Minah's Musings

Same ols

2011-01-22T11:16:00.001+08:00

Sheesh, I still have to get the hang writing blog frm Ipad. Done it like halfway and everything's gone.

What's new? I have this fantastic toy. I'll do a review on it one day, I hope hehehe.

What's the same..
Well, I have blogged before that I lost 9 kg. Yay...Bad news is I have gained 3kgs back. Well not surprising since My workouts are sporadic,( my instructor have been calling and threatened to drag me there) and I have this huge addiction on Patchi.. The last time I went to klcc- twice in a week )Maybe I should join Patchi anon.Hahaha.

I have got the exercise bit going . No.. I have not gone to the gym. Like so malas, 2hrs on the road, one hr in the gym unless I run down and feed the parking meter for the next hr, so ?!£&&@ inconvenient, why do they limit an hr I have no idea.

I have started Wii's active more 60 days challenge. Managed to do it one week plus then I was swamped. But I did managed to do the custom workout - boxing, squash,step aerobics, abs. And of course my current craze... Michael Jackson's experience wii game. What not to like about this game.... You dance to Mj's songs-thriller, beat it, bad, smooth criminal- do the moonwalk etc.. awesome!!! I tried to beat my own score for a few songs and wham.. I have done an hours workout effortlessly and enjoyed it.

Speaking of wii games, I have tried the racquet sports which I find quite good, I like the badminton, squash and tennis. Tina always beat me @ ping pong though and beach tennis..Cant get them.. The Gold's gym dance workout is good, if I can get my two feet coordinate, a bit difficult but with time you may get it .. i love the jai hosong. The game has latin and cardio boxing moves..Then there is the zumba fitness. Ok...you'd definitely get a good workout, your legs, will turn to jelly because unlike Just dance, we cheer, gold gym's dance and the Michael Jackson's, the wii mote is at your hips, and you've got to move them.. I have tried the 20minutes beginner and thinking ..darn when will it end.

I thot of setting up a separate fitness blog but nah.. I think I'll use this blog.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Sepang

Mountain out of molehill

2010-08-17T20:32:00.002+08:00

I have always admired Neng Fatimah or my daughter Tina, who can cry at will. I wonder if I'm becoming like them. Today for a few times I bawled my eyes out. And the thing about it is~ it sapped out your energy leaving you utterly tired and depressed. I was really looking forward to going for the annual buka puasa with friends this Friday and today I don't feel like going. Funny how I have reading about staying positive and I thought I have been doing well.... Maybe there is a perfectly good explanation or maybe I'm just clueless.

Nesting Mode?

2010-04-14T17:32:00.003+08:00

I have recently changed my curtains ( curtains were older than my youngest , Tina 7) and reupholstered the sofa, bought new carpet (sofa and carpet older than my eldest, kakak- 13). Shila sd whylah are you in nesting mode. Hahaha.. dah naik menyampah tengok, yelah tak pernah tukar bertahun2. Nesting mode- entah.. dah lama dah mode ni. Tinggal lagi tak buat2 always you know before raya, thought of doing it, then tak sempat.

Nesting yg lain tu...It used to be you know kluar IUD next month pregnant. when I told Dr Marlik , he didnt believe how quick. Shila said I would have more. Now I have even forgotten how long I've taken out the IUD. Haq pun dah dapat dua . Hahaha, and Paiz.. a third..opps, not suppose to tell.

So I have done the kitchen and living room - what is next. The garden- which - sigh - have been left neglected since Bibik went away. My roses are half dead. My camelia, the flower is dead and so are my hydrangeas. I am searching for gazebo. Still tak jumpa yg berkenan di hati and di poket. Kakak Sabariah, who did my curtains offered to do landscaping job.. HAhaha, that's how teruk it looked like. I am so tempted nak tile it off.. hahahaha.. dulu sibuk nak tanah around the house. May be I should go Sg Buluh and look at the Laman mags for more ideas. DH got rid of the pokok pisang/banana trees around the hse, too tall sampai nak masuk tingkap he said. The thing is I love having pokok pisang. Sometimes nak grill or suddenly inspiration nak cook in daun pisang at least ada. But he's right of course. I thot of buying Pisang Serendah, since it is rendah. I keep on buying bananas for my smoothies ( the banana trees we had were more like pisang awak with biji inside- which I think is better fried than raw- we rarely eat them more like jamu monkeys or squirrels.)

Once a year big birthday party this year will be Cqistina's in May. Got to make her birthday dress. Theme apa lagilah kalau Cqistina's ~ mermaid. I hope she approves of the cake I'm going to make. Last years mermaid cake banyak complaint- tail besar etc.. (mmglah besar dah balut kaki barbie with fondant...

Long Blog Holiday

2010-03-18T17:20:00.002+08:00

Hahaha.. Semenjak berfacebook ni I've gone on long blog holiday. What's new? My maid of 8 years has gone back as her father was ill. Called me a few weeks ago to say that she still wants to work with me. At first I thought hey, I can do this... Sigh.. I'm just too spoilt. I have to admit it is a bit hectic since Ive joined True fitness three times a week and the Pilates personal training twice a week plus sometimes terkejar2 for either skincare or jewelry orders. Dh does cooking on Tuesdays and Fridays when he hasn't any appointment. Cooking part ok, the kemas part oklah but the laundry part ..eekkks.. . well the clothes just multiply. Doesnt help when I have a habit of changing clothes ... 3 or 4 times a day.

Of course the best experience for the past few months is losing weight! I have lost total of 9 kilos ( not biggest loser contender but to me~ an achievement) since last August. How did I do it? The first 7 kilos was by playing wii (EA Sports Active, we cheer, Jillian's Ultimatum 2010 (not 2009)), and dvds like Jillian Micheals 30 days shred, The firms, a bit of Ttapp and of course reducing carbs and constantly snacking every 3 hours. The first few months I only eat rice on Sunday- and that was when I had my nasi lemak. Now I can eat more rice during the week ( brown rice - lunch only) and white rice in the form of nasi lemak on Sunday ( I just have to have my nasi lemak / masak lemak cili padi or I just won't sustain.).

A typical day would be

It may be boring to some but I just love fruits- I just don't listen to nutritionist who said you just eat two portion of fruits. So my breakfast would be banana/ strawberries/blueberries/mixed berries/acai/mango smoothies concocted with whey (optimum's gold standard- I buy this from GNC - its definitely cheaper than herbalife and its pure whey- I buy the 10kg), oatmeal, oatbran meal, flaxmeal (ground flaxseed), L carnitine, Alpha lipid colustrum, Juvo - raw meal -got this frm justlife. Many said hey mahalnya breakfast, I feel I deserve it.. Its my first meal of the day. The variety would be the choice of fruits. I drink lots of water after.

Then three hours later - I would snack on either fruits or boiled chick peas or cheese sandwich or jicama/sengkuangs, or mushroom omellete or boiled sweet potato. The first few months my lunch would be grilled burger with lots of veggies or wholemeal bread and lettuce.The burger would have to be lean ..I buy dara beef /chicken from cold storage, now I found even Giant has them. ( Now I have brown rice with grilled chicken/beef/fish with salsa sauce)3 hours later snack again. Either from the above snacks or roasted nuts with a bit of honey , fruits and yogurt.

Dinner would be grilled chicken/beef/fish with lots of veggies. Or home made soto (chicken soup) with lots of taugeh/beansprout instead of nasi impit, or have it with brown rice vermicelli or laksa asam (spicy boiled fish) with lots of cucumbers instead of laksa noodle.

My beverages would be either cold plain water or green tea/habatussauda coffee(these are not real coffee- made to taste like coffee- they make me perspire after drinking them or ginger tea. I find that it is true that ginger increases your metabolism.

Lately I have included CLA (Conjugated linoleic acids )in the regime. It said to

Increases metabolic rate -- This would obviously be a positive benefit for thyroid patients, as hypothyroidism -- even when treated -- can reduce the metabolic rate in some people.
Decreases abdominal fat -- Adrenal imbalances and hormonal shifts that are common in thyroid patients frequently cause rapid accumulation of abdominal fat, so this benefit could be quite helpful.
Enhances muscle growth -- Muscle burns fat, which also contributes to increased metabolism, which is useful in weight loss and management.
Lowers cholesterol and triglycerides -- Since many thyroid patients have elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels, even with treatment, this benefit can have an impact on a thyroid patient's health.
Lowers insulin resistance -- Insulin resistance is a risk for some hypothyroid patients, and lowering it can also help prevent adult-onset diabetes and make it easier to control weight.
Reduces food-induced allergic reactions -- Since food allergies can be at play when weight loss becomes difficult,
Enhances immune system -- enhancing the immune system's ability to function properly is a positive benefit.

I've had it for a month, before taking it my weight plateaued, then it went down 1.8 kg, so I guess it worked.

How to keep motivated? And why? When asked why by the personal consultant of True fitness, I told him ..I got sick of photoshop-ping my photo. Hahaha he laughed and said I was vain. But it was true.. I also got sick of people commenting abt my weight.

The first thing I did was imagine myself slimmer. I even put up my A level photo for my facebook profile. Then I chose the most fun exercise- I was sure to follow if not I'd stop half way. I read somewhere you have to commit to 15 exercises then 30 then 50 and then you'll make it a habit. When you start you just dont want to stop. It is difficult to start. You just have to do it. And to lose weight you just have to use weights or some kind of resistance exercise. Either dumbbells, bands.swimming or even your own weight (like some yoga poses). Increased muscle- muscle mass burnicalories more quickly. Muscles use energy, fat just stores it.

Aerobic exercise may burn a few hundred extra calories for dinner, but for every additional pound of muscle you gain, your body burns around 50 extra calories every day of the week.Research has shown that regular resistance training can increase your Basal Metabolic Rate by up to 15%. So for someone burning 2000 calories per day, that's a potential 300 extra calories, more than a Mars bar, burned every single day.

After I have lost some weight, I started to wear old clothes, first I could wear the precamarina ( no 2 - 9 years old) now I can wear precamillia (eldest-13 years old)- skirt or pants. I can wear a size 8 leggings -tight in the waist tho ( Marks and Sparks ) and my jeans when I was in UK(1981). I can also wear the jacket when I was worked with Ernst and Young (my first job 1983).

The next stage is of course to make this ~as Daily Muscle ( a personal trainer blogger), said a life style.

Sunday 8th

2009-11-14T09:57:00.008+08:00

Sunday 8th ... Morning Mak B's doa selamat in Ampang, then brother Amy's son Eylan's birthday at Seri Maya and CBN' 110th reunion.

Amy asked me what I wanted to bring to his party. Initially I wanted to bring moussaka and he agreed. But because we thought of sleeping over @ Ampang that was out of the questions. Why- my mum's oven is gas oven.. I have no idea how to work it. There is no temperature only marked as 1-5. Ok most ovens in uk were marked that way- well at least when I was there eons ago and I did bake a few cakes there- hahaha I knew when to improvise when there was no choice. I could make it the day before @ home and freeze it but aubergines- I don't know whether they'd go bad the next day and I didn't want to risk it.

So I baked white chocolate mud cupcakes instead . Baked on Saturday. I thot I'd make small cupcakes for Mak b's do- since bigger crowd and larger ones for Amy.

Mak B's do started at 11, so early in the morning- melted marshmallow, put in icing sugar and colour- for fondant and then buttercream icing. Did hers first - green butter icing and with small flower fondants. Then Yani's- white fondant with small flower fondants. Went to Mak b's do- dah habis baca yassin.

Yummy spread- Durian cakes (sedap Izan!), singapore murtabak, Laksa Johor, rojak, satay. DH's aunts, uncles, cousins were there. Even Atok Busu all the way from Terengganu were there. Shila's kids were there- my kids of courselah excited.

For Eylan's bday party. I did a different set of cupcakes. Dh and kids helped me with the decorations, although DH said he preferred doing bachelor's party cupcakes.

Eylan and Mummy Etty.

Tina did the bird while Camarina did the branches and leaves.

Malam- kelam kabut. CBN dinner. Wanted to go with Shila. Suddenly BIL said DH to take me. Hey siapa lah pandai tukar plan. I told DH, I 'm going with shila. I didn't want to get there lepas tu melangguk for whatever time Shila sampai.

After pusing keliling we got there. After a few prayers and mental telepathy, hahaha, we finally got our seats. With some superseniors and superjuniors. Throughout dinner, cranned head to see who else were there. Spotted Azlin Juliana. Shila went over. took photos then Azlin said Riza was around.

Riza Fara, was the girl I went to lunch with. She was from different class, 1A, while I was in 1U, She introduced me to Shila, baru masuk her class. The Shila was transferred to 2K, sebelah my class .And we got close. Pi tuition together , hahaha we had fun there. Sleepover etc. Then I went to MRSM Sban, Shila and I remained close. She visited me often in Seremban- mmm visit me ke nak tengok a certain someone she had a crush on.. then Shila and I went to Uk. She met her husband there. Later on I married the husband's brother so jadi biras.

Searched for Riza, and bumped into Yati. Yati was my classmate from 2u onwards. She was from 1A and later on transferred to 2U. She was also my mum's pupil in Sekolah Gurney Dato Keramat. Then moved on to see Riza.

Wah bestnya jejak kasih moments ni. Riza looked the same. Dinner tak habis lagi so I went back to my seat. Jumpa Anastasia. Followed her to the rest of the gang. Dida and Cheryl came over. Cheryl was in my class form 1 to 3, She cant remember me. We were in different class masa form four- before I went to Seremban. She has changed, gone were her glasses and braces. Wah sophisticated. Suzana and Natasha, who I met online- FBlah mana lagi, Roslina and Musmina, Razlina , who were in my class when I was in std 3/4 or 5. And a few others who were in my class during primary school, who I'm ashamed to admit, I remember their names after they were tagged in FB.

Cheryl, top row, third from left. Yati- 2nd row-6 from left. Zuriati? guess.

With Yati

cheryl in red front row. Natasha in red and black front row. Shila in red .Riza fara in yellow 2nd from left back row. Azlin next to her in black scarf. Hahaha I guess everybody followed the theme- house colours . I was in Xavier- green house- but I went in black. Mana tau..

Singapore trip 2

2009-10-17T07:47:00.006+08:00

I know I said I didn't want to blog this trip. Takut bore people to death.

I have always been in Organic Monitor's list. Keeping myself up to date with the organic world. Once I wanted to venture into setting up my own organic shop so that I can sell my current organic skincare. Who would have thought I've sold them for two years. I have definitely have to get the papers sorted.

"Organic Monitor is a specialist research & consulting company that focuses on the global organic & related product industries.

We provide a range of business services to organisations that are active in our specialist industries. Our services include business research publications, customised research, business consulting, seminars & workshops."

The last workshop was in Paris and as much as I want to go back there ( really can't get enough of this city and the language- so much so I wanted to name my product pure fleur - even bought french linguaphone eons ago- hahaha- I have arab and japanese too- bought by my late dad when I was in MRSM Seremban) I thot - is it worth the trip.

I wanted to also attend a few workshop in UK- tho what stopped me was the workshop was a few weeks apart. I would love to spend time there catching up with a few friends .... but ... Then last month I found out the UK company was going to organise a workshop in Florida and it has all the courses that I wanted. I was excited. Emailed Florida - only to be told that the course director was not well and the course had to be postponed. I still can go to the one in uk in November though.

So when organic monitor wrote to me it has Workshop: De-Mystifying Natural & Organic Cosmetic Standards in singapore and after bombarding me with calls from UK up till a week before the date, I thought, why shouldn't I waste this opportunity. Although this is like the the fourth step rather than the 1st step of the whatever process I had to go through.

I registered for the Incosmestic Asia and for the workshop above, flight and hotel in Singapore.

The last time I travelled alone was before I got married more than 13 years ago and I was hyped up for this trip. Will I have problem sleeping as I always have when I'm in a new place - (which I discovered only a few years ago). Will I feel bored etc..

My flight was at 6 am ( rolling my eyes- I don't know what possessed me to take such an early flight- although it is good - I am not rushed) and I couldn't sleep that night. I had to be at the airport at 4 30 ~rolling my eyes again- the booking person insisted that we be there two hours before - this is the carrier with so many delays to their name.

When I got there ticketing persons were not even there- much to my annoyance- luckily I brought a book.

After checking in , I had about an hour to kill so went to Mc Donalds for breakkie and then to Maybank ATM to activate temporary Overseas/plus ATM service- so that I may withdraw from Singapore's ATM.

Reached Singapore at about 7 o'clock then headed to Crowne Plaza hotel to leave my luggage then off to Singapore Expo. Crowne Plaza Hotel is at Terminal 3. It is easily accessible - skytrains from terminal 1 or 2 and you'd just have to go to basement 2 to access the MRT. Brilliant!

I was too early for the Expo as it starts at 10 am. Grabbed breakfast and after reading a few pages of the book I had with me the door opened.

I was glad I made the decision to come to the expo, there were many manufacturers of skincare ingredients though the ones I am interested in - probably 5 - the rest were the conventional suppliers of silicons and non organic. And the organic and natural ones are french suppliers. I knew I should brush up my french. Hahaha all I remember was au revoir, merci,

n'est–ce pas. I have also been searching for actives and extracts like black willow, bearberry, turmeric online - they have to be organic and preferably extracted with halal or kosher glycerine and preferably in the form of oil as they can blend well with my other ingredients - ( in water I would need a preservative- which I dont want - as there is no natural preservative to date - most natural/ organic cosmetic use potassium sorbate- I just dont want to use any preservative at all- so oil it is)

Around 2 I went back to the hotel to check in. By this time I was so sleepy. The room was modernly furnished, shower, bath tub a king size bed. I requested for a king size bed- ok I couldn't very well ask for twin beds when the other bed will be empty- it'll spook me out.

I still didn't know where or when my workshop going to be- I assumed it'll be in the expo itself - although I couldn't find it in the program- mm ingatkan org putih ni lagi organised. I haven't got a call from Maria. Quick access to the net ( at bloody 29 sing a day)- a mail from Maria. Workshop at 9- venue 7-9.

Alone in the room I thought..Hey not bad at all . Well I did rent a bed sit, alone whilst in London when all my housemates went back to Malaysia- although later on I moved to MARA hostel - a decision I thought carefully as I didn't want to upset a few people- but I had to make it , as I was freezing my *&# off at the bedsit- the landlady refused to mend my window- it was winter at the time. And moving to MARA hostel was a wise decision- I could even open my windows, so warm it was. Though I did iritate my neighbour with constant playing of End of the Road. ( my habit ~ if a song is in my current favourite list - I'd listen to it over and over)

The next day after a good rest- no sleeping problem- I went to hall 7 only to find it empty - ah they meant room 7.

The workshop itself was ok. It did demystify the standard like eco cert, Soil association , Na whatever. My product will definitely make all the standards. Although it did make my head spin with all the chemical jargon.

The people who attended were from various background - from a Thai manufacturer, Martha Thilaar, New Zealand, India, Uk and my partner - from Singapore.

After the workshop, went back to Incosmetic Asia and registered with a few french manufacturer's for updates on their organic essential oil and actives.I found a french supplier with ingredients I want~ organic oil based actives certified by ecocert.

After a bit of rest in the hotel. I went out reluctantly. Sister Ida has been smsing me about jibbies crocs. Took the train to Dhoby Ghaut and after a few smses to and from Ida, got the location right and went to crocs. Before I thot apalah pasal people have this fascination for this plasticky shoes. Ok it is comfortable. I bought one as well hahaha..It is cheaper in Singapore 69 sing dollar where else in malaysia it is about RM 220.

I walked all the way along Orchard Road- my main agenda was to go to Lucky Plaza and look at the gadgets- which I couldn't go with Ida the last time we went and also to check out Bvlgari handbag. Tak habis2 lagi. Instead I just went to a few shopping complexes along the way, found a bead shop much to my delight and bought beautiful pink opals and jasper- Must show to aunt Nita or Mak Z. I asked if they have gold filled findings - and they recommended another shop in another mall.

Apa lagi.. The shop has wide range of gold filled findings. I even found one that looked like my silver amber necklace - I have found out I cannot wear silver on my neck- bracelets are fine- even silver 925 discolour my neck- not only the silver change colour - my neck too and I get rashes- Sigh.. dah kena beli gold. Nasib baik 14k gold filled is ok - kalau kena pakai pure gold..tu dah kira mengada.

I was then exhausted, kepala pun pounding headache - forget Lucky plaza I thot- went to Bvlgari dah tutup..ha? Jimmy Choo sebelah terang benderang aje.. Sigh.. Grab dinner- mulanya lapar then apetite pun off. Took a cab back and Tido.

The next day I thot of going to Orchard Road again but my head still feel like I've hit the brick wall. Ni sure makan entah apa yg ada MSG. Checked out- checked in the airport - almost three hours early and my other luggage was too bulky to carry - took out my laptop and carried in an eco bag. Later bought a leather laptop bag at one of the shop. Bought two books and read before going to the boarding area. Flight was delayed hahaha what else is new..

Reached KL answered an sms/chat , had dinner and sleep.

Ju's wedding and Singapore Trip

2009-10-15T08:49:00.005+08:00

On 3rd of October, my A levels roommate Juliana's wedding in Ipoh.The next day my cousin in Singapore. I was so excited, and planned to go to both wedding. Er of course I had to solve the logistics problem first. The day before Mak M, Dh's aunty called to say that there will be breakfast- nasi lemak and durian- both my favourite. ok...

