post raya 1

alhamdulillah, we came back to a much clearer sky in KL. we shoot off from tgg at apr. 8.30a.m. drove slowly along Chendering in searh of the keropok 008. (it's on your right if you're driving from tgg to kl - with a bright yellow, kuning siyo signboard bearing 008) and stopped for petrol at Gambang petronas where PLUS helly was taking off (much to the kids excitement) and finally stopped by at my hometown on Temerloh for lunch and sending the things they ordered. we were safely home in Cheras at 4.30p.m. alhamdulillah, albeit the long hot journey, we had a safe journey. Iman vomitted once (I think he's prone to travel-sickness, he also vomitted on the way to tgg).

and today kakak has gone back to her pre-school. Iman to the nursery. we haven't gone to work just yet tho. spent the day shopping for provisions, browsing for air-purifier, searching for 12 Dancing Princess DVD and finally home soaking wet from the heavy rain. after a warm shower, we potato-couched ourselves watching The Devil Wears Prada while eating fries and sipping soda. sambil ditemani hujan renyai-renyai. aman.

anyway, how was everybody's Eid? some had food poisoning, some gained back 2 kilos they've lost during the month, all in a week, plus another 2 kilo. some wanting to get back some weight. as for me, part of Eid was celebrated 'sederhana tapi meriah' (sederhana in a true meaning of sederhana I must say) while other part was a bit somber.

we went back balik kampung only on Sunday. we had the house cleaned on Saturday. did some packing and shoot off after Subuh. sampai-sampai di kampung, rupanya we already had a task assigned. buat sup tulang. so there were we, sitting by a big besen of tulang cleaning them while Iman soaked his cars and lorries in that very besen as well. my mum was worried sup tak habis since we had 3-4 kilos of tulang but by 1st raya, the big pot was squeaky clean already! alhamdulillah, on 1st day Eid, orang datang tak putus-putus since after sembahyang raya. we only managed to go out and visit on petang 2nd day. my parents and brothers went during night time, even. it is customary in my kampung, on 2nd day Eid, we'll have this 'tahlil kubur' where we all gathered at the graveyard and did tahlil and doa while designated adults distributed money to the kids. and this year, it was overwhelming. ramai sungguh yang datang. and sempat jugak melawat kubur my elder sister who passed away 13 years ago in an accident. oh, rendang daging, rendang ayam and lemang was all finished by 2nd day Eid. and the kids had wonderful time chasing after the chicken, played hide and seek amonst the semak-samun (one even had his private part bitten by tungau and rushed to the clinic later on), mengerjakan atok's new recliner. Iman melukis meja kayu baru wan, climbed and stood proudly on glass-topped coffee table, tried to eat wan's crytal fruit, switching on and off the tv (much to his cousins irritation).

3rd day Eid, kami balik ke tgg. this i shall blog later. need to brush my teeth and do something to my face. i seem to be getting zits when i get my P lately.

saturday 21st October ~ we're still here..

dates, egg-tart and black-forest

kuetiaw goreng

crab, prawns masak something & lemon-chicken

ikan

grilled lamb

sambal kupang & mixed-vege

buttered-prawn and fried-chicken

grilled crab. pretty tough to break the shell. the claws cooperated better.

Thanks for all the Eid wishes. As of today, 21st October, we're still in KL, mengemas rumah, packing things up and the likes. Esok after sahur, we're heading for Temerloh and on pagi 3rd raya, to Tgg. The kitchen is sealed ~ no cooking anymore. Maybe we'll have some burgers from uncle Ronald for iftar today. I'm sure the kids will be delighted.

Iman's check-up yesterday was fine. Except that we arrived at APSH somewhat early (the cars ~ where'd they go?). The waiting was tensed tho. Imagine this. He run around endlessly but I am used to that ~ so no big deal. Then he knocked down a wastebin, sending the top part flung away and scattering the insides. Sib baik it was still early and sampah was very minimal. He switched off the airconds few times, then the aquarium's oxygen (kalau mati ikan kelisa dr tu, harulah nak ganti Iman oii!!). I had to chase him here and there and by noon, I think what I ate for sahur was gone already! He also scared away one little girl. Lucky thing Kakak was at school and not joining the 'fun'. Anyway, he needs to continue Singulair and Ketotifen until the haze is gone. Dr also stocked us up with Brycanyl, Nurefon and Actifed. You know what they say, sediakan payung sebelum hujan. We asked about the usage of air-purifier. It helps to some extent, he said. Choose the one with HEPA. Don't ask. I also don't know. But so far, to my knowledge, for an area like living, the cost may fetch more than RM2k per unit while for a bedroom, a little lesser, maybe RM1.5k. *Gulp!*

