Amira and storybooks

She thought all bookstores are like MPH or Borders where she can take a book and sit anywhere.

Her current fav:

With all the silly sounds made by the animals and frequent chants of "Can't catch me!" it caught her heart. A current must-read everyday book for her! 

She also loves this!

Warning! Its quite tiring reading out loud this book! A LOT of repetitions and quite loooong! But I think thats why it is appealing to most kids. She is able to retell the story but of course in her own version.

Its quite fascinating at what children can remember don't you think.

Passport for the lil one

Next 17th we will be going off to Kuantan and Terengganu, insyaAllah. So had to apply passport for lil Umaira. Went down to ICA just now to get her picture taken. Check this out,

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Then we decided to take kakak's picture as well.

It actually took us abt half an hour to wake lil Umaira up! Her eyes need to be opened for the picture.

Despite all the shaking and Amira's shouting, she was still soundly asleep! So like Mama (tido mati..heh)

Splurged!

Two days before I went in for delivery, we shopped for Amira's and Umaira's Raya dress. I already knew where I wanted to get it from, but we still did a little look around. We went to Tampines One, but no dresses caught my eyes, though a lot of other things did.*refrain,refrained*

So we made our way to the shop at Tampines Mall that truly caught my heart the first time I saw it - not to mention pained my heart as the dresses are EXPENSIVE!

It was lovely! Everything there were! We managed to get the two matching dresses, though I think Umaira's going to be a little big.

~ "bloomB" , I ♥ ~

 While I was 'fickling' over which to choose,

~ Cheeky ~

Definitely couldn't sit still!

Lil Mami Jarum....u better dun be!

 After paying for the dresses, I mistakenly took a look at the display window....and something truly caught my eyes! Juz gotta have it for Amira!

~ Loveliness ~

~ Cinderella? ~

~ Posy, posy ~

Damages: S$151.60...

Parents' nightmare: Tantrums!

Sample pic

Imagine this.

Your toddler wants to have something that YOU do not think he/she should at that time or ever. You had already said NO a dozen times or so. Threatened to leave but never really did. Then he/she started to throw their body on the floor and screamed at the top of their lungs! You couldn't even pick them up as they are kicking and struggling. All the time, people around you are looking and judging. The shopowner/salesmen are getting agitated as you are scaring customers away.

What would you do? So far I only see 2 options:

1. Relent and give in to the child so that he would stop his tantrums, and stop the people around you from staring and giving you the 'what-kind-of-parent-are-you look'.

2. Stay firm on your foot and just let him finish his tantrums. Just let others think what they want, its your child and its your way of disciplining them.

For me I would go for the latter. Why? Just simply because I do not want them to think that they could get away with anything just by throwing their body around. And I simply do not care of what others might think of my approach, as those who're judging either do not have a child or they are the lucky ones who get the well-behaved children at all time.

I believe that tantrums and toddlers are inseparable. It shows their determination and I do not think that's bad. Its just that they are still clueless on how to behave and be patient, so that is our responsibility as parents to guide them. Not to confuse them further, by taking the wrong simpler decision -in my opinion- to just give in.

Of course sometimes when I see other children throwing tantrums I wld silently say that "Alhamdulillah that's not my child" heh, but SURELY I know that some other day that wld be my doter and I just have to face it too, just like yesterday. I think that was the worst tantrums ever being thrown by Amira. She was really determined to have that thing, screamed, kicked, struggled, for about 15 mins I think, and finally cried to sleep. When awoke, she was still talking about having that thing. So Abah, you think we should get one for her?

She wanted this BADLY!

Yeay for Sleepy Kittens Storybook!

Remember Despicable Me?

Pic taken from Wiki

We managed to catch it with Amira, cant remember when though. Not too keen in 3Ds however. Coz its such a hassle to put on the glasses! The lugs are simply too long to put in my scarf and its not helping that I do not have a 'nose', so most of the time I had to hold it *leceh!*. Plus its not worth -yet- to get Amira one -we never get a ticket for her, stingy parent hehe- so she had to see a blurred picture instead *sorry dear!*

The movie was not bad, simple story line with lots of humour here and there. But what I liked most was the bedtime book 'Gru', the lead character, read to the girls. I remembered mentioning to Abah that it would be great if I can get my hands on that book! It looks so adorable and fun, with the little kittens finger-puppets!