The trip to Singapore was to be spouse free. Er.. how are we going to do that. So the plan was-Breakfast at Mak M's then off to Ipoh, flight to Singapore alone then meet my brother and sister. My siblings wanted me to reach Sinagpore early but the earliset would be flight from Ipoh at 4 with er firefly, I can't take flight from KLIA, no way we can reach KLIA on time, although the flight from KLIA was at 5. No problem I said.

Around 10 something we reached Damansara. We left Damansara at 1.30. Panic sets in. Er sempat ke nak pi wedding ni. Dh drove like F1 driver- no problem for him- he took like 1 1/2 hr from Sepang to Kluang. We reached the wedding nearly four. Alhamdulillah, managed to meet another roomate, Ully, who, last time I met was A levels reunion eons ago and Wok. Ully - awet muda. Of course we had our jejak kasih moments.

Di sebabkan kelewatan, we had like a few minutes together then she had to go.

Juliana looked radiant. Bagai pinang di belah dua. Congratulations Juliana!

Next I had to catch that flight at 4.40 or so I thought. Reached there alamak... flight delayed to 5.20. Then to 5.55pm, why I asked? TUDM air show. What pilot decided to join in too?

By the time I reached Singapore it was 9pm. Took a limo to Meritus Mandarin - hahaha from budget airport- dah too tired.. Reached there- ok my brother was not joking when he said it's near Takasyimaya. It is smacked in front of it. Just have to cross the road. Apa lagi my sister whisked me off to Takasyimaya, Ion - Dior - and Miu miu. After the stores closed- hahaha mana sempat- we had dinner.

The next morning we resumed ukur jalan at Orchard Road. We were in front of Takasyi just before it opened. Very very tiring. Around 1 we headed to Jurong, yes lets not forget we have a wedding to attend.

The bride was stunning. Well she is a model after all. She also have a stunning sister. Lovely food. Great reception. Er.. some unusual crowd dancing.

Eva the bride

Bride's sister

After wedding, head to Orchard road again. Hahaha.. My sister didn't want to go anywhere else. Just like the time she visited me in London. Tiap2 hari nak pi Oxford Street. Macam cita Shopaholic and sister, altho in this case dua2 shopaholics.

Kakak camillia's bday.

2009-10-07T16:28:00.008+08:00

It has been so long since I last blog. Of course so many things has happened. On the day I had the scene with my neighbour something else happened too. The feeling was indescribable. Like being in an emotional rollercoaster. Elated and then heart wrenching. Ok enough about that.

I promised to blog about poor kakak's bday party on the 4th of July.

For kakak's bday the theme was Wii Party. We've done costume, princess, pool so dah kehabisan idea. And since baru beli wii- we thot wii partylah

DH was to do Pinata of kakak's mii ( a character in wii) since Art is his majorkan..altho jarang he drew anything besides nudes ( apparently according to Mak z's my MIL's specialty too - shock horror- mm is it ok to blog about this).

For kakak's cake I thot I'd do a Chocolate mud cake draped with marshmallow fondant.Baked the cake, prepared meat/ chicken pies, marinated lamb and chicken the day before. MIL came and helped with Laksa Johor.

Actual day I spent half a day decorating the cake. We ( camillia and I) thot of following the theme- Mii character on the cake then decided to put the camelia flower instead- although it looked more like roses than camelias. Camillia helped me with the small roses- hahaha kesan bday girl. The mushroom sauce and spagetti bologna pun buat that day. Maid (rolling my eyes) dah membebel kenapa tak buat the mushroom sauce awal because it had to be on the stove for four hours. Previously Chef wan's recipe did take 4 hours but I've modified it and managed to do it in an hour - hahaha and tasted the same. Rahsianya- nak tuntut - kena belanja San Francisco steakhouse's melt in the mouth tenderloin new york cut in Subang Jaya. Hahaha.

By three, kakak's friends dah datang. Since it's kakak's and my favourite past time and since we both sell our creation to friends and family,We had beading contest. The boys played wii. Then opps no electricity.. which is like alamak.. have to find alternative games.

We had the pinata outside and the kids lined up only to find the pinata fell down before it broke to pieces. hahaha. So berebutlah..

One boy, Zul, from kakak's class came, which is a bit weird since I remembered writing out girls' name on the invitation cards. A few days after the party I sent kakak to extra class and when I picked her up she said class was postponed and when I asked what she did throughout the time, she said Ulangkaji dgn Zul, which got my hackles up. Mmm I know tak sporting betul mama.

Zul was interviewed by both my Mum and MIL. Hahaha .

Mak B came with nasi lemak. Thank you!

Lana came and saved the day! She called TNB and electricity on apa lagilah. Continued with wii games- Wii fit balance games and then terkinja2 with we cheer, Dance Revolution etc. Lana, Izreen, and Nadine won the contests.

Thanks all for making it a fun day.

#$$@@ !

2009-07-28T08:32:00.004+08:00

I feel so strongly about this I just have to blog. I hate pengecuts , cowards. A neighbour of ours insinuated that we deliberately run over their cats. Bodoh ke apa? When the confronted she sd she did not accuse us, adding that my husband once ran over her cat. Once yes.. People make three point turn at our house as it is at a cul de sac.. Can be anyone.

I have issues about these cats for such a long time. Scratching furnitures, trying to 'beranak ' at our hse, crapping at lawns and the gate.Ok that is the nature of cats.. granted. But we neighbours have to put up a lot.I tak tergamak nak buang kucing (one of the neighbours actually did this) let alone langgar deliberately. Hello.. kalau sayang sangat buatlah kandang not a beautiful cat hse with no ventilation. ( she has a beautiful one mcm dog hse kat belakang). Bodoh pun ada jugak!

When confronted she said she did not accuse us..

She told my neighbours

Saya tak tuduh awak dan awak. agaknya sebab kucing kita berak dekat rumah dia.

Then sd my husband knocked down her cat once.

When confronted, she accussed of the neighbours spreading lies, shouldnt listen to them etc.. when I came with the neighbour- tak nak kluar rumah.. Hahaha.. She sd I'm mad- pompuan gila she called me..

The cats do not move when cars approach, even when you blared the horns on them. I made sure I didnt knock them. You know about pets and their owners how they look alike. I guess dumb cats equals to..

That's it no cats! In the meantime the cats and their craps are going back to the owners gate. I will personally make sure.

I usually hate confrontation - My boss used to tell me I was too soft with my staff, once my boss suruh marah sorang it took all the energy out. I just hate it so I dont do it often. I just cant stand people talking behind backs.you have issues with me tell me to my face. Of course she made out as if I'm the unreasonable one. Am I being unreasonable? Such small matter - bak kata anak dia yg has more sense than the mother. Her husband sd I should respect her bcoz of her age.. Being older of course shes supposed to be wiser. Opps lupa wise tak ada dlm vocab dia.

On the positive side.. I have made it clear to the husband - jaga kucing 2 tu betul .. no berak merata2 and I'm not the only neighbour complaining.

Hahaha mcm scene kat Desperate Housewives.

Positive thing came out of this.. Next time jaga mulut dia - jgn selalu perli2, she often does this but we ignored her. And I hope no more cat craps!

Wii

2009-07-20T17:27:00.006+08:00

So many things happened since I last blogged. Cqistina and Kakak got wii for their birthdays. I want to blog about kakak's bday party but first let me blog about our current craze.. the wii.

Apakebondonya my friends asked. It is like playstation but to me way better because the controls are wireless and its interactive.

I thot of getting Nintendo DS for Tina since she enjoyed her cousin's Trisya's. DH wanted to buy wii, since Tina is on heavy side (hehe bukan Tina aje, yg beli tu pun) , he thot wii's better.

I threated kononnya tak nak share bayor the game as it was more expensive and ye ke better.

Hehehe.. Ok now that we've got it for like 7 weeks (?) I can safely say I played more than my kids. Why? It is fun. The games are so addictive you hardly know you are exercising. Ok..granted it is not the real thing. Playing the actual tennis u'll get more exercise. But for someone yg dok main tennis asyik main serve aje or jgn haraplah nak pukul baseball.. this is heaven! I can play these games ..virtually.. hey..peluh jugak tau.. cuba..

Mama (me) so excited that she's got to have everything. The dancing mat.. ala arcade..sebenarnya mmg teringin nak dance the arcade tu tapi tak naklah terkinja2 depan org ramai.. but dekat rumah- why not --great exercise!

The dance mat

Then my friend Azlina mentioned wii fit. Apa lagi pilah amazon.com - I always go there for reviews and hard to find books. The reviews- 4.5 stars over 5 stars given by 1499 reviewers.. apa lagi tangan den dah gatallah. Asked around it was around RM eeks 500- RM600. Kenapa mahal sgt- It comes with the wii balance board that's why. What the heck is a wii balance board..

the board has bluetooth and contains multiple pressure sensors that are used to measure the user's center of balance—the location of the intersection between an imaginary line drawn vertically through the center of mass and the surface of the Balance Board—and body mass index the dreaded BMI. You key in your height and the board calculated the rest. Eeks.

Then Shila asked me what I want for my bday and of course tulahkan. So she sd she'll pay for half and DH half.. ey.. mana boleh present from DH RM300 aje. I sd I'll pay for the other half. Pi Mines, and it was RM350 there. Apa lagi..

The wii fit game is fun.

Trailer below

four categories below:

Strength Training: muscle-toning exercises like Single Leg Extension, Sideways Leg Lift, Arm and Leg Lift, Single-Arm Stand, Torso Twists, Rowing Squat, Single Leg Twist, Lunge, Push-Up and Side Plank, Jackknife, Plank and Tricep Extension. Challenges include Push-Up Challenge, Plank Challenge and Jackknife Challenge.

Aerobics: heart pumping fun, interactive Aerobic exercises like Hula Hoop, Basic Step, Basic Run, Super Hula Hoop ( love this- imagine 6- 10 minutes of hula- great for the thigh) Advanced Step ( Love this as well), 2-P Run, Rhythm Boxing, Free Step and Free Run.

Yoga: balance and flexibility with Yoga poses and activities like Deep Breathing, Half-Moon, Dance, Cobra, Bridge, Spinal Twist, Shoulder Stand, Warrior, Tree, Sun Salutation, Standing Knee, Palm Tree, Chair, Triangle and Downward-Facing Dog.

Balance Games: Get into the action with fun, balanced-based games like Soccer Heading, Ski Slalom, Ski Jump, Table Tilt, Tightrope Walk, Balance Bubble, Penguin Slide, Snowboard Slalom and Lotus Focus.

The games are fun and as it keep tabs on how long u play and how well, you'd want to better ur score and suddenly found you've done 30 minutes of exercising. It also keeps tabs on ur BMI and ur goals- how much u want to lose for normal BMI and how long. The yoga is tough.. selama ni main hantam, aparently u have to put equal pressure on both arms and legs, without the balance board I'd never know. You unlock games as u play more. I love the hula- poluh tau and the step. For hardcore exerciser it may not be tough.

Tak cukup tu, I found another wonderful game .

EA sports Active which is THE fitness game. Sold 600,000 since it was launched. Developed in collaboration with fitness expert Bob Greene, best known as Oprah's personal trainer,

List of Exercises

Cardio

Boxing
Heavy bag
Targets & heavy bag 1 -5 - length and difficulty of the exercise

WBB Targets & heavy bag using the wii board involve 'kicking' the punch bag as well
Targets 1 -4
Random (short)
Random (medium)
Random (long)

Dance
Basic 1,2
WBB Basic with wii board
Intermediate 1 .2
WBB Intermediate balance board
Fast 1 -4
WBB Fast - balance board
Fastest 1 -2
Random (basic)
Random (intermediate)
Random (pro)

Track
Kick Ups (short)
Kick Ups (long)
Run & Walk (short)
Run & Walk (medium)
Run & Walk (long)
Run (short)
Run (medium)
Run (long)
Run (very long)
Run, Knees & Kick Ups 1
Run, Knees & Kick Ups 2
Walk & Run (short)
Walk & Run (medium)
Walk & Run (long)
Random (easy)
Random (medium)
Random (hard)

Upper

Alternating Bicep Curls
Alternating Cross Knee Punches
Alternating Shoulder Presses
Alternating Triceps Kickbacks
Bent Over Rows with Triceps Kickbacks
Bent Over Rows
Bicep Curls with Shoulder Presses
Bicep Curl with Upright Rows
Front Shoulder Raises
Lateral Shoulder Raises
Standing Twists
Upright Rows

Lower

Alternating High Knee Reverse Lunges
Alternating Lunges
Alternating Side Lunges
Alternating Side Lunges with Toe Touches
Alternating Standing Knee Crunches
Jump Lunges
Jump Squats
Side to Side Jumps
Squat Holds
Squats
Squats with Calf Raises

Sports

Basketball
Passing 1
Passing 2
WBB Basketball
Shooting
Shooting & Passing 1
Shooting & Passing 2
Shooting & Passing 3
Random (short)
Random (medium)
Random (long)

Skating
Inline Skating
WBB Inline Skating

Baseball
Batting
Catching
WBB Catching
Catching & Batting
Catching & Pitching
Pitch & Catch & Bat
Pitching
Pitching & Batting
Random (short)
Random (medium)
Random (long)

Tennis
Back Court
WBB Tennis
Back Court & Front Court
Back Court & Mid Court
Back, Front & Mid Court
Front Court
Front Court & Mid Court
Random (short)
Random (medium)
Random (long)

Volleyball
Bump & Set
WBB Bump & Set
Bump, Set & Block
Serve & Bump
Serve, Bump & Set
Serve, Bump, Set & Block
Set & Block
Random (short)
Random (medium)
Random (long)

You use the both nunchuck and the wii mote. I bought the wireless nunchuck specially for this game. So much easier without the cable getting in the way. The give you the leg strap to put nanchuck in to gauge the leg exercises like runs, ugh squad, lunges etc. You can use with or without balance board. Use resistance bands for upper body workouts like bicep curl, shoulder presses etc, which is flimsy so I used the ones bought from Fitness concept and the pilates DVD I bought from US. You can either join the 30 day challenge or custom workout, choose easy medium or hard.

The first two weeks I customised the workout and I found I tend to favour boxing, tennis and the upper strength workout. I hate squat, lunges, and jumps.. and they even have combination of both lunges and jumps which I went through reluctantly.. oh well usually the exercise you hate most are the ones u the need most.

Then there is we cheer..

"excitement and fun of cheerleading to the Wii console. Use your Wii Remote as pom-poms and get ready to show your team spirit while you kick, jump, flip, spin and dance to the rhythm of the hottest music from the past and present. Master your moves with precision and timing to beat the other squads for the #1 spot. Get ready to bring it on!"

Hahaha.. imagine a *1 year old jumping like a cheer leader. Fun!

Other notable games include

Gold's Gym Cardio Workout

- Mainly boxing

Dance Dance revolution ( we have the original,winx, and Disney) Star wars ( use the wiimote as light saber), Pikmin. wii sports which was fun - family fun - bowling, boxing ( tina is the boxing champion - so far no one can challenge her),tennis etc with Mii ( character u choose- should see Dh's-- exactly like him), American Idol2 - where u sing and get critised by the Paula, Simon and Randy, Boggie superstar- exercise vocals, Legend of Zelda, Grand Slam and Virtua tennis where u play against Nadal,Federer, Mc Enroe, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Bjorn Borg, Novak Djokovic, Pete Sampras, Ana Ivanovic, Andy Roddick, Boris Becker, Lleyton Hewitt .

My wish list

Guitar hero= kena beli guitar pulak

Active Life

Not released yet - We cheer 2 - with great songs, Wii fit Plus, Ea sports Active II, Pilates,

and

Your shape -with new motion camera to scan your body and follow your movements without need of remotes or balance board. The sensors which are located in the Your Shape camera which gets bundled with the game, convert your movements into virtual one which show on your TV screen.the game will make a program that suits you need for specific muscle workout. That means you will be able to choose how many minutes the workout will be long, how many times per week you will be able to exercise and how difficult the routines should be.

Tina and we cheer

Michael Jackson in Malaysia 1996

2009-06-27T14:24:00.002+08:00

Michael Jackson

2009-06-27T14:08:00.002+08:00

What can I say about this man. He was a musical genius, an eccentric ( what geniuses not eccentric), misunderstood(?), child abuser ( we never know the truth).

He was exposed to fame at a very young age, tak sempat enjoy the joys of childhood. Kecik2 lagi dah ada responsibilities etc, maybe that was why he never grew up, a Peter Pan.

His music was good and still is.

I bought ticket to his concert in Wimbledon. We were hyped up - my housemates and I. Bought binoculars at Argos ( intended to return them within 16 days). Went to the concert amid mat and minah saleh yg tinggi tinggi tu..then suddenly it was announced - Concert cancelled. Dissappointed giler. I had to go back to Malaysia before the postponed date. Taklah dapat tengok!

Then in 27th and 29th of October 1996 he came to Malaysia. Newly pregnant with Camillia, DH and I went to that concert. It was worth it. Great performance by the King of Pop.

Tina's birthday party

2009-06-08T12:48:00.009+08:00

Tina's bday was on the 23rd. We had a small party. Tina insisted on a bday party. I have told her that this year will be kakak's turn to celebrate. Tapi dia tak paham. She planned to have mermaid cake, pinata etc. Susah jugak nak convince her. In the end jemput Shila, my siblings, zi , intan and Nani (dah lama tak jumpa, usually we try to make it once in two months). Intan couldn't make it sebab demam.

For the party cooked roast chicken, grilled lamb with mushroom sauce, spagetti bologna,potato salad, moussaka, fish and chips. Birthday cake was baked the night before. The marshmallow fondant done in the morning. Kakak did lovely roses with the fondant - lagi cantik dari mama's!! She wants to go to fondant class- lepas upsr ye sayang!

Kakak's bday party next. What theme ya for a 12 yr old girl?

Rusnah's wedding and June's House

2009-05-26T09:01:00.007+08:00

My friend Rusnah got married on the 17th of May. Rusnah was with me in MRSM Seremban, her room was a few pintu away from mine, then my lecturemate during A levels. She later went to Derby, while I to Sheffield.

I was so looking forward to attend the wedding, yelah jumpa ex Seremban friends and A level friends. Beriya siap awal, my friend zi will hmmpph me tho, as I reached there 1 hour later - hahaha. Becoz DH decided to take a nap then shower which took ages and bebudak pun sama after a few minutes of asking them to change baru bergerak.

Sampai aja dah bergambar depan pintu. Photos below: Seronok jumpa Jaja, K ini, Norli, Kak Min, the last time I met them was in the UK. Some during A levels .Some I have met before in reunions.

Beriya with the sessi bergambar then suddenly my battery ran out of juice - I charged it that morning, tapi tak bother to check, apparently the socket was faulty. Sudahnya tak bergambar langsung dgn pengantin. Hmmm. Great day tho!!

The next week, Saturday my friend June, from MRSM Seremban had a small gathering at her hse at Desa Park City. At first I thot it was near Desa Waterpark.. I thot that's easy. Then I found out that its near Manjalara..errks..

Usually I go to TTDI, Sg buluh, The curve, etc with my husband. (But my husband had to invigilatelah pulak.) Tak confident nak drive- me the queen of sesat. Subang, Shah Alam, Ampang I'm alright-KL pun ok though I usually take lrt,erl as more convenient - no hassle cari parking or jam etc. Tapi kalau Damansara, PJ, etc....

And also I had to meet Amy, Shila's cousin- to give her three rows Peruvian Amazonite bracelet. Should I go to Ampang to give it to her or meet her somewhere dekat Ampang , meet my sister at Midvalley to pick my mum's bday present ,then go to Desa Park City. Errks.. why dont I go round the world..

Anyways.. I thot biarlah my sister and brother pick present for my mum. Then Amy called, she was at the Curve. Alhamdulillah- on the way to Desa P C I thot - the map shows from that direction pun.

So off I went with Camarina and Tina in tow. After tersilap turn ke Damansara Utama ,I managed to get to the Curve tapi Amy tak ada lagi so I thot I'd go round..and eeks Masuk Penchala Linklah pulak. Took a U turn somewhere phew I was there again.

Keluar dari Curve, silap ambik Penchala link - no I want the Sg Penchala Tol on LDP- so confusing- cant they just change the name..U turn lagi..

After that ok. I managed to follow the map and its fine until I came to the 3rd roundabout.. ada mistake sikit kat the map and I found two other cars with my friends pondering at the map .. hahaha.. lepas tu apa lagi abandoned the map and ikut ajelah..

We reached there macam rombongan kahwin.. hahahaJune and Azu

June's house is very big, Siap ada two kolam, inside the hse with fish spa - much to my children's delight- dok berendam and then told me their feet dah clean and white- white and kecut due to rendam lama lamalah tu.

After Alpha lipid presentation session we went in to makan.Seronok jumpa kawan2 lama. Aleen, Shikin Najmudddin , Shiqin Zainal Abidin, Linda Nayan,Kak Long, Ijan, Bo, Azura,Salmi, Zalifah, even pengantin baru Rusnah pun ada.

Then we had tour of the hse, soak feet session sambil berniaga (me). Very good sale. Thanks Zali and June.