Oh, for yesterday's iftar, we ate out. Kelana Seafood in Desa Aman Cheras. The food was good at priced lowly at RM29 per person. We had almost everything. By 6.45p.m, our table was occupied almost to the fullest. Stopped a little while for Maghrib. Then came down heavy rain so we had to stay back and ate some more. Well,... sort of. (Photos are shown above)

Okay peeps, I need to pack things-up. This time around, I am bringing the whole house where the kids are concerned. Clothes, toys, books, food, medications, thermometer bla bla bla bla.. well, you know what they say, sediakan payung sebelum hujan!

salam Eid dari kami sekeluarga

Short note:-
~ ada orang tu ada hp baru. wahhh.. tak sia-sia hp lama dia tu keypad rosak. terus sambar hp yang lagi canggih dan hebat. hensem gak hp baru dia tu.
~ ada orang tu pulak ada handbag baru. kaler biru katanya. wahhh.. tak sia-sia ada 3G phone, si husbandnya yang shopping mopping, dia pilih bag thru video call.
~ ada pulak sorang kenalan tu dah nak cuti esok. hati-hati di jalanraya yek. semalam try hantar mail tp dah bounced-back. mailbox penuh.


anyway, last few days baru je dapat softcopy gambar-gambar kami di Korea dulu. total from kawan yang seorang ni pun dah 800 keping! kami punya dalam 100-200 keping aje. 2 malam lepas sempat lah menengok kat rumah sama-sama dengan kakak. suddenly she realised how longgg and howww far she was left behind! all the while she thought we were in AQUARIA, KLCC baru dia tau there were fishy things happended tho we didn't even see any fish in Korea. apalagi, muncung lah kawan tu satu malam!
(Photo ~ Namsan Park from Yongsan Street. On top of Namsan Park, there's SEOUL TOWER)

hari ni aktiviti mengumpulkan kuih raya. semalam dah dapat 'FRAMBOZEN KENARI'. hebatkan namanya? rasa pun hebat tauu. hari ni pulak nak ambik KEK LAPIS PRUNE dan KEK LAPIS MASAM-MANIS yang ditempah minggu lepas. alhamdulillah tahun ni tak terburu nafsu. biskut cuma 4 jenis dan kek 2 jenis. baju raya untuk kami suami isteri sepasang sorang. untuk anak-anak ada lebih sikit.

btw, i am still not very well. semalam dapat mc. sebelum balik rumah temankan mdh hantar final draft graduate project dia. tong teng tong teng, sampai rumah pkl 2 ptg. lepas sembahyang zohor tertidur sampai 530p.m. lepas beli juadah berbuka kat pasar ramadhan, pick-up anak-anak. alahai, badan Iman dedar-dedar but he was still active. kalau dia dah 'give-in' to fever, usually dia akan banyak merengek dan nak dukung. he was still in his normal self semalam. mintak-mintak tak melarat. esok pulak memang follow-up check-up dia kat APSH so nak mintak ubat-ubatan spare from dr. y Allah, janganlah pisang berbuah untuk kali ke-3!

anyway, esok tak pasti boleh memblog atau tidak so ummi sekeluarga nak ucapkan SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI. MAAF ZAHIR BATIN. kepada semua kenalan yang pernah bertentang mata, bertepuk tampar atau yang cuma berkenalan di alam cyber.

gambar raya last year. it was 1st day eid.
coincidently it was iman's 1st birthday also.
but look at how sick he was.
masa tu dia kena pneumonia but we still didn't know.
we though it was just some stubborn fever.

dari ummi, mdh, athirah & iman

of haze and the kids

the haze is getting worse these past 2-3 days, don't you think so? and it has taken its toll. this time around, it's me. i am nursing a running nose, a sore and itchy throat and a bit of fever. thank God, the kids are okay without any major things that call for our concern. mdh is fine as well. this time around, the 3 of them will take care of me pulak, how's that? heh heh. anyway, i just hope i'll be back to my normal self before raya.
(Photo~bangunan yang nampak kelam-kelam from far. eh, mana Menara ek?)

