the long raya break (well not so long for me)

once again, eid mubarak / selamat hari raya to all my muslim friends.

thank God for long weekends. i was so looking forward to this year's raya break. although i didnt really take any extra days off so i had saturday through tuesday off.

we spent the weekend here in kl as we had a birthday function to attend but we wanted to take etha*n to the beach and so we drove down to seremban on sunday evening & spent the night in an uncle's home. my gmil, mil, niece, nephew and their maid came along as well. we all got up early on monday morning and drove to a nice private, quiet & clean beach in PD. we brought our tikar & snacks & plastic pails for the kids to play.

etha*n was a bit afraid of the water & waves. probably because it was a bit mendung that day & the water was chilly. luckily i had enough sense to dress him in those diver-type suits instead of just swimming trunks so he wasnt too exposed to the chilliness. luckily also my mil had brought along swimming diapers for the toddlers. i kinda forgot about that. actually, even if i had remembered, i dont know where to get them. where do you get them? they look like pull-up pants but they dont seem to soak water the way normal diapers do. mental note to self: find swimming diapers.

ok so, he was a bit takut of the water & waves, but eventually warmed up enough to enjoy it. got into the sea with his father & waited for the waves to come crashing at them. farnee. after a while, i took him to the beach to play with the sand & the plastic thingies. he seemed to enjoy both the sea & the sand.

my niece whos also my godchild is only 6 months older to etha*n, and i had a good time irritating her. she doesnt like the sand & so i kept rubbing the stuff all over her. of course in the end, i was on the losing end cos i had to take her into the sea to wash it all off again. but it was funny.

unfortunately, they were only able to play for about an hour before the black clouds came threatening to rain. lo & behold, just as i told everyone to finish up & get dressed it started to drizzle. luckily by then etha*n was already dressed & had a hat on & was sitting under a tree with his jijima (great-grandma).

so that was our beach escapade. short. but we came back to kl & took him swimming in the pool again the next day. so he got to spend some more time swimming again.

& now we're all back at work. but everyone else in the country is probably still on leave cos the roads are so clear. thank God. & though i'm in the office, i can still relax & do my own things since none of the bosses are here. yeehaww!

methinks a shopping session is up this afternoon :-p.

more funny conversations

this transpired between my 10yr old niece & i. i was stretching my arms out & she saw my tummy. my stretch-marky tummy.

niece: aunty, i can see your perut.

me: ok.

niece: aunty, why is your perut like that? (i think she was referring to the stretch marks).

me: because i had a baby.

niece: but aunty. mama also had a baby but why her perut lagi buruk? (lucky my sister didn’t hear it).

me: muahahahaha… cos she had two babies. i’ve only had one.

my mom: grandma’s perut LAGI buruk.

my dad: grandpa’s stomach very nice (lifting his t-shirt to show a very round smooth tummy).

everyone: hihihihi…

getting in touch with my roots

in the name of getting in touch with my roots, i brought along my kadazan attire back to sabah with the intention of taking a family picture with all 3 of us clad in the kadazan costume. if you're wondering why the husband is botak, he says its so his son wont feel lonely. hihihi...





i ended up wearing it also for my brother's wedding cos i couldnt be bothered to iron the baju i had originally intended on wearing :-).



going back to sabah also coincided with the sikayu*n family reunion party which was attended by approximately 250pax. lots? yeahhhh... & i dont really know everyone. we had to be color coded as well. & my family's color was designated as green. the pink clad people in the back are from another granduncle's family (kira my 2nd cousins lah).



also, not sure if this counts as getting in touch with my roots, but i managed to get a picture of an iguana at the back of my mom's house. check it out:

christmas eve 2008 in sabah

christmas this year was spent in sabah with my family. not only was this my son's first christmas but also his first trip back home to sabah. so yeah. big deal. at least for me lah. i think he couldnt care less.

a typical christmas for my family sees us going for mass on christmas eve and then proceeding to a fancy dinner out somewhere. which is a good thing cos no one wants to be the one stuck with cooking a meal for the family (2parents + 6kids + 5inlaws + 5grandkids). this year however, we decided to attend christmas morning mass thus leaving the eve free for dinner.

