of Moving On

What more naturally to come after ver-2 if it's not ver-3 right?
Have storage issue due to loadful of photos I uploaded here.

Time to move on.
I'll be here http://ummimon-ver3.blogspot.com

of Ximenia & Salt Scrub

photo - credit to http://myorganicjourney11.blogspot.com

I am currently in one of the phases again :P
Fasa men-dandan diri :D :D

There's 2 things that get me motivated.
One is beautiful women - in prints or seen in real life.
The other is.. well.. er.. I'll just keep that one to myself for now..

I can't even remember when did I buy a tub of The Body Shop Ximenia & Salt Scrub (from its Spa Wisdom range). When I tried to open it up yesterday, the metal securing the lid to the body already karat. The inside was not affected tho. Color remains. Smell remains. Phew!! Still can use to sental ..

Mandi first and leave your body wet before applying this.Texture is kinda 'rich' with tiny miny beads of salt. The salt beads dissolved much too soon to my liking. You can expect this from someone who uses Himalaya Salt as body scrub. During my pay-less days I even resorted to table salt ha ha!

Rinse and towel-dry. No need to sabun sabun anymore as that will remove the moisture. Tak berminyak, don't worry and my hands are noticeably well moisturized today. Too bad I wasn't paying attention to both feet :P Kalau compare macam kaki and tangan belong to 2 different people :D

You can buy this at The Body Shop outlets or online via http://www.thebodyshop.com.my for RM99 per tub. Or via http://my.bestbuy-world.com/ for RM79.00.

Salam AidilFitri 1433H

us - Syawal 1433H

Salam AidilFitri.
Maaf Zahir Batin.

ps - sticky post. scroll down for my usual ramblings..

of Tanamera Splurge

The other day I was scrolling (while drooling) Fossil's website and Tebby made a remark about it. Told him I was just browsing and was not going to buy anything (was? apakah?). He said 'ala.. cakap je, pastu sokmo bawak balik kotak'

So you notice eh? :D

The last box I came home with was this. Tanamera splurge. Bought online. With all these online-thingy, it is hard to refrain myself. Kena pulak some enjoyable experience at their wellness center. *ahem* But I can't possibly go everyweek or even every fortnightly kan. If I can't go to the spa, let's bring the spa back home :D :D

Body soap. Brown Formulation & White Formulation. I have tried Brown Formulation. It's a soap cum scrub. Macam ada serdak-serdak sabut kelapa. I remember when I was small, my Mok will tenyeh jari kaki dengan sabut nyor. Zaman dulu mana ada loofah semua tu. If ada pun, we couldn't afford it. Membesar di kampung, main dalam semak samun, just imagine all the daki we accumulated ha ha. Anyway, the Brown Formulation has tumeric, wild ginger, cinnamon and fragrant roots (among others). I thought it's going to be spice-smelling soap but it's not.

White formulation belum try. Kenot komen yet.

As for the scrub, I have tried Himalayan Salt. Painful lesson, I'd say. Jangan tenyeh kuat2 sangat. Pedihhhhhh ha ha.

Sengkuang Facial Scrub and Hibiscus Facial Mask. Tried them both. I especially love the Hibiscus Facial Mask. Very soothing.. My only problem was Adam. Mask ni jenis kena biar kering kat muka. And of course I can't talk, laugh, sengih while the process was going on. Adam had problem with me being so 'serious'.. not talking, not laughing, not smiling. Kept on asking to talk to him. To laugh with him. Adoila....

Freebies! Bath powder in sachets - Hibiscus, Ginger and Pandan. FOC, sapa tak suka.. eventhough I do not know how to use these (yet). Masuk dalam bathtub kah? Marinade yourself with that concoction kah? Macam ayam pulak nak marinade-marinade yer.

In bottles are Spa Surya product - facial wash and moisturiser kalau tak silap. Belum try.

Free lagik.. Voucher worth RM50. Suka! Suka!