It was after maghrib jugak when I got back, made a few U turns hahaha on the way out of DPC. After that smooth ride back to Sepang

Giant Surprise

2009-05-16T07:56:00.005+08:00

I think this experience is blog worthy. Kakak was to go for Qiamulai at school yesterday and the school wanted parents to contribute food. I thot probably banyak mee hoon or nasi gorengs so I thot I'd contribute cupcakes and pizza. Hahaha. Camillia's mother is way too ambitious.

The day before DH asked if we should go to Giant to buy the ingredients but me thinking lama lagi..said nantilah.. as my parents in law were suppose to come and entah apa lagi in my mind.

Yesterday around three barulah nak pergi Giant. Camarina was with me. Ok.. Luckily I told kakak to stay home as she was suppose to go at 5.45. Mama reached home pun around 5.30.

So kat Giant, sibuklah bought the ingredients for pizza- mozarella cheese, roti arab, pitta bread- for the base- hahaha no way will I have time to do the dough or so I thot..- and ingredients for cupcakes as well. Then- as I was out of books- well fiction anyways- I still have a few of Brian Tracys not read yet, I thot I'd buy mags- books at Giant ni not many choice- pi lah news.com

After paying for the mags, suddenly I found my shopping cart missing. First I was disappointed - lah kena beli balik- buang duit aje etc.. then I got angry..hey this thief shouldn't be far as I turned my back just a while tadi.. so I went searching for trolleys. Nearing Poh kong I saw mine. Apa lagi I grabbedlah and shouted at the man.

Hey! What do you think you are doing This is my shopping Cart!

dah macam singa aku dah..

You want me to call security on you?!!

I am sorry

What do you mean you are sorry How can you just take my cart

I am sorry

tu aje words he managed to mumble.

Marah marah jugaklah but I thot he looked pathetic there.. so I just went..

Of course I created a scene there but I didn't care. People just stare ..

Syukur alhamdulillah I had my shopping cart back but I was really pissed off with this mamat. Zuriati yang jarang mengamuk- selalunya mengamuk with loved ones aje.. hehehe..

memang I jarang mengamuk, kalau my staff dulu buat salah.. muka ajelah masam but I rarely marah. but in my late 30s and early forties ..ahem ni.. macam singa betina sikit.

On the way back I thot kenapalah this man ambik my troli- he was eating ice cream at the time- accidently ke.. There was another one there but he couldn't have accidently taken it- as mine was not full but with more things compared to the other. Maybe he was hungry- then I thot...

lah.. 'pandai' jugaklah mamat ni. With every thing there I am sure to find it. He was leisurely taking a stroll with my shopping cart!! Hahaha not an experience thief...

Balik lepas membebel to whoever wanted to hear - buatlah cupcake. Since buat smaller ones -took time jugaklah dengan icing lagi.. gambo tak ada tak sempat!! Hahaha pizza tu makan esok ajelah.. DH left without me. So I took them later - pi with Tina and Camarina. Reached there ceramah ugama in progress. After solat Hajat we headed home.

Below are some photos from Brother in Law Epi ( shila- superwomanwannabe's husband) birthday on 3rd May

Birthdays and Kids

2009-05-08T10:38:00.015+08:00

April 19th was Camarina's 9th birthday. Last year buat party. I thot we'd have a small party home and Camarina aka adik invited a few of her friends and yikes we were suppose to be in Ampang then. So we had the small party in Ampang. This year big party is suppose to be kakak's. Still don't know what theme yet.

Facts About Camarina

Name: Camarina Mohd Fazidin

Born in: Millenium child born in Ampang Puteri. 2nd ceasarean child. Dh came in siap ada lesson lagi with Dr Marlik.. siap tanya white thing tu apa- Dr said lemak.. should have asked him to buangkan semua.

Wanted to call her Adriana but Dh vetoed the name. At one time she didn't like her name as it means moon, she preferred flower like kakak's but now she's ok with it when we told her - without moon it'll be dark at night, showed her blue moon rose which is so fragrant.

Photo 8th birthday party . Click at birthday party to read more.

Weight : 3.1kg, then of course. The biggest of the three, but smallest now. Camarina mmg ikut protein diet- tak suka makan nasi except with curry or tomyam, sardine.

At Izan's wedding

Favourite colour: White, black she said altho mama always buys her pink or red hehehe.

Hobby: She loves to write stories, love poems, reading . Mama doa ..bila besar famous macam JK Rowlings. Everywhere she goes, she'll bring her notebook with her.Then she'll scribbledthings in it. Buat magazineslah. Her baba bought her a second hand PDA for her 8th bday, but the PDAwent kaput- dah old pun. Now she writes her songs, poems diary online read it here.

Her favourite books include Dumb diary, Mr Midnight and Gerenimo Stilton.

Favourite word..ummm

Favourite song: Crush, A little to not over you, Sayang Aliff Aziz

Favourite singer: Siapa lagi kalau tak David Archuleta and Jonas Brothers

Favourite things: Her current favourite things are converse like shoes. She loves dressing up, with earrings etc.. kuat melawa. Her hair is currently short- siap tunjuk gambar Rihanna dekat hairdresser.

Favourite animal: Rabbit

Favourite food: Tomyam, Sardine, Curry, Ketam, Sup ekor pedas, Sambal tumis Ikan bilis, Tempe

Favourite drink: Ice lemon tea, Orange juice.

Camarina is very close to her kakak. She wants to be where kakak is probably because kakak looked after her when mama had Tina. She'd miss kakak more than mama. Kalau bergaduh dgn kakak sure berjela tulis surat to kakak.

Nyang's Funeral

2009-04-29T12:35:00.006+08:00

I wish I am more like Shila, who blogs almost daily. Don't know why kekadang alterlebih rajin. Anyways lots of things did happen from the time I last blogged . On Sunday, 5th April Tina had sports. She was one of the pompom girls. She loves to dance, never mind the jiggly things that followed.

Around 9 am, we received a phone call from my brother. My great grandmother, who was 100, passed away peacefully at my mom's. We rushed to Ampang. Mandi jenazah was done there and then off to Linggi. The funeral went ok -around 3pm, the weather was warm then a slight drizzle and later not so warm.

We visited Abah's grave. Camarina and kakak, I think was reminded of their atuk's funeral- cried, especially Camarina, who hugged the batu nesan and didn't want to let go.

We waited for Pak Chu, who flew from Sarawak, he missed the funeral as he got to Linggi around 5. We then went to Mak Ncik hse and got back around 7.

The next day, Mak organised a tahlil.

Nyang was the eldest daughter of Great grandfather Samad. Her mom passed away while giving birth to her and she was raised by her uncle. Her father got married and have other children. Her only surviving sibling was her youngest sister Nyang Busu. Nyang had a daughter my nenek, who is at my mum's and adopted a son. Nyang dulu muda2 was very very strict. She was creative, she used to look at something and can easily duplicate them; Kalau belajar sure pandai punye. She got married at 12, got my nenek at 14.

She lived a long life. No health problems except cataract and hearing. She remembered those who visited her.

Alfatihah

From left baby Camillia, Mum,Nenek, Nyang and me. The five generations of Kak Longs.

Trip to Land of Kepok Lekor

2009-04-01T16:42:00.020+08:00

Crystal Mosque

This entry is way overdue. Shila has posted hers eons ago.

We went to Terengganu on the Sunday, 14th March. DH's uncle Dr Khalid lead the way.He had drawn up itinerary - jgn mare- of what to see and do. On the way to KT we stopped at Kemaman where it poured so heavily. The Sata was good. Tina, who loves kerepok lekor was excited when I told her we were visiting Land of Kepuk Lekor. As soon as we got to Kemaman she didnt want to eat anything but kepok lekor. Keropok heaven for Tina!!

We thot of going to see turtles at Rantau Abang but they've closed by the time we got there. The kids played had fun playing in the rain.

Reached Atok B's house at night, after change of clothes, went out dinner under the bridge.. Yummy yummy food!
.
The next day we went to Pasar Payang, where we spent almost a whole day - ordered keropok lekor, bought caftans, kain batiks etc. We had lunch at Nasi Padang place.

Then we went to Atuk's resort by Sg Marang. Lovely resort, facing the river. The kids loved it - they went for second ride in the speed boat, while we, the adult were in a slow boat. It so peaceful and calm.

Malam we had barbeque. Grilled chicken, big big squid.

Day 3

Woke up early to go to Tasik Kenyir which is an hour's drive. Sampai aje we were all mesmerised. Emerald green lake..very beautiful..We got into a very well equipped boat- siap dengan dapor and - dua tingkat.. at the top siap ada pillows and mattresses.

We had breakfast on the boat then off sailed to Air terjun Lasir

Tina asked.. Are we going to Hongkong? Probably because the boat looked like the ones moored kat Hongkong.

The boat ride was heavenly, emerald green lake, trees of contrasting greens, clear blue sky.

Sampai the waterfall, my camera ran out of juice, wah!!!
Sampai sana, couldn't resist, altho I brought my ehem, muslimah swimwear, terjun jugak with complete attire. Then sibuk nak tukar into the swimwear, oggled by some yucky youth yang jakun tengok makcik tua tukar baju disebalik kain.

The water was so cold, that we had to sunbathe sekejap ( and the sun so hot), then dipped in again. Best sangat...

Ada ikan - or was it belacak?, and quite strong currents (waterfallkan!!), the stones were slippery. Tina slipped a few times. Difficult to gauge the depth of the water. A bit dangerous for kids. But we found a perfect spot where we could dip.

The current strong, Shila and I thot we'd, u know sit by the moving water ala jacuzzi. Best sangat until Tina joined us and got swept away. Mama and Baba grabbed her and then both of us - naik, enough swimming for the day.

We headed back to the boat, had maggie mee cooked in the dapur. Again Tina happy, as she loves Maggi and I usually say no to her requests.

On the way back to KT we went to see the biggest pheasant farm. Macam2 ada. We got a few peacock tails for free..

Malam- makan steamboat..Yummy!!

Last day

Morning the kids and daddies went to the beach. Tina tak habis2 tanya ..When are we going the beach.. Yelah so near yet so far. Tok busu girl, Shila and I went To Pasar Payang to collect our RM200 worth of keropok lekor!!

Then off to Taman Tamadun Islam.

Tina joined in the search for Marbles competition, she came third. Camilla, Camarina, Dahlia, Johan , Nadine , Sara, Sophia, - the fishing competition. Sophia got first, Camillia and another girl shared second place.
Tina won Third place

The Taman Tamadun Islam is good. I loved it. Masjids and Monuments from all over the world- Masjidil Haram, Masjid Nabawi, The Dome of Rock, where there is the rock that follow Nabi Muhammad SAW - Israk Mikraj, The Taj Mahal, The expensive gold covered dome, masjid from Brunei, The Alhambra.. So beautiful...
Dome of Rock

Masjidilharam
Alhambra

Taj Mahal

Crystal Mosque
Then off to Kl. Sampai 4 o'clock pagi and then two hari demam.

Kakak and Camarina went To Perak with DH.

Below are videosof the excursion

Gua tempurung.. sounds scary but exciting. There is a water inside, and slide...wow..I want to go..
click here.

Tagged by Izan

2009-03-27T00:02:00.004+08:00

About My Darling Husband

1) He’s sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
He'll be watching some action movie. The movie - The Rock.. entah bapa kali tengok

2) You’re out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?
Thousand Island.

3) What’s one food he doesn’t like?
I can't think of food he doesn't like except he prefers savoury to sweets. When asked he said budu...?? hari tu I letak budu kat nasik kerabu ok aje.. speaking of nasi kerabu I'm craving for one.

4) You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order?
Well he loves kari kambing or T bone steak

5) Where did he go to high school?
SDAR in Seremban.

6) What size shoes does he wear?
Size 8 1/2

7) If he was to collect anything, what would it be?
Kalau banyak duit probably car- but right now he's collecting (sigh) car mags, DVDs, fridge magnets

8) What is his favorite type of sandwich?
Tuna sambal

9) What would this person eat every day if he could?
Kupang he said ..dodgy jawapan ni..

10) What is his favorite cereal?
Oats

11) What would he never wear?
mmmhe did answer this but I forgot.

12) What is his favorite sports team?
Tak ada. HAhaha. Hsband I ajelah yg tak pernah mengikuti perkembangan sports. He prefers tennis.

13) Who did he vote for?
UMNO

14) Who is his best friend?
Malan

15) What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do?
shop .

16) What is his heritage?
Jawa, bugis..
17) What is his favourite colour?
blue.

18) What is his habit?
smoking, Is snoring a habit.. Arrggghhh..

19) What is he proud of?
His Virtual Reality course which he helped set up- became the most sought after course

20) Lastly, do you think he will read this?
no... he rarely read my blog and he doesnt have an FB account. yay!

Kenduri Arwah, DH's blog

2009-03-08T22:32:00.008+08:00

On Saturday 28 February was the 2nd anniversary my father passed away. We had a small kenduri arwah.

Thank you for coming,

Above Boy wonder and family. The boy in blue recited doa and apparently he recited doa at Mawi's wedding too and he's only six.

We grilled beef and made pencok (top) and my aunt from Shah Alam made tempoyak. She started making them ( she has to slice the leaves, tumeric, kadok,petai, etc- very fine) on Wednesday- the kenduri was on Saturday. Thank you mak cik A.

Nadiah feeling sleepy

Mak B posing with food

Mak U and Mak Lang enjoying food.

DH's blog

DH who, although is IT savvy or at least Virtual Reality savvy -never bothered with facebook, blogs etc, even withdraw his money using book.. has a blog. Of course his blog is a work blog..tak pernahnya personal. He is currently making a virtual reality haj CD. His progress is in the blog.

To view his blog Click here

Geng weekend

2009-02-24T09:48:00.002+08:00

On Saturday I went to medical aesthetics at Bukit Kiara. I thot I'd park my husband and kids at Mak Mas'. Kenapa pompuan ni pi apakebende dia atas tu you'd ask.

Well I've a got a lot of skin tags and it's bothering me. Vain potnya. Dulu I have this massive tahi lalat, mole at my back and it realy realy itched, and of course a few tags at my neck that really got in my nerves.. sampai tersangkut necklaces and they hurt. So I got rid off them. But the darn thing kept popping back.. and banyaklak tu kat muka.

Conversation with my five year old Tina

Mama banyaklah dots kat muka

Senang Tina buat dot to dot

Mama pilah kedai buangkan nanti mama jadi cantik

Kurang asamnya anak. Mana pulak Tina tau ni

Tina tengok dalam TV

Sigh ( ada lagi satu lebih kurang similar conversation but about losing weight)

Nak buat camno. It's in the genes. My dad used to have it, his sister has lots. And I started to have it after pregnant with Camillia. My siblings tak dapat pun!!

When baru started working I went to CN beauty kat Ampang Point, for facial and the lady told me she saw lots of dots on my face under the UV light and recommended titanium dioxide for sunblock. Yeah right I thought..nak jual barang kat aku lah tu.. Well she was right..

Arwah Abah went to have his lasered. oklah.. So I thot I'd give it a try. And so I went to this clinique. The woman said the laser would have to be done at Mont Kiara Hospital. So she recommended apa kebende doktin.. anyway that's what she pronounced lahkan. So she did them.

I came out with white dots on my face, which turned red, mak mas thot I had chicken pox ke apa.. and now black before it supposed to drop off. I hope they drop off before Saturday.

We had yummy dinner at Mak M's. Thank you Mak Mas!! Bebudak drooling over cats.

Sunday

After brunch, we went to Sunway Pyramid to see Geng. Best gila.. Betul betul betul..

The animation superb
Jalan cerita not bad. And the kids enjoyed it. we almost didn't get to see it. Ramai betul!!
Congratulations Les' Copaque

Tagged by Mimi

2009-02-19T09:40:00.002+08:00

Copy Badge “2008 Cute’s Blogger Award” untuk diletakkan di blog anda.

2. Link atau ceritakan kembali siapa yg memberikan award ini kepada anda.

Orang yang tag saya Mimi. Cousin kepada suami saya. Ada baby boy yang comel dan adorable.

3. Setiap blogger hendaklah menyatakan 10 fakta/hobi diri sendiri sebelum pemenang seterusnya

1. Saya di lahirkan di Seremban, yang sekarang ni wad utk pesakit jiwa. Hahaha, dulu2 jadi joke, everytime adik beradik lalu will show my hospital yang lama tu , opposite my brother's hospital yang tersegam indah.
2. Suka makan typical nogori dish masak lomak cili padi, can't get enough of this dish, steak with mushroom sauce, nando's extra hot peri peri, sambal tumis..ok you get my drift.. I am hot stuff...My daughter Tina mengikut, she has to have her dose of sambal every day.
3.Ada three girls. Semua tanya bila nak dapat boy. Am trying although the biological clock is ticking very very loudly.
4. Suka masak or try new dishes.
5. Eh eh sama macam mimi tak tahan bau rokok serta merta boleh dapat migraine, husband smoke mcm chimney tapi....
6. Sekarang sedang belajar berenang, as blogged earlier, bila rajin buat T-tapp atau aerobics with weight atau qigong.. bila tiba moodlah.. kalau tak tu..dok depan laptop ni le..
7. Suka crafts..semua kalau boleh nak buat sendiri.. lagi pun cheapskate.. hehehe
8. Suka beading, eh tak tau ke redundant sebab di atas, craft jugakkan? anyway.. and jual barangan kemas and charms di www.charmsallure.blogspot.com.
9. Suka baca buku victorian mysteries.. Anne Perry, Robin Paige, and buku2 mystery by british authour cam Agatha Christie..and lately teramatlah suka buku2 Sophie Kinselle- shopaholic series dll.
10.Suka tengok CSI and Criminal Minds, Desperate Housewives, Midsummer Murders and House.. hehehe mcm lebih krg aje theme ni..

4. Anda perlu memilih 10 penerima award seterusnya dan menyertakan nama mereka di blog.

Alamak..

Boleh repeat tak
Shila
Lana
Mimi
Izan
mamammia
Helena

New Webstore,birthday celebration

2009-02-17T09:00:00.003+08:00

I have not been blogging for a long time. Been busy with the webstore and taking orders. I put some pictures kat webstore then someone said it looked blah so I had to redo them again.

Then I decided to do more marketing pilah tagged.com. Yikes.. The good thing is I've got so many new girlfriends but the pening thing is I've got lots of unwanted hits from the male s too I clearly wrote on my profile that I am happily married and not looking for relationships only friendship. Altho it did boost my ego a bitlah kan I mean a 30 yr old sd I looked cute.. well its down to photoshop anyway.. Hehehe..but you know it boost up my spirits. One man had the gall telling me to stop wasting time. I wish he would mind his own business.

Dh looked into this blog yesterday and said he couldn't find my webstore address anywhere. Marketing apa camni..

Well I've added on the left. One for international buyers who wants to pay by credit card.

Visit charmsallure.com

And one for malaysian customer ordering from blogspot.

Right now I've finished Aida's bracelet and aunty Nita's bracelet and currently doing Aunty Nita's necklace.

Aida's Tourmaline bracelet.

Tourmaline with silver 925 clasp.
Want to order similar bracelet email me.

Tourmaline - My favourite gemstone- why? because so many colours...
DH bought me for bday present and it cost RM1200. Of course the clarity and colour cantik.. That is the mkt price for tourmaline anyways. I sell them cheaper depending on the clarity and colour,

Properties:
Black tourmaline- protect against handphone, electromagnetic smog. Encourages positive attitude. Strengthen immune system.

Blue Tourmaline- treats kidney and bladder,helpful for insomania, sinustis.

Brown Tourmaline-traets intestinal disorder and skin.

Green tourmaline- Revejunates and inspire creativity. Magnetizes wearer to prosperity and abundance. Detoxifier, heals constipatioan and diarrhea.

Pink Tourmaline- an aphrodisiac- attracting love. Treats heart, lung and skin.

Red Tourmaline(rubilite)-Treats blood vessels and reproductive system, stimulates blood circulation.

Yellow Tourmaline: Treats stomach,liver, spleen, kidney and gallbladder.

Watermelon Tourmaline: beneficial to relationships, traets stress and encourage regenation of nerves.

Aunty Nita's Chrysocolla and aquamarine. with silver clasp

Chrysocolla's properties:
Treats athritis, bone disease,regulates insulin, giving greater lung capacity.

I've ordered more charms, thanks to Shila, who let me put up a stall at Johan's birthday party. Thanks to everyone for giving me support. I will also bringing in more silver gemstones jewelleries. So watch this space and of course the two webstores.

Photos from Johan's party

Tak banyak bz manning the 'stall'

Photos from Amy's bday

Brother Amy's bday on 7th February. We had lunch at the Spagetti apakebende in Mid Valley's. Since it's under Chilli's mgmt and kids eat free we thot we'd give it a try. Also because they bake their pizza using wood.

I had Lasagne, a bit of pizza and Ceasar Salad.

Lasagne too small for the price, taste oklah.

Pizza nothing to shout about but better than pizza hut's anytime..

Ceasar Salad= either the waitress took the wrong order ka.. no parmesan, no croutons..apakebende

Sorrylah last time pi..

I love Pizza Uno's lasagne, pizza and everything else..They've moved from Ampang Point ages ago and we still miss the cafe.

After lunch off to Ampang

Below at AmpangBelow while waiting for DH in car, we were so late. I even had time to put mascaraon tina and camarina

After Johan's party we went to Ad's new house. Very nice!!

Photos from DH's cousin Ad's new hse.

