:: Angelicious ::

Walking

2012-02-08T07:59:00.001+08:00

Lil angel started walking on 30th Jan 2012.. Walking unaided, unassisted.. That day, she took small steps on her own.

We were home just the 2 of us. I let go of those tiny hands and she followed.

I was a proud, teary mummy.

Now, shehad started walking outside with footwear.. It was nothing difficult for her because she has cultivated this habit of rising her legs up high (but it still look natural) while walking.. Hence, that habit made it the same, if not easier for her to walk..

So officially, she started to walk at 1 year & 19 days of her life :)

Her first year photoshoot

2012-02-08T07:55:00.001+08:00

When i signed her up for swimming abt 6 months ago, we received a complimentary tabletop shoot that she can take anytime till she's a year old..

So last month, when she turned 1, we decided to 'embed' those memories in photos.

Here are some of my favourite shots... :)

My angel turned 1!

2012-01-14T23:49:00.001+08:00

On 11th Jan 2012, my precious angel turned 1! How fast time flies!

It has suddenly been a year of her being in our lives, a year if growth, a year of perseverance and of course a year of life changing experience..

I suddenly found myself swamped with work, tuition, husband, the cats and her!

However, what saddened me was that I had to work on her birthday.. I had appointments and it was my first tuition session that day.. That said, i still managed to bring her to see her paed in the morning. Then went to aloha loyang to pay the rental charged.

Then after sending hubby and lil angel home, i drove to work for the first time after working there for 3 years. Then off to tuition..

I felt kinda bad that she had to spend her bdae at home. So after tuition, i picked hubby and lil angel up and off we went to Changi City Point. A new shopping mall opp spore expo. And in there, they opened a new babyspa outlet and a petite park..

Petite park is a place for kids of below height 135cm to play and stimulate their minds.. Entry fee is $16 per entry, and accompanying adult is free.

Im glad she enjoyed herself.. You'll have more fun during your bash, ok angel!

Happy turning 1 sweetheart!

Bye 2011, Hello 2012!

2011-12-31T13:09:00.003+08:00

Today marks the last day of year 2011. How time flies.. This time last year, I was heavily pregnant, awaiting for the arrival of my lil angel.

And now, same time, I am counting down to her first year birthday which will happen in 11 days. OH WHERE DID THE TIME GO?

Nonetheless, 2011 had been a good year. Here are some of the significant moments.

1) 2011 is the year I became a parent. A mother. Those sleepless nights, big bag whenever we go out, the milk powders la, pampers, playpen mattress, oils that we bought for her were never ending. I learnt to persevere, be patient, and sleep less. Now that she has grown, she's feeding on everything that we're eating. Gained a lot of weight and even chubbier.. haha.. Though there were few unpleasant moments like when she got sick or teething.

2) This year, though I worked for only 7 months, my income is even better than 2010. Alhamdullilah

3) As a family, we went to several places this year. Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, JB, Jakarta, Bogor and Bandung. All with the lil angel. Hubby was saying how lucky she is as she had been travelling since young. She even took the KTM train and the aeroplane at an early age of 10 months.

Whatever it is, I am still looking forward to year 2012. I wonder what will be the challenges that I have to face when lil angel turn 1.

Work challenges will also be different as the targets are much higher next year. Time flies, next year will be my 3rd year with AIA come 29 Jan 2012.

My 2012 resolution?

1) To learn to cook. I really need to start somewhere.

2) Impliment a disciplined savings for hubby and I, and of course little angel.

3) To celebrate New Year 2013 in another country.

4) Need to self-restrain and not go for too much vacation as I'm planning to save up for my London-Paris-Melbourne trip in May 2013, insyallah.

I think that's all I have now. Wouldnt want to make too many resolutions and ended up not following them.

Anyhoos, Have a Happy New Year 2012 people! May next year be an even better year than 2011 in all different ways! :)

As hubby is working tonight, guess I'll be stuck at home in welcoming the new year.

Planning begins

2011-12-28T11:44:00.003+08:00

I can't believe that in another 2 weeks, my angel will turn 1 year old!!

Gosh, how fast time flies.

As you would have known, lil angel was teething when we went to our holiday early in the dec.. And when we came back, all of us got sick probably due to the change in weather etc.

It was only last week when my mum & sisters ask, "Eh, anak kau next month dah 1 yr, tak buat party ker?"

And I was like, OMG, I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT IT!

So the planning has started, but I decided not to have the party in January. Firstly, it's due to the shortage of time. I dont want to rush my planning. And secondly, CNY is in January. And since I am inviting my Chinese friends and colleagues, I wouldnt want the party to interfere with their festive season.

Thought of having it the first Sat in feb, but it turned out to be hubby's DND.. I'm still waiting for him to confirm his schedule, but from the looks of it, the party is tentative to be held the last weekend in Feb..

I've already started sourcing for venues, caterers, photography, candy buffets, goody bags, decorations, toys, concept, invite cards, banners etc but everything is not confirmed till i confirm the date of the event.And of course, the guest list!

Well, that's all I have for now.. Will update again when time permits :)

Oh, which I have to do it soon to have an entry that wraps up 2011.. :-)

Our birthdays and 2nd wedding anniversary

2011-12-20T16:04:00.003+08:00

18th Dec : My 26th Birthday

19th Dec : Hubby's 31st birthday & Our 2nd year wedding anniversary

So how did we spent it?

Private cake cutting on the 18th Dec, followed by a lunch of briyani in front of my house. Went to dinner at Pastamania that night followed by a Mission Impossible 4 Movie at GV Tampines.

It was raining that evening and my parents bought Qistina out for wedding invites. So we left the house by bus. Watched the movie at 940pm and it ended at 1145pm. And then I realised, how the heck do we get home?

I was reluctant to take the cab as they have hiked the fares. So we took the bus halfway home, then took the cab.

We slept at about 2am that night.

On 19th Dec, I had a meeting in the afternoon. Hubby picked me up at 5pm and off we went to GV GOLD CLASS AT VIVO... It was awesome. I felt like we were at a hotel or something. The seats can be reclined to a lying down position. There is a blanket to cover us due to the cold. And you can have a proper meal inside. We were ushered to our seats and greeted every now and then.

It was amazing! Total spent in that movie: $128 plus the meals.
But thankfully, I received complimentary tickets from AIA and had only spent $54 on food.. hehehe

I have another pair of gold class ticket which I'm saving for other new movies. Cant wait for the other experience :)

11 months old!

2011-12-20T15:52:00.004+08:00

My baby is 11 months old!

How fast time flies.. In less than a month now, she will turn 1! *Sobs*...
It will be a year that I have enjoyed the funness and endured whatever "torture-ness" from my baby!

What is she good in now?

1) TALK! She loves to talk, in a language she herself knows.

2) ASK for food. She keeps on munching munching munching non-stop. And I’m surprised she knows which is food and which is not.

3) Feed herself tiny snacks.

4) Is getting very clingy to me, and I cant figure out why. When I’m around, she will refuse anybody else to carry her. Yes, they can talk to her or feed her or laugh with her, but the moment i walk out from that “scene”, she will start crying like nobody’s business.

5) Clearly knows the moment if we are going to bring her out. And she will call out to us if we didn’t.
6) Already start cruising (walking) herself but she needs to hold on to something.
7) Has 2 cute pair of front tooth! Which has just grown half-way btw.

My cheeky little angel :)

Love her to bits!

p/s: Im still contemplating whether I should do up her birthday bash. Should I?

Our Holiday Trip

2011-12-16T12:38:00.003+08:00

Alhamdullilah, we went as planned to KL-Jakarta-Puncak, Bogor - Bandung from 28 Nov to 8 Dec 2011.

Everything was good and well but Lil angel actually was teething while in Indonesia and had a fever all 6 days there. It comes and go though. Gave her medication. A bit of whining probably she got body aches from all the carrying her throughout the trip.

We went KL by the KTM train. Even though our journey started at 145pm, we still took the first class sleep cabin. It was very comfortable and lil angel was very happy throughout the journey. The private bathroom even had a shower and a heater, so yup. It was just like a normal afternoon at home. We all showered, fed her and took naps.

Reached KL around 10pm.

Next day, went to Midvalley Megamall and the Curve to do some shopping.

On 1ST dEC, we went to Jakarta via the KLM flight from KLIA. Reached Jakarta and checked in Grand Pacific Apartment Suites. Spacious room, food was good.

2nd Dec, we headed up to Bogor Puncak. Temperature was freezing cold. There's smoke coming out from our mouths when we speak. But the air was very very fresh.

Checked in villa. Then went to Taman Safari where we are able to feed the animals but in the car la.

3rd Dec went up to Bandung. Shopped at Toko Tiga, Pasar Baru, Rumah Mode, Heritage and Cascade Factory outlet. Sight see at Tangkuban Prahu and Ciater Hot Spring.

Brought back Kueh lapis at Kartika Sari. Very nice but very expensive.

Really had a good time there. Shop till I drop (and very very excess baggage) and food's a paradise heaven.

Went back to KLIA on the 6th Dec, and eventually came back to SG on the 8th Dec.

A must-go destination for all!

As usual, photos are up on FB :)

P/S: And did I mention my birthday will be this weekend? ;)

Stressed!

2011-11-26T22:00:00.003+08:00

As mentioned in my previous entry, I am not very excited during this pre-trip period of my holiday (which usually I am) due to unresolved work commitments.

And it doesnt help that the car broke down either.

Last thursday night, hubby & I decided to have dinner outside. Of course the little angel came along. When hubby started the car, the battery signal came out. This signal is the same that appeared when I drove on 23rd Aug 2008 where eventually the car broke down and had to be towed. (see that entry on 23rd Aug 2008)..

Hubby said its the alternator problem. Our initial plan was to send the car for basic servicing on friday. But come friday, when hubby wanted to send me to work, the car could not start at all.

So i took a cab to work and hubby spent the entire morning calling several workshopsn including the agent to enquire on the cost of getting it fixed. They quoted min $400 to $1000++.

We were scummed as we do not want to spend that kind of money on fixing the car before our long-planned holiday.

So I quickly went online last night to book a "substitute" mode of transport to get to and back from KL.

Ended up, I booked a class 1 sleeping cabin with a personal toilet. It's like a private room on the train. I wouldnt want to get a cheaper one with seat and then have problem with my little baby. As least the class 1 cabin have 2 double-decked beds to sleep and a little walkway for the kiddo to crawl. (of course i will bring some mats).. And best thing, our own private toilet & sink. So in event she pooed, i need not worry.

And coming back, we booked a flight from Air Asia. We opted for food and the front seats with longer leg space.

All in all, it costs us $387. The cheapest we can find so far.

And today, my dad coincidentally found a workshop who has that sparepart and voila, the car was fixed!

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?

OMG!

So tomorrow, after sending my daughter for gym, I'm going down to woodlands train checkpoint (i called in to see if can cancel online but apparently cannot) to see if I can cancel the ticket we booked and get a refund. We'll drive if we can get back at least 75% refund. Otherwise, we'll stick to public transport.

Oh god, is this a test for us?

Whatever it is, I pray that He'll grant us best of health and convenience for the trip, insyallah.

I'll update again before we leave (either here or on FB) which mode we'll be taking in the end.

Till then, salam maal hijrah to all muslims out there. It is our new year in the Muslin calendar today. :)

I leave it all to HIM

2011-11-22T21:52:00.000+08:00

Right now, i feel like standing on a fence. I have targets to clear & yet i have a few days before i leave.

Our financial year ends on 30 nov while i'll be away on 27 or 28 nov, depending on whether hubby gets his leave approved on 27.

In end october, i was very confident that i would clear my targets in no time. I was on maternity leave for 5 months this year, which left me only 7 months to clear whatever i need to Achieve. And by end oct, business was coming in like nobody's business, alhamdullilah...

But then, we all fall sick and i got 2 weeks mc beginning of november.. (btw, after my tummy flu in the previous entry, i was down with tonsilitis, hence ANOTHER week mc). I am short of time. 31 days became 14 days for me. And it wasnt easy. I was stressed and depressed. But who am i to defy the creations/ circumstances of allah?

Right now, i am sooo near to my goals but yet feels so far. And right now, i should be esctatic to start packing for my holidays. But im not. Im currently working on a few things which i hope could be of help before i leave. If i cant make it before i leave, i leave everything to allah and take it in my stride as i've tried my utmost best to make it all happen.

We'll see, insyAllah i'll update before i leave.

Till then!

We were sick!

2011-11-07T18:53:00.002+08:00

The past three weeks had been disastrous. Not that im not 'redha' over what happened but it was the most difficult time ever.

Lil angel got bugged with flu. The first visit was to my family doctor near my place. Chong medical clinic is the name. She was given some phlegm and running nose medicine. 2 days later, she got cough. And again, we went to see dr chong.

Then the next day, my nightmare started. Lil angel kept crying and crying. Non-stop. To make it worse, she couldnt sleep either. Kept crying. And we thought she was teething. I read online on how to ease the teething pain, made ice lollies gave gripe water etc but nothing works. Hubby and i made the decision to see her paedtrician at the hospital where she was born. Found out that she actually was reacting that way coz her nose had severe blockage and she was uncomfortable and prolly in pain. She was given nose decongestation drop to help her ease her pain.

While all this is going on, hubby and i also got the flu virus as we both did not get sufficient rest due to work overload and insufficient sleep from the crying angel.

Suddenly. Qistina lost all her appetite for 2 whole days. She wasnt eating and she refused milk. She drank water though. And she vomitted on me 3 times. This was on 31 oct. We had plans to bring her to the paed again to chk if her throat hurts etc..

The twist came. At around 8pm on 31 oct, my tummy churned. And for the first time ever, i had the worse diarrheao and vomiiting which happened concurrently mind you! I was on the toilet bowl and vomitted. Suffered for 4 hrs before i finally sos hubby to come back from work and bring me to the hospital. I went into the A&E and was put on drip. Given 3 days mc.

The next day when i was discharged, we brought lilangel tothe pAed again and she was prescribed some vitamins. Now, her appetite is coming back, and she's been eating and milking non-stop. She also gained weight, alhamdullilah.

Just when i thought she recovered, we noticed her right ear very watery and theres some discharge coming out. Turned out, she got middle ear infection and is on antibiotics now. Alhamdullilah, she is on the road to recovery.

Btw, hubby also got mthe tummy flu but was not as bad as mine. He recovered.

Just when i thought things are gonna ok, i felt my throat swell. Went tothe doc and doc told me tgere's pus in my throat. I feel sucky now, cant eat, cant talk and cant swallow.

I really pray this will be the last before we leave for our holiday end of this month.
Dear allah, please grant us good health. Let us live our life as per normal and let this be the end to our sickness. Please dont let it spread as we have financially spent about $500 in all. Please forgive our sins ya allah, for you are most merciful. Amin.

Holiday plans

2011-10-29T08:21:00.003+08:00

Well, unfortunately the plan to go overseas with my over-the-decade friends did not happen.. AGAIN!

The plan was to go Jakarta/bandung/puncak on 1st or 2nd dec for a 6d5n trip... The rates I got for 5pax & an infant is very attractive! But too bad i guess...

But the good news is, hubby, qistina & myself is still going! And we are joined by my uncle's family from KL! Weee!!!

So we'll be leaving on 28 nov to KL first by car then leave the car at their garage and leave for JAkarta by plane from KLIA on 1st to 6th dec... Then back to Sg on 7 dec... Long long holiday isnt it??

I cant wAit for sure!

Private Affair

2011-09-20T10:28:00.004+08:00

Finally, my sister Amy got engaged on 16th Sept 2011.

It was just a small private affair, attended by 6 reps from the guy side and 6 from our side. Include my siblings will be about 10 reps of our side.

Hubby was working that night, so he missed it.

Closest relatives have been informed, but not invited as there were no function in the first place. The tentative wedding date will be 10/11/12.

Anyhoos, Congrats Amy!

p/s: As usual, photos are on FB!

That wraps up Raya 2011

2011-09-20T10:09:00.004+08:00

Alhamdullilah, I am done with the house visits for Raya. When last year I only took 3 days to visit the "important" people, this year it took us about a week or so.

Managed to comb my side of the family, hubby's side, as well as with my friends of more than a decade. More photos are on FB, here are just snippets as a remembrance to this blog :)

May I be long-lived to see Syawal again next year, insyallah.

With friends over a decade

In grey

Our first raya as a family

Xoxo!

Coming to 8 months

2011-09-06T11:52:00.002+08:00

This sunday, lil Q will turn 8 months insyaallah..

At 7.5 months, she is such an agile baby that she crawls everywhere, touches and attempts to eat everything she picked up, talking more often on her own in own language that only she understood. And she learnt one more new thing. Crawling to sides of cabinets or bed and stood up on her own. This skill is not stable yet. So very dangerous when she does that alone w/o supervision..

And right now, from sleeping sideways, she sleeps like a frog now.. And did i mention she loves to look at mirrors and speak to herself?!

Not that im complaining but she can be quite a handful at times.. As long her motor skills are developing well, alhamdullilah im more than thankful!

Dilemma

2011-09-06T11:11:00.003+08:00

My second sister will be getting engaged this coming mid-September. There is no function. It will only be attended by about 6-people from the guy side and 6 from ours.

Seriously sometimes I feel as though my sister is being a cheapo. Having worked for 4years, she should at least have made a decent function inviting the closest to witness her engagement ceremony. I remembered I had a function of my engagement 4 years ago attended by 80 closest relatives and friends. There was even door gifts and I had a make-up artist dolling me up that day. And not to mention I was still in the Uni when I had my engagement OK!

But oh well, probably different people have different perspectives on this. I shall let it rest.

She plans to be married next year 10/11/12. Nice date yes?

So then the dilemma comes in. Once they are married, they will be staying here with us as their BTO will not be ready yet. My 3rd and 4th sis refuse to sleep in my bro room (the plan is to have all 3 of them squeeze in a room). But the sisters insisted on having the master bedroom while my parents move to my brothers room which is just opposite the hall..

Hubby is fine with all living together but he finds it rude to have my parents, the owner of the house being kicked to sleep in a small room opposite the hall while the other 3 siblings get the bedroom.

I told my parents about his concern but they insisted it was OK. But hubby still insist that its not ok and decided to move to Bukit Batok next year.

I on the other hand have my reserves about that move. Which I shall not share it here.

So I'm in a dilemma. What's the best solution?

I don't know!

2nd one?

2011-09-06T11:03:00.006+08:00

Recently, there has been conversations from relatives, colleagues etc about having the second one.

What second one?

A second baby.

No matter what you all say, I plan to have my second one when lil Qistina is 3 or 4 years old. Honestly, as much as I enjoy spending time with lil Q, I have to admit that it wasn't easy to juggle between work, husband, baby and own personal time.

Till now, I have not been able to get a decent sleep of 8 hours without interference. 2-3 hours, yes perhaps.

My mum keep telling me that I still have not stayed in my own house yet. Here, living with parents, the only thing I have to do is occasionally help to keep the cats or hang the laundry.

But I guess why the feeling of fatigue arises because of insufficient sleep and my job scope that requires not only travelling, but a lot of speaking as well.

I know some people may think that you might as well get tired, make babies one shot so once you decide to stop, you wont have to go through the entire cycle again. I also heard news of an aunt who is a year older than me, is already pregnant with the second one even though her first is only 10 months old. And she's very happy with the second pregnancy though.

But I like to differ in this matter.

So people, to have the second one is not anytime soon. Let us shower our attention to lil Q first before talking about the second one, ok?

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilifitri!

2011-09-04T21:00:00.003+08:00

Hello!

Alhamdullilah, its been almost a week since we muslims celebrate Hari Raya. Hari Raya, a victory month for us after we successfully fast for the previous entire month :)

This Aidilfitri is definitely a special one for hubby and I as we are joined by our little angel for the first time. Insyaallah a moment where we never forget.

Unlike last year, when I was pregnant and only went home visiting for only 3 days, 1 day my side, another one is hubby's side and finally a session with my lovely babes of more than a decade.

THis time round, the celebration is much more than that. We celebrated Eid in JB for the first time, we went round 4 days of visiting so far. And I think about 2/3 more rounds to come. We still haven't finished combing hubby's side of the family, I have another outing with the ever lovely babes. Not sure if we will be doing visiting to other senior relatives though. We'll see.

For those who are asking, sorry there won't be an open house this year. Mainly due to the fact that there is the little one joining us and not enough manpower. If there is an open house, hubby and I will be busy entertaining guests. My parents will be the chef of the day, my sisters/brother will help out a bit and then be gone. I feel it will be a bit rushing and prolly cumbersome to entertain guests with the lil one.. Dont want a situation where I have to entertain the lil angel more, than that would defeat the purpose of having an open house.

Probably when she gets a bit older, then it would be ideal.. Unless if I get pregnant with another one. LOL

Ok, enough rants. Do enjoy the remaining month of Syawal dear friends!

I sure will, as there are a few events coming up which I shall mention in another entry :)

Oh, did I mention I was on a week leave last week? And where the heck did it go to? Tomorrow's monday already? Back to work, clients, busy schedules,tuitions etc.....

It's back to reality :(

Salam Aidilfitri 2011

2011-08-31T13:01:00.005+08:00

It is the Hari Raya again. Alhamdullilah, the fasting month was over smoothly.

Definitely something worth remembering as we are now joined by our little angel, who is rummaging through the lower deck of the bookshelf and taking out everything there as I am typing this entry.

