Thursday, August 23, 2007

Tick Tock...the clock is ticking

It's two days before the long holiday. I am excited and so looking forward to the trip...but at the same time I feel like stopping the time. Work is still piling on my desk (that's the reason I don't blog lately). And I don't know whether I could finish it before I went for a break.

But I need to finish it..or else I feel guilty for leaving the job for others to complete it. Hmmm...

At the same time, I just miss blogging. There is so much I want to blog about...and photos to upload.
Like what we've prepared so far for the trip.
Or the photos of Aliff climbing up the stairs.
Or even the case of country's worst accident...

Oh, about the last topic, I have to say it is such an unlucky event, especially to the victims and their families. As I read the news, I kept imagining myself in the situation. Most of the passengers (or is it all?) passed out the moment the great crash occurred. So, it's either they woke up still alive...or they woke up in a different world altogether....Ngeri!

I don't know...but I think our government focuses on lots of things pertaining to the case instead on zooming on the actual reason itself. They said that the bus company hired a bus driver who has "waran tangkap", "saman" and all that...I mean, for me, most drivers pernah kena saman - taxi drivers, bus drivers, car drivers, you and me maybe. This matter should not be emphasise that much.

Instead I think, we should focus on why the incident happened, work out from there, and implement a new system maybe.

The driver might have doze off, considering there's no brake mark on the road.
So, kenapa boleh driver tu tertidur?
Big possibility he didn't have enough rest.
And why is that?
Few reasons...I'm not sure on this one but I think the drivers are paid according to the bus trips they made in a month. Due to this reason, there is a great tendency that they push themselves hard to drive and drive and drive..and make as much trip as they can to ensure that they are food on the table.
Or the boss might have instructed them to work because there is no one else to drive the damn bus.

Let say if it's number one. Then the government must impose a ruling that the drivers are paid on a fixed income basis. Tapikan, fikir-fikir balik, the drivers then might take their own sweet time to drive the bus. Or maybe this is the reason why this policy is not implemented in the first place...

Or if it's number two, then something needs to be address here. Sometimes a small bus company could not afford to hire lots of drivers, so they tend to use the same driver over and over again, regardless of the driver's condition. A small bus company also do not have the capital to maintain their buses regularly. Working in a bank, I noticed there seems to be a LOT of bus companies going to the same destination. Kalau nak gi selatan, sampai lima enam bus company. Nak ke utara, lagi lima enam company. Why don't they just merge these bus companies and make it into bigger and reliable bus companies? Companies that has tight procedures and policies to conform to with properly maintained buses?

I mean, this are just my personal opinion...an opinion from a humble citizen like me, who may be looking at one direction only...and not on a "helicopter" view like top people do.

Of course at the end of the day, kalau nak jadi, jadi jugak. It's not that if you take a reliable bus company, it 100% ensures that you'll reach your destination in one piece. I mean, some people dalam tidur pun boleh meninggal...and some people pulak jatuh from tingkat 6 pun tak tentu mati lagi. After all, ajal maut di tangan Allah. Hanya Dia yang berhak menentukan...

Oh, this really makes my day. Hilang rindu pada blog. Cumanya I don't have time to blog hop, pal..Bila free sikit, I singgah your blog, ok?

Friday, August 17, 2007

About LW and Bandung

Mommy at home asked me to make an entry on LornaWhiston. I thought I have made an entry about it before so I go through my archives to search for the entry, but it turns out, I've never made one! But I still believe I have posted an entry before...or is it just an email to a friend who asked about LW? Ahhh...

Well, for the benefit of mommy-at-home and the rest of my blog readers, here goes...A Story About LW.


Ashraff joined this center in February this year, to a programme called PK1, which is meant for children aged 3 (or turning 3 this year). In other words, this programme is only open to 2004 babies. They have programmes for children younger than that age as well (I think they have lil crawlers programme or something).


The teachers are all native English speaker, so there is no opportunity for Ashraff to speak a single word of Malay with the teacher. During the first class, Ashraff got intimidated with his teacher, maybe because of the different in looks (mat salleh kan..) or maybe because of her English slang. I thank God Ashraff did not run away at that point of time.


We chose the weekend class so that we can send Ashraff to school. You can choose 3 times a week or 2 times a week if you want too, but it only runs on weekdays. Every class lasted for like 1 1/2 hours. And it goes through the same routine every time. Like, the first session will be a free play, where the teacher fills the room with lots of educational toys - like wooden peg puzzle, blocks, some blank paper with crayons, a doll house etc. The teacher will monitor and entertain the kids, and interfere should there be any conflict among the children (usually sebab kes tak nak share lah). Basically, this session is done for the children to warm-up while waiting for the rest of the kids to come.


