Sneak Preview for Raya 2010!

I am actually making new baju raya(s) this year!!!

I have not made baju raya, erm, probably since 2006. That was 4 years ago. Yes, I did send a couple of new materials to the tailor about 2 years back which was made into a few beautiful baju kebayas but then Aiden happened, and sad to say, I have never been able to fit into it. I probably only tried them once, at the tailor during the fitting trial!

So I have been using the same (altered, post Aiden) baju raya for the past two years. And I sooooo need new ones. I don't think this extra 7kgs i'm carrying around is going away anytime soon. It is definitely time to embrace my new body shape. If all else fails, there is always the girdle. Hubby cracked up when I told him "The girdle is the second best invention in the world, after airplanes!".

Therefore, this year, I am proud to announce that I have sent 3 different materials to 2 different tailors. All for modern baju kurung. Hey, I know I will look horrible in baju kebaya. Kebayas are only for slim melim people, okay? And why 2 different tailors? Because I can't afford to send all my kain to the expensive tailor (read: designer) lah. Only one, thank you very much!

And he called yesterday! To pick it up!

Aiden, wondering why he was in Shah Alam on a Wednesday afternoon.

Hatta Dolmat Couture. Go Google him if you don't know who he is.

And I was oh so impressed with the end result. A four-toned chiffon is not an easy task, tau!

And the beading was simply to die for. I died and went to heaven and came back. I love it!

That's all I am showing. You'll just have to wait another month to see the full creation. Even though my friends at work call it the "Lollipop" (because of the pastel colours), I still love it to bits and pieces. It is so me. Maybe not me when I turn into my 30s, but so me, right here, right now.

And now, I am contemplating ordering a kaftan from him. But I am so broke! But that red kaftan on the mannequin at his shop (which turns out to be an order from Erra Fazira!) looked absolutely delish. Sayang... pretty pleaseeeeeeeeeeee??? *puppy eyes*

Visiting Danya

After the viral fever scare in Singapore, I decided to take Aiden to Prince Court for a second opinion. So I extended my leave another day (leaving my team in shambles *grin*grin*, sorry guys!).

Being in Singapore during the weekend effectively means not being able to check the progress of the house. And my ID Contractor had promised to deliver so much during the week!!! So off we went to visit the house (with jealous Hubby screaming on the phone in my ear because he had to wait an extra 5 days before getting back home - that was how excited he was).

I know I haven't posted any renovation updates on the new house for quite a while now. But I think it is time to exercise some restraint in pictures. After all, I want the house to be a surprise to be revealed during the house warming, right?

But, just to satifsy your curiousity, here's a couple of pictures I snapped today:

Balau strip gates.

The house is now Monterrey Brown. Beats Canary Yellow anyday!

I *heart* Monterry Brown!

My 3rd floor attic (aka walk up closet) is complete!

Back door.

Having two extra hours to spare before heading to Seventh Heaven for my monthly facial, I decided to drop by a friend's house. I wanted to pick up the Jumperoo which I had loaned to her.

Presenting Danya. And her truckload of toys.

Aiden obviously had the time of his life, trying out every single piece of toy that Danya owned.

Aiden tried to include Danya in the game.

But Danya looked at us forlornly, as if thinking "Why is this BOY playing with my toys? It's mineeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Aiden even tried to sabotage Danya's meal time.

Finally! Rub rub eye to indicate feeling of sleepyness.

Yeah right! Lawan mata of course. Danya's toys were more interesting than sleep!

Feverish Aiden in Singapore

It was our last ticket to Singapore for the year. To be perfectly honest, I was getting sick and tired of boarding aeroplanes between KL-Singapore all alone with a toddler in tow. Not only that, Hubby is constantly complaining about being homesick. Therefore with us having tickets to Singapore, he was obviously destined to stay yet another week in his apartment when in fact his body is aching to come home and his tummy is rumbling for his weekly dose of makanan Melayu. If you think going to Singapore once a month is much fun, think again. It was great the first couple of times, but I am really relieved that it is all over. From now onwards, Hubby will be clocking the miles home.

So this final trip, I decided to forego the shopping excursions and instead, spend quality time with Hubby and Aiden plus try the local delicacies Singapore has got to offer.

Our flight was delayed on that Friday afternoon so we only stepped on Singaporean soil late evening. After a short dinner in KTM, we trudgged through the streets and lugged our luggage back to the apartment. I was dead tired from all the travelling and crashed as soon as I saw the bed. In the middle of the night Aiden rolled into my arms and somewhere at the back of my head I remembered thinking "Boy, Aiden feels really hot! Burning feverish hot!". However, it was only about an hour after that, when he woke up and started crying, that I jumped into panic mode. He was having a fever!