in the family, i'm considered the "dresser". so i was really looking forward to dressing up for the dinner. unfortunately, everyone decided to dress down. so there we were in jeans, t-shirts, sneakers & all things casual. not to be down-trodden, i wore my killer red heels with jeans so yeah... i was still a little fancier than needed (muahahahah!!).

these are some pictures taken on christmas eve night:

this is one of the whole family minus 1 brother-in-law (who didnt make it back from overseas)

this is the lovely-ly decorated tree. my sil got most of the decorations from manila which is a haven for all things christian.


heres my sister & her husband

heres another sister whose husband didnt make it back this year. but her kids nicol.e & mega.n came along.

this is my brother & his wife-to-be. their wedding was just after christmas on 27dec08.

heres another brother & his wife who is now the mistress of the manor. (but my mom is still the ladyboss).

here are my 2 10yr old nieces. i love this picture!

heres my youngest brother (whos got longer hair than all his sisters) with my baby boy.

& here are my parents.

& this is my little family of three. can you see my red heels & the husbands sneakers? harummphhhff...

this is etha*n in his 1st party hat

& then he fell asleep during the party with his face penyet-ed on his fathers shoulder.

this is my nephew & his bestfriend, my dad.

happy new year 2009

hello & happy belated new year’s 2009.

i’ve been meaning to update my blog but have been so busy at work yadayadayada…

we’ve had a lot of things happening from mid-december onwards so heres a snapshot of where we were & what happened:

baby & i left for sabah on 20dec. lucky we took MAS (comfort) and luckier even that my sister & family flew back with us (assistance). baby was ok-ish on the flight to & fro. thanks baby! the husband joined us on Christmas eve. our schedule was super-packed what with celebrations for Christmas, my brother’s wedding, a family reunion (for 250 of us) and new year’s. while we were in sabah, etha*n got a little sick but not too much: conjunctivitis, cough, flu –all contracted from his cousins. but that’s ok… makes him stronger in the long run. we even found a pediatrician that we liked. other than the planned functions, etha*n & i stayed home mostly just to relax. he ALMOST got into the inflatable pool with his cousins but the water was too cold & he screamed in protest as soon as I dipped his one toe into the water. ethan “finally” got his passport done in sabah. yippee!! so a trip down to singapore is due soon. to get in touch with his kadazan roots, i ordered a kadazan costume for him & we took a family picture out in my mum’s garden dressed in this traditional costume. my mum said: better take it in the garden rather than a studio –looks more real. for gifts, etha*n got a lot of clothes… luckily… cos if not i would’ve had a hard time ferrying toys & books back to sabah.

we got back to kl on 1jan but didn’t get much rest as we had planned. etha*n has started teething so hes been a bit cranky & clingy & even had a bit of fever over the weekend before i started work. however, on my first day of work he had a bad case of runny nose which made him very uncomfortable. over the next few days it graduated to a full blown cold with cough in the mix. poor baby. anyways, he got over the cold BUT developed rashes pulak. my mil said it could be measles & so we took him to yet another pediatrician. on the up-side, we FINALLY found a pediatrician we like in kl (cos the other one we like we found in sabah hehe… takkan nak fly back every time hes not well, right). so this lady pediatrician who works partly in ttdi (sundays) and partly in sri damansara which is near to us (tuesdays & fridays), said that its not measles & nothing to worry about. phewwwww!!

*************************************************************************************

ok so that’s the story. as im wont to do come every new year, resolutions are a must. wellll… theyre not exactly resolutions resolutions that i follow. its more of a taking-stock-of-my-life-&-who-i-am & then listing down what i’d like to change for the better. the change might not come in the actual actions but i find that sometimes when i acknowledge my negative sides, i am more vigilant of being mean / bitchy / whiney / cruel / downright ungrateful while i am being that & even if at that moment, i am too into the bitchy-mode to stop being bitchy, at least i’m wracked by guilt later which serves me right lah kan. & it does propel me to apologize.