a few short note:
~ our sour grape will be leaving us. well i guess that would be best for everyone, the person him/herself and us all. yipeedeedooo! (that describes my feeling anyway!)
~ i saw a tudung that i fancy at Midvalley. A nice green which suits my baju raya with a bit of embroidery. but it was RM299.00. opsie.. thanks but no thanks. i asked for someting much cheaper and they have a few tudungs on sale, which each cost about RM50.00! blame me tho, i think i lingered at the wrong place. it was like looking for a RM100-200 handbag at COACH boutique.
~ kakak writes!! her first words i saw she wrote were 'R O T I' and 'B U C U' (the latter is actually buku. she's still confused with C in english and K in malay)
~ Iman counts!! i heard him counting till 'SEVVVEEENNN' this morning. good boy!
~ Che Abang almost done with his graduate project (he writes credits to us all ~ me and the kids). so, he'll get his scroll early next year. *urut dada tanda kelegaan* (ha, apa yang, PhD?..)

this morning, Iman decided to join us for sahur (bangun pkl 5 lagi tu..). dialah yang terpaling sibuk sekali. makan fishball and cicah sos cili (he ended poo-poo after that). kakak woke-up shortly after. pastu, apalagi. channel 62, 63 and 64 lahh! so today, masa hantar ke Atfal, both kids were squeaky clean already.

ok people, need to go and see the dr downstairs and see if i could get a day off, or two!

bit of this and that

new recipe!
Since Che Abang is now fine and up-n-about, we tried new recipe today. Nasi Daging. (PB~dah try belum?) Serve hot with fried herbed-chicken (chicken marinated with garlic+ginger+salt+tumeric+bawang kisar). Kakak followed my SIL shopping in KLCC and managed to get her CheDe to buy her a pair of blue slippers, to match her blue kebaya. And today, apart from Nasi Daging, I am proud that I achieved lots of things pertaining to mengemas. The kitchen is clear of clutter and I've washed and scrubbed semua rak-rak dapur yang ada kesan minyak. (I soak those racks in vanish+water for 1/2 hr then scrubbed off easily) On top of that, dah basuh backyard and lipat kain. By 12.30p.m dah flat on my back sleeping. Pkl 3p.m Che Abang kejut for Zohor prayer and then started cooking. This time, he just helped.
(Photo ~ nasi daging)

last major shopping for Eid
Last Saturday we went shopping for Eid. With only Kakak in tow, it was much relaxing and fruitful, in the sense that dapatlah semua yang dihajati except for Ummi's sandal. The only hiccup, I suppose, when Kakak terasa sangat lapar and we had to see her through her lunch while she remarked endlessly 'sedaaaapppp', 'hmmmm', 'deliciousss', 'yummy' sambil menyedut air with slurping sound. Such a tempt.. We got pants, tshirt, sandal for Iman, shirt for Abah, tumbler for the kids and guess what.. a brand new Samsung handphone for Ummi ~ courtesy of Abah. Thanks yang.. I love you. (traded-in my nokia for RM100 ~ not bad since I thought the most it could fetch was RM50 only!)

my oh my....

dating sambil berbuka puasa di luar
So, we went to Cerana, Cheras on Thursday. At first thought of going for a buffet in Muzium Kesenian Islam but it was fully booked, well into next week. Cerana charged at RM38 per person. Masakan melayu with quite a spread. When azan was on the air, we have theseeee on our table (added a few dishes later..). Orang lalu pun angkat kening. We can be such a gastronomic disaster at times. So here goes some photos..

we had fish, prawn, squid, 'paru', clams, kerabu mangga
sup ekor, tomyam dan sebagainya
yang mana tak masuk dalam gambar..

happy birthday Iman (2 tahun hijrah)

Iman ~ seconds after delivery.
crying his heart out

Teringat lagi pagi tu. Lepas Che Abang tu ke ofis, ummi terasa nak ke toilet. Tup-tup nampak darah. Cepat-cepat call dia. Kebetulan dia tertinggal laptop so memang on the way balik ke rumah semula. Cepat-cepat mandi dan tukar baju. Minum air milo segelas. Kalau dengan Che Abang tu memang no compromise bab-bab ni. Takdelah nak singgah makan nasi lemak ke, roti canai ke. Kebetulan pulak bulan puasa so teruslah kami meredah kesesakan MRR2 ke Ampang. Sampai di APSH, terus masuk labor room. Dah 3cm.