We were clad in green and gold this time round. Hubby had the latest design of baju kurung, which looked like a baju kurung merged with kurta. Mine is a simple baju kurung with as little sequins as possible. And lil angel had a short-sleeved long dress which I call a "traditional" gown. No kain, instead I just let her wear her undies.. I was skeptical at first. We tailor-made our outfits and the person kept telling me that the design I asked to do doesn't really look good. She advised that lil angel's outfit be long-sleeved at least.

But I told her that I want my daughter to be comfortable the entire day. The material of the cloth was very cooling and voila, i was right!

She had on her outfit from 8 in the morning all the way till abt 12 at midnight. She was not rimas, or pulling her dress at all!

Thank god for that!

Besides the outfit and lil qistina joining us, we also celebrated our raya at my in-laws in Senai. We went there on the 28 august, and came back in the morning of raya...

The house visits in SG were unfortunately poorly planned.... I dont want to elaborate it here la..

So here we are, other pics as usual are on FB :)

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all muslims Selamat Hari Raya, minal aidin wal faiizin! May we enjoy this victory month, and all blessing be with us, Amin.. Insyaallah..

THE Malacca Trip

2011-08-31T12:27:00.003+08:00

Why THE you ask?

Simply because that was the first time we went on a holiday as a family. No aunties, or friends or parents following...

Not that I dont like it if they follow, its just that after staying with your family, many people etc, it is nice if you can go on a short getaway just yourself, you know what I mean?

So, we went from the 12-14 August, 12-14 ramadan.. Drove off after the friday prayers and after I met a client at commonwealth.. By the time we reached JB to change money, it was already 430pm.. 2 hours later, we reached Malacca..

Checked in Hallmark Hotel & Spa, feed the lil angel and out we go again to find a place to break our fast. Apparently at the front stretch of road near our hotel, there are lots of halal restaurants. Though it was by the roadside, it was one of the cleanest place to eat in Malaysia by far.

The next day, it was a day trip for us. Though fasting, we persevered and went on the River Cruise, the musuems, went up the big ship, the ramadan bazaars and of course the malls - dataran pahlawan & mahkota parade.

That night, we went to Jonker Street. I read reviews saying that Jonker Street is like Petaling Street in KL. But I was dissappointed to see they only see lots of accessories, food, and kiddy toys and watches. There were no t-shirts, or cheap shoes or slippers or bags - the stuffs that hubby needed to buy for his work.

So anyways, broke our fast outside again with a runny-nose angel. She was actually sick thruout the trip as she got the flu bug from my mum.. Luckily we brought her medication along. But thankfully, she wasnt cranky at all.

I guess she enjoyed the entire trip just we like we did... As usual, all photos are uploaded to FB.. Here's just one!

My little happy family!

Happy sunday!

2011-08-21T07:52:00.004+08:00

Good morning! Today is a sunday, but too bad hubby is on morning shift today.. So it's a stay-at-home day for qistina and I.. But it's ok because i had been out almost all day yesterday working and seriously only managed to spend a lil bit of time with my angel after i reached home.. So today, before my angel wake up, i have a bit of time to blog..

First, alhamdullilah this fasting month had been all good and well.. My business soared this month and sept pay day shall be quite a sum insyaalah... The family is doing well, raya prep had been done Way in advance.. Only left is to change $$$... Heh

Second, lil angel had turned 7 months.. She is able to crawl faster, sits more stably w/o falling and is now able to hold her pacifier and decide for herself whether she wants to suck or pull it out herself if she chose not to suck.. No longer the action of 'spitting' off her pacifier if she refuse it anymore... She now consistently make common sounds like ba ba ba, ah ah, ooo.. And she sleeps longer nowadays.. At night i mean... She can sleep from 2130 till about 0730.. Yes, she occasionally woke up but after giving her pacifier, she will return to sleep..

Thirdly, our small family went to a short trip last weekend to malacca..it was really fun! But will blog abt it in my next entry!!

Till then, happy sunday people!!

Time flies

2011-08-06T20:00:00.003+08:00

In 5 more days, my angel will turn 7 months, insyaallah..

At 6.5 months, she surprised hubby and i that morning when she suddenly turned and sit on her own from "frog" position.. Then yesterday, 5th aug 2011, she surprised us again by crawling.. Slow-paced, but further and very careful... Today, she combed the entire floormat and even touched and played with whatever things that she saw ie: my heels..

Im a proud mummy! My angel is developing her motor skills faster than i expect.. But reality strikes, she's gonna destroy everything.. Better tell hubby tonight to keep all things thats within her reach! Hahaha..

Photos of her antics are up on fb.. So if u wanna see, do add me as friend as everything's being privatised..

Till another entry, happy weekends people!!!

SAHM

2011-07-27T20:02:00.003+08:00

Well, im typing this entry while waiting for my client to arrive.. Not that she's late but im early.. Haha..

Anyways, lil qistina recovered... Im still coughing with a bit of phlegm here and there.. Insyaallah i hope to recover by before the start of the fasting month next week... Talking abt that, it will be AUGUST already?? Where the heck did the rest of the months fly to?? Another 5 more mths to the end of 2011 and another 6 more mths b4 my angel turned one!! *wipe tears*

Digressing.. Oh did i mention im hubbyless yesterday to tmr? Hubby had to attend a ground breaking ceremony at one of the indonesian islands.. Digressing again..

This entry is supposed to be abt SAHM.. Whats that u ask? Its Stay-At-Home-Mummy..

I stayed home from friday evening all the way till mon becoz i was down with high fever and flu.. For the first time in my life, my fever reached 39 deg.. And the funny thing, my angel sticked with me tgruout those days that i was home... She didnt want anybody else.. When others carried her, she'll be ok for a while before struggling to be back in my arms.. And all thosevtime, i began to realise how much my daughter had grown.. She is now always in a crawling position, but not able to move forward.. She is very alert, and attempts to put everything that she touched into her mouth..

And the best thing, she reaches to hold the things that she saw.. When it is out of her reach, she stretch again and again and tried whagever means to get that thing like pulling the bedsheet so that the object will be nearer to her etc...

Once i sat her in her ceo chair and gave her a biscyit in hope that she'll keep still while i do the chores.. Instead, she 'accidentally' drop the biscuit and refused to take it back.. Not that she didnt want it anymore, but she ate it from my hands! That way, i couldnt leave her alone to do chores!! Arent that smart??

Our sleep pattern changed too.. Both of us were drowsy from medication, we slept the entire night... When morning came, we woke up and then sleep again.. This kinda changed the time i wake up.. Now, i wake up at9am! How to go work like that?

Being at home makes me realise how fun it is not to be rushing elsewhere.. I dont have to worry abt work, meeting people etc... I do things as and when i like.. And itz a good feeling!!

Much as i want it, i cant be a stay home mummy.. Things are more expemsive nowadays and single income may be diffict to get by.. Unless if hubby can bring back 5k each month, then maybe i can reconsider... Haha.. kidding ok!!

Well, to all my muslim readers, have a blessed ramadan.. I definitely am looking forward to this and hari raya of coyrse, as we have our little angel joining us.. Last year she was still in my tummy ok! I still remember, she was 5 month old then :)

Xoxo....

Crashed

2011-07-25T10:41:00.003+08:00

Did i mention that my laptop crashed last week? And that I hadn't backed up my data in the longest time? And that when I sent it to the service centre and they mentioned the wibdows got corrupted and they will have to reformat everything? And all these will cost me $86?? Arghhh!!!!

All photos are lost, thankfully most have been uploaded to fb, but I reckon there are many others which are lost since I dont upload all to fb.. Not to mention all my documents, proposals and summaries all gone.. Haizzzz...

I do hope it can be ready by tmr coz hubby will be off to one of the islands in indonesia as his new company will be expanding.. Btw, his company is actually an MNC based in Germany.. Im happy for him as he seems to be very satisfied with his new work place now.. Company is quite rich i guess.. Everything is given to individuals and they hv their own things.. Like own bicycles, own accounts, own lockers, etc etc... And he gels with everyone very well.. Alhamdullilah...

Digressing.. My point was that i hope to collect the laptop before hubby goes off becoz the service centre is located at jurong!! How far!!

Btw, lil angel had slight fever and was coughing last 2 weekends when we went jb after her swikming class.. Coming back to sg, i caught the virus from her.. And last fri till sunday, i was down with fever reaching a temp of 39*C.. Today is better but im still coughing.. I sure hope to recover before the fasting month next week.. Please pray for us..

Till another entry!
p/s: this entry is fully typed and posted via iphone:)

My angel is 6 months old!

2011-07-15T21:49:00.002+08:00

Special dedication to my beloved angel who turned 6 months a week ago..

Her developments now are more drastic than the previous months. In addition, I have also been actively looking for enrichment classes that I could enrol her in to stimulate her mind and gross motor skills. Call me kiasu, but heck!

Right now, she had been able to lie on her stomach and turn. Turn 360 deg or turn towards the direction that caught her attention. She had been trying to push her knees up (menonggeng) but she hadnt start crawling yet though.

She is now more alert towards her surrounding and likes to observe. That said, she already recognises faces, hence as you can expect...Will cry when she is among unfamiliar faces who attempts to carry her around.

Enough about her developments, I noticed Qistina loves bath times. Hence, I enrolled her in a 21-lesson swimming class once every week. She was alright when we put her on the normal float but when we switched to the float around her neck, so that she could waddle her hands, she began crying.

Tomorrow we are going swimming again, hopefully it will be better.

I am sourcing for a class that can help her develop her motor skills and probably intellectual skills. I found one class but it was a bit high on my budget. We'll see if it's really worth paying.. Im going for a trial class though.. Will update if it really happens!

On another happy note, hubby started work at his new workplace. So far everything has been good. The company is rich, so the benefits for staffs are really huge. I can see that hubby is happy with his new work now.

Photos are all uploaded on FB.. Doubt I'll be posting any photos in this entry. Do add me as a friend if you wish to view!

Have a good weekend yall! xoxo

Busy!

2011-07-05T22:04:00.003+08:00

Honestly, i've been busy... Busy with work most of the time.. When im back its busy with my lil angel and with the husband's on off/ rest day, then it will be busy going out, have fun and spend money... Hence, the lack of updates...

Not that there's no stories to share, but by the time i got home, time is better spent resting than facing the laptop...

Btw, last month and this month is a good month for my small family.. Alhamdullilah..

In June, i bought a new phone, the iphone 4 and renewed my contract.. Then, i finally managed to sign my beloved daughter up for her swimming classes from Babyspa. Something that i had always wanted to do since she was 3 months old but couldnt get the chance to.. Now, im in the midst of sourcing for her gym class, and probably music lessons tOo in order to help stimulate her sensory and gross motor skills...

Just yesterday, qistina just had her last jab before the age of 1 year old.. Alhamdullilah all went well, no fever this time.. So which means we will start her class this thursday..

And good thing about this month, my business soared so far, and hubby will be embarking on his new job this coming monday. Ive also placed my Orders for kuih raya, which are all handmade this time round.. Yes, probably it is a bit more expensive, but im sick getting kuih off the shelves... Everything is going as planned so far, and nothing beats the family bonding time with qistina and hubby this week!

This coming monday, qistina will turn 6 months... How fast time flies!!

5 months old

2011-06-14T10:25:00.003+08:00

My little angel ia s 5 months old now!

And, hubby got a new job! It was his first job search with a formal and proper resume. It was his first interview dressed as a professional. The past years, he will go for interviews in t-shirt and jeans and will still get the job. But for this, I dressed him in a proper long-sleeved shirt, with a black denim jeans and a pair of polo shoes.. He even bought his resume file along.

And after a 2-hr medical check-up, the company called last thursday to inform him that he is the selected candidate! With this new job, he's pay will be twice than what he is earning now.. Alhamdullilah... Hopefully our lives will be more comfortable with this new income, insyallah...

Back to Qistina..

At 5 months,

1) She is already able to roll on her stomach (tiarap) without any help or got stuck anymore.. She is able to crawl a bit and is already raising her arms when doing so... I'm sure she will be able to crawl soon.

2) She can confidently grab and hold anything that you give her or that are within her reach. She has "destroyed" the materials that was put along her bed and attempted to eat them up.

3) She is now shrieking her voice for attention

4) She knows when we are going out and likes to observe everything and everywhere. I think she's quite alert like her daddy

5) She already recognises people, and do not like to be carried by others.. She will yell whenever others carry her.

6) Though she yells when carried by others, she do smile when people smile and talk to her (provided I'm carrying her). She also don't like to be contained in a crowded environment or space I should say.. She likes to go around shopping malls but when it comes to bdae parties or weddings, she doesn't enjoy it at all..

Her recent pics are all posted on FB... Till the next update!

4 months old

2011-05-15T12:16:00.006+08:00

Qistina turned 4 months old on 11th May 2011. Alhamdullilah, she's all good and well...
No celebration yet, just that we now feed her cereal twice daily instead of once daily previously.

She is still unable to eat via spoon feeding, so its still bottle feeding for her now.. I gave her the heinz fruit of pear and banana but apparently she didn't like it.. yet, i hope...

Her milestone development thus far: Basically still the same like the previous month, except with the following additions..

Consciously or unconsciously, she is able to grasp things whenever we gave it to her. She will then play with it for a while, or bite before throwing it off her fingers..

She is also able to lift up her feet and grab her toes with her tiny fingers. It was always a cute sight whenever she does that!

And finally, she already managed to turn on her stomach on her own. Except sometimes her hang got stucked like the pic above, or sometimes she cant lift her head to turn around. Im sure by mid-month or coming to 5 months, she will be able to turn with a breeze on her own...

Talk about turning, I am now not able to leave her alone with any pillows around due to the danger of suffocation if she turns on her own, and no one supervising her...

Honestly, Im happy with her motor developments thus far. She enjoys reading time, looking at the pictures in the book and is able to follow my fingers whenever I point at something in the book.

Yesterday, I brought her to a colleague's baby shower. She wore a dress from Foxbaby, tights from Mothercare and a bib from Anakku.

My darling angel

More pics are uploaded to FB :)

3 months old going 4

2011-04-23T10:36:00.004+08:00

After the long update yesterday, today I feel like writing down Qistina's development milestone so that when I read back my previous entries, I hope it can bring back memories...

At 3 months old,

- Qistina is more active; kicking her legs and stretching her hands almost all the time that she is awake

- talks a lot in god-knows-what-language

- is more attentive when i read to her books and show her pictures

- able to understand the word "sit" and "stand". She is able to act out the words with a smile

- all smiles when she hears praises

- cleverly initiates conversation (dah pandai agar2 org)

- can slant her body but is not able to roll over (tiarap) on her own yet

- neck is already quite strong, less support on her head needed whenever we carry her

- already have her own "smell" whenever she sweats

- is already playing with her tongue such that feeding time now is a hassle because she will push the nip away and talk while the bottle is in her mouth. This part test my patience at times and I'm worried at the same time because when she plays, it takes longer for her to finish up her milk (sometimes didnt even finish) and I cannot gauge when is the next feeding time. I also donno if she's getting enough now. Anybody with this experience please advice! This happened after her 3-month jab, I talked to some friends and some mentioned that she is learning to control her tongue now...

This little angel makes me worry, and stress and times but when I see her smile and laughter and agility, everything else is worth it.

May we have many months together insyallah. In 2 weeks time, she'll turn 4 months old and will start having some other kinds of feed. How fast time flies, I really felt like I just gave birth to her yesterday!

Our happy family

Updates of everything backlagged

2011-04-22T21:43:00.008+08:00

Behold a long entry, I will be updating different stories one shot.. Muahhahahah

First up, my Company R&R cum Awards Nite at Batam Island on 31st March -1st April 2011.

Thankfully, my husband was on his rest day for both days so I was able to go with a peace of mind knowing that there will be someone taking care of my daughter. Not that my parents cannot take care, but sometimes they have their own lives to take care of so they are not available at times.

Anyways, we stayed in Golden View Hotel. It was a 4 star hotel with nice facilities and services. Upon reaching the island, we were taken to the biggest buddist temple in Southeast Asia. Next, we went to visit the original Polo Ralph Lauren Boutique. Since it was over my budget, I didnt get anything there. Lunch was at Golden Prawn 933. We bought keropoks at the store before lunch. Most of the keropoks are cheap and tasted good!

We even dropped by to Diana Cake Lapis to try some homemade kueh lapis. I ordered some to bring back home since I'm visiting my in-laws that weekend.

Golden Prawn 933 has been too commercialised such that the service standards and quality of food dropped significantly. Yes, there are a lot of dishes served. Cilli crab, steamed fish, boiled prawns, kangkong, gonggong, butter squids to name a few. But the seafood are not fresh at all. The soup served to us was corn and fishballs but the fishballs tasted like they have been kept for a month!

BTW, after lunch was checked-in. We washed up a bit, did our prayers and then off for some teambuilding activities. We were brought to a site and the activities really bonded all of us together. The company was worthwhile such that having to stand and sweat in the super sunny sun felt almost nothing.

We went back to the hotel after the activities to rest for a while before going for dinner at GOlden Prawn 555 which is super near the hotel Im staying. It was dinner cum our awards night. Everyone had fun, a good laugh. The food though is much better than the one we had for lunch.

That wraps up day 1. Day 2 after breakfast, we all checked-out. The main itineary for that day was a 90mins massage. I had a full body aromatherapy massage and it was awesome! After the massage, there was a batik boutique where I bought something for myself and my daughter.

Finally, it was shopping at Batam Centre Megamall and off we head back to Singapore.

I only managed to capture some shots of the trip from my camera. Still awaiting the other pictures from my colleagues.

3rd-4th April 2011

Visited my in-laws in JB. Brought Qistina along. This was the first time her passport had been stamped! Im soo proud! hahaa

7th April to 11th April 2011

This was the day of our first family trip to Malacca and KL!

We left Singapore at about 5.50am and reached Malacca at 1030am. Checked-in at INB Resort. Washed up a bit and off we went to Melaka Wonderland.

The theme park was great, but it was unsatisfactory because the day was sooo hot and the roads to walk bare-footed towards the ride was made of tar. So can you imagine how hot it was? My feet was burning!

I also had no mood to enjoy all the rides because there was no one to look after Qistina. I brought her to the water for about 15 mins and she totally enjoyed it! The day was so hot that my baby was badly tanned! It was her first swim. I'm soo proud!

We gave up after 2.5 hours there. Luckily the entry fee was RM26. So it was quite cheap I feel.

We had lunch at Marrybrown and then off to Mahkota Parade and Dataran Pahlawan. Wanted to go Umbai for dinner but becuase we had late lunch, we were all still full. So we settled for A&W before driving back to the hotel.

We went KL the next morning after breakfast and reached my aunt's place in the afternoon. Just in time to help with some preparations for the aqiqah the next day.

On 9th April, majlis aqiqah went on well alhamdullilah. About 150 guests came, the food was delicious and qistina was introduced to all her aunts, uncles, neneks, oyangs there.

With her aunt and uncle

Princess of the day

Come sunday, 10th April, we decided to go to Sunway Lagoon. This time round, my aunt and uncle brought qistina to send their kids back to their hostels, while we brought their youngest son to sunway. It was really cool, we took all the rides. But too bad it rained half-way so we couldnt get on the amusement park rides like the roller coaster and viking.

We drove back to Singapore the next day and reached safely home at about 830pm.

12th April 2011

Qistina took her 3 month jab - 5 in1, pneomoccoccal and rota. While I took the prevention against cervix cancer jab after my pap smear result showed that I am all fine, alhamdullilah.

14th April 2011

Official date of my start of work. That's the reason why I havent had the time to update my blog now.

I guess I should stop here now. Till then!

p/s: pictures are all on FB xoxo

Our cancelled-postponed trip

2011-03-27T23:27:00.004+08:00

If you had been an avid reader of my blog, you would have remembered that hubby and I were supposed to go Phillipines this march with his colleague. Initially it was just us and his colleague who has a house there. However, it turned out that 3 other of their friends decided to join us. But I felt uncomfortable going on a holiday with 5 men and me being the only lady. whaha.

I mean, if we are in the house, should I wear my tudung and all? If we all are going to be there and see each other 24/7, does that mean my tudung is stuck to my head 24/7? You know what I mean? I guess hubby felt uncomfortable too. So, we eventually withdraw ourselves from the trip.

We changed our plan to a trip to Malacca from 22nd to 24th March. We reserved our hotel (luckily havent pay!) but hubby didnt get his leave approved due to shortage of manpower.

What happened was, I had an aunt in KL who has not seen Qistina since birth. After our cukur rambut event, she called to ask if we had done the aqiqah.

For those who dont know, aqiqah is the ceremony where we sacrifice a sheep (1 sheep for female babies and 2 for males) as a form of our gratitude to Allah for the birth of our baby. It is strongly encouraged for financially-abled parents to do this ceremony.

Since we couldn't find a mosque that can help us with this service in Singapore, my aunt suggested that we do it in KL. And that she and my uncle will sponsor a small function after that.

After hubby and I discussed, we decided to make a go for it. Confirmed with my aunt, and turned out they are inviting 200 guests for the event. Ni bukan majlis kecik, dah mcm cukur rambut sey!

Takperlah, alhamdullilah rezeki qistina.

So the event is confirm yall! Majlis Aqiqah Qistina Rasyiqah will be held in KL on the 9th April. All are invited!

We will be driving up to Malacca first on 7th April. Explore the new water theme park, Malacca Wonderland and prolly do some shopping there before driving up to KL on the 8. And we'll be coming back to Singapore on 11 April.