anyways, panjangnya introduction, here are my “resolutions” which aren’t even near to being exhausted (& some of them might overlap):

better catholic
- church on Sundays, days of obligation
- volunteer / charity work
- less bitching

- stop swearing

better family
- read more books to my son
- quit my job / change jobs that can let me spend more time with my son
- keep the romance going
- be more supportive / understanding

better mind
- less complaints
- count my blessings
- do more thinking
- ambition
- sudoku

- stop swearing

better health
- drink more water
- exercise (right)
- cook
- more fruits & vegetables
- enough with the curries
- choose chicken over beef
- choose fish over meat

better finances
- zero-rize credit card debts
- full settlement of personal loan
- full settlement of study loan

better home
- water my plants
- clean weekly
- sweep daily?? right…
- don’t forget to wipe
- re-decorate

better environment
- less toilet paper
- less paper
- less water
- less electricity
- recycle

i’ve noticed that when i was young (er) i had more self-discipline than i do now. i used to have pets that i took care of rather well. although they stank. but now, my plants are either dead or dying. i used to bring around a small towel for bathroom visits instead of using toilet paper (to save the trees lah right). now, i cant live without toilet / tissue paper. i used to eat a LOT of fruits, drink gallons of water but now aiyohhh… so bad at it lah.

so, in the name of being a better person, i hope that this year, i’ll be able to condition myself THINK BEFORE I DO / SAY.

funny conversations

1. this was a conversation between my 4yr old niece & her mom:

mom (muttering under breath): buduh bah daddy kau! (your dad is stupid!)

ketot: mummy, kau tidak bulih cakap macam tu!! (mummy you cant speak like that!!)

mum: kanapa pulak? (why not?)

ketot: kau tidak bulih panggil daddy sia buduh. dia kau punya husband. kamu sudah bernikah! (you cannot call my dad stupid. he is your husband. you are married).

mum: aik, mana lagi kau belajar ni bernikah?? (where did you learn about this?)

ketot: dari tv lah!!


2. this was a conversation between my parents:

mum (pointing to dads big tummy): kau tinguk kau punya perut tu!! (lookit your tummy!!)

dad: kanapa? kici sikit sija dari kau punya. (why? its only slightly smaller than yours.)

belated updates

this is a bit late but since i have pictures i guess i should write something about some outings i've recently had & upload the pictures here.

1) outing with friends

i think about 2 weeks ago, a friend of mine convinced me to skive from work & meet her for lunch. so here are the pictures. i dont like mentioning names (including my own). you know... in the name of preserving some degree of anonymity despite having a public blog. so, i wont be naming her or her kids or even moi hehe. however, friend, if you do read this entry & feel uncomfortable having your picture & not to mention your kids' faces uploaded, let me know ya & i will take it down.

so here are the pictures:

ms friend & her pair of kiddos

this is her daughter hugging my bump

her kiddos & moi waiting in the car while she tapau food

lovely little smiles dontcha think

2) the husband's bday

i know, i know... i already updated on my foiled plans but actually i think i didnt get around to writing about what we really did. his bday fell on a monday so we agreed to go for our dinner the weekend before. as i mentioned the initial venue closed down so we went to victoria station for not-so-great steaks. after the dinner, we went to our "country" club to listen to live band music & invited the MIL to join us. i dont know if its a country club per se but i dont know what to call it. its a club where you're a member & can make use of the sports facilities, recreational facilities (for movies & karaoke) etc.

this is the husband placing his order at victoria station

this was taken at the club. the husband HAD to take a shot of the pregnant boobies.

this is moi & the mil. yes luckily we get along just fine.

