Resting Bitch Face

I've been meaning to blog about this for a while, cos this subject has been constantly on my mind. I personally find it extremely insulting to judge a person by its cover. Meaning to judge a person by their face, i.e. to form a quick opinion and judgement based on a facial expression.

Why? Well because it feels like a personal attack. I know very well that I have a Resting Bitch Face (RBF). I don't have a smiley face, hence I come across as very garang and unfriendly. I've had a few friends telling this straight to my face (which I appreciate very much). And honestly? My sullen face doesn't bother me much. (In fact I pretty love it especially whenever Hubby and I come across booths signing people up for credit cards; Hubby always gets approached while everyone tend to stay clear of me!) *chuckles*

I am quite comfortable in my own skin, that I actually don't mind it when my boss calls me out for having a garang face *smiles*

When does it start to bother me? When I hear stories about how people in the workplace (especially the junior ones) shy away from me just because they are too scared to face me. In one extreme, a graduate actually cancelled lunch with a friend, just because my friend said that I was going to join them for lunch! (What's that all about??!!) Like seriously, I don't bite.

I recently had coffee with a friend and he point blank told me, "Liz, you have a garang face while Ms. X has a more pleasant face. Tapi sebenarnya, you lagi baik dari Ms. X!" *rolls on the floor laughing*

On a different occasion, a friend started gossiping about someone new who just came into the company. She said, "Muka dia tak friendly langsung! Sure berlagak tuh." I told her off immediately. Told her that it wasn't nice to make assumptions.

So there you go, my vent about RBF. Honestly ladies, I don't bite.

Sickly

Hello peeps. Sorry for the quiet few days. I've been out of action. Flat out, zero action.

Started with a few sniffles on Friday night which turned into a full blown fever on Saturday. (Such a waste of a weekend.) The weird thing is that even with paracetamol, the fever didn't seem to want to kebah. Low grade fever persisted the whole day. Same thing on Sunday. Come Sunday afternoon I decided to go to the clinic. They suggested that I take a blood test but I negotiated (sempat lagi tuh). Penakut jarum kan. Promised the doctor that I'll come back the next day if my fever doesn't subside.

Next day came rolling in and of course lah, demam the whole day. At that point I felt like throwing myself off a cliff or something. (Dramatic much??) Letih tau demam tak kebah kebah. It's like your body is constantly aching for three days straight. While I was down in the pits, memang teringat sangat sangat dekat arwah my Mum. Her cancer journey was 8 months long... but I can't even handle 3 days of fever. *sigh* Finally went to the doctor and serah diri for a blood test. It wasn't dengue, but rather... It was viral fever. No wonder antibiotics didn't work!

Yesterday the fever went down slightly but I was still coughing and aching. I was so confident I had pulled through the worst so I rescheduled all my meetings for Thursday. Confident habis that I only needed one more day to rest. Wishful thinking... That night the fever spiked up again - back to square one. This morning I woke up with a dull ache at my rib cage. Pening kepala macam nak muntah. Eeeehhhh macam macam lah. Seriously I'm not even sure whether I am fit enough for work tomorrow.

Anyway, doakan that I recover fast, please. Dah tak larat sakit lama-lama like this. *sakit itu penghapus dosa*

Blerrggghhh...

I had a whole post pre-prepared for today. Something that started about how I dragged my feet to work, and then an entire story about how I spent my long weekend. Only to discover that I lost my camera SD card which contains all my pictures from the said long weekend. Aaarrrggghhh... it must have dropped out of my laptop while I was carrying it around in the office.

I'm in such a foul mood now.

Bleerrrggghhh... good night!

Update: I was telling my sap story to Hubby about the missing SD card (this is the second time I've successfully misplaced it) and he said, "Cannot be lost if it's already in your laptop... maybe dalam purse you?!" While vehemently disagreeing to his suggestion (because I was soooo sure I plugged it into my laptop), I reached out to my wallet, and lo and behold - the SD card was safely tucked in the coin pocket. Jeez! Okay, time to work on that blogpost. *good mood balik*

Back In The Office

Hi peeps!

It is my first week back at the office.. and I am swamped with emails!

I spent my first day waddling through my inbox, and it was a nasty surprise for me to find a couple of work related emails asking me why I wasn't responding. Unfortunately due to my abrupt leave, my regional nature of work, andddd the absence of an out of office reply, not everyone knew that I was on emergency plus compassionate leave. Apparently only the local team, a few select colleagues and of course my boss in Houston were aware. *sigh*

I spent that morning sending apologetic emails whilst trying to recover with work so that everyone could get back on track. I left the office way way way past my normal time that day - sampai lampu office automatically terpadam at one point, which I took as a sign that it was time to leave! But Alhamdulillah, once I explained to everyone why I was away, they were very understanding. Risau jugak that my working relationship with my colleagues would be affected due to this.

Also, I am grateful that it is bonus month. This year's bonus is significantly less than last year, but at least ada daripada takde. Some companies are not even giving bonuses this year. Unfortunately the bonus portion that I usually segregate for handbags and such, dah habis untuk bayar my father's hospital bills and our extended stay in several hotels in Ipoh. Takpelah... I look at it as my last contribution to my father. After this I wouldn't be contributing anymore to him. In fact, I don't even know whether I will return to Ipoh anytime soon. There isn't anything anymore there for me.