Sementara menanti, ummi baca buku cerita. Ingat lagi tajuknya ~ Life of Pi (sampai sekarang tak abis baca lagi!). Che Abang dok belek suratkhabar. Lepas edema tu, sakit masih belum kuat. Tak lama lepas tu, nurse datang bawak satu batang. Eh, macam kenal jek. Time kakak pun ada guna batang tu. Pecahkan water-bag. Nurse kata bagi proses cepat sikit. Tak cukup pecahkan water-bag, kena lak IV, pun nak cepatkan. Si Iman pulak dok tekan-tekan bladder ummi, kejap-kejap nurse kena datang bawak mangkuk. Merasalah buang air ada orang tadahkan he he. Dalam nak terkucil tu sempat lagi baca buku dan berbalas sms. Nurse datang lagi check. Eh dah 7cm tp awat cam tak berapa sakit sangat lagi. Soalan tu terjawab tak lama lepas tu, sakit bertalu-talu sampai merayu2 di belah je perut tu. Nurse cool lagi. Che Abang tu muka kesian sangat. Tugasnya menggosok belakang, pegang botol air dan jadi pom-pom boy. Tak tertahan sakit, mintak pain-killer. Tapi nurse mintak maaf banyak-banyak sebab it was too late already. Iman dah ke bawah. Tiba-tiba lepas tu rasa nak push. Push push. Dan lagi dan lagi. Che Abang intai tak nampak lagi kepala Iman. Setelah berhempas pulas, Iman masih tak keluar. Dr datang. Check punya check, dia kata OP and not engage well. Po ko bondo tu? Rupanya Iman dok senget, tak tepat dengan jalan keluar. Plus, mukanya mengadap ke depan (sama cam kakaknya jugak) Diorang pun betulkan dia tapi masih sangkut. Ummi boleh rasa dia turun sampai ke opening tapi macam ternaik semula. Dr pun kata ‘we vacuum’. Buatlah apa pun, ummi rela. Janji mamat sorang tu keluar dengan selamat. Dalam diorang dok bersiap tu, tertengok lak sedulang pisau segala yang berkilat-kilat. Ngeri gak ek. Pastu Iman pun disedut keluar. Oh, berbelit tali pusat kat leher dia 3 kali. Lepas kena tepuk, menangis lah dia.

Selamat.

3.3kg 1.37p.m ~ 20 Ramadhan 1425. Ummi pegang dia. Che Abang kata cukuplah anak kita dua orang ni. Dia kata kesian tengok Ummi nak bersalinkan Iman, tapi dia tak boleh buat banyak benda untuk tolong.

Terus kami panggil dia Iman. Memang nama tu dah menanti dia. Muhammad Iman. Muhammad sempena nama nabi kita dan disebabkan nazar ummi. Iman pilihan abahnya.

Sebelum keluar dari labor room, Dr pesan ~ lain kali mintak epidural cepat-cepat. Teringat masa bersalinkan kakak. Nurse tanya nak epidural tak? Che Abang tu pulak yang menjawab tak mau. Eh, confius Ummi, sapa yang nak bersalin ni? Walaupun kakak anak sulung dan sakit berpanjangan, proses kelahirannya relatively kurang sakit dari Iman.

Apa-apa hal pun, Iman pun dah besar. Sesuai dengan namanya, dia memang mencabar kesabaran dan keimanan kami. Ragamnya. Sakitnya. Kuat nangisnya. Kuat bergayutnya. Tapi alhamdulillah.. dia tetap menyerikan hidup kami sekeluarga.

Iman ~ 2 tahun (hijrah) kemudian

she's loving it

she's loving it!

with horses and ponies being her current obsessions,
this tshirt with a pony embroided onto it was warmly,
excitedly,
happily received yesterday.
she made endless remarks,
peeks,
folds,
try-ons,
smile-overs,
until i gave-up and promise to let her wear this on our midvalley trip this weekend.
i am so very glad she likes it.
(tersenyum simpul when she opened the bag and saw that)

my head was swimming yesterday from Asar time to waktu berbuka. in fact i vomitted a few times before iftar. i felt full of gas and bloated and ate just a bit of rice and some hot soup. hopefully it won't happen again.

Che Abang will be going for an ultra-sound today to further check the condition of his stomach. he looks a lot better and has shed a few kilos i think. i just hope everthing is okay.

Anyway, my sister is giving birth today. i sound so sure, eh. she's going to have a C-sect this morning. her 3rd child and most probably, as advised by doctors, the last one. we'll be seeing them only this weekend before they go balik kampung. pse pray for safe delivery for both mom and baby. this raya she'll be flanked by the powerpuff girls (she will have 3 girls). oh, i need to ransack my house for baby necessities to lend her. as this is going to be their last baby, she didn't buy much so iman's out-grown clothings and feeding sets will be of good use.
(Photo ~ kakak dan abah, ibarat lagu dan irama..)

almost missed sahur today!

grrr... don't mess with me

Hampir-hampir terlepas sahur pagi tadi. Sempatlah minum segelas susu, sekeping roti cicah kuah sup dan segelas air masak. Nasib baik sebelum tidur makan rojak Singapore semangkuk. Alkisahnya kami masih lagi berkampung di tingkat bawah. Bila berjerebu ni, cuaca panas. Tidur dalam bilik melemaskan. Kena pulak Iman tak boleh ber air-con. Ummi tidur di antara Kakak dan Iman. Dua-dua ni memang kaki wrestling dalam tido. Abis mak dia ni kena sepak terajang diorang. Tak boleh nak lena. Sudahnya bila alarm berbunyi, tutup balik. Ingatkan nak lelap semula 5-10 minit, tup-tup terlajak sampai 5.30 pagi!