There you go, our confirmed holiday trip from 7-11 April. Insyallah.
Semoga tuhan mempermudahkan urusan kami, insyallah. Amin.

Love, Qistina

Majlis Cukur Rambut Qistina Rasyiqah

2011-03-27T22:20:00.007+08:00

I GAVE UP UPLOADING PHOTOS ON FB!! Donno whether u guys can view it or not.

Anyway, alhamdullilah on Saturday 12th March 2011, hubby and I organised the cukur rambut function, or baby shower for our darling daughter. Qistina was 2 months and 1 day old.

We invited about 200 people for the event. The marhabban/berzanji was held at home while the lunch reception was held at my void deck.

The menu for the day (cooked by my BIL) was white rice with:

- sambal goreng pengantin
- ayam masak lemak cili padi
- sambal sotong kering
- ikan kering

Desserts include:

- Bubur Pulut Hitam
- Brownie Squares from Cookie House (ordered from FB)
- Blueberry Cheese Tart from Ladiez Haven (ordered from FB)
- Strawberry Cheese Tart from Ladies Haven
- Lopez
- Epok-epok
- koci (or sthg) i forgot the name

Some relatives also gave about 2-3 more kuih2 for the function, alhamdullilah.

The door gift was cupcakes with icing and choc chips(which was not too sweet) made by my own sister, Ika.

Everything proceeded as planned except for one. PHOTOGRAPHY.

As mentioned in my previous post, we engaged the services of this photography company who also happened to be my hubby's friend. Along with the photography service for the baby shower event, we also managed to get a reasonable photo shoot that was held at his place. During the photoshoot, he wanted us to pay a deposit of $100. We agreed. However nearing the date, he requested to have $200 due to some financial problems of his. Since he is a friend, we willingly paid $200 in advance.

It was agreed that he was supposed to turn up at 930am. The function started at 10am btw. We already called him the night before to remind him.

But on the day itself, hubby and I was very busy that we totally forgot about him until it was about 955am. That was when I realised that the photographer was not there yet.

Hubby called him at 958am and he said that he is still at Orchard Road. He finished work (his other job) late and he is on the way. Of course we got pissed. I mean, HELLO! IF YOU ARE GONNA BE LATE, DONT YOU HAVE THE COURTESY TO CALL US IN ADVANCE TO LET US KNOW?

I mean, by 915am, if you know you can't reach by the agreed time which was 930am, isn't it common sense to at least call or sms that you will be late?

Hubby and I was already very busy, not to mention very tired as it was only the 2 of us who did all the preparations (wash the entire house, put the cats in my mums room, arrange the furnitures to one side, decorate the bunga rampai and even fixing the tables at the void deck) the night before. If only he had the courtesy to inform us of his lateness in advance, we may be more willing to give and take. So out of anger and probably irrational mind, we immediately cancelled his services on the spot.

It takes time for him to come, and since he already was not there the first part of the event, why bother to come at all right?

HIs argument was, he had done many cukur rambut events, and the main thing which is the cukur rambut will always start btwn 30-45 mins from the start of the berzanji. HELLO BRO, you did photography for wedding events. The main event was the solemnization ceremony. Why is it that you can be early for that? Why not just turn up minutes before the solemnization starts?

HIS ARGUMENT TOTALLY DOESN'T MAKE SENSE AT ALL! You know what I mean? After we cancelled his services, he promised to return us the $150 with the cd of the photoshoot. (Means he only took $50 for the family shoot).

BUT, the next day, he started talking nonsense like texting us the breach of contract clause that if one party breached the contract, no deposits should be refunded. BUT IN ACTUAL FACT THERE WAS NO CONTRACT SIGNED WHATSOEVER.

The argument got quite out of hand and we wanted to take the matter legally to get back our money. But after talking to some lawyer friends and even an ASP, we decided not to pursue further. Even though it was highly likely we were to win the case, the legal fees will cost more than the $150.

He offered to give us back the CD, an A1 size photo frame and an album (all but not the $150). But we were'nt keen. Dah tawar hati.

So all we asked for was him to mail us the CD that contains the original and edited pictures. There are some that I uploaded on FB. The quality says it all.

I'm still not over it, this shall be the second and last time his services will be engaged. After this, we are not friends anymore.

Now, please enjoy some photos which were taken by my sister. I am still upset that I couldn't capture the beautiful moments of my daughter for the event, tapi nak buat aper kan. Mungkin takda rezeki..

To the friends/relatives who came but photo was not taken, my sincere apologies. We didnt expect this to happen. Our sincere gratitude for coming to celebrate the joyous occasion with us.

Mummy & princess of the day

Beloved Princess of the day

p/s: Disclaimer: The above is my side of the story and I have every right to share. Thank you very much.

Uploading photos on FB

2011-03-24T21:41:00.003+08:00

Its 9.40pm and I'm kinda drained from my schedule today.

I will blog about the current happenings this weekend, insyallah...

For the time being, I am uploading photos on FB.

Layan gambar dulu yer... Kita stori2 later :-)

Weekend Spent together

2011-03-01T15:29:00.007+08:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, last weekend of 26 and 27 feb will be busy for us. Baby and I ended our confinement, so we planned for outings those days.

26th Feb 2011

It was my mum's birthday. My sis and I decided to treat my family for dinner having Mediterranean cuisine at Jalan Pinang. We were supposed to eat at Zac's Mediterranean Cafe, but unfortunately their cafe was reserved for a private function :( ... Thankfully, I remembered that the place hubby and I ate during V-Day is nearby, so off we went to Restaurant Gourmet Port.

That was the first time we brought Qistina out in a restaurant, and it was a bit disastrous. The cafe was cold, and she was screaming all the way. Hubby, my mum and dad had to take turns to eat and bring her outside. It was definitely an experience.

That day also, we visited my aunt's helper, Kak Dwi who will be flying back to Indonesia this Saturday after rendering her service here for 4 years. She wanted to see my lovely baby before she goes, so we brought her there. But we'll be sending her off this saturday though!

After the trip to my nenek's house, we went to see qistina's cousin - Rian Ziqry. Rian was born 20 days after qistina, and since we were on confinement, we havent visited them yet.

27th Feb 2011

Hubby and I engaged his friend's photography services for our baby upcoming baby shower. And there is a family shoot inclusive. Here's a sneak peak...

28th Feb 2011

We went to the ICA to make Qistina's passport. Yup, insyaallah we'll be bringing her for our short holiday getaway to Malacca next month. :)

Happy March everyone!

p/s: Qistina will be having her baby shower on the 12 March from 10-4pm. And you all are invited! Kindly pm/text/email me for the address! Hope to see you there!

End of Confinement

2011-02-25T13:03:00.003+08:00

Today marks the end of 44 days of my confinement, from the day that Qistina and I got discharged from the hospital. Which means my baby is 48 days old today :)

We have lots of plans this weekend, which I shall update prolly next week or something.

Someone asked me, is confinement compulsory? What is the reason for confinement?

Actually I'm being confined because Im told that is the way to go. I believe it is necessary because of the following:

1) Confinement allows the mother and baby to get sufficient rest at home, and not get into any restraining activities quickly

2) THis is the period where new mothers get massages and other traditional stuffs they are supposed to do in order to have a quick recovery

3) This is a critical period for baby because all this while, baby had been comfortable in mummy's stomach. We wouldnt want to expose baby too much and too quickly to the outside world which may traumatise some babies. So we start off with exposing them at home first, after a month plus when they are more alert, then we bring them out

I think these should be the core reasons for the confinement. I've heard stories where new mothers get headaches and drowsy after labor, legs expanded due to trapped wind ( my own cousin got this) and etc etc..

New mothers should also take good care of what they eat and drink. By right they should only take soups, avoid seafood and cold drinks.

My mum initially scared me with the kinds of foods that I must eat. But after we're discharged, she cooked crab on the second day that I reached home. Thankfully, my body is resistant and I have no itchiness whatsoever on my surgery wound. Basically, I ate as per usual, everything including seafood. The only thing that I avoided is cold drinks as my mum said cold drinks will lead to the tummy expanding even more and we'll have difficulty to get it back to its normal size.

So, I'll update the happenings this weekend soon! Its TGIF people! Enjoy!!

Holiday Destinations

2011-02-17T12:50:00.003+08:00

Hubby and I are at home today, and we were googling for my post natal spa package. Before long, we started googling places. Our holiday destinations, to be exact.

Here's the list of places we wish to go either upon recommendation from people or movies (in Asia):

1) Harris Resort Batam
2) Bintan
3) Bali (again!)
4) Malacca Water Park
5) Impian Morib Hotel, Banting
6) Phillipines Manila (next month insyallah!)
7) Melbourne
8) The Westin Siray Bay Spa & Resort Phuket
9) Pulau Redang/Perhentian
10) Cameron Highlands

Can't wait for next month!

Qistina is 1 month old

2011-02-14T10:49:00.006+08:00

Last friday, my little darling angel turned 1 month. Thankfully, she didnt have this attitude syndrom where in malay we call it "perangai tukar bulan". This syndrom is where babies will have a sudden attitude change like constant crying, not sleeping etc etc...

After a month of sitting home, we went out as a family last friday. Not to anywhere but to the clinic for her second dose of Hep B vaccination. The first dose was taken at the hospital after birth together with the BCG vaccine. She decided to have her milk on the way to the clinic, and didnt cry when the doc inserted the needle into her buttock.

However, she did gave a loud yell the moment he pressed the injection into her and then pull out the needle. But honestly, it was a fake cry. The moment I lift her up and hold her in my arms, she stopped crying instantaneously and dozed off. Even the nurse was saying, "so fast ar she cry, that's all?"

Yes la nurse, my darling angel is a strong girl hor.

So there you go. After the vaccination, we went back home to leave Qistina with my mum while the husband and I went to collect my dress which I had ordered online. After that, the plan was to go Simei Eastpoint and eat at Banquet but we reached Airport T3 instead. I really needed that refresher after a month of being home. Furthermore, the previous day left me stressed with a company insurance tender that I had to do from home. Last minute things made me stressed nowadays, especially work-related.. haha

Enough story, I'll give you some updates about me and baby.

Mummy:

1) Still have the bulging tummy and ugly stretchmarks at my thighs and stomach.

2) I have officially stopped feeling hungry every 2 hours and am more able to control my diet now

3) No longer feels the frequent urge to go toilet

4) Cant wait to trim her hair,eye brows and cut her nails

5) Have started doing a bit of shopping for new wardrobe change for the new year

6) Have adjusted to the routine of attending to baby alone and waking up every 2-3 hours for baby feed

7) Injured both her wrist, either while handling baby or pumping. Went to doctor twice but doc asked me to change lifestyle as my nerve at the wrist is swollen, and asked me to relax both hands. Because of that, my pumping activity was disrupted. Went to buy an electronic pump but the affordable ones were out of stock. The other brands cost more than $300 and kinda exceeded my budget. I had been pumping less now, and I can feel my supply decreasing rapidly. Baby refuses to suckle direct, so I foresee the chances of stopping breastfeeding very soon. But Im still trying though. Apparently the traditional methods that I've tried to increase my milk supply also doesnt seem to work. :(

I really envy those mothers who are able to breastfeed their babies, but am trying hard not to think too much about it. Wouldnt want to be depressed over this issue over again :(

Baby

1) Hands have started to grip very tightly, but not able to hold things yet besides my finger

2) During feeds, she insist to hold on to her bottle with her hands though she still have not enough strength to hold it fully on her own

3) I've been teaching her phonics and she mastered the sound of A, which is aaahh

4) I believed she can see already as she can focus her eyes on people's faces and objects very well

5) Can hold up her neck for 8-10 secs. Yup, she's very strong

6) Likes to stand (as in when u carry her, she pushes her legs to stand)

7) She can push her body to tilt on one side, but still cannot tilt fully on her own

8) Start to differentiate between breast milk and formulae. Apparently S26 taste nicer and she would make faces whenever I gave her breastmilk.

Till then peeps!

Happier now....

2011-02-05T11:34:00.004+08:00

Hello again.

Since I am still on confinement with nothing much to do besides attending to my baby, I have decided to update my blog (more frequently, I hope) as and when I feel like ranting and will not announce it on FB anymore. So to my frequent readers (ehem, prasan), do pop by often (but dont everyday lah) to check any updates.. *huhu*

3 weeks have past. Baby and I are more or less settled to our everyday routine. Wake up, change diaper or shower, feed, burp and sleep. While she sleeps, then I will get some personal time to do what I want, like shower, eat or surf the net. This is happening every 2 hours now, so you can imagine the amount of sleep I get at night.

Breastfeeding issue is no longer an issue. I still pump and give Qistina any amount I got from that 15-25 mins of pumping. Though she's fed with formula, I made it a point to pump minimally 3 times a day and feed her before giving her the formula. Of course if I get more hardworking/alert at that day, then I'll pump more frequently and give her more.

Personally, I am more happier now. I am less reliant on the husband and am able to enjoy every moment I have with Qistina. I no longer yearn to countdown the time that my husband will be coming home from work, neither do I bother whether he's in the morning or night shift. Reason being, I am less pressured now and more confident handling my baby on my own. Not that I dont bother about my husband at all, I still do ok!

The fact that my baby sees my face first when she wakes up and cry and that she sees my face last before going to sleep is really remarkable. I feel honored to be in this position. Seriously no words could describe how I feel. When she lay her head on my chest during burping (and chances are she'll fall asleep at the same position), her smell lingers and captured into my brain cells.

This is the "thing" that lived inside me for 10 whole months and now she's in my arms. She deserves to be given the best. All these emotions will outweigh whatever sleepiness or laziness I felt at the point in time.

Qistina will turn 1 month next week, and will be having her first injection since discharge (she had 2 injections at the hospital). This means that I can go out again and have a fresh breeze of air... wahahaha

Anyways, I guess most of my updates will revolve around me and baby for the time being. As you would have known, nothing else is happening in my life right now. :)

Qistina - 3 weeks old

Till next entry!

Being a mummy

2011-01-27T16:13:00.005+08:00

Alhamdullilah, praises to Allah. It has been 2 weeks 2 days since I became a mummy...

Yes, I am enjoying every single moment of being with my little angel and nursing her 24/7. Whenever I look at her face, I can't believe she had been living inside me for 10 months. Now, I am holding her in my arms. Subhanallah!

But reality is, the task of a mummy is very tiring. I have been getting only 3-4 hours of sleep every single day. If the husband is home, we need to wait till she's asleep before we both can have lunch/dinner together or simply have a nice conversation or watch the TV. We realised our lives now revolves around qistina and her needs comes first. There's lots of things to be done in the morning like helping around with light housework, doing AIA work from home etc, hence I am not able to nap in the morning. Even when I'm free, I just don't feel the urge to nap. (Which is very contrasting to when I was pregnant, I tend to nap whenever I can!)

At night when the husband is home, then we'll take turns to nurse her everytime she wakes up. If husband is on night shift like yesterday, then it will be solely my task and I can forget about getting a good night sleep.

It's not that my baby is cranky, its just that she wakes up every 2-3 hours to have her feed. When she's tired, she'll fall asleep immediately after her feed, burp and diaper change. But if she's alert and wide awake, thats the challenge for us especially if that happens at the middle of the night.

My pretty angel when sound asleep

Thankfully, husband brought a good news yesterday.

You see, we had plans to go for a short travel after my confinement together with Qistina prolly going to Cameron Highlands this March. But because we had a very good deal where air tickets and accomodation are provided as our belated wedding present, we are going to Phillipines, Manila instead!

Husband and I never been to Manila before but we do know that it is a developing country. For Cameron, we know that it is a relatively safe environment to bring our baby along. But for Manila, we are unsure.

So after discussion with my mum and husband, we will not be bringing Qistina along this March. My mum said that she's still too young to travel that far, and had volunteered to take care of her for the 4 days that we will be gone.

So yay, a little break from my mundane routine before I start work again. Also feels like a honeymoon period for both husband and I. Hope all will go as planned, insyallah.

My Gynae

2011-01-23T16:01:00.003+08:00

This entry is specially for me to remember my first experience with this gynae and for those mummy-to-be's who may be looking around for a gynae to aid through her pregnancy.

My gynae, Dr Aziz whose clinic is in Kembangan Plaza was recommended to me by my mum. Yup, she took the same gynae to deliver my brother 15 years ago. Initially hubby wanted Dr Khoo from KK to be the gynae. But since Dr Khoo is his army buddy and after much thought, I was a bit shy knowing that they are connected and hence decided to drop the idea.

On 25th May, the day that the test kit was positive, husband and I went to see Dr. Aziz. Initially I was unsure and was a bit uncomfortable to know that a guy doctor will be aiding me in my pregnancy. However, after the first visit, we immediately liked him!

He is funny, jokes around, friendly and made us feel very comfortable with him. I wasnt even awkward at all when I lie down on the "bed" and had him scan my tummy for the first time. And I still remember how husband and I were grinning every inch of our faces when Dr Aziz confirmed I was 6 weeks pregnant.

As time passes, we could talk and ask the doctor about anything that was in our minds. He was assuring even when I was going to the operating theatre.

I just did my review with him earlier this week about my stitch, and will be seeing him again in 2 months time for further review. In 2 months time, one of the agenda will be counselling on family planning.

So mummies-to-be, this is definitely one gynae that you can consider. Upon recommendation, I understand that a friend of mine also took the same gynae to deliver her first newborn which will be out soon...

Till another update!

When the husband starts work...

2011-01-22T18:56:00.003+08:00

As you would have known by now, I am a new mummy since 11 Jan 2011. That makes my baby 12 days old today.

When I was pregnant, I felt really independent and was able to do/go almost everything and everywhere by myself. It was only when I got heavier in the pregnancy term that I began to feel a bit helpless, and was not allowed to go anywhere else alone (except to work) without the husband accompanying me.

But ever since Qistina arrived, I had been very dependent on my husband.

I had a so-called last minute C-section. This is due to the fact that about a week before the op, my gynae told me that baby's umbilical cord was below her head and that she is a big baby compared to my size.

All these months, I had been mentally prepared for a normal delivery. I had booked an exclusive single-bedded room at the hospital, already had in mind to have the husband stay overnight with me at the hospital and planned to breastfeed my baby since Day 1.

But when the doctor confirmed during my final check-up that normal birth is not an option for me, I had my hormones and emotions running wild. Further with the fact that most people said that I would have a difficult time to recuperate after the surgery etc...

Looking at the price of a C-section at that hospital, I had no choice but to downgrade to a 4-bedder. The cash amount is 3 times more of the single bedder than compared to a 4 bedder. Husband couldnt stay with me thruout the nights and I wasnt even able to breasfeed my baby until day 3 due to the fact that I had drips and painkillers on me and I had difficulty sitting up straight due to the wound.

Worse still, I wasnt happy at all that I was not able to breastfeed her since day 1. As a result, she was introduced to formula milk first, and that is a fact that I still find it hard to accept till now. So as you may have guessed, she is still on formula now...

Once I was discharged, the task of looking after the baby was shared between husband and I. We took turns to nurse her, and I tried to breastfeed her as much as I can. Initially it was ok, her latch was good and she seems to be sucking, but it doesnt seemed enough. No matter how I struggled to keep her latch on to my breast, the more she struggled to let go after some time especially if there's no more milk coming out.

I really wanted to breastfeed her with what I have, so the end result, I asked my husband to get me a breast pump. Since both mummy and baby have a terrible awkwardness during breastfeeding times, I decided to pump what I have and give her through bottle. I gave what I have, and it works. She drinks the breastmilk, and after a while, I still supplement her with formula to satisfy her huge appetite (did I mention that my baby is big?) :)

A few days back, I was on a terrible emotional hunch. Deep inside me, I was nervous and scared and anxious to nurse the baby alone without the husband as he will be starting work today. When the husband starts work, it will mean that I am with the baby almost 24/7. Can I cope? What about my breast pumping routine? The washing of bottles etc? I was a bit devastated and began crying the whole day the other day. Every little thing triggered my tears. And my husband noticed that. I thought I was going on a depression. I felt so unsure about everything.

We went out for a while after my review with the gynae on my stitch, and we talked about it. I told him what and how I felt, and was moved by his encouragement and support. After that conversation and a breeze of fresh air outside, I immediately felt much better.

So people, it is already 7pm now, and there's about 3 more hours for my husband to come home. Yup, I think I survived my first day w/o the husband at home, and am confident that things will get better. About my concern on breastfeeding, I have decided to try some traditional ways to increase my breastmilk supply alongside with pumping more, if I have time and the energy. I will persevere to give whatever supply I have (as I read that even any amounts of breastmilk is good for the baby) for the baby especially during this confinement period.

If I can't, husband had told me it's ok, and that I shouldnt be too stressed up about it. At least I tried. As I quote him,

Him: Yes, we read and realised that breastmilk is good, but both of us werent fed with breastmilk and alhamdullilah, we did just fine in life and health. So insyallah, the baby will be fine too... No use stressing over this issue, there will be more to come in the future. And if it does makes you feel better, let's pray and hope that our second child can be delivered normal and that we can proceed as we had planned earlier....

After much thought, he is right. I should spend happy times with my newborn rather than stressing over something that I had tried my best in but still beyond my control.

I hope I am right. If you have any views to share on what I wrote, do send me a private message over fb or sms or email at babyangel1819@gmail.com

Thanks!

