To A Better 2010!

Resolusi tahun 2009 adalah to live and eat healthier. I gained 1 kilo. Guess that didn’t go as planned. But I suppose I lived healthier than 2008. I cooked more and ate more fruits and vegetables.

Didn’t wanna make new resolutions for 2010, but rather to improve on 2009’s resolution. Hmm. But I think I’ll add one new one: -

Change professions.

Insya Allah.

At first Zufri didn’t seem too keen on my wanting to become a lecturer, but he’s warming up to the idea. I guess if I want it that bad, Zufri pasti akan menyokong aku dari belakang. He’s my rock, y’know.

Don’t know if I want it that bad, though.

Here’s to a brand spanking New Year.

So long.

Won’t be posting for a while. I’m tired of all the drama.

Farewell.

Tropic Thunder And Hanis Zalikha

Semalam tengok Tropic Thunder. Hahaha. Kelakar gila. Tapi macam mana boleh nominated for awards pun ceq tak tahu.

Weekend ni kami pegi Penang, ada wedding di Bukit Mertajam (rasanya). Oh, man. Tapi ceq redha. Zufri doesn’t want to stay at his mom’s at Sungai Petani because his parents won’t be there. But with the New Year weekend coming, hotel rates in Penang will surely double. He’s not so keen on staying with his brother in Penang, either. Don’t know yet. Let him decidelah. After all he’s paying.

Weekend lalu aku macam extra free so aku baca-baca balik post aku yang lama-lama. Hahaha. Memang betul-betul free. Kelakar jugak aku ni kan? Hahaha. Gila aku tergelak baca certain posts. Sekarang aku dah pressure to keep up the fabulous work. Hehe. Aku suka layan blog Hanis Zalikha. Kelakar sey dia. Lagi kelakar dari aku, sob sob. Juga cantik, tapi tak poyo macam some models. Hmm aku tak pernah tengok lah iklan/poster dia. Runway model kot? Famous, but very down-to-earth. Wah wah puji menggunung nampaknya. Adakah aku mengidolakan dia? Hahaha mungkin tidaklah begitu sekali.

Miss Tang cuti seminggu, yo!

Expect regular updates this week. Heh heh.

Semalam tengok cerita Twilight untuk kali pertama. Cerita cinta rupanya. Kusangkakan cerita epik vampires dan werewolves dan gollum hehe. Watsup with Bella and all the lip biting, eh? Trying to look sexy ke? Eww kay. Tapi setting yang sangat cantik. Would love to be living in Fork.

The whole long weekend kami (aku dan Emma, semestinya) melepak depan TV saja, layan one movie after another. (Zufri main golf. Ni kalau tak jadi pro ni…) Didn’t have time to clean, hehe. Sinki penuh dengan pinggan. Hahaha. Mujurlah aku tiada OCD. Hahahaha. I’m not a slob, either. I mean, I may not wash the dishes immediately after use, but I don’t pee on floors either. Forest floor mungkin. Hehe. There’s a reason the toilet bowl’s invented, y’know. A piece of decoration, it is not. Except maybe those gold plated ones.

I always try to set a good example for my kid. Mostly when I eat junk food, it’s in the office. Because when I eat in front of Emma, she surely wants a bite. And since junk food is so much tastier and is so addictive, she’ll sure want more. And if I refuse her, oh well, I can’t refuse her. So the simple solution is jangan makan depan Emma. Dan Zufri. Hahaha.

Same goes to my actions and speech. Janganlah mencarut depan anak hang. I’ve certainly narrowed down my choice of words. Partly because I hardly drive anymore. I’ve realized that I curse a lot when I’m driving. But driving with Emma is a more calm and happy time, hehe because I have to sing and entertain her while driving. Dan janganlah bertumbuk depan anak hang. Hahaha. Ada ke orang buat macam ni? Seriously, ada ke? Kang anak hang tumbuk kawan-kawan dia macam mana? Who do you blame then?

Going off tangent here, Baby Shaq is enjoying his holiday in UK and latest I heard, he’s taking pictures with the Eiffel Tower. Hohoho. So looking forward to my souvenir. I wonder how they’re coping, since they didn’t bring Shaq’s stroller. Tapi yelah, jalan-jalan dengan Emma skarang mana bawak stroller dah. Kadang-kadang hairan jugak tengok budak-budak yang dah besar tapi still duduk dalam stroller lagi.

But whatever, y’know. To each, his own.

A Day At The Zoo.

Hye! My name is Emma. Nenek said that I should start my own blog. But I think I should tumpang my Mummy's blog until I can actually think and type. Heh.

Two weeks ago we went to the Zoo! Yay! I had so much fun looking at the animals from near and far. We reached the zoo at 10:30 am and left at 5:30 pm! Yikes! 7 whole hours! Mummy said we should get our money's worth so we might as well stay until closing. Bapak really wanted to go to the Night Safari, but I guess we'll have to do that next time.

Of all the animals, I was really fascinated by the goats. They are so cute, and I did not find their smell disturbing at all. In fact, I even touched one of the goats! I'm too fast for my Mummy!


We caught the water animals show and the elephant show. They have an elephant named Intan. My Mummy's name is Intan. Hee hee.

I was so excited that I refused to eat lunch. I just had some Tiger cookies. Auumm. Heh heh. Maybe that's why I fell asleep on Mummy's shoulder while watching the elephants. I can not believe I missed their show!


Then we took a ride on the tram and on the boat across Seletar Strait.


Useless fact No. 1 : The Seletar Strait was named after orang-orang Selat.

After that, we went to their Kid's Zone. I took a ride on the carousel.

At first I was afraid, but when it started moving, I enjoyed myself. I had the ride all to myself! Bapak took videos of me on the carousel, and I loved it so much that I keep on playing the clip on the camera, again and again. Then something happened. I pressed the 'delete' button instead of the 'play' button. Hmph. I blame Mummy for allowing me to handle the camera myself. I mean, she knows pretty well I can't read!

I was really scared of the statues. Even cute little statues of otters! I thought they were real!

But then Mummy explained to me that they were just statues and that they couldn't move, let alone bite me. So I let Bapak take this picture of me. Hee hee.

This is the notorious Omar. Mummy said he ate his trainer last year. *Shudder* He looks like a giant cute cat.

Useless fact No.2 : White tigers aren't albinos. They're just white. All white tigers remaining in the world are descendants of a white tiger named Mohar.

Useless fact No. 3 : In Africa, they have lions. In Asia, we have tigers. There are no lions in Asia and vice versa.

Near the exit, we saw the orang utans. The camera had run out of batteries by this time (we didn't even get a chance to take pictures of the Savannah animals!). I especially loved watching the baby orang utan, yang asyik bergayut pada mak dia. It reminds me of, well, myself. Emma pun suka bergayut pada mummy. Maybe because she always smells so good. Hee hee.

Boy oh boy, was I tired at the end of the day! But it's okay as I slept all the way home.

Thank you Mummy and Bapak for the fun day out! I love you both.

(Hee hee perasan)

Disclaimer : Of course ini bukan Emma yang tulis okay. Don't be a smart ass and leave comments on Emma's genius mind. Heh. Tapi kalau ikhlas rasa Emma genius, mak aminkan aje. Hehe.

Sehari Di Putrajaya

Hari ni aku ikut Zufri pergi Putrajaya, since aku still ada mc sehari. Spent most of the afternoon berjalan-jalan dan bergambar di sekitar Precinct 2.

Emma looking all excited, over nothing

Rasa macam dalam scene cerita Cicakman.

Dalam CIMB, Emma tiba-tiba buat muka uh-oh macam ni.
Rupa-rupanya she was mimicking an ad posted on the wall.
Sheesh.

Muka aku yang sangat semangat bergambar.
Emma pulak senyum poyo sambil memandang tempat lain.
Ey, why my teeth so yellow?

Then, we went to Pullman Hotel & Resort, Putrajaya. We've made reservations for 18th to 20th. Hoo-ray! We sooooo need a break. They're having a promotion, weekends are priced at RM199++ per night, including 2 breakfasts. Usual price is RM414.00 (including taxes)! Oh sungguh teruja. I love December. The hotel is sooooo lovely, the wooden wall panelling, the tempered glass steps that make me feel like walking on air, the super comfy sofas, the free breakfasts.. Hehe. What can I say. I'm a simple person.

