Laman Lagi!

Laman la lagi you olsss!! Boring huh? Nak buat cemana, this is my life for now so just bear with it. Seberat-berat mata memandang, berat lagi bahu memikul OR it may be a totally opposite situation. If you see me enjoying myself doing all these, yes, I am. But like I had said before, I may change my mind in few months to come heh heh.

So, introducing new members of the laman. Ni satu bahagian. Yang barunya ialah pasu bulat rendah kaler hijau itu. I loikeee sangat. Jatuh cinta pandang pertama. Pokok dalam tu pokok lama, cuma dah re-structure semula.

Ni plak pandangan sebelah lagi satu. Yang barunya ialah pokok pegaga dengan pokok ros putih tu. Tak sure kalau pegaga jenis ni boleh makan ke idak. Daun cantik, bulat-bulat bentuknya. Pasu comot ya amat ya kawan-kawan. Rustik la konon..

Ros putih ni si Kakak yang nak. I prefer other color, kuning ke, merah ke, dark pink ke. Tapi dia nak putih so putih it is then. Memang ambik pasu yang paling rimbun bunganya. Kalau ambik yang gondol, belum tentu berbunga bila sampai kat tangan saya! Beli dah siap berpasu gitu.

Ni plak bahagian dekat pagar depan. Previously ada pokok dedaunan yang dual-tone tu.. And ada sebaris pokok iris yang sungguh cantik. Pastu semuanya mati sebab kurang kasih sayang dan perhatian. Pokok pun cam orang gak ye kawan-kawan. Ada keperluan emosi selain kena kasi minum air dan makan baja.


Belah ni lah yang dulunya ada pokok dual tone tu. Mati. Then saya letak batu-batu kat sepanjang alur ni. Sudahnya sebab boring petang-petang la ni, saya tanam pokok renek ni kat situ. Memula beli 5 pokok.. tak cukup. Separuh je cover. Then beli lagi 6 pokok. En Tebby tak terkata apa dah... Ni masih kecik amat lagi. Pulak tu si Adam dok pijak-pijak suka suki dia ajer isk.

Bahagian ni pulak, betul-betul kat tepi pagar. Dulu ada barisan pokok iris bunga kuning. Sebab banyak yang mati, pastu yang tinggal pon rupa tak semenggah, saya cabut semua, ganti dengan hak ni. Belah ni seksa sikit nak gali tanah sebab dekat dengan pagar. Tapi En Tebby dengan gigihnya melayan wife nya yang tengah kemaruk berkebun ni, galilah jugak. Nak cari batu besar bubuh kat depan barisan bunga tu lah pulak. Tapi... pokok tak cukup, ada space sikit lagi. Kat situ lagi susah nak gali sebab terkepit dengan pagar dan satu slab batu yang berat, susah nak alih. So, letak aje bunga dalam pasu. Beli sepasu, masih tak cukup. Ada part yang rongak lagi tu ha... Jap lagi nak singgah beli sepokok lagi.

Yang ni pulak hak Iman. Iyer... dia punya pokok. Katanya Iman nak kaler perper (purple).. layan je lah. Tapi nama aje pokok Iman, tukang jaganya Ummi ni jugaklah. Samalah si pokok ros putih tu, acik gaklah jadi mak angkatnyaaa....

Kalau gini gayanya, agak-agak lepas setahun apa jadik kat laman Kak Mon yaaa??

Gardening La Pulakk!!

My 9th day of TSAHM. Not really staying home but staying away from the office as a matter of fact. This new thing (of TSAHM) bores me and excites me at the same time.

So, what have I been up to today? Garderning! Among the thing I love doing. Jom tengok gambar..

After fetching up Iman from Ampang Hilir, we made a small u-turn at a T-junction near Cheras Perdana to get to this small nursery. Small but enough. The name's ARTECH Home DECOR. As what is written on the signboard, it sells plants, water feature, garden's ornamental, wood carvings and some other items. Dekat belah-belah depan tu, all you can see is pokok-pokok, too beautiful to refuse. Bila masuk dalam, banyak ornamental for gardens yang sangatttlaaaahh menawan daku and finally wood carvings for wall deco. The one I like fetches RM1.8k in price. So, just forget it lah kan.




I bought 3 hanging pots of pink petunia (rasanyalah, kalo tak silap) color of Iman's choice. Now hanging on the left side of our porch. I used to have these before but they died in no time. Hope these, panjang lah umurnya..



This one is bought from Carrefour. Beautiful isn't she? Sold for RM9.90.



