Back From Langkawi (And Broke)

Landed in Langkawi International Airport

I went to Langkawi 16-18 December 2008. Now I am back. And I am broke. I have a huge dent in my pocket. I mean HUUUGGEEEEE. To sum my pocket-denting adventure, suffice to say that I disembarked KLIA with just a backpack and came back with another bags. Beg kembar 3 okay. Tebby gave me pocket money which I spent every cent and I added some from my own provision.

It was a business trip actually. But let's not go there.

Between sessions, we managed to cramped our adventures to Pekan Kuah. I came back with RM200++ worth of chocolates, a set of Corelle, 3 boxes of Queen Anne, some kitchen items from Tefal, a bag of kain pelikat, batik and t shirts. And 2 cute fridge magnets.

The resort where I stayed whipped up goooodddd meals. There was one day they served Udang Masak Lemak, Ayam Kicap with ulam-ulam and sambal-sambal. It was hard to stop eating. That, could compensate the faulty aircond that left me sweating to sleep on the first night there. (The next day the set was replaced with a brand new one. We, officiated the asset, so to speak) During our outings, we had Laksa and scrumptious Nasi Lemak. Sedap dan mahal. The price standard KL okay. People, who were tired from shooping spree swarmed the kiosk and we had to wait for some minutes before getting a table and seats.

Before leaving the resort (very near to scenic Tanjung Malai), I took some photos at nearby beach. It was heavenly to be away from the hustle and bustle of KL. Scenic. It was a saddening experience having to leave my kids behind but Tebby told me I should be enjoying myself, given the chance. Yes right. On the 2nd night I slept the night thru. Siaran langsung terus menerus okay. Sampai lah the alarm went off.

My flight was postponed 2 times. We left Langkawi an hour later that we should. Sempat lagi makcik beli perfume bagai kat Airport. And a bag-ful of sotong kering kiriman En Tebby.

As much as it was good to be in Langkawi, it is good to be back home as well. Chaotic and tiring but I am happy to be back with my family.

Hari Shopping Sedunia

Pinch me.

I withdrew RM1k yesterday for the kids' nursery and kindy and school bus and sekolah agama and some for my weekly provision. And yet I spent them on 3 tudung today. In addition to my other 2 tudung I bought yesterday. And,.. err... 2 blouses.

Congratulate me people.

I received a an upgrading letter few weeks back. Don't they say good surprises come in small packages? It came with the grade and new salary scale and what else.. arrears.. woohoo. Sebenarnya even arrears tak bank-in lagi pun, I've started spending. Laa la laa laa. That explains the above spending okay. But wait, I'm still eyeing for bigger and finer things in life. Not a gold band with large chunk of diamond on it. That, I'll pass (unless ada orang nak bagi lah kan.. kan.. kann..) Makcik nak beli sofa. Nak ganti yang kusam, konyok, koyak 3-seater kat rumah tu. We're thinking of that cosy sofa with L shape attachment. Clean cut and can withstand jumping on, running over and most importantly washable. I mean dalam mesih basuh okay. I am a mother of small kids. Sure ada hak termuntah, terlukis, tertumpah. Dan macam-macam 'ter' lagi lah. That's why nak beli hak practical dan tahan lasak. IKEA? Roselle? Idea please. Budget not more than 3.5K. Possibly lagi murah dari tu so I can chip in a coffee table as well. Fabric please. No leather. Tak suka. (Kalau suka pun, tak mampu, unless I grow my own cows).

Okay people. Chow chin chow dulu.

Pinggan Putih Kembali di Amcorp Mall!

UPDATE BERGAMBAR...

Perhatian kepada peminat-peminat pinggan ala-ala modern, putih melepak gitu..

Saya baru balik dari Amcorp. Ada sale kat foyer tu, lagi hebat dari yang dulu. Squares, rectangles, rounds, ovals - macam2 bentuk dan saiz. Nafsu nafsi ku menyuruh beli but maybe tunggu dulu lah kot.

Anyway.

The wait is for the whites. Tadi, saya tak beli the whites. Beli ala-ala chinese set. Just a few small bowls, squares (again?) and 3 big bowls yang amat sesuai untuk makan megi he he..

Gambor akan diload kemudian okies.

ps - sikit hari lagi buleh jadi spokeperson for Amcorp la pulak!

Little Muhammad - A Bit Of Preparation

I hope my old scale is wrong. Stepped on it last night and know what, I piled another 3 kg within the last one month. Tebby, who was all silent on my eating habit for the past 5 months, has started to gear up and watches my diet. I know he means well as 80%-90% of what I eat, usually ended up to the babies. This is based on my past pregnancies. Excessive eating and weight-gain may result me end up in the OT and not LDR! Scary huh!