Comel betul Ad's daughter

Cork board

2009-02-03T09:31:00.001+08:00

Charms 925 ala ala thomas Sabo

2009-02-03T08:25:00.003+08:00

New Charms On Sale

Contact me at pureflowerz@gmail.com for details.

Sunway, Webstore, School, Swimming

2009-01-17T13:42:00.008+08:00

Lama tak blog ni.. What have I been doing.. don't know since working at home ni macam tak ada masa aje. I am setting up my webstores. At wanitamelayu dah up and running..
although ada still photos to post, at dream web and yahoo stores still new. I don't know why I used different names..padan mukalahkan .. now I've got like double work .

I've looked at webstores.. kononnya nak buat everything myself.. lalalala... trying to study dreamweaver dah berpinor bijik mata. In the end, I thot - stop being so ambitious- I am running a one man show here ok.. the beading, the selling, accounting ladida.. mana ada masa nak belajor buat webpage from scratch..

So I thot nak just ask someone to do the design for me- Dh too busy loading movies, nak pay - cost RM2k+++ one off cost.. then like 100/year maintenance and webhosting kedebak kebeduk dalam 200 per year, oklahlah.. last week, price turun the lowest I saw was like 1600.. Tapi macam malehlak so.. I flipped a book I bought eons ago called internet business or something and they suggested ebay, yahoo and google ads. Ebay, I think no go.. mana dia dapat jual that cheap I have no idea, yahoo sounds ok.. around 30 USD per month including domain name and emails etc.. well consider oklahkan.. dari kluar like 2k plus..

Wanita Melayu mmg I dah lama subscribe, in fact sebelum dia start lagi the admin dah invite - from can't remember which forum- mesra kot. Beli pun dah pernah..corelle and findings. Actually rasa macam Rebecca what's her name Sophaholic aje.. start selling sana and start buying lots from sana jugak.. hehehe.. like ebay. sellnya satu - buynya 20..gasp.. hey.. got to know how it workskan..yeah right..

Anyway, after jadi yahoo small business, I found out the free webpage I have been doing on and off..mostly off sebab I didn't like the format and that is why I considered dreamweaver- dah ada webstore feature and it's free.. Sigh..

As soon as I've finished I''l put up their addresses...

Sunway..

The Thursday before sekolah bukak, we went to Sunway Lagoon.. We tu.. My sister and family and her BIL, SIL, kids and me. DH had to work. Oklah ponek.. fun..banyak jugak rides..We took all parks which is cheaper tapi mana sempat pergi semua. As we were about to enter Scream park the kids suddenly changed their mind. Except Tina, who insisted nak pi jugak..

Gambo..

School

The first day of school, I had migraine..pilah baba and the kids register. Alamak ponek jugak jadi drebar ni. At 11.30 (11 the 1st week) take Tina, at 1 take kakak and camarina. At 2.30 Camarina off tu Sekolah Ugama and at 5.30 take her back.. tu tak masuk tuition kakak lagi yg entah bila nak start. Baru nak duduk dah kena pi keluar balik.

Swimming

Enrolled bebudak ni swimming lesson, yelah kesian jugak kena stay at kids pool when going swimming with Shila. Ingatkan mama nak belajar jugak. Lesson is RM 60 a month..8 times a month..oklah tu. Tapi tengok tak ada adult , he does teach adult but tak ada yg participate pun and he doesn't take kids below 6 so Tina's out.

So Mama pun carilah.. there is one at Bukit Jalil for RM150 per lesson..one to onelah..eeks .. Then found one near Endah Parade for RM280 10 lessons- actually before was like RM300, I have asked before- 2 years ago may be.. Yang lain about RM 30 to 50 per lesson plus maybe transport to the swimming pool of your choice. After weighing all possibilities, Endah Parade it is.

I took the earliest time 8.30..yelah siapa nak pi at 8.30 on Saturdaykan..sure tak ramai.. true enough.. tapi oklah taklah rigid the time.. There were three instructors ..so dalam 3 to one (ada yg dapat one instructor to herself..) unlike the one my kids went to, ada kot 20-30 to one instructor - nak swim pun tak da tempat.

Anyway, I've learnt before at 7, at some club in JB, tapi the instructor insisted I went a few times despite me telling him I was tired (deep deep pool to a 7 year old masa tu), and then apa lagi tenggelamlah.
When I was in my teens, my siblings had an instructor to the house (the company hse we stayed at Kenny Hills had pool), tapi I was at MRSM so there's that. At 20 plus, I had a few lessons (2 kot) at the yucky pool near Jalan Sultan Ismail - it was a few metres from my office at Kompleks Antarabangsa, tapi tak habis.. I got married..then the end of that lessonlah..

How was the lesson today? Oklah ..because I had some basics, I progressed cepat jugak.. The first day I covered a lot - in fact I was 2 steps ahead of this woman who came for her third lesson.. Great motivational factor to me..since she's in her 20's.

After an hour and a half I was bushed.. I am my age after all... Can't wait for next lesson.

Lake Gardens

2008-12-16T22:00:00.007+08:00

Wednesday Ida and I went shopping. Tujuannya nak beli Thomas Sabo's Charms. I bought a barcelet and a charm..hehehe, satu satulah dulu kan. Ida bought a charm to go with her tiffany bracelet. Then we went to TGIF and Times, Ida bought the book shopholic and sister..Aptly titled book. I bought hot mag. Adalah ad for free Diamonds perfume at KLCC. We went to tods' tapi tak ada size kasut... bag pun tak ada yg berkenan. Then we rushed to KLCC to get the perfume.. Ida got handbags..They were 50% off. I was tempted tapi hey I 've just bought a camera, nasib baik tak ada size..kasut..

Saturday

Dah lama tak pi lake gardens. So we packed two bicycles and head there. Sekarang ni musim hujan. Tina with us.. So we went to pick kakak and adik( who are spending two weeks at my mum's). Then we went to Shila's. Adik and Tina slept over while kakak came home with us. The next morning, kakak went to ceramah ugama with my mum, mama and baba went to Aunty shila's to drop off baju. They were to go to Shila's kampung. We then went to PC fair. I bought a laptop cum camera bag and Sd card..beli jugak ..bag. DH bought Sd card, voltage regulator and wireless card.

Photos from my garden

2008-12-07T13:23:00.004+08:00

DSLR and exercise

2008-12-07T12:14:00.003+08:00

I did it. I succumbed to temptation and bought a DSLR. I have been taking photos with my camera phone for ages and well.. you know..they are average looking and shila commented my brochure looked blah. I have always love photography.. Yelah nak lukis sendiri landscape or flowers to capture no talent.

I had a SLR once when I was in studying in UK, Pentax z something, and the photos were wonderful, I have shots of eiffel tower you can never take with a portable camera. Then camera rosak.

I have lots to learn tho.

Also, I am trying to get into exercise mode. And oops bought myself a HRM. I had one before but it went missing at my mum's. I was contemplating between an F11 and F55. F55 more expensivelah of course and it has this relax mode and weight training diary extra. In the end I got the former as the I thot the latter would somehow detect how many reps or sets the weights.. haha they haven't make one like that yet- tu mmg terlebih canggih . Rupanya u put it in the thingy diary like. That I've already a programme on my PDA phone.

Here are my first shots using DSLR from my garden.

Yeah.. once when I am able to upload it..Celcom broadband's slow and streamyx entah apa pasal can't even connect.

DH's birthday and Cameron Highlands Trip

2008-11-25T02:03:00.014+08:00

On Saturday 22nd DH celebrated his 40th birthday. We had a small gathering- makan steak, lamb and grilled chicken. Ada gambo, but just now my phone hang so I had to reset it.. entah kemana the gambo gone, along some of photos from Cameron. Sigh..

Speaking of Cameron, . At first we thot Tina's concert was on that Saturday, oklah after concert pi, then we found out the concert was on Sunday,16th .. alamak..we thot of postponing the trip and tukar venue but Lana dpt the bungalow. As this is not genting - where u can actually do a day trip back.

Asked DH, he said ...- up to me. Tina's teacher pun put Tina in two dances, - dissappointed kalau Tina tak dance. In the end I asked Tina.. hehehe bagi budak kecik buat decision - apalah mama dia ni.

At first she said concert, but when I told her Aunty Shila, Uncle Epi and cousins will be there, Aunty Lana, Haikal, uncle Helmi, Aunty Mimi, Yusuf and uncle Ablen, Aunty Atty -she immediately said Cameron.Oklah Tina, maybe next year.

That out of the way we thot nak pi awal .Tengok kakak and adik had to attend the anugerah kecemerlangan- outstanding in English. Pi jugak after the prize giving ceremony.
We reached CH dah petang , and it was drizzling. Terus pi bungalow. The bungalow was so lovely. It has three rooms, two with double beds and one with two single beds with lots and lots of bay window -i love bay windows- click @

Lana's blog to see the rooms.

We cooked fish head curry, I brought some rendang and sambal, and shila fried chicken.

The next morning breakfast nasi goreng, sausages and off to Mardi .

Below English garden

The gardens - lovely, the English and Garden of Herbs especially. I love the various 'omputeh' herbs, yang jarang nampak pokoknya kat Malaysia like Tarragon, Dill, Fennel, Feverfew, Catnip, Thyme, Rosemary, Lemon Verbena- ada juga other herbs like basil/daun selasih,chives, serai wangi, oregano, stevia,parsley,mint. I'll be putting the properties of these herbs soon in my pureflower blog. Fennel and Dill

And finally I found the flowers that I thot Lavender-it's called blue salvia
Below Camillia with camelia

what do we think of the Mardi place.. oklah.. could be better. I expected to buy some of these herbs, tak ada pun. I bought a pot of roses- apa lagi, my favourite flower, grape and camelia.
Ada juga pokok apples and pears di dalam pagar- Buah pears di dalam pagar..ambil galah.. apakebende nak tengok dekat pun tak boleh and the apples banyak yg dah jatuh tak ada org kutip, ish, ish.. Also there were sad selection of vegetables on sale and dried strawberry. the orchid house were locked- on a Sunday? when u expected visitors?

Next we went to Barrat tea shop- makan scones, jam brownies mcm omputeh..except that banyak lalat. Someone commented the scones dah stale. the kids and able bodies semua turun , Shila and I stayed kat atas.

Afterwards Shila and I went for lulur and urut- marinade for the barbecue..hehehe our body smelled like rempah..oh so sakit..urutnya.. nak tido jgn pi traditional massage.

Malam makan besar. Barbecue. Ada rusa , chicken, ketam rebus, Steam fish, Pais Bawal , mee hoon ... After that rounds of mercun. Best betul!!

Some of the photos are taken from Atty's facebook.. Hehehe.. ada copyright ke?

The next day we had breakfast early, Toasted cheese sandwiches with leftover barbecue- yummy!! curry puffs and also chicken nuggets. makan aje.. Nampaknye kita pun mcm org pi PLR jugak...

After breakfast we went to Raju's strawberry farm. We had yummy strawberries and cream, chocolate covered strawberry ice cream, kakak had strawberry Lassi, Lana had strawbery milk shake.. , then we went down kononnya nak pi Rose valley but went to pasar -I bought roses- 5 bouquets- ada dlm 5 roses each bouquet for RM10, yg I took photo of but lost. Bought Honey comb and lots of veggies, also, Apple guava-- ok gak.. looked like big apple and taste like guava.

Next to Butterfly Farm. even tho we went to the farm the last time we went to Cameron-under vacation- the kids enjoy themselves looking for camouflage insects- grasshoppers looking like leaves/sticks, frogs looking like leaves.etc..

Haikal especially love the rabbits, ducks, turkey, goose and hens. Cqistina of course fascinated by the butterflies yang jinak2. Although some wings broken cian!

After that balik Sepang!!

Eylan's birthday

2008-11-07T11:17:00.009+08:00

My nephew Eylan Brother Amy's son turned one on October 31. Jadi last Sunday we had a small celebration at my mum's.

Pagi, went to Mak Buntat's kenduri doa selamat and kesyukuran, agak lambat sikit sebab berpeluh2 siapkan cupcakes. Sampai doa selamat pun over. Sorry Mak B.

Hehe minah bunga cupcakes pun gambo bunga

For Eylan's birthay both ida and I made of course our current craze- cupcakes, Ida decorate macam traffic lights, white I drew cars and sail boat on the cake.

I made sheppard's pie- I actually wanted to make it during the open house tapi tak sempat , I managed to make mousakka padahal the potatoes were mashed- in the end buat garlic cheese mashed potato.

My mum made spagetti, Amy ordered dominoes and chocolate indulgence from Secret Recipe.

Photos from the birthday party

Cupcakes

2008-10-17T11:00:00.006+08:00

My sister and I thot of going for cake decorating class. Yelah proper class with certificate barulah cun buat cakekan? Selama ni tangkap muat aje semua either baca off the net or baca buku.

Tapi entah bila. We thot of going in November. Then there's this apakebende trip to UK yg sekejap jadi sekejap cancel. Then she tried making some sama hari raya do hari tu.. Alamak.. she tried and jadi so she thot tak payahlah pi class.

Mmmm

So I pun trylah. these are the photos yang elok sikit. Ada yang ok lagi but I thot the sprinkles on the cakes spoilt buat the rest of the cakes tak cantik.

Below are cupcakes decorated by kakak.

Raya 2008

2008-10-07T14:01:00.003+08:00

Selamat Hari Raya to all of you.

This Raya a bit kecoh. The kitchen renovation was almost ready, but DH didn't like the floor tiles so kena bukak balik. The contractor managed to finish it On Sunday before Eid. Even the grill - pasang by Sunday. Kitchen cabinetlah tak pasang lagi. Nak buat kueh tak sompat as still had to clean the house etc. Kakak dapat buat one biscuit and tart yang dah habis dimakan rumah my mum. The cabinet contractor assured us can get ready by Raya but then dia baru nak start kerja on Monday 29th and it'll take around 2 and half day. We said.. forget it. Start on the 6th instead. That out of the way, kemaslah mana patut. But still certain things cannot be moved. Nak datang boleh tapi jangan terkezut.

Anyways, We thot of going back to Ampang on Monday Night ke at least but....

Baju tak siap lagi!!! We gave the tailor like 2 months before posa. She said it'll be ready by the 29th. Rupanya sub tailor dah meninggal, so tak siap lagi.

Come Tuesday, I called her again yelah nak baliklah sebelum malam Raya takkan macam melawat aje. She still have to sew buttons, she'll call me when ready. Eh tinggal butang takkan lama bebenor. So we thot we'd like pressure her. Pi lah...

She was still sewing adik's baju. Kakak and mine dah siap. We waited a bit, then DH got restless. tanya bilo nak siap ni... In the end Tina's baju tak siap. Yang lain siap, but adik's baju was done in haste. Terkeluar2 benang. Kesian anak I.

Before buka went to Ampang Point to search for Tina's baju. I bought one exactly like hers sebab kesian kat dia.. Ehem excuse mama nak baju baru!

First day Raya Wednesday

Morning, terkecoh2 , ingatkan nak buat lodeh tak sempat, after sembahyang Raya went to Linggi. Went to abah's grave, baca yassin and then went to Cik Tum's house- Kak Zarina masak nasi tomato. Jumpalah Pak Lang Aziz who resides in Kluang.

Then off to Aunty Tok/uncle Salleh's house- sempat jual sapphire set lagi.Then to Imam Tapa and Kak yah's/ Abang Shukri's house. Bebudak excited tengok Kambing. On the way back went singgah rest area, DH dah mengantuk..penangan rendang , ketupat etc..

Sampai rumah tired. My sister and DH insisted that I cook the lodeh and paru. Dah habis pulak cili boh, in the end used fresh chili for the paru. The maid blend instead of pound and the colour turned peach. I told my bro/sis in law and sis.. Rasa ok upanya pelik. Bro in law agreed. Sampai tak cukup.

2nd Raya

Went back to Kluang. On the way singgah siram bunga kat Sepang.. Yes.. I remember last year, pokok mati balik Raya. Reached Kluang around 3. Lots of food on the table. Salam MIL and DIL. Mak Mas cooked rendang paru - Shila's mum's recipe and Nasi goreng kampung specially for Tina. Delicious.

3rd Raya

SIL Nor came back in the morning. BIL Paiz came later in the afternoon. Went to Batu Pahat - Mak Long's house. Ter missed cousins. Malam bebudak main mercun.

4th Raya

Tolong MIL in the dapur - Mee Bandung Muar and Laksa Johor. Ada merhaban malam. DH dissappeared for a while. Around 6 drove back to Sepang.

5th Raya- Sunday

Made Rendang Nogori as requested by Imi and Mak Mas. Alamak .. supposed to meet siblings and mum at Colliseum around one. Rendang dah siap, Dh blom mandi.. In the end reached around 1.45. Dah sejuk tenderloin. After lunch. Went straight to Mak m's.

Epi and shila came over around 6.Mak Mas masak nasi minyak and Nasi Lemak. Yummy!!!

Camarina, Camillia , Reading

2008-09-24T10:45:00.008+08:00

Camarina, eversince discovering poems has been writing them . Dulu she started off with stories, some of the stories she wrote include,

1. Jangan Buka Pintu,

2.Key Island- macam treasure Island jugaklah and she got her ideas from her dreams,

3.Hantu Laut,

4.Anak Derhaka and Anak Soleh,

5.Eleven Dancing Burgers.

Sometimes she'll tell me stories, bila kakak dah fed up dengar. I heard whatshername- JK Rowlings sister had to endure J's stories masa kecik. Kalau dah besor tulis buku mcm JK Rowlings Ok jugak.. Mama tumpang suka.

Well her favourite books are Mr Midnight and Geronimo Stilton- tu yang cerita tulis pun lebih kurang same genre. I read all the books I bought for them. Apa nak buat mama pun bookworm - and I must say I don't quite like Mr Midnight after reading a few titles. Mulanya OK after a while dah predictable.

Camarina ada admirer at school. Wahyu. Things Wahyu did were:

1. Kiss her hand

2. Wrote her a love letter.

3.Blew a kiss

4.Held her hands

Mama tanya nombor berapa Wahyu dapat dalam kelas. She said 20 something. mama kata..suruh dia belajar. Speaking of Wahyu- Dulu masa kindergarten one of her admirers pun nama start with W jugak. Sometimes macam tu ..my sister also ada kena mengena dengan persons nama H and kahwin dgn H. My alphabet pulak F.

when adik discovered poems she got excited. Sekarang sibuk cari words yang rhyme. Now she's writing lyrics. She has written one in her blog . - under my follower. I 'll ask her to update her blog often. Hahaha if it is even possibe. Mama pun jarang update.

Kakak's current favourite book are the Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. Hari tu I bought three books, the next day dah habis!! Alamak..We've read 1-9. Nak beli lagi tunggulah.. Last month aje dah beli 6 books.

I tried to encourage kakak to read Enid Blyton's. I love her books- the Faraway Tree was my favorite, next Malory Towers, St Claire, Secret Seven and Famous Five. Tapi both of them are only interested in Faraway tree.

Mama is rereading her Agatha Christie. I read her books when I was thirteen when all my friends were reading Mills and Boons, which I found predictable (I supplied MB to my friends as my mum read them). Baru2 ni main game by Agatha Christie- Peril at end House , Death on the Nile- ending mcm buku and last few days.. And then there were None- One of her best books- 10 people on island- one by one died. The game's ending is different from the book and you can choose three different endings- killer sama tinggal lagi siapa yang tak mati aje lain. I love this game. The best of the three.

Semenjak main click games ni mmg dah addicted. Bebudak pun. Tina has played the Unicorn Castle three times. Dah hafal dah. The easiest she can play- sebab most of it cari silhoutte ofthe items or jigsaw or match three patterns or gears. Yang ada list of things to someone has to read out for hear. I've tried James Patterson's Scarlet women Murder club- best jugak. Art of Murder pun ok. I prefer mystery games as you can see, got hooked eversince main Tomb Raider masa Camillia was one. Kesian anak kena ignore.

MAHA

Best jugak.. Banyak kambing, cows and macam mcm ada. When am I gonna start the project, they asked. DH said to do something yg boleh pack and go since he said he is going to do his long awaited PHD. Maybe in 4 years time, after his PHD.

Bebudak enjoyed it. Pi kandang Arnab, cats. Ada elephant ride, Camel ride, Pony and Horse Rides..Macam dekat A farmosa jugak.

High School Musical

Expensive than the usual Disney On Ice thing. And less enjoyable. One of the main reason is probably dok jauh, mahal bebenor tiketnya. But even the props were not as good. Kakak and Adik went with Sis Ida and kids. Tina tak pi. I told her I'll bring her to the Princess Disney On Ice show.

Ebay course, Melaka

2008-09-10T10:05:00.012+08:00

So long since I updated my blog. Ingatkan dah dok rumah ada masa nak blog. Ambik anak, hantor anak, buat website, update inventories, attend to contractors etc tak sompatlah nak update.

Ebay course

Interesting. Although some of the things I have done before going for the course. Such us registering with ebay , paypal and listing for selling ( I have listed two items ebay malaysia ( my paypal account not verified, you have to get it verified to sell ebay US/UK etc- free and tak ada takers- according to Ryan ebay malaysia ni ramai joy bidders. Boli tu mmg dah lama as I used to buy exercise tapes from ebay - 8 years ago, when they had bidpay instead of paypal and sometimes i had to send bank draf over to the US.

