Closing of February 2010

There's two things to note about February, my February.

I read 8 books in February! Yes people, e.i.g.h.t! Well almost, actually since I'm not done with one with the tittle A Long Way Gone. But anyway, never in my life have I been so hooked up reading. Thing is, it took me so long to gain the momentum but once I've gained it, it's hard to stop. Okay peeps, let's give me a pat on the back.

Secondly, I made progress where Iman is concerned. Read how my made my first step here. And my second here. To some of you who might have known what I'm up to, just keep it a secret at the moment will ya? Until I get everything in document, approved and signed, I'll spill the whole lot of beans.

Another big thing is that, we went for a picnic (read here) It was a last minute plan actually. Thanks to the tension that's been sorrounding Tebby, it made out little getaway a reality. Tho it was just a day trip, it was good to spend time with our loved ones.

My Y.E.S fund is not making any positive progress, yet. Well, there was a slight 'kchengggg' at my cash register but nothing to shout about. At least I was not living solely on Tebby's allowance like I did in January.

What I did poorly was in the department of cooking. I hardly tried anything new as I had listed in my 2010 resolution. As you can see from the top, right hand side of my blog, I just tried 4 recipes, only 1/2 of what I'd planned earlier.

Anyway, tomorrow will mark the first day of March 2010. How time really flies!

Piknik di Port Dickson

PD.. here we come!!

It was not planned for. Thanks to all the tension revolved around us these few days. Out of the blue Tebby suggested for a picnic. So, picnic it was then. Kalau pegi dekat-dekat sangat, takde feel lah kan. Given pantai or sungai, Kakak pilih pantai. No pantai in KL except two that I know of, one being the place where I work (Pantai Baharu) and the other one is where I often have my lunch date (Pantai Dalam). Those, are far cry from sandy, watery beach. Yang ada cuma kesesakan jalanraya saja.

So, Port Dickson then. Tak jauh sangat, tak dekat sangat. Specifically Blue Lagoon. Takdenya Brooke Shields yerrr kawan-kawan. And it was a day trip, pegi pagi, balik petang. Ni langkah-langkah penjimatan juga.

Early birds as we always are, kami sampai PD around 9 am. Dah ada orang tapi tak ramai sangat so we got to secure a spot under pokok2 and very near to the bontot of our kereta. The kids, yang belum sarapan, terus aje nak pegi main kat air and insisted that they were not hungry. Ye lah tu, sikit jam lepas tu, depa makan sandwich sampai tak ingat Umminya huh. Since I forgot to bring apa-apa peralatan untuk main pasir, makanya belilah a bucket with all those penyodok and whatnots. Also a ball for Adam. Kononnya takut Adam nak tidur nanti, I bought one tikar to place the tilam which we brought from KL. The tilam never left the boot anyway he he. Ye lah, why sleep when you can have fun, kan Adam?

Since it was just 9, air masih pasang. I was wondering, whylah people flock there when there's mud kat tepi-tepi tu. After few hours, bila air surut, there.... sandy beach. Boleh jalan jauh-jauh since pasirnya terbentang luas sampai kat depan nun. But still need to jalan thru that lumpur to get to the sandy part. Tak kisahlah, the kids had fun sampai hitam kulit. Adam, the bravest of them all. He waded his way thru dengan air lebih paras pinggang dia then ran all his will on the beach. Yang herannya time dia lari tu, muka dia cam serius giler ha ha. Kakak, althought she was the first to get in and last to get out, claimed she'd prefer pool or water theme park than to a beach. Iman, macam biasa, he took his time trying to adjust and only got in the water 1-2 hours after Kakak dengan Adam dah berendam sakan.

Nota - perbandingan masa air pasang dan surut kat gambar kat bawah ni ha..




Public amenities were good, they have surau, cafe, stalls selling balls, shorts, swimsuits and whatnot. The toilets are clean but the shower stall had no curtain or door. Tak kan nak mandi bogel plak kan? Makanya, mandilah secara berpakaian. Pastu baru tukar baru. Nasib baik bawak towel banyak, boleh le nak cover atas bawah!

Menjelang tengahari, kulitpun dah terbakar, budak-budak dah penat (dan mak pak penat tangkap budak-budak bawak keluar dari laut), we made our way back home. Sampai rumah around 3 pm.