Yang, you can expect more boxes coming in :D

of Kitchen (Reno)

Bored yet? Hi hi.. If you are, please go play somewhere else eh.

The reno is going on well. The backyard is walled up, leaving 2 slots for window and one for backdoor. Last week Tebby called up on roof color. Already? It excites me with this reno thingy going on but being excited and to actually take action deciding are two different thing meh. Another example. Kitchen. We are to decide the length of table run, which to date we haven't since we still don't have the idea as to where to place the fridge, the oven (yes, finally!) and whatnots. More like I still don't because Tebby leaves that to me. Poor me. It is foreseen that he will spend more time in the kitchen, better let him design eh? But wardobe - n'est touche pas, sil vous plait. Almari baju, leave that to me. Since it is foreseen I'll spend more time than he would in that later on he he.

credit to www.digaruk.com

*Cinta* Classic yet no frills. White, so 'suci' looking kitchen. Simple straight lines. But imagine the amount of kunyit, rempah, kicap that my kids adore......... maybe not. And all the tumis menumis......

credit to senihias.com

Or this. Black. I am on two extremes, yes I know it. Also *cinta* this one. Simple. The only thing ai tak setuju is kaler sinki tu. Er.. yellow? But then again, this is someone else's house :D Ai kenot setuju or tak setuju hihi.

This is, or rather was my backyard. Wet area. My 8yo 13kg washing machine which I cinta so much. And a sink. Sink will go. Washing machine will be placed somewhere else as this our kitchen area will be extended including here.

Progress 8 days later. Allready half walled-up. Earlier they dug 3 deep holes along the edge where my pagar used to be.

Where I used to dry my laundry. We installed an awning along this area for that purpose when we first moved in way back in June 2003 (yep, I am sentimental like that).

Progress 8 days later. Huge I tell you.. my window. 6 feet wide. That slot is going to be a bay-window.. been drooling for that for years! Bolehlah ai letak pokok bunga kat bay tu nanti and if I'm lucky they will last for few months hihi..

I don't know what the term is. Some kind of aluminium-ly looking sheet on the roof frame. A layer before installing the actually clay roofing. We picked dark brown.Tengok hujung sheet tu yang terlipat sikit tu? It irritates me just by looking at that, feels like climbing up and smoothen it ha ha.

From 8th September to date, dah banyak progression. The whole dapur dah walled up and floor cemented. Roof installed. I had meant to photograph bit-by-bit on the renovation but let's just say up to now, I have failed. Sampai rumah balik keje pun dah gelap :P

Ya Allah, permudahkanlah urusan kami.

of One Week Renovation

Until our renovation process is over, I am gonna bore you with it :D.

This, by any means is not written (and shall not be written) as showing off. Merely documenting for our keepsakes. If anyone asked (which I already received aplenty of them) if it's gonna be 'hebat', my answer would be, a house is just wall, roofs and beams. It is us who live in it that makes it hebat of not.

2nd September 2012 (Sunday), a day after we moved out. One day before surrendering our house key to contractor. Photo taken from sliding door, at left side, overlooking at what once I can call our garden. Pokok kemboja tu initially was just my height. Now, dah sampai ke tingkat atas tingginya. That, will have to go.And the wood deck and pergola. They will have to go too (sobs). I remember 5 years back masa we all buat garden tu. I was in 1st trimester with Adam. Tengah morning sickness yang teruk. Kids used to have tea kat deck tu.

Photo taken from right side, overlooking our gate, which once I scratched my car against. Current driveway can accomodate two cars front and back. After this, side by side. The building will be extended sampai ke rendered cement tu.This very porch also seen piece of ceiling jatuh hempap kereta kecil ku.. leaving a minor dent on the bumper.

My jiran is still undergoing renovation process. As seen, dia dah ada buat pagar so we'll just tiru his pagar on the other side. The goes my wooden fence but that saves almost 1/2 of cost for pagar.