Tengok, Emma pun dah tido kat Pullman.
Hoho.

Then.. And Now

I have an eye infection, courtesy of Emma. Got 2 days MC, courtesy of Dr.George. Everybody's just so courteous. Heheh. But Emma's at home with me. Tomorrow maybe I'll send her to Opah's, so I can just lepak and finish the book I'm currently reading.

Anyway, was going through old photos the other day and found these:-

Emma : Almost 2 months.
My God, look at those cheeks!
Mata sepet, bibir tebal. Hahaha. Hidung ada 'ong'.
Masa tu tak perasan bila orang cakap pipi dia tembam,
tapi sila compare dengan gambar seterusnya.

Emma : 16 months.
Ahhh.. Kelihatan seperti sangat sopan santun.
Dan ayu. Haha.

Rizzqin : Almost 2 months as well.
Sangat comel dan innocent

Rizzqin : 17 months
Hahahaha sangat cheeky.
Like he's up to some mischief.

Shaqeel : A few days old.
Very small and fragile

Shaqeel now : 4 months +
Check out those thighs. And arms. And those long fingers.
And check out the serious face.

Adam : Not sure. Probably 2 months old.
Haha. Handsome little fella.

Adam now : 4 years 2 months old
He's actually fairer in real life.
Tang telinga tu ikut mak dia ka ayah dia ka, I dunno.
Really smart little guy.

So there you go, the whole clan of cousins so far. InsyaAllah, more will be added to the clan. These children were and are still breastfed exclusively (Kak Yen & Kak Peachy still exclusive, aku dah start campur FM at 13 months). Thanks to Pops for the encouragement.

Oh today's Papa's 61st birthday! Happy birthday, Pops! Papa sangat kerek pasal hari tu dia buat checkup and found out his biological age is actually 48. Sheesh. Auntie Rani pulak she's 51, with a body older than her age. I shudder to think how old my body is. Should. Start. Exercising.

We are planning for a family holiday this CNY. Unless somebody gets engaged then. Kan, kan?

Cerita Anniversary

Oh, forgot to tell the story about our wedding anniversary. Dah pukul 4 petang baru aku teringat anniversary kami. Sebelum tu kalau aku dok tulis tarikh, memang rasa macam there's something about this date, but I wonder what, kan. Sekali tu teringat, laaaaa wedding anniversary aku rupanya. So I sms-ed Zufri, saying hey I just remebered that today's our anniversary, and love you (cukup syarat jek, haha). Dia reply 'I tau, saja nak tunggu tengok u ingat ke tak'. Cecece gila aku tak percaya ayat tu. Because I swear, lately I've been bad with dates and birthdays. Semua birthday aku tak ingat.

Masuk-masuk kereta aku cakap aku tak percaya statement dia tadi, dan dia mengaku dia pun terlupa. Hahaha. Doesn't matter lah babe, since I forgot about it as well. So dinner was supposed to be something special lah kan, tapi Emma kan super cranky dan malam hujan pulak tu. So we went to Secret Recipe saja di (gasp!) Giant.

Hadui. Zufri kata for our second wedding anniversary he's getting me a water heater. Hahahaha. Kurang asam betul statement itu. Birthday aku dia bagi washing machine. Boleh? Benci lah. Hahaha. But birthday dia tahun ni aku tak bagi dia present. Anniversary lagilah tiada. Hahaha. Oh ada. Aku belikan kepala shower yang diidamkan (yang besar gabak tu, ala shower di club house katanya). Ni tak pasang lagi, tengah tunggu wrench.

Hahaha. What a year, ey? Harap-harap next year dapat saxophone.

Soprano, kay?

Happy second anniversary, babe. I sayang u, ok.

Anyway, found out that she's actually teething. Sheesh

Emma ada sikiiiiit demam hari Rabu hari tu. Since it was so soon after her discharge the other day, a panic mummy quickly gave her some paracetamol, walaupun itu adalah against prinsip aku (tidak mengambil ubat di atas segala kesakitan). Nanti pain treshold dia rendah macamana? Aku jugak yang susah.

Anyway, found out that she's actually teething. Sheesh.

Emma is a terrible teether. She doesn't dribble as much, but she gets super cranky. Kalau larat nak dengar dia melalak, letaklah dia di lantai. Mujurlah I am such a patient person. Hehe. She's taken to falling asleep around 3 am because of this. Maksudnya aku jugaklah. Kadang-kadang Zufri join sekaki.

Anyway gigi yang naik tu adalah gigi gerahamnya. Aku adalah sangat musykil memandangkan so far dia hanya ada empat gigi depan aje, dua atas dua bawah. Tiba-tiba muncul dua gigi geraham atas. Dua gigi geraham bawah dah mula membengkak. Hmm.

Today we bought a few things for the house, since my in-laws are coming over the Qurban weekend. Kami memang malas nak balik, jadik kami buat korban untuk Emma di masjid sini. Alhamdulillah, walaupun dah setahun lebih baru nak buat korban. Anyway, abang sulung Zufri pun datang jugak. Jadi dalam usaha kami membuatkan mereka berasa selesa, maka a few things had to be updated around the house.

Kikiki. Juga telah update car seat untuk Emma. Ingat tak Emma's wish list for her birthday? It's numero uno, tapi Dori, bukan Tobi, since Dori can be used from newborn. Jadi boleh digunakan untuk Emma's little sibling in the future, heh heh. Isnin dan Selasa Emma akan dihantar ke Putrajaya (Zufri dan Emma berdua, woot!) since Opah akan masuk hospital pasal nak buat angiogram.

Ran into Hani and her husband at Planet Enfante kat Atria. Depa tengah dok ricki travel system Peg Perego. I dunnolah about that brand, but bapak aku ada kata masuk news in Singapore that Maclaren recalled one of its strollers because apparently childrens' fingers get cut off from using the strolles. Scary, huh? And that's from a reputable brand like Maclaren.

Huh, gila tiada korelasi ayat-ayat dan cerita-cerita aku hari ni. Penat seh mengemas rumah secara robotik. Nasib baik Emma senang tidur hari ni. Mungkin gusi dia tak sesakit sebelum ni. Syukurlah. Maybe I can get some rest now.

Yeah, maybe I should.

Celcom Did It Again!

Adoi semalam drama lagi lah! Zufri pergi driving range sebelah OU tu, so naturally aku dan Emma di'dropped' di OU. Dalam pukul 930 macam tu tiba-tiba ada mesej mengatakan yang akau ada 11 missed calls from Zufri! Hoo boy! Sure mengamuk punyalah Zufri. Tapi I was sure I didn't hear or feel the phone that was in my back pockey all night. Aku siap check phone sekali sekala to make sure Zufri didn't call.

Aku call balik tak dapat. No network coverage katanya. I called from the public phone, juga tak dapat. Ah, I thought. Stupid Celcom must have acted up again. Bodoh je kan? Dahle semalam jalan jam pasal ada konsert depan OU tu. Jadi aku pun berjalan dengan Emma ke driving range. Not that near. 10 minutes jog, pasal takut tiba-tiba hujan. Sambil mendukung Emma.

Oh did I mention that I had a headache from conducting a site valuation under blazing hot sun that morning? In fact, I still have it this morning. Argh.

Macam ni caranya Mummy saya berlari.

Sampai-sampai driving range, Zufri tak ada. Neither were his golf buddies. So I waited for around 10 minutes then started to walk back to OU. This time I was too tired to run. Seriously felt like crying from feeling so tired added with the meadache plus arm ache pasal takkan nak biar Emma berjalan di tengah-tengah malam di tepi jalan raya, kan? Dalam OU pun aku tak bagi sangat Emma jalan pasal she would end up snatching clothes from the racks pastu bawak lari pegi cashier. Kalau tak itu, dia nampak sesuatu di atas lantai pastu terus tiarap mencium benda itu. Oh, very unhygienic ya!

Finally got a call from Tawau on our way back to OU mengatakan Zufri tunggu kat tempat biasa.(Tawau pakai Maxis). Huhu finally reached home around 10.30.