I also hang a new wind chime. In blue porcelain, onto a carved, wooden wall hanger. Jenuh nak menukul ke tiang tu.. At one point, the nail refused to budge at all, I may have hit the steel rod inside kot. Tu ada gap inbetween tu.. such an eyesore kan.



This bird cage has had some carving at the bottom part but was ruined lepas jatuh atas porch during heavy rain. Acik buang semua bahagian bawah and alihkan kat pokok kemboja. We keep the closure open, kononnya nak kasi burung datang... tadok sekor pun berminat heh heh.



This is my small garden. Nothing much has changed since the day we upah orang to do it. Tu kain langsir acik tengah sidai kat pagar, lepas berbulan-bulan tak basuh. The same old curtain since the day we moved in 7 years ago. Wahh... tak sangka acik ni ekonomikal jugak orangnya heh heh.




Yang ini pulak kumbang di taman acik ya. Kumbang kecik yang kuat menyengat. Tengok dahi nun, dah bertampal pasal terhantuk kat meja akibat menbuat lompatan-lompatan terlarang... :P

Accomplishments!

After a week of 24/7 being a temporary SAHM, I don't know if I can cope to be full time SAHM in future. It's tensed, full of drama, constant nagging, the kids always have something to fight with each other (the boys) and so on. And when they're being friends with each other, they ransack their toys, almost all of them. On my part, it's a constant cleaning up, pulling the boys apart when they're in one of their wars, scrubbing, mopping, washing, folding and so on. Oh, I just did one chore I hate most, ironing and dam* proud having it done hu hu.

Anyway, despite that, I have 3 things that I have successfully accomplished within that week..

1. Finally, Iman is 100% diaper-free! Wiiiiiiii!!!!! Remember this entry when we started his toilet training end of last year? (well, potty sounds too young and cute for an almost 6yo huh) and in early February he was still in diaper for poo-poo and night sleep? Read here about that. He was wailing for diaper when the urge for poo-poo came but I did not budge. He didn't do it that day. The next day he was wailing (again) for diaper. I was afraid he might get constipated but I was also afraid he would not be able to be fully toilet trained by next year. So, what's the catch? A big robot (which he'll get after 10 times going to the toilet to poo-poo, so far he's done it less than 10). Him being diaper-free is not so free for me. But anyway, I am so happy we've came through another milestone.

2. Iman is less attached with Kikkor. Kikkor is his bestest buddy no one can beat. Kikkor was with him since he was born, so they're almost of the same age he he. Kikkor has been to everywhere Iman went. School, balik kampung, holidays, you name it.. always. After some pujuk rayu and what nots, he has started to leave Kikkor in the car when we go out and now he leaves Kikkor at home for that matter. But, during his nap and night sleep, Kikkor is still there, all cuddled together with Iman. I hope soon we can pack Kikkor in the toy box and put away in the store room, along with Kakak's Pah.

3. The third thing is not about Iman. Being 24/7 with the kids is not easy, especially during hotspell such as now. The kids begged to go out but it was too hot and I had to think about occupying them in the house. After the sun is a bit down, bukak aje pintu depan, perghhh... berlari-lari semua sarung selipar keluar main kat lawn. So petang-petang while the kids kick balls, running their hands on the sides of my car sampai tangan hitam or simple pulling and pushing each other, I prune the trees, taruk baja, get rid of some small bushes (really, I have them in my lawn already *sigh*), alihkan some potted plants. Penyodok, scaper, gunting pokok sampaikan ke cangkul, all I used for my mission. Now the lawn is in a much better shape. Don't ask why I like gardening, it just grows in me as I grow older. When I was younger, I was pelik as well at how people can take gardening so seriously. Now I know.

Anyway, 3 major things (by my standard) in a week time. Imagine what happen if it's a month? Or a year? Maybe the kids will beg me to go back to work anyway. Too much nagging he he!

[Birthday] [Tea Party] [False Alarm] [Open House]

[IMAN IS 3!]
He turned 3 last Saturday (3/11/2007). Unfortunately I was too tired and was not too well to prepare anything. Not even cakes or party packs to be shared with his kindy friends. I'll try to figure out something later, InsyaAllah. Happy 3rd Birthday Iman sayang!
(He had fever that night until mid Sunday -> poor young man!)

[A LITTLE GARDEN-TEA-PARTY]
We had Saleh & his friend (the guys that turned our lawn into a little garden) over to do a bit of maintenance of our little lawn on Sunday. Since it was still Syawal, we invited them for a little tea and some cookies and cakes after they've done with their work. After they left, the kids took over and had some fun. Since it was outdoor, I did not really mind the spills and bits and pieces and how Iman dipped his hands many-many times in the 'air basuh tangan' served. And later immitated how Tebby sponged his body the night before.