Kids are recovering from their nomadic lifestyle. They enjoyed the Ipoh trip very much... Ian siap ade withdrawal period as soon as we arrived home. He kept saying, "I want hotel...." Huhu Ian, you think Mummy chop duit issit??? Aiden on the other hand is now struggling with his backlog of homework. Next week is exam week and I have been quite the tiger mum these past few nights!

Emotionally, I am doing alright. As I said, I have never been close to my father hence as soon as we arrived home it felt as if nothing had changed. In fact, as soon as I got into town, I went to Ikea for a shopping spree. (Hey, shopping is therapeutic!) But I will never forget the traumatic experience leading up to my father's demise. To be part of the decision making process in pulling the plug. I wish that none of you would ever have to be part of such a life and death decision.

Aiden asked me a really hard question the morning we decided to bring my father home. He asked, "Why are you bringing kampung datuk home if you know that he is going to die at home?" 

Tough question to answer to a 7 year old boy...

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I promise to write more. I've got my whole trip to India to blog about too... God knows when that will be!

Hubby's attempt at cheering me up - Aglio Olio with buttered lobster. *yum*

Suri Hati Mr Engineer, eh Mr Pilot!

This is a rant post.

After scouting a few bookshops over the weekend, I managed to find this hot selling book at Times Atria last Wednesday. I read it in one sitting; makan pun sambil baca. Berhenti for solat and shower only.

Spoiler alert. If you don't want to know, close this window now. If you are my type, tak sabar nak tahu the ending, read on.

Anyway, here's my rant. If there is one word that I can use to characterize Warda, it would be stupid. Oh, and selfish! (Fine... two words!) Sighhhhhhh how stupid can you get girl??? (I tried to console myself by saying, kalau dia pandai takde lah drama kan? Tapi I masih berbulu!)

• After all your prior attempts to mengelak from meeting your ex flame Muslim, senang senang jer you agree to meet him from just one text message?
• Why do you insist on keeping secrets after secrets from your husband? With the lame excuse of protecting him? Oh puhleazee. Men are much more resilient than that! That's why they have that nine akal and one nafsu thingy, while we have the vice versa.
• And last but certainly not least, your most epic stupidity. Kalau you were the indirect cause of your husband's accident, wouldn't you work hard to make things right? Ini baru kena jerit sikit, dah merajuk sampai lari rumah for over four years. Didn't your first runaway incident teach you anything? Orang yang sakit, memang lah emotionally erratic. Yang you nak emotional terlebih tuh apehal?? And if you were so intent on leaving the country without telling anyone that the child in your womb survived, why did you ever come back with the girl in tow? Rindu family? Itu namanya tak pikir panjang girllllll. 

Ok, jarang I membebel in Malay. Feels good to do so once in a while. #mothertonguewins

Anyway, that brings me to the end of my satu buku melayu setahun quota. I'm glad I chose the book though. Despite the stupidity (and some eye sore grammar mistakes) it was quite a good read. I just wish she was a bit smarter. If you can get an engineering degree, you ought to be smarter than this! *sigh*

Friday Blues

Hello peeps! How's your week treating you? Me? I landed myself a bout of diarrhea right after my sister in law's wedding. Great luck right? But that didn't stop me from hosting a post-wedding breakfast for the extended family, afternoon tea for the groom's family and attending a thank you dinner by the newly weds.

Anyway... today is my first day back at work - hence the Friday Blues. Before I get started with blog posts on the wedding and the house revamp, here is a recap of my week before the wedding!

The Interior Designer Makeover
Super happy with the end results, but unfortunately I'll keep the 'after' photos tucked away in my camera for a little bit more. For now, here are some photos from when they were doing the make over. (If you can't wait for my after photos, head over to my Interior Designer's official IG: Lentera Creative for his photos. Jangan sangkut tengok rumah Fasha Sandha jer ok... Scroll lower *chuckles*)

So happy with your work, Am!

Curtains for the dining hall.

Curtains for the living hall.

Work in progress.

Rumah Kena Terjah
Welcomed our first few visitors at our humble abode. My aunts were the first to pay us a visit. I treated them to a home-cooked lunch, a freshly baked birthday cake, followed by tea in the garden gazebo. Right after that, a neighbour dropped by too to see the house transformation with her own two eyes.

Impromptu pound cake.

Kena terjah.. aaaccckkk!

Sad News
While I was already on leave in preparation for my SIL's wedding, I received a message asking whether I knew any doctors in the neighbourhood who could attend to an emergency - it turned out to be a case of drowning at our clubhouse pool. Menggeletar masa baca that message. I immediately called a fellow doctor neighbour whom I knew was on leave and she rushed to the pool to help. Unfortunately, one of the child who drowned did not survive. *cries* If you can, please sedekahkan Al-Fatihah for adik Sakinah. She is truly an anak syurga.

Doa Selamat
We hosted a doa selamat for my SIL's wedding, two nights before the actual wedding. An hour before the event was to start, our renovation contractor finally put the finishing paint touches on the kitchen ceiling, and cleared the maid's room off their construction equipment. Talk about getting it done in the nick of time!

Gang jubah hitam... not!