Stupid Celcom. Should really swith to something else, huh?

Ahh..

Ahh.. What a week. Ms.Tang’s out again! Tomorrow she’s on leave. What else can I ask for? Menang loteri, mungkin! Amin, Amin. Hehe.

Tahukah anda bahawa The Time Traveler’s Wife sedang ditayangkan di pawagam-pawagam?

Tahukah anda bahawa prior to all the drama last week, aku dan Shikin sudah bercadang untuk berpura-pura sakit (or at least aku sahaja) dan menonton wayang tersebut di Pavillion pada hari Rabu iaitu semalam?

Tahukah anda bahawa Shikin mencadangkan agar watak Claire dimainkan oleh Audrey Tatou dan Henry oleh Christian Bale? Aku pula memilih (oh dan pendapat ini sering berubah-ubah) pasangan Edward Norton dan Lois Lane di dalam Smallville (siapalah namanya?). But I suppose Rachel McAdams will do just fine. Eric Bana seems too hunky for Henry. I did suggest James McAvoy, but we agreed that he’s too short.

Semalam Zufri ajak bercuti in December. To Hard Rock Hotel, no less. But in Penang, not Bali ya (or wherever). Woot! Mana-manalah. I’m thinking it’s too expensive. He thinks he deserves a break. Of course you do, babe. But at RM1351.00, we can relax much more by paying my credit card bills. Wakaka. Serious tak berbaloi rasanya. I mean, Penang? Sheesh.

Harus slow slow discourage suami saya agar tak membazir wang sewenang-wenangnya.

Hari ni sangat panas, kan? Terbakar muka aku pergi valuation tadi. Client ni pun sibuk, nak tengok manhole le, nak check rumput le, nak borak-borak di bawah panas terik le.. Adus.

And on a totally different note, tonight we’re eating out again. Hehe. After 4 days of eating hospital food, I find cooking very tiring. Huhu. Tiga minggu tau aku masak dinner tanpa henti, even on weekends! Lunch siap balik rumah lagi makan. A feat by my standards. Haha. Kena start balik slowly. Really slowly.

Okay, enjoy the rest of the day!

Oh, Terlupa Pulak

So how did you like the ridiculously long post? I have more, you know. Just not as long. As it turns out, Emma’s blood count (or platelets, I’m not sure) is quite low so the doctor said that either one of us has talesemia. Wah. Quite shocking news. Thankfully only one of us has it, so its not dangerous.

And we just found out that Emma’s blood is the same as Zufri’s, which is A+. I’m an O, which is a universal donor. Very generous of us. And we (O blood people) are picky, because we only accept our own kind. Hehe.

Jadi sekarang kalau ada orang puji Emma, Zufri akan berkata of courselah, tengoklah darah siapa. Sheesh, babe.

Oh by the way, kami rasa mungkin aku yang ada talasemia pasal dulu memang sangat susah untuk aku menderma darah. Platlet tak cukup, kata mereka.

By the way, I think I’ve gained a lot of weight lately. Sikit-sikit aku makan coklat. Sikit-sikit makan chilli cheese corntos. Lunch tadi makan mcD, siap ada sundae lagi pasal ada kupon free daripada pamayam. Kuikuikui. Ni dalam beg aku ada skittles littles. Kat rumah ada chocolate cake.

Oh! Totally forgot! Hari Isnin 9/11 birthday Zufri. Hahaha. We were still in hospital then. He was throwing up. I was freaking out. Emma was asleep, blissfully unaware of the chaos surrounding her. Ahh.. what a birthday to remember, eh?

Happy 28th birthday, babe. No party, no makan-makan, no birthday present for you this year. Tapi tak bermakna itu yang I nak untuk birthday I, ok.

We Are OK Now

Warning. Seriously long post ahead. Miss Tang keluar meeting. Hahaha. Sila..

Alhamdulillah, Emma sudah di-discharge semalam, with an almost clean bill of health. Problem is the cough is still there. However the pediatrician said that the coughing would take some time to heal, and at least has gone down in just one week. Some children have it for almost three long weeks! Oh such torture for their parents, not knowing what to do ey?

Ceritanya bermula begini. Hari Selasa lepas, badan Emma mula panas sikit, but no fever. Batuk ada sikit-sikit, tapi tiada kahak. Hari Rabu pagi pulak Emma tak kasi aku pergi kerja. Tak boleh dilepaskan, pasti menangis. Takkan aku nak angkut je dia ke rumah Opah dalam keadaan aku berbaju tidur, kot? Hehe. Jadi kami pun baring-baring depan tv. Dalam 8:40 Zufri call aku tanya aku di mana. Aku katalah kat rumahlah, baru 7:40 what. Hahaha aku tak pakai contacts mahupun glasses. Kesimpulannya cuti sajalah. Bagus juga aku cuti pasal kadang kala suhu badan Emma turun naik. Aku pun lap badan dia dengan air suam (never use ice or cold water because it will cause her blood vessels to constrict and keep the heat inside. When u use warm / tepid water your blood vessels expand thus releasing body heat. Correct me if I’m mistaken) dan suhu badan dia normal kembali. Batuk semakin kerap, but still no phlegm.

Hari Khamis semuanya berjalan lancar. Badan Emma sedikit hangat, but also no fever. Khamis juga bapak aku, step mom aku dan Pipi Doo datang KL for a wedding. Kami pun ambil mereka di Pudu. Emma was fine then, but Papa and Zufri commented that she felt a bit warm. The thing with Emma is, she is usually much warmer at night and while sleeping as compared to pagi hari. Initially we all thought she was teething as her gums seemed a bit swollen. So on Friday before going to bed aku lapkan lagi badan Emma. Mungkin silap aku adalah aku biarkan Emma tido dengan hanya memakai diapers. Because I read that you should not bundle up your child when they have fever. Tapi mungkin juga kaedah ini tak wajar diaplikasikan sewaktu malam. Aku rasa sangat bersalah.

Tengah-tengah malam around 3 a.m Emma woke up screaming. A temperature check showed that she’s 39.1 degrees hot. Aku pun cepat-cepat lapkan badan dia dan susukan dia dan kemudian check suhu badan dia dah turun ke 37 degrees something. Oh lupa nak cerita yang aku juga turut memberikan Emma paracetamol twice a day since Wednesday, just in case.

Friday morning I decided to take Emma to a pediatrician near my home but the clinic was closed so we took her to a new clinic in SS2 (aku, Kak Peachy, Baby Shaq, Papa dan Pipi). Masuk-masuk je klinik nurse tanya aku bila last makan ubat demam. Aku cakaplah 10 pm last night. Dia jerit kat aku kau tau. “Anak demam panas, u tak takut ke dia sawan dalam kereta?!” or something like that. Usually I’d feel defensive but that day I felt so guilty. What if she really had seizures in the car? Oh Nauzubillah!

Kemudian dia check temp, was at an all time high of 39.4°! Cepat-cepat dia bagi Emma a higher dosage of Paracetamol to keep the temperature down. Bila dicek doctor (Klinik Dr.Oh di SS2) dia suspect Emma ada pneumonia and should be admitted to hospital that day itself! Aku sangat nervous because people die from pneumonia, don’t they? Sounds like a very deadly disease. I haven’t had time to google pneumonia yet, so I wouldn’t know if my fears are unfounded. Nanti aku update on pneumonia (and bronchitis) OK.

So I decided (I swear, I made the decision by myself) for Emma to be admitted to Assunta Hospital here in PJ Old Town. Was referred to Dr.S.T.Lim who was (in my humble opinion) a very good and funny doctor. Anyway, I think all pediatrician should be friendly and funny. Did an x-ray and the radiologist confirmed that it was pneumonia! Ack! Tapi Dr.Lim kata radiologists Cuma tengok x-ray film, dia tak jumpa patient. Looking at Emma, her breathing dan sebagainya, dia putuskan yang Emma has acute bronchitis. And it was viral (caused by a virus) which is much better than bacterial. Jadi ia bukanlah nanah tetapi cuma kahak.

Alhamdulillah.

Jika anda letak telinga di belakang badan Emma, you’ll hear a cracking sound everytime she sucks in air. Sekarang sudah semakin kurang.