3) dinner at the husband's cousin's house

the husband's cousin kindly hosted a dinner for his bday as well as for father's day. so i brought the cake (which didnt resemble the cake we really wanted but tasted nice anyways) & we had one celebration there too.

being preggers & kneeling on your knees is not an easy thing. so dont be fooled. i had a pillow to cushion the weight on my knees.

finally, this is the bday cake that we got from coffeebean. its called a chocolate cheese swirl cake.

first wedding anniversary

i managed to get the husband's gift yesterday. i hope he'll like it. it's very difficult for me to get him a gift because he never seems to want any particular thing. most of the time, i buy something that i know he needs but not necessarily something that he desires. ok lah he does have desires but usually these are out of my budget (like a plasma tv for example).

i've learnt my lesson though --about trying to surprise him but then being surprised myself because he found me out. so this time around, i got the gift immediately gift wrapped. & its in a small box so i could hide it in my handbag till i found the opportunity to hide it at the back of my closet under a mound of clothes. it's his day off tomorrow so JUST IN CASE, im gonna have to take the pretty box with me to work tomorrow.

i hope he doesnt suddenly feel the need to read this blog...

i've also found a place to have our dinner. http://www.opusbistro.com/ was recommended to me by a friend. luckily she only just had dinner there with her husband so hopefully, this time around, when we go there, the restaurant would actually still be in business. i showed the husband the website & hes rather excited to go. our anniversary is more than a week away but he wanted to know if we could possibily have dinner there before that even.

i think the only thing about this whole anniversary do that he does know about (due to his previous snooping activities) is probably the greeting card i got for him much earlier. & ya the dinner venue lah. but the gift... hmm... im so proud of myself lah for thinking about it. it is a bit out of my budget but its my first anniversary kan. so never mind lah, i splurge a bit. hopefully he'll make use of it a lot so that its worth the investment.

i'm glad i got everything bought & ready because personally, i'm worried i might go into labour soon & if that happens, i wont be able to do anything till after the confinement is over. by that time pun we'll be busy with the baby & my family will be around then no romance like that.

last night i was looking at the husband & thinking "hmm... this could be the only time i have with him alone. if i go into labour now, this will be the moment where my life, as i know, will cease to exist." dont get me wrong, i am looking forward to our new addition but i cant help but wonder how will life change for us & how will we deal with the change.

i hope we'll be ok. & with our new anniversary gifts, i dare say, we will cope with the change better. hehehe...

F.O.I.L.E.D

thats what happened to my plans for father's day & the husband's bday.

i got him undies & boxers last week. undies for his bday & boxers for father's day. token gifts really as we agreed to get something else later. also, i got him a cake & was treating him to a bday dinner.

anyhow, what i didnt know was my husband is a snoop. ok lah it was my fault. i left the gifts on the bed in the guest room but in my defense, they were wrapped in a jusco plastic bag & stuffed into a fancy paper bag as well --double whammy there right? but he went snooping. the snoop.

so come friday when we were about to leave for dinner, he asked if he could wear one of the newer undies. huh? & so he confessed that he already knew what i got him & blamed me for leaving them out. the temptation was too great he said. hah! hes usually so very blur about these things. & he doesnt go into the guest room much. why oh why did he decide to be adventurous that day?

eventually, it came out that he also knew about the cake that i ordered for him. said he saw the receipt. argggghhhh!!! i was laughing so hard i started crying. & then i punched & slapped him (on the arm of course) for spoiling my surprise. it was foiled. ciss...

sighhhh...

with much dissatisfaction, i plotted on how to surprise him today (his actual bday). guess what i ended up doing? i got up early & ironed him one office shirt & hung it in front of our bed so he didnt have to iron it himself. i know it doesnt seem like much of a surprise but i dont iron his clothes. ever. so this was like the exception lah. anyways he was surprised. so i got what i wanted...

the other spoiled plan was my dinner plans. the shop i wanted to take him to, a rib place in dsara heights, closed shop. how disappointing. so we ended up in victoria station for steak. ughhh!! their meat looked & tasted like it has been in inventory for too long. i was even more disappointed. sighhh...