My favourite step sister came over for a gossip session too!

The Alphabet Duck
A fellow duckie graciously extended her invite to me for the VIP preview of Duck's latest LE scarf - the Alphabet Duck. Coincidentally a friend received an invite too so we made it into a girly date! Although I thought the price was a bit too much for a scarf, I still ended up buying one - naturally the letter L, of course! Oh Vivy, you have turned me into a full blown Duckie!!! *quackquack* During the event, I met a lady who introduced herself to me as my blog reader! It was such a delightful experience ;)

Crazy quacks at the Alphabet Duck VIP preview.

My name is L! Or should it be an A? Hmm...

Thank You Dinner

Last but not least, the thank you dinner from the newlyweds marked the start of my diarrhea terror. To be clear, I don't think it was the spread from the said dinner as my maid and I already had some stomach discomfort earlier. Rather, we concluded it was probably one of the meals we had in between the entire wedding chaos. 

We occupied three tables at Muhibbah! Kesian newly weds had to foot the bill. *giggles*

Look at that spread... food coma!

Showing off my KL Duck in Ash Blue. This is suchhhh a hot colour to own!

Anyway, that's all from me. Hope you all have a productive weekend. Me? I'll probably be slaving over Aiden's books - it's exam week!!! Hopefully I'll get to squeeze in a movie... have you guys watched Deepwater Horizon? 

Till next time, bye!

She's Back!

After a three week agonizing waiting game, numerous text messages filled with subtle guilt trips ("Budak budak rinduuuu sangat sama kakak!") and lots of sincere doas - my maid finally texted to say that she was at the Surabaya airport waiting to board her flight. *pheww*

Unfortunately, the drama didn't end there. Air Asia sent me a text message to inform that her flight was going to be late. Then later when we were already on the way to KLIA2, my maid texted saying that her plane still hasn't left! As much as I really wanted to believe her, of course there was this tiny suspicion that she was making it all up. Thankfully, half hour later, she texted again saying that they were boarding. *double phewww - sorry I didn't trust you Bibik!*

Given the circumstances, we estimated that she was going to arrive at midnight. We arrived at KLIA2 only to be greeted by a TBA note under the ETA time for her flight. The information counter at the front didn't have an answer and directed me to another counter at arrival hall. That counter then directed me to another counter at departure hall which then directed me to another counter at the Air Asia check-in. I guess persistence paid off because they actually called the flight controller who gave the good news that the flight had just landed. But in the spirit of Malaysia Boleh, when I walked down to the arrival hall; that TBA sign was still there, up until my maid walked out, tau!

(The minute I saw her walk out the arrival hall... rasa macam nak sujud syukur! Then later Ian saw my maid for the first time, he was like malu malu kucing, tak nak Kakak hold him; but whenever we ask - "Ian, where's Kakak?", he would point to her without looking at her, tapi senyum senyum simpul! Shooo cute!)

Arrived home close to 2am. I don't know whether it was the haze or just the excitement that my maid was home; but I started getting the cold shivers. The next day (yesterday) I had an early morning meeting and by the time the day was over, I had a full blown low grade fever. Ian was also nursing the leftovers of a high fever, and yesterday he celebrated my maid by bestowing upon her some projectile vomit plus a wet mattress. Oh my poor maid - I was so hoping to bring her out for some good food to celebrate her coming home, but it looks like all of us are landing with something!

Hope you guys are taking good care of yourselves and staying indoors to avoid the haze. Nursing a fever and a scratchy throat is no fun! Take care!

Random Thoughts From Being Maid-less

It was a longgggg day yet again, and as I laid in bed dead tired as usual, suddenly all these random thoughts came into my head. I quickly took my phone and started typing furiously. So here they are:

• All day long, I wash cups, glasses and more cups. Why can't Aiden drink for instance, milk and then plain water from the same cup? Why two cups for two different liquid textures and colours?
• High speed direct nozzles are not good for washing dishes. They make the water splatter everywhere, giving you a free shower too - from your midriff below! Rainwater nozzles that spread out are sooo much better. 
• Why does rice take ages to cook? Especially when you have a six year old who's hungry for after school lunch and you forgot to press the 'ON' button on the rice cooker? Also what's the point of a 'quick cook' button on the high-tech rice cooker if it cannot make rice in under 15 mins? 
• A good mop squeezer (whatever they call that thing to squeeze water from the mop) is a must have. Didn't realize mine was broken. Squishing excess water from your mop using your hand is yucky simple unacceptable. 
• Obviously, plants need to be watered daily. But why can't it just rain on the days that I am too busy to water the plants and save me the hassle? (By the way, farewell pokok bendi. I'm sorry you were too dehydrated to survive. *cries*)
• Similarly, why does it have to rain when it's laundry day?
• This mountain you call laundry - does it every shrink? *sarcasm*
• Apparently my super efficient maid irons our home t-shirts too (alah, those baggy oh-so-comfy t-shirts good for lazing around). Which is why they are always nicely folded flat and take minimal space in the closet (and why our electricity bill has gone through the roof). Hence.... that's why I can't seem to be able to fit my laundry in my bulging closet!
• Let's talk about missing socks in the washing machine. You know what, maybe not. Let's not jinx it cos I haven't lost any. Hurray!
• I hate washing take away boxes, especially the oily ones. You know the clear microwaveable type? I wish I can just throw them out but I am too kiasu to do that sometimes. *sigh* 
• I just went through a whole roll of disposable kitchen towels in under one week. Perhaps a cloth is more economical?
• Last but not least, I had a whole target of losing weight during this 3-week maid-less period. I even bought apples, kononnya to eat for dinner. In the end, the apples were left untouched, and worse - I started snacking between house chores! Wash dishes... (oh, let's have an Oreo)... lipat kain... (ooohhh, a bite of chocolate wouldn't hurt)... water the plants... (hmmm, after that 'workout' I think I deserve a cheese toast)... you get the gist! *chuckles*

My new so called hi-tech rice cooker!