She was put on IV drip the first day she was admitted because she refused to eat or drink anything (including breastmilk!). Dia diberi nebulizer setiap 4 jam, and one time she struggled so hard she tore the needle from her bloody hand (not a curse word, it was bloody). Since she was nursing regularly by then, the Dr. decided to stop the drip. Tu pun pasal aku request. Pun juga aku rasa pasal nurses takut pasal drip tu tercabut dari tangan Emma kan, takut aku complaint ke kan. Hahaha.

Malam tu kami tidur berdua, jam 4 pagi Emma terjaga batuk-batuk. Tiba-tiba nurse masuk, on-kan lampu dan kata, mari kita bagi dia gas sekarang! Hahaha sangat dedikasi ya. The fact that she heard Emma coughing was shocking enough. Oh btw, kahak Emma tak disedut. Aku ada tanya doctor, dia kata tak perlu because (in her words) the salur (bronkus, is it? Trakea? Atau esophagus?) is like a tree, and the bronchiole are the branches. Bila kita sedut, hanya sampai sini (menunjuk ke separuh dada) maka hanya sampai situ saja yang disedut. Phlegm berada di branches. No use kita sedut. It will go off on its own.

OK doc!

Four trying days later, Emma was discharged. Oh, the last night there, Zufri pulak fell sick. He threw up 4 times that night. Akulah yang penat. Mana dengan Emma lagi, dengan bapak Emma lagi. Semoga berdouble-double pahala aku. Hehehe.

Masa nak discharge pulak ada drama lain. Insurance decline, tak nak bayar. Oh gila. Lagu mana cek nak bayaq? Mujurlah ejen insurans kami yang dedikasi came to the rescue. Ada la insurance terms yang aku tak ambil tahu, Syat bayarkan dulu, nanti dia buat claim, bila claim dah dibayar aku bayar balik kat dia. Hehe. Dia kena lah jaga hati dan poket client, bukan? Terima kasih Syat.

Thank you all who came, who called, who commented, and who cared.

Not Feeling So Good

Woke up this morning with a 39.4 degree temp! Dr.Oh suspects pneumonia. Oh! Referred to Assunta + was admitted. Xray + blood test done. Now taking urine sample. Pray for me, everyone.

Not Feeling So Good

Woke up this morning with a 39.4 degree temp! Dr.Oh suspects pneumonia. Oh! Referred to Assunta + was admitted. Xray + blood test done. Now taking urine sample. Pray for me, everyone.

Bapak's Guidance.

Bapak, jauh lagi perjalanan kita ni. Lead, and I shall follow.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

And happy 15 month birthday, Emma!

She's busy concentrating on strangling a ghoul! A charmed one, mungkin Emma ni? Huhu.

A test post

I'm posting this from my handphone. Harap2 menjadi.

Emma!

Haha emma over

Dedicated To Shasha

This post is dedicated to my high school friend, who’s also a reader of ‘The View From Here’ (ha ha poyo), Shasha.

I read about your ailing father, and your dilemma about wanting to take time off to take care of him.

The first time my mummy was fighting against cancer, I was in university. So she was scheduled to have her radiology treatments, which was available in KL General Hospital then. I can’t remember it now but I think she stayed with me in college for a few days because my father had to go back to JB for something. So I asked Anies my roommate and her then boyfriend Amad to send us to hospital, and some days borrowed Kak Peachy’s car to take her to those appointments. It was tough but we had some really good times.

Once, Amad was busy and so we couldn’t get a ride to hospital, so she decided that we shall take the bus there! And boy, was she happy and excited! Siap cakap dia excited gila nak naik bas. But I decided that I shall not subject her to such torture, yelah penat ok nak naik bas. Aku takpelah, mak aku kan sakit. Jadik aku mintak tolong Mar dan kawan dia tolong hantarkan kami ke Hospital. Balik kami naik cab. Now when I think about it, maybe we should have taken the bus, ek?

Generally, what I am saying is that I am glad I took the time to take care of her.

The second time she was diagnosed with cancer, it was – I reckon – too late because it was already at a critical stage. I suppose I thought she’d get better just like the last time. Aku baru je habis praktikal masa tu. Mummy by then was already spending nights at the GH in JB. The obvious choice would have been to stay in JB to take care of her, since I was jobless then. Instead I spent a week in JB, then I shot off to KL dan sambung kerja dekat ofis tempat aku praktikal tu dengan gaji RM1000 je sebulan.

The first weekend I didn’t go home for some stupid reason. The Friday approaching the second weekend mummy passed away.

Until today, I have not forgiven myself for choosing work over taking care of my ailing mother.

As cliché as this may sound, family comes first. Above all other.

I have told Zufri, should anything happen to my father (mintak simpang malaikat 44), I am going to quit my job, go back to JB to take care of him. InsyaAllah. Refuse to let pisang berbuah dua kali.

I know what you are going through. Persevere, and with God’s will, everything will be fine.

Pembencian Di Hari Jumaat

Eiii serius aku membenci seorang kontraktor melayu ni yang suka sangat bercakap seperti orang cina. You know how some people sometimes adapt their way of speaking to suit the person they are speking to kan. But I’m not Chinese! Argh!

Dahlah suara sangat irritating. Lepas tu cakap macam aku ni moron. You’re the moron, lah. That’s mean, that’s mean. Apa that’s mean? That means, lah! Sheesh! Bencinya, bencinya!

Oh, I tak tau, dekat plan the calculations shows like such and such, bukan I yang measure. Oh, I tak tau, YY says its like this. Oh, biasa dah buat site measurement we follow site measurement quantities.

D-uh. Tapi apasal kau punya measurement dengan plan beza sangat, gila? Something must be wrong, either your as-built or your site measurement. Your as built drawing should reflect what’s done on site.
Yelah, saya tau.

Cheh menjawab pulak tu. Aku tumbuk karang minah ni.

My measurement can’t be wrong, pasal aku expert. Hahaha. No lah, I had a colleague check my calculation. It couldn’t be possible that my company actually hired 2 dumb asses, could it?

Never have I felt so much hate for a person I’ve never met before.

Benci.

OK.

I’m OK now.

Enjoy your weekend!

Emma approaching 15 months

Updates on Emma.

She’s now approaching 15 months, and I’ve seen some short unsupported walks when she thinks nobody’s watching. Seriously. When we’re there to cheer her on, she clams up and crawls around. She’s really taking her time lah, this girl. People have said kind things to me when I say she’s not walking yet. I’ve really come to terms with this. I’m really OK, OK? Heheh. No need to worry about me.

Calls Bapak, Opah and Kin. Hehehe Kin adalah Rizzqin, me thinks.

Calls me Mummy only when she’s wailing on top of her voice.

Says ‘apa tu’ at almost anything while pointing at the thing.

Says tatih bila dia ditatihkan.

Says bye while waving. Sometimes turns back while walking to continue waving.

When I sing twinkle twinkle little… she’ll say star, minus the s, of course.

What else yeah.

Just only learned to shake people’s hands.

Says ‘cih’ when handed something. That’s emmanese (hehe) for terima kasih.

Upon entering the house, somehow she always screams ‘dahh’ when I give my Salaam.

Drinks from a cup pretty well now. Minimal spill, but is still there.

Hair is still very, well, little despite super efforts from me in melumurkan olive oil on her head every day. Serius jealous je tengok anak orang rambut lebat.

Weighs approximately 9.7 kilos the last time I checked. Her chart is tapering now. Hahaha dulu sangat curam.

Drinks around 10oz of formula during the day, on top of 6/7 oz of EBM I supply. Huhu lagi banyak FM dari EBM ok. Argh aku gagal! Gagal maintain supply. At lunchtime I’ll be lucky if I get 4 oz. After work its usually 3 oz. Mornings I don’t pump anymore. Sedih, but it leaves me with a lot more free time to prepare breakfast, hehe.

When I say dog, she sometimes say woof woof. Cat is miao in a very high pitch.

When I ask where’s her shoes, she says ‘shuz’ but doesn’t go looking for her shoes. When I point to her shoes and asks her apa ni? She asks me back apa tu? Sheesh.