[FALSE ALARM]

Too soon for me, I can't even feel the contractions yet! After Asar yesterday, an emergency alarm went off. I was like 'alamakk!!'. We've just been in the new building for 2 months and we were not briefed of the safety procedure yet. Not knowing what else to do, I, along with the others, took the stairs.. right from the 14th Floor until we reached Ground. It was raining heavily outside so we flocked then cramped ourselves in the lobby. Barely 15 minutes later we were instructed to go back to our offices, without any explanation what-so-ever. At that time, people were still 'arriving'. I later heard rumors that the alarm went blaring by mistake. No wonder there was no BOMBA, ambulance and what-and-who should've been there. SMS-ed Tebby. His reply? ** Boleh! As in 'Malaysia Boleh', if you still don't get it.


[OPEN HOUSE]
Thanks for those who invited us. We could only managed one. Tebby's friend in Ampang Saujana. They were buddies since their UMIST days. Later another buddy joined and from the look of it, they had lots of fun. Menu included roast lamb, laksa johor (i had 2 servings), soto, fruits and some cold and hot drinks. Did not take much lamb - takut pening kepala yang sememangnya sedia pening. Those friends whose house that we couldn't make it, really sorry. Health did not (mine and Iman) permit us doing so.

23 Ramadhan 1428H

I'm on mc again. I've worked for 3 straights days this week (which is a record since kena muntah2 nih) and semalam I felt giddy. It turned out that my BP dropped to 90/60. So I brokefast and got 2 days of mc. Just when I thought I felt a bit better sahur tadi, kena lak c*r*t. Sampai pukul 8.30a.m. ni ha, dah 5 kali. Maybe kena berbuka jugak ni kang sebab kaki pun dah lembek dah nih. Saya akan start bercuti Khamis depan, maknanya ada lagi 3 hari bekerja. Kalau saya kerja 3 hari full next week, maknanya sepanjang Ramadhan tahun ni, saya cuma bekerja 7 hari saja..... rekod tu. Saya mintak doa banyak-banyak that I'll be well after raya nih.

Anyway.

Remember our Laman Project? It took them 3 days to finish-off from cleaning and clearing stage to eventually install a wood-deck. All done and all paid for already. Tebby and I are simple people so we want a simple concept. Afterall, the kids still need some space to run on without having to go into bushes. Nothing too much. We conveyed what we want as well as our budget. In the end we have a lawnful of green phillipines grass, 2 kembojas, a shrub of yellow irises, some purple crawlers, 2 spikey plant (I don't know their real names), some pebbles, stepping stones and 3 railway sleepers. On the other side, we have 3 bushes of dual-tone plants, some pebbles and green green grass. And yes, a 8x9 wood-deck made of resak wood. What's missing are garden bench and a table as well as a tempayan. Ni kena tunggu budget lain nih. Balik kampung kidnap tempayan Wan saya boleh? Oh, the concept? The Landscape Architect said it's Modern Tropica. After they were done with their job, kami pulak susun pokok-pokok dalam pasu yang sedia ada tu. 1/2 hari je cukuplah, flat terus.....

So sharing a few photos right from the beginning until it is done.

Other photos can be viewed here.

12 Ramadhan 1428H

Al-Fatihah to adik Nurin Jazlin. I hope the monsterous killers/abusers will be captured soon. Walaupun adik Nurin dah selamat dikebumikan, this is far than over. Walaupun saya tak kenal family dia personally but as a mother of small kids, sudah tentu saya pun trauma sama. What is becoming to our community?

Finally, after weeks of meloya, muntah and the likes, I was well yesterday. Maybe it was the kebab I so long to have for iftar. And yet today, I am all weak again. Anyone, please share tips on how I can reduce this feeling. Cannot tahan already.... I have not gone to work for almost 2 weeks and the house is in a total mess.

Anyway.

Remember my 'laman' project? It has started and progressing well. The landscape architect, who came a week later than promised (due to some illness), surprised us when she under-quoted my budget by a good 4-figures! Anyway, I executed my evil plan and added a tempayan, a garden lamp and a wooden bench (We just took the lamp in the end. We'll go and hunt for tempayan and the bench ourselves later). The work started last Saturday, 22nd September. Salleh and his Myanmar counterpart sungguh mengkagumkan saya. Dalam panas-panas matahari, dibulan puasa somemore, they only stopped for Zohor prayer. The rest cuma kerja kerja kerja. Tengok pun penat.. kalau saya yang buat tu, mau cuti sebulan lepas tu! Bukannya kerja senang-senang, siap cangkul licin all the unwanted shrub, gali tanah untuk letak pasir, gali lubang, angkat pokok besar, gergaji kayu tebal... fuhh... Tebby pun tak sanggup. By today they're gonna do everything except the wooden-deck. Kiranya sebelum raya ni insyaAllah siaplah semuanya. Tak sabar...