I am all itchy-and-scratchy but trying hard to refrain from scarring myself. I have upgraded myself into old nursing-b** and I have started leaking yellow subtance for a week or two already. The next appointment will be this Friday and I shall update more later. Can't wait to see our Little Muhammad. (Tebby's choice - Muhammad Adam, my choice - Muhammad Abdullah -> haven't really decided tho) He's all kicking and moving and at times he sends me right to the loo!

I'm done shopping for mittens-booties and pairs of pyjama and bodysuits. Well, I hope I'm done but who knows if I shop again kan.. kan.. kan.. Apa kata kita cerita pasal shopping? Yess... retail theraphy. This 'event' happened many weeks before. Just did not have the mood to blog about how it depleted my account hu hu!!

As planned, went shopping on Friday, weeks ago. Originally, I took a day off but then something urgent and important came up that I spent the whole morning in the office. I might as well take just 1/2 a day off, so did I. Tu pun nyaris-nyaris tak jadi sebab hujan lebat sangat time lunch tu so had my lunch first with Sikulat, Zarid, Bi and Lela before pushing my luck for a cab at nearly 1.30p.m. At almost 2.00p.m, I was at Midvalley, all set for a spree.

Aussino was completely unplanned for. They had a sale near Jusco entrance. I stopped and looked and shopped. Bought plain-dye pillow-cases. I love plains! RM10.50 for a pack-of-2. Bought 3 packs. They were selling 3-in-a-set towel for RM49.90, buy one free one, so I had these also. Kakak later claimed the towels are hers so.. those are hers now.. sigh. Bedlinens... hemmm... I just stood at the shelves thinking. First, did I really need new linens? Secondly, am I really an Aussino type? The answers were, no and no. I did not need new bedlinens and I am not an Aussino fan. I still love my Macy's most. Subtle, understated, perhaps a bit dull. Hey, that sounds like me!

Kakak immediately claimed ownership on all these!

Next, proceeded with my original plan. To buy things for Little Muhammad. I am done with mittens-booties. I was there for clothes. I first ransaked Jusco's baby department and bought 10-pairs of long-sleeve suit. Anakku, Pigeon, Pride & Joy and ntah apa-apa lagi lah. Da** expensive these days. Hardly things tagged below RM10. There was a 'lambak' kinda of things but to get one pair was hard enough. Let alone finding the right size and I was getting tired of standing up. I ended up buying things on the shelves. Whites and blues, greens and beiges. Sungguh geram with all the girly things. Waraskah saya kalau selepas ini berusaha for a girl pulak hanya kerana baju-baju budak perempuan yang sungguh cantik?? Oh tidak. Tebby is gonna faint if I tell him this. (In fact, I told him. He said 'we don't bet on that..')

My next spot was Kamdar. Just when I thought everything was taken care of, I still need to furnish things for Kakak. Barely 2 weeks in primary, her baju kurung already koyak! And I feel I need to add-up her collections. Tak larat nak memberus weekdays. 4 more baju kurungs. This time I bought el-cheapo ones, priced at RM11.00 each. Sarong are sold at RM24 each, more or less the same with other places. Kain ela was tagged at RM4.50 per-metre. To me, sarong are easy-peasy to make so I bought kain ela to top up her dark-blue sarongs for sekolah kebangsaan and green for sekolah agama.

Then off to Mom's Care, nak mencari onesies or bodysuits but none really attracted me so I went a bit further to Mothercare. I knew I would get something there. Yesss... baju-katak! I love babies in baju-katak especially those with fat, chubby thighs. I got Little Muhammad 3 sleeveless-bodysuit and another 3 bodysuit with short sleeve. Also looked for towels but they sell 3-in-a-pack for over RM100! Better look somewhere else. Yes, those were adorable, cute and attractive but alhamdulillah I came to my senses! And yes, had I bought those, Tebby is going to faint!

The spree did not end there. I browsed through WOC next for short-sleeve-with-short-suits. Nothing much left. Maybe masa cuti sekolah hari tu dah habis kena borong kot. There were 2 areas 'lambak' but I just did not have the heart nor the energy to pick and choose from the whole lot. Left with just 2 pairs.

A quick glance showed that I had one hour more before Tebby come and join me for dinner. I might as well just buy everything under clothes-category in my shopping list. I literally dragged myself to Metrojaya. They have better and newer collections, displayed in a more tidy way than Jusco's so I didn't have much problem selecting. Little Muhammad gets 3 more short-sleeve-with short and 5-short-sleeve-with-long-pants. And 2 bath towels.