So anyways, itulah dia perkembangan Emma thus far. Kalau ada yang tertinggal, akan aku update kelak.

James Mcavoy

Just finished watching Penelope for the first time.

Think I'm falling in love with James Mcavoy, heh heh.

May not be some people's cup of tea. Tapi handsome, kan?
And the character he plays in Penelope?
Just perfect for him.
Hahaha.

Zufri's still out with friends.

Syawal Is Almost Ending

Weekends have been a flurry of activities, with short sojourns in the comforts of our own home. Old acquaintances renewed, forgotten love affairs rekindled, two hearts merge as one. I love Syawal as much as I love Ramadhan.

Read two of Khaled Hosseini’s recently, A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner. Does that explain my somewhat fluid-like phrases, almost melodic?

(Bayangkan aku menari. Eww. I can’t dance. Remember Di Mana Bulan Selalu Retak? Hah. Try meliuk lintuk ditiup angin)

Heh heh. Who knows? I might write the Great Malaysian Novel someday.

We had so much fun attending open houses and weddings and even visiting relatives for Hari Raya. Thank you all for inviting us and serving us with the most delicious food and the warmest hospitality. May you always be within Allah’s good graces.

Lost And Gone Forever

My super ancient phone hilang lah.

Sob sob. Will post more about it later. For now, Shikin, hang sms address open house itu pada Zufri's phone ok? Atau hang email saja padaku.

So to anyone who's been sms-ing me in hope of a reply, bukan aku sombong mahupun terlalu busy bekerja dan beraya. Hahaha.

How Has It Been?

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri.

Saya minta maaf dari

hujung rambutku yang pendek ini ke

hujung kakiku yang pendek tapi lebar ini.

So how has it been so far? Ours have been so far so good. Beraya di perantauan wasn't as bad as I'd expected. Probably lebih meriah since Zufri has 10 nieces and nephews. Emma was an angel. She was very well behaved, even with very limited sleep.

First and second day was spent in Sungai Petani, the third and fourth day we went to Penang and the fifth day was spent making PLUS richer by about RM90.00. Hoho We started out at 10:00 am and reached JB at 6:30 agak-agak. Oh sangat pening menahan mengantuk.

But Alhamdulillah we made it safe and sound. Emma was manageable sahaja at this point. Not an angel OK. And now I'm blogging away at my step mom's crib in Singapore. Aku dan Emma saja ya. Pipi tak ikut pasal biasalah dia. Remaja. Zufri dan Pops tengah solat Jumaat ya. Nek Pah di depan menonton TV. Auntie Rani berjalan-jalan di luar mundar mandir trying to get everything settled barangkali.

Tomorrow I hear we're coming to Singapore again, but I don't think I wanna come lah. Hope to get everything (visit as much relatives as we can) done by today, because there's a birthday party tomorrow. See lah how.

Gambar raya will be uploaded as soon as I can.

Salam lebaran dari kami.

Emma = Complete

Aunties and uncles, jangan lupa duit raya Emma, ya!

Gigi atas Emma jarang lah. People say don't worry, it ain't permanent. But teeth is important to me. Papa said its better that her teeth grows slowly, so that they spoil later. Huhuhu.

I am starting to worry about Emma's inability to walk. Hopefully its actually nothing. I was a late walker myself.

ps: Emma means complete in Hebrew. Wakaka.

Sorry babe, not just yet

Paparan di kaca handphone aku sejak semalam adalah :

(insert photo of ancient handphone)

Nampak tak?

(oopss sorry no photo of phone, so surely you can’t see it.)

Mari aku bacakan.

Tuesday : Hantar resignation letter
17:00 – 17:30
(Means Tuesday, 1st September 2009)

Zufri tengok handphone aku semalam and said sorry babe, not just yet.

Shoot!

Things ain’t going according to plan.

Darn!

On a brighter note, tomorrow we’re leaving as soon as I leave the office, which means 5:30. The bag’s packed and is already in the car. Haha macamlah jauh sangat rumah aku dengan office, sampai tak boleh nak singgah kejap ambil beg.

Of course ini semua idea aku. Zufri couldn’t come up with a plan like this. Dia terlalu rigid mengikut schedule. Aku pula perlu a rough outline, and I’ll wing it when the time comes.

Oh, come visit my BIL at Pasar Ramadhan Kelana Jaya, Stall No. 222 (3rd stall from Tabung Haji side) and try the dadih(s). Delicious y’all! Especially the vanilla flavoured ones.

7 down, 23 to go!

Ramadhan

Today is the fifth day of Ramadhan. Alhamdulillah, so far everything's going quite well. Pumping sessions maintain, however the supply's dwindled a bit. But I have been (somewhat willingly) supplementing Emma with some formula to tide her over during the day.

Hari-hari kami berbelanja di Pasar Ramadhan Kelana Jaya. Auntie jual trifle tu takde jugak lah this year. I wonder where she's gone. 1st & 2nd days we had Laksa Johor (sold by Kak Yen. Haha) 3rd day we had Roti John, but this Zufri bought himself in Putrajaya. The queue's a mile long OK! Sangat famous dan lazat. Then yesterday we had hmm murtabak ke ek? Argh speaking of yesterday, Emma only slept at 3 am! Very very tiring. Thank God she's asleep now.

Anyways, we'll be going home to JB over the long weekend. Yippie! Plus, Miss Tang's on leave this Friday! Double yippie! I think I'm right on track (work wise) so I'm more realxed at work.

I hope it's not too late to wish my Muslim readers (hadoi perasaan glamour la) salam Ramadhan Al-Mubarak. May we be better muslims this time around. I know I'm trying :)

I hope Mummy's not giving me bubur lambuk again tomorrow. Ack!

P/s : Hari-hari Tok We (macam anak itik Tok We, bukan english we) ambilkan kami bubur lambuk dari surau. Alhamdulillah. Semoga murah rezeki Tok We sekeluarga. Amin.

1st August 2009

Alhamdulillah, Emma is already one. What a year, ey? Can hardly believe our little darling is no longer be a baby. Hehe.

And no, Emma masih belum boleh berjalan. Hehe aiyoh my little girl still wants to crawl. She sure is taking her own sweet time, huh? Papa kata Emma pengecut. Cheh sungguhla bapakku itu. Takpelah, sayang. You just wait until you are ready, ok?

Emma ni kalau aku jalan berpimpin dengan dia, mesti dua – tiga tapak saja. Lepas tu dia akan pusing belakang aku, berpaut kat peha aku, letak kepala kat celah-celah lutut aku dan berjalan bila aku jalan. Hahahaha. Tak tahu apa motif dia. Sikit lagi, she’ll kiss my ass. Hahaha.

We had a little celebration for Emma’s birthday last Saturday. Alhamdulillah, everything went amazingly well! All the guests turned up except for Lenny who had a last minute wedding to attend.

Thank you everyone who attended, and even more thanks for having fun and the presents for Emma.

Didn't get a car seat, but Emma got everything else. And then some!

Enjoy the pictures below, ey.

The birthday girl, looking for something to do.

The birthday cupcakes, dibuat fresh oleh Auntie Pipi pagi itu.
Not bad. Cantik juga lazat.


The Guest Book
Handmade, and hand stitched.
Tapi tak padam harga kertas!
Argh!

Presents from friends. Sorry! Ada yang tertinggal! Haha.
Later update OK.

A ball filled pool yang menjadi pujaan semua anak-anak kecil.

Haha. No one thought of taking more pictures lah. Gambar potong kek pun tiada. Sebelum orang potong kek, Emma put her handprint first. Haha. Then wiped it off my white cardigan. Cheh. Tapi oh kenangannya. Haha.

Mummy and Bapak love you, Emma. With all our hearts. Happy first birthday. *sigh. wish mummy was here.

Baby Shaqeel Aidin's debut on The View From Here.
Chewah, macam talk show pulak rasanya.
Yang kecil itu bukan syaitan berbisik di telinga Shaqeel.
Haha.
Itu Adam.

Raya. Haha.

You know you hate your job when :-
1- You wish you had the H1N1 virus so you could be quarantined for one week.
2- You wish you were in an accident so you could be hospitalized
3- You wish your husband died so you could quit and balik kampung
4- You secretly envy your colleague who was fired last week

Ack! Guilty of all the above! Masya Allah, apa nak jadi ni??