Terima kasih to all well-wishes. Che Abang semakin sihat. Anak-anak pun, despite the haze, nampak sihat. Iman ada selsema tapi from the look of it, tak serius. Anyway, Che Abang tu officially took over the kitchen and does the cooking. Isnin lepas dia sediakan sepinggan besar Kuetiaw Goreng and semangkuk ‘jepuk udang’ ~ cokodok udang. Semalam kami membeli belah di pasar ramadhan di Velodrom Cheras. Sup campur worth RM25 (I told him we need to finish every morsel ~ mahal maa!), roti john, nasi beryani, popia goreng (kakak kata hotdog ada sayur kat dalam), rojak Singapore dan kuih lapis. I have very strong reason tak berapa gemar membeli di luar ~ nampak cam best sangat tapi bila makan, pada kebanyakan masa, agak mengecewakan. That’s why I prefer prepare juadah berbuka sendiri, biarpun cuma ikan goreng dan timun cicah sambal. Walau bagaimanapun, kami ada jugak bercadang-cadang berbuka puasa di luar sebelum balik kampung ni. Just the 2 of us (dating lah tu). As for today, I don’t know what my husband will be preparing for iftar. (He’s still on MC)
(Nota ~ Any suggestion of venue to break-fasting? Somewhere cosy and afforable. I work in Bangsar and after iftar need to get back to Cheras. Should you want to suggest a place, do consider that fact)

Ayam beryani - rather bland to my tastebud. The herbs and spices just didn't mix well, I think

rojak singapore. the spread was quite limited. if not for the overly hot gravy, it'd turn out quite well

roti john (no comment, didn't eat this), kuih lapis (didn't eat this too) and popia (sedap, crispy walaupun agak dah sejuk)



Macamana persiapan Eid? Baju-baju yang dibeli minggu lepas need alteration tapi Ummi sungguh ‘M’ sekali. Yang pending sekarang is a tudung for me, a shirt and pants for Che Abang, a new sandal and jeans for Iman and non-drip tumbler for the kids (tak berkaitan dengan raya ni). Kalau ada rezeki, I want to buy a new pair of slipper/sandal for myself. (HELP!! I’m getting impractical. For some unknown reasons, I seem to need lots of handbags and 2-3 pairs of shoes in black alone and a lot if this and a little of that and a little of this and a lot of that). So, this weekend, MidValley, here we come!!

sketsa hujung minggu di bulan Ramadhan (masa abah takde)

KIDS WILL ALWAYS BE KIDS

good boy Iman, minum susu okay.

kakak pun good girl (that's her 2nd helping)

tak lama lepas tu..

*background* -> aaa aaaa, nak mula lah tu

*background* -> dah lah tu

*background* (ummi ngomel tah apa-apa)

ish budak-budak nih *berdiri cekak pinggang*
sabor.. sabor...

life lessons came the hard way

*all smiles!* HE"S BACK! semalam discharge and at around 5p.m. he was back into our arms again. Iman excitedly greeted abah. Kakak jumped about. and not telling what Ummi did! it was just 2 days and we missed him sooo baddd. as uneventful as it may looked, i realised that i love him, need him more than i thought i did. among the things i always pray for is for our marriage to last without so much hiccup and let there be love till death do us part. it seems Allah has answered my prayer. uneventful things like that does makes our hearts grow fonder and realise how emotionally attach we are to each other. and life lessons do come by in hard ways.
(Photo~Iman lepak kat hospital while visiting abah)

remember this? i realise of late she often insists on getting-up early each morning and to shower before school. (she used to shower at the nursery before going to her playschool). tho at times she does complain (yahh, she wants it but still complains about it) but she's more alert after that (plus sekeping dua roti jem and her morning dose of cartoon network). i admit the process takes my 15-20 morning minutes away and at times mulalah nak panas hati when she buka baju lambat, gosok gigi lambat. but it looks like she enjoys playschool better these days. again, i learned it the hard way. it tests my patience but it brings down my temperamental. doa ibu lebih makbul right? walaupun hassle tapi Allah dah makbulkan permintaan ummi agar kakak lebih berminat dan gembira ke sekolah. and yes, she's coping.
(Photo1~kakak tengah sedih sbb dah nak balik rumah, she said, kakak rindu abah nanti kalau kakak balik rumah~taken on saturday)
(Photo2~kakak tengah sedih lagi sbb abah belum balik rumah~taken on saturday)













iftar semalam was a lot better with him around. we only had re-heated chicken soup from the day before and Stuffed Grilled Squid i did with some help from the little girl (and the little boy he he).
(Photos~texts exchanged seconds before azan on Saturday)

recipe can be viewed here

panahan asmara!