Three more days till my maid returns (hopefully?) ....

Sending My Domestic Help Home...

"Puan, saya mahu balik cuti, boleh?"

*sigh* Yes... in exactly one week, we'll be sending our domestic help home.... for her well deserved holiday.

After a whole string of maids who only stayed up to their two year contract (too old, ran away and left Aiden at home alone, found a boyfriend), this one is the best maid of them all. She has stayed over and above her two years contract and now it is time for her to head home for her holiday. She promised to come back after three weeks. And I sincerely hope she does. But you and I both know that, until she physically arrives in KLIA, there are simply no guarantees.

Meanwhile, I am prepping myself for this three-week maid-less period. Just this morning as I was driving to work, I was mentally listing things that I need to plan and worry about. Such as:

• Where am I going to send Ian while I work? Which daycare would accept toddlers for just 3 weeks?
• If I manage to find a daycare for Ian, he's not going to like being left with strangers. How am I going to handle the crying?
• Where is Aiden going to go after kindergarten ends? Need to inform the van too.
• If I manage to find a transit daycare, what food can I provide for Aiden, considering he always gets hungry at tea time? (Our maid usually makes sandwiches, roti canai and such - but I need to find simpler food that I can pack in the morning.)
• What am I going to cook for dinner? Erm, scratch that. Where am I going to tapau lauk for dinner?
• Aiden doesn't have sufficient uniforms to last him the entire week. Need to hand wash his uniform mid-week.
• Should I get a daily maid to help with the cleaning during the weekend? Need to find one.
• What about laundry and ironing? Should I send it to the dobi or do it myself during the weekend?
• Need to stock up on groceries. Don't want to run out of groceries and have to rush to the shop while Aiden and Ian are at transit.
• Should I negotiate with the boss to work from home on certain days?

And the list goes on and on. Don't even get me started on the list in the case that my maid doesn't come back. *shudders*

At times like these, I marvel at how mums without domestic help manage their household. I especially marvel at how the working mothers manage... juggling their careers and home. *salute* Not only are you responsible for cooking, cleaning, washing, ironing... etc etc etc... but some of you are chauffeurs for your kids too! 

Anyway, wish me luck and let's all pray that my precious domestic help returns after her brief holiday. I don't think I'll be blogging much during that period (apart for some pre-scheduled posts)... so if you don't hear from me, you know why! *nervous grin*

Here's Ian's version of my nervous grin. 

Counting Down The Last Week of Ramadhan

Hello and Ramadhan Kareem everyone!

How are your Hari Raya preparations going? For me, Alhamdulillah things are going quite smoothly because I had purchased the boys' (Hubby included) baju Melayu last year! Yes - you read that right, last year!!! After Syawal ended, I took advantage of the clearance sale at Jakel and managed to get Aaron Aziz baju melayu for all three of them for such a good price. We're going with biru Barisan Nasional this year! (Nothing to do with which particular political party I support. *chuckles*) As for my outfit, kain pun beli last year together with the boys, but I only managed to send it to the tailor a few weeks before Ramadhan. Hopefully my tailor meets her dateline! Honestly, with Eid looming in less than a week, I am getting quite nervous!

"Do I look like Aaron Aziz, or what?"

This year, we're doing away with Crocs and sneakers, and trying out loafers. I found a great online shop which sells cute, comfortable loafers for babies and kids below 6. I am always nervous about buying things online (especially shoes!) so I actually took the time to go to their booth, recently opened in Shah Alam.

Check out IG: MiniByDhea. I was not paid to review this, I genuinely liked the workmanship, and they are so prompt on Whatsapp! Their loafers sold out like goreng pisang panas, so I didn't manage to get that beautiful blue suede loafers in Aiden's size. *sigh*

For me, I am just recycling my old shoes and pairing them with my new handbag. I managed to give all of my bags a good cleaning using the products below. Not only are my bags clean (apart from two dots of oil that had managed to seep in through my LV in patent... damn that sambal) *uurrrggghhh*, but the mousse helped give the patent an extra shine too!

Woly combi cleaner and patent mousse.

As for Raya cookies, we decided that we were going to keep it to a bare minimum. No one ended up eating the cookies last year (except for a few chosen favourites) and even when Eid Adha rolled in, we still had plenty of kuih raya stock! In the end everything went into the bin. So this year, in order to support my sister-in-laws new business venture *chewah*, we only ordered biskut raya from them, such as their best-seller chocolate chip cookies, my favourite kerepek nestum, and Hubby's grandmother's resepi turun temurun for kuih makmur. Last but not least, I also made Hubby's favourite biskut cornflakes.