Kerja macam swine (haha swine flu, geddit?) pun tak guna kalau tiada passion terhadap kerja, kan? Benci benci benci.

Agar lebih bersemangat..

Babes, tahun ni saya menjual kuih raya bernama Kuih Cik Intan. Hahaha. Chocolate chip cookies saja. Tapi saya tahu, tahun-tahun lepas kualiti kuih saya dah merudum dengan drastic! Jadi tahun ni saya berjanji akan membuat the best (in my humble opinion – takleh sebarang janji je, taste aku dan tase korang berbeza hehe) chocolate chip cookies you have ever tasted!

Baju raya tak buat lagi! Panik!Di disko.

Eww lawak budak-budak remaja.

On another note, totally digging Zee Avi. Suara dia macam Megan (saiko American Idol tu) dan dia bijak memilih lagu yang sesuai dengan suaranya itu (whereas Megan wasn’t. Smart, I mean). Thanks to Pips. Sekali rupanya her song’s on Hitz le. Bitter Heart. Ever heard that song? She also has this rojak Melayu + English song called ‘Kantoi’. Kikiki. Sangat everyday conversation (rojak, I mean. Not kantoi. Sheesh. Bangang apa hari-hari nak kantoi?)

Oh aku juga sudah mendraf post mengenai birthday Emma. Tapi tak nak publish lagi pasal aku belum masukkan gambaran. A post on its own won’t do the party justice. Hahaha. Padahal aku tak sempat ambil gambar. Sesiapa yang ada ambil gambar please email me at intanzarinaputri@yahoo.com.my.

Gila 1 Malaysia. Thanks!

The Belly Has Burst!

Alhamdulillah, Kak Peachy sudah selamat melahirkan seorang baby boy, Shaqeel, di Pantai Medical Centre pada 25.07.2009 tepat jam 5.27 petang seberat 2.7 kilo.

What is it with the 2s, 5s & 7s, eh?

Long labour, close to 12 hours! Ack! Didn't take epidural. Says she'll definitely go for epidural the 2nd time around. Haha.

Rasanya besok baru discharge. Oh aku tak bawak camera when we went visiting. Next time I go I'll take some pix ok. Kemudia tayangkan kecomelan anak buah latest ku pada semua. Huhu.

All I Want For My Birthday Is..

Kepala aku terasa bengap. Bukan macam bangang, tapi macam ada satu selaput covering my brain. Tiada konsentrasi terhadap kerja. The fact that I am constantly hungry does not help at all. Argh.

So people have been asking me, what I (hehe) want for Emma’s birthday.

Ok first on the list is a maxi-cosi toby carseat (which I know no one will buy, sob sob).

Next would be bunches of cloth diapers! Kesian Emma tau, dia cirit birit sejak hari Isnin. Her once RFC (hoho Radix Fried Chicken. Lain kali aku cerita) thighs or drumstick if you’d like dah jadi macam drumstick ayam kampung, OK! Begitu juga her Michelin arms. Er itu masih kelihatan seperti Michelin. Tapi Alhamdulillah she’s almost better now. Oh kaitannya adalah bontot dia melecet, due to the frequent contact with her own shit, I think. Dan jia anda refer kepada beberapa post sebelum ni, cara terbaik untuk memperbaiki keadaan ini adalah dengan menggunakan Huggies Ultra. Ataupun cloth diaper. Jadi takkan aku nak mintak Huggies Ultra, kan?

So next on the list is mainan-mainan yang age appropriate dan membuka minda. Oh speaking of which, I never did tell about the time I bought a Fisher Price Stride-To-Ride Something at my beloved Tesco, huh? Retail price is around RM169.00, which I know because I have been eyeing this particular thing for ages. Tapi rasa macam membazirlah nak beli begitu mahal kan. Tapi satu hari Pipi cakap kat aku, “kesian Emma. Dia main dengan household items je (like lotion bottles, mineral water bottles, tupperwares, boxes and the likes). Jadi aku terus bertekad untuk membeli the above item (herein known as STR).

The next night we were girls (hehehe aku dan Emma. Zufri golf. Pipi dating. Yelah budak-budak baru bercinta, meman dating saja kerjanya) on a mission. I was focused. Cari-cari tak ada, ada yang model baru gambar macam harimau apa semua tu. That’s even more expensive at RM259 or something! Aku kecewa tapi pasal aku seorang yang focus dan berdedikasi (cheh) aku pun mencari sesuatu yang seakan-akan STR. Tak kisahlah apa brand pun, hatta brand Tesco sekalipun. Finally I saw STR at their babies’ clothes section. Tapi masyaAllah, kotaknya koyak rabak! Bila aku cuba on, lampu tak menyala. Aku tanya salesgirl dia kata takleh try. So I said screw it, I’m just gonna buy it. They had a nice discount because of the condition, so I took it to the cashier, preparing myself to fork out RM94.50 for this (possible) piece of crap.

The cashier looked at me like I was mad for buying a torn and tattered package. Tapi aku kan tak kisah apa orang fikir pasal aku. Or do I? Hahaha. Sekali dia scan harga yang keluar adalah RM47.90! Aku cakap kat cashier tu, eh salah ni. Kat tempat tadi dia tulis RM94.50. Oh jujurnya aku ini. But the cashier just shrugged her shoulders and said takpelah. Like she was doing me a favour like that. Cheh. Padahal mestilah dia tak update harga kat aisle tadi. But anyhow, woot! Kuikuikui. Murah OK (compared to the original price) and amazingly, it works A-OK! Emma loves it. I love it. Zufri loves it. And we love each other. Wakaka.

Jadi, itulah saja antara hadiah-hadiah yang dihajati hati. Kalau nak bagi baju pun takpe.

But as I’ve said before, even if there’s no present(s), your presence is more than enough.

Serius.

Siapa yang aku tak jemput lagi? Pojan, kau jauh di perantauan lah. Tapi kalau kau rajin, hehe, marilah. Marilah. Nanoor juga. Maafkan aku ye Nanoor kerana lewat menjemput. Marilah.

P/s: Anies dah beli hadiah Emma lama gila dah. Hahaha.

Dalam dunia ni ada 4 jenis orang.

1- Orang yang suka berpura-pura. Belakang orang bukan main lagi mengutuk mengata, tapi depan orang tu manis pulak muka dan perangai dia. Orang macam ni biasalah, menyakitkan hati, jiwa dan raga. Biasa adalah mami mami penang. Wahahaha sukahati je. Weh keluarga ipar aku baca ke blog aku weh?

2- Orang yang depan dan belakang orang sama je. Mulut yang laser. Aku tak suka sangat orang yang laser ni, konon dia bagus sangat. Dia ingat pasal dia laser (dan orang tau dia laser), dia ada hak nak kutuk orang sesuka hati. Oh, go to hell.

3- Orang yang belakang kutuk, dan actually does something about it. Diplomatically. Orang beginilah yang bagus, bukan? Hoho aku bukan orang ini. Unless it has something to do with me, then I act lah. But after a few days or weeks of thinking and pondering. Aku memang pengecut sikit. Hahaha. And I can’t handle authority.

4- Orang yang selalunya mendengar saja bila orang mengutuk atau menumpat orang. Biasanya akan tambah sedikit sebanyak expressions yang menunjukkan bahawa mereka ni paying attention and they care. Hah. I think I belong in this group. Aku tak rasa aku orang yang suka mengutuk orang (stress pada perkataan “aku tak rasa”, ok). Maksud aku, kalau aku mengutuk orang pun, mesti kutukan yang light light je, Aku selalu tak ada gossip yang hangat. Haha. Siapa yang nak bergossip dengan aku mesti kecewa. And I always jumble up my stories. Like what happens first and then what happened. Kalau aku bercerita mesti aku terlupa parts, then kena return balik. Then termasuk citer lain. Oh Zufri mesti sangat bersabar bila aku bercerita gossip ofis.

Apalah kaitannya.

