursery, which asked me to buy it for her. Why? They told me she took other baby pacifier and it would be good if she got her own pacifier.

So, to make it easier for her to be in the nursery, I bought her first pacifier. The orthodontic Avent pacifier for 6 months and above. I never know whether the orthodontic is good or not. Is it proven to not damage a baby teeth development? What I knew back then, I wanted to give her the best pacifier. I never know that this would be my biggest regret in raising her.

Although she had her mak, she don't use it for a long time. She only look for it when she wants to have her nap or when to sleep at night. Only when she turned 2, I limit her mak to only at night before sleep. She also do not bring her mak to nursery anymore when she turned 2 years old.

I decided to wean her off her mak before she turns three. It still a long time before she reach 3 years old but I really need to act fast.

So, my mom devised a plan. She told her that the mak was full of ulat and need to be thrown away. Suprisingly, she believed it and didn't take her mak. However, at night, she couldn't sleep and my mom gave in.

So, we tried again the next day. I hid the mak and told her, opah had threw it into the large green dustbin. She didn't believe it. So, I took her outside (it was raining at this time, I was so determined) and showed her the empty dustbin. Luckily, that day was the garbage collection day. So, she believed it but was cranky for the whole day.

She did asked me politely, "mama, nak mak". I think she was just trying her luck with me. I told her the story of how her mak was full of ulat. She didn't ask for her mak anymore after that.

Because of her need for the mak, I have a collection of her mak. One is in my weekend bag, one is in her opah's home and another spare is at my home. We started her with Avent and finished with Japlo. Still the orthodontic type.

Until today, it has been 5 days since we weaned her off the mak. Because of the missing mak, we couldn't really have a good night sleep as she keep waking up at night. This is the price we have to pay for weaning her off the mak.

I want Talentime...

I am a great big fan of Yasmin Ahmad and Afdlin Shauki. I always and will watch every movie that they produce.

So, a few days ago, I wanted to watch Talentime. I asked my lil sis to join me.

Once we got the counter, confidently we asked for 2 tickets. Then, the girl said, the only show available was at 6. At that time, it was still early. We were so surprised.

The show was released, about 2 weeks ago. How come the showtimes is so limited? As what my sis said, maybe they want to move it to make way for Jangan Tegur.

Why they movie industry need to be so biased? You can try to fight fair. Usually, Afdlin and Yasmin's movie are given limited showtimes, not like movie produced by Mr DT, YH and so called Prof.

They do have fans so please give them better oppportunity to sell their movies.

I really need to find place and time to watch it.

Free Burger for hubby...

We had Burger King @ Alamanda for our dinner last night. Hubby being a fan of Whopper ordered ala-carte, while I ordered the medium set. As for me, I tried the new Salsa Grilled Chicken. It was quite nice.

In the middle of munching and finishing our burger, suddenly hubby stood up and went to the counter looking angry. Turned out that hubby had just bite a piece of plastic in the burger. The manager went into the kitchen to ask who had prepared the burger. We thought the plastic must have been the cheese plastic.

He apologized and gave hubby a new burger. So, hubby ate almost 2 Whopper last night.

Good Luck to you...

I'm the type of person who believe in monthly salary. I had never been an adventurous person and is truly afraid of taking big risks. It is totally opposite with my other half.

Just yesterday, he made quite a huge decision. Being his partner, I need to support him. Although I would never do what he is going to do, I need to believe in him.

The first time he went into business, he was cheated by his friend. And that strengthen my believe that a business is very risky. During this time also, we experienced such a hard life. Back then, we were still a couple but as a girlfriend, I just could not abandoned him.

So, now after being married for several years, with much bigger responsibility and expenses to be paid every month, he decided to try his luck in business. As a wife, I need to support his decision. I gave him my green light and wish him for the best.

He resigned from his company a few days ago as he was very busy doing his job and managing his business. In this one month, he will be concentrating on the start-up of his business. Even, MIL has approved his decision and even helped him on some matters. All his siblings were really supportive of his decision.

BTW, this time his business partner will be his childhood friend and I truly hope this will work out successfully.

Don't worry abang. I will give you my support. I believe in you and I do hope you will do well this time.

Belanja makan...

Recently, adik managed to get back her money from her uni. So, she decided to treat us for a family dinner. Usually, we would go for western food especially Chilli's but some of us are bored eating the same dishes.

This time, to be more value for money, I suggested to have it at a Muslim Chinese restaurant somewhere near our house. We ordered quite a number of dishes but it was nice and cheap. The total was below what adik had budgeted.

As for today, mom treated us for nasi padang at KJ. The food was great for us minang people but it was quite costly, compared with what we had the last night.

Tomorrow, mom will cook us nasi lemak for lunch. Yeah!!!!

Betul, betul, betul...

I don't know where Eya knew about Upin n Ipin. I thought she might learned about it from her nursery. As she knew about them, we decided to bring her to watch the movie.

We promised her that she going to watch it someday, but after 2 weeks, we kind of ignored the promise. So, one day, she suddenly asked us when to watch Upin n Ipin. As it was kind of late, we told her we will bring her the next morning. She started screaming and crying to watch it.

As we knew it was our fault as we did promised it to her, we drove into The Mines around 10 p.m. We thought we could watch the 9.50 pm show. As I rushed in to buy the ticket, I saw from the counter that the 9.50 pm show was full. The next show will be at 11.55 pm. Eya would be sound asleep by then. We were quite worried as she couldn't watch the movie but it turns out, she was so happy to see the big Geng poster+banner. We were quite relieved as she didn't know what is a movie. She never been to a cinema before.

However, we still brought her to watch it in TGV the next day. Eventhough it was a early bird show, it was still full house. She was really good in the cinema. She was quiet and followed the story from start till it ended. She didn't make any noise, not cranky and was really happy watching the movie.

