Put a smile on your face

The death of eldest teacher's mom, reminded me that it's been more than two weeks since we last visited mama & papa. Since New Year to be exact. You don't know what you got till it's gone. To be honest, while witnessing the whole funeral process/juggling with two kids inside surau, keeping their voice down & abstaining Zara from flipping my baju kurung in public, I feel extremely guilty for not visiting them more often. Two weeks! What was I thinking?

I couldn't even sleep last night, other than the heat, I kept saying to myself " I could never forgive myself if mama's gone and it only takes 40 mins drive!"
I cried in my sleep, no joke!

The looks on mama & papa's faces to see us this morning is just priceless! Their faces lit up, smiling from ear to ear ;)

Such a joy to see their grandchildren et moi arriving. A million dollar couldn't match that.

Six!

So The Killers didn't become a part of our Anniversary celebration, boohoo! Unforeseen circumstances forced them to cancel Asian Tour BUT will continue doing Aussie, bah!

We've traded roadtrip to SG, Zam-Zam Murtabak, Badoque Cafe, meeting my SG girls, eye candy at Orchard, queuing to get the best spot of our stage front tix & having a blast at the gig with calm, yet private night out with our girls ;) I must admit it wasn't as fun, still bummed & in disbelief (yeah I'm bitter, so what?) but it's a blessing in disguise.

The kids had so much fun tho', Zara especially enjoyed her two feet wandering around the mall. Aresha being a big sister, carefully keeping an eye on her sister, wanted to hold her hand but the trigger happy baby sis refused to!

Anywhere with my loved ones makes me complete. And I did get to show-off my new purse! (Well, not really, by the time we finish, even the mall is about to close)

Being in the arms of my dearest & girls would be the celebratory dance for this year, yayyy!

Anniversary comes early!

We'll turn six this Friday & look what I've got?
A custom made tri-fold wallet from One Too Many!

Skuirtgun helped me out with narrowing it down on the elements to choose from for my very own wallet.
Wasn't easy for him as it took days to find the perfect design.

This is just beautiful, the detailing inside and out, perfect stitching & I'm loving the silk lining inside ;)
It took two months to get here, well, it's handmade & worth every wait/penny!

Thank you dear, for the perfect gift, now let's get one for you as well ;)






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Love

Aresha is super-obsessive over her mommy recently.
She insist that I'm hers/ the sister is not cute/she's the only one who loves me..err I thought we've gone over this phase already?
She loves her sister, no doubt but cringe everytime someone else pays too much attention on Zara.
Oh, the drama!
'tis shall pass, hopefully soon!

Meanwhile here's my fav pics from last year ;)



Killer stare

Yayy weekend!

Weekend with my girls is always so much fun!
The laugh, the gossip & the new friend Syamil.
Also found out that someone's trying to avoid me, a shocker but couldn't care less anyway :P
Miss Reen, thank you for 2 days of giggles ;)

Time flies ;)

Look how fast they've grown!
Zara started to walk about a month ago & didn't stop ever since!
She's like our Energizer bunny, roaming around the house exploring with her own two feet ;)

Goodbye Tiger, you'll be sorely missed!

2009 has been a great year that ended on a sad note :(
Our beloved Tiger, broke his leg & suspected crushed one of his vital organ that leads to internal bleeding.
It was an accident, hit & run.

Skuirtgun told me Tiger literally drag himself to our door with whatever lives he still has (obviously he didn't have nine) looking around the house (most probably searching for Zara)
Over the phone, I could hear Tiger calling out, not wanting to be alone :(

We have 4 cats and this one is like no other. He sleeps with people. It could be me, Zara, my sister or guests who slept over. Definitely a part of the family.


He died 12.55am, under my kitchen.

Yesterday I thought I saw him in front of our car. Couldn't be.Just the thought of his OTT manjaness makes me sad.

Darling, we all miss you, RIP.

What we did before the year ends

Dine







Shopping!





Picnic




Bonding

What if...

This is a conversation that I had w/ darling skuirtgun last night.

'What if Aresha decides to travel alone when she grows up? Will u let her?"
He said, "No, not alone" without hesitation.

'If she's going with a friend/ Zara/ boyfriend?'
" Yes, but no boyfriend!'

"Ah, she'll eventually meet a guy along the way ..."

As if we didn't go through that phase my dear :P

I know it's too early to be discussing about possibilities that our girls might venture out on their own but secretly I want them to explore the world. Just like my bffs Ratna & Reen did ;)

I've hosted brave, young, smart girls before & they sure know how to take care of themselves.