Ada orang kata aku berlagak. Tak tahulah kenapa. Muka aku berlagak ke? Aku berlagak cun ke? Cheh, ni lagi satu jenis orang. Orang yang kata konon dia tak pedulik apa orang nak cakap, tapi dalam hati sebenarnya selalu fikir apa orang cakap (aku le tu)

Ey bencilah. Buat bodoh sudahlah.

Oh I have my own David Tuterra OK. She says she’s a combination between David Tuterra and Nigella Lawson but with (way) smaller boobs. She’s Emma’s birthday party planner! Woot! (Again?)

Harap-harap semua berjalan lancar.

Marilah kita sama-sama mendoakan agar kak Peachy selamat bersalin tanpa intervention. Dia tak nak di induce katanya. Apparently she’s heard a lot of bad experiences of people getting induced. Haha. I’m sure one of it’s mine. Hehe. Mari berdoa OK.

Diaper Review

I read up on quite a few reviews on diapers, so I just thought I'll share my thoughts with mummies, current, new and future hehe.

1-The first diaper we tried was Drypers newborn. OKlah. Not bad at all. The price was reasonable, around 50 sen per piece I think. Why Drypers? Ntah ek. Mungkin pasal itu saja pampers newborn yang kami jumpa kot? But only bought one newborn pack and one size S. I hated the plastic tapes. Woke Emma up at every diaper change. And Emma had severe rashes at her diaper area. So we changed to...

2-Huggies Ultra. Its clinically proven (they claim) to help prevent diaper rash, and prevent it did! Emma's rashes cleared up almost immediately, also with the help of Dr.Siva. Haha see, I told you I like him. But Huggies Ultra ni sangatlah mahalnya, sekeping hampir RM1.00. I think it's more expensive than Mamy Poko, but only by a few sen. So at this time, we alternated between this and...

3-Mamy Poko. The first time I tried Mamy Poko, I hated it because I felt that it was so thin compared to Huggies Ultra! But after a few tries, I thought they were OK. And their sizes were a bit bigger than Huggies Ultra. Tapi lama-lama rasa macam mahal sangat kedua-dua diapers ni, so we tried...

4-Pampers All Night. Why Pampers? Because everyone seemed to call diapers Pampers kan, so I felt that it had a good reputation, hehe. Butttt I hated Pampers because of their plastic cover. The other diapers had cloth like outer covers. And they had plastic tapes just like drypers. Otherwise I felt that they did just fine. And they're not so expensive, macam harga Drypers kot? One packet was enough. Then we tried..

5-Huggies Dry Comfort. Ahhh... this one I love. And Emma's butt seems to love this as well. And Zufri's pocket. Hahaha. They can be quite pricey if you don't know where to look. At GiAnt its RM47.90, carre4 is RM51.00 but at lovable Tesco its only RM35.00! Banyak OK beza! Jadi harganya hanya plus minus 58 sen sekeping (compared to 73 sen in Giant!). These little-little expenditures really add up eh. Oh but that's not the end of our diaper experiments. We then tried..

6-Huggies Dry. This one's much cheaper than No.5, and much thinner too. I didn't like this as much. Rasa macam bontot Emma terkepam. Hehe. Then we tried..

7-Tesco Value Diapers! Yup. Generic brand, huh? Tapi pelekat dia plastik. At least outer layer dia breathable cloth. Tapi pelakt dia plastik. Haha. Sangat mementingkan pelekat. Jadi kami kembali ke..

No. 5, Huggies Dry Comfort. Good, in my humble opinion. But I have to say, everytime I go back to JB or SP, I will surprisingly forget to bring Emma's diapers so we always end up buying Mamy Poko Pull Up Pants. Tak tahu kenapa.

But that's all in the past. Emma's a partially green baby, because she wears mostly cloth diapers now. I'll post a review on cloth diapers some other day, OK?

Going off tangent now, Kak Peachy's 37 weeks yesterday! Woot! (I never say woot in real life. I wonder why I use it in my writings? Hmm..) Tak sabar menunggu kelahiran anak buah yang ketiga.

Tomorrow we're going swimming! Yay! Will post pictures tomorrow.

On Breastfeeding

Alhamdulillah, I have been breastfeeding Emma for 11 months now. Dan Alhamdulillah juga kerana perjalanan kami dimudahkan Allah. Like I once said, I’ve been supplying Opah with 15oz of expressed breast milk from the time I started work, but since almost a month ago its been reduced to only 12oz to 13oz daily. Maybe its because she eats more during the day. Its getting harder for me achieve my daily quota of 15oz now. I blame it on the new healthy lifestyle I’m leading. Hehe. Tapi syukurlah kerana Emma anak yang memahami kesulitan mummynya. Huhuhu. When I get more, I will supply her with more.

At home, I do not have an emergency can of formula. I always set in my mind that what I have is enough for my baby. Tapi, aku juga tak bersetuju dengan ibu-ibu yang terlalu fanatik dan taksub dengan susu ibu sehingga sanggup bagi anak mereka minum dan makan benda-benda mengarut instead of feeding them formula. Maka sekiranya terpaksa (aku jatuh sakit ke), aku merelakan Emma diberi formula.

Oh, Emma kelmarin diberi formula oleh Opah kerana katanya susu yang aku bekalkan tak cukup. Memanglah tak cukup. Aku hantar jam 11 pagi berbekalkan 5oz je. Dengan niat agar dia menelefon aku untuk menghantar susu, lalu aku akan ambil Emma pulang siap-siap. (Insiden berlaku pada hari Isnin yang aku MC tu). Remuk redam hati aku, pasal bukannya aku tak ada stok susu di rumah!

Eh apa motif post aku ni? Post post aku semua takde motif, kesinambungan dan kesimpulan lah.

Aku mengantuk and my contact lenses are bothering my eyes. Haha. Dan kekenyangan (baru lepas lunch). Oh lunch tadi dapt banyak sedikit, 4oz. Harap soon akan kembali mencapai quota. Insya Allah.

Miss Tang busy dengan tender projek Valencia Phase 4F. Mujur bukan aku yang handle. Mujur Valencia yang aku take over dari Soo Lin tu dah nak Final Account. Pasal tu lah aku ada masa nak memblog. Ke meblog? Atau mungkin mengeblog? Aku suka memblog. Oh I’ve come across the word ‘asumsiasi’ which is taken from the English word ‘assumption’. Perlukah? Bukankah kita sudah ada perkataan tanggapan? Berpendapat? Cis sungguh lah author itu. Asumsiasi. Bah!

Oh mungkin kesimpulannya adalah untuk breastfeed your baby for as long as you can, dan dalam Islam mengatakan sehingga 2 tahun, jadi harapan aku adalah agar Emma akan dapat yang terbaik dari aku selama 2 tahun. Lepas tu stop OK. Hehe.

Alright then. Time to go home. Have a happy and safe weekend!

P/s: Malam ni Zufri ajak pergi OU, ada sale di Golf House. I wonder what else he wants to buy.

Mari Kita Berpantang

Come children, gather around. Let me tell you a story.

I was on sick leave Friday afternoon. Then again whole day Monday. Monday morning started well enough. While I was entertaining Emma while watching Jim Jam & Sunny (saluran ceria ya. Rumah aku tiada Disney Playhouse) I suddenly sneezed. Kesejukan. Bersin itu telah mengakibatkan belakang aku yang memang sudah sakit menjadi lebih sakit, bagaikan sakit bersalin. But then again I was on epidural so what do I know about pain, ey? Hehe.

So I waited for the pain to subside. 730 menginjak ke 800, menginjak ke 830 sehinggalah 930 barulah aku menelefon office kesayanganku. Ah! Ruginya! Miss Tang meeting! Biarlah, bukan rezeki aku untuk duduk bersenang lenang di office. Hehe. Zufri bawa aku ke Klinik Siva selepas kami menghantar Emma ke rumah Opah. Sorry Darling, kasihan Emma menangis nangis ditinggalkan Zufri. Huh, bila aku yang hantar takde pun nak nangis nangis. Double standard betullah Emma ni.