There were videos of powersellers of the ebay. Ada this 26 yr old hongky guy who sold his first item- a toy car. He bought the car retail- tak tau kat mana nak cari wholesale - bought them for 20 HKD and sold them for 20usd made 600% profit. Jual from his bedroom aje lak tu. Now he has a warehouse full of the stuff. Inspiring.

Here are the things I learnt from the course

1. I can use the Public bank debit card to withdraw the money that the buyers pay thru paypal.

This is new to me as from the paypal website kata Malaysia have to withdraw from US bank account. Nak bukak US bank account I have no idea.

2.We were given a template to sell.

3. We can use Ebay Turbo lister software- free for listing purposes.

4. End listing during peak hours. US time- around after dinner. ( i used to stay up dulu to bid on certain item)

etc..

My brother has a friend who is an ebay addict. Masa working hours you can see him bidding for items. I also found out that items yang ada the word antique or vintage sells really well- One guy sold an old vase and tengok it's a ming and the vase went for millions. May be I should rummage my moyang's kampung house. So friends- ada benda terpakai you want to get rid of.. sell them on ebay.

Is it safe to buy from ebay? Mostly ok. I have bought several items of ebay- more than 30 I think. So far so good. Ebay has a system whereby you can leave feedback to the seller. If you choose those seller with lots of positive feedback you'd be all right.

Cuti cuti Malaysia

Cuti sekolah we went to Melaka. To Afarmosa again. The last time we went was when DH's ex Sdara's reunion- I remember Dadofour, Haq sang there , Tina patted the albino python then, we took photo with the tiger. This time around we stayed for 2 nights. Oklah RM500 ++ for2 nights including breakfast, safari and carnival.

We checked in at 4 pm on Tuesday, after maghrib went to the carnival at Cowboy town. Room Oklah.. ada 2 double beds, kitchen .

At the Carnival -ada beruk naik basikal, acrobatic dog, dancing elephants. The kids enjoyed it. Tengok 4 D movie..masuk lambat sikit- bcoz mulanya too early. OKLAH but it was expensive for a half an hour show.

The next day we went to Melaka town. , the big Stadthuys ,- maritime museum, Botanical garden. We took a beca from the Menara Taming sari- revolving tower to the the clock tower-Stadthuys . Kakak and Adik especially like the dutch governor's residence. Kakak baru belajar history. Tina pulak bored and mengadu panas. So Tina and baba dok at one corner , while the three of us went around the museum. Lepas tu pi cari beaded shoes.. cantik!!, then we went to the botanical garden and the maritime museum.

The next day , we went to a Farmosa's Safari. Finally we got to go the Safari part. The last time we missed. hehe..Animals roam free while us humans caged in the lorry....

Camel- lia

Tina enjoyed Pony and elephant ride. Kakak and adik went for the Camel ride.We skipped the bird show as we went to the show before- found it better than the one in hongkong. We went to the multi animal show, Cow boy show and elephant show instead. Cow boy show was so so. Last time we missed the show- this time we found out we didn't miss much. But the multianimal show and elephant show was as great as before. There were two paintings drawn by the elephants, I thot- impossiblelah dia draw especially one particular painting yang looked like a tree. But the elephant reproduced the same painting.. Wow.

We reached home around 9. Adik cried.. already she missed Melaka..

Verdict

Melaka was charming. We did the tourissy things. Still we could have planned our day at the town better. Lain kali we would go to the park, mini malaysia etc first masa tengah paneh terik tu and then go to the town proper.

A farmosa resort mmg best. Of course ada room for improvement. We especially like the Safari. Dulu rasa mahal but of course there those shows and also the animals are friendlier..datang kat u..Kalau pi zoo, animals are half asleep or somewhere - puehlah jengkit- giraffe, lion ..sebatu jauh....at Farmosa the animals pi near you. This time around tak ambik gambo dengan tiger, Dh and kids ambik gambo with albino python. Mama..?.cukup ambik gambo dari jauh aje..

MRI, Afiq's bday party

2008-08-11T14:46:00.010+08:00

So many things happened for the past week. I am officially working from home- since when? it's a week now. My last day at work was Monday 4th. Actually I planned to go off the Friday tu but... long story...

For the past weeks I've been having dizzy spells. On my last day tu, I got it while sitting down-usually when I'm standing. So panic lah.. Went downstairs to emergency..and I was told to go to Dr R, ENT. The Dr checked my ears, nose( beautiful he said- on the insidelah kan.. outside a bit like the actor streets of san francisco tu), then he said I should go for MRI - his exact words were.. "I had a patient once, no problem with nose and ears like yours- turned out she had brain tumour". Yikes!! In the end pi lah buat MRI.

Now, ...I had done MRI before, to check whether Camarina can go through the birth canal the normal way, so I was not so nervous. So when I went confidentlah.. told the radiologist done this before..she said.. that was for 5 minutes..this would be half an hour.

THe .. longest 30 minutes of my life. True enough they gave headphone with music if you could hear the music lah- enclosed space.almost made me clausphobic- I almost had panic attack, but I squeezed my eyes tight, ignored the dreaded clagging sound ( various pitch) and mengucap. Alhamdulillah, everything was normal. But I had to stay a night for further test.

My office threw a farewell makan2 at the Secret Recipe. Dapat bracelet.

I drove back home and came back with Tina. Mana boleh tak bawak bantal peluk tu.

The next day dah discharged. But I had to go to my office to finish up a few things. Monday pun pi lagi..balik around 9.30 pm.

After dicharged was Afiq, my sister's son's birthday party. Ida wanted karipap sardine, but I was in the hospital for half a day, my mum's maid did the karipap.

Afiq's birthday party

Tina swallowed flour

The children had fun. Mum and I bought for Afiq MP3. Ida made a car Pinata. The children played musical chairs, sweets in the flour game, dancing game. etc. Food - Lasagne, karipap tak laku sardine, sate, cup cakes, meehoon goreng, drummets.

On Wednesday, thot I'd do something to my hair. More oomph..although hidden under the scarf. Asked the hairdresser to put henna, she suggest I cut my hair as well, yelah.. it did looked macam nenek kebayan a bit.

Kau..she cut real short..never had my hair this short..nak terkejut pun ada jugak.. tapi maintain..cool..I'm really a push over. Adik had her hair permed. murah jugak RM35, Salak Tinggi's ratelahkan.

Balik rumah, nak tengok reaction dari DH. Selalu maintain macho konon. Once I permed my hair in Muar- Izan, Izreen, Imi may remember this incident. Dari straight hair, came back really really curly. Dh saw my hair and gave a start- i dengar sound .terkejut, but when I asked..tak adelah he said.. as if he did not give any reaction. This time around I could see him mcm nak smile tak smile. I asked him.. he said ok... standard answer lah kan. When I pushed . He said macam my Mak Uda.

Last weekend pi Ebay course. Details.. tomorrow.. insyaallah

Move office, Dalia's, Kakak's Birthday Lana's House warming.

2008-07-03T10:50:00.007+08:00

I have been busy past few weeks. Auditor, dengan move opisnya- solah kelam kelabut. My office is now at Pandan Indah. At first I thot alamak back to tempat jam... but then it's closer than Shah Alam, tolls cheaper and I took the same amount of time.

Camarina and Tina at my new

office

Dahlia's birthday party on the 22nd June.. Buatkan dia necklace and bracelet with rose quartz and Swarovski Crystal.

Dahlia wearing the necklace

Lana's housewarming 29th June.. best food and comelnya si HQ and Eusoff. My phone went dead on me tak ada gambo. Lana's blog ada gambo.

Kakak's bday 2nd July. Buat birthday kek sendiri bawak ke sekolah. Malam we went to Aunty Aini's.She and Camarina had Spagetti. Tina had Masak Lemak Cili Padi plus nasi tambah.

Later I'll post pics and facts about kakak.

CIMB oh CIMB

I have been problem with this bank for ages. Customer Service dari dulu sampai sekarang macam tu jugak.. I thot malehlah deal dengan bank ni, then my present company pakai this bank.. bukaklah new account with this bank. Masa bukak pun ada masalah. Beria kempen Tijari then suddenly tak onlinelak Cheque bank in Tijari account altho house cheque takes about 3 days.

Then this ....
Banked in cheque 17 hb. CIMB cheque bank in dalam CIMB bank..it took 16 days to clear.Wah ni memang record. Confirm nak tutup terus account ni.

Kambing oh Kambing

2008-06-17T11:05:00.007+08:00

Last weekend 14th 15th I went to Bengkel Usahawan Kambing ( goat husbandry) organised by Mega Utusan, Perfect Agro, APEEC UPM and AgroBank.

I have been wanting to go to such course tapi tak tau macam mana. Tetiba last few weeks, whilst browsing jumpa in a blog. Call punya call, the person asked me to buy Utusan. Ok I admit, I don't like reading Utusan except on Sundays..tu pun I usually go to the page yang advertise courses. On Friday beli Mega saw the ad. The bengkel cost around RM250- very cheap considering masuk tempat tinggal and makan - .....Banghuris Homestay and kat Sepang. pulak tu . kalau tak pergi saja aje lah...

Utusan said participant limited to 150 and they have few people enquiring. Kena Cepat buat wang pos - send to Sri Utusan Bangi. On Friday 6th kelam kabut so tak sempat buat wang pos thot I'd do it on the 7th, tengok tutup pos opis, so taklah hantar. I even wanted to go buy some clay and paint at Seri kembangan- went there after dropping off cleanser at Nor's- thanks for lunch- tutup jugak.. Of course semua tutup public holidaykan..

Anyway Monday went to Po buat Wang pos and courriered to Seri Utusan. Tuesday, they called me to confirm place.. what about the itinerary I asked .. baca utusan..

Wednesday terlupo beli, Thursday terlambat- dah habis bought on Friday.. Actually Mega comes out- when we were not told by utusan saje nak kita belilah tu.. on Mondays and Fridays. Monday semuanya hiburan.. Friday baru ada kursus2 agri.

Tapi that particular day's edition bagi map, and cerita sikit2 Aje. We were to stay at Banghuris. Googled- consist of 3 villages. Apparently ramai tourist from Japan , Canada and Korea stay- tunjuk cara hidup kampung. We were to stay with a keluarga angkat. I tak kisah.. I thot we'd book and stay there dengan my family sekali but DH prefer to book chalet- Seri malaysia Bagan lalang dah full.

On Saturday pagi we went to Banghuris. Pueh pusing2 tak jumpa where exactly we were suppose to go. Pergi rumah ketua kampung, they told us dekat Pusat Aktiviti , which we passed earlier. Memang ada sign board tapi alahai cenonet. They should have state where exactly where to register in the so call Mega.

We were given a file on the contents of the course, a 'cowboy hat' and a T shirt. Rupanya ramai yang tersesat, so time was a bit off. Of course we had VIPs from Perfect Agro- biggest goat importer in Malaysia, from Utusan and vetinar Negara. The course started off by why goats?

Types of goats- Boer, kalahari, Nuban. Saanen, Jamnapari, Feral etc..

At around 12 we were introduced to our adopted family Pak Ngadiman. Five of us Kak R, Kak S, K-, and R went to Pak N's house. We had lunch, which was yummy, perform zohor prayer and off to Pusat Aktiviti or - Kolam.

Our next lecture was on Penyakit Kambing and pemakanan kambing. We were shown various antibiotics and ' instruments of torture'.. hahaha , plus food pellets for the goats. Yang bestnya bila kambing kembung- there is this screwdriver like thingy where u poke the goat with to lepaskan angin- macam poke belon lak. Then we had to walk about 500 metres to ladang transit, where Perfect Agro kept their goats , from Australia /Indonesia transit for their farm in Perak. Mula jumpa kambing. Ada demonstration types of goats, how to inject the goats, potong kuku etc.

Antibiotics and insruments of torture

Around 5, we went to our family's house. DH and the kids picked me up. Dah tanned anak2 seronok main pasir. Went to the chalet. oklahkan RM100 for 2 bedroom with 4 twin beds, TV, fridge, with seperate toilet and bath. Bebudak ni excited- oklah nasib baik bebudak tak tau nak bezakan 2, 3 or 4 star- biar nama tempat lain aje seronok.

Jamnapari

Around 8 pi kat kolam, lecture on Costing. Yelah nak untung besar, ladang pun kena besar to achieve economy of scale.

After that makan barbecue kambing. According to the Dr Azhar, it has lower fat than chicken- news to me- I always avoid eating lamb sebab makan aje poning even though I don't have high blood pressure. Rupanya selama ni makan lamb- almost all kambing in Malaysia yang jual are mutton -from sheep or baby sheep yang cholestrol tinggi. Sebab sheep meat ni murah. Kita salah panggil daging kambing mutton. mutton is actually adult sheep meat and lamb of course daging anak sheep/bebiri. Daging kambing is called goat's meat or chevon.Yang jual kat pasar RM28 tu selalunya lamb. Sebab daging kambing esp Boer cost around RM44 a kilo kat Damansara sold for RM70.

The organiser siap suruh semua makan - darah tinggi or not kalau sakit dia jamin bayar duit hospital. Memang tak ada yang mengadu sakit the next day!! News to me. Anyway the meat is like nothing I've ever tasted. I don't like lamb mmg avoid sebab rasa hamis and of course sakit kepalo tu. But that night jatuh cinta terus. .

Lepas makan siap ada kugiran. My kids dah ngantuk so we went back early.

The next day practical. Pi ladang transit and we were divided to two groups. I chose to go to a breeding farm owned by Encik Hamidon first . Best dapat tengok the goats lebih dekat. Pergi menapak quite jauh jugak.. 1km. Balik naik lori. Macam nak kena pi sembelih. It was fun tho. Whilst walking to the farm, ada this guy tegur dari mana etc. He' s from Kuantan. I asked him where- macam tau ek- well I pernah dok Bukit Sekilau. Anyway I was there masa small 1 -2 years old - not that I remember much but arwah abah had a friend there yang anaknya dulu nak di matchkan dengan I. Kawan abah quite well known as dia pernah bertanding against Tun Razak and later Najib under PAS ticket. I sebutlah nama kawan abah tu.. Dia kata dia kenal.. cikgu dia dulu- so I asked him if he knew my father. Konal- anak murid. As dia dok ambik video the whole procedure I gave him my number.

Naik Lori

Sannen- the milk goat

Deworm

Balik dari the farm we went back to the transit farm. Dr Azhar showed us how to tag goat, deworm, neuter- senang ni pkai getah and then the telur will come off, milk goat, bagi ubat thru mouth. Cucuk bila kembung etc. Very interesting. After makan family angkat's house, bergambor. Encik N siap bekal us with ubi - merah, biru putih. Lovely host. Food semua dari kebun.

Family angkat

Potong tanduk

Neuter- sonang ajo..

Petang, we had lecture by Agro Bank and UPM. All in all quite a good course. So next step siapkan tanah Meru for kambing.

Facts about kambing/goat

Per 3 oz. Cooked
TRAIT GOAT CHICKEN BEEF PORK LAMB

Calories 122 162 179 180 175
Fat (g) 2.6 6.3 7.9 8.2 8.1
Sat Fat (g) 0.79 1.7 3 2.9 2.9
Protein (g) 23 25 25 25 24
Cholesterol (mg) 63.8 76 73.1 73.1 78.2

Data from: USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Release 14 (July 2001)
*Game meat, goat, cooked roasted
**Chicken, broilers or fryers, meat only, roasted
***Beef, composite of trimmed retail cuts, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, all grades, cooked
****Pork, fresh, composite of trimmed retail cuts (leg, loin, and shoulder), separable lean only, cooked
*****Lamb, domestic, composite of trimmed retail cuts, separable lean only, trimmed to ¼" fat, choice, cooked

Goat Milk vs Cow Milk

-Closest to mother's milk

· Nutrient content of goat milk is slightly less than cow milk but goat milk is more digestible because the fat molecules are one-fifth the size of those from cow milk -- making it easily tolerated by those with compromised digestive systems.

· The flavor of goat milk is comparable to that of cow milk. Goat milk has a milder taste.

· Goat milk has no cream separation because of smaller fat molecules. Can drink straight after milking.

· Goat milk contains pre-formed Vitamin A in the milk fat that allows it to be readily available for use by the body.

· Goats milk contains a more highly-evolved good cholesterol than cows milk, making it more available for absorption to the brain and body. (Cholesterol is essential to the health of the myelin sheaths "white matter" of the nerves in the brain.)

.
· Goat milk has an alkaline reaction the same as mother's milk. Cow milk has an acid reaction

· Goat milk does not form mucous (phlegm) and is therefore better tolerated by asthmatics and those with allergies.

· Goat milk contains more chlorine, fluorine and silicon than any other domestic livestock. Chlorine and fluorine are natural germicides and fluorine assists in preventing diabetes.

· Goat milk contains 2% curd, which precipitates in the stomach. Cows milk is 10% curd.

· Goats milk is tolerated by a compromised /damaged liver because of the smaller fat molecules and it's naturally homogenized.

· Goats milk has the ability to "sweeten" the intestinal tract and assist with constipation.

. . Goat milk fat consists of 35 percent medium chain fatty acids, compared with 17 percent found in cow milk. Almost half of people who are lactose intolerant are able to drink goat's milk.

Three different medium chain fatty acids found in goat milk are thought to have health benefits for people with certain types of diseases, especially diseases involving metabolism. Some of these conditions include cystic fibrosis, gallstones, heart disease, and various digestive problems.

Goat milk has three times more of these types of medium chain fatty acids than cow milk.Goat's milk contains less of the enzyme xanthine oxidase than cow's milk. When this enzyme enters the bloodstream, it can create scar tissue on the heart. This, in turn, causes the body to produce cholesterol for protection.

A cup of goat's milk has almost 33 percent of the recommended daily allowance for calcium, compared to almost 30 percent of the recommended daily allowance for calcium in a cup of cow's milk.A cup of goat milk also supplies more protein than a cup of cow milk, almost nine grams of protein compared to about eight grams of protein in cow milk.

Chucky-yah Birthday party and Mak z's abode

2008-06-05T17:37:00.007+08:00

For Tina's birthday, mum and Bro Amy decided to give her Baby Alive Doll. They gave money for the newborn wet and wiggle doll . Tina wanted the other doll yang boleh makan and poo. Oklah I thot I'd add the remaining$$$.

I read the review of Amazon and some say this doll looked creepy- Siap boleh kata.. Mama I'm hungry, I made a stinky, change me please, all better,lets play, night night and I love you mummy. Ada separate diapers lagi and it's more expensive than the normal diapers. Me - being cheapskate used Tina's old unused diapers and hid the food, kalau bagi makan sure lepas tu poo kan.. What I did is put the doll's bottom in a basin so that tak payahlah change it's diapers. or feed the doll without filling water in the bottle, ada punyi sucking pun. Anyway with six AAA battery the doll can last up to a week.

Tina and baby alive- Lisa.. Aunty lana call her Chucky-yah

The doll is quite big- Tina found it heavy to kendong.. So camillia and Camarina would volunteer, in fact the sisters did the changing and feeding as well..

I asked Tina why

Tina mama dia

Then kenapa tak change or carry doll ?

Kakak bibik dia...

Pandai...

On the 24th Trisya celebrated her birthday at Mont kiara's Burger king. Meriah. SIL Etty made a beautiful Butterfly pinata. The kids played games.. yang tak acinya kakak won twice, dancing and cari duit 50 cents ..dah 11 I think next time tak boleh join bebudak kecik.

Pass the Parcel-

Musical Chair

Butterfly Pinata

Next we went to Mak Z's new abode. Cantik. I love the garden. Mak Z made bread and Singapore stew. Best!! Siap ambik recipe lagi.

Lepas tu pi rumah Lana. Tengok Academy Fantasia.

Last Saturday 30th we celebrate my mum's birthday. Kakak made cake. Ida and brothers gave her blue topaz bracelet.

on Sunday went to Mak M's. Tina rindu dengan Mak M. We had nasi goreng. Memang best. Tina first suka nasi goreng after she had Mak M's.Siap bawak balik lagi.

Happy 5th Birthday Cqistina!!

2008-05-23T15:08:00.005+08:00

Photo at sophia's party

Tina's five today. Wah dah besar my baby girl. Still baby of the family. Usually her sisters by 3 dah ada adik. Tina's case sebab one mama dia maleh nak pregnant, now dah ready blom ada rezeki lagi- probaby dah nak 40 susah nak melekat. Gambo baby tak banyak nilah penangan digital camera. Nanti cari..Anyways ..

Photo- at Marche .. Mother's Day with cousins ,aunties and uncles

Facts about Tina

Name: Cqistina Mohd Fazidin

Photo at Elina magic of rainbow- one utama

Photo: Raya 2007

Born in: Ampang Puteri. 3rd ceasarean child. Sakit ooo.. Kakak's was a breeze - siap boleh sampuk when the drs talked about hongkong taken over by China. Didn't feel any pain at all. With Adik's - Dh came in siap ada lesson lagi with Dr Marlik.. siap tanya white thing tu apa- Dr said lemak.. should have asked him to buangkan semua.

Come Tina's turn..Anesthetic tak fully jalan .. I could feel the knife.. Adoi sakitnya and lama lak tu tak keluar2.

Balik hospital, Dh showed her certificate. We had agreed on the name but I didn't expect DH to include a C infront of her name. Must teach her to say.. kalau orang tanya.. the C is a silent C kalau tak terjuih mulut nak sebut.