Seronok. We should do this again.

Adam with one of his senyum simpulnya

Iman, cobaaann memakan ketam secara mentah
abah dia lah ajar tu

my eldest



sebelum mandi, pow Ummi beli aiskrim dulu.

School For Iman

Finally.

Found a center that's willing and might have the skills to prepare Iman for school next year. I was given the chairperson's contact, not knowing that she's chairing a society for dyslexic in Malaysia. Iman is not dyslexic but I am told that they may help in to learn to read and count, basic skills needed in Year One.

We had an assessment in their center at Persiaran Kuantan, Off Jalan Titiwangsa but were advised to enroll Iman in their Ampang Hilir center, where kids his age mostly are. As expected, from the assessment, the most commented is my son's short attention span. When I mentioned short, it is really short. I'd be lucky if he agrees to look at a book for 3 or 4 minutes. We immediately scouted around for their Ampang Hilir center, susah jugak nak cari but found it nonetheless. Amidst serene greenery albeit the off-beat old bungalow they're operating in. I like the place nonetheless. Aman.

InsyaAllah, if Allah permits, Iman will be starting his weekend classes in April and again, if Allah permits, his full classes in June.

Langkah Pertama

Orang kata, setiap perjalanan seribu batu dimulakan dengan langkah pertama. Walaupun perjalanan seribu batu itu nampak beranjau, it has to start somewhere kan. Jujurnya, sekarang ini beberapa perkara penting sedang mengambil tempat dalam hidup saya. Tidak besar, tapi penting. Alhamdulillah, satu kebetulan telah menemukan saya dengan pihak yang berkenaan. Langkah pertama telah dimulakan. Semoga selebihnya dipermudahkan.

I have to say this online. Terima kasih saya kepada colleague, Zarid yang banyak membantu saya satu dua hari ni. Good and true friends are hard to come by. I'm glad our path crossed. I owe you one.

SkinFood Datang Lagi

Yezza.. skinfood datang lagi!

Eversince I started indulging in all these dandan-diri thingy, I just can't stop. Saya suka skin atau body care aje. Bab mekap-mekap ni saya tak berapa minat sangat. Dapat lipstik sebatang je pon dah cukup.

Remember that I bought Milk Mania Washable Cleansing Gel in Dec 2009? (Baca di sini) Well, it's finished already. So, saya mempunyai alasan yang sangat kukuh untuk membuat lawatan sambil membeli di kiosk Skinfood kan.

When you're in Skinfood kiosk, susah nak buat keputusan. Ada banyak range to suit our many ranges of skin. Itu skincare. Ada gak bodycare, haircare and makeup range. So, to prevent myself from buying things I do not need, I always do my homework first. Visit their webbie and list down what I want to buy. Sampai sana I just showed the SA my list, she gave me a bit of consultancy and I got my things. Just 4 items as planned. But please have back-ups. Some of the items (which I browsed through its international webbie) are not in Malaysia.

So, my loots for the day. Yes, I robbed myself from my Y.E.S fund buying these.

1. Aloe Vera Foaming Cleanser - For morning. I read somewhere that we don't need heavy cleanser in the morning as our face is not that dirty. Provided that you cleanse your face the night before. Alasan kukuh huh?

2. Seaweed Cleansing Gel - Iya, tak setia dengan Milk Mania. Walhalkan Milk Mania tu okay-okay je. Saja nak try yang baru. The smell is very faint but the after-affect is beshhtt!

3. Grape Seed Oil Body Emulsion - At first I wanted to buy from Milk & Honey range. Thanks God I did not, after being advised by the SA. Milk & Honey itu baunya semacam. Tengik pon ada. I tested Milk & Honey on my right hand and Grape Seed on my left. Kasi Tebby cium sikit tangah kanan, dia kata, ni minyak tengik apa nih? Imagine if he has to sleep beside me every night with me smelling like minyak tengik? Mau biru muka pakcik tu tiap-tiap pagi ha ha. But anyway, I've indulged in that Grape Seed for a few days and liking it. Lightweight dengan kadar serapan yang cepat. Takde rasa melekit-lekit pon. And badanku berbau wangi..