& yet another spoiled plan: the cake i ordered? well, it didnt turn out the way i wanted to. it tasted nice but not as nice as what i really intended on ordering. how come? well, the cake i really wanted is apparently no longer in production. so, they were doing me a favor by reproducing it just for me. but when i collected it, it looked just like a normal marble cheese cake. so saddd... i guess if i really want the same cake, i have to get it in sabah where we found it in the first place.

despite all the hiccups, the husband & i had a lot of laughs. lucky for us, we found everything funny. i was a little sad that none of my surprises came through. but thats ok. i hate surprises myself.

now...

my bday is coming up next month. i've hinted on what i want. since hes such an unpredictable snoop, i cant leave anything to chance. im gonna paste pictures of what i want, phone numbers & addresses of where to get them & what flavor cake i wish.

hihihihi...

the poor thing.

loveliness

just when we needed it, the blessings come. one last night & another this morning. whoopdeedoo!! now, hopefully theres a 3rd blessing coming soon. other than the baby of course.

also, me gots broadband at home now. although trying to install it was a bit trying. actually the "trying" bit was when we were talking to the technical support people. then we found out that it was my fault that we couldnt get connected. hehehe...

if you can imagine it, we actually do not have cable tv at the moment, seeing as the husband & i are hardly at home. i survive on the 4 basic tv channels & have coped pretty well with it. of course we also spend quite a bit of money on dvds & dvd box sets. this friday however, in anticipation of my 2 months maternity leave, we're getting astro installed. actually, its more for my parents who'll probably be bored out of their wits without tv & with only me & an infant for company. lucky i already have my grills installed --they might try to jump off the balcony out of boredom.

father's day is coming up as well as the husband's bday. i've ordered the cake, bought the cards & gifts & made dinner reservations. & im broke. so pathetic. oh well, just once in a year right.

i am so looking forward to this week ending.

my weekend

a gloomy tuesday to one & all,

my friday night

my weekend was filled with activities. it started with my friday night --the husband picked me up from work & we headed to waikiki's bar in pj for a drink or two whilst waiting for the traffic woes to subside. i got a bit high after 2 drinks. what a loser. as we were making our way home in the not-yet-subsided traffic jam (bugger) at 730pm, we got a call from his cousins asking us to meet them in 1utama to shop for:

1. marriage rectification attire for the about-to-be-church-wedded couple

2. a christening attire for their 1-year old son

whilst we were in 1utama walking the walk & talking the talk, the husband lugged around my heavy laptop & i lugged around my handbag. i alternated this with lugging around the cousin's baby. hes so adorable. later that night, i received a visitor in my home & we were just chatting & chatting about relationship woes (this is always a favorite topic among women dontcha think?). the husband, bless his lovely soul, got us beef burgers & chocolates & other snacks to munch on while we bitched (but we didnt even touch 'em. sorry sweets). we were locked in the room while he was having a bit of me-time watching dvds in the living room. i finally went to bed at 2am.

saturday

on saturday morning, the husband & i attended his cousin's marriage rectification & their son's christening. i was the photographer. hihihi. after that, we proceeded to their home for the baby's 1-year old bday. at this lunch do, i watched movies after movies with some of the husband's cousins while he gambled with the others. we watched hairspray (pls watch it) & little miss sunshine (pls watch it too). lovely.

i left the party at 6pm & headed home with a bucket of kfc as my sis & her kids were coming for dinner & a sleep-over. after dinner, the nephew charlie (from charlie's angels) wanted to pop some popcorns in the microwave so we all headed to jusco kepong & got a few packets, headed home & started popping. altho the popcorn turned out to be just the way i like 'em (salty), the rest didnt quite enjoy it as they're used to the the sweet caramel-y type which you get at the cinemas. we spent the rest of night in bed chit-chatting & telling stories. i kinda miss being around my sister's family.

sunday

we had roti canai for breakfast & the 2 tykes & their fashionable aunty (moi) went a-swimming. my sister had just gone for a hair treatment the day before, so she didn’t want to enter the water. the husband went to work. for lunch, i made lasagna & we had it while watching charlie's "teenage mutant ninja turtles" cartoon dvd.

after they left, i rolled up my sleeves & did my spring cleaning & laundry. so tired. for the remainder of the day, i was just lazing in bed with a book. oh ya & i watched "lemony snicket's a series of unfortunate events" which was rather entertaining. what bliss.

the husband came back in time for a bit of pretend whining (from me of course, for coming back 30mins late hihi) & we watched "28 weeks later" which is a rather stressful movie to watch bcos everyone died. EVERYONE. including what appeared to be the hero & heroine. i was so annoyed. so i went to bed after that feeling a little agitated.