The A Project's really yummy kuih makmur and chocolate chip cookies.

Other than Raya cookies, I have also stocked up on my favourite Mummy Non's Beef Dendeng and instant nasi impit for any surprise visitors that may come knocking on the door during Syawal. I have been buying their daging dendeng for years... it literally kept me company during my years working in Russia. Since it was so hard to get halal food at camp, I would have rice with some dendeng for lunch and dinner everyday. My colleagues even joked that the packet of dendeng must have turned radioactive by the end of my shift rotation (typically one month), as I kept reheating it for every meal! Radioactive or not, it was certainly comforting to have a taste of home at every meal.

Best dendeng ever, as endorsed by Raja Nadia Sabrina.

As for the house - if last year we painted the living hall, this year there really wasn't much to do anymore. We had just revamped our garden hence that was our only major change. To add some Eid cheer, we bought some pelita and outdoor festive lights to decorate the garden.

Need more pelita!

Festive lights for the willow tree!

Call me vain, but this is also the time of the year when I would pamper myself. My facial, manicure and eyelash perming *no kidding* appointments have all been made. So looking forward to these indulgence sessions!

We've also bought our fair share of bunga api, sparklers and pop pop. This year Hubby managed to find some mercun too *shhhh* so I guess we are very well stocked! As for duit raya, I am blessed to have an RHB Bank at the ground floor of my office building. Sharp at 10am I was already in front of the bank door to tukar duit raya - recycled RM5 notes, unfortunately!

Everyone knows that this is the best month to sedekah and give. So here's the link to calculate your zakat pendapatan. Hasil penggajian is where you input your per annum pay (before tax, and you will input your KWSP in Section C). Hasil bebas is your pay if you do any part time jobs. Hasil al-Mustaghallat is the profit you make from renting out any property (rental minus monthly bank installments). There is also an alternative way to calculate it, simply take your yearly pay and multiply it with 2.5%. That's your payable zakat pendapatan. Do not forget your zakat fitrah - for 2015 it is RM7 per person.

Due to my PCOS, like the past years, it looks like I mayyyyy be able to puasa penuh again this year (other than that 2 days mild spotting that turned out to be nothing and totally ruined my track record... *hhmmpphh*). Looking forward to spending the last 10 days of Ramadhan concentrating on my prayers and giving it my best shot. And most importantly, avoiding all drama! (An arduous task since I am such the drama queen.)

So how are you counting down your last week of Ramadhan? Good luck with the week ahead!

Where Did 2013 Go??!!

Oh wow! My first post for 2013...

I know, I know... I have left this blog neglected for too long. I really should put more discipline in writing. *sigh* One can only try...

Anyway, Aiden is now 4, Hubby is turning 32 in 2 months and I am turning 31 in 3 months. Let me just give you a recap of what I have been busy with these past few months:

• Gallavanting through USA, with stops in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Disneyland (for Aiden, of course) and Houston with Aiden and Hubby. Shopped till we dropped and with all that cash flow, we probably revived the US economy by the time we left.
• Baking, baking and more baking... although I started declining orders in June...
• Baking a birthday cake for Adi Putra and making a dessert table for Adi Putra's daughter's aqiqah.
• Supporting my sister-in-law's campaign in the recent GE 13 (yes, she ran but she lost).
• Baking a Transformers cake for Aiden's 4th birthday party. Amazingly, we only had a small do for him at his kindergarten. Nope, he did not get a birthday bash this year (surprising news??) because.......
• I was so busy melayan my morning sickness my loya, various back pain, aches and being an absolute pemalas due to this bun in the oven: 

Yes, Alhamdulillah we are expecting #2 at the end of this year. On the 29th of November (my birthday) to be exact! So insyaAllah three generations (my dad, myself and baby) will share the same birth date. I'll keep the story of how we conceived #2 and found out I was pregnant, in a separate post, but let's just say, after waiting so long for a second child, Alhamdulillah the fertility treatments worked on our very first try.

So bear with me a bit more as I carry this bun around whilst trying to juggle work and squeezing blogging in the same equation. And yes, I haven't forgotten - I still owe various posts from 2012 especially on running, baking using my Raspberry Ice glass bowl Kitchenaid and Aaron Aziz's daughters' birthday dessert table! Will try to catch up when I can. If not, there's always the three month maternity leave to look forward to! *grin*

Till my next post, take care guys! And thanks for still taking the time to read this humble blog.

Love, Liz.

Where Did 2012 Go??!!

OhEmGee... Did I really leave this blog for nearly a year??!! Granted, I was busy, but I did not realise that my last post was back in December! Had my sister over a few days ago for pavlova, and she said she was going to make a big hoohaa on my Facebook on the anniversary of my last post. So before she makes a big scene, here I am writing my first post for 2012!

Aiden is now 3, Hubby is 31 and I am 29. Fine, fine... I am 15days away from turning 30. Give me a break, I am an end-year baby! Just in case you have forgotten how we look like, this is a recent picture we took about 3months ago. Check out Aiden's cheeky face!