today marks the first half of Ramadhan 1427. bunga api pu dah mula kedengaran (termasuklah selepas waktu sahur!). kami hanya merancang, Allah yang menentukan. rancangan kami berbuka juadah homemade nampaknya agak tergendala. rancangan untuk mencuba resepi-resepi baru juga begitu. kalau dah suami sakit, nak makan pun tak selera, apatah lagi nak mencuba benda baru.

2 tahun lepas, 15 ramadhan 1425, ummi sarat mengandungkan Iman. sememangnya sewaktu mengandungkan dia, agak tidak selesa. dia seolah-olah menekan ke bawah menyebabkan kalau berjalan, terasa sakit di bahagian bawah perut. tambahan waktu itu ummi bertugas di bukit mahkamah, mdh pula di menara. selepas waktu pejabat, terpaksa menapak ke lrt station untuk ke menara. dan sebagaimana diketahui umum, rakya malaysia ni tak mengira orang tua atau keuzuran, main tolak aje. alhamdulillah Iman selamat dilahirkan pada 20 ramadhan 1425, jam 1.37p.m. kiranya kalau ikut tahun hijrah, tak lama lagi birthday Iman yang ke-2.

(Photo~Iman when he was 5+ months)

iftar semalam merupakan kali pertama berbuka sendirian. terasa janggal melihat kerusi kosong di mana biasanya mdh duduk. terasa pelik bila mencedok nasi sepinggan sahaja dan hampir-hampir sahaja menuangkan teh-O kegemaran kami ke dalam 2 cawan. sebaik azan bergema, hati jadi sebak. pengakhirannya, nasi tak sampai separuh luak, sup ayam cuma kuahnya saja, ikan masin kurau sikit tercuit dan telur dadar tidak terusik langsung! tak ada selera. anak-anak pula asyik bertanyakan abahnya. Iman terlelap awal. kakak makan nasi berlaukkan telur. selepas melipat kain, kami anak-beranak tidur di ruang tamu. sahur pun sekadar mengambil berkat. sekeping roti cicah sup ayam. cukuplah.

(Nota~teruk juga panahan asmara ni ya! makan tak lalu, tidur tak lena..)

and kakak, in the absence of her abah, asked for pah. finding comfort in the orange, long-legged thing, like she did for many-many years (before she decided she had enough a few weeks back). i guess she misses him too.

(Photo~gambar file: suatu waktu dulu)

perancangan berbuka hari ni menu nasi lagi. nasi putih. sup ayam semalam masih banyak, hangatkan saja. mungkin nak buat 'stuffed-grilled-squid' kalau keadaan dan masa mengizinkan. dan amat berharap kerusi di depan ummi akan ada orang yang duduk petang nanti!

still @426 APSH

he's still @426 APSH. dr needs to access his body tolerance towards the new medications prescribed. his discharge is postponed to tomorrow, the earliest. went with the kids to visit and deliver basic necessities to him. before we went back, suapkan Iman and Kakak their lunch. tiba masa pulang, kakak mengongoi menangis, tak mau berpisah dengan abahnya. kenalah abahnya memujuk panjang (kalau esok masih tak discharge, alamatnya pecah lah empang sekali lagi).

after the visit, i went to flag a cab to get home. about 4 or 5 just passed-by ~ some with passanger, some not. 2 or 3 stopped but refused the destinations. dalam panas petang tu, hati pun mulalah panas. kena pulak ada yang potong Q. takdir Allah, satu teksi berhenti dan setuju ke destinasi ummi. we then went to the lobby to get the kids. Iman wailed for abah, kakak sobbed quietly. but we left nevertheless. siap dapat tips from the driver, pertaining to gastric. maybe that was why teksi yang itu yang berhenti mengambil kami anak-beranak. ada banyak nasihat dan ilmu diturunkan. tiada yang mengarut. cuma yang logik dan diunjurkan agama. tak sia-sia berdiri tengah panas ya!

mdh was okay when we saw him this afternoon. he looks much better than days before. hopefully he'll be discharge tomorrow and gets a good dose of mc! (you knowlah kalau mula ke ofis ni ~ oh, you're just discharged yesterday? then after ohhhh and ahhhh, they'll be wondering if you can work overtime that day itself). and after so many years, today i'll be break-fasting alone (apart from the kids lahh). the usual rice menu. chicken soup. maybe an omelette and bits of satled fish. i miss my husband! (the kids are not of so much help either. each time a car passes by, they'll run to the door and scream 'abah balik, abah balik')

the tips to combat gastric (in addition to whatever being presribed by your doctor)
-> soak 3 dates in a glass of milk. leave for 1/2 an hour. then fish the dates out, selawat and eat. after the dates, baru minum susu.