Weight : 2.67kg, then of course. The smallest of the three. Called her thumbelina. Now known as tembamlina Now at her age, she's the heaviest of the three. Camarina is even lighter than she is.. but then si Camarina mmg ikut protein diet- tak suka makan nasi except with curry or tomyam.

Photo: Tina's 4th bday. Tak tau why she's crying. Tak cantik ke mama buat kek?

Favourite colour: Purple.. She just love this colour.. anything purple in the shop jadi hers.

Photo: At Izan's wedding

Favourite character: Mermaid. My god.. she loves mermaid so much.. if she draws.. you bet its mermaid, baju pun nak gambar mermaid.. of course her favourite Disney character would be Ariel from the Little Mermaid..

Photo: Sophia's birthday.. mama buat baju mermaid.. mama's version of course

Favourite word..Mama where's your phone.. Buat apa lagi kalau tak main game..

Favourite song: Umbrella- Kalau boleh everyday nak dengar lagu ni.

Favourite singer: Siapa lagi kalau tak Rihanna... Kalau lagu2 Rihanna aje sedap.. lagu singer lain kureng..

Favourite toys: white cat yang dulunya beli utk Camarina.. puas bought her a new ginger cat from teddy bear factory pun tak nak jugak. She also love the russian dolls. Kalau pi umah mak z tu lah yang selalu main. Her current favourite is the Baby Alive doll.

Photo; At Mak Z's playing with russian doll

Favourite animal: You guessed it- apa lagi kalau tak cat.Pantang nampak sure pegang.

Favourite food: Masak lomak cili padi, sambal. ikan bilis goreng, Nasi goreng kampung with cili padi. She loves to eat hot and spicy food- ikut siap kalau tak her mum, more so than her sisters, with kakak Camillia, the eldest,- langsung tak makan pedas.

Favourite drink: Yoyok- ( her milk- tu yang terlebih besar dari orang lain tu) and milo ais.

Happy Birthday Ida, Epi and Zi.

2008-05-09T15:40:00.005+08:00

May ni ponoh dengan birthdays. 1st of may- celebrated by all- my sister idas birthday.. spent the day at the hospital and later, much to the annoyance of my sister , went with my two brothers to a steak house. Birthday girl marah sebab tak pi ngan dia.. dia tak nak as the next day working.

We went to Chilli's on Saturday to celebrate her birthday proper. Actually I like celebrating birthday kat TGIF.. best - I love when all the staff there sings the birthday song siap hentak kaki.. but foodwise agak kureng dari Chilli's - we thot although service mmg better.

Next birthday we have Epi's. Sorry tak dapat menghadirkan diri last Monday. A bit difficult travelling to and fro to Ampang/melawati from Sepang on a weekday.

Today is my friend Zi's birthday. Happy Birthday Zi!! Zi and I came along way, from English Course in Kuantan ( we hit off immediately- we share passion for books but I tell you zi reads everything!.. I am a bit selective.. Romance bore me to tears, like wise Spy kind of Novel)..
read abou zi in my previous post here

May the 12th will niece Trisya's birthday. Tina's will be 23rd May.My mum's 30th. Tina has been asking for a mermaid cake and pinata eversince Camarina's birthday. I have told her several times, her big birthday will be the year after next, sebab next year will be Camillia's. Hari tu went to Mak B's house. Mak Z made a doll cake.. cantik.. and Camarina cut the cake. Mak Z went to cake decorating class.

Tina of course cerita, what she wants.. mermaid on the rock, waves, green tail and purple bra..And Mak Z, who had an exam on cake decoration made one for her. Thanks Mak Z..

Punyalah happy dapat the cake.. sampai tak nak potong.

As promised here are some photos to Camarina's birthday party hari tu..

Kiss the frog, Elan second place best dressed baby,berebut sweets from Pinata, Sara and Pinata, Tina and Trisya, Camarina with Fatini- neighbour and classmate, and Dahlia.

Kidney removal

2008-05-03T11:59:00.003+08:00

On Tuesday around 1 my mum had growth and kidney removal operation. The operatin was for about an hour. Alhamdulillah the operation was a success and Mak is in Tawakkal recuperating She is scheduled to go home on Sunday.

Thank you for the well wishes.

Camarina's 8th Birthday Party

2008-04-22T13:56:00.019+08:00

Phew..Ponek

On Wednesday stayed up late buat pinata.Half way done DH said it looked like baru nesan.. Err .. lah baru start apa.. Ni sure nak get back sebab I complained pinata yang di buat dulu..

Actually It did look like a tombstone. Anyways, On Thursday I took half a day off and thot I'd go to a shop in Balakong selling polymer clay.. Ingatkan nak buat a few things with th clay.. It rained and being me.. kalau tak sosek tak sah couldn't find my way from north south highway to Mines.. went round and round. In the end abadoned the idea and went home.

Friday cuti ,- spent the day making cookies, pies, currypuffs and cakes so that Friday tinggal nak ice the cake and masak benda panas2 aje.. Thot of buying swiss roll for the cakes tower tapi DH, the Yang Dipertua PIBG was so nervous about his speech t he next day suruh I pi sendiri... dah malam sure tutup kedai kek..

Friday morning- start preparing for Tom yam soup ( all dishes are camarina's favourite- Tomyam soup- The Hot Dragon Soup, The Princess Sardinia's scally dragonpuff, Queen of Heart's Tarts, Blackbird Pie, The Er.. Mulan's Flat Noodle, Gingerbread man cookies, Ida's pudding and Castle birhday cake..

I have made the cakes the night before - one kilo bottom half a kilo top dia.. No time to buy swiss roll..what on earth should I use for towers...my eyes caught/ternampak the french bread apa lagilah jadi korban.

I wrapped the cake and the baguette with marshmallow fondant. Iced the ice cream cone with butter icing. Decorate the cake with bits of hearts and little sugar flowers and chocolate stones. Then use butter icing to write Happy Birthday Camarina on the cake.. Tak pernah pernah use the buttericing to write on the cake. Used the funnel like thingy yang orang selalu use to pipe on cake tu.. Mulanya ok..Managed to write Happy Birthday .. when it comes to Camarins ..I must have squeezed it too hard sebab suddenly there were blobs of icing on the bottom part of the cake..Hehehe...Baru nak perasan...

Tada.. ze cake..

Lepas tu kelam kabutlah buat tom yam and Kue Tiaw, fried chicken, sardine puff etc.. Sorry Mimi agak kelam kabut sikit masa you datang..

Black bird pies- Sing a song of six pence.

Fruit tart.

After semua terhidang we had a game of Kiss the frog- Like pass the parcel only you pass a wet frog around and when the music stops the person holding the frog has to kiss the frog and go out.. Shafiq won this game.. Then we cut the cake

Next we have The Pinata. All queued to knock the pinata. Unfortunately the pinata dropped to the floor instead of smashed in the air.. Bebudak pun apa lagi berebutlah..

Next we have Pin the donkeys tail game- Intan's son, Dahlia and Nadine won the game.

The best dressed princesses goes to bro Amy's daughter Trisya and neighbour Aida.

The best dressed baby went to Ablen Junior..

All in all It was a fun party. Party pack tak cukup panic sekejap.. luckily we made extra bracelets and rings and had extra cars about.. We estimated around 40 kids . Thank you so much for coming. Thank you Shila for the lovely cupcakes and all of you for the beautiful presents.. Camarina love the pressies. Thank you for the chocolates, craft book on princess.. we love that one.wish we had it before the party!!.., the teddy bears, the pencil case, the music boxes, watch, play dohs, vcds ,glass, clocks., games..

Hari Isnin mama mc.- Kaki cramp. Went for so called relaxation massage...Adoi!.. I think ada lebam2.. The masseur kata my betis berbiji2 angin.. no wonder susah nak jalan.

Happy Birthday Shila

2008-04-15T17:08:00.003+08:00

SIL Shila- superwomanwannabe's birthday today. Jom celebrate debgan Camarina this Saturday

Poneng jugak nak pikirkan the party this coming Saturday. The theme is Prince and Princesses. I have a few things in mind nak buat. The cake, the blackbird pie, queen of heart's tarts- the kue tiew- DH's idea Camarina's favourite- camno i nak turn that into princess theme tak tau.. Shila suggest that the dish be called repunzel's hair kue tiew.. I thot may be mulan's / Hang Li Po's noodle - Shila said bebudak ni tak kenal Hang li po.. The curry puff- shila suggested - Dragon Scales puff. Hahaha cute!

On Sunday night we started on the pinata - thot of making a dragon-- slay the dragon or something.. I thpt perhaps the architect/ multimedia background husband bolehlah buat..The last time I put him in charge of Pinata- he took an orange plastic back bunch the end macam tail and put ping pong ball as eyes jadilah goldfish.. Sigh... creative but malasnya creative.

I blew up a round ballon to form its head and the long ballon as its body. Buatlah paper mache.. Yesterday came back - the dragon's head deflated... Kena buat benda lain nampaknya..

Bangsar Village, Decoupage

2008-04-11T16:27:00.010+08:00

Last Saturday I went to Bangsar Village. Friday bought material kat Nagoya. Ingat nak pi Carousel tempah baju adik for her birthday party. Dh initially agreed to go with me but after I told him I want to go to sister Ida's house, di kata banyak kerja.. so I asked him to drop me at Ida's. Brother A was there. SIL Etty and Trisha gi tengok Disney On Ice so he lepaked there. Told Ida I'll be there around 11 tapi disebabkan cooked brunch sekali and the neighbours kids ada kat rumah, plus bibiknya cuti, so mama and kakak kena clean up lamalah sikit nak kluar.

Baby Amir

Sampai Ida's house she has already cooked lunch so makanlah sikit. Then off to Bangsar Village. I mmg fascinated dengan this store. Last time I went was after my cousin's wedding decked with high heels and so forth..solah uncomfortablenya. Pergi dengan Ida lagilah..semua store nak masuk especially yang jual kids clothes..semenjak ber - anak ni jarang cari baju sendiri. Kalau baju sendiri pikir sepuluh kali nak beli tapi kalau baju anak2- pantang nampak yang cantik . Pi quilt gallery beli ribbon ingatkan nak buat ribbon rose. ( last time I went tak jumpa kedai ni pueh mencari.) Nama ada lagi dalam system- ( Ida and I went for sewing class tapi tak habis)

Anyways masuk Carousel tak boleh ukur as the girl there tak boleh ambik ukuran- ask us to come the next day.. Alamak nak pi lagi ni macam capital M sikit. Lagipun I ni kalau bangsar and PJ surrender siap2. So pusing2 jumpa a dress yang ok.. price pun reasonable --well kalau tempah pun probably cost the same.. and tak payah hassle nak datang balik.

Went to the next wing drooled over handbags. then went to kedai2 budak2 kat bawah.. Wow saw this RM300 dress.. serious macam pi ball- at Labuci.

Next went to Strudel.. Ida and I mmg dah lama jatuh cinta with the mini cakes in Strudels.. dulu arwah abah kerja dengan owner and dapat discount card. Bila bawak balik siaplah..

On Sunday,, terpleot kat rumah, spend the day buat bracelets for office orders. Petang ambik bibik. Tina panas sikt.

Garnet Bracelet,Pearl bracelet, White swarovski, bracelet, Agate bracelet, Pearl and rose quartz bracelet with matching earrings.

Around 3 am we decided to go to Zaharah's- a hospital in Bangi. Actually I thot it was still around 11 sebab dah tertidur dulu. Masuk keta tengok dah kul 3. Reason pi zaharah konon if nak kena buat blood test boleh terus.. dah kul 3 apake...nya

Anyway, Dr tanya tina ada asthma? Eh? tak penahlah pulak.. Ramai jugak yang kena send to nebuliser ni.. Ida's theory dr ni ngantuk kot..

Monday - El nak tengokanlah si Tina ni..

On Wednesday ada cerita kelakar.. I was suppose to attend pharmaceutical and cosmetics seminar in sependengaran saya - Menara MBPJ. Di sebabkan oleh Pj tu macam outer space to me.. I took the 7.20 train from Salak Tinggi to KL sentral then to Amcorp. And menapaklah ke MBPJ- bukan kat situ... Pueh den call the authorities supposedly involved like SIRIM, kementeran kesihatan and CEPP- hampeh.. semuanya tak tahu menahu... So I thot... as I'm already there I don't want to go back empty handed..Off I went to Amcorp mall for decoupage lesson.. ladida.. and then to book xcess and magazine RM10 shop.

Voila.. Old tin transformed...

Hibiscus , shampoo, leech, Sazli's wedding

2008-04-04T16:22:00.005+08:00

I recently updated my pureflower blog on hibiscus- how orang dulu use hibiscus masa tak ada shampoo. Disebab yang demikian, teramatlah terujanya ( I have never used this word in fact don't know its meaning till recently- I think the last few years this word is popularly used - dulu I memang tak pernah dengar the word).

Anyway i got back home and decided to try make shampoo. Went to my kesian/ pathetic looking white hibiscus tucked in a corner. Lah.. daunnya comel2- I practically botakkan the pokok. I thot I'd add some daun pandan to make it more fragant and a bit of neem/ semambu leaves as well- neem properties being given below:

Anti-inflammatory
Antiarthritic
Antipyretic
Hypoglycaemic
Spermicidal
Antifungal
Antibacterial
Diuretic
Antimalarial
Antitumour

More about neem in pure flowers blog when I have the time..
Tapi teramatlah tingginya the tree- masa rendah tak nak ambik- abandoned the idea and tried the aloe vera instead.

Put hibiscus in the pot with pandan and boil. While waiting, I sat down with my daughters testing out an idea of mine- leech farming

Apa kata kita buat leech farming? I asked and proceeded telling them what are leeches etc. Di tokok tambah oleh bibik- who I'm sure thot the idea was gross ( tak semena nak berhenti nanti- after what ~7 years with us)

Adik gelilah.. kakak agreed..Tina said..

Leech ni macam vampire ye mama? Tina tak naklah..

Tapi Tina kalau bela leech ni nanti mama banyak duit..

Tak naklah...mama

Nanti mama boleh beli Mariposa.. ( saja test..She has been nagging me for this doll forever.. more so after Balqis, her cousin got one)

Oklah

Boleh bela leech?

oklah..

Cerita punya cerita tengok my shampoo dah kering... Rasanya ok tak, kalau I mintak daun neighbour I.. sigh..

Monday

Went to Sazli's wedding.. Lahai memang macam pinang di belah dua- she looks solah like sazli...

Congratulations Sazli..

Jumpa Shah.. dah lama tak jumpa Shah ( Sil shila's brother).. I remember the time he and Shila's mum visited us in UK, masa tu I always put my chin on his head.. sekarang ni -of course tak boleh lagi.. dah ada janggut lagi.. Alamak Shah should have taken a photo with you.. My friends masa Uk dulu are all asking about you. Memang Shah masa tu adorable- with a mass of curly mop.

Yesterday the cleaner at the office brought us to try Mr Tron. Ikut aje makcik ni.. Tak tau benda pon. She said free.

We went and sat on this chair..My colleague could feel her hands tingling but I couldn't feel a thing.. i thot benda ni rosak ke,... sebab ada layer of lemak the electricity had to go thru. The girl came over and touched me..I got a shock of my life.... it felt like electric shock. 20 minutes on the chair- then pi like infra red thingy for 7 mins .. ni oklah berpeluh2, my toe red.. the man said circulation problem- lack of exercise ..I stopped seminggu dah as I grazed my knees hari tu. then used the FIR lamp pulak for 5 minutes . So far so good. I felt sleepylah.. semalam and today ingat nak pi tapi tak ada gang.. Anyway takut sosek - as it is near JJ bukit Raja.. karang tak pasal pi port Klang.

i triedlah tengok over the neton the machine- so far nampak macam testimonial bagus... Tapi Mostly in Japanese- Shah boleh translate? .. machine endorsed by the Japanese govt katanya.

New Niece and Sophia's bday party

2008-03-26T15:39:00.008+08:00

Congratulations SIL Zaidah and Bro Iji - new addition to the family at 1 pm . Zaidah did the MRI and like moi- had to go thru ceasarian- SIL Zaidah, SIL Etty and I have the same problem- tak boleh deliver normal- like I said hips do lie.

Maulud Nabi- Sophia's bday party. Woke up early. Nor, Yani and Zi ordered toners, moisturisers and serum so whipped a batch of them tapi nak jugak bawak something for the party. The previous day I went to SACC on the way back from work.. I thot I'd bake mince pies ke.. Dh thot inappropriate makan kat Pizza hut and told me to bake fruit tart instead. Alamak already bought ingredients for mince pies.. nasib baik the ingredients ada jugak in the fridge- godek apa yang ada..kiwi, mango, and the whip cream yang hari tu kakak nak buat creme brulee tak jadi buat.

Disebabkan mama dia sibuk with skincare- kakaklah kena kerah buat the fruit tart. She made the pastry shells and bibik cut the fruits, while I made the custartd. oklah..

Kakak and Bibik filling the tart shells.

Rushed to Pizza hut Wangsa maju- lalala..famished bukan main as no breakfast and last nite had fruits aje for dinner. Kesian Shila, I was no help at all.. Pakaikan Sophia the necklace, kakak made and bracelet I made the monday before.

Party was fun the kids madebday card for Sophia and played games.

Top Sara and Camarina making cards for Sophia. Tina with the lovely cupcakes. Cute baby Hajar - dad of fours plus one. Birthday girl and home made delicious cake.

Gave skincare to zi, and then off to shila's house to drop DIL Abah, picked kakak and Sara up and off to Crystal shop. Beli lagi barang..

Reached home around 10.. Sorry Shila balik lambat sangat.

Cukur Jambul, earrings and weddings

2008-03-17T16:13:00.010+08:00

Cukur jambul

We had a small kenduri/tahlil/prayers for Abah and cukur jambul for little Eylan- bro's A adorable, son who is 4 months. Comel betul si Eylan ni, fair, rosy cheeked and big big eyes ( don't know whose eyes- my brothers eyes sepet and SIL pun lebih kurang). And of course mak long dia ni selalu sakat dia/ trying to get his attention- he sigh and refuse to turn sebab mak long breathing on the other side. Hehehe.. Geram

I asked Cqistina

Mama Geram Eylan - boleh tak mama bawak Eylan balik?

Kalau Mama bawak Eylan Tina keluar dari rumah ini

Tina nak pi mana kalau keluar dari rumah?

Tina pi umah aunty Shila - duduk dengan Sara ( Dia mmg suka benor Sara)

Tapi Aunty Shila ada 4 girls dia nak ke Tina?

Crystal shopping

Sis Ida and I went off to search for crystals. We had to go to an ill reputed street- red light and another famous bargain street. Wah .. red light tu my second trip, so taklah jakun sangat. In fact the first time I went with my husband around half past six rasa macam suspense jugak tapi the second trip ni dalam luch time to me biasa aje.. but Ida geli2 sikit. i ni macam one way street- nak pi tak tengok kiri kanan, I didn't notice until pointed out by my sister - a few sexily clad transverstite. ( tu tak payah pi situ boleh jumpa)

Anyway - I aje yang banyak keluar duit as crazy over the raw materials- finding etcs nak buat jewellery ni. Since Ida is more interested in the genuine gemstone/crystal we went to the another place. The second place we went to- duit I dah habis- but quite good bargain. Since my sister drove us there -upahnya kenalah buat bracelet for her.

Now- I have always love earrings- don't know why~ just crazy over them.. the fancier the better - the longer the better. Some say buat apa pakai bukan nampak pun- as I wear tudung/headscarf. I don't care- I'm wearing it for me.. I feel good wearing them I don't care if no one knows what I am wearing.

Di sebabkan oleh itu - I spend lots on earrings. And as I can only wear gold/ silver kalau tak gatal/ berair or some allergic reaction, ponek jugaklak nak beli sebab dangling earrings ni kalau tak hilang sebelah tak sah. I'll always lose the other pair.

So bila belajar buat jewellery, although they did not teach how to make earrings- I experimented- ( based on the earring I bought- tinggal sebelah). So far ok.. yang jadi mangsa of course my daughter Camarina - dia sorang aje yang ada lubang- mama dia buat dia macam doll. Since I am only interested in either gold or silver- silver findings I haven't found supplier - 14k gold pulak jual/sell in coils aje- guna plier to fashion it into earrings ( sampai berdarah2 finger). And I have also solved the problem of losing the earrings by making a catch at the the back of it. Before I'll always lose my earring after bath/ washing hair- now not a problem.

My earrings:

Someone asked me to include the price too so here goes. Earrings are shown without catch.

Adik's/ Camarina's earrings 14k gold butterfly swarovski 10mm cerise 8mm pink. Selling price RM60.

Here's another pair- 14k gold 10mm aquamarine butterfly swarovski with pink swarovski teardrop. RM60

Top- 14k Gold filled Heart blue swarovski earrings requested by my officemate. RM 40. Colour macam2 ada red, clear white crystal, blue, green yellow as the charts below.