What have I been busy with, you ask? Apart from work (having to step up to the plate of doing a lead role due to resource constraints pushed me to the edge of being absolutely overworked), I kept myself busy further by:

• Keeping to Hubby's resolution of running at least one competitive run per month
• Baking using my 2011 birthday present - a Raspberry Pink glass bowl KitchenAid
• Planning (and executing) Aiden's beach themed 3rd birthday by the poolside at the Clubhouse
• Making dessert tables for kids birthdays, a wedding and even a Royal birthday, not to mention the excitement of making a dessert table for Aaron Aziz's daughters' birthday *swoon*!

Too much to blog about, but I promise I will try. Especially to recap our early year Hard Rock Penang holiday, Aiden's recent graduation concert (yes, Aiden goes to kindergarten now!) and Hubby's birthday getaway to Redang Island.Thanks for not forgetting about me all these months! *grin*

Salam Aidilfitri 2010

I have been wanting to write this post for the longest time.

Eid this year has been especially emotional for me. Last year I was still struggling with the motherhood, the little boy who constantly needed my attention, being back in Malaysia after two years of being abroad living out of a suitcase, and last but not least - building a family. But this year, everything is perfect. I enjoy being a Mummy (with the help of Bibik, of course), Aiden is more independent and a bit more predictable, I enjoy my work in sunny ol' Malaysia and Hubby and I have never been so good together. Which means, with all this perfectness in place, I have less to worry about and more time to think. By think, I mean ponder, and wonder, and reminisce.

What has been bothering me is the Eid that I had two years ago. Everytime I hear any lagu raya on the radio, I would automatically reminisce and subconciously cringe at the thought of that Eid.

That year, on certain circumstances, I was forced to celebrate Eid in a foreign land. I was far away from family and friends. I had a course to take in Rijswijk and the closest Malaysian friend I had back then was staying in The Hague. Ever since I worked in Sakhalin, I would go through Ramadhan in Russia and then fly back to KL a week before Eid, so being in Netherlands for Ramadhan didn't really bother me. But it was the Eid. I had never celebrated Eid without family.

The week before Eid, I started to feel down and depressed. I was in a foreign land. There were no fake ketupat cases hanging from shop ceilings, or lagu raya, or berbuka buffets or even raya sales, no indication at all that there was a big celebration coming up. People went about doing their own thing. Work went full on as usual. And I was feeling sad and miserable. My colleagues and friends couldn't relate to what I was feeling. Because I knew I was going to celebrate Eid alone, it affected me so much that I couldn't concentrate on work. I distinctively remember this one phone call that I had with Hubby, in which he said "Kawan I ada jual biskut raya kat office, tapi I tak tau nak beli untuk apa. Tahun nie I rasa I tak sambut raya...". Also, that was the first time we celebrated Hubby's birthday apart. We didn't even get to talk on the phone at midnight, I called but there was no answer so I had to make do with only a text. Needless to say, I cried a bucketful of tears during those two nights.

The day before Eid, I called Hubby. I desperately pitched the idea about me flying home but he tried to talk me out of it, something about it being expensive and all. After I got off the phone with him, I made up my mind. I wanted to go home. I didn't think that I was going to be able to survive 3 straight months away from Malaysia (one month Sakhalin, one month Netherlands and one month Sakhalin again before heading home). I couldn't claim my flight ticket from the company so I had to fork out my own money for the trip. The ticket was so expensive that I had to borrow some money from a friend. The minute they printed the tickets, I was already running all the way to the departure gate (that was how last minute the decision to go home was made).

I couldn't get a seat on Malaysia Airlines, so I was forced to take KLM. No halal food. Meaning I had to go through the whole trip before I could get a decent meal. The small talk I made with the mat sallehs on board were also pointless. They didn't understand the concept of watching corny slapstick shows of lawak Melayu and reruns of lame (but funny) Malay movies during petang Raya. Also, how the hell do you explain to a non-Malaysian about going to the cinema on Raya kedua to watch a silly Prof Razak Mohaideen movie which you normally wouldn't watch on normal circumstances as it insults your intelligence but you just do it anyway for the heck of spending time with family and just because it is Raya? Nor did they understand the meaning of the song "Balik Kampung" and "Dendang Perantau" which was playing over and over again in my head all throughout the flight that it brought tears to my eyes? Or salam Raya? Or taking turns visiting family and open houses? Or biskut raya and duit raya? Even playing mercun?

I arrived in KL the next morning and it was already Eid. I had missed the takbir raya. Hubby was already at his kampung so I had to take a cab to the next best thing I had to a kampung - my aunt's house. The whole ride with the cab driver, I was quiet and distant. It felt like a dream that I was back on home soil. I arrived at my aunt's house a little over noon and the whole extended family was there. And it was there that I broke the news to them. I was pregnant.

To cut a long story short, I ate everything I could get my hands on, Lodeh, rendang, ketupat, lemang, you name it, I had it. I even had the berbuka delicacies, like murtabak, roti boom, otak otak, also the daily staples like nasi goreng kampung. Yes, it was the food and the baby I was carrying that brought me home.

Just two days in KL and I was already packing to fly back to Netherlands. Thinking back, it was money well spent. Even though what Hubby said was probably true, "That must be the most expensive murtabak that you just bought..." (the price of a return air ticket from NL-KL).