I think I want to watch Ice Age 3 with her after this.

I'm in the guessing phase...

My mind is busy guessing and looking for symptoms. What kind of symptoms?

My last red flag was couple of months back. It was my second time of this thing so I was not sure that I had a bun in the oven. The first time, it was negative as after several weeks, it did come and it was shorter compared to now. I already did a few home test but the test came back negative, so maybe I'm not baking any bun. Seriously, I don't know.

However, I think this time it was a little bit different as I had spotting. It just like when I was confirmed pregnant with Eya. The first time I was pregnant, the line was very faint/blur and the doctor said that the baby was weak. (Now, I know as long it had line, the baby is okay). So, I think I couldn't really rely on those dip stick.

Mom and friends keep asking whether I had the common symptoms but as I don't want to be frustrated, I just ignore the symptoms. I blocked my mind from receiving and confirming the symptoms. And during the first pregnancy, I didn't have any symptoms. I was not having any morning sickness and all the common symptoms. (Thats why I really gain a lot of weight.)

I think I had a few of it but just not to be feeling down, as if I think of it too much, it will let my brain giving all the pregnancy symptoms.

I really need to see a doctor about this. Maybe in a few weeks, I could make an appointment to confirm whether eya will get a bro or a sis. If it positive, I'm grateful. If not, I could try for another one........

***Just to add couple of pics of me, eya and hubby...

Our hardwork had paid off...

These last few weeks I was very busy finishing up tasks for my research project. Luckily, my team is made up of great people.

Although initially, the task was quite simple, once we reached it final stage, it was quite tough. Me and two of my team mates, had to test our finished articles using the program developed by other team members. The testing was quite tough and I was left feeling stressed for almost 2 weeks. At the end, only one of my 2 'job' was functioning correctly.

Due to the stress I had, I didn't cook for the whole time I'm involved with the project. After work, taking baths and had dinner, I would straight did my task.

It didn't help as I had quite other few tasks that need to be settled as well. Luckily, my moderator was quite understanding and let me finished my other job first.

The highlight of the project was competing in an exhibition. We were among the group that represented our department. All of us did not expect to win as we knew other projects were so much better than ours. We just enter the competition just for the exposure and experience we could obtained.

However, during the dinner night, our leader sms'ed us and told us we had win the 2nd place. It was such a shock and we were really grateful for it.

To my team members, congrats and to all of us, keep up the good work.....

Tag about nini...

I just been tagged my ms aeniez....

Here are some facts about her...

• her face always look like she is having a major problem
• she likes music from slipknot, SOAD, and all those bands
• likes to wear sneakers, especially converse
• only wear t-shirt. Once, I went for a shopping trip with her so she can purchase girl-like clothes but end up wearing it for one or 2 times only.
• loves black and red so much. Maybe she doesn't know other colors exist in this world
• Now, loves collecting bags
• Are so addicted to Internet. She can surf for hours without having to sleep or eat.
• She likes to play searching for hidden item games. I'm the one who introduce her to this kind of games
• she is so good in playing games, esp PS2 games. weird for a girl.
• She knows MU in and out. Not like some girls who love football because of the players. She really knows it.

Ok, dik. I finished your tag. Don't keep tagging me so often as I am so beezee.

Eya admitted to hospital...

Eya had a 'pink eye' for a few days, and we thought it just the common 'sakit mata'. We assumed she got it from her nursery.

After several days, we noticed that she did not have the usual symptom of pink eye. Her eyes was not watery, no pain, no itchiness and no discharge. Her upper and lower eyelid were swollen. She was prescribed to some eye drop from our panel doctor.

After using that drop for few days and the eye was still swollen, we decided to go to her specialist. Her paed suggested her to be admitted for a night so she could monitor her condition. I agreed with her suggestion as its been a week since she got the pink eye.

She was very restless staying in the hospital. She didn't want to sleep on the bed, wanted to go strolling along the hospital corridor, begging me to take her to 7-E downstairs. It just hard to take care of an active toddler in the hospital. She was very healthy and active and thats just made the nurses and doctor wonder what had happened to her eye.

The next day, she saw a opthamologist and the doctor could not diagnosed her condition properly as she didn't want to put her head on the device/equipment. The doctor prescribed a few medicine for her and wanted us to monitor her for another week.

Luckily, after using the medicine, her eye was better.

Welcome 2009...

For me, 1st January is just like any other holiday, nothing special for me. No new year resolution whatsoever. Maybe there will be a few interesting programmes on tv.

The best thing today was that hubby surprised me by taking a leave. His company is a bit weird as they only take the 4 compulsory holidays plus a few others...We planned to go somewhere except for malls and people houses but Eya really make use of her holiday. She took a very long nap today so nobody can go anywhere.

And my precious car had a flat tyre at Jln Kuching. It was driven by my along. Poor car. I have to fork out my own money to pay for it. What a nice start for the new year. I really hope the car will stay fine for the rest of 2009 and if possible, forever. Still a long way to go...

So, night time, I was so stressed out, I asked hubby to go somewhere. Anywhere will do. I only need to be away to cool down my stress level. We decided to go to SS2 and returned the faulty DVD, 'Wild Child'. The movie was alright for me. Then, we went to .99 at TTDI to have our late dinner. The food was okay but a little bit pricey but for me, overall was okay as the portion was quite big.

Thats all for New Year holiday.

Bottomline, I want to have a happy year ahead of me. No more problem with the house. Salary increment if possible and if I am so lucky, I hope there will be bonus for us. Will try harder to control my spending. I managed to control it a bit last year. No more splurging using credit card. And the one thing I really hope to get is a sister or brother for Eya. A boy will be great as I will have a pair of children. Need to work out a strategy for that.