Saya share a few photos on the first day they started work..

ha, selesai abang Myanmar tu buat kerja, hak dua orang ni sambung pulok!
Ni bukan buruh paksa taww!!
Kalau dah terlepas keluar, inilah kerja saintis kenit dua orang ni.

How The Weekend Went - Post Celebration

The Landscape Architect came at 3p.m. today, as promised. Yep, our years-old plan to do a lawn makeover is going to be materialised, insyaAllah. Soon. I am so excited actually. We want something simple and practical. Neither tropical, nor english. Maybe something in between. We hope they can squeeze in the wood-deck I so much want into the budget. I want green lawn with stepping stones, one or two big palms and small plants with colors. With 22x6, I don't think too much trees/small plants will be pleasing. And yes, the deck for us to laze around in the evening. Maybe even steamboat dinner outside. Enough daydreaming. The Architects will come next Sunday to discuss the plan before proceeding.

Anyway.

I dare not paste photos of our little lawn yet. Nevertheless, here's photos of Athirah's cucumber - chronologically. (terbalik lah pulak..)

Know what, today I made Nasi Lemak with Sambal Bilis MIL Style and Sambal Udang. It took me an hour to finish the 3. The beauty of this is that, it lasted from breakfast until dinner! The secret lies in thinly sliced shallots and ginger. And pandan, of course.

Tebby prepared Wantan dumpling last Friday. The BBQ gathering we had in Putrajaya, it was a pot-luck. So wantan it was for us.


I had a fun weekend, hadn't I?

How The Weekend Went - 25&26th Aug

It was tiring weekend. Nevertheless, a beneficial and meaningful one. We did lots of thing, from groceries shopping, going to nurseries, cooking and right up to visiting Floria in Putrajaya.

Originally i had planned to go to Pasar Sungei Besi to stock-up the kitchen. Even our 'must-haves-in-the-kitchen' were finished. We ended up in Tesco Kajang due to the rain. After 2 hours (50% of the time can be discounted without the kids. You know lah, nak kena layan pilih biskut lagi, nak kena let them choose and count the tomatoes lagi. Termasuk jugak nak buat kajian anatomi ikan dan ayam!) and a cartful of groceries, we headed for breakfast in Uncle John Kopitiam. Albeit the price (RM2.50 for a slice of garlic-butter bread. true, the slice was thick but RM2.50?), we had good time splurging ourselves with 1/2 boiled eggs, Kaya & Butter Toast, Garlic Butter Toast and a plate of Mihun Goreng. To wash them all down, I had Ipoh Kopi O, Tebby White Ipoh Kopi while Kakak had Soy Bead. Iman just drank plain water from his bottle - which we later tercicir there.

That was the shopping part. Later, Tebby prepared yummylicious Chicken Tomyam for lunch. I managed to do Beef Stock, Chicken Ball and put them away in freezer. Weekdays mana sempat nak merebus-rebus lama-lamaan kan. That's what I normally do. Pre-prepared. I even have fishes rubbed with salt+turmeric in the freezer. As compared to zaman dulu-dulu, we have really improved where eating-in is concerned. Dah jarang-jarang makan luar except the time yang busy-busy sangat kat ofis. We used to throw away rempah-rempah sebab dah naik hapak. You knowlah how long can spice last kan. That's how terrible it was. Lagipun anak-anak tengah membesar ni, I have to set example on what are 'normal' and what are not. Certainly makan luar everyday is not, kan.

Other than that, we have the usual clearance of laundry. I have mountains to fold and another few bukit to wash and dry. Thank God, at the end of the weekend, every thing was folded and put away in their respective place.

And oh, lewat petang Sabtu we went to Pusat Flora Cheras to browse around and find anyone who can do landscaping services. It's such a relief to see all those beautiful flora & fauna. And a relief too that we finally found someone who can come and plant grass and do a bit of landscaping. I hope what we want can fit our budget. I don't have much so I don't expect much. Maybe 2-3 big trees on a green lawn. Err.. if possible, a wood deck.