Back in Netherlands, I kept myself occupied with work and surrounded myself with Malaysian friends after work. They were so nice to me, I even managed to squeeze an open house during the weekend. Imagine walking to an open house at 10degC, wrapped in a winter coat and then taking the tram back to the hotel. Also, imagine playing bunga api in the snow. Yes, I did all that! Thank you for cheering me up dear friends, you know who you are......

I am writing this post to remind myself of what happened two years ago. I don't want to go back to that. I wish I could turn back time and make better decisions. You may not understand this post, but I do. Every word I wrote in this post has a significant meaning. In a nutshell, my family is important. Not my career. Not anything else. With all that has happened, I cannot imagine myself spending Eid without my two boys. They are my everything.

I love you, Hubby...

Back to Blogging!

***Sticky Post Mode***

“Phhhfffuuufff phhhfffuuufff…” (That’s me blowing the dust off this beloved blog of mine.)

Heylo peeps! How have you guys been? Yes, yes guilty as charged. I swear my stomach churns and turn every time I think of the blog and how long I have left this blog post-less. I am not making excuses, but you know how it goes. You get busy, you swear you’ll find the time to blog, you snap pictures using your iPhone and vow to someday write a post about it, you find contentment by just uploading pictures to Facebook, you feel guilty about not blogging, life is perfect, you not only neglect the blog, you neglect Twitter as well, the itch to write transforms into munching chocolates, the time you usually use to furiously type a post magically turns into lying on the couch watching reruns of Criminal Minds, the guilt slowly fades away and suddenly one day your husband gives you a chilli hot statement “Yang, have you forgotten that you have a blog?”

So wham bam bam here I am. Trying to reorganize my brain into blogging mode again. Phewww it was a good break. I do blog-walk, but blogging was so far away from my mind it was actually refreshing. As refreshing as when I finally got the Farmville craze out of my system. Not only was I able to spend the time with Aiden, I even enjoyed my two excursions to Singapore without worrying about how I was going to squeeze uploading photos and typing words with the silly slow network connection within the holiday. And the WiFi at home is still down and I jolly well couldn’t care less because I could use 3G to surf the internet with iPhone.

But I am back. I cannot promise that I would religiously write minimum 10 posts per month but I will blog when I have the time (and the energy).

How have I been? Life is simply simply simply perfect. Work is tough, I am loving the demanding work and enjoying the credit that comes with it. I am enjoying Aiden at 15months old who constantly surprises me with new abilities every single day. The house renovation is nearly complete. I was in Singapore and managed to not shop and still felt like the trip was worth it. Hubby is earning well and may even come home for good soon. I’m back to running on the treadmill and trying to get off chocolates, but this is a battle that I may never win. I dream about decorating the new house every night before I sleep. Had a long overdue movie plus dinner “date” with Hubby. Finally went for my facial and massage and am enjoying my good hair days. I drive to work humming to the radio and cruise at moderate speed because somehow I am always 10minutes early to work. My mind is uncluttered thus my focus span is remarkable. So yes, perfect.

Note that this is a sticky note. I have like about a dozen posts queued up in my brain so I shall be constantly updating backdated posts (and maybe new current ones). So until this is all done, this post stays on top! Anything between this post and the Universal Studios Singapore post are backdated posts, okay?

Back to blogging! Bring it on!!!

Valentine 2010!

How we celebrated our Valentine this year... although dear hubby is a firm believer in NOT celebrating Hari Kekasih.



Let's just blame it on my sister for giving us these free tickets. Although it was a much welcomed break from parenting... this is only our SECOND movie since Aiden! Thanks Awien!

Of Spiked Cendol

No, no... my cendol wasn't spiked and I am not high or anything. Though I am still feeling a bit "high" over the LCD TV win. I swear I slept smiling the night I knew about the win.

Anyway, this is actually a recap of last weekend, a weekend when hubby was in KL. This weekend he's MIA, slaving over work to be able to sustain his wifey's hazardous shopaholic ways. Not only had he recently purchased my birthday present (once it arrives in my hands i'll definitely blog about it! *drool*) but we're leaving for Singapore in exactly 5 more days, which equals more shopping!

We didn't really have a hala tuju that day. Besides meeting one contractor, our time was completely up to us to plan. So what happened? I'll explain in pictures:

1015am: Mummy and Aiden posing in the car while Daddy drives to Armada Hotel, PJ.

1045am: Daddy attempts to take a picture of Aiden's spiky hair (it's now long enough to style spiked, yeay!), while Mummy walks into Armada Hotel for the Coach warehouse sale.

1050am: Daddy's second attempt (look at those apple cheeks and chiselled chin!). Meanwhile, Mummy - approximately 500 meters away in the hotel lobby was cursing as the Coach sale was sold out! Apparently, they sold out at 9:45am, 45 minutes after opening! Hubby subsequently queried: "Yang, diaorg jual 5 bijik bag aje ke?"

105pm: Halfway during the meeting with the contractor in Bukit Jelutong, Aiden decided to poopoo. Toilet didn't have proper changing table facilities (for obvious reasons) so had to make use of the table to change Aiden's diaper.

330pm: Aiden and Daddy sleeping in the car while Mummy went shopping at another warehouse sale.

415pm: Aiden still sleeping, Mummy finally done with shopping.