All the kids' need is a sense of pride/dignity in themselves & their homeland.
So they will go & realize nothing compares to our beloved country & proud to be who they are!

That also means mom & dad can go on our motorcycle RTW! Ahh how long would that be? 15 years from now? ;P

Jealous much?

I'm truly baffled.
This happened last 2 yrs I think when out of the blue this anonymous commented that life is NOT all about family, love & food!

Ok, what is so wrong about it?
This person judged me from my pictures, thinks she's holier-than-thou.

Do i have to post pictures donning telekung?

Thank you for your 'gentle' reminder.
Berdakwah mestilah betul caranya.
If you compose your words nicely I would really appreciate it and might as well change.

I'm sorry that I love my family very much & really cares about what I put in me & my family's mouth. Ooops am I? NOT!

Aresha & Zara's Double Birthday Bash

Come & join us for one day Birthday Carnival!

Aresha & Zara's Double Birthday Bash

Click above to RSVP

see you there!

How fast time flies, less than two weeks before Aidilfitri!
We've got all the basics covered. Kids' baju kurung sent to u'an (as always), ours were considered done(will be wearing the ones made for Alang's wedding) Got my shoes last week, the house is almost squeaky clean thanks to dear's latest toy Karcher water pressure washer ;)

Phewww! We've never been this organized! Always last minute prep. We even got our raya open hse date ready!

However, am pretty much sad that Ramadhan will be over soon :(
Frankly, if we eat regularly just like this, we'd maintain healthy weight.
We were pretty much disciplined when it comes to solat. Never miss Any Subuh! (thanks to sahur)

Hopefully we'll be able to keep the routine, insya Allah!

Off to more chores & cookie baking!

Salam Aidilfitri!

Ramadhan ya Ramadhan!

It feels so serene when Aresha joined us for tarawikh.
She patiently followed us and smiled all through all the rakaat while Zara looking excitedly/amused to see her big sis in telekung!

She also decided to wake up for sahur and already learnt to fast half day!
That's my girl! ;)

As mentioned last Ramadhan, I always look forward for this time of the year to solat together, cook delish juadah for iftar, dear to be home early & now training Aresha the basic essentials of fasting.

Tried new recipe today, deep fried minced chicken+crabstick wontons.
To my surprise both my darlings loved it to bits!
Our iftar is quite simple, rice meals are reserved for sahur.
We only splurged on weekends when having it together with the family.
Last weekend at mak's was like a buffet spread. End up bloating!
Nothing beats buka puasa with the whole Rezas!

This weekend mama invited us over plus I'll throw a bday/buka puasa get-together for my close friends!
Yeay!

What's on the menu? Surprise, surprise!

Island getaway :)

We've been packing since few hours ago and even before we finish I have to go through an article on bringing frozen expressed milk boarding the plane.

There will be a possibility that I might have to dump it all.
There goes hours of hard work and a month supply of milk! What a waste!

I hope I'll be able to pull my best smile and not to get too emotional over this issue.

Lately I've been thinking too much and lash out for tiny little mistake Aresha made.
Not happy with how I'm handling stress and in dire of a short break before coming home fresh and ready for more parenting challenges

Told Aresha way beforehand and preparing her with the transition of staying with Tok Ma.
Mom stayed for few nights to familiarize with the kids.

I was more excited hotel hunting 30 days ago than going tomorrow.
My girls were extremely clingy and 'manja' when I put them to sleep, 4 hours ago.
It's as if they're not letting me go :(
Ah, maybe leaving the kids behind is not as easy as I thought.

Am sure they'll be just fine, i will be fine, definitely ;)

Boys gone wild!

No, no this entry is not a review on a porn vid :P
Don't hold your breath ok?

It's rare to find young boys with such enthusiasm and passionate about life, travels and culture exchange.
Especially locals who thinks they need to compete (read colleague, friends, even family!)

I'm lucky to find such rare gems in Dimaz, Andrei Budiman & Riva ;)

These boys are from Bandung, initially, we met exactly a year ago, while I was preggy with Zara at Dago Atas to be exact.

Andrei is now a famous writer.
Travellous has made me teary eyed and sucked in his humble journey to Europe.
Check out http://travellous.blogspot.com
That's only half the book. I already felt I knew him for years!

These boys are exceptional, sad to see them leave so early, even Zara felt at ease instantly!

This is what I look for in CS, pure fun, no booze needed!
Kayanya mabuk minum teh tarik yaaa gitu!