Half of Sunday spent at Floria Putrajaya. When I first got to know about it, I knew I could not miss it. I don't know if we had covered all as we did not get the map. Nevertheless, with Iman running around (And when he does not, he'd insisted on 'kokong' - dukung. There we were, taking turns with 16kg him in our arms). We went inside the cool room where they display creations using flowers, plants even fruits and vege. Did not stay long in there. Iman dah start tonyoh2 mata and muka dia. Maybe due to habuk2 bunga kot since he's allergic to many things. Then we went out into the sun again. If I were to judge, I'd prefer the one they had in Tmn Tasik Titiwangsa last year. Lagi redup cause banyak pokok besar and lagi banyak display. (esoknya Iman & Kakak warded in APSH sampai 2 weeks). This time I remember to charge the battery in full and had fun photographing. I wish I could snap a lot more but with 2 kids tagging along, I could not do as much as I wanted to. Will share some here and will load more in a few days time.

How The Weekend Went

THANKS & BEST WISHES

To Zarid, for the invitation to her brother's Majlis Menyambut Menantu on the 18th August. Sorry we could not make it. Iman needed to see his paed on that day. Hope everything went well.

To my boss, for the invitation to his daughter's wedding on 19th August. Luncheon started at 12noon. We arrived there tad bit too early (even the akad-nikah was still going on at that time) and waited until the clock stroke 12noon.

To Sikulat & Cendawan who were promoted a grade higher. I am still open to lunch invitation yek Smah & Jah.. he.. he..

CERITA WEEKEND

Except a wedding and hospital visit, nothing much. Perhaps the highlight was gardening. Yess.. after neglecting those greens, I finally had the chance to do some pruning and 'baja'ing. Too bad by then Kakak's tomatoes went dead and her petunia has gone dried and crisp. I'm sharing some photos here...

Kunyit (tumeric). Dulu habis daun-daun jadi gondol kena makan dek ulat hijau. Terpaksalah kutip and buang sekor-sekor. Now dah sihat sikit dah.

Halia. Semakin membesar.

Daun pandan. La ni senang nak buat Nasi Lemak, ambik aje depan rumah. Takyah tunggu2 nak gi pasar.


Anak timun. I was surprised sbb cepat sgt tumbuh. Masa ni a week after semai.


Yang ini bukan sayur yek. Pokok ni femes time Chinese New Year. Yang selalu orang ikat reben merah kat cabang2 dia tu. Dah membesar dengan hebat sampaikan saya dah pecahkan jadi 2 pasu.


Yang ni pulak pokok anak dara saya tu. Sib baik masih gagah lagi. Kena make sure dalam periuk tu ada air, kalau tak nanti kering dan kempes pulak.

A tiring day it was yesterday.

We only went back at 8something last night, inching trough the usual after-heavy-rain traffic and arrived at Atfal at about 9.00 pm. Tebby had a meeting at 5.30 pm, the time we all clock-out after a day's work in the office. While he was at that, I cleared things on my table as new structure will take place in about a week time. At 7.00 pm I went to his place, waiting (it gives me goosebumps these days staying back after Maghrib in the office. Whatmore yesterday, a colleage sent me photos of ghost. Yikes!). For convenience, our dinner was bought at McD drive-through (we waited for 15 minutes for quarter pounder, so much so for the so-called drive-thru eh?). When we were finally home, there was a power trip (again). Our streamyx modem went kaput (rasanya kena petir tu, ni dah yang ke-3 tu). The washing-machine stopped halfway (I set it to finish at 7.30 pm). Since it was already soaking, I had no choice but to wash the laundry anyway. I only had my dinner at 11.00 pm and happily went sleeping right after that. Da** tired. Today I only got up at 6.00 am. Yep, these days I woke up even before 5.30 am!

Anyway,

On a happier note, we're going balik kampung tomorrow. Flight will be at 3.30 pm. Already booked Airport Limo to KLIA. Kakak is all excited. We'll be back in KL on Tuesday noon. Btw, sekarang MAS dah tak pakai tiket cam dulu ek? Just printed papers. Except for international flights. It's gonna be Iman's first plane-ride. Ya Allah, jangan budak2 ni buat hal dalam kapai terbang.. pensan Ummi nanti..

Wanna see my pergola? Nothing much still. I plan to install wood-decking underneath and have some garden furnitures. And also sharing photos of bunga-bungaan..

Kakak insisted on red ones.

Kebetulan pulak, ada bunga kembar.

Nampak tak bunga yang tunduk tu?

purple petunia.
like the daisies, this is also her idea.

The great Nepenthes (periuk kera).
It has 4 pots.
Kena masukkan air dalam every pot tu.
This,.. is hers as well

Among the surviving heliconias.
Kidnapped from kampung.

we have white variation of this too.
This,.. is my idea btw.

hers as well

All the keladi gang is here