420pm: Left the warehouse sale. Famished.

510pm: Sat down for the most scrumptious mee rebus in Ampang. *more drool*

520pm: Aiden refused to sit still, so we decided to give him a bit of Cendol. He is usually calm and quiet when given food.

525pm: Wrong decision. Aiden got extremely hyper afterwards from the sugar and coconut milk.

Needless to say, we have learnt our lesson. Never give any kind of sugar overdose to Aiden. Sugar and babies, don't go well. We were so pooped from keeping Aiden from trying to grab this, pull that, bite this, press that. Not only did he act hyper, he was squealing in delight like he was "high"! Until he finally dozed off at close to 1am... at which Mummy and Daddy gave in as well and we slept like babies!

Grey Equals Wisdom

A friend found this on my head. We were having lunch. I freaked out. Insisted on taking a picture. In denial that I will be turning the big 3-0 in 3 years. Can I turn back time?

P.S: This is the second grey hair I found this year. The first one was when I was preggers. Please tell me I shouldn't freak out?

Of Singaporean Bread

I'm all for the One Malaysia mindset (though not necessarily the reigning party). I sincerely believe that "hujan batu di negara sendiri, hujan emas di negara orang, lebih baik di negara sendiri". Translated literally to "raining rocks in your own country, raining gold in someone else's country, it is better in your own country".

Whenever I am away from Malaysia, I get terribly homesick. I miss the people, I miss the culture, I miss the traffic jam (I do!), I miss the pot holes, I miss the exorbitant parking rates, I miss the the food, okay you get my drift. I swear, the first time I travelled home after a month in someone else's country, my eyes watered when the MAS plane was touching down at home soil, due to the "Malaysia, Truly Asia" tune. Sappy, I know.

So, when hubby brought back a loaf of bread from Singapore for me to try, I was reluctant to admit that it was really good. I love bread. I love Gardenia bread. I used to think that Gardenia bread in Malaysia is really the most yummiest bread you can ever find in the whole wide world. So good you can even eat it on its own. In Paris, I disliked the Baguette. In Russia, I could only find some rock hard loaf of bread which did a lot of damage to my munching capabilities.

Now, I have fallen in love with the Singaporean Gardenia bread. *sigh*. Hubby must carry a loaf whenever he travels home. If not tak boleh masuk rumah!

Check out my comparison:

Plate is used only for display purposes. Not an advertorial piece. Purchased this plate when I was probably 14 years old. No wonder I have a lot of junk in my house.

This is our version of Gardenia you find anywhere and everywhere in Malaysia.

This is the Singaporean version. Wasn't such a great first impression.

From the top, the size is nearly the same. But look at the texture of the bread. So putih and gebu!

And the best part about it, it is thicker by nearly double! Thick and soft!!! *drool*

Sorry Malaysia, Singapore wins this one hands down!

If you are ever in Singapore, and if you are a bread person, you simply have to try this out. Trust me, you will thank me for this.

Of Weird Interpretations

I noticed recently that I have a knack for interpreting words differently than others.

For instance, that annoying (yet I still watch it cos the TV is forever on channel 103) drama, Datin Wan Abe? Well, hubby recently had a good laugh when I told him that I did not understand the title. Why Abe? As in Abe in Kelantanese meaning Abang (brother)? So why is it Datin Wan Abang?

Shows you how deep my Kelantanese roots are... Haha.

And a few days back, hubby was again rolling on the floor laughing, when I told him MY interpretation of the very very annoying Hai-O water purifier advert on TV. You know the end part where they tell you to join the sickeningly happy Hai-O family? If you notice at the very bottom, the word hai-omarketing is prominently displayed.

And I read it as Hai Omar Keting. Yes.. keting as in that part of your leg which I am having difficulty translating in English.

I’m weird in that way, I know.

There is always a first time...

Right… my first post. Used to dream about creating a blog but never had the time to make it happen. Used to be a workaholic jet setting between Malaysia and Russia (yup… business class lounges used to be sort of a second home for me) and have always had my heart set on becoming a career woman. I mean, how could I possibly say no to the paid meals and hotels on the corporate credit card, a fat pay cheque at the end of the month and climbing the (vicious but satisfying) career ladder? Used to dream about continuing on another cross posting with dear hubby outside of Malaysia and fantasize about being out and about with other expats couples in their weekend social meets. Used to crawl the shopping malls for the latest designer handbags must-haves and still have plenty of moolah at the end of the month. It was a good life…

However - 7 months back, my world was turned upside down when there were two lines instead of one on the dreaded test. I remember cowering beside the toilet bowl clutching the “stick” and thinking to myself “are you (insert your favorite profanity) ******* crazy to even try to be a Mummy???” Worse still – I was approximately 10,198 kilometers away from home!

It took me about a month to clear my head, summon my courage to tell the boss, and kickstart the process of moving back to sunny ol’ Malaysia.

Now – at 38 weeks, I have completely transformed. I look back and thank God for this gift growing inside me. I thank God for my darling and loving hubby and I thank God for giving me the same career satisfaction albeit it being at home in KL.

That pretty much summarizes the roller coaster ride that I went through. I bet there are plenty more rides in the future with an additional family member and all. Therefore, here’s to me… being a Mummy!