Nampak tu siling yang berlubang? Dekat lampu tu? Itulah yang jatuh. Luckily it was my car. If it's Tebby's, dunno la. You know, men and their car.. they're romantically involved.

Main door currently kat tengah, we shall have it at the side later. And that pintu, as if tau-tau aje,.. dah rosak. Tak boleh bukak katup. For about 2 months we used the sliding door to get in and out.

The front, photo taken last Saturday, around a week after work commenced. Nothing much eh? Majority is taking place at backyard actually. We already have tiang, beams and even dinding dapur at the back. (and yet I am updating rumah belah depan ha ha) And atap too, already pasang. Eventually we opted for dark brown clay roof. That shall match our open-carcass porch later InsyaAllah.

The mess kat our porch now. They've dug 2 holes right and left for new tiang. Exactly why we moved out of the house. I can't imagine my jiran staying in with all these happening in their porch area.... tabah betul they ols. Seriously, I can't imagine myself nak sapu habuk, mop lantai.. everyday!

See that boy marching in? On right side? Tak dapat main pasir pantai, pasir rumah pun jadikkkk!! Sampai kena sound dengan Pakcik baju oren tu baru dia stop. Pakcik tu is like Site Manager la. He's over 70 already actually. Before 8.00am dah sampai buat kerja.

We pray to Allah that it's going to be as planned without major hiccup and InsyaAllah by new year 2013 we'll move in back. This is something we've been wanting to do for years, and now, having sorted things out financially and logistically, work has commenced 3rd September 2012.

of Eid @VPO

Burp! Alhamdulillah :D

of Being a Chembeng Boy

This morning. Like any other weekdays, park keta depan taska. Tebby walked Kakak to school. Iman tolong punggah beg masuk taska. Adam ambik barang-barang dia. Then he emerged back, muka chembeng, air mata dah berkolam.

Mak Nor kata hari ni pakai baju raya... (dia pakai baju tadika macam biasa).
Tambah dramatik, airmata pun menitik.

** semalam masa pick up dari taska dia ada sebut Ustaz ada bagi 'surat raya' Warna hijau tau Ummi surat tu **

Alas, he forgot. Ai pun forgot. But this morning he woke up extra early, extra happy, extra chirpy. Maybe he remembered something was going to take place but he too busy sorting out which toys to bring to even remember what exactly was going on.

Sebelum kolam kat mata tu pecah berderai disertai guruh dan ribut petir, kami putuskan - patah balik belakang. He insisted to come along. Balik rumah, bukak his dressers. Oh noo!! Mana baju raya?? *sambil pandang stacks of boxes tepi dinding* We have just moved in last weekend remember? Korek dresser bawah sekali jumpa baju raya past years. I coaxed him into Iman's greenish grey baju melayu. Baju Iman when he was about Adam's age. A tad bit loose but okaylah. Sorry Adam, all wrinkled up, tak sempat nak gosok.

Donned baju melayu. Siap bersongkok. Senyum simpul.

Sampai pintu rumah...
Ustaz kata bawak kuih raya punnn boleeeehhhhh Ummmiiiiiiii 

Ala, kita takde kuih raya Dik *Ummi tipu sebenarnya sebab nak cepat go ofis*
Adaaaaaaa...... Saya tau ada kat dapur. Yang Abah dapat duluuuu tuuuuuu......

Adoilah.

Pegi dapur pulak cari kuih raya. Tutup pintu rumah. Kunci pagar. Berdesup ke taska. Ada orang tu senyum sampai telinga. Sampai taska, Ustaz depan pagar sambut budak-budak.

Ustazzzzzzz... sayaaaa pakaiii baju rayaaa. Sayaaaaa bawak kuih raaayaaaaa...