As prepared as I was for any trip with Aiden, unfortunately I did not have a digital thermometer with me. There was no way I could tell how sick he was. But he was definitely burning hot. I immediately gave him a suppository panadol and started to tuam his body with a cold cloth to bring down the heat. Of course, he cried and cried. And he didn't want his Daddy. He wanted only Mummy to hold him, touch him, be near him. About an hour after that, his fever went down and he went back to sleep. So I quietly crawled to bed next to him and dozed for a little while.

As soon as the clock struck 9am, I woke him up, gave him his feeding and dressed him up for the pediatrician. He was feeling much better but Hubby and I had already decided that we weren't going to take a chance. If he relapses into a fever, it would be really hard for us, being in a foreign land and all.

So off we went to Kinder Clinic in Paragorn! (Don't play, play! Aiden's pediatrician clinic is in Orchard Road okay!)

Kinder Clinic was absolutely full! So I requested to see the doctor with the shortest queue. Apparently he was the most expensive (i.e. first doctor on the list). Thank god for medical coverage by the Dutch Oil Company!!!

Also, the clinic charges by the amount of time the doctor takes to give his consultation advice. Ten minutes equal this much. Fifteen minutes equals this much. Yes, I am serious. Therefore, if the doctor speaks realllyyyyy slow, he'll make more money! *grin*

Tried to get Aiden occupied with colouring and drawing while waiting for our turn.

Finally our turn was up. And imagine my shock when he recorded Aiden's fever and it was 40.5 degC! And imagine my further shock when he told us that he wanted to test Aiden for H1N1! *simpang jauh!!*

So off we went to another room for Aiden's H1N1 test. They had to swab Aiden's nose. Of course he cried like crazy. Then they inserted another suppository to reduce his fever. Also at this point, I was thinking, "Why oh why didn't we all get our Tamiflu shots. Dah la company offered the vaccination for free!!"

I simply could not think while we waited for the results. So I snapped pictures using the iPhone with Aiden cuddled up in my lap. And alhamdulillah, it was negative. Just a common viral fever.

Of course the whole day was spent at home nursing Aiden back to health. That took up the whole of Saturday (and of course any plans of exploring Singapore went out the window!)

The next day, Aiden was still a bit feverish but we decided to take him out for breakfast. Where else, but McDonalds!

My poor feverish baby.

Although he looks really healthy here!

So we decided to take a chance and ventured to Marina Bay. Took the MRT and then a bus in the pouring rain somemore! We are such bad parents. (It started drizzling when we were in the MRT.) Thank god Aiden was dozing peacefully in his stroller.

We wanted to try out the sky garden at Marina Bay but since it was raining, we didn't want to spend SGD20 each just to watch rain drops. Maybe next time (next time???) when Aiden feels better.

On the same day, we also went to Bugis to hunt for a pair of shoes for my sister and sister in law. They were drooling over my black wedges and begged for a pair each the next time I fly to Singapore. In Bugis, we found the most adorable drum set, and Daddy decided to buy it for Aiden. Daddy kesian tengok anak sorang dia tuh sakit...

And last stop for the day, I finally got a taste of a Singaporean delicacy. Sup tulang merah. The best available at Beach Road. If you're wondering what sup tulang merah is, imagine ribs covered in blood. Gorry isn't it? Eating it even stained my fingers red!

I don't understand why they call it sup (soup). I would never drink the gravy like soup!

They look plump and fat, but it took a lot of effort for me to grind my teeth against the bone to coax the meat off. And according to the friend of mine who recommended this delicacy, you are supposed to ketuk (knock) the rib to try to get the sum sum (bone marrow) out. Apparently this is the yummiest part! Which I did not know and did not do. Obviously.

Nasi goreng which came with the dish. Did not really like it because it was quite soggy. (I notice that most rice based meals in Singapore are quite lembik. Is this normal??)

Excuse the mess. It was all Aiden's fault. He wanted to eat the fried rice on his own!

That took a lot of effort!

Three stained fingers.

Back home, we assembled the drum set. Absolutely cute!!!

At only SGD10, it was definitely a steal.

And thank god we checked the first box we picked before we left the cashier. If we didn't check, Aiden would probably be banging on a pink drum set right now!

Alhamdulillah, Aiden looks well enough for the trip back home.

Okay, I am off packing! Still trying to figure out how to fit these two black wedges in my luggage!!!

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!!!