My Labor Experience

2011-01-20T14:34:00.004+08:00

On 11 January 2011 at 11.11am, I had safely delivered a healthy 3.72kg baby girl with a height of 52cm through a C-section with epidural... Alhamdullilah...

Hubby and I named our little angel Qistina Rasyiqah, which means fairness, conscientiousness and beauty in every way...

On the night of 10 Jan, I was asked to refrain from eating and drinking from 11pm onwards. Hubby kept counting down the hours for the baby to be born, while I can only swallow my saliva and tawakkal that everything will be alright and that I can bear with the post-surgery pain which people said hurts like hell... I even had wierd dreams that night.

So when morning came, we were to report to the Parkway East Hospital at 8.30am to prepare for my surgery that will take place at 10.45am that day.

My parents-in-law came to visit me around 10am to see me off before the surgery.

10.30am, they wheeled me off in bed to the operating theatre (OT). They did all the checks, and god knows what and the anasthetic doctor mentally prepared me the effects of the surgery with epidural. He mentioned that I will feel a bit of pain and stretching during the op and once done, I will experience a bit of shivering.

While they were doing all of those, a nurse was helping my husband to dress up as one of them before he was allowed to enter the OT. Too bad no cameras were to be taken to the OT, if not we had wanted to film the entire thing.

Alhamdullilah, throughout the entire op, I felt very tolerable pain and stretching here and there. The baby was scheduled to be out at 11am but because the effect of epidural was slow to work on me, the doctors asked whether to get baby out at 11.11 am was ok. Of course we said yes, I mean no matter what, she needs to be out of me that day!

The medical team asked my husband whether he will allow them to call the media to make a story of our baby and her 11/1/11 at 1111hrs thingy... But my husband declined to have such publicity... *chet* (If not u would have seen us in the papers!)

After the successful op, I shivered non-stop for 2 hours. I wasnt allowed to eat or drink at all. I was so thirsty that I drank sips of water, and end result - I vomitted 3 times until I was given the anti-nausal medication. So I ended up having to fast another day. I was also not able to get out of bed as they had needles injected on me - one for the drip, the other the painkillers. There goes my plan to start breasfeeding from day 1.

Oh, and that night at around 2.30am, I was down with fever. Luckily, I recovered within the next hour or so..

On 12 Jan, my gynae came and asked if I had passed wind. I told him that I had burped a lot but not pass wind. He said if I cant pass wind that day, then I still cant eat. Ended up, I was only able to eat dinner that day, which I had chosen porridge. Yucks!

By this time, the nurse had removed all tubes and needles etc off me and accompanied me to the toilet to wash up etc... I was asked to get up and walk. Lucky for me, I was able to bear with the little pain and walk myself.

Come 13 Jan, I showered (honestly, I was the only one who showered in the room, the other patients didnt!) by myself and was able to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. Seeing my progress, the doctor said that I can be discharged the next day....

Apparently, the op that I had chosen left me very little pain during the post-op. Yes, it was difficult to stand and get in and out of bed, but the pain that I felt was nothing compared to the experiences of mothers who had done a C-Section before. No doubt Im on painkillers but I am able to walk normally from the 4th day onwards. I still cant bend too much or lie on my side, but alhamdullilah, its not as bad as what people said.

Right now, my husband had been the one doing the urut for me. He had been on leave from the 10th right till 21st. My tukang urut said that she will only come a month after the surgery for the urut. But my mum told my husband that I have to be urut now to prevent masuk angin. So for the past week people, my husband had been my tukang urut. I had been drinking the Polleney Pati Ikan Haruan in hope to heal the wound faster and am taking those complete jamu set which my husband had bought from Geylang. Thanks hubby for your help and support. Love you loads!

For the sengkak and bengkung, I have scheduled that to be done about 2 months from now. I really need to get my tummy back to my pre-pregnancy shape... Takkan baru anak satu perut dah boyot kan...

I'll continue my ramblings another time, need to go wash off the pilis on my face now... Before signing off, here's a photo of my little angel...

More photos on FB!

The finale @40weeks

2011-01-09T10:51:00.005+08:00

Hello again people! Hope your January has been good so far.

Mine had been a-ok. Have started my "leave" since beginning of the year and had been at home since. The only times I went out was when my hubby and the car is available.

Anyways, just a short update today. I went for my final check-up at my gynae's clinic yesterday and the decision had been laid.

After reviewing my baby's (and mummy's) condition, normal delivery for me is not a choice anymore. Baby is big (yesterday's scan est weight was 3.4kg), and so is the head. I had been feeling a bit of pain around my lower stomach and bikini line area, and I thought the baby's head is engaged to the exit door. But from yesterday's check-up, the baby is not able to engage as the head is bigger than my hip bone or something...

So the pain that I had been feeling the past few days was the effect of the baby wriggling her head trying to find the exit door but to no avail. Her umbilical cord was also very near to the head, so normal birth there is also risky (if I had the choice)...

So hubby and I were counselled by the gynae yesterday, about the birth situation etc...

And since the best choice for me now is C-section, we have been scheduled for a C-section with epidural (means I'll be awake thruout the op and will be able to hear my baby cry for the first time, and that hubby will be in the operating room too to witness the op with me) this Tuesday, 11 January 2011 at 11am.

So dear friends and beloved readers, do pray that all will be well for me and baby. I also pray that I will be given the strength from Allah to endure all the pain etc that will arise after the op.

I guess this will be the last update from me before I deliver. So, do expect to wait a little longer for the next update :)

Final pic taken so far

Though I believe more will be taken upon reaching the hospital :)

Till then!

Hello 2011!

2011-01-03T16:46:00.004+08:00

Happy New Year 2011 everyone! It has been the 3rd day of this new year and sad to say, I dont really feel any difference in welcoming the new year for 2011. Not that I didnt feel the spirit as I didnt attend the countdown party, but its more of the fact that I had been on leave on the last week of december. Staying at home somewhat made me lost track of the dates so that's why I didnt feel any difference.

Before I start on my updates on my pregnancy, let me recap the "happenings" of 2010.

Since I got married in Dec 2009, Jan-March of 2010 relives my wedding memories. During this period, my wedding albums, frames, DVDs of the wedding etc were ready. And I also did the sembah-menyembah thingy where newly-weds visited the elderly who were involved in preparation of our wedding and show them those photos that were ready. This somehow shows our appreciation, and in turn for visiting them, they will return either give us gifts or ang pows.

Hubby and I went for our 2nd honeymoon in May, without realising at that time I was already 3 weeks pregnant. I didnt feel anything, in fact there was a surge in my appetite. After I got back, I started feeling sharp pains around my stomach area (which I ignored) and after 3 weeks, I started feeling nauseous. Took the pregnancy kit test and on 25th May, I went to see a gynae and was confirmed to be 6 weeks pregnant.

So that pretty much wraps up my 2010. From June all the way till now, I had been updating at least monthly the progress of my pregnancy, so that pretty much sums it all.

Oh, besides being about me (hahah), 2010 witnessed a lot of my friends got hitched. 3 of my closest buddies from primary school got hitched, followed by some clients who invited me to their wedding and other friends, or should I say acquitances,. Not to mention some cousins and young uncles as well.

About 4-5 of my relatives and clients also gave birth in 2010.. I guess that's it. 2010 is an ok-ok year where I really thanked Allah for my pregnancy.

So my resolution for 2011?

1) To be a mummmy! A good one, insyallah!
2) When I return from my maternity, I hope to excel in my career and do even better than I did in 2010.
3) Have a regular savings for my daughter-to-be
4) Eliminate procrastination in my life
5) Be happy as a daughter, a wife and hopefully a mummy.

----

Now updates on my pregnancy:

As I mentioned in my entry earlier, I am scheduled for another check-up on the 31st Dec 2010 to see if my cervix had opened. If it has, then we will be expecting a new year baby. At that point before the check-up, I just had a feeling that my baby wont be a new year baby (as in 1st Jan 11) because I dont feel any pains or anything different from what I had been feeling so far. Besides some discharge here and there.

Yes, I do feel heavier and my feet and hands are really much bigger but that was it.

So we went for the check-up, everything was ok. Baby's head is already down but had not engaged to the "exit door", heartbeat and the ultrasound scan was ok. BUT what wasnt ok was that during one of the scans, we noticed the umbilical cord being lower than the baby's head. This is not a good thing because it would mean that I may not be able to deliver the baby via normal delivery.

So the doctor asked me to come back on the 8th of Jan, where hopefully the umbilical cord will rise and the baby's head will be lower. If not, then chances are, I will need to have a C-section delivery.

The news kinda made me worried because all this while, I had been mentally and physically prepared to give birth normally. I am totally not ready to endure the pain (got to know abt this from people who had done C-section) and probably also the financial part, where we will have to fork out twice the amount than compared to a normal delivery.

Now, hubby and I can only pray and hope that the situation will make a turn. To all those reading this, do pray for me and baby. Thanks in advance. The check-up on the coming 8th will be the verdict. Anyways, I am kinda scheduled to deliver by next week also. Now I am at my 39 weeks btw...

I think I'll stop here, I had posted the most recent picture of me on Facebook, so I wont post it up here... Happy 2011 everyone!

@37 weeks

2010-12-18T10:15:00.004+08:00

Before I start updating on my progress (and baby), today is the day that I turned 25! Happy 25th Birthday to me!! Alhamdullilah, I have been living my life for 25 full years, and I believe I had made it a full life living within my capacity....

When tomorrow comes, it will be hubby's birthday. He turned 30 this year, and not to forget, tomorrow is also our very first year wedding anniversary!!! This time last year, I was solemnized to the man that I had known for almost 10 years. I'm glad all worked out fine. And insyallah by early next year, we will be having our very own junior... Her "appearance" to this world is well waited by almost everyone we know. Hope all will be well, insyallah.

Back to the usual updates, I went for my bi-weekly check-up last Thursday, 16th Dec 2010. By right, I was supposed to be in my 35++ to 36th weeks pregnant. Either the scan wasnt accurate from the beginning or my baby is a bit big, the scan showed that I am at my 37 weeks already!! Can you believe it, my baby is already full term and I have about 3 more weeks to go!

Time flies real fast, I must admit. I really felt it was only yesterday that I tested on the kit and saw the plus sign. Seems like only yesterday I was down with my morning sickness etc and now, I already almost reach the end of my journey. Soon, I will be able to cradle "the thing" inside me in my arms. I really can't wait.

Anyways, from 2 weeks ago, I gained another 1.7 kg, now bringing my weight to 62.9kg. Baby was 2.4kg 2 weeks ago and is now weighing a healthy 3kg... Some people told me before that they said due to my small built, my baby will be smaller and weighs lesser than 3kg.. Apparently they are wrong! She is now at 3kg and growing more.

Whatever the weight is, hopefully baby is fine and growing well. That's all I ask.

And after the scan, my EDD changed. I was due to give birth sometime around 14 jan 2011. But after the check last thursday, my gynae asked me to come again on 31st Dec where we'll do the scan again and the vaginal examination thingy. If the cervix (or sthg) is open by more than 2cm, then I'll be admitted to the hospital that day itself, and chances are, she maybe a new year baby. But of course if the cervix is not open, then we'll patiently wait for her to come out on her own.

So there peeps, it is now 18 dec. Seems like I have only a few days left to do whatever else preparation needed before a junior one comes along. So far, all baby stuffs have been bought from her playpen, diapers and all the way to minyak telon.

Well, do pray for me and hopefully I can have a normal, smooth delivery.

Oh lastly, I went to Parkway East Hospital last thursday as well to have the pre-admission registration. Some paperwork regarding the use of husband's medisave etc. And did I mention the hospital in the inside doesnt look like a hospital at all??? Upon entering the main entrance, there's this guy who is like a bellboy asking where we want to go. The lobby looks like a hotel lobby and there's valet parking as well! Is that cool or what? We registered ourselves for a single bedder, let's hope the room also has the hotel standard. At least what I'm paying for will be all worthwhile... hahaha

Till then!

@33++ weeks

2010-11-30T11:15:00.003+08:00

I went for my monthly check-up again yesterday. We reached the clinic at 9.30am but had to wait for almost an hour to see the gynae. Not because there were many people at the clinic, we were surprised to be 3rd, but because the gynae had to attend for some emergency at the hospital...

So there we were waiting...

Updates on mummy (to-be, insyallah)

1) I gained another 2 kg within a month, standing at 61.2kg now. Seems like I had gained close to about 9 kg within 33++ weeks of pregnancy...

2) My blood pressure, urine scan etc are all normal.

3) I have no stretch marks on my tummy (the gynae confirmed this)

4) Appetite is still strong, though nowadays sometime I'll tend to ignore my hunger and then felt guilty later for letting my baby starve. And as much as I try to control it, I tend to drink a lot of milo and dutch lady choc milk since 2 weeks ago...

5) I now already have a bit of difficuly walking, as I will feel heavy.

6) Am starting to feel heartburn especially when I lie down or walking outside.

7) Work-wise, I am starting to take it easy already since my financial year had ended, and since I am going on maternity soon, I am not able to participate in those upcoming projects that requires commitment... I'll join in once I'm back from maternity next year.

Updates on baby:

1) Baby is currently 33++ weeks, weighing 2.4kg at the moment.

2) Actively kicking and stretching every single day, especially when Im not moving.

3) Head is already at the bottom, but had not engage to the "exit door" yet..

4) We have bought 3/4 of baby's items in the list, left a few more things to buy in December.

5) Hubby had decided to give my bedroom walls a fresh coat of paint to celebrate our new beginning

6) We are also undergoing baby development programs right now, and had bought a whole set of baby learning materials from newborn all the way till primary education. Call us kiasu, but we just want the best for her. :)

I guess that's all the updates for now. Will be meeting my gynae again every 2 weeks now till I give birth. So till then! Have a good December!

ramblings @30 weeks

2010-11-01T10:17:00.004+08:00

This week is exactly 30 weeks of my pregnancy... Which means I have between 7-10 weeks more before I pop. So far all has been good, alhamdullilah...

The hunger is still there every 2 hours, until I reached a point where I actually told my family that I am tired of eating... Yes peeps, for the first time in my life, I AM ACTUALLY TIRED OF EATING.

Munching food is one thing, the other thing is to constantly think of what to eat next. Besides rice and the dish that my mum cooks everyday, I dont like to repeat what I eat in between.

So after breakfast, 2 hours later I'll be having food like doughnut and milo. Then I'll take lunch. THen I'll make myself a glass of milk and eat half-boiled egg. then I'll be munching on some light snacks. then I'll be having dinner. after dinner, i'll eat whatever things i can find in the fridge.. If hubby is home, then he'll be making me egg toast or something. then before i go to bed, I'll make myself another cup of milk before going to sleep. Oh, and I do make it a point to drink lots of plain water throughout the day.

Then when I wake up in the middle of the night to pee, depending on how much I ate before sleeping, I will get hungry again.. But usually between 2-4am, I'll be too tired to bother about eating... Then I have to pacify baby to hold on for a while before I wake up for breakfast.

So when that happen, chances are, I will be awakened by her kicks as early as 7am to have breakfast... My baby seems to be a very big eater, hor!

My mum asked me to enquire with the doctor about my eating habits because she mentioned when she was pregnant with all of us, she never ate too much like what I'm doing now... So does some other aunties.. But hubby and I never really see it as a problem as I am not gaining weight excessively... Afterall, who wouldn't a big and chubby newborn, right?

So far over 30 weeks of pregnancy, I gained about 7kg. And I am 0.6kg more to reaching 60 kg... whahahahaa... Never thought I'll reach 60 kg ever.

Anyways, munching aside. Last thursday, I had the frequent urge to pass motion. It was worse at night. I didnt had any stomach ache or any pains, but everytime I go toilet to pee, I will always end up passing off watery waste... And the worse thing, baby's movement was totally inactive that night. And that got me severly worried.

Since the clinic closes at 1pm on Friday, I decided to stay calm and monitor baby movement on friday. If there continued to be no movement, I am all ready to give my gynae an emergency call...

Thankfully, after breakfast on friday, baby started kicking again, but slower. And I dont have to frequent the toilet to pass motion anymore. And she started being active again on friday night. So as kiasu parents, we decided to go ahead and visit the gynae on Saturday just to check that baby is ok. (My appointment is supposed to be this wed btw)...

Doctor said that I prolly suffered from mild food poisoning that night. He decided not to give me any medication for it since I recovered. He claims that if he were to give medication, then it may lead to constipation later on.

During the scan, baby heartbeat was strong, and she is actively kicking my tummy. So after the check-up, hubby and I expressed a strong sigh of relief. Alhamdullilah everything is ok...

I was also briefed on the signs of labor and what to look out for... So yeah...

Anyways, today is the 1st Nov, which means I have about 29 more days before the financial year ends for my company. Seems I have to push a bit hard this few days, before maybe going on leave mid-end dec... We'll see my progress...

Hubby and I started buying a bit of baby stuffs, whichever we could grab on first. The rest have to wait when hubby and my schedule doesnt clash..

I'll end my ramblings here for now, have a good November!

@26 weeks

2010-10-16T10:07:00.003+08:00

Went for my monthly check-up last week, and baby was 26 weeks weighing almost 1kg now.. Doctor said baby is medium-large as most of the weight gain actually goes to my baby instead of to me :)

So far all has been well, appetite is ok but I do get easily tired nowadays. I tend to walk slower and walking short distance can make me breathless. Whenever I'm with hubby and we'd hold hands while walking, I can feel that he seems to be tugging me to go with his pace. I'd feel my hand stretched and then will tell him to walk slower. I CANT KEEP UP!...

We havent start buying baby stuffs, so prolly we'll do so end of this month.. By then I'll be 7++ months pregnant already already. Given my pace, I suppose we'll need a few days to do the shopping.. Now what we are planning to do is to compare prices from different shops in Singapore as well as JB. Once that's done, we'll grab the best deal (but of course quality products) :)

Nowadays, I also tend to feel very heaty. I'll sweat a lot and ended up having to bathe (including washing hair) about 2-3 times daily. Dont know why...

I also started compiling photos of me being huge for memories purposes. Whenever I got dressed, I'll request hubby to take a photo of me via his I-phone. But because I have no idea how to upload them on facebook mobile, the photos are still safely kept in his phone :)

Baby things aside, hubby met with an accident last Monday. It was drizzling, and he was on his way to work on his bike. Some cars did an e-brake and he ended up skidded downslope. Thank god the lorry behind him managed to brake in time.

Alhamdullilah, though his bike needs to be repaired quite substantially, hubby ended up with minor bruising and skin tear/abrasions. He was given 3 days MC and had only started work again today. Now, he had no more aches, just that all those bruising needs a bit of time to heal... It will be his off day tomorrow, so if I'm not lazy, probably we'll source for baby stuffs tomorrow, insyallah...

Till then, enjoy the remaining October month people!

Compilation of Photos Eid Mubarak 2010

2010-10-01T12:08:00.009+08:00

Well, to keep the memories of me having a huge tummy during Raya this year, I have decided to do a mini compilation of the 3 different occasions that I went visiting for Raya.. Here's a few for your viewing pleasure.

First Day Raya 10 Sept 2010 (with my side)
@21 weeks pregnant

2nd week of Raya (visiting hubby's side of family)
@22 weeks pregnant

3rd week of Raya (visiting with my primary sch babes)
@23weeks pregnant

Too bad I didnt have a standing photo of myself during this visiting. The one below kinda made me look "squarish" .. bluekk

candid

Proper shot

Thankfully, Im quite glad that though I didnt do a lot of visiting this Raya, the companionship from those present made it all worth it...

This year, the DPS girls all went as "singles". Prolly next year we should drag our husbands along as I will be bringing a lil one as well, insyallah...

Till then people, have a great October!

Eid Mubarak 2010

2010-09-18T11:09:00.008+08:00

We are now in the 2nd week of Syawal, and I can really count the number of days that I went out visiting. My parents side are more or less done, we completed them in the first 3 days of raya.

Tomorrow I will be going visiting to hubby's side of the family, and finally nearing the end of next week will be out with my primary school babes..

I guess that would wrap up my Syawal... Though that being the case, hubby and I still enjoyed this Syawal as this is the first time we are celebrating it as husband and wife. Insyallah when next year comes, we will have our lil one joining us.. This raya is also the first time I gave out green packets, so yup.. totally memorable!

The past week had me gone through a phase of heat and breathlessness... I will wake up sweating like crazy even though the fan was solely on me, the past week saw me sleep without being wrapped up in my blanket, and because of the extreme heatiness that I faced, I was out from work almost everyday... I just couldnt stand the heat from inside my body and the heat outside. All day when I wake up, I'll just eat, took my medication and showered. Then, I will wear all those thin cotton clothes and find myself near a fan to sit and watch tv.

I asked around, and the explanation I got from experienced people is that I will feel heaty now due to the pregnancy and this may go on all the way till labour. A friend of mine advised me to stay calm and dont think too much about the heat. I did just that and now surprisingly, I do feel better.

Nowadays, I can sleep with my blanket on, with the fan not blowing full-force at me and still wake up feeling a-ok!. No more sweating in the night. Yay!

Donno la, maybe its just the hormones changing... But then again, I'm loving all moments of the pregnancy...

Baby is kicking every day as usual, I still get hungry every few hours and I still like to nap whenever I can... And Im still lazy to go work, but no choice :(

Anyways, before I digress further, here's some pics taken on the first day of raya.
Hubby said I looked square in the outfit, and he even called me spongebob... Grrr...