Weddings

Last Saturday weddings at Tanjung Malim and Selayang. Tanjung Malim- cousin Dad IL's side and inb Selayang Cousin MIL side. We started off from Sepang to Epi/shila's around ten. Sampai sana DH's siblings and cousin dah ada. Tunggu sekejap thot SIL N will join us. Rupanya tunggu kat tol jalan Duta. Begitu begini- finally nak kluar DH did his famous disappearing act . Tunggu sekejap then convoy begitu begini tertinggal, tersilap turn - converge at Yik Mun's famous Tanjung Malim Pau- believe it or not~ sempat beli pau and minum sana then off to the groom's house. Lepas tu yours truly sibuk harrass everyone to go to the next wedding which is in Selayang. As Dh dah mengantuk- My DH usually take a nap after his nasi minyak/ beriani meal - we rushed off first, stopping at the first rest area so that he could have his dose of coffee. He decided to use the Rawang way .. and as we turned in to Kampung Sg Tua Shila/Epi's car was right in front us. Hehehe. But no sign of others. We then followed Epi to the Bride's house.After wedding thot we'd drop by Epi's but DH said he was too tired so off to my mum's.

Malam- my shoes dah buat its crocodile impression so pi Ampang Point. Got a call from my mum- balik cepat - as my , due in April 10th , SIL complained of stomach pains. Rushed her to Gleneagles. Kena masuk hospital, drip as she kept vomitting. Hope she gets well soon.

Busy bee

2008-03-12T09:29:00.003+08:00

I have been busy lately- yelah being an accountant the busiest time of the year would be end of the year end- dengan closing and auditors.

Election-

Rasanya tak complete if I don't comment on this. My advise to politician yang menang and kalah tengok mana betul and silap. Dengar suara rakyat, we are now all educated and we can think for ourselves- tak payah tabur duit or advertise in the mainstream media to get support. We want honesty and intergrity. Read blogs or comments on the net and you'll get ideas. Jgn tutup mata and dismiss all bloggers as pesky pests and then be out of touch with reality. Before the election, the circle of people I encounter with were all pro oppositions. The rakyat are not happy with the lack of purchasing power . Dalam lack of purchasing power ni, there were blatant rage of money politics, the misuse of power by certain individuals, corruptions. One comment I read which sum it up beautifully - it is not that the people wholly agree with the opposition, they do not have a choice- they are all not satisfied with the current government. All is not lost. I think they should take this in their stride and improve the current situation. Ada hikmah dalam semua ni.

Anniversary of the Saddest day of my life

2008-02-28T10:43:00.005+08:00

Today at 10 someting is the 1st anniversary of the day our father, kids' nephews' and nieces' atuk left us. Although he has left a year, he is still in our heart, we love him and miss him so much.

Abah here is a prayer for you:

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

(١) ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ (٢) ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ (٣) مَـٰلِكِ يَوۡمِ ٱلدِّينِ (٤) إِيَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسۡتَعِينُ (٥) ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ (٦) صِرَٲطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنۡعَمۡتَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ غَيۡرِ ٱلۡمَغۡضُوبِ عَلَيۡهِمۡ وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَ (٧)

Al-Fatiha
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful (1)
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, (2) The Beneficent, the Merciful. (3) Owner of the Day of Judgment, (4) Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help. (5) Show us the straight path, (6) The path of those whom Thou hast favoured. Not (the path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray. (7)

Al-laa-hum-magh-fir la-hoo war-ham-hu wa `aa fi-hee wa`-fu `an-hu wa ak-rim nuzu-la-hoo wa was-si` mad-kha-la-hoo wa agh-sil-hu bil-maa-i was-sal-ji wal-ba-ra-di wa naq-qi-hee mi-nal kha-taayaa ka-maa naq-qay-tas saw-bal ab-ya-da mi-nad- da-na-si.

O Allah! Grant him protection, and have mercy on him, and keep him in good condition, and pardon him, and make his arrival honourable, and expand his place of entering, and wash him with water and snow and hail and cleanse him of faults as a white cloth is cleansed of dross.

Ya Allah, sampaikanlah seumpama pahala bacaanku kepada roh ayahku. Ya Allah, ampunilah dosanya, kasihani dan selamatkanlah dia dan maafkanlah kesalahannya, muliakanlah kedatangannya, lapangkanlah kuburnya, terimalah kebaikannya,hapuskanlah kesalahannya dengan Rahmatmu, Wahai Tuhan Yang Maha Pengasih

Amin Ya Allah..

Happenings

2008-02-22T16:10:00.005+08:00

First of all I would like to convey condolences / takziah to Shila superwomanwannabe and her relatives whose grandmother passed away on Saturday 16 February and apologise for not attending the funeral as Camarina had solat camp that day.

I would also like to wish our MIL - 67th birthday. She is a superwoman.

What did we do last weekend. Adik has solat camp till 2 o'clock. In the meantime her mummy -busy making doughnuts , cinnamon rolls and looking like doughnuts herself. I told myself to stay away from these food but of course can't resist 'em bila dok depan mata.

Anyway, we spent the week at home. Saturday around 2 no electricity. DH suddenly so rajin- oklah sayang I believe you when you say you have lots of work to do- dodgy jugak jawapan when I wanted to follow, he said he wants to smoke in the office ( I wanted to use his office computer for surfing as he said he wanted to use his laptop.) And he'll be back exactly the time the electricity suppose to be back up. Left to fend ourselves we went to Nilai 3. As all the kids wanted to go, susah sikit nak jalan with three kids in tow especially one very suka hati jalan everywhere without telling us no 3 Tina. Kenalah bawak maid.

Nak pi Nilai 3 ni coz we all have.. the kids and I and even the maid - bitten by the bead jewellery bug. Nak cari beadslah ni. There are lots of shops selling the hantaran thingies, flowers of every colour- but have to chose with special care colours gaudy giler but tak ada beads . We found one shop selling them - tu pun tak banyak.

I have bought tiger tail ( string for the beads) headpins, eye pins and apa kebendenya from an online supplier. Adik came back from school with lots of orders as the elastic we used dah habis and her friends were all mad as the orders were not ready. Business good for the kids. So when we had all the supplies apa lagi lah.. Beading frenzy. We spent the weekend catching up with the orders. I made necklaces for the kids and earing for adik ( yang dua lagi - satu tak ada lubang- satu lagi dah kambus)

Red - adik's. Blue kakak's and purple pink tina's.

Weekdays pun tu jugak kerja. Balik opis/ sekolah buat earings, necklaces and bracelets. I had an earing sebelah, lost the other pair- tried using pliers managed

Yesterday I had a very good testimonial from one of my customers which motivated me futher. I have received good testimonial before but this one made me so happy. Someone said she was so enthiastic that her testimonial sounds like a bought one. I am happy for her. Alhamdulilaah.

I have recently bought the Rhassoul clay, clay that has been used eons ago and still is used by elite spas all over the world. I am so excited about the clay- have to wait two weeks- after the fiasco with the courier company i decided to Use The US mail ( post opis) , even that took two weeks compare to a month with the courier company ( for hydrosols and two botol kenit essential oils). This time I ordered hydrosols, clay, shea butter and castille soap. Sampai lagi cepat and cheaper.

Beading Course, Johan's Birthday

2008-02-12T16:49:00.000+08:00

Saturday 2nd

We had another jewellery making class. I had to work in the morning so kakak had to follow me to work, kesian dia bored. She wanted to surf the net but the company blocked the sites she wanted to go to- Barbie, Disney Channel.. I've asked her to bring a book, tapi lama2 boring jugak.

Around 2 we went to pick Ana and off to Intekma. I thought I was being clever and parked further than before as the last time we went~ we had to climb stairslah.. sekali tengok even worse lagi jauh- maybe we were near the room but had no idea how to get there, so we had to go down the stairs and menapak back up.

This time we were taught to bead a watch using pearls and beads and also a bracelet using 14k gold wires and swarovski crystals. I had a difficult time beading the watch, the holes in some of the beads were ever so small , ( bukan case tak tau menari kata papan berjongket tau) - Some holes weren't drill big enough- therefore I had to poke a few times with my brooch pin sampai berdarah finger- even the instructor told me to put in one bead instead of the usual three beads when ending / matikan the bead. Kakak finished hers quite early. They have already started on the second bracelet and I was still terkial2 with my watch. In the end I continued ith the bracelet and since kakak also finished her bracelet early I gave my watch to her to finish.

Balik rumah - still tak habis2 jugak bracelet tu - after kakak finish two other bracelets- one for Tina and another for adik baru I managed to finish mine. Ish ish... slownya mak dia.

Mine- Red- Kakak's green.

Chinese New Year

We went back to Kluang wednesday night. Oklah taklah jam sangat. Spend the two days makan. MIL really spoilt us. Budak2 suka doughnut- buat doughnut- roti naik, currypuffs, laksa johor, nasi goreng kampung (tina's fav). I must have gained two kilos. Came back on Friday night. On Saturday nagged DH pi Giant nak buat Apple Crumble for Pak cik's kenduri Arwah. Satu hari terpleot at 6 baru bergerak pi beli ingredients. Kelam kabut buat... Dengan panas2 bawak ke Shah Alam- yasin recital almost finish. Ada lauk tempoyak with all the daun2 and rendangg. Of course for nogoris and orang Melaka- favourite dishlah kan.. My kids all dua tiga helpings - they love the rendang negeri Sembilan , altho it was hot- cili padi hot.

Sunday

Woke by Epi - ran downstairs and buat brownie cupcakes, ate nasi lemak and off to the zoo for Johan's birthday party.The kids had a gala time. Pi lah the elephant show and the multi animal show- Nadine donated and one of the birds flew to her arm.

Pix- Nadine and bird, Baba Johan, Tina at Flamingos' , Baba tina with giraffe, Porcupine , Johan cut cake

Around 1 we went back to Shila and Epi's for Johan birthday lunch.

The week that was

2008-01-28T11:45:00.000+08:00

On 23rd January, Thaipusam holiday, Intan, Nani, Zi and I went to Midvalley for a mini reunion. The last time we all met was here and then we went the three of us went here. The venue Chilli's again- I just can't get enough of this place altho sometimes service a bit kureng but the food delish..

We promised to meet around 12 and as DH, the kids and I decided to drive there, we thot we'd arrive early- tau ajelah the jam and parking problem in Midvalley. Reached there half eleven and waited at Chilli's around 12. Big mistake as my dear friends came like 45 minutes later. Waiter and waiteress gave me daggered looks.. I felt solah guilty as the line, as usual panjang at Chilli's though sometimes I think its their marketing strategy as I did went once- line panjang kat luar tapi inside banyak tempat. In KLCC you have to wait at least an hour.

Anyways, we had gala time stuffing ourselves and remeniscing, gossipping our friends. We met our ex roomate in Chilli's itself and later on another collegemate at the surau. We left Chilli's around four- Waitr(ess) dah buat nampak tak nampak. Tanya refill pun buat tak paham.

Afterwards we went to MPH. I wanted to look up a book on clay. My current obsessions now are plasticines and clay- sibuk buat mini roses, cats, fruits, rabbits- Macam budak2 pulak. Found a cheap book and bought one immediately. I'll post pix later.

Kakak has been selling rings, bracelets and necklaces she made from beads at school. She came back one day and told me she has 12 orders. Ada yang mintak rings aje, ada yang one set. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand I am proud of her. On the other- takut jugak other parents complain. Anak Yang dipertua PIBG jual barang kat sekolah. Budak2 buying things instead of food. Tapi come to think of it kekadang beli entah apa2 kat stationery shop tu or jajan tu sama jugak. Anyway, we don't want her to do this daily. I told her she can only take orders on Friday and start doing them when she finishes her homework. My MIL ( a teacher herself-is dead against it- though my husbands said he sold jambu at school and his sister said she sold papers for 10 sen each). My mum ( who is also a teacher) said she can't do it during class- maybe during recess.

My sister Ida delivered a baby boy- Mohamad Amir malam Thaipusam- well at 1 plus am. I was suppose to see her on Sunday but the baby has jaundice and had to be admitted. We went to Nor's house aje.

Sunday night. Juara lagu. Wow bestnya. I think the best vocal meme Jaq and Lah.. Manalah Lah selama ni.. I heard he's not with VE anymore tapi mmg class gitu. I thot the song should win the Juara Lagu. Oklah esrange tu- song ok- vocal- I thot Rich did a really good job but lyrics..a bit kureng in my opinion.. yang I dengar Itu Kamu aje.. Izin ku pergi of the Balada category mmg berhantu- truly deserve the title. I thot overall performace was very good. I especially like Bob, even Sofaz did a better job than the semi final,

Siti camtulah.. macam mana lagunyanya so-so aje.
Nora deserved the etnik title.
Performance - Mawi- tu dah mmg expected- not really because he did a good job, oklah.. vocal wise taklah best sangat.. he has so many fans as they are bound to vote for him- I'm not surprise.

I like the presenters..altho kekadang banyak bebenoror bercakap. Farah and Ally, Faizal and Cheryl.

This and That

2008-01-18T09:14:00.000+08:00

Selamat Menyambut Awal Muharram everyone. We went to Mak B's for doa selamat. Got there half way through the Yassin. Food was delicious- Murtabak Singapore ( fav), Tahu Bakar ( another fav), Rojak Buah ,Kue tiau, Mangoes and ciku, Laksa Johor, Nasi Lemak. Had so much of Tahu bakar and rojak buah and Mangoes, that there was no room for either nasi lemak or Laksa Johor.

On saturday night adik sakit gigi. Toothache can be really painful and it was her first. As it was already round 10, manalah ada dentist yang bukak. I was at my wits end. I asked her to brush her teeth and DH suggested that she gaggle salt water. Tak hilang jugak.. dah menangis.. Langsung tak teringat asking her to eat panadol. Looked through my aromatherapy books- I remembered reading about something. Nasib baik one of the thing they suggested ada kat rumah. Rushed down and got two cloves/ cengkih. After eating ..adik said her toothache's gone. Oklah tu.

The next day DH went to the chinese sinsei- dapatlah ubat gigi which I suspect panadol. Makan tak hilang jugak sakit, so she took the cloves lagi.

On Monday I took the day off, she had fever and we went to the dentist. Went back armed with antibiotics and pain killers. The Dentist, who I thot looked familiar, suggested that we come back to extract the tooth.

Tuesday had to half day off for Court regarding abah's estate. Panicked as had to drive to mahkamah persekutuan Alone. Before every single turn called DH. SIL Shila called to say that DIL 's in IJN. Apparenly the day before they had three person's relay and DH brought DIL from Ayer Keroh to Nilai and BIL from Nilai to KL. Lah...hai. I thot Abah ada kat Kluang Hospital.

On Wednesday we rushed to IJN, and even with the newly free (yay!!) highway we reached around 8.15pm and we told that visiting hour's over. DH went up alone first and I went up after he came down but Abah was at the Surau. As it was already late and the kids were hungry we went to a famous restaurant near Tawakkal, had dinner and went back to Sepang.

Folk Art and Jewellery making course

2008-01-07T14:47:00.000+08:00

For the past two weeks I have been busy. On Saturday, Dh had some kind of presentation at a hotel near Jalan TAR. I thot of going to Sogo- dah lama tak pi. - But then Saturday in Jalan Tar with 3 kids? Nah I thot, better go to a place where there are other things to do besides shopping. I came across Creative MP4 advert RM299 for 4Gig- only in KLCC's Best- tho I'd go and see. My MP3, bought a few years ago- 256mb samsung, which I'm still using dah macam tak cukup space. My main criteria for the thingy would be- it has to be small, 2G and above, preferably with no need for a USB cable. and within the RM300 budget. Of course Best being on the 3rd floorkan.. long way to go, DH dropped me near Isetan and Isetan - SALE- apa lagi.. side tracklah sekejap. My ' Gucci' bag dah berbulu and I want a big bag where I can put all my gadgets inside, PDA, MP3, notebooks- entah apa2 dah apa PDA ada note book lagi- 2 plak tu. Anyway- tengok kat Elle- terberkenan then moved on to renomalah , Guesslah, apa kebende.. Makin banyak tengok, makin poning..Spoilt for choice.

In the end I found this bag which was a real bargain- cost RM 500 and it has 70% discount for members- terus jadi member-- RM150 for a leather bag.. Ok I thot- better go see the MP4 first. When up to Best- saw So*Y MP3 - ok jugak- Duluterberkenan the sports version of it - tapi no stock and way beyond my budget.

There is one I thot looks cool too, tapi macam tak layan sangat.. so I ended up with a 2 G S**msung Mp3 for less. Yay.. Sam**ng lagi my DH would say. Two previous and current phone, previous mp3 are all of the same brand. Kenapa tak beli creative- 1it is much bigger - I wanted something small and I could clip on.. exercise boleh guna. and plus no USB cable ( Handbag penuh enough )..

Then of course-to Kino*****. Wouldn't be complete if we miss THE bookstore. Browsed a few books. Of course there are a few I liked- art books mostly..But my mind was on the bag.

Asked the kids nak makan mana.. Silaplah kan.. Chili's they say. Oklah mama said and off to Chili's. Tina, who usually can't do without tostada chips decided not to have it. Pizza mmg tak nak- ( how did she get to be so tembam you'd ask) In the end I coaxed her to try my mushroom jack..Dah semua berkenan-In the end I had to share with the kids..ok jugak- I was supposed to be on die with a T.

We went back to Isetan the bag was taken- .. in the end I bought a bag of the same brand and price. Okaaylah

Sunday 30th December

Ana, my officemate and I planned to go to Amcorp Mall to learn folk painting. I've always loved painting and especially love landscapes or of nature. Never really had a formal education. The closest thing to it was in std 6 where Pn Zawiyah in CBN taught me art. Talent mmg tak ada. But the man assured me I can do it. DH was kind enough to send me to Amcorp and off I went with adik in tow.

The lesson was ok. Pegang berus pun salah.. tangan keras aje..really need more practice. The finished product looked ok, jangan tengok dekat2 sudah. We planned to go to a beginners class, the one we went to was introductory.

Adik made a frame.. My finished folk art sign.

Wednesday 2nd December

Went to work late. As soon as I reached the office I got a call from my cousin whose parents live in Section2 Shah Alam that her father collapsed . I rushed to Section2 and found her sister and mother with a neighbour. Pakcik had gone. I took the day off, helped them prepare for the Burial. Alfatihah.

Saturday

We went to Sg wang to buy for DH much awaited birthday present. We went through few seas of stalls before he finally found the one he wanted. Phew. Went back to my mum's and was lectured by my sister who waited for us for ages.. What to do .. we have one picky buyer. Had to go Shila's as well and by the time we reached to SIL Nor's it was already half past eleven. Reached Nilai exhausted.

Sunday

Woke up early to attend jewellery making workshop. Tak tau mana- so had to ask for directions.. venue- Shah Alam- time 9.00. This time I brought kakak with me as she is very interested in jewellry making. Dah banyak bracelets she gave away to her cousins, necklaces for her sisters- she doesn't like wearing 'em tho. We reached there on time.. The lesson started with making long pearl necklace and bracelet. Easy enough. Kakak made 2 small pearl necklace and two bracelets. Then the instructor introduced the loop technique, which is more difficult but manageable. The fourth project was a ring. Ni susah.. berpinar mata and I had to take off my glasses, so close the row of beads were and solah keras the pins. I had a migraine just then. But kakak ( the yougest there) and I enjoyed the class, We met new friends and learnt a new skill. We planned to attend the second class next month. I had to go to summit to meet a friend and I bought kakak a jewellery making kit.

Mine- the off white, kakak's blue

PD, restarting exercise routine, etc

2007-12-28T09:16:00.000+08:00

Christmas 2007

Went to PD. We stopped by PD weeks ago on the way from funeral and bought the floatie looked like life jacket for Tina but it was too tight for her so camarina got it instead. When at the Cyberjaya pool kakak borrowed it and liked it very much so DH decided to go to PD again. ( I really must enroll the kids for swimming class)

Off we went at 11. PD is so near Sepang but we always passed through on the way to Linggi.The day looked promising- not so hot - mendung a bit. On the way it rained, but cleared up as soon as we reached PD. The kids brought a small pail which I thot should be left at home by the looks of it- pail was for sea shells. Kids played with the sand made sandcastles and played kite. I have never actually flown a kite before. My first time ever. DH and the kids each had their own. Tina and adik lost theirs. The wind was quite strong. Bought adik a new one.

Dh's kite

Had tea there and came back home around 5 -exhausted.

Hydrosol Shipment problem

I have been waitig so long for the hydrosol to be shipped from USA that I almost given up. I would have thought courier would take a week the most- I had to wait nearly a month Pakai US post pun 10 days. Nak pengsan rasanya. Almost every day darah naik tracking the parcel. They've given me a tracking number and it stops in hongkong.. of course no one tells me why. I called rupanya kena called back to the USA for custom inspection. Huh? Bukan inspection before send off.. and then it took around two bloody weeks and they gave me a new airway bill. . The new airway bill showed that it went for inspection and cleared and scheduled to move~ the old airwaybill shows it has left US from the date in the new airway bill and stuck in hongkong for a week. I called the blardey rep and she said it's still on inspection in the US and told me to ignore the old airway bill. But the new airwaybill has not been updated since. The rep said that Mine is not the only shipment stuck with FDA or customs. That of course got my hackles up. I can't be sitting twiddling my thumb.

I emailed US and they say they'll look it up and lo behold it arrived the next day with a note from Manager in US to Manager in Hongkong with subject red flag. Then I looked in the system- the old airwaybill number shows that it arrived in Malaysia. I wonder what is the tracking number for. I have signed up for their service but haven't used the account yet dah jadi macam ni.