Actually I did find it on amazon costing USD7.99 without shipping. But estimated shipping period is maximum a month for the least shipping cost which is USD4.99. Such a long wait!

So put it off for quite some time now, and alhamdulillah guess what! Chanced upon a mummy spreeing for this particular book at S$16.90! Books will arrive around 2 weeks from now. So yes! I have placed an order for it! Cant wait to receive it and read it together with my lil princess who is simply smitten with cats...

My BFFs

Had a superb time break fasting with my lovely BFFs yesterday! I forgot to bring my cable so unable to upload pics for now. Kak Su, Sir and Laila couldn't make it, so there were only 6 of us + 2 toddlers - an all-ladies affair.

We met up at Sultan mosque, then proceeded to Cafe Le Caire at Arab street after Maghrib prayers. Had buffet, menu was not much but it was surely filling. Arab-style cooking, with bamia, chicken, fish, rice, pita, dessert, fruits and free flow of drinks. Costs S$25 per person not inc GST and service charge. I had wanted the relaxed-eating-style actually, maybe on-carpet-seating, but to bad it was only for smoking area. Main agenda was eating, gossiping oops *astarghfirullah* catching up with stories -purely intended as lessons for us insyaAllah ;) - and a lil bit of camwhoring. Alhamdulillah the 2 toddlers were quite well-behaved, thank you girls.

Although its very hard for us to meet up now -some I hadn't met for months!-, most are busy with married and working life, but we do not feel drifted apart. Each time we meet, we are as close as before.  I love each one of you, thank you for this friendship and insyaAllah we will still be as close  for the years to come, amin.

Since there is no new picture, below is the pic from last year Raya. Missing Kak Su tho.

From top left (clockwise): Far, Rai, Sir, Afia, Sasi, Laila, me and Sarah

 

Our family is expanding! Our other half...
From left: Sir's, Afia's, Kak Su's, mine, Sarah's, Laila's, Sasi's
Missing: Far's & Rai's

 

Pre-natal Check ups

Alhamdulillah am into 38+ weeks now. Basically another week to go, insyaAllah!

Reached Singapore today at noon, and went for an appointment with my gynae, Dr Aziz. A warm, friendly and comical doctor indeed! We are very happy so far with his service.

For this second pregnancy, we moved a lot. I mean initially we stayed at Johore, then moved to Kuantan. So for the first trimester, check ups were done at Johore.

We went to Bio-Sucinas, a husband and wife's clinic. Service was good, If we did not move to Kuantan, most probably I would have chosen to deliver at the Puteri Hospital, Johore. Average check up fees were about RM150-200 each visit (inc scan and meds).

After moving to Kuantan, in second trimester, we went to al-Farabi clinic. No specific doctors but alhamdulillah so far the ones I met were good and accommodating. I was shocked though the first time making payment. It was super CHEAP! Only RM50 inc of scans and jabs!

For the third trimester, since we had decided to deliver in Singapore, we chose to try out a different gynae since Abah was not too keen with our first and we thought it would be better to choose a fellow Muslim to welcome our newborn. That was why we decided upon Dr. Aziz.

First time consultation fee was S$120 and since that time I was already into my 35th week, we had to pay the booking fee for the hospital which was S$1000. Follow up consultation fee was S$45 , not inc of scans or other misc checks.

During the previous check up, he explained in detailed on what to expect during labour and delivery. Though this is my second pregnancy, but some of the things he shared are new to me. Here are some of the 'tips' he gave:

- During labour, you will be given options to 'relief' the contraction pains. The first option would be gas inhalation. The trick is to inhale it BEFORE you feel the contraction as it will only take effect 5-10 seconds after inhaled. So if you inhale when you already feels the pain, it will not be helpful as contraction pains comes and goes.

- During delivery, the position to take is to put both of your hands behind your thighs and pull it back. Chin close to your chest and push! (Listen to your doctor when to push and stop)

- To avoid tearing, he advised to push and stop when he prompts to (that is when baby's head is visible), then what you should do is to look up and blow instead of pushing. BLOW like you are blowing a lot invisible of birthday candles!  

Next week insyaAllah will be the final check up if everything goes as planned. I just hope that baby can wait for Abah to reach here first before popping, as now Abah is at Kuantan attending his work. I would want him by my side when the time comes, insyaAllah.

I still cant believe that there's only a week to go! May Allah ease us and keep us safe and sound amin.