Tell me what you think, ya?

@21 weeks

2010-09-09T10:29:00.003+08:00

Hello peeps!

Seems like Im only updating my blog for baby updates... Well, can't really blame me. If you must know, I am leading a rather mundane life now where its usually work as usual from Mon till Friday. By the time I reach home, my left side of my hips will be aching like crazy. I showered, did my prayers, eat, watch a lil tv and then off to bed.

Sat and sundays are spent relaxing at home, watching tv and sleeping. I rarely go out ok! Sometimes I cant go out as hubby will be working (he is on shift work, you see) and even if he's not, we'll (ok not we, I) will be too lazy to go out for whatever reasons.

So there you go.. I seemed to be eating non-stop this fasting month. I will get hungry every 2 hours and need to be fed with something. On normal days, I will eat rice meals for a minimum of 3 times a day (of course I control the portion) while those other times that Im hungry, then I'll feed myself with chocolates or nestum or milk or some kinda bread.

Hungry yes, but I still feel that I shouldnt gag myself with too much food in case I accumulate fats and then have trouble removing them after childbirth.

Anyways, after my previous check-up in which I did a $373 blood test, I went for my recent check-up last Tuesday, 7th Sept.

By then I am already 21 weeks pregnant. I dont feel heavy, but I do feel my stomach stretched. Yes, if you must know, my bump have shown. Im really proud to show it off to people. This time round, I am pregnant, and I dont have to pretend to hide my stomach fats that accumulates before I got pregnant.. whahahaa

Even my bowel waste "process" have improved. I still need to urinate frequently, especially at night. I'll be waking up 2-3 times every night for the toilet. But it terms of "poo-ing", from once a week during my first trimester, to every morning now..

Thank God (Alhamdullilah) everything went well. The test results are all good, including the test that I took to see if there is any infections from cats. I think it was called toxoplasma. Alhamdullilah, the test was negative.

We did a scan, baby's heart is pumping normally, already stretching and kicking hard, bones have developed more and of course its longer than the previous month. Unlike last month where baby showed its bum to us, this time, it had its legs wide open for us to see the sex.

Drum rolls please!

It is my pleasure to inform that I am expecting a baby GIRL. wahahah.. Hubby was glad that everything went on well but he was quite surprised the baby is a girl. He had expected it to be a boy because during our 3rd month scan, there was something sticking out from in between the legs. Well, we'll try again for a boy next season, ok hubby? :)

Our baby girl is now weighing close to half a kilo now, and I gained 2 kilo from last month. No more morning sickness now, just that I can't really walk a lot these days without feeling mengah. Cant imagine how it will be if im 8 months pregnant.

Anyways, I am feeling the kicks from baby now. Not strong yet, but stronger than last week. And this morning during the final sahur, it kicked quite hard when hubby put his hand on my tummy. Hubby was of course ecstatic. More to come darling, insyallah.

Do include us in your prayers, peeps...

I think that's all for now. Tomorrow is hari raya, and both hubby and I will be having a long weekend that starts from today all the way till monday...

To all those celebrating, Selamat Hari Raya from me and hubby. Maaf zahir dan batin. Tomorrow will be the first time we'll celebrate it as husband and wife, and my first time also to give out green packets... whahaaha

Missing Hubby

2010-08-17T10:04:00.003+08:00

Believe it or not, I am horribly beginning to miss my husband.

Since Dec 20 2009, we started to live together, sleep together, travel together and at least enjoy 2 meals a day together... Then for the first time last week, we were separated by reservice.

For those who are not aware, reservice is actually a call-back from the army to all the men for 10 years, each time varying 2-3 weeks for all these men to re-train again on saving the country. Hubby is at his 9th year now, which means he will have 1 more year next year before it all ends.

Ever since I got pregnant, I had been pampered a lot by my husband. I tried to ignore it when he went last week, and all was fine until he came home last saturday.

Then at 1am on saturday, we were both eating half-boiled eggs as I got hungry. We stayed up late to watch the movie 2012 via his iphone and we had the longest conversation ever after we got married.

This was so unlike it when I was all alone, and I slept quite early (by 9pm) after having backpains for working and sitting and walking the entire day. And even if I am hungry in the middle of the night, I will be making myself something all alone when all were sleeping.

That sucks, but I have no choice but to bear with it till this Saturday... True what people said, dating life and marriage life is entirely different. Somemore now with a child... probably my emo hormones just got the better of me..

@17 weeks

2010-08-10T19:21:00.006+08:00

Hello peeps, missed me much?

Apologies for the lack of updates. Last Month of July was a little busy for me. I was spending most of my time at work, meeting clients and stuffs and had it going full-forced. Reason being:

1) I had rested enough for the entire month of June due to the morning sickness and all

2) I need the most money in July. You see, my dad's car insurance renewal is in July and since hubby and I are the only ones using the car (besides my dad), he had requested that we shared the entire cost. My other 2 working sisters shirk the responsibility by saying that they didnt use the car, so why should they chip in to pay? *tsk tsk*

And furthermore, like I mentioned in my previous entry, I will be doing a blood test to ensure baby and I are healthy. So I had my check-up today, and the total bill cost me $373.

So there you go.

Today was my monthly check-up and I am at my 17 weeks now. It was a bit wierd not going to the gynae with hubby as he had to report for reservice today. Yes peeps, I am hubby-less for 2 weeks, all thanks to reservice.

Anyways, I went to the gynae with my mum. So far all is good. We did an ultrascan and it seems that baby already have bones developing. Baby's legs are kicking non-stop thruout the entire scan (even though i hadn't feel the kicks yet). At times when I lie down or shift from side to side, I can only feel one whole "lump" moving. But no kicks yet so far..

Alhamdullilah, baby is fine. And let's pray that the blood test will turn out good as well, insyallah...

The only thing was that we still could not confirm the sex yet. Baby's back was facing my tummy, so thru the scan, we could only see the back. Layan ar baby. All we could see was the legs moving and baby still refuses to budge no matter how the doctor turned the scanner.

Hubby called after the check-up. I told him what happened, he said, " Yerlah, baby pun taknak tgk camera, dia tau daddy dia takda..." Layan ar perasan laki aku...

My next check will be in 4 weeks time, so hopefully the blood test results will be good and that baby will reveal its sex. Right now, it doesn't really matter as long as baby is healthy and that I am eating... Weeee

That aside, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all muslims HAPPY FASTING. May this ramadhan brings us even more blessings to come, insyallah...

Oh, and did I mention that despite this ramadhan being the first for me and hubby to celebrate it as husband and wife, hubby is out serving his reservice and will only be back on the 21st. Crap.

Till then peeps, Selamat Berpuasa!

Truth Revealed

2010-07-06T10:46:00.005+08:00

Hello people!

I know I haven’t been writing for so long now… much updating you on my current condition since my last entry. But I have my reasons.

And right now, I will share why.

I mentioned in my previous entry how I suffered from stomach cramps that lasted only a few seconds but it occurred frequently within a day. This started immediately after I returned from my second honeymoon to Genting and KL.

Then 3 weeks later, I started to feel nauseous and could only take in soups and not sambals. And so we eventually went to check the following week.

Before I went to the doctor, which I remembered on a Tuesday, 25th May 2010, I did a self-check first. And the result was this...

Yup, I’m pregnant!

Since I hadn’t been keeping track of my period, I really have no idea when was the last cycle. But deep down inside me, I seemed to feel a presence of something in me. It’s really a grey feeling, but I just had a feeling. I didn’t want to be disappointed, so before going to the doctor, I asked hubby to get me a test kit on his way home and I tried that morning.

After confirming that it was positive, we immediately went to the gynae that afternoon. Upon my mum’s recommendation, we went to visit Dr Aziz whose clinic is in Kembangan. She said if we go straight to the gynae, they can scan and estimate how many weeks that I’m pregnant. The first bill cost us $130 but the feeling after the doctor confirmed my pregnancy is really beyond words. We are going to be parents. There’s “something” inside me that is growing day by day.

So the doctor confirmed that on 25 May, I was 6 weeks pregnant. The fetus was only 2.55mm small. A size of a pimple. Apparently I had started to conceive during our trip to KL/Genting. No wonder I had a really HUGE appetite when I was there. My aunt and cousins commented that I gained weight especially around the hips area. Luckily we didn’t know, because I’m sure if we had known, we wouldn’t enjoy the trip as much as hubby will surely not allow me to go swimming or take the thrilling theme park rides!

Anyways, Dr Aziz recommended that I drink Anmum and 2 weeks later during the next check-up, the fetus has grown to 14mm. And, when the doctor did a scan, we can hear its heartbeat beating at 171 bpm. Hubby and I were ecstatic. By this time, I was already 2 months pregnant.

at 8 weeks pregnant

Nothing much has changed, except that my normal appetite hadn’t return. I still feel nauseous at times and I haven’t had any cravings yet. I do crave sometimes but it’s only once or twice. Maybe more to come.

There also has been a barrier between me and my cats due to hygiene purposes. I rarely do the housework now, and hubby has been “nominated” by my mum to clean my room once every month where he’ll do all the dusting, changing the sheets and curtains, vacuum and mop. For these 9 months, I think I’m being treated like a queen.

Anyway, the main reason for that is also because of the fact that I get tired very easily nowadays. I can be sleeping the entire day, only to wake up for meals and prayers, but I’ll still feel tired. But anyways, I am glad that I am staying with my parents right now. Don’t think I can cope if I’m staying alone.

Our next check-up was yesterday, 5th July. I am in my last stage of my first trimester – 3 months pregnant!

at 12 weeks

From a size of a pimple, we saw a fully developed baby with head, stomach, spine, hands and legs. We could even see the nose clearly! My gosh, hubby and I were smiling in glee throughout the entire scan! And the best part, since the baby was in a very nice position, we could also see the gender! But the doctor confirmed the gender only 90%. He said we’ll wait till the next check-up and then give a 100% confirmation on it :)

My EDD is between 9-15 Jan 2011. Hubby is really looking at 11/1/2011, but that’s not what I care most now. I just needed sufficient rest and hopefully to have a smooth pregnancy. Please pray for me people.

Anyways, in my check-up next month, I’m scheduled to do a full blood test to check baby’s growth and myself thoroughly. And the cost, could reach to about $400… Means hubby and I need to work harder this month!

Till the next update!

Unwell

2010-05-23T17:32:00.002+08:00

I had been unwell ever since I came back from Genting/KL trip.

Every day without fail, I will feel sharp pains around my lower stomach that lasted for less than a minute for the past 2 weeks.

And right now, I often feel nauseous and had a "change in appetite". Sambal sotongs, or udangs or ayams or dagings make me wanna puke. The only thing that I like now is just soups. For the past 2 days, I told my mum about my change in appetite and she had been kind enough to make soups everyday for the past 3 days.

I do get hungry often but I just cant eat freely as I did last time. After I had my meal and an hour later, I felt the urge to eat other things but I'll just get nauseous again thinking about food.

Not sure what went wrong, but I do hope its nothing serious. I'll be making a visit to the doctor this tuesday hopefully if not wednesday to check.

And till then, i would appreciate if there's no speculations made on my condition :)

Will update further once the visit is done, insyallah.

Awesome Second Honeymoon

2010-05-16T19:36:00.011+08:00

Last week from 2nd to 9th May, hubby and I decided to explore Malaysia for our second honeymoon. Basically the main purpose was to just spend more time with each other ever since we came back from our Bali honeymoon last year December. Since we both started working again this year January, we rarely had time to communicate due to our clash in work schedules. Me with my job at AIA as well as a part time tutor while him with his shift schedule that sometimes made it hard for us to just spend time together.

So, the destination decided this time round was Genting Highlands and KL.

And the best part, we took all modes of public transport excluding the taxi.

On 2nd May, we went KL by the night KTM train. Reached KL Central on the 3rd morning at around 6.15am. Went for breakfast before taking the train again to explore Pasar Seni. Hubby never went Petaling Street before, so I brought him there to explore. Though most of the shops are not open in the day, we still managed to grab some shirts and shorts at those that were open at a very satisfactory price.

In the train that left Singapore exactly 1015pm

Upon reaching Pasar Seni

Back at KL Central

We were supposed to walk from Pasar Seni towards Masjid Jamek but we just cant find the way.. I've been there before but because most of the shops were still closed, I found it hard to recall the direction.

So we decided to head back and just chill at KL Central while waiting for our bus to genting skyway. Yup, we took the bus towards the cable car station.

Why you ask? Solely for adventure purposes. Furthermore, hubby never went Genting before, much less take the cable car ride up. So this is the chance.

Before boarding the Genting bus

Us in the cable car

View from the cable car

We checked in Genting from 3rd to 6th May. The theme park rides were really awesome! We really enjoyed ourselves. With the chilly weather and abundance of food plus each other's company, the 4days fly really fast.

Upon check out, again we took the cable car ride down before taking a bus to One Utama. To stay with my aunt while we explored KL. We reached One Utama at around 1230pm but my aunt could only fetch us around 330pm due to her needing to send her kids to school. So we had lunch there, and wondered around while waiting for her. Surprisingly the 3 hours were not felt at all. We didnt even get bored waiting.

The next day, my cousin was kind enough to drop us at Batu Tiga railway station as hubby and I decided to explore MidValley to do some shopping. Furtheremore that day was my pay day, so you can guess how much we spend... haha

Heading towards Midvalley Megamall by train

That night, my uncle and aunt had to attend a company dinner, so we had dinner with my cousions at Pasta San Fransisco around Bukit Jelutong area. Hubby ordered Aglio pasta while I ordered Mushroom chicken. Huge portion, definitely worth the price.

It was only on the 8th May that I was able to explore KL with my uncle and aunt as one family. We went KLCC, ate at a Sundanese Restaurant there, went to explore their Underwater World in KLCC. After that, since my cousin had swimming lesson at Abdul Rahman Country Club, I brought my swimsuit as well to do some leisure swimming. :)

Had dinner at Rasta before reaching home at around 1030pm. Did some packing since we'll be heading back to Singapore by flight at 2.50pm...

On flight Air Asia

More photos uploaded in FB..

A very refreshing break indeed. Looking forward to planning for our first year anniversary trip, insyallah...

Have a good week ahead everyone :)

Random Updates

2010-04-26T00:23:00.002+08:00

Last thursday, in conjunction with Earth Day, my department had organised a hike at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve for some teambonding and healthy activity.

Initially another team was supposed to be the organizer of the telematch games but becuase they had to attend to something more important, my team was given the task instead. We had a brainstorming session last monday and I came up with 2 out of 3 games that will be played during the telematch.

It brings me back to those old times when we played passing of the water balloons and the dog and bone game. Yup, that was what I suggested and trust me, those simple games were really fun, irregardless of the age that you are at now.

That was thursday. On friday, I was sooo in the TGIF mood that I just decided to slack at home. My calves were damn painful from the hike, thank god hubby was at home so I had him to massage for me before I went to sleep. Friday comes, the calves were definitely better but aniways I still decided to just rest at home :)

While resting, I got a call from my boss. I thought I was in trouble for not coming to work but instead, he wanted me to take over his duties while he is outstation tomorrow.

So yup people, when tomorrow comes, I am the acting boss!! whahaha..

Anyway, since I will be leaving for my holiday from the 2nd to 9th May, this weekend was really packed with errands.

Saturday, after I woke up and had breakfast, I bathed all my cats (they hadnt bathe since CNY in Feb). Hubby helped to wipe them dry with their towels while my mum watched (yup, my mum does nothing over the weekends)...

Once that was done, I managed to get a short nap before getting ready for a wedding dinner that was held at Lagun Sari... One of my babes will be getting married there at the exact same spot I went and I kinda already know how her decor and dais will look like since the restaurant had themes for 6 months and wont change their themes as often. So boo, no more surprise for me Ani!

Sunday, hubby and I did some errands before we walked around TKC and Joo Chiat to source for my outfit for Dee's wedding in June. The thing is, one night when I woke up, I suddenly had this image of my dream dress for her wedding. And it was tailor-made ok!

So I dragged hubby to see if there is something worth buying ready-made. Unfortunately, I was dissappointed to see the collection there. Then, we moved to sourcing for fabrics for tailoring. And I was dissappointed to lace collections offered. I already wanted to leave for home when I saw a lace and a special combination of the outfit I dreamt of. Last minute!

After the purchase of the fabric, we sourced for tailors there. And managed to find one.

So to DEE, MY DRESS FOR YOUR WEDDING IS TAILOR-MADE OK! wahaha... I am so excited to finally fulfill my desires. Cant wait to collect it in June!

Till then, have a good week ahead everyone!

Beloved Yuyun

2010-04-22T12:01:00.004+08:00

Yuyun is a cat that was brought to us by my husband about 2 years ago.

Initially yuyun was passed from an uncle of my hubby to him to take care. Hubby took care of her for about 2 months only before he left her under our care since he was going for a 1-month long reservice at that point in time.

So she stayed with us and refuse to go back to Hubby's place. She stayed, eat, played with us for 2 years before she slipped and fall from my bro's room and passed on.

So far besides her, 2 other of my previous cats had fall but survived. But that wasnt the case for Yuyun. She failed to land on her feet but landed face down first. When I went down to collect her this morning, her nose was bleeding, jaw bone broke and teeth chipped. I believe her spine was also twisted.

It was indeed a sad morning for all of us today. My mum kept apologizing to hubby (since that was kinda his cat) for her negligence, and that saddened me more...

But we can only pray for her. May she be blessed with HIM and the others that passed on, waiting for us in the next world, insyallah.

May 08 to 22 April 2010

Latest Updates

2010-04-11T12:28:00.004+08:00

Seriously, it has been a long time since I last blogged.

My blog feels dead.

Due to the lack of time and effort to type entries, I have now turned to Facebook to update friends on my status or my feelings at different points in time.

Anyways, lots of things have been happening so far. Nothing bad, luckily.

More work to be done in the office, more of meeting clients and travelling, juggling tuition in between for the extra side income, more on spending time with hubby and family including cats and that pretty sums up what has been happening in my life so far...

Met Dee last two days to have butter sotong at Rasa Rasa.. But this time round, it is a double date. Dee with Taib and hubby and I.

Hubby and I have planned for a trip to KL and Genting the entire week of 3rd May. And we kinda planned the trip without realizing that we are going on the exam period of my tuition kids. *hungs head in shame*

Anyway, we've had enough of paying extra just to go during the peak hours. Last year when we went to Bali for our honeymoon, total spent for the trip was $2500 for 6D5N. All thanks to the peak surcharges from airflight to hotels to everything else. But that time was different and much priority was given to it since it was our HONEYMOON, (first overseas trip together) :)

But now, to think about all the extras that must be paid, made us think twice to travel during the peak season.

Besides the travel plan, I am also planning to tailor an outfit for the many many weddings that I'll be attending this year.

Im planning to tailor a lacey dress as I am the bridesmaid for the wedding of Dee and Taib this june. Since I do not have the color that the bride-to-be requested, Im all out to spend on it :) Boleh buat baju raya jugak per....

So yeah, cant wait to source for kain and stuff!

Till then,
Have a good week ahead everyone!

Signing off w Love,
Baby Angel

Cooking

2010-03-14T22:18:00.003+08:00

This weekend, my parents went to KL to attend a wedding ceremony of my 2 aunts (they are siblings and almost the same age as me, but their ranked as aunts in the family) who got married this weekend at Kuang.

My parents and brother left on Friday night, right after I got back from my tuition. Hubby was kind enough to send me that day, since we both were not working.. And we decided to board the bus though we could have used the car before my parents left. Anyways, having these rare bus rides are quite fun sometimes.... Been a long time since we last did that.

Anyway, my plan with hubby to attend the wedding by flight today was destroyed after hubby couldnt get his leave approved. BORING... And to make it worse, he was on nite shift this weekend...

So we stayed at home to look after the cats while my mum was gone... My plan to have my friends over this weekend also could not happen as they brought my wedding album along to show the other malaysian relatives. So girls, sorry had to postpone our meeting to next week..

So while my parents were gone, I diligently did the entire cleaning of the house, my cats and the laundry. And my beloved hubby actually did the cooking. On saturday, we went to rent several dvds, had lunch together and watched it. While watching, hubby whipped up garlic breads (which we board the paste from Sheng Shiong) and we both enjoyed the rest of the afternoon in each other's company...

Anyways, as per my FB comments, I guess I am fortunate who have a husband that can cook decent meals for me, and the other sisters who are left here at home..

Yesterday's menu was Seafood Tom Yam, and today was udang&daging sambal tumis and sup sayur kailan... It was spicy but yummy! So tomorrow, he still have a day left to do the cooking before my parents get home...

And tomorrow, I am feeling sooo lazy to go to work,,, It is hubby's off day tomorrow :(

We'll see how it goes... Have a good week ahead people!

Reminiscing

2010-03-06T22:12:00.012+08:00

Reminiscing. Relive the moments. Thats what I just did.

Recollect what moments, you ask?

My wedding day, the biggest day of my life, so far...

When I received my degree, yes, it was a proud moment.

Proud because I managed to successfully complete my years of studying.

Proud to show the world that though I came from not-so-well-to-do family, I still managed to complete my studies.

And proud because of every 100 university students, only 3 are malays. And I am one of them...

And about 1 year after I received my degree, I got married.

Biggest day of my life, and my proudest moment. Reason being:

I managed to marry the guy that I have known for 9 years, the only guy (out of all others whom I had met and in r'ship) that compliments my character and emotional needs, the only guy that understands my compassion for cats and so forth...