4. Extra Virgin Olive Oil Essence - This is for my unruly, stubborn, dry hair. Nampak macam pekat but once you apply it, it's light weight. Takdelah rambut jadi lembab atau wetlook semacam je. Rambut ku yang kering tu pun rasa licin sikit strandnya.

Tak sah kalo takde free items :P Kat gambar ataaaaassss nun, ada balang bulat tu kan. Tu free item selepas mengumpul setem-setem yang dikutip hasil belian dari tahun lepas. Hasil kumpulan setem-setem tu dah melayakkan saya dapat 1 payung, 2 diary dan 1 balang Fresh Lime Body Cream kat atas nun. Saya belum try hak ni. Dalam peket plastik tu ada cleanser sama scrub. Dalam kertas brown tu pulak ada the most expensive range i.e. Gold Caviar range. Gold Caviar ni untuk skin yang ageing dan mereka-mereka yang sewaktu dengan saya. Sendiri mau ingat lah bila orang sajes guna range ni kan!

Aku Terima Nikahnya - Book 11 2010

sebahagian dari imej kulit depan buku Aku Terima Nikahnya. saya kira itu berdasarkan pengalaman penulis sendiri.

Aku Terima Nikahnya - Hasrizal Abdul Jamil

Sudah usai membacanya. Silly me, baru saya tahu kalau bertunang tak perlu dihebah-hebahkan. Kalau majlis walimah, perlu diwar-warkan. Sebab? Bertunang belum pasti berkahwin. Proses untuk kenal-mengenal. Bila bernikah, perlu dihebah-hebahkan agar salah satunya, tidak mendatangkan fitnah bila dilihat berdua-duaan.

Buku ini sesuai untuk bacaan ringan. Lebih kepada perkongsian pengalaman si penulis iaitu Hasrizal Abdul Jamil, yang lebih dikenali sebagai saifulislam di alam cyber. Tulisannya berkisar tentang pra-prekahwinan, perkahwinan itu sendiri, hidup bekeluarga, hidup bersaudara. Saya tersentuh juga bila saudara penulis turut menyatakan kekesalannya bilamana waktu yang dihabiskan bersama anak-anak sangat singkat. Saya rasa bagi yang tinggal di Lembah Kelang pasti setuju!

Bacakan kesibukan beliau sebagai penceramah dan pelajar manakala isterinya seorang doktor yang juga sedang menyambung pembelajaran. Bacakan penekanan beliau terhadap pentingnya kasih sayang ibu bapa kepada anak-anak. Bacakan pentingnya perkahwinan tidak didasarkan kepada menghalalkan apa yang haram sebelum ijabkabul. Bacakan pentingnya kita saling memberi dan bukan hanya menerima. Bacakan pentingnya keberkatan dalam semua hubungan berkeluarga.

Kisah harian yang boleh dijadikan panduan kita.

More Books!

One of my 2010 resolutions (read about my resolutions here) is to read. And that's what I've been doing best among all. My bookcase is brimming and am liking it. Me and Tebby make it a routine to buy books on monthly basis. It was first for accumulating the RM for tax relief and later on I became addicted to reading (and of course buying books!).

I've just added another seven books to the bookcase. 4 from a kiosk in Menara TM and another 3 from MPH.

The first 3 books are written by Hasrizal Abdul Jamil, betterknown with his pen name saifulislam. Check out his web http://www.saifulislam.com/.

1. Aku Terima Nikahnya

2. Bercinta Sampai Ke Syurga

3. Rindu Bau Pohon Tin

Another one is from Syamsuddin Mohd Noor, Dahsyatnya Doa Ibu. Once I'm done reading it later, I'll tell if this one is every mom's must have. But then, not withstanding that, apapun, always, always be careful of what you say about your kids and to your kids. We mommies, apapun dari mulut kita ni, doa.

Another 3 were bought from MPH i.e.

1. Bagaikan Puteri. Now my trilogy from Ramlee Awang Murshid is complete. I already read Hijab Sang Pencinta (read my review here) and already bought Cinta Sang Ratu last month (read about it here). Too bad that I read the 3rd book first.

2. Tombiruo. 1st book in another trilogy by the same author. I hope it's gonna worth it.

3. Diary of A Wimpy Kid - Dog Days. Now my collection is complete! I have bought and read the other 3 prequels to this and enjoyed every bit of them. Read my review of the first book here.