A simple Iftar

Alhamdulillah iftar (break fast) went quite well yesterday. More guests than anticipated. Just couldn't resisit Moktok's cooking I guess!

Menu were simple dishes. Yet it was simplicity at its best. We had gulai daging, ayam masak merah, stir-fried vege and acar.

To me one the best parts is the moment when family members and neighbours gathered together to lend their hands in making this event a smooth one. From the preparation of the dishes to the cleaning up, though tiring it was an enjoyable experience nonetheless!

a truly conventional way of extracting the coconut milk

Gulai slow-cooked over woods

Amira also had tremendous fun mingling and playing with her cousins.

Will be going back to Kuantan tomorrow morning, then off to Singapore Monday morning insyaAllah. Meanwhile, baby hang on in there ya...Don't pop out yet!

Alhamdulillah we are at Terengganu now. Reached here at about 5+ and straight to the food bazaar!

I have been wanting to get my hands on the AYAM PUSING! Specially marinated whole chicken slow roasted to perfection...Love it! It costs RM20 per whole chicken..but its a BIG chicken though we couldn't even finished it and there were 7 of us.

I also love the RM1 only ABC! and the triangle ketupat pulut fried till crisp. They do not have the ketupat nasi like we do in Singapore.

When I first celebrated Raya in Terengganu, it shocked me quite a bit. Do you know that their must have Raya dish is LAKSA! How weird huh...

Moktok also prepared her yearly awaited bubur lambuk..she actually asked Abah what I would like to have for break fasting, and Abah told her its Bubur Lambuk and he did not even asked me!:p Thank god I am not like him, the fussy-eater type. But as fussy as he is, his other members of family are even fussier! Alhamdulillah Abah can eat my cookings *you better or else...heheh*

Ok better get some sleep, tomorrow Moktok will be holding a yearly Ramadhan 'jamuan' -break fast- for neighbours and surau people. Next awaited dish : Moktok's gulai daging. *drools* Cant help it, its not me or nafsu makan, its the baby..heheh.

Such a FINE day

So how was your first Ramadhan? Being 9 mths pregnant, alhamdulillah I feel that fasting is not really a heavy task, thank you Allah for the strength. Maybe because as I stay at home, the toll on me is not that heavy, I can do my work at my own pace and take a rest whenever I feel tired. *always short of breath nowadays especially after climbing the flight of stairs*

I felt that yesterday was quite a test for us -me n abah-, not fasting-wise but hmm..money-wise.

Abah came back from work and announced that he had 2 bad news. He received a call from his auntie on the way back home and was informed that she had to pay forward the fines he accumulated, as Abah's car is under her name. She wanted to settle some matters and in order to do that, the fines had to be settled first. Guess how much it was...RM600! Hard-earned money down the drain.

And what do you know, at that time when he was on the phone, he was driving *claimed that it was at a red traffic light*. Just his luck that he was spotted by the police. Another FINE coming up! *grrr* Abah defensively said to them that he wasn't actually driving coz it was during the red light when he took the call. The police claimed that they had video on him. The fine amount was RM150. Then they offered something which I wished -and Abah is feeling remourseful- they did not. A 'settlement' right there and then. RM50 and Abah was let go. BRIBERY on the first day of Ramadhan! I pray that the police did not use the money to buy food for his family's break fast. *astargfirullah!* Abah! Make sure that will be the last time! Its a sin for both giver and receiver!

Subhanallah! What a first day of Ramadhan it was!

 

Great Dinner

A few nights ago we went for a dinner at this roadside 'warong' style makan place. Nothing fancy about the place BUT the food there was absolutely superb!

I had the Chicken Chop while Abah ordered Nasi Goreng USA. YumYum!

The catch:
Altho chicken was deep-fried till crisp but it was still YUMMY with a pour of black pepper sauce. What impressed me most was the generous servings of side dishes! You can see fries, wedges, coleslaw, bread and sotong ball! Wait there's more...they even accompanied it with dessert! A small bowl of nata de coco. I simply love it!

And it only costs...RM9!

They will definitely receive my patronage again and it will be Char Kway Toew next!
Gotta give it ♥♥♥♥♥!