so that was my weekend.

to my friend who had some man-problems, hang in there bebeh. call if you need me to kick-ass. i'll arrange for some kepong-based reinforcements ;-p.

i am hostess

last saturday we hosted a potluck lunch for the husband’s cousins.

the menu consisted of:

dominos pizza

spaghetti bolognese

fusilli carbonara

frozen strawberry cheesecake for dessert

chachos & tzatziki dip

an array of alcoholic beverages & carbonated drinks

lunch was scheduled for 12noon but malaysians being malaysians kan. the worst was the waiting for the spaghetti bolognese. they were 2.5 hours late!! lucky we all have a sense of humor. so, i donned a pair of maternity pants (which was miraculously available for use that afternoon!!) & shoved a pillow under my t-shirt.

the husband’s first reaction was: what happened to your boobs? hihihi. they went missing of course. after all, this is a faux pregnancy ma. so although the faux tummy was there, the faux boobs were not. so anyhow, it was perfect timing bcos just as i was ready with my “costume” the doorbell rang. & so i waddled to greet our lidut guests. it was very believable i tell you. my waddle i mean. & when i opened the door, i told them “haiyaaaa… you guys took so long that i got pregnant while waiting for your bolognese lah!!” kihkihkih…

for entertainment, the husband & our guests gambled. so much for playing board games. & i was so looking forward to playing taboo. well, at least the mahjong table that my parents bought & stored in the apartment came into good use. i don’t gamble bcos i’m just so very bad at math. imagine, i have difficulty even with playing blackjack (sometimes also known as 21).

so, the day was spent gambling, drinking, laughing & accusing me of being racist. the husband announced to our guests that my marrying him is just a camouflage for my bigotry. ciss. we tried to make margaritas but it turned out not so great. oh well.

we headed to the pool at 9pm & had a lovely time frolicking & racing. ahhhh… so nice to feel like a youth again. after the swim we headed back to the apartment & some more funnies took place. for one, someone decided to hang their wet undies outside the window ledge secured by the window of course. i stumbled upon it by accident as i was trying to secure the window back into place. needless to say, that someone was feeling mighty awkward that night hehehehe. for another, someone else decided to leave his wet undies on my dressing table with the hairdryer on to dry it. i stumbled on that accidentally too bcos i heard the hairdryer going for about 10mins & realized no one was there. haiyooo… cartoon cartoon…

oh well. it was a lovely weekend. unfortunately for the husband, he was working on sunday whilst the rest of us lazed & recuperated :-D

my fiddy-eth merdeka

see just how lidut i am with my blog entries. oh well, i write when i feel like it. actually i write when i dont have superiors looking over my shoulder. heh.

so i was thinking to myself today, say, i havent been blogging lately. plus, i received 2 comments on my previous entries to which i hadnt replied to yet. not bcos i'm a smug blog-diva but bcos, i'm so blog-illiterate hehehe. i didnt know how to post a comment. shoot me now. & so i got a friend to teach me after which i realized: aduhai bodohnyer i ni. ok never mind.

ok so, how was your merdeka celebrations? my eve was spent eating pizza at home & watching some new dvds. at midnight, i wished the husband "happy merdeka" & then we went out to the balcony to watch the far-far-away fireworks display. then we continued watching dvds. lazy bums.

the in-laws decided to have a barbeque for the merdeka hols & our contribution was lasagna. this is our 2nd attempt at it & i must say it turned out not-too-bad. & by that i mean no one had diarrhea lah the next day. i even found the right oven function to get the browning effect. the 1st time we did it, we were too afraid to let anyone else try it. we're criticism-phobic when it comes to food preps :-).

all in all it was a nice quiet dinner in. of course we nearly died of smoke inhalation. the wind was blowing the smoke into the house.

after the barbeque, we went home & had to clean out my nephew's stinky-poo hamsters. the husband was of NO help whatsoever. disgust he says. tsk tsk. good thing i'm resourceful (i got a girl friend to catch 'em for me hihihi).

hungry lah now. feel like having some of that lamb.