I understand these things happened, you can't blardeywell predict when and how long the US custom is going to hold my package etc but what made me mad was because the rep promised to call me twice but did not and that she did not do her best to solve my problem and of course My parcel is not the only one stuck and condescendingly told me that what I saw between the two airwaybill was not right.

I intent to learn from this experience. Why would I want to import from the US beats me, I could have gone direct to the supplier. I thot I'd save shipping costby buying various ingredients at one place and the company in US has already done testing on the products. When it said certified organic then it is. Maybe I should turn to Europe instead.

Exercise Routine

I last did t-tapp in September and did a bit of yoga somewhere in November . I thot I was pregnant but still continue with the yoga then dapat heavy period coupled with backache, a bit of cramping . I usually don't have problem during menstruation, kalau sakit belakang means I'm pregnant. My sister lectured me.. Dah tua dah .. bukan senang nak lekat.. kalau dah lekat janganlah buat yoga..yadayada.. Anyway, I thot I'll start trying again in a couple of months so in the mean time startlah balik the exercise routine. My previous entry on t-tapp
here.

Sya.. see under friends and family .. introduced me to t-tapp. Kelakarnya I went to the website recommended by a forum on The firm- exercise routine combining aerobics and weights- . I was game to try any type of exercise except steps solah tak coordinated but thot it was quite expensive but most important thing is will it work?. Tengok2 in the forum, search for Malaysian.. jumpa nama Sya. And after sending email back and forth- Sya lives in Sepang lah dekatnya- small world kan. And I can confirm if you diligently do the routine to the tee- you'll reduce inches.. After getting and trying them I bought a few . Ada two women in the old tape looked quite - you know - unfit but in the new DVD wah transformation dia.... And of course the operative word here is diligently..

Selamat hari raya korban

2007-12-24T12:04:00.000+08:00

Thursday

For Hari raya korban, we went to my mum's. I went there bawak perut. Baby Eylan was there along with his sister, mummy and daddy. Sis Ida and family were there too. Around 2, went to Ca***f*** and met Zi there. Had my tourmaline necklace restring- beli like eons ago tak pakai sebab the clasp dah berkarat. At 4 we went to SIL Shila's house. Bawak perut jugak.. Sorry Shila. Mak M was there with Irman and Idwan. Later on Mak Z and uncle Y came. Promised Ida we'd come bake by 8 tapi sampai around 9. She was leaving.

Friday

The next day Shila and I planned to go swimming with the kids. Brought mango juice and garlic bread. Oklah.. my kids tak tau berenang sibuk nak pi the deep end. Occasionally jerit at Cqistina. After a while, the kids reasonably tanned, we went to Beryl's Chocolate kingdom. Had a wonderful time eating chocolate on the pretext of sampling them. The kids enjoyed the tour. Pics taken from Shila's . Hehehe sorry lah copyrighted ke?

Kids listening to lecture on how Chocolates are made.

Then we went to Pavi**ion. First visit. Thot of going to the famous doughnut shop but line was so long. So went to Girls, Miss whatever etc. Had to buy a skirt at the Pump**n P**ch for Tina due to accident. Susah jugak nak bawak-- 8 kids. Each had a buddy, senang sikit.

We then went to Ti**s. Shopping would not be complete without going to bookstores.

We then went to Epi's new 6 star hospital . Wah..

Then we went back exhausted.

Saturday

The next day pi shopping lagi. Beli baju, tudung and kasut sekolah at Ju**o . Adik had her heart set on a bag from Girls but changed her mind when she saw a power puff girl bag in her favourite colour red.. Phew we managed to get all in a shopping complex.

Sunday.

Morning after nasi lemak breakfast terpeleot kat rumah. Around 5 went to Cy** J*y* Community Centre Pool. Swimming lagi.

Two weekends at a go

2007-12-10T13:42:00.000+08:00

I've been wanting to learn how to do gift bags ( you'd think apakebende zu ni- just buy onelah cost 1 ringgit aje). Bukan apa - this is for my product- I've been buying the off the shelf gift bags and thot of printing personalised ones but the minimum quantity required - 500 bags. Not wanting to incur more cost- reduce cost saving kan passto customerkan, I learnt how to make one.

Top card and bag made by camarina/ adik

bottom Qistina's bag- Tina's favourite characters

Tried to download off the net. Complikataknya, in the end office mates and I opened one bag and reproduced using the A4 cover paperlah G***d*** bagslah. Dapat pun!!

Came back home excited- bought coloured paper , wrapping papers and A4 papers of different thickness to try on. The result. Each my kids has one and all 4 shila's girls pun dapat. Packed the whole stuff kononya nak buat craft weekend at Cherakah.

Had to work on Saturday, Rushed home, packed bags got a call from Epi, black out and no durian. I don't mind the no durian bit as sure malam ada a few yang jatuh/drop but no electricity agak susah sikit. In the end we all went to Uncle Fuad's. Thank you Mimi and Aunty Rokiah!!

Mum called on Thursday. Al Fatihah Pangkat granduncle passed away. He was quite young early fifties. His sister Ashariah Badar was one year my senior at MRSM Seremban. Apparently he was hospitalised quite a while. He was a collegemate of Mak Z.

On Saturday Pak Ncik passed away. I was at Shila's at the time waiting for MIL and FIL. Pak Ncik has been ill for quite some time. Mak Ncik/Mak cik Tum who looked after him passed away last year see this entry here.

We went to Linggi on Sunday for the funeral. His spot was just next to the Mak cik Tum's, coincidently. Alfatihah to Arwah. Also visited Abah's grave.

Yesterday Izreen Mak b , Nadiah and Uncle M flew off to Nottingham. DH and kids sent them off. Moi ? Sorry Izreen Migraine. Have a safe journey!!

Hedychium coronarium/ Ginger lily/ Butterfly Ginger

2007-12-07T10:03:00.000+08:00

It's confirmed. The flower that I bought last week is the Ginger lily. I have fallen in love with it and will definitely plant more. How can I describe the smell.. well it smells like lily.. a bit like t he jasmine/ melur but sweeter and fresher. Apparently comes in pink and coppery colour too click here for other colours

It can be found near Mekong River and is used in local medicine to treat cold, headache, arthritis, and injuries. It is also the National flower of Cuba.The native Hawaiians refer to white ginger as 'Awapuhi', using the juice of mature seed head as a hair and skin treatment.Its fragrance can be extracted by "enfleurage". Yay This is what I want to hear.

And its essential oil has antifungal as well as antibacterial effects. The antimicrobial activities of the essential oil were individually evaluated against four microorganisms, including two bacteria and two fungi. It was found that the antimicrobial activity was higher in the fresh sample than the dried. Both samples showed a better activity against Trichoderma sp. and Candida albicans than against the bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Reading Shopping Gardening

2007-12-04T10:11:00.000+08:00

My favourite hobbies. We didn't have anything planned for Saturday. Two kids are still at mum's. I 've ordered a book from Bookxcess and planned to go there but Dh said since we are going to Damansara on Sunday, might as well pi semua sekali in a day. Besides he has his usual or shall I say the only, workout, schedule that day- mowing the lawn.

I thot yeah- I've been neglecting my plants as well. The Roses, gardenias, cannas and jasmines needed pruning. The Yellowed and dried Banana leaves needed to be removed and I so need to to get rid of the weeds. I have flowers and herbs bought the week before, months before to re pot. First of course I need to buy new pots.

My sundal malam/tuberose flowering. This flower blooms every 4 months of so and smells heavenly. I've decided to write on Sundal malam in Pure flowers Blog.

I went out to the nearest nursery. And.... bought more flowers.. hehehe.. and two pots/containers... I was looking for the long ones tapi tak ada. So I bought 2 big ones - roses and the new cananga need to be repotted. I thot my garden needs more colours so I bought
Plumbago, Ati-Ati (Coleus Blumei), Balung Ayam (Celosia/Cocks comb),
Halia Bara or so said the nursery owner but I doubt it is called that - It looks like ginger lily/ butterfly lily/hedychium- I have to wait till the flower bloom to confirm. ,
White Hibiscus.

There was this fragrant purple flower I fell in love with. Its a creeper. According to the nursery owner it's bunga markisa/passionfruit flower( Passiflora caerulea) - I looked this flower up and betul but she didn't have a ready pot to sell. While I was waiting for car ( car wash and vacumm next to the nursery) i thot I saw someone familiar. Rupanya the guy who comes to mow ( before DH bought the mower) co owns the nursery. I saw him once selling at the night market. Apparently they've bought over the nursery- no wonder I see lots of flowers unlike before. My only grievance is some flowers/plants susah sikit nak cari. Unlike the nursery I called in Shah Alam, who prefer to the Latin name- bukan apa senang sikit- Some plant have few names. This is especially valuable when there are herbs that I want.

Ati Ati my camera and right off the net.. Hey I've got to buy SLR to capture photos like that.

Top Plumbago off the net-
looked nicer than my photo so this was posted instead.

Bottom The Passionflower- from my camera.

Balung Ayam Taken off the net.

Funny thing happened. Usually on Saturdays we either have sausage or roti canai for breakfast. I thot of reducing the intake of nitrate laden sausage so cooked porridge. Wanted to put in potatoes but couldn't find any so I threw in purple sweet potato. The result purple porridge!!

.

Butterfly Ginger off the net. Compare with mine nanti when it blooms betul tak.

In the evening went to another nursery and bought the long potting plastic boxes and more pots.

Sunday

In the morning did some repotting and weeding. Still ada a few herns/plants tak habis pot/plant - Stevia, Tenggek Burung, Pegaga. Mangga (bought at Putrajaya Floria). Around 2, we headed to Amcorp Mall. The last time I went to Amcorp mall was when I had to go to a course at a hotel near there. And I had like an hour to kill. Not enough time - definitely.

There are so many things to see there. Small stalls selling trinkets, hand painted souvenirs, gemstones, second hand things, books a bit like flea market, hand made bags, purses, paints. I solah fell in love. Main purpose is to go to Book xcess and to Creative Cottage ( for a yoga book ) went to the websites of MPH and Kino, the former out of stock- thot nak pi Kino but then book xcess sent an email on new books arrived, after looking at the titlesoff the net, I found the book I wanted - half price.

After getting the book, went to Creative Cottage. Another store I fell in love with. Last few months I've been wanting to attend a workshop by Laman Impiana on Folk Painting. Cost around RM100 to register and another 100 for supplies but the deadline was 30th Nov and yours truly missed it. My cousin told me of this shop. I think they offer better package RM 60 including supplies . There are stenciling classes, Glass painting, Stamping, Decoupage and T-shirt painting. Took lots of brochure as my office mates would be interested as well.

While waiting for shila, went round floor by floor. Macam macam ada. Sedia duit aje. Went into Booksxcess again with shila. Bought birthday Present for Sara. Happy Birthday Sara!! On the way back saw another store I missed!!! A store full of international mags- usually sold around RM25 , sold for RM9.90 even crafts mags pun ada.. As Dh was waiting downstairs, tak sempat singgah. Sigh..

Tak pa..Next time I'll go alone or with my two elder girls.

Monday- Cuti..as my road tax expiring ingatkan nak pi bank and post office. But then the Insurance faxed cover note to DH 's office around 1 and he had to go to DBKL. In the end dok umah habiskan a book by PD James. Oh yes.. Something happened that got me excited then angry. I received an SMS - Tahniah Anda telah memenangi Cek tunai RM15000 plus reload kredit RM250 dari peraduan Celcom. The number started with 006 and it has 15 digits all together. At first I was excited then.. I felt suspicious sebab banyak sgt number nya. I called the number tak dapat then dapat indonesian voice say the number cannot be connected. Called celcom- they say ignore it. I think its someone from Indonesia trying to con us. Nasib baik tak dapat call number tu. MMMmmm

Enchanted

2007-11-27T15:07:00.000+08:00

On Saturday, spent the morning making bodyscrub, lipgloss and moisturiser. We went to Shila's Barbecue. Then off to my mum's.

Mum bought thai frangipangi/plumeria/kemboja siam for me. You always find the kemboja on graveyards. Asians believe it provide shelter to ghost and demons. At first I was reluctant to accept the plant, and my mum looked dissappointed. I told myself to stop acting superstitious, and thanked my mom.

The Siam version looks different from the ones I usually see here. The leaves are a bit pointy and the flowers are smaller.

The next day, I decided to follow my mum to the little market infront of SPCA Ampang and visit Raju, the kemboja seller. And to my delight he had a few polybags of what looked like Lavenders. I asked him whether they are Lavenders- slightly fragrant - he confirmed it. And they were cheap - RM4 a polybag. I do hope they are Lavender . Can anyone confirm it? Elated that I am I've decided to blog the properties of Lavender in the Pureflower organics blog. I also bought a two polybags of tiny red don'tknowwhatitscalled flowers.

Left my lavender Right Lavender off the net . Maybe mine is the terbantut version?

We stopped by at Shila's, ( kids slept over) brought fresh clothes for the kids, thot we'd go to Mak M's. The plan was cancelled as Atuk C passed away, Al fatihah, and Mak M was on the way to Muar. Instead we went to Mines- jam giler- DH bought tickets for enchanted, went back home to Sepang - to drop of the already wilted kemboja, the other two flowers looked ok. And off to C*C Cy**rj**a. Adik and kakak couldn't believe it's a kindergarten. Susah jugak nak persuade Tina- she was set on going to a school with a swimming pool. In the end we thot we'd look around for alternatives.

Then we went to see Enchanted. Disney laughing at Disney. It started off like Sleeping Beauty, then a bit like Snow White, the Cinderella and ended a twisted version of Sleeping Beauty. Story ok- Amy adams is funny and sweet and Patrick Dreamy is exactly that!! Even this near 40, mother of three pun drooled.

At Night watched Muzik Muzik. A bit dissappointed Fiq was not included in the finals, his performance was very good and I liked the song. Altho Sofaz's song was good, I thot the singer did not do a good job. Siti of course sounds her usual good self, but I don't like the song , I thot Jaq's song was better. Mawi oklah.. better than usual I thot and the song was good, as expected by the talented M Nasir. Misha's voice was flawless.

Happy Birthday Darling Husband!!

2007-11-22T12:45:00.000+08:00

Yes. Today is DH's birthday. Mr Incredible is 39 today. Today of all day, he woke up early and by 7 gone to work.Mmmm. What have we planned for today? Don't know, may be keluar for dinner. Kakak and Adik @ nini's. So only the three of us will go.

Pie and Pastry

2007-11-22T11:27:00.000+08:00

My current craving are pies and pastry. Last few months I just couldn't do without fruit tartlets. The thought of them make my mouth water. I just had to have them. Trylah buat, oklah lah still have room for improvement- maybe malas buat- I can order from sya.

Lately it is chicken pie. Gawd I can't get enough of this thing. I've been wanting to avoid eating stuff made from white flour- any such thing as wholemeal or soya based chicken pie. Also the fact that it's causing a hole in my pocket. I thought maybe I should do lots during the weekend, freeze them and bake in the morning before work. May be I should do this. Get this craving out altogether.

Wail! why do I have cravings for dodgy things, Once I craved Ferrero roche. Sampai hafal how much each cost. Pantang nampak!! I went off them when I bought very cheap RM14 for 16 @guardians. Terlebih makan!! Then I craved for Hazelnut Nuss.

Why can't I crave fruits ke vegetables ke. Vegetables - I hate cooked ones- except of course mushroom.. MMm maybe I should have mushroom soup tomorrow.

Lately I don't feel like eating rice for lunch so I've been eating bread- homemade- made on Tuesday morning- tak sempat rise betul2 - with chicken, yesterday with egg and cheese, today with beef soup. If I finish my bread today, I'd have to to do again today.. may be this time it'll look and taste better.

New Blog

2007-11-19T14:08:00.000+08:00

So much happening for the past week. On Friday 9th slept over SIL Shila's house as we planned to see an ustaz early in the morning. Of course the kids were excited. DH and I slept on a single bed- saje aje- we actually brought the inflatable mattress, tak pakai - ok at first- comfortable- not our first time- but around 1 o'clock Tina decided to join in. The next morning DH had neckache- funnily the backache I had the night before disappeared..

Saturday not so morning after all we went to the ustaz house oklah.. I decided to ask him for surahs for my migraine and yikes- I haven't been reading them diligently- end of the month I have a follow up appointment- how ah?

After the session we decided to visit Baby Eylan- promised my brother we'd go cepat tapi yikes no.. pressie- had to rush to Wangsamaju Jusco, my shoe also looked like crocodile's mouth( last few days I dreamt of crocodile- Mak B was in that dream, the croc was purring - open my eyes- rupanya DH was doing his version of croc purring plus snort bit, and teeth grinding bit)

Baby Eylan so cute. He looked like his mummy/ atok ayah. ( my mum said on the first day he looked like Trisya/daddy). Tried to post photo tapi the USB does not recognise my phone.. kekadang funny things like this happens.

The next morning, went to shila's tahlil. Ramai guests. my handphone had to go off, so couldn't take photos. Met Yani, Haq, the boys and little Siti Hajar. Tembam and cute. Yani ordered the mid size set.

Congratulation Nadine for getting 5As in her UPSR.

Last Sunday we went to Haiqal's aqiqah. Moi's handphone same old same old- had to run out of batteries then, which made moi panic as we went to 1 Utama afterwards and as usual DH did his MIA thing.

We went to MPH- dapat the cheque from Permata hati and told the kids they can either get something from MPH or ToysRus- They chose MPH. Kakak wanted jewellery making kit but later changed her mind to scrapbooks stencil and the like. Adik got a scrapbook and TIna first wanted pop up mermaid book but later settled for Magic of the rainbow musical book phew! the mermaid book cost a bomb.

I have a new blog. Whylah! you'd think, the existing one pun susah nak update. Anyway its

Pure Flowers Organics

I'll putting in recipes on homemade skincare and properties of essential and carrier oils and new skincare ingredients, natural or synthetic.

Last weeks News

2007-11-09T09:11:00.000+08:00

On Wednesday, SIL E scheduled for her ceasarian. Apparently a few days earlier she went for MRI and found herself to be in similar boat as I am, we both have the male pelvic- tak boleh beranak normal- you would never guess- looking at our hips- in this case Hips do lie.

On Thursday kakak came home said she had to bring a baju melayu, songkok, kain pelikat and a cane for the next day's show. Ok - we have the kain pelikat and may be come up with the tongkat- But Baju melayu and songkok in a moments notice. My children are all girls., Neighbour's sons are well above kakak's age. If we had- like a week I could easily borrow nephew afiq's- takkan nak pi Giant semata nak beli baju melayu for the day. I told kakak, bawak baju kebaya and that's it. Why can't the boys in her class bring all those. Apekebendelah cikgu ni!

Friday I took half day off, kononya since Saturday we were to have Open House naklah balik cepat. I went to SSM and Pure Flowers Enterprise is born!!! My maid had cooked the nasi impit Roast the potatoes and Boil ribs for the next day. We went to Giant for the rest of ingredients.

Saturday, woke everyone up early and started to do bake bread, nasib baik menjadi- first time, kuah kacang, Lodeh and Chef wan's oxtail soup, but since I don't take oxtail - I used ribs and some big bones instead. Sambal udang and Rendang negeri Sembilan. DH cooked Mee bandung Muar.

We had a great time, Thank you for coming. Especially to my friend zi- I went to her house for Deepavali my goodness - jauhnya dari Sepang, Nani, Lana Helmi, Mak Z and Uncle Y( love those cup cakes!!) and Mak B, Din, noni, Ad , Mak Dah, Zul, Nora, Kak Jah and family . Sis I for contributing trifle, Shila and Epi. We had the Taman's Raya that day and contributed pizza and potato salad. Kakak's pizzas were a hit. I think she must have cooked 10 plus pizza that day. Everytime we served, habis, brought it down to the Taman's Raya Do, tak sampai 5 minutes habis and they wanted more!! Shila and Epi came around 11. Kakak altho sleepy, was very excited to see her cousins. Terus tak mengantuk- they watched dvd in the family hall - high school Musical and in my room- Arthur- I till half past 3. Tina excited she was that her cousins were around- slept late and woke up very early the next morning to play - or rather let her cousins watch her play.Kedekut of her toys.

Something someone said to me on Saturday had me smilling till now. When asked if I plan to have a baby, I told her that my biological clock is ticking- She said, I looked 32. 7 years younger!!

On Tuesday- went to Subang Parade to collect the prize cheque and Chicken Rice coupons frm Chicken Rice Shop in Carrefour Subang. Mak B, Uncle M, the director of Chicken Rice Shop and the CEO of Yayasan were there. Makan Chicken Rice for lunch. I like the Pie Tie.

Deepavali- Went to zi's house in Rawang. Thot of going to Sungai Buloh but DH took wrong turns and when we got there it was already dark. The roads in Klang Valley change ever so often that you hardly recognise them. Kakak wanted a long plain black skirt for her Choral speaking on Monday- Puas pusing satu Alamanda tak jumpa. I hope she can bring it on MOnday. May be I will sew the skirt this weekend.

New addition to our family

2007-11-07T11:18:00.000+08:00

Mohd Eylan Fariz. Brother A's new baby born on 31st October 2007. I haven't seen the baby, this weekend insyaallah. Two more babies on the way from my side - sis Ida due in February and Brother Iji's in April next year.