Tentiu Abah :)

From WP 3/8/2010


Guess what? Abah came back from work today bringing goodies from KFC!

no pocket however coz Abah claimed that the KFC staff gave him the wrong order..hmm..:)

Surprised? not  really actually..coz I know he read my blogs...*hee*

But nonetheless I am still touched by his effort. I am not really a verbal person, I am so used to keeping my feelings to myself. But this is definitely a good channel for me to voice out, be heard and understood. I still remember his comments after he read on my "confession" as a SAHM. He was clueless and did not expect that I would feel that way. So now, he understands better, insyaAllah. *So for those of you who cant be heard, its time to BLOG! heh*

I am not saying that everything will be picture perfect after this, I understand that there will be always be times of ups and downs. Without spices everything will taste bland eventually, and as the saying goes 'after the big break-ups there will be the hot make-ups' *is it?* But I do hope that by understanding each other better - though its already been 3 yrs of marriage, there are still lots to learn about each other - we will be able to stick out through anything TOGETHER, me n you Abah, amin.

know he's trying hard to be the best husband and father to us. You are doing a great job Abah. I really do appreciate it. Tentiu Abah. I love you so. I really do.

* "tentiu" is Amira's way of saying thank you. Both her 'c' and 'k' will sound as 't'. - Hisy pelat, pelat-

What?! Already closed?!

From WP 2/8/2010


It was 9+pm. We were feeling hungry but too lazy to go out - especially me -. So we decided upon home deliveries. I had wanted to eat KFC - been wanting to eat the pocket thingy - but they have no deliveries.*sigh*

Tried once and just gotta have it again!

 So we settled on Mac's. After browsing online through the menus - I was already drooling over the quarter pounder with cheese, it just look soo monstrously yummy -, it was already about 10pm.

Doesnt it look hugely YUMMY!

Picked up my hp and dialled, greeted by automated message. After going through "press 1 or 2"  this and that, finally a real person. More greetings, - silently I was already like can you be quicker, my credit is getting low here - asking if I had ordered before - no, because the last time was at Johor's house - then taking down my address, name bla bla bla. I think 15mins were already gone by then. Finally its time to order! And just as I were about to pour it out, the other end said " Eh alamak! Dah tutuplah dik"

WHAT?!!

Apparently in Kuantan, there is only 1 Mac with delivery service and it closes at 10pm. *sobsob wailing!*
And so, I had mee goreng and abah had nasi pattaya bought from the shop behind our house.

Nasi Dagang

From WP 30/7/2010

moktok's best nasi dagang - signature dish of Terengganu

Moktok - Abah's grandma and guardian - is the proud owner of the state renowned Mak Ngah Nasi Dagang. It had been featured in numerous food shows, locally and abroad, newspapers and books. For those who simply had no idea what it is, it's a very simple dish usually eaten for breakfast, the rice is cooked with coconut milk - somewhat similar to nasi lemak but with its own distinct taste, paired with gulai nasi dagang which present the main "star" ikan tongkol .

So...what's so special then about this dish? Abah mentioned that a person will either like it or do not at all, especially because ikan tongkol usually does not have that many fans. But I can tell you that, its like the must-have breakfast for the people over here. On weekends or holidays, over 400 plates can be sold in a span of 3-4 hrs only!

If you see the pic above, you will find Moktok sitting cross-legged on a table surrounded by the dishes. At about 70+ years of age, she is still going on strong, alhamdulillah. She will be the one dishing the rice and gravy onto the banana leaf, for the whole morning without any breaks at all!

Another interesting part of this dish is the preparation and cooking  method. I don't know of the others, but Moktok is very strict in the whole process of making this dish, that most of the work is done by her alone! - she can never trust anyone to do anything, down to preparing the banana leaf or choosing the coconuts for the milk. Everything is done conventionally that I bet that you might have never even seen some of the 'tools' used. ( have not had the chance to take pics of the process, maybe in later posts) Needless to say that the gravy is cooked over woods, and the process takes the whole night. Tedious as it may be, but she is determined to keep it that way as she truly believes that there is absolutely no SHORTCUTS in order to achieve perfection. Just imagine the effort being put into all these, no wonder it is the BEST you can ever get!

And yes, we went to Terengganu for a night. 3hrs journey in the car to and fro. Sometimes we just have to give in if it pleases everybody else *right?*

What a weekend!

From WP 27/7/2010

What a tiring weekend!