Shopping bags hanging from both hands, I dragged myself slowly back to Jusco for Asar prayer. All tired but satisfied. I don't know when is going to be the next time I can go shopping in peace (read: without the kids) so with all the purchases, I was (and still am) satisfied and happy and relieved. The cost? Don't ask. It's more than preparing for Kakak even! Tebby came around a little bit after 5.30p.m and headed straight to Sushi King for light dinner.

long pants with long sleeve suits.

short pants with short sleeve suits

long pants with short sleeve suits


bodysuits

towels

So, expectant moms out there, are you not motivated? he.. he..

Kita Hanya Merancang..

Setelah sekian lama, saya update blog masakan saya. Ada a few recipe yang dimasukkan. Bolehlah melawat di my-pancake-life.

Saya tak jadi ke Langkawi. Perancangan dari seawal Julai 2007 tak dapat dilaksanakan. Kita hanya merancang, yang selebihnya ketentuan Allah kan. Saya dijadualkan terbang ke sana pada 23/12/2007. Booking tiket, accomodation semua dah buat. Iman pulak tak sihat lebih kurang seminggu. Tak sampai hati saya nak tinggalkan dia. Bukan 2 atau 3 hari tapi 6 hari. Mujur ada kawan se ofis tolong carikan orang yang sudi menggantikan tempat saya. Last2 minute gitu, susah juga. Kena pulak time2 orang bercuti menghabiskan annual leave. Dan kebanyakkannya dah ada perancangan sendiri. Dah book percutian months in advance. Takkan nak kensel pulak kan.

Makanya, in short, kursus tersebut saya tak hadir. Hajat nak shopping pun dibatalkan. Sebenarnya dah terlanjur ke sana tu, saya nak top up Corelle Souffle Blue saya dan menggantikan skillet/pan yang lama-lama tu dengan Maxim/Tefal. Maybe some crystal bowls or even matching cutleries with my pinggan mangkuk. Mungkin juga dah ada niat melencong gitu, saya tak dapat pegi. Apa pun, alhamdulillah Iman dah sihat sekarang. Kebetulan pula sekarang ni dalam proses nak tutup akaun. Agak sibuk di ofis.

Namun begitu *ehem*, sekembalinya Tebby dari kerja last week, dengan cerianya dia menyampaikan bahawa di Amcorp Mall ada jual pinggan-mangkuk dengan design yang memang saya idam-idamkan. Putih polos dengan bentuk 4 atau 3 segi atau berbiku2. Kira modern design lah. Tengahari tadi, kami ke sana dan memborong a few. Not really a few lahhh.. about 17pcs at RM189.09. Bukan setakat yang 4 atau 3 segi, yang lonjong pun ada juga. Items yang saya beli semuanya at 70% discount. Sib baik hari ni bawak ViVa so limited space. Kalau bawak Optra, harus saya borong jugak yang lain-lain! Sampaikan saya terfikir-fikir kot2 ada jemputan kawin, boleh saya belikan sebagai hadiah. Cantik-cantik. Ada candle holder (a set of 3) with long handle of different height, memang saya suka betul. Tapi mengenangkan anak-anak saya yang suka explore benda-benda macam tu, apatah lagi kaca, saya batalkan saja niat tu.

So, meh tengok gambar pinggan mangkuk baru saya..

the squares. deep and shallow. i like!

the deep triangles. i also like!

the rectangles.

the ovals (oblongs?)
paling bawah tu sesuai untuk buat pie or custard.
yang tengah tu not too shallow and not too deep.

atas sekali ada resemblence cam bath-tub, but I like!

Surviving The Hike In Prices - Do We?

Went to Tesco Kajang for groceries last Sunday. It's not that I really wanted to go after just recovering from viral fever but have literally almost nothing in spare. So had to go. Like always, I was praying the kids would behave while we do our shopping. Bribed Iman with 2 cheap matchbox cars and he stayed in the cart all the way through. Thank God! As for Kakak, we kept her busy with the shopping list.

But that was not the point. We gawked to see the hike in prices. For example Iman's 6-in-a-pack Dutch Lady Choc Milk is priced at RM7.80. They used to be RM5.++ and we used to consider RM6.++ as mahal already. The formula Iman used to feed on is priced at almost RM70. It used to be much much cheaper back then. Same goes to Kakak's Enfagrow. I thought of buying some Italian Herbs but when I saw it was tagged at RM8.90 (I used to buy similar herbs from the same brand at around RM7.++ before), I decided to just forget about it. Kraft stick-cheese is sold at RM8.00 per pack of 6. Dedulu it was around RM6.++ ajek kalau tak silap so the kids had to settle with that usual slice ones only. And with RM100 in your hands at a wet market, you don't get much as before, don't you think? Aiyohh... And I haven't started on price increase on kiddy's education these days (yet). I have long forgetten about branded things for myself. Except for my Biotherm perhaps :P. Perhaps the only consolation we got that day was a RM3+.++ red Huggies for Iman. (We once bought that same pack for almost RM60.00 years ago!)