:P

Jadi mak pak orang memang macam tu. Kalah dengan airmata anak-anak..
1-0 ye Dik..

of Keeping Fit

My husband really jogs these days. Weekends, daytime. Weekdays, after Maghrib or Isya', depending on time we reach home. I've been complaining to him that dia sorang-sorang je la sihat nanti. I'll rot faster than him that I do not get as much exercise.

So, last weekend we went jogging. Kat Lake Valley, near our house. (Gambar atas tu bukan rumah kami, harap maklum) It was such a long long long (bunyi cengkerik) time we last jogged here (in fact in anywhere else jugak ha ha). Rasanya seround tasik ni about 3km. My elder two, MasyaAllah, they ran with bursting energy and in no time dah sudah seround. By the time I finished doing my lap, they were happily swinging already! Apart from my flabs, fats and whatnots that slowed me down, barely halfway through, Adam decided he needed me to dukung him.

3/4 through, Tebby came to our rescue. Nampak ajer abahnya datang, elok pulak si Adam turun berlari. Ceh! Tak best kot berlari dengan omaknya eh? Serve me right. Komplen lagi tak cukup exercise, sekali dapat peluang, siap masuk kategori 'lari dukung anak' lagi..

of Being Worried..

Semalam flash-flood di KL akibat hujan lebat. Secara spesifiknya menghala ke selatan. My friend updated he FB, rasanya 3-4 jam jugak dia struck on the road. Some sampai rumah dah midnight. Those yang berkeluarga, yang anak-anak dah sampai rumah atau di nursery, alhamdulillah. Walaupun mungkin panjang muncung merajuk ambik lambat, mereka selamat di rumah/tadika.Within compound of safety, InsyaAllah.

Yang dijemput ibubapa macamana? Menunggu di pagar sekolah sampai tengahmalam kah? Guard sekolah ambil kesah kah? Ada guru berbaik hati temankan mereka kah? MasyaAllah. Memikirkan hal itu saja dah menyesakkan! Makan kah? Minum kah? Kesian sangat-sangat.

Alhamdulillah semalam kami ambik route lain balik rumah. The other route yang kami occasionally use memang congested. Jam 6.30 langit gelap macam dah hampir pukul 8.00 malam. Sampai kawasan taska sekitar 6.45 petang. Hujan lebat. Sebak teringatkan Iman yang sekolah sesi petang. Sekolah habis 6.30 petang. Basahkah dia? Masih di sekolahkah? Sedang berjalan pulang dengan kawan-kawankah dalam hujan lebat? Lega bila disambut dengan senyum simpul. Dah siap mandi. Cuma kasut sekolah basah. Syukur. Kakak dah sampai dari sekolah agama jam 5.45 petang. Adam dah siap sedia nak balik.

Itu saya. Bayangkan perasaan ibubapa yang tersangkut di jalan hingga tengahmalam dengan anak-anak yang menunggu di pagar sekolah? Dengan tiada henfon untuk dihubungi? Ya Allah, lindungilah anak-anak itu semua!

Kepada cikgu/guard yang berbaik hati mengawal dan menyelia anak-anak semalam, terima kasih tak terhingga. Saya pasti ada yang berhati mulia. Kepada Nor, pengasuh taska anak-anak saya, terima kasih juga kerana tak kira hujan tak kira panas tetap akan pastikan anak-anak asuhan selamat pergi sekolah dan kembali ke taska.

of Crabbing Good Times @Pantai Batu Burok

The kids love beach as much as I do although I have stopped doing things I did before i.e. getting wet in seawater. These days I just sit on the sand and watch them having good times.

Pantai Batu Burok.Not very far from my inlaw's.The kids beg (and nag) us to bring them there everytime we go balik kampung.We can't go out as much as we did now that my PIL has passed away last January and that my MIL is not very well herself.

Kite flying is easy here at the beach :D Lucky thing yang 3 beradik tu tak ambik pot pasal lelayang that day. If not 'kchennngggg' out duit raya beli lelayang.