As I mentioned before, I graduated in dec 2008, and only found a job on Feb 2009.

That 9 months of working saw our perseverance to plan for a beautiful dream wedding for both of us (without any help in terms of planning or financially, ok I calculated there's about 17% of help from near relatives), leaving me fulfilling the remaining 83% of the entire wedding in 9 months of pay. Honestly till now, I still cannot believe how I did it.

And as all brides, I still managed to do facial consistently for 3 months before my wedding, go on an overseas photoshoot and finally a honeymoon to wrap up the atmosphere... Totally unbelievable, but yes, I did it.

Last month, Feb 2010 marks the end of my wedding "environment". We collected all outstanding photos, dvds and what not... That finally wraps it all.

And tomorrow, 7th March 2010, the visits to close and elder relatives start (in malay its called sembah menyembah), where we bring our photos and visit the relatives who had helped out in the wedding and personally thank them...

And just before typing this blog entry, I had just watched my wedding dvd. I really enjoyed it, i was sent back to the feelings I had from the 18 till 20 dec 2009 and I was all smiles.

May this marriage be everlasting and may Allah grant us beautiful, healthy and soleh/solehah generations in time to come, insyallah....

Salam tangan yang pertama

First kiss

my best ladies - nikah

best ladies - dinner

cake cutting ceremony

On the dais - sunday

Merc- Benz, my bridal car

On the bridal bed

photoshoot in singapore

Too bad the my overseas photoshoot was compiled in a dvd. So dont think I'll be uploading that into here or facebook...

Till then, Love!

Hijab Styling Class

2010-02-21T23:48:00.006+08:00

Last Saturday, I decided to sign up for a hijab styling class.

I really dont know whats the reason, but I just felt a strong urge to attend it since last friday.

If you guys hadnt known, I had another of my childhood friend (nope, she's not in the usual group with the other babes I usually hang out with) working in my team as our telemarketer. Hence, I had roped her along to attend the class with me. It was very far in Sembawang, but we perservered on a Saturday afternoon.

The class had about 15 students, including us. All ladies, it was nice to get to know some of them. The "teacher" was incredibly friendly and creative. She interacts well with us and even able to answer our questions with a pinch of humor. The theme was about shawl tudungs, hence I really find it useful for my own knowledge. (as i've been wearing the same old style since Im 17!)

Light refreshments were provided, and there was some sale of her home-made drangling or head brooches for sale.

My husband fetched us back (thank god for that) especially since I wore a free henna that was provided there as well.

At the end of the session, I bought myself some stuffs to try.

Back home, I tried on the style that was my favourite in the class.

Of course the colors didnt match, and the end result should be better with more pins and a proper outfit. The above was just a demo and my first attempt..

So when should I try this style on? I wanted to wear this style tomorrow for my Lo Hei Lunch at a country club, but I realised that I dont have a very "loose" blouse to wear. If you notice, shawl tudungs tend to not really cover the chest area, hence you need to wear something loose in order for it to fit well :)

I think I can wait....

Till then, have a lovely week ahead peeps!

Love!

CNY Holidays

2010-02-16T22:44:00.007+08:00

I was out from work 2 days before the CNY holidays. Which means I was at home from Thursday all the way till Tuesday.

So what did I do? I dont really remember much, except that I only went to teach tuition. Other than that, I really spent 3/4 of my holidays napping.

Went to my hubby's niece wedding on 13 feb and spent almost the entire day there.

My hubby couldnt make it due to work, so I went with a sis to accompany me there.

A pose with my favourite dress :)

Me, the bride Ida and my sis

A shot with the bride and groom, Ida and Roy

Congrats once again to them, hopefully this marriage will be blessed with everlasting happiness insyallah....

Other than that event, I didnt do much. I was left alone at home and hubby-less on V-Day as the husband gotta work. He had to work 5 of the 6 days that I was on leave. Boring! But thinking of the double pay that will be credited to his account end month, I'm contented... hehe

So when I'll start work again tomorrow, he'll be on his off days tomorrow and thursday. *tsk tsk* schedule clashes...

But hey, we are still adjusting to this schedules thingy in our lives... And Im sure all will be fine...

Still enjoying the bits and pieces of marriage life.

Just like the borderless sea, hopefully our love will be everlasting insyallah...

Midnight Movie Date

2010-02-10T11:43:00.003+08:00

Last 29th of January, my hubby and I decided to go for our first midnight movie date together... Just the 2 of us...

That night we headed back to our crib in the west side of Singapore, before leaving for JB the next day to visit his parents.

So the movie we watched was "The Spy Next Door".. I think the storyline is quite lame and expected. The only humor from the movie is seeing how Jacky Chan speak English in his Chinese accent and some of his antics movements. Other than that, it really is a plain movie...

But no matter how horrible the movie was, we still walked away satisfied as we had enjoyed each other company very much that night. Also, it was a night worth remembering as it was our very first midnight movie date together...

Another thing to remember was that, It was my very first time appearing in VivoCity without make-up and in spectacles. Geeshhh...

Note to self: Never appear in such way ever again.

We eventually reached home at around 2am, prepared everything to bring to JB and finally slept at 2.30am... 3 hours later, I heard the alarm rang and it was time for us to wake up again...

You see, my car is an off-peak car that only allows travel from 3pm onwards on Saturday, hence the need to leave early before 7am to avoid paying the e-day license that is worth $20.

Anyways, another JB outing will be this 27 Feb and this time, I had asked my girls along. We'll see how it goes...

But seriously, I cant wait for this month to be over. Can't wait to collect my wedding DVD, and the remaining 4 of my wedding albums. After this month, then hubby and I can have a breather and then start our regular savings again...

Earlier this morning, I had actually enquired about a holiday package for us to go this May. If all goes as planned, then we'll be going to Harris Batam Resort sometime in the mid-may... Anyone wanna join????

"Sembah Menyembah"

2010-01-23T09:49:00.004+08:00

After collecting my very first wedding album (out of 5 albums) earlier last week, my mum asked me to go visit some older relatives that came to our wedding. In malay, this is called "sembah menyembah" where we bring our albums and visit those important or older relatives as a gesture of appreciation for helping out or attending to our wedding function a month ago...

The first, we visited was someone older and those kinda "domineering" nenek and their family... We often heard and even experience negative conversations with them especially during Hari Raya.. But anyways, since they had came and under some pressure of some aunties, we brought our wedding album there to let them view.

The second house was a visit to one of my nenek who stays in Melbourne with her family. We were appreciative as they had come down to our wedding from so far. They are returning to Melbourne this tuesday. So yesterday, a lot of exchanging stories was done. I felt more relaxed visiting this family compared to the previous one and felt extremely good to be involved in the conversation.. haha..

So now that we have visited those that are of priority, the rest of the "sembah menyembah" process will have to wait till I collect all the remaining 4 albums... :)

Till then, Love!

Changes

2010-01-17T22:24:00.003+08:00

As you know, both my husband and I have started working since last Monday... And since then, a lot of changes had occured...

What people say about being married is a totally life changing experience. I have to second that now. Nowadays, after I wake up, I can no longer chill, take a cup of tea and then read the newspaper. Yes, I can still do that if my husband is on night shift or not working. But on days that he is on the day shift, I wake up, drank a bit of tea and then prepare breakfast.

Im still staying with my parents so my mum still does the cooking. For me, I have to lay the food on the table for the husband. His needs will come first before I can finally have mine. Hey, dont get me wrong! Im not complaining.

As I mentioned, it is a life changing experience and Im liking it. I guess now I'm still lucky as Im staying with my parents. Imaging how early I have to wake up to prepare breakfast if we are staying on our own..

So to newly-weds out there, for you to cope with the new marriage demands and environment, I suggest you guys stay with the parents first before moving on your own.. At least I believe it will reduce the stress or emotional ride of suddenly bearing the demands or responsibilities on your shoulder. For me, it definitely is!

Another change I notice is the fact that we have to compromise with each other. Last time when we are still singles, he used to spend his off days sleeping through the day and probably meeting up with his brother for some kopi or soccer. But now, he spends the day with me, sending me to my tuition places and waiting for me to finish tuition then go home.

For myself, whenever the husband is on day shift, he will normally reach home at about 1130pm.. After shower, I will reheat the food and lay it on the table. He will refuse to eat if I dont, so I always end up eating late suppers (rice ok!) and then going to bed after that... If that continues, I am sure that I will double my size soon!

So yeah, after being married for almost a month now, we both are still adjusting to the marriage life. Adjusting to our work schedules and off schedules. Not to mention adjusting to keep going to and from his place and mine....

And I'm totally loving every single minute of it :)

The Newly weds - So in Love...

Memories of 2009

2010-01-10T00:21:00.003+08:00

Pardon me for this late entry.

A lot of resting and laziness has been going on lately.

This is because my husband, Sharil and I are on a very long leave till last Thursday. Yup people, get jealous! We were on leave since 15 Dec 2009 all the way till 7 Jan 2010! Yoohooo!

Anyway, this is going to be a very long entry, so enjoy!

While year 2008 saw me travelling all over the world the most times in my entire life where I visited places like Genting Highlands, Port Dickson and other parts of Malaysia, I also went Batam and explored different countries in the Middle East like Dubai, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi.

Year 2009 saw a different side of me… I’ll break it down.

Dec 08: Graduated from SMU, finding a job and was contemplating on getting married. According to our engagement agreement, Dec 09 will be our 2 years together, and tying the knot would be the right thing to do. But as the market was hit by the crisis, finding a job was really a pain in my ass… opps!

Jan 09: I finally found a job and joined AIA under the executive development program. There’s exams and courses that I need to take, so I spent the entire month studying and taking exams before I finally signed the contract on 29 Jan 09.

Still contemplating on getting married because I realized that my parents were not able to sponsor my wedding and that I had to bear the cost all by myself without any savings in hand…

Because of this, I wanted to postpone the wedding to 2010 but Sharil’s family kind of disagreed and even wanted to lend me money for the wedding. Of course, I didn’t take up their offer. Aku pun tau malu ok!

Hence, from January a lot of solat hajat and istikharah done, in hope to help me get out of the dilemma and see the light from HIM.

Feb 09: Where I started my life as an “insurance agent”. Reason why I put the “…” is because a large part of me is doing sales and marketing of insurance products but at the same time, I’m spending quite a lot of time on company roadshows and presentations. I’m also teaching tuition as freelance, and had since started this month.

March 09: I received my very first pay. Surprisingly, I was very calm and somehow able to see the “light”. I cannot really put it in words but my heart seem to speak towards the direction of getting married.

A lot of discussions between the families took place, and we came to a decision – 19th and 20th Dec 2009 will be the final date, a day after my birthday.

This marks the start of Sharil and I putting deposits on things like bridal, dais décor, wedding cakes, bridal room décor and catering.

Honestly, I haven’t done any shopping or pampering myself with my first pay. It was used entirely for the deposits and marriage matters.

April 09 – Nov 09: Work at AIA went on as usual. I was still teaching tuition and had even taken up more assignments to increase my income. Yup, it really reached a crazy stage at one point of time! Too many things to juggle in 24 hours!

Anyways, I attended my graduation ceremony and prom night in July 09. A week after the ceremony, I also spent money (I paid for everything!) for my family studio shoot with Photo Image Gallery as a lifetime memory of my (and my parents) proudest moment in life.

That month also, I paid for the construction of the sliding door for my cats at my balcony. Some unexpected things happened with the neighbors and I had to remove some partitions in that balcony. I don’t want to elaborate more on that. It wasn’t very nice….

This period of time also saw Sharil and I going to and fro Johor and geylang for our wedding stuffs.

To summarize our wedding arrangements, we took the following from Johor:

1) My dinner gown from Exclusive Bridal
2) Cards for Saturday and Sunday were printed there from Plaza Impian and Marina Cards Design
3) Engaged a photo-shoot package from ATT Studio with 8 different outfits
4) Sharil’s berkat from Jelita
5) Bekas Bunga Rampai for me during the solemnization from Plaza Impian
6) Facial Treatment from Mai Beaute Parlour
7) Sirih dara and pulut paha from Plaza Impian
8) My best ladies baskets and collar pins from Jelita
9) Potpurries for the bunga rampai from Jelita

These are the packages we took in Singapore:

1) Bidal from Nash Bridal with 6 different outfits, make-up included
2) Photography for 2 days event from Wicked Photographs
3) Videoman from Artwave Production
4) DJ from Jai Sound Production
5) Caterer from a relative that we know
6) Dais and void deck decor from RH Bridal
7) Bridal room décor, wedding cakes, gubahans from Al’Emma Corner
8) Performance for dinner from Hylena Dance Group
9) Bridal car (Mercedez Benz) from Aziz Company
10) Kompang and kuda kepang from Kompang Putra
11) Kendarat from Boyz in Black

Don’t think I missed out anything else. Initially it was quite a challenge because if you noticed, we did not take it under 1-house. It was segregated and coordinating it was a challenge. But being me, who excels in project management, I believe we executed the event well.

Believe it or not, our entire wedding was planned by Sharil and me – without any help or interference from the parents. It can be deemed as our own dream wedding.

Dec 09: I worked till Dec 14 and then went on leave from Dec 15 onwards. When other couples were not able to see each other anymore at least a month before the wedding ceremony, Sharil and I still met on the 16 and 17 dec to do all the last minute stuffs and gown collection from Johor. I also did my fitting on the 17 dec with Nash Bridal. And that got my mum frowning.. haha.. she kept telling us to be careful, and drive carefully etc….

Berinai was on 18 dec, my birthday.

19th dec: The day I became Sharil’s wife, which coincides with his birthday as well. My solemnization ceremony started at 11am that day.

After photo-taking at the dais and lunch, Sharil and I changed into 3 outfits for our indoor shoot at my crib.

I started getting ready for my dinner reception at about 5.30pm. I wore a beautiful big purple gown that was specially rented from Exclusive Bridal from JB. I really liked how my mak andam dolled me up, and was very happy at the result.

Dinner reception went on well, with the guests singing for us our birthday songs during our cake-cutting ceremony. Sharil also got sabo-ed by the DJ to reenact how he proposed to me, and by my best ladies to sing me a song. He sang a bit of Bukan Cinta Biasa from Afghan and that left him perspiring all the way. Haha

20th dec: Majlis bertandang carried on as usual. Everything went all well except for the last part where it was a bit rushed. I reached back my place exactly at 5pm and there weren’t many guests left.

Alhamdullilah, my wedding ceremony went on well with a few minor glitches that were solved almost immediately. I also received lots of positive feedbacks about the décor of the void deck and the dais, my appearance, the gubahans and the bridal room.

Thanks for all the feedback people! It really made me feel that the money spent was worth it.

Thanks to the relatives who sponsored my berkats, those who gave us foods to add on to my reception and all the presents received. Many thanks to all who had been involved, especially my parents in one way or another on the day itself to ensure the event was a success. Thank you.

All in all, I spent about $26,000 for the wedding fully paid by me. (minus whatever that had been sponsored). Yup, I was surprised too that I was able to fork out so much after only 9 months of working. Imagine that.

A lot of self –sacrifice needed though. No shopping or a big feast. I had to scrimp and save as much as we could. Sharil also spent about the same amount for his side. Gosh, we were joking the other day saying that if we hadn’t been married, we both would have about $50,000 in our account. Yeah right.

21st dec: Spent the day settling all the outstanding balance in full

22nd-23rd Dec: Went for the photo-shoot at JB

24th-28th Dec: Went for honeymoon in Bali.

We visited 2 different places of 2 different environments. Our first hotel where we stayed was Alila Ubud. A five star hotel that was surrounded by sawah padi and flora and fauna. A peaceful environment for honeymooners.

Then, we proceeded to Kuta, the town of Bali where we visited and have lunch opposite Volcano Batur, had dinner at the beach watching the sunset, had a candle-light dinner at a hilltop witnessing the town filled with lights, witnessed the breathtaking view of the Uluwatu area where there were amazing breakwaters and their cultural performances such as the barongan and Balinese dance.

I also had my fair share of spa and massage, and finally indulging in a bit of shopping spree to bring back souvenirs for our loved ones.

It was really an amazing honeymoon, I must say! Totally worth the money.

I think I will stop here now. Though it is a long entry, I’m glad I managed to pen it down to share, and reminisce the good times that occurred as a wrap to the year of 2009.

Alhamdulillah…..

p/s: Honeymoon pictures will be uploaded to facebook. I am still waiting for the photographs of my wedding from my official photographers to be uploaded on facebook.

Till then, please be patient!

Happy Birthday to Me

2009-12-18T11:23:00.003+08:00

Today, I officially turned 24. And as Im typing this entry, my background is filled with voices of both humans and cats.

In case you havent realized, I will be married to Mr. HHH tomorrow. And as per my engagement ceremony 2 years ago, all my cats are "locked" in my parents room. And the human voices are my relatives who came from Msia, this morning.

The past few days have been hectic for all of us, including Mr. HHH and I. Following tradition, both of us are not supposed to meet one month before our wedding. But for us, we still met yesterday, which is the 17 Dec to settle all the last minute stuffs that are pending up our sleeves... Not that no one cared about our wedding, its just that both of us have been planning for our big day, and since we've been handling it since day 1, we feel that we need to finish it ourselves.

I did felt worried about a few events the past few days, especially when there are no news from the people/businesses who are involved in my wedding. But alhamdullilah, all is well now.

Right now,my dais and decor are ready, including my bridal room. And it was perfect. All according to what I want and had planned for. So far, it is really MY DREAM WEDDING.

Though I may not have done the reception is a high-class hotel etc, I dont feel any regrets as I feel that it can be done much better the traditional way, insyallah... So there you go..

I am uber excited now, but no doubt the nervous-ness is kicking in..

Hearing people discuss about your wedding really feels wierd. Hearing people call you pengantin feels funny, but that said, reality sets in.

To all those coming, I hope to see u on sat/sun/both days. haha.. For those who may not be able to come, hopefully your prayers are with me...

Right now, I can only pray for all to go well and as planned. I've been planning for this since March this year, and now I get to see the result.

Ya allah, sempurnakanlah majlisku... Amin

deep down inside my heart....

2009-12-09T18:47:00.000+08:00

When you think that the world shows its back on you, don’t fret.

Don’t drain yourself with all the negative and bad energy.

Sometimes HE is testing us.

And remember, HE won’t test us beyond what we are capable to handle.

A lot of people say lots of things.

That is definitely beyond our control.

But what we can control is how we take whatever they said.

Our response, our thoughts and of course our actions to whatever been said.

For there will surely be some souls out there who are always watching over you.

Souls that are waiting to catch you whenever you feel like falling.

These souls can be your beloved parents, siblings, husband/wife, fiancé/fiancée, friends etc…

These past few months, I know that the people around me, including myself have lots going on. Be it weddings, engagements, newborn, career switch, funerals and so on.. And I have personally see how different people react to each incident.

To be honest, I can break down if I didn’t have that patience, the self-controlled and positive emotions.

I hang on even the people around me jeered at what I am doing. Sometimes I feel like bursting whenever they used words like “beban”, “ apasal tak boleh tunggu dulu”, “takda hasil” etc… Deep down, I just don’t believe that these people don’t share the same feelings as me.. Aren’t they excited as well? Is what I’m doing a problem to them?

Whatever it is, it’s too late to retract. Times are moving, so is my life. Maybe this is what that have fated, and the future seems still uncertain. But one thing for sure, I believe HE have created what is the best for me. And with that in mind, I paved my way bravely. For even if the whole world is facing its back on me, I know that Sharil will always be there for me.

Someone once said, we cannot control whatever people want to say. But how we react to what’s being said differentiates a person’s fate in live. And I agree. It is hard to please everybody. So let’s start by pleasing myself.

Someone also said, whatever happens, always remember the journey, not the destination because the journey is the one that is going to shape who you are now and in the future.

Ya allah ya tuhanku, tabahkanlah hatiku, kuatkanlah semangatku untuk menempuhi dugaan ini semua… Semoga semuanya berjalan dengan lancar, insyallah.

the last few things....

2009-12-06T11:42:00.004+08:00

I cant believe that Mr. HHH and I are just counting days to our big day...
Our wait, or rather his wait to be exact, from 9 years have been reduced significantly to 13 days... I cant believe it either :)

So basically the preparations are going on smoothly...

Unlike my engagement ceremony 2 years ago where I chose brown & gold as my color theme, this time, I decided to go for brighter and vivid colors. Everything is bold, bright and vivid. Be it for my room decor, my void deck decor, my best ladies baskets, pulut paha color theme etc...

So yesterday, Mr. HHH, my mum and my aunt, cik idah and I went JB again to buy my sirih dara, pulut paha, potpurri and my best ladies baskets.

For the first time throughout my wedding preprations since March this year, I had some "interference" from other party - my mum. All this while, I had the power to choose exacty what and how I wanted it to be.. But yesterday, it was a bit diferent.