-> he also told me eat dates routinely. in fact, his friend who sells dates said the non-muslims buy dates regularly. and many opt for mariami and kurma nabi.

426 APSH

while i'm typing this, my husband is warded @426 APSH. dr diagnosed him as having gastritis haemorrage and reflux. i am not doctor but what i can sum from the explanation and photos (they shoot a few photos during endoscopy procedure), he has a bad case of gastric (known as gastritis haemorrage) where his stomach lining has been burnt and it bled. it was made worse by the postan he took for the migraine he had (as diagnosed by the other doctor). and the reflux whereby his stomach acid being pushed (sort of) to his throat, making him all wanting to vomit.

the good news is that, those are treat-able but he has to be careful with his food intake. (that means, i have to make sure he doesn't indulge in some food. spicy, hot, sour and carbonated, to name a few. 100Plus included. and the best way to help him is for me to restrict myself as well).

I just hope this episode will be soon over tho another episode may start on Monday. i want to see him all smile and in the pink of health again. i wish our life will return to normal again. it may sound boringly routine but it will be comfortingly sure.

if you wonder, i am coping. i am 32. i have gone through event like this before. hikmahnya, ia mendewasakan! ia mengajar erti kesabaran dan ketabahan. ia pengorbanan. ia tanda kasih dan sayang. kalau dibandingkan dengan saudara kita di Palestine, terlalu kecil dugaan Allah berikan. tidak saya pinta dugaan yang lebih besar. seperti jawapan saya kepada komen Fatin, i have to look at things positively tho it is uneventful.

(Photo ~ us in front of Seoul Tower on our first day in Korea)

bila langit merah

Nota1 ~ terima kasih banyak-banyak kepada yang sudi mengirimkan email dengan kata nasihat dan pendapat. i really appreciate that.

(Photo ~ tiger guarding Iman's medications)
petang semalam matahari nampak merah. tengahari semalam, permandangan dari tingkat 23 seakan berkabus. sekejap sahaja berada di open-air, mata terasa pedih dan nafas menjadi sesak. jerebu semakin teruk! si Iman batuk tak berhenti sampailah pukul 10.00 malam. nampak gayanya memang susah dia nak recuperate dalam keadaan persekitaran sebegitu.

che abang pula semakin teruk. sebelah paginya dia okay-okay saja. sms yang dihantar ketika ummi sedang briefing ~ 'how are u so far', di jawab ringkas 'ok' seakan memberi kelegaan. selesai briefing, terlihat satu email sitting in my mailbox. katanya dia baru saja kena semula sakit kepala dan muntah-muntah. i think the medicine is not working so i asked him to go back to the clinic. that earned him another day off. petang semalam hadir satu mesyuarat lain pula. sedang mesyuarat, mobile phone berbunyi. tonenya jelas menunjukkan che abang yang memanggil. cemas. katanya muntah-muntah lagi. kali ini darah. kami berkira-kira ke hospital petang nanti. sedang memberi update mesyuarat kepada boss, che abang call lagi. katanya dia di klinik waktu itu. muntah lagi. darah lagi. dr berpendapat itu berpunca dari gastric. ponstan yang dimakan (yang diberi oleh dr lain) menambahkan lagi 'parah'. mungkin itu punca muntah darah. diberi jab dan ubat yang harus dimakan ketika itu juga. diberi satu referral letter untuk endoskopi, bimbang ulcer dalam perut. he's going to see Dr Mazlam, a specialist in gastro*something* today.
(Nota2 ~ jika anda ada tips, nasihat dan apa-apa berkaitan dengan gastric, pse feel free to drop a note here or mail me at lester88@streamyx.com)

risau? sudah tentu. mula-mula Iman, sekarang abahnya. kakak beransur baik. umminya still standing. alhamdulillah. dugaan ini pasti ada hikmahnya.