They are more interested main air. As Adam puts it 'Besarnyaaaaaa swimmingggg poooolll ni Ummiiii' :D No matter how I have cautioned them not to wet themselves too much, kids will always be kids.

Adam - mocking me *sigh* when I asked him to get out from the water. Cheeky I tell you, this boy. A ball of bursting energy (and fun!)

 

 

 

Told ya, they had some crabbing good times! :D

of Relocating

We have fully moved to house next door last Saturday. The house is identical to ours. Placement of rooms, bathrooms and whatnots are the same. Except they have larger kitchen. We basically just 'cut' and 'paste' our things into the house. First morning in the rented house - I woke up disorientated not knowing where I was and wondering big time where my wardrobe was!

Sounds easy peasy huh? 

Well, not quite.
Actually it was not!! 

It was a back-breaking, muscle straining, head aching experience. And no 11.5ft wardrobe like I used to have (used to have because today they tore it down.. sobs) No water-heater (brrrrr!!!). And the hobs are faulty too. But anyway, the fact that it's just house next door, alhamdulillah. We have actually relocated our kitchen-things on Friday but did our cooking in our house.

Minyak mana?
Oh.. dah pindah rumah sebelah.
*ambik minyak masak*
Teh mana?
Oh, kat rak.
Rak rumah sebelah.
*ambik teh*

:P

Astro guy came on Friday for relocation. Called them up via 1-300-82-3838 on Tuesday. Wednesday no one called me up to fix an appointment. By Thursday noon I was fed-up enough that I have them a return call. Only to be given a contact number for me to call to fix an appointment. Not the kind of service I expect from Astro. I gave them a bit of lecture and told them there was no way for me to call up their technician. And by 5.00pm I got my appointment date and time. Call center blamed technician. Technician blamed Call Center. Yada yada yada. Actually what happened in between was not my problem. Well, it was in a way. But to pass your customer around is not something you should do, Astro.

Astro guy, Lip is doing his thing on our roof. Relocated to roof next door. Lucky thing wiring already got so just connect to the dish. Relocation FOC - for beyond. Anywhere in Malaysia tapi let them do 100%. Jangan usik decorder, wire, and dish tu.

Oh ya, Lip came an hour late :P

of 12th Anniversary

31st August 2012

thanks Yang for 12 years of togetherness (and more to come, InsyaAllah)

dua belas tahun lepas,
makan kongsi sepinggan - jimat katanya

dua belas tahun kemudian,
makan kongsi sepinggan - cinta katanya!


:D

of Pleasant Surprise!

Bunga!

I am ecstatic. Thanks Yang for the beautiful bouquet. Truly a pleasant surprise as this er... does not happen often :D Keep em coming baby (sempat lagi tu hi hi) Too happy that I can't wait to blog about it tomorrow :D

I'll be 38 tomorrow.
Will also mark our 12 years of marriage.

Ai lebiu Yang.

of Sorting Out (toys)

Toys!

We're moving out this coming weekends. Renting house next door for the next 3 or 4 months while our house undergoing major renovation. Not wanting to punggah unwanted things to house next door and later back into our (renovated - insyaAllah) house, spring cleaning it is then.

We do it bit by bit and last weekend, I decided it was a day for the boys' toys.

I never had this much toys when I was little! Thing is, their interest and choice of toys sync with ones of En Tebby so you know la what happen kan. Support yang mantap - morally and financially he he. When Kakak was young, her toy-phase was much shorter before she switched into books. By primary she was done with Barbie and whatnots. She still has spots for soft toys now but not as much as the boys with robots, superheroes et cetera. Iman still buys at 8yo, whatmore Adam whom is 4yo. Anddddd you should see the father's collection of comics.. er... better put - graphic novels. Boys, they never grow up.............