Initially I was a bit pissed, but after a while, I calmed down and totally gave way to my mum for these things. Coz I realized, I just wanted her to feel happy and "participate" in her eldest daughter wedding preparations, for once. We compromised, and finally bought what was needed. Yerlah, most of the things I had decide, so everthing is more or less to exactly how I wanted my wedding to be :)

Let's run thru the checklist again:

1) pelamin - CHECKED
2) room decor - CHECKED
3) food/add. desserts - CHECKED
4) best ladies stuffs - CHECKED
5) studio shoot - CHECKED
6) performance - CHECKED
7) dj - CHECKED
8) cameraman/videoman - CHECKED
9) bridal - CHECKED
10) kendarat - CHECKED
11) sirih dara - CHECKED
12) pulut paha - CHECKED
13) distribution of cards - CHECKED
14) bunga rampai - CHECKED
15) dulang gubahans - CHECKED
16) inai - CHECKED
17) berkats - CHECKED
18) bridal fitting - NOT CHECKED
19) collect dinner gown - NOT CHECKED
20) choc/dried food for exchange of gift - NOT CHECKED
21) honeymoon trip - CHECKED

I think thats about it.I didnt take those under one roof package, so all the items aboved are sourced out individually :)

The not checked items will be settled on the 16 insyallah.. I'll be on leave from the 15 onwards, all the way till 4 jan... YIPPEE!!

p/s: Berinai will be held on my Bdae - 18 dec, so those interested, do come by to get yours for $5 a hand :)

9th Year Anniversary

2009-11-24T18:09:00.000+08:00

Today marks the 9th year anniversary of Mr. HHH and I.

Yup, we have known each other for the past 9 years.

Let me share a bit on how we got to know each other....(at least I am penning it down where I can also get to read my feelings next time)

We knew each other over IRC when I was still studying in Secondary 3. It was almost the end of the year. That time, he was 20 and still serving his national service. I can still remember the difficult times to meet when he was in NS. Whenever he said he'll book out from camp at 5pm, we planned to meet at 6pm or something.. But he will end up always being late. Even once, I reached the place but he still couldnt book out. Thats how irritating and frustating dating army boys that time. Urghhh!

But, we survived that "ordeal".. And Ive learnt my lesson.. Whenever he's having reservice or anything to do with the army, I will always make sure he is home first before making any plans. haha.. and it worked! Apparently till now the army still havent change the "behaviour" - tak pernah tepati janji! ish...

So then I went poly, and I was in several other relationships with other guys behind his back. But eventually he found out about it and we landed up in a huge fight. Everytime we fought or are unhappy with each other, the words - "lets break up" never ever came out from his mouth. Even when he knew I was 2-timing him.. Only god knows the real reason.

I guessed that time, at such a young age, I dont want to be involved in a very serious relationship. Like my mum always used to say, always give yourself some choices before marriage as marriage is something you keep for the rest of your life.

I eventually stopped all my nonsense at the age of 20. 5 years after knowing him.

I realised 1 thing. Even though the other guys I dated were much good-looking and richer than Mr. HHH, there's no one who can compliment my character. I have cats and I love them so much, till the extent of doing anything for them. But those whom I met never shared the same empathy or love for them, unlike Mr. HHH... That's one example. I have others which I shall not reveal all here...

So then I realised, probably Mr. HHH is the one for me. We compliment a lot of each of our character, the fact that he never initiated any break-up words etc made me realise how matured and patient he was. Once, he told me that he never really minded what I did in the past because I was young. He also wanted me to have a choice before deciding who I want to live with forever.. And he told me at the same age, he was like me tooo...

And thank god, we are still together despite all those that had happened. We even managed to break through my parents "dislike" for him..

What happened was that when I was still in Secondary school, my dad caught us holding hands at the void deck! And since I am the first child and that is the first time all those things started to happen, I got hell BIG TIME!

For the first time in my life I was curfewed, and I was never to see him again... Even though we only knew each other for a couple of months, he held on to the rocky relationship.. And after a long final wait, probably my parents saw how serious he was about me, all what happened after that is history...

I am glad that we are still in this together. People asked, even my siblings asked whether I ever got bored with him. And the answer is NO!

Believe it or not, ever since we met, we have been talking on the phone every single day for the past 9 years! (Prob only minus 4 months when he was in camp and I was in Mecca).. Other than that, we never failed to talk to each other - and I meant long conversations at night! for every night! I really cannot recall what we talked about but there's always something to share! Amazing right?

Anyways, it's only left with 23 more days before we finally will live together as husband and wife. Do help to pray that all will go on well and smooth, insyallah...

Till then, Love!

Invite Cards

2009-11-19T17:29:00.000+08:00

As I mentioned in my previous post earlier, we are in the midst of sending out the cards to everybody be it for my dinner reception or my lunch reception.

My mum was sharing with me the other day...

Someone: Nim, ingatkan taknak jemput kita, kita tunggu2 kad tak sampai2.

This someone even went to the extent of asking her sis whether my mum had given her the invite card. Gosh... either she's afraid my mum forgot about her, or she just got too excited to attend my wedding. I prefer to think the latter.

So to anyone and everyone out there, please hang on for the cards. You may have received it or it is on the way.

Latest update: I printed 100 cards for my dinner reception and 500 (+3 extra = 503) pieces for my lunch reception and all is "sold out". Hence, we seek your cooperation to hang on a while before the cards reach you. Thank you :)

p/s: I am supposed to send my barang2 for gubahan today but because it was raining so heavily from Mr. HHH side, we have to postpone it. blueekk..

I sure hope it wont rain at all on the weekend of my wedding. pray hard...

Love!

here i am again

2009-11-16T13:47:00.000+08:00

It has been quite a while since I last blogged. Busy busy busy as a bee!

There's the work targets, the wedding preparations - including sending invite cards, and all that (sirih dara and pulut paha yang belom beli nih!) and something that happened to my family and I last week.

A very hectic week indeed!

First of all, my condolences to you Suki Cida and hubby for the loss of your beloved child, Arwah Aryssa Dania Zulaikah who passed away 5.5 months in her mother's womb. Tabahkan hati, kuatkan semangat. Banyak2 kan bergembira and berdoa selalu agar tuhan sentiasa memeliharanya... Anak syurga tu kak cida... Semua yang diturunkan tuhan ada hikmahnya... I'll always pray for the best of you insyaallah..

Then last week, one of my primary school babes, dida was hospitalized at TTSH. She had fever on and off for more than 3 weeks before the doctor referred her to the hospital for some tests to be done. Im glad you got well and are discharged already babe..

Oh, and if u hadnt notice, the news that was exchanged last thursday really got me by surprise! Maybe its fated, our jodohs are all here around the same time, insyallah...

Apparently 2 more aunts of mine was also hospitalized. We didnt visit them as we weren't inform about it. I know 1 had been discharged while the other still in hospital. Hopefully all is well for her as she's pregnant with twins right now.

Mr. HHH and I will be scouting for his pair of show for our hantaran exchange later today. It's his off day and my appointment is cancelled. So a good day to go out and scout. heh

Most of you are asking me about my wedding preparations.. Let me give an update.

1) My parents and I are in the midst of distributing my wedding invites. So if you havent got yours, kindly wait a while :)

2) We are going for our facial this coming monday in JB. And my bridesmaid are coming along to scout for their outfit. So hopefully it will be a fun day out :)

3) Decor just came and met us yesterday. Im a bit dissappointed as I couldnt really get what I had pictured in mine due to the lack of space, but there's nothing much we can do about it. :(

4) THings left to buy: sirih dara, pulut paha, Mr. HHH shoes. The rest all settled :)

5) Things to buy for my mum: Kuih-muihs (top-ups, their baju sepasang, tilams, cadar as we are expecting visitors from msia to stay with us).

6) Things left to pay: A lot. haha

That's about that.

I'll update again soon,I hope! till then!

Special message to TIME

2009-11-03T11:37:00.004+08:00

It felt like only yesterday was February.

It felt like only yesterday I left school, and was busy looking for a job.

It felt like only yesterday I was contemplating on my AIA job offer.

It felt like only yesterday I attended my graduation night and ceremony at Suntec.

It felt like only yesterday I turned 21.

It felt like only yesterday I got engaged to Mr. HHH.

It felt like only yesterday both families discussed whether to have the wedding in 2009 or 2010.

It felt like only yesterday I finally put all the deposits for my wedding in March after I received my very first pay.

And now it is already 3rd of November 2009. Which means it is another 45 days to go.

Planning in details, itiniary, number of people to deploy, the songs to be played, the decor, etc etc are all taking place concurrently.

My feelings? Really mixed...

- Anxious becuase there's still a lot of tiny gritty details to be done
- Panicky because there's some last minute hiccups and that I need to fork out more money
- Stressed as I also have monthly targets to meet
- Relieved as most things have been settled
- Excited as I get to plan for my very own wedding, exactly what I have in mind for a dream wedding

I really hope all will be well and as planned. Dear God, please listen to my prayers...

Kids

2009-11-03T11:30:00.003+08:00

Yesterday I had a tuition session with a Primary 4 and 2 kids. (They are siblings btw)..

Since their last paper for today is Malay, and malay is a language subject that you will never know what's coming except for the peribahasa, it was quite a relaxing session yesterday...

So we spent a while chatting on other things under the sky - the fish, science, telephones and finally about work. Then there was this conversation:

Kid: Kak, once u became an adult what do you want to work as?

Me: I am an adult already.

Kid: No lar, I mean when you get older.

Me: *all smiles*

Aku dah nak kawin dia boleh tanya dah besar nak kerja aper eh!

Either they are just very naive or I look very young.
And I prefer the latter :)

Anyway just to share: whichever clients I got from tuition agencies, I usually dont reveal a lot about myself, esp to the kids. To the parents, if they dont ask me whats my age then I wont tell. At most I'll just inform them that I am already working full time and that tuition acts as my side income. This is an important fact so that in the event I need to change tuition time due to work purposes, it will be much easier ;)

Random Updates

2009-10-27T13:28:00.000+08:00

Let's start with last week.

Last week was really a terrible week. Things that I had planned earlier unfortunately did not turn out as planned.

What, u ask?

Work is one of the them. I had planned for 9 appointments last week, but only managed to attend to 4. While the other 5 had cancelled it due to whatever-possible-reasons-in-the-world.

My contributions to the household was another. A delay from an income source led to someone in the household giving me sighs and long faces whenever she met me. Believe it or not, we weren't even on talking terms for a few days last week.

My JB trip with Mr. HHH last thursday didnt happen either. After he took an urgent leave, and the high hopes that it will happen really left me freaking dissappointed.

And all other knitty details that I am lazy to talk about here.

But one thing good is that I was at home over the last weekend. Relaxed with just me and my cats. My parents went to KL for some function, and there was rarely anyone at home to irritate me....

So whats happening this week?

My day started off really well yesterday. Met Mr. HHH at about 12pm and off we went JB to settle our wedding stuffs. Collected the wedding cards, our baju hantarans yang di tempah (2 sets), went shopping for household groceries in Giant and finally we both did our hair in a salon called C Professional.

I gave my hair a brand new look, gave it a trim and rebonding. Yes peeps, I DID REBONDING! haha...

After 23 years and 10 months living with the same hairstyle of crazy frizz, I took a brave step to move out of it. So all that is left now is shoulder length, straight, long and thick hair. I am sooo in love with it!! Not to mention the new fringe that I had now, which was never there in the past.

And while waiting for me at the salon, Mr. HHH decided to color his hair. So there we have it. A new look for both of us.

I'm now in the office settling some stuffs, and I'll be out soon. Hopefully this week will be a better one that last. I really mean it.

Love!

Raya - Singles

2009-10-17T00:06:00.009+08:00

It has been our tradition to celebrate at least a day of break fasting together during the Ramadan month, and it has been our tradition to visit each other during Raya.

This year, we did it again. Broke our fast at Pattaya Gardens in September and met again on 10 Oct 2009 for Raya.

It was full attendance (though Ani had to leave half-way thru due to some family function).

Most significant about this outing is that this will be our last celebrating it as singles.

I'll be officially "chopped" by Mr. HHH this December, followed by Dida next year June and Marhaini next year September. Dee's turn will be in 2011. Ain and Fariza to be soon, I guess... So next year Raya, probably 2 of us, maybe 3 kalau marhaini sempat will be celebrating it with the hubbies... Though only time will tell whether the hubbies will be joining us for Raya or not..

We totally enjoyed ourselves, though we didn't really manage to visit as much houses as we thought we could.. It was a Saturday, and a lot of people weren't at home.

The company was great. Dida drove us round and we ended our day with moments reminiscing the primary school days. We even went around their old houses in Ubi and talked in the carpark Ok!

How's that for an outing...

Meeting some of them again this sunday to recce the cloth!

Dee's Engagement cum Open House

2009-10-05T20:53:00.007+08:00

One of my babes, Dee, got engaged last Sunday. Congrats babe!

Mr. HHH & I went to fetch Ain & Fariza and we all reached her crib at about 1.15pm. Where the bride-to-be is still getting ready. So we ate and talked and took photos, but due to some changes in timing, all of us were not able to stay to witness the engagement ceremony.

But there, we met another primary school friend of ours, Mardiana. I was surprised that she looked exactly the same as per 15 years ago!

Here's some pics for viewing, the rest have been uploaded to facebook :)

Till then, have a good week all!

Hari Raya Open House

2009-10-05T20:34:00.007+08:00

After much request and demand, I finally decided to hold a Hari Raya Open House specially catering to friends, colleagues and clients of mine, who had been supportive towards me these past years, and also those whom I have never seen around for the longest possible time.

I picked the date 3rd October 2009 from 12pm-7pm. However, guests only started coming at 1pm and non-stop stream of people in and out until 9pm.

The day before the event, my mum, Mr. HHH & I had went to the market to prepare all the things/ingredients needed.

The menu for the day: Tomato Rice, Briyani Beef/Mutton, Ayam Masak Merah, Sweet & Sour Fish and Vegetarian Soup. We also had yellow watermelons as dessert and lemon juice as the chosen cold beverage.

Who else be the chef? Yup, my only mum. She spent that Saturday morning cooking while I spent the entire morning cleaning the entire house, including the cats home. Mr. HHH came at about 11am and he started helping with the other preparations like mixing the drinks and things like that.

About 50 guests turned up, and unexpectedly the initial amount of food we cooked apparently wasnt enough! They liked my mum's cooking so much that she have to cook and re-cook more for more than 3 times. I found out that she eventually cooked 19 pots of tomato rice at the end of the day. That's about 4 rounds of re-cooking rice in a huge pot. At the end of the day, my entire freezer of our own ingredients for cooking were all whipped out! Imagine that!

But at the end of the day, we were all happy and thankful that the event was a success and that there were no wastages of food. And I believe my guests made my mum's day by showing their genuine appreciation about the food prepared.

I am also thankful to Mr. HHH and my 2 other sisters Amy and Ika for helping out in the event.

To those who came, thank you very much. To those who couldn't make it, perhaps next time and to those who perhaps I didnt invite, I didnt purposely leave you out. It was just that this is my 2nd time having an open house of my own (the first when I was still in SMU) and I was afraid to make it BIG.

Last Saturday was really a trial and if GOD permits, I will have another one probably next year. This time it will be BIG, where I'll probably involve my own relatives and cousins and more friends and colleagues, insyallah.

Some momentos: (the rest already uploaded on facebook)

Enjoy! Love!

Anything, Everything

2009-09-28T23:11:00.020+08:00

First Day Raya

This year Raya is a bit different for my family and I. Reason was because my dad had to work during the first 2 days of Raya, and he left me to bring the family around.

As a result, we didnt "follow" my dad's side as usual but ended up following my maternal uncle instead.

It was weird, but definitely a new experience... Here are some memories for viewing - others have been uploaded to facebook :)

Family Potrait

Maternal Side

My siblings with our fraternal grandparents

With maternal cousins

Home Raya MakeOver

As some of you may have known, or as written in my previous entries, we had done some makeovers to our house especially in lieu with the wedding that will take place this December (insyallah)..

So here's the "result":

The $2000 sliding door that keeps my cats in
(plus the compartments and other accessories inside the cat's house)
p/s: this is also the cats house that I have to clean every once a week :)

The new sofa seats, pillows and table cover
(which we keep when the cats are let out)

And another for the dining table

Finally, the family potrait & the 8R table top from the studio shoot that costs me about $1000...
p/s: there's also an album that u can view if u come over :)

Anyways, I will be organizing a Hari Raya Open House for all friends, colleagues and clients this Saturday, 3rd Oct from 12-7pm.. To those who are coming, can't wait to see you soon.. To those who are considering, hope to see u there!

Swensens dessert Buffet at the ION Orchard

My friend gave me a voucher to go for the buffet at $18.90 for 2 pax. (UP is $18.90/pax)...

So I went with Mr. HHH, my mum, my sis Ika and her friend Yana...

It was really sinful with the chocolate fondue machines and fruits and the different types of ice creams and cakes available... Yummy!

All these aside, the wedding preps had started again...

We just went in JB earlier today to make the invitation cards for our Sunday Reception, and I saw my dream wedding gown for the dinner reception! Yippy! We booked it already anyway :)

Till then, have a great week ahead!

6 more days to Hari Raya!

2009-09-14T11:08:00.000+08:00

Officially from today, it is left 6 more days before all Muslims from all over the world will be celebrating Hari Raya.

*I am on MC today due to my injury, hence the time to type out this entry*

One thing that I usually like about the fasting month is the fact that it is being celebrated worldwide. Occassionally there'll be news and pictures about how others celebrate the fasting month in different countries. And it is always filled with colors, which to me signifies happiness and pure bliss. You can really feel the "heat" especially when Hari Raya is coming.

As I mentioned in my previous post before, this Ramadhan and Hari Raya is and will be quite significant for me, and probably for some other friends like Dida and Marhaini as this will be our last year celebrating as "singles" purely with our own family. Dont know about them, but it is definitely for me. Coz from next year onwards, I will be celebrating Ramadan with my husband, insyallah. And I believe that will be definitely a new experience especially since I wont be staying here anymore.

I am now beginning to feel the spirit of Hari Raya coming, especially with the existence of the following new things:

1) New curtains for the sliding door
2) New cushion seats and covers
3) New tissue and table covers
4) New clothes!
5) Cookies and kerepeks have been bought
6) New bedsheets & blankets
7) Bedroom curtains have been changed
8) Spring cleaning done

All that is left to do is to collect some more orders we made on the cookies and rempeyeks this wednesday, and hopefully my family potrait can collect this coming Saturday.

And, my aunt and family from KL will be coming over to celebrate Hari Raya with us this yeaR! There'll be more people and more cooking! Yay!

Truth be told, I am not in the working mood this week, hence I guess I'll just take it easy and enjoy the remaining days before Raya comes! All the stress at work and wedding matters will be put on hold for a while :)

The only difference is that maybe I wont be receiving the duit collections anymore since I already start working. And due to budget constraints to the wedding, I am not planning to give any to the children as yet. Probably will do so next year...

Till then peeps, have a best week ahead. I know I sure will....

Injured

2009-09-14T00:19:00.000+08:00

Got involved in a cat fight. By accident. Ended up with a swollen left hand and many scratches at my lower arm. Hope the scars will go away. Geesh

DPS Iftar

2009-09-14T00:15:00.005+08:00

Attendees: The usual 6 – dee, dida, ain, ani, fariza and yours truly

Location: Pattaya Gardens, Changi Road

Menu: Olive rice, chicken soup, sweet sour garoupa, sambal kangkong, beef rendang, omelette, seafood tofu in thai chilli and sea coconut & longans for dessert

Topic: Lots of laughter and “updates”. Settled the plans for my wedding, dee’s great news, dida’s upcoming wedding and hari raya outing.

Till we meet again babes, and that will be soon insyallah!
p/s: More pics can be found at my FB

Bored

2009-09-14T00:09:00.003+08:00

Bored at work.

Ended up folding paper boxes with my colleague. LOL

my first attempt

finally perfect

:(

2009-08-28T16:15:00.000+08:00

I am officially stressed.

Thinking about that thing really gives me mixed feelings. On one hand, a feeling of excitement and curiousity - that "can't wait" feeling.

On the other hand, constant worry keep lingering in my mind. Is it enough? What will happen if it's not? How do I find more?

When will they stop asking me for more, when I have told them umpteen times that all those "happy times" have stopped? They said they know, but then why the attitude didnt change?

I'm really at my wits end :(

Weekend ramblings

2009-08-23T22:14:00.000+08:00

Today marks Hitam's 1st year memorial anniversary. This same day last year, I was thrown in tears and was left mourning for a month before I finally get over it. Now, all I can do is pray that he will be taken care in HIS hands, insyallah...

Anyways, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all Muslims Selamat Berpuasa. Semoga ramadhan ini membawa lebih banyak makna kepada kita semua, insyallah :)

This ramadhan is a very special one for Mr. HHH and I. It will be our last (insyallah) celebrating as singles, or rather as fiance and fiancee. And it is especially special for me bersahur with my family in the east. For when next year comes, I'll be over to the west :(

Tomorrow is Monday, totally not looking forward to going to work.

Have a nice week ahead everyone!

Love!

The Lion Turned 44

2009-08-10T19:53:00.000+08:00

So what did I do over this long long weekend?

For those who are not Singaporeans, Singapore celebrated her 44th birthday on the 9th August that falls on a Sunday, so 10th is a public holiday.

Here's what I did:

1) Continue with tuition
2) Attended 3 weddings (supposed to be 4 but couldn't make it for the last one)
3) Viewed the performance for my future kompangs & a lil something (i'll leave it as a secret till the wedding)
4) Cleaned my room, inclusive of changing bedsheets
5) Cleaned the house, including washing my cats house
6) Bathe all the cats
7) Watch the parade on TV

Not much rest actually. Slept here and there but most of my time are filled with the "activities" above.