berbalik kepada posting semalam, ummi telah berjaya membeli baju raya ~ satu kebaya yang biru untuk si dara sunti, satu baju melayu biru (sedondon dengan si kakak) untuk adiknya. untuk ummi pula sehelai dress panjang ala-ala jubah berwarna hijau, lengkap dengan baju luar berkain organza, sedikit jarang, hijau juga warnanya. baju abahnya saja belum bertemu. jika ada rezeki mungkin nak cari tshirt untuk kakak, iman dan abahnya. oh ya, sandal umminya putus tali perlu diganti. bag? cukuplah sekadar menjinjing beg barney berisi diapers dan bekalan susu Iman! sebelum berbuka semalam dah cuba pada badan anak-anak. kebaya biru terletak cantik pada anak dara tu. baju melayu perlu dipendekkan tangan dan kaki seluarnya. baju ummi perlu disentengkan sedikit sebab terlalu meleret. overall, semuanya okay, cuma perlu minor alteration. semuanya di beli di bawah ofis ni. setiap khamis dan jumaat ada jualan ala-ala bazar ramdhan. sememangnya tak selera nak ke jalan TAR time-time menghampiri perayaan ni. jadi beli sajalah yang dah ada depan mata. sikulat beli baju kurung kain organza. corak batik, cantik dan kelassss gitu. zarid pulak (yang ini mmg sungguh gemar shopping) jinjit blaus dan tudung. and yes limau nipis, they're selling baju kurung siap jahit from as low as RM50.00. from the look, memang not bad.

okay, back to my personal situation,.. kawan-kawan, samada pernah bertentang mata atau tidak, tolong doakan kami. semoga diberikan anugerah kesihatan. kami redha dengan dugaan ini. Cuma kurniakanlah kami lebih kesabaran dan ketabahan dalam menghadapinya.

for eid

this is what i cooked for buka puasa yesterday. recipe can be viewed here.

Sotong Masak Lemak

(hot tea is almost a must for breaking fast)
Today is already 12th Ramadhan, isn't it? How time flies eh? Remember when we were small, it was like forever for Ramadhan to end. And now, when we woke up this morning, it's already the 12th day!

I haven't really prepared anything for Eid except for ordering a few types of cookies. Even baju raya pun takde lagi. Remember how i was so confident that i'd sew baju raya for us all? It did took off but never landed anywhere near the finish-line. I decided to just go and buy for everyone. Has Eid lost its spark to me? Well maybe. I remember how 'big and great' my preparation was. Baju raya sedondon. Jars of kuih raya. Cakes. Even CD lagu raya! (I was being overly excited as the year before I was in confinement after giving birth to Iman and Iman had a bad jaundice that we spent the 1st raya in hospital) And it ended up with cleaning vomits and sleepless nights as Iman had pneumonia. It was a 2nd consecutive year with dull celebration. 1st year with Iman and his jaundice and 2nd year with Iman and his episode of pneumonia. And now the little guy is having running nose and coughing. We do, take the opportunity in this holy month, berdoa that everything will go on well. He, she, me and daddy. Everyone.

Ops, i still have like 18 minutes to play Zuma. I'm stuck at 5-4. (Zuma is like my usual cuppa ~ in Ramadhan)

kiddy, mummy and daddy

thanks for all the views and opinions pertaining to my kids' health. the haze, today, is worse than yesterday i think. iman coughed a little lesser last night but he still vomitted, once. should you have anything more to share, do not hesitate to drop me a mail at lester88@streamyx.com

i'm on mc today. dr said i could've sprained some muscle, hence the pain in my hip when walking. the most vigorous action i last did was chasing after iman in apsh on monday. i was told to do some light exercise. and i was also told the fact that the pain could be very well prolong for a week or two. che abang is also on mc. dr said he may have migraine, hence the throbbing pain.

yesterday, breaking-fast took place in The Basil, Bangsar Village. i accompanied mdh, along with his study group treating their mba supervisor. we had kurma for starter then followed by something that resembles sirih, but eaten with udang kering, toasted coconut slices, peanut, chillies and a sauce. rice was eaten hot with seafood tomyam, black pepper beef and baby kailan. to top that up, we had otak-otak. perfectoo, despite the fact that they ordered in small portions, which can be eaten by me and mdh alone, effortlessly. really. tapi orang belanja, kan. so tak boleh menyongeh banyak. we left Bangsar Village with one cheesy hotdog each (later eaten by the kids tho).

for today, i am planning to serve Ikan Kerisi Goreng, Masak Lemak Sotong, Timun and my husband favorite - Cokodok Udang. since i am on mc, i have ample time to do all that. if we have the time, we may even go to pasar ramadhan later today. btw, the kids are still at Atfal. so that will give me the privilege to cook in peace. okay, duty calls. i'll start with scrubbing the wok first.