Adam was supervising the process. Making sure we keep what he wants to keep and we throw what he doesn't want. Although I must admit we secretly threw away some of the things he wanted to keep :D Why la want to simpan Doodle Pro that you can't anymore doodle on? Right? (I must find excuse to keep Kakak's baby-gym tho ha ha.. because nobody will want to lie down practicing motor skills anymore while salivating at the hung toys right?)

After throwing away, every each is sorted out according to categories - superheroes, matchbox cars, trucks, transformers, wild life, blocks, beads, play-dough thingy. Tiny miny things were put into zip-lock bags. Everything went in respective box. Puas hati.

Supervisor, with the toys. From 11 boxes to 9. Phew. 2 boxes less. Jadi lahhh kan. 8 boxes were moved to house next door the next day. Leaving just one, filled with their latest interest - Hero Factory.

Malam tu, Supervisor boy cried out loud wanting Optimus Prime (which is at house next door already). And I found a bag of toys hung kat sebelah dalam pintu bilik and some more hung at sebelah luar pintu tersebut. I felt like crying out loud as well ha ha! Haihhh!! Looks like we have 10 boxes now!

'Tahlil Kubur' @my Kampung

Every Eid, as far back as my memory can recall, there's this occasion of 'Tahlil Kubur'. Every 2nd day of Eid, rain or shine :D The tradition has been passed on from generation to generation. As the name goes, it is held in the graveyard area. Tahlil as sedekah to our loved ones that have left us. And sedekah duit for the kids. Though on rare occasion there's also budak yang ada misai oredi pun sama-sama tadah tangan :D :D

The crowd seen here is basically are all my relatives - some way or another. Both my parents are from this kampung. I used to have both grandparents here in this kampung. Uncles, aunties, cousins, second cousins, atuk sedara, nenek sedara - here. Now that I am grown up (and sadly to mention, grown apart) - I hardly see them except this time of the year. Where fimiliar strangers smile and pat you on the back. You smile back but can't recall who's who.

The 'council', or tribe leader hihi. Old relatives whom you must nod at and lower your back when passing in front of them. They led the ceremony. The one standing in blue is my uncle by marriage. He's married to my mother half sister. Used to be Penghulu Kampung. Jangan main-main tau.. he reminded us not to burn the suratkabar (yang buat alas duduk) as to save our Mother Earth. Just let them rot on the ground.

Yang berdiri tu are those entrusted with coins and notes to be passed to the children (seated in rows). I remember when I was seating down with my friends (whom are also relatives!) waiting for coins many many many years ago, we hardly got even RM2.00 or ($2.00 at that time, before they change it to RM). There were not so many shops around. We just spent few coins buying gula-gula, cekedis and whatnots. The balance shall be duit belanja sekolah in days to come. That day this year, each of my children collected almost RM10 each.

Iman! He loves making faces whenever I try to shoot photos. Looking at how we bentang the suratkhabar and later leisurely sit down while waiting for ceremony to begin, he asked why we were having a picnic there on the graveyard and where were the food..

As for the children, maybe what matter most is the amount of money collected. (speaking from experience anyway!). To us the adults, after the ceremony adjourned until next year 2nd day of Eid, we go and visit graves of loved ones, sedekahkan al-Fatihah. It reminds me of how time really flies and now that I am nearing 40. When I was small, I used to visit the graves along with my uncles and grandparents but now I am visiting theirs along with my children...

Unknotted @Tanamera Sooka Sentral

Took a half-day off today. Need to re-energize my tired (and over-stuffed) body from Eid (eating) frenzy :D Tanamera Sooka Sentral it was. Booked beforehand during Ramadhan (sounds like I knew I was going to stuff myself!) 

Ginger oil body massage. Followed by herbal body steam. Scrubbed with ginger & kaffir lime then bodywrap with the same concoction. Bath and floral body soak. I was burping away!

Kak, urat simpul-simpul ni. Mesti buat banyak kerja hari tu.
Yarright dear. I perah santan 4 besen besar okay.

Came back feeling unknotted and unbloated. Bliss....