Bukan aku tak pernah jumpa doctor regarding sakit belakang aku ni. Tapi biasa aku jumpa doctor panel office aje lah. Biasalah, ada angkat barang berat? Nope. Ada exercise? Hehe nope. Tidur cukup? Oh, cukup. MC mau? Hehe nak! Tu yang aku suka doctor ni. Doktor Siva jauh berbeza. Emma dari dalam perut dah pergi jumpa Dr.Siva ni. Ramai ok dalam klinik dia hari tu. No wonder he drives a 6 series. Dia pun mengurut, merasa dan menanyakan soalan-soalan yang aku kira bernas dan relevan. Kesimpulan yang diberi adalah angin. Cis. OK berikut adalah poin-poin yang diutarakan olehnya :-

1) Jangan minum air ais. Sila minum air panas ya, bukan suam. Panas. A tough one since my breakfast consists of iced Milo & nasi goring every day. Jangan minum ais masa pantang ya! Wakaka nanti jadi macam saya.
2) Jangan mandi lewat malam. Now not so much a problem. When the weather turns warm, we review this point.
3) Jangan hala kipas / air cond direct pada diri anda. Which is also hard because I can’t sleep when my legs are warm. The rest of my body I can take. My legs I can’t. But as a compromise I’ve taken to sleeping with long pants in lieu of the shorts I normally wear.
4) Malam sebelum tidur minum air panas direndam dengan kayu manis dan bunga lawang.
5) Jangan makan makanan yang naturally cooling, like tempe, watermelon, kangkung.

Basically, live my life as if I’m still in my confinement. Oh, man! Tapi ini hanya hipotesis Dr.Siva saja OK. Tak semestinya tepat. Anyway like he said, we eliminate the simplest possibility first, which is angin lah. Remember that painkillers are only to manage your pain, if you don’t change your lifestyle nothing will change.

Dah 4 hari aku berubah. Makcik Selera Kampung pun pelik tengok aku order barli panas. Cheh. Takpe, takpe. Memang salah aku. Zufri pulak beria ikut cakap Dr.Siva tu. Lepas Maghrib aku dilarang mandi dah. Malam kalau aku selak selimut dia mesti sibuk nak selimutkan balik. Alhamdulillh lah.

Cloth Diapers

On Monday I received a parcel at work. I already know what it was, but still I was super excited. I love surprises and parcels and gifts and letters. Sigh. I even opened Papa's anniversary gift (towels, hah!) from Pak Cik Haron. Tak tahan lah tengok hadiah berbalut. So anyway, it was Emma's 2nd and 3rd cloth diapers, hehe. Lunatots that I bought from mom's little ones. The first was Wahmies I bought from ezmotherhood. Sekali pandang lihat macam Lunatots tu agak tebal dan fluffy berbanding Wahmies, but upon closer inspection, I find Wahmies a bit softer. Ni Emma baru nak cuba Lunatots kuning (macam Dayang punya, hehe), besok baru boleh komen keberkesanannya OK. But so far Wahmies never disappoints.

Early this morning, Emma had a slight temperature, but come morning time her temp was somewhat normal so I sent her to Opah's. Then after work she got really cranky and clingy. Rupa-rupanya gigi kedua dia baru tumbuh. Chet. Didn't check her tooth because the time she cut her first tooth she was all fine. Second tooth ni je over sikit. Haiyah. Mujurlah I don't have to take leave tomorrow. Tinggal 4 hari saja lagi OK.

So anyway, here are some backdated pictures meant for my previous post.Emma nak duduk dalam boot kereta lah Mummy sampai JB!
Haha car seat pun kat bonet. Hampeh sungguh.Emma enjoying herself on a trip to Istana GardenEmma diapit jejaka jejaka machoHah itulah ibu tiriku, Auntie Rani. Berbeza, kan dengan Mummy aku? Itu Kak Peachy at 32 weeks. Dengan rambut salun. Itu aku.
Itu Emma yang mengantuk at Papa's anniversary dinner. Atau adakah Bapak Emma yang mengantuk?Dan finally, Emma yang demam memakai Kool Fever dan cloth diaper barunya sambil berlengging menghisap jari menonton Anak Wayang. Zufri layan cerita itu OK. Sejurus selepas Erra Gu Gu Ga Ga. Itu aku yang layan.

Dan itu kaki aku yang gigantic. Argh besok Ms Tg (bos kecil ku) masuk office lah! Dah 3 hari dia cuti (since Friday). Ternyata hidupku lebih aman. Darn!

p/s: Tadi kami pergi tengok gudang. Tepi Federal Highway ok. Langkah kedua sedang dicaturkan. Yeah! (Ala-ala Junior dalam My Wife And Kids. Layan tak semalam?)

JB Post, Sans Pictures.

Papa had a 1st anniversary bash in JB this previous weekend. All us girls and boys came back for the celebration. Rasa macam hari raya pun ada. Sangat meriah dan bising. Kira tak lah ralat sangat tak sambut hari raya pertama kat JB & Singapore tahun ni.

Sangat lama aku tak balik JB. Zufri tak sabar nak balik JB pasal dia kata dia teruja nak tidur sepanjang hari dalam air-cond, which he did. Siot je kan balik ye ye tapi tido. Pagi tu kitorang pegi breakfast dulu di restoran nasi padang kegemaran seisi keluarga, yang seberang Kotaraya tu. Tak tau le nama dia apa. Tapi memang kitorang makan kat sana sejak zaman kulit hitam berambut gonjeng lagi, hehehe. Then besoknya pegi lagi, this time for lunch. Zufri kan siap pejam-pejam mata menikmati lauk urat dia. Makan sambil senyum. Gila mamat ni.

Setiap kali aku balik JB, mesti tak kesampaian niat aku nak bawak Zufri dan Emma pegi Istana Garden, tempat aku jogging (cuba) menguruskan badan suatu ketika dahulu. Which brings me to the fact that this is yet another year of me failing to run in the KL Marathon. Darn! Sejak mengandung mana ada lari-lari dah. Baru start balik beberapa bulan lepas. 4 kilometer pancit dah OK. Harus pace myself. Oh so anywaysssss, akhirnya aku pegi jugak membawa Zufri, Emma, Kak Yen, Adam, Rizzqin dan Pipi. Kak Peachy pergi Holiday Plaza set rambut (like she somehow always does when she's in JB. Strange.)

Bestlah duduk melepak atas rumput, atas bukit menghadap laut. Sambil berlari menghirup udara segar.

Hahaha. Cerita aku tak best lah minggu ni. More interesting to me then to you. Aku poyo je lebih.

So anyway the dinner was a blast. Everyone seemed to be having fun. Do you know that I have an uncle called Om Din Din? Everyone else calls him Pak Long. Kuikuikui. I wonder who made us call him that.

Argh sangat lama tunggu gambar upload. Bila nak share gambar mak tiri aku ni? Wakakaka.
Laterlah OK.

Amareican Idol sudah tamat

OK, first things first, here's the photograph of an excited Emma on her first ferry ride. Lihat, sangat teruja, bukan? Hehe.

Second of all, I think it sucks that Adam Lambert lost to Kris Allen. Simply because I personally think that Adam is a more versatile artist, and that America definitely needs a different kind of Idol. Not different as in gay, which I think Adam is. But different as in genre and voice quality. Hahaha. With that being said, aku rasa sebenarnya both singers didn't deliver during the finals. Both could have done better. And the song co-written by Kara? Awful, awful, awful.

Yang hebatnya, aku selalu diskas pasal AI dengan Ujie, Shikin, Zufri dan Papa. Everyone else rooted for Kris. Ujie dan Shikin siap bagi aku kata-kata semangat lagi masa Adam kalah. Hahaha. Thank you, people.

Third of all, Pipi had been busying herself the last week sewing Emma her very first baju kurung. Hehehe. Fits Emma to a T. Thanks Auntie Pips. Not quite bad for a first try. And finally, Zufri and I are busying ourselves with a little project that would certainly change our lives forever. So here's a picture of Emma project hunting today. Baru je lepas bangun. Masih sempat tersenyum comel. Rambut agak serabut.


P/S: Somedays I hate my job, somedays I love it to bits. Hehe. Last Friday was definitely one of my love days. Harap-harap by September our pet project takes off so aku boleh berhenti kerja sia-sia menjadi QS ni forever. Hehe. Insya Allah.