Tomorrow is movie day with my colleagues, which is all paid by my boss.. heh

Anyways, the wedding plans had been put on hold for a while. Mr HHH. will be on reservice tomorrow, and after which the fasting month will be coming soon. So the plans will resume after Raya insyallah.

Updates

2009-07-26T23:07:00.002+08:00

Latest of the week:

1) Mr. HHH & I had registered our marriage at ROMM last thursday. Everything went well alhamdullilah. After that, I had also successfully booked my wedding venue. Which means I can proceed with printing the cards.

2) My dad underwent a day surgery last Friday to remove his kidney stone that came back after he recovered last year. Thank god everything went well, and he had started working again.

3) My family and I, Mr. HHH included just went for our family studio shoot today evening. It was all well except for the first part.

You see, in April when Mr. HHH & I went for the complimentary photo shoot, the make-up artist who did my make-up is a Malay lady. And as we all know, Malay make-up style and Chinese varies quite greatly I presume. We malays prefer more "dramatic" look while the chinese usually does it natural.

So when we all went to the studio earlier on, there was only 1 make-up artist (to do 8 of our make-ups) and it was a chinese lady.

My 3rd sister went first, and she was so unhappy with the make-up. Her face was black with anger. She complained a lot and started doing her own touch-up. Her reaction really made me felt unappreciated. It's like paying so much and no one appreciates it.

Actually its not that the make-up artist sucks or something, it's just the different style. My 3rd sister had been so used to putting on thick make-ups everyday such that when the person gave her a "natural" look, she just thought she looked "uglier". You get what I mean?

But I guess after the second one go and she saw them touching up their own make-up, the make-up artist got the hint that we want her to use more make-up on us, and I guess she did. So after that "drama", all went well. Including the shoots.

Thank god for that. And till I finalize all the shots, no photos will be uploaded at this point of time :)

4) My neighbour complained again for the 3rd time, and its really pissing me off. I cant wait to meet them and tell them off. The only problem is whenever they see me, they never talked to me about it. It's just when they saw my mum or my brother. damn.

Latest of this upcoming week, I got invited as one of the speaker for AIA's recruitment session. A bit nervous, but I guess it will definitely be an unforgettable experience insyallah.

Till then, Love!

Official Day of Graduation

2009-07-15T12:46:00.008+08:00

Last Saturday 110709 was my official day of graduation from SMU.
After 3.5 years of sweat and stress from studying, the ceremony made it all worth it.

And, Im glad to have my parents and Mr. HHH share the joy with me on that day.

One of the most significant part of the ceremony is to have the provosts, deans and professors march in and be sitted on stage.

The "hat" (mortarboard) throwing ceremony was also one not to be forgotten. It feels as though we are swinging all the past efforts into the air to welcome new efforts and challenges into our lives.

Here are some pics. As usual, the rest are in FB. Due to the rush, I was a bit dissappointed not be able to take photos with my fellow peers. It was just too crowded, and I guess my parents were impatient :(

Definitely a day to be remembered.

My Graduation Night

2009-07-15T12:28:00.010+08:00

Memoirs is the theme for my graduation night, or rather more known as prom nite that falls on Friday 100709. Difference is, we dont have our dates fetching us from our homes to the venue. hehe

I took the day off just to settle my stuffs. In the morning, as usual I did the household chores, including cleaning my cats' home since I wont be able to do it over the weekends.

My dress was tailored-made and already collected from JB. Tudung included.

Everything ended at around 2+pm. Mr. HHH was at work, and I managed to pursuade him to send me to Pasir Ris to do my make-up.

I engaged the make-up service of Studio Perfect, subsidiary of StudioFrost and Diah was my make-up artist. Went over to her place at Pasir Ris with my dress. Total I took about 2 1/2 hours to get fully ready. And I am very pleased with how I look that night.

And Mr. HHH agreed. He was kind enough to fetch me from Pasir Ris and dropped me off at Fullerton Hotel.

Upon reaching, there were lots of positive compliments (I like!) and not to mention lots of laughter and cam-whoring!

I spoke to almost everyone I know, took photos with them until I reach a stage whereby I was too tired such that I just sat at my place and eat my food in silence.

Gosh, it was a great night! Too bad I didnt win any lucky draws! If not, it would be totally awesome!

Anyways, here are some pics for viewing. The rest can be found in my FB.

Before Make-Up

After Make-Up

Slideshow

A grand entrance

group photo

My table number

My muslim menu

Hee~~~~

Sheila & Endy's Wedding

2009-07-15T12:09:00.012+08:00

Last weekend was Sheila's (my cousin) wedding. Married to her 5-year old relationship boyfriend sure was the moment she was looking for. They are 10 years apart, but I guess its all written in their books and fate.

May this couple be blessed with happiness and success forever, insyallah.

Anyways, their solemnization ceremony was held on the Saturday 11 July 09, followed by a reception on the girl's side in Teck Whye.

Saturday was a crazy day for me, my parents and Mr. HHH. We went from Bedok to Teck Whye to witness the solemnization. After an hour, she rushed down to Suntec Convention Hall for my graduation ceremony. After which, we rushed down again back to Teck Whye.

The Groom - Endy Eryandi Chaniago

Dulangs from the groom

Dulangs from the bride

Newly-wed

A pic with the newly-weds

Then come Sunday 120709, it was the reception at the guy's side at Furama Riverfront Hotel. They decided to do it separate (like Malaysian style) for some reasons.

Modern tux & gown is the choice of the day

Cake Cutting Ceremony

Group Photo

Glad everything turned out well for the couple. Heard they are going to "The Racha" Thailand for their honeymoon :)

More pics have been uploaded to my FB.

Snippets

2009-07-08T17:54:00.003+08:00

Dear diary,

Here are some things that passed and that I have yet to update. Let me just give short snippets about them :)

Damai Primary School Meet-Up

There were 13 attendees for this gathering including my 5 closest babes. The gathering was supposed to be at 7pm Sakura International Buffet Somerset but the 6 of us decided to meet up earlier to catch up on our personal lives. In short, great interaction with everyone. Lots of laughter and cam-whoring.

Pictures can be viewed from FB, which I have yet to save all of it to my computer :)

JB Trip

This was my last trip to JB before puasa. I went with Mr. HHH to collect my prom night dress, collect his berkat and paid up some installments. Before we went JB, we did some payments in Singapore like for the serba satu (for me) and his ring. Then, I went back to my school to collect my academic regalia.

When I tried it on, the conversation was:

Him: Yang, I’m feeling really proud now. Can’t wait to see you on stage”… awwww…

Yup, and for the record, I’m one of the lucky ones to get an extra ticket for my graduation ceremony which will take place this Saturday, 11 July 09. And besides my parents, Mr. HHH will be there to witness one of the significant phase of my life :)

On a different note, I’m facing hiccups right now. About work, neighbor’s “feedback”, parents’ attitude is really making me sooo stressed up now.

And not to mention my beloved Ani backed out on me last minute due to school. She was supposed to help me with my make-up for the prom night. Speaking of which, I may be engaging Studio Frost make-up package. Which as you read this now, I’m still negotiating. Heh.

Cant wait for this weekend. Prom night on Friday, Grad Ceremony on Saturday and Sheila’s wedding on Sunday. *catch breath*

Till then, Love!

p/s: Please pray for my recovery. Would really appreciate that :)

patiently waiting

2009-07-01T17:39:00.002+08:00

July is a month that I have been waiting for.

For one, I am soo looking forward to my graduation ceremony. Imagine the pride putting on that academic regalia. Not to mention, putting on my tailored-made gown for prom night.

Secondly, our very first family studio shoot is coming up, insyallah. This will be the very first one for my family and I. Mr. HHH included :)

And finally, a point of no turning back in my life.

Will update about each event as it comes.

Till then peeps, Love!

2009-06-23T15:51:00.005+08:00

Last weekend was really crazy.

I recovered from my friday experience-craze, and decided to move on.

Saturday was the renovation day. The contractor was supposed to come at 10am, but I woke up at 9.10am! Gosh, it was madness. I woke my sister up to help me keep the cats and at least keep the house clean to the barest minimum. Thankfully, by the time we finished, the contractor came knocking on the door. When I looked at the clock, it was only 9.30am!

Tak sempat mandi pun ok!

Mr. HHH came at around 11am and took over the role of watching the contractors. To kill time, we were deciding on the different tours that our tour agency recommended to us. Yup, we are in the midst of deciding on our honeymoon as well.. heh

Which brings me to my point. Few months back when we went for the Wedding Expo & Travel, we spoke to 2 different travel agencies. We are thinking of going Bali and to stay at this 5-star property that I had always wanted to go. Our tentative trip date falls on 25th Dec and all their promotions during the exhibition ended on the 24th dec. So both took down my details and promised to work on my trip itinerary.

Until now, I still have yet to hear from them.

Then last 2 weeks, we were checking out something around Bugis area when we stopped at Chinatown Point and coincidentally decided to walk in Asia-Euro Holidays travel agency to enquire. After discussion, we realised 1 thing - the flights are fully booked on the 25th onwards. From all the different airlines.

Then it got us thinking, what is the point of the earlier 2 travel agents planning for our trip if they didnt even check whether there's any flights available?

The travel agent who spoke to us is a Malay lady and she gave us lots of recommendations which we felt was useful for us to decide on our honeymoon. Some were near sea activities but bearing in mind the monsoon period during that time, we decided not to include sea activities in our itinerary.

So as of now, we have brought forward our trip to the 24th dec, itupun kena transit coz of direct flights being fully booked. We took a F&E package with some tours in it for us to know the place better. The items are roughly there, only left to start paying for it. Hopefully all will go well insyallah....

Anyway, digressing.

As I was saying, the renovation ended at around 2pm that Saturday. Once that was done, we were to buy the paints and wire mesh and began washing the entire house. Yup, washing. After wash & dry, we started painting the walls. Then, construct the cats house with the stuffs we bought from IKEA.

We even varnished our entire wooden furniture to give it a brand new kilat!

All that until 4.30am. And till now, Mr. HHH & I are still having the sores. Geessh..

And for the cats, they are still taking time to get used to their new home. Give it some time, and Im sure they'll be ok.

So yesterday my parents finally threw away all unused/spoilt items and that made my house more spacious. I even fixed our new air freshener for the home.

But hold your horses, no pictures till the family potrait comes. hehe

Have a great week ahead everyone! I definitely hope my this week is definitely better than the last.

Love!

Drenched

2009-06-19T21:14:00.002+08:00

TOday is friday.

Usually I look forward to fridays becuase the weekends will be here & i am usually not working.

But not tonite. My friday ended so badly today.

Still in the office, and drenched... in tears.

Our little field trip

2009-06-18T14:08:00.002+08:00

Mr. HHH & I slept close to about 1am on Monday night due to work – he was in his afternoon shift and I had some door knocking sessions with the team.

But on Tuesday morning, I woke up at 4.30am and him at 5.30am. Reason being, we were on our field trip to JB.

As I mentioned before that my dad’s car is an off-peak car, which means I can’t drive it between 7am-7pm without using that $20 coupon. And from my place to the checkpoint, it will take at most 50 mins to reach.

50mins = $20 is expensive to me. So we need to get out of Singapore before 7am.
Mr. HHH came at around 6.10am and off we went to top up petrol first. Thankfully, it wasn’t jammed at the causeway and we went over the Singapore borders just about 7am. Phew!

Upon reaching JB, we decided to stop at our favorite place first for car wash. While they wash & vacuum the car, we ordered some drinks and equipped with our street directory map, we planned where to go next.

Upon my aunt’s recommendation, we were supposed to go Singgah Selalu Restaurant for breakfast. But him being self-confident – “alah, I know where Danga Bay is. Tak yah tgk map”, lost our way. It was about 8am and we were super hungry, so we just stopped at McD and enjoyed their breakfast there.

About 9.10am (yup, we took our time for breakfast), we decided to go to Giant first to buy our household items that doesn’t involve meat or yoghurt drinks etc coz they won’t last being kept in the car for so long. We cruised slowly around the place because there weren’t a lot of people.

About 11am, we made our way to Angsana. Paid the shop that we engaged for our shoots, checked out the status of his berkats and finally visited a boutique where I can get my matching handbag, purse and shoes for my dulang.

However, I didn’t buy anything from that boutique because the shoes don’t have my size. Luckily I checked out several boutiques around JB that carries the same brand. So off we go to Holiday Plaza. The shopping mall is a bit run-downed, something like our local lucky plaza and they don’t even have a boutique of the brand. It was more like those shoes and bags in bugis, and I couldn’t find what I wanted.

So after asking around, we decided to head to City Square. There, the shop assistant didn’t bother about us initially. We were confused at their service at first, but I realized we weren’t properly dressed to go in such stores. We were in jeans and slippers! Hahaha.. Mr. HHH reverted to slippers coz his shoes that he was wearing got wet from the morning rain while on the way to my house.

Anyways, after the sales girl knew we could afford the stuffs, and that we are buying, their attitudes became friendlier. And we walked out the store a happier person, with a huge hole in our pockets.

We then stopped at Laksa Shack for lunch. Yummy!

After City Square, we headed to Jakel to look at the lace pengantin that they have been advertising in Berita Harian. The sale ended about 2 days ago, but luckily we still got the sale prices. We went round the entire store coz I just turned fussy suddenly. Kain ni tak lawa la, taknak bunga2 la, are some of my complains. Sampai orang kedai tu pun pening.

But we went off buying 2 sets of cloth that I am very pleased with. I thought they took tempahans, but apparently not. The sales assistant recommended that I go to Lagenda at Angsana Plaza to have it tailored since they specialize in baju2 pengantins. By the time we headed back to Angsana, it was already 7.15pm.

We discussed with the tailor the design of the dress, and she took our measurements. By the time we were done, it was already close to 8.30pm. Very deep discussion, I tell you. But the tailor is quite good coz she recommended different designs, with pros and cons to allow us make an informed decision.

Once that is done, we were so tired from the trip that I almost fall asleep walking and my leg hurts terribly. But we knew we had to make one more stop to Giant to buy all those nuggets, burgers, etc and yoghurts that are either not sold in Singapore or are cheaper to buy there compared to in Singapore.

We finally walked out of Giant at about 9.45 pm. Went to Petronas to top-up the petrol and back we went to Singapore. Seriously, the car boot was jam packed.

Summary of the day:

- 9 places in 15 hours (thank god there's no crowds)

- Total spent that day: RM 2700 BUT, we settled all that are outstanding dulangs (minus food) and we can move on to address other parts of the wedding arrangements.

I finally end this very long entry..

Hectic Week Ahead

2009-06-14T22:55:00.002+08:00

This week will be a very busy week for me.

Tomorrow as usual, will be packed with meetings and door-knocking activities in the evening till late.

Mr. HHH & I are planning to go JB this Tuesday to see and compare prices for the dulangs. So since my car is a weekend car, and we refused to tear off that $20 coupon for a bloody 50 mins journey across checkpoint, we have decided to leave as early as 6am that morning. Yup, that’s the plan… I have asked around and have roughly figured where to go and what to do upon reaching JB early that morning.

Wednesday till Friday will be normal work week and that I will usually end work around 8pm, and sometimes after which I will be teaching tuition.

Come Saturday, I had fixed an appointment with the contractor to come and do the balcony. Once all that done, the washing of the house, fixing of the things we bought from IKEA for the cats and re-painting of the walls will be done. Not to mention that I will be squeezing in another appointment with a client early Saturday morning.

And on Sunday, I have 2 weddings to attend.

I am sooo hoping the week will fly fast. And I know it will.

On another note, we had booked our flight for December! And it was a tough fight. Though it is only June, the flight reservations are all full! As a result, we had to push our trip one day earlier and stay a day later just to accommodate our flight schedule… But I do hope it will all be worth it. 5-star hotel awaits us in our little secret location… *which I wont tell*

Have a good week, yall!

Till then, Love!

Backdated entries

2009-06-10T00:06:00.011+08:00

Work has been really crazy! I don’t even want to talk about work right now. It is really talking up 99% of my time. Sometimes when weekends come and I don’t have any appointments, I so wish to blog about my week but the fatigue from the crazy work week will often hinder me from blogging. I would rather sleep or watch TV or talk to Mr. HHH or my family members instead of blogging :(

24hours for me now is really not enough. Not to mention, financial-wise. It is only left to about 6 more months to the biggest day of my life, and I can really feel the tension. We are using the GSS to buy all the dulangs (whichever we can of course) to at least save some money for other purposes. Not easy I tell you.

From this 6 months onwards, both of us have to work harder and do more sacrifices like preventing ourselves from eating luxurious foods, buying stuffs that we don’t really need etc. I guess you need to be in my shoes before you can understand what I am talking about. Furthermore, planning a wedding without any help is not easy either. Most of the things are being sourced, done and decided between Mr. HHH and I. Financially-wise also. We have been spending quite a bit of time together to get all these things finalized. Sometimes there are some strains between us, but like I often tell him - We only face this journey only once in our life. Let’s not see this as a “burden” but something that we can look forward to and remember for the rest of our lives. This positive thought of course worked and it reduces significant strains between us.

Enough about that.

These 2 months is also straining because we will be turning my balcony into a cats’ home. The renovation should be done somewhat by end of this month. And after that, we will give the our house a new coat of paint and all that. “Furnitures” for the cats home has also been bought, so I am now trying to decide on a date where everyone can take leave and settle the house once and for all.

Come July, I will be having my graduation ceremony and prom night, that also costs me money. :(

A week after that, I have scheduled for a family portrait shoot to put up on our newly painted wall. So for those coming to my place for upcoming hari raya or other business, expect to see a “new” and decorated home :)

So to my fellow readers, a lot of things has and will be happening in these 6 months ahead. Hence, pardon me for the “dead” blog. I will try and give frequent updates but no promises.

On a happier note, I met Dee & Fariza about a month ago (I think) and we spent the entire day at Wild Wild Wet. We kinda planned for a chalet to discuss details about my big day but it has to be postponed due to chalet inavailability. After 4 hours of long swimming and miggling, we went for dinner and finally called it day. Aper ker tidak, the night before that aku balik JB at 2 am, and then had to wake up at 7am to go wild wild wet. Nasib tak tertido while driving!

appointed driver

entrance

attendees

The week after that, I had a wedding invitation from Ija whose brother-in-law got hitched. Saw and carried Rizq Aryf around.. Dah besar budak tu.. (that’s ija’s son by the way)…

dee-yana

with rizq aryf

forever us

the maidens

Finally, last weekend that just past, Mr. HHH and I went to his friend’s wedding at Jurong West.

with the pengantin baru

Afterwhich we went to Ming Seng to check out what they have to offer for us :)

Today, I kinda went home earlier a bit to rejuvenate myself after working for close to about 13 hours yesterday. Thus, the time to blog.

So till next time then, Love!

Sentosa Trip

2009-05-25T22:19:00.016+08:00

Well, this entry is a bit back dated. But I will still write about it :)

Last two Saturdays, my cousin, Haziq came to Singapore from K.L. for a short weekend visit before he enters university. You see, he got accepted to Universiti Malaya and will be starting school on 25th May, which is today!

He arrived at 1230am on Saturday, 16th May and slept over at my place. Actually I was a bit worried if I couldn’t be a good host because everytime if we come over to K.L. (his parents place), they will bring us everywhere and shopping is definitely is a must! Furthermore, I got my pay a week later due to some system error. So when he came over, I was almost broke.

In the end on the Saturday, my uncle and family brought him to chill at the Wild Wild Wet. I know they had fun swimming because that night, he slept like a log. Luckily my 2 sisters Amy & Nina had extra cash to spare, so that Sunday, we brought him to Sentosa.

Nina is currently interning at Sentosa and we got most of the things discounted, if not free. Before we went Sentosa, we brought Haziq to one of my uncle’s house for lunch, then off we go to Sentosa.

The attractions we went to:

1) Underwater world where I touched the stingrays (very soft skin), starfish, a fish that they called shark and a puffer fish, I think
2) Dolphin Lagoon where they showed those clever dolphins antics
3) Luge and Skyride
4) Tiger Sky Tower
5) Songs of the Sea

A very well-spent day indeed.

Then Monday come, the same uncle that brought him to Wild Wild Wet brought him to shopping at Peninsula Plaza. Spent the whole day shopping, eating and relaxing.
The next day, I sent him to Novena Square to take his bus back to K,L. at 11am. This is where I love my job of much flexibility :)

Here's some shots that I like very much ;)

Playing with the stingray

The fish that they call "shark"

Intelligent Dolphins

Queing for the luge

Luge

Hanging mid-air on the skyride

While going up skytower

Us

Super-packed front seat of car

Super-packed back seat of car

Last pose of the day - after the Songs of the Sea
----

Yesterday, I went to Wild Wild Wet with Dee & Fariza. Will blog about it once I get the pics...

Till then, Love!

Share Or Not?

2009-05-10T22:47:00.000+08:00

There's just soo many things that I want to share, blog, or rant about. But I dont know whether I should.

So many things have been going on... About work, in preparatation for December, the renovation, the graduation stuffs...

Things that I am excited about...

But my blog seems to be lifeless... Reason being?

I'm not like others who willingly shared their entire life on blogger. To me, some things are meant to be private, and only to be shared among loved ones. If I were to privatise this blog, I believe it will be unfair to those "strangers" who had been silent readers to this blog all these while..

So at this moment, I guess I'll just share my stories with my beloved.. either by phone, sms or meet-up...

Till then, have a good week ahead all!

Love!