Went back to Singapore by coach as it will be more tiring for Abah to drive since we were only there for 2 days and I am not allowed on flights anymore - into 35 weeks now. I really wonder why don't they offer a better coach for a longer journey, I mean you can choose from a wide variety of VIP coaches if you travel to KL, but there are only limited services travelling to Johor! And the seats are sometimes far from comfortable.

We took the 1am bus on Saturday morning and reached Johor at about 6am. Thought of taking the private rental car - S$15 per person - straight to our destination, but as usual there will be none if we want it, otherwise there will be flocks of uncles asking 'Pegi Singapore? Pegi Singapore?' until it gets really annoying. 

So we had to settle for the express bus from Johor to Singapore. Our mistake was to choose the old service - the red bus - should have chosen the Causewaylink express instead. Why? Because we had to wait for about 45 mins as they were waiting for the seats to be filled! What a service!

Alhamdulillah all this while Amira although awake did not make a fuss. Then out of the blue, still waiting for the bus, a man came and asked whether were going to Singapore. At last! But he still had to find 2 more people otherwise we would have to pay for a full car service which is S$60! And so, we waited again, but this time the bus is all ready to move. I really don't like having to make a last minute choice, take the bus and endure the walks and queues at the immigration - with the bags and pram, my bulging tummy and my backache - or wait uncertainly for the man to find more passengers which seems like none available. But alhamdulillah, the man then informed us that he would be willing to take us with an extra charge of S$10 only - so thats S$40 in total, and us being tired and restless took his offer. However, alhamdulillah again, while we were on the way to his car, an auntie wanted to go in Singapore too, so he said we just settled for S$30. 

Long story cut short, we reached mum's home at about 8+. Phew! 

Abah was already sprawled on the bed, tired from the journey and yesterday's work. I started to get ready to go to Dr. Aziz Clinic. As mum was working that morning, we had to settle for the public transport, thank God it was only at Kembangan - and as usual the reserve seatings in MRT are actually thought by most Singaporean as reserved seatings for the suddenly sleepyheads, or is it that they are really disabled, mentally...and so, I hold no grudges against them. 

We reached at Dr. Aziz's at about 10am and it was already full of couples waiting. After registering, the receptionist told us that it was going to be a loooong wait, like another 3 more hours! So we decided to go back home - again thank God it was only Kembangan- to catch on our sleep. Turned out that we met the doctor only at 2.30pm. Managed to visit someone at the hospital that night and catch a family dinner at Hawa's.

The next day was filled with settling my 'work'. Then we caught the 12am bus from Johor back to Kuantan.

~complete with pillow, bolster, blanket, jacket and plushie~

 No she's not asleep yet..juz posing for the cam 

w/o being asked to..lol

Finally reached home sweet home at about 5+am. Abah's cousin will be coming over with his family at about 10am. And so after a day and half of entertaining our guests, today I can finally try to get a bit more rest. But not after settling the laundry and cleaning the house - 2 days absence + 2 days of 2 active toddlers = lots of cleaning up!

Might be going to Terengganu tomorrow, but I don't know if I can handle 2 journeys in a week. We will see. *the plight of a marriage between 2 not-so-near yet not-so-far countries*

Sew can I!

From WP 22/7/2010




A young lady came over last Wednesday offering a very short one-to-one course on sewing -it was basic sewing and embroidery. It was apparently a marketing tactic for their sewing center, but since its FREE and I was free and a sucker for free things -who's not!- , I said Why not!


The ony time I sew and made something from scratch was during my secondary school days and that was because it was compulsory for all. I did not have the 'courage' to put it on though *hah*. 


And so this was what we did - most of it by me of course!- was quite surprised and proud at the same time of the end product - a pencil case! *heheh*:)

The end product. Started from the blank piece of jean material. Not bad huh..:)

And no, I did not sign up for anything though highly tempted. Not the right time, next time I hope. I do so love the machine though.


p/s: Since I always spend my time with Amira -I usually get my own time only when she naps-, I was quite shocked that she would use all her antics and tactics to seek my attention when I was having the short course. One instance, she actually told me she wanted to urine when she already did just before the lady came, and when we went to the toilet, and just as I suspected she did not go. Same goes when I was doing something else instead of spending time with her - even if its just sitting beside her watching her cartoons- , she will start to ask for this and that just to get my attention. I wonder how things will be when the 2nd one's here. Hope I am able to keep my sanity. Got to keep myself motivated. If other mummies can do it, so can I!