But I'm sticking with my Canon, just in case you are wondering!

20 Ramadhan 1428H

Diam tak diam dah 20 hari berpuasa (saya 15 ajek so far - semalam kantoi lagi, muntah dari pagi). Biasanya bila dah 10 hari terakhir ni, cepat aje rasanya kan. Tambah pulak, kerja berlambak kat ofis nih. Sabar....

Dan akhirnya, saya berjaya mengheret diri sendiri membeli baju raya anak-anak dan mak anak dan pak anak. Dek sebab lembek longlai Ramadhan kali ni, saya memang hilang mood nak buat preparation. Sampaikan kakak saya marah, dia kata 'engko tu takpelah takde mood raya, budak-budak mesti nak beraya sedikit sebanyak'. Tapi kan.... tapi kan... when I started, tu diaaaaa....... nak tau 'hasil tangkapan' saya so far..

[1] 2 pasang baju untuk Athirah. Like she requested, sepasang baju kurung warna purple. Saya beli di PSA. Lagi sepasang ialah long-pants MIKI and long-sleeve t-shirt KIKO. Except baju kurung, lenlain semua ada discount hebat. Tak lalu saya nak membeli baju budak-budak sampai nak mencecah ratus ringgit sehelai. Oh ya, anak dara tu mintak dibeli rantai matching dengan baju kurungnya!

[2] 2 pasang baju untuk Iman. Dia tak request apa-apa sebab masih belum reti nak demand-demand ni! Sehelai seluar 3/4 sama kaler dengan seluar Athirah cap MIKI (got discount), a shirt from IQ and sepasang t-shirt and seluar from cap JUSCO.

[3] 1 pasang baju kurung riau untuk saya dari PSA. Sama kaler dan material dengan Athirah. Cuma saya punya lebih vogue gitu, kelip kelap dengan batu permata bertaburan he.. he.. siap dapat matching tudung and brooch free lagi tu..

[4] 1 helai shirt grain-neck for Tebby. Toksah pujuk lah dia pakai baju melayu sepasang time raya-raya ni. Mesti pakai shirt (lepas semayang tukar t-shirt pulok). Last dia pakai baju melayu sepasang masa kami bernikah 7 tahun lepas.

[5] 16 tabung tart nenas! 2 untuk kami, 5 untuk staff saya dan 9 untuk cikgu/pengasuh di Atfal Sayang/Excel.

[6] 4 bekas biskut dengan nama yang pelik-pelik.

[7] 2 biji kek lapis prune dan another 2 lapis masam manis.

Katakanlah mood saya bershopping ni wujud dari 1st day puasa -> *saya pengsan* ->*tebby double pengsan* !!!

Tale of Retail Therapy & Tale of Kids

Like planned, me and Tebby were on leave yesterday. With 2 bouncing kids, it is almost impossible to have a calm, quiet time together, just the two of us. At times, we just wait for them to fall asleep. Next thing we know, it's 5.30 in the morning already and routine starts. So, we had a good time yesterday. When it was over, I was aching all over and Tebby was like 'oh? I did that, didn't I?' Yes dear, you finally shopped for lots of things for yourself. None other than yourself. Never mind the RM, your office shirts and pants are gonna last long. Errr... except if you expand yourself somemore. As for me, I didn't get things as much as I had planned. Just 3 office pants. I could not even believe that I really really underspent my budget. I can always resume from where I left, eh? *evil*

Anyway.

I miss Kakak so much. From our teleconversation, I can tell from her voice that she's really really enjoying herself. I do not know how I should feel. I want her to be happy. At the same time I wish she'd be a bit sad missing me. She's the only grandchild that insists on spending school holidays with her grannies. Now, how sweet can that be, right. Meantime, Iman is having fun conquering me. He, and Kakak have their daily tele-coversation as well. I could hear Kakak shrieking with laughter when Iman babbles about 'thing' and when he answers Kakak's questions. And I also heard last night, she told Iman when she's back in KL, they should insist me and Tebby to bring them to toy shop and get them some toys. Yahh, apart form being hopelessly 'sweet', she can be scheming as well..

Okie dokie, sharing a few more photos of flowers. Tema keladi pulak..