Next will be the read aloud / story telling session, where the children are requested to sit on a special rug at all times. After the read aloud, they will sing songs and make some actions.


Then, they'll line up and move to arts room where they'll do arts and crafts, according to the theme of the day. They will all wear an apron each and either glueing, painting, colouring with whatever materials given. Sometimes they do collage...sometimes they sprinkle sand on top of the paper heavy coated with glue...sometimes they do finger painting...All materials must be shared. And children are required to do the arts given. If they are finish, they could wash their hands and are required to sit down at their place once again and wait for others to finish. If they disobey, the teacher will tell them to do so over and over again till they listen. Consistency is the key word here.


After that the children move on to the play area. This is more like an indoor playground with slide and hurdles. The teacher monitors and teaches the children the correct way to use the things there. For instance, to use the slide you must climb the stairs at the back and go down the slide and not the other way round.


Then it's the snack time, where parents are required to bring snacks that the child loves. Here, the children are encouraged to talk and socialize sambil makan. Sharing of foods are encouraged. But if you refuse to eat, you are instructed to sit on the chair and wait for your friends. After eating, children are instructed to wash their hands and return to their classroom (the first room) for games and activities, which is the last session. Here, the children plays lots of fun games according to the theme. Sometimes they use this session for role playing, where the children are to wear finger puppets each and act according to a specific song or something.

During the first few classes, parents are allowed to join in and watch. I had a hilarious time watching each child's behaviour. Some children are very cooperative. They will sing song, try to imitate the action done by the teacher, if the teacher asked they will immediately answer eventhough it's a wrong answer. But some couldn't care less. They run around, jumping here and there, kacau budak lain. My Ashraff is in this category...hehe...But what I love is that teacher with the help of her assistant could control the children, and make sure it participates in whatever activity being held.


What I also love despite the routine is that the children are free to explore and speak their minds. Like in arts and crafts class for instance, the children could do whatever they want with the materials given. You don't have to color within the black outline. When I tried to teach Ashraff how to color, the teacher approached me and said "Hey, it's ok. There's no right or wrong in art. Let him explore...He'll learn to do it properly one day." Mungkin dia tengok I stress semacam je kot...hehehe...


Ok, on the fees, I must say it's expensive as you must pay all these expats. I mean for us it is. For Ashraff's programme which is once in a week for 1 1/2 hour only, it costs us RM500+ for 10 weeks. So like every 2 1/2 month, we got to fork up extra RM500+ for only 15 hours of play session. Plus, you have to commit yourself to it. They'll be no replacement class should you miss any one session. But like I mentioned before, if you are looking for short session for your kids to learn in a fun way, you could try LW. But if you are looking for more academic sessions (like you want your child to be early reader), then I wouldn't recommend LW. It's all up to what you want...and whether you can afford it.


Phewhhh...a long story of LW.


Now on Bandung. Mak and Abah just returned from their second trip to Bandung. Oh, I really love Bandung. During our last trip, I had lots of fun. It's shopping haven! Lots of cheap but good quality things. I wanted to go there again, but nak tunggu budak-budak besar sikit.


Back to Mak and Abah's trip. Before the trip, I've given mak RM200 (equivalent to about 500,000 rupiah) to buy us things. And here's what mak and abah bought for us with the money that I gave them:-

Lots of long sleeve t-shirts for me (each price between RM10-RM20 aja buk..). And nice baju batik for Hubby...



Matching long sleeve t-shirts for Ashraff and Aliff...(ni rasa-rasanya bawah RM10 satu). Good quality cotton tu!

Spiderman tees...what else...


And lots and lots of t-shirts for everyday wear...I love the vivid colours...

And mak bought herself lots and lots of lovely embroidery blouses yang cuma berharga RM40 satu buk...


And lots of fully beaded tudung as souvenirs...Tudung ini cuma lebih kurang RM20-RM30 je satu...

Seriously, if you love to shop, I'd recommend this place. If you have business acutement, then this is also the place where you find your supplies. You can find the blouses sold in Malaysia for half the price (or more) there! Boleh jadi gilak tengok benda murah!! Hehehe...

Thursday, August 16, 2007

The Playgroup

I wanted to post an entry about the playgroup Ashraff attended to as soon as I returned to the office yesterday (coz this is the only time I got access to the Net).
But...hey...work seems to have increased by two-fold during my two days leave (boss ni macam tak ingat je aku ni nak cuti tak lama lagi...).

Now what I did was to type an entry in my notebook at home while the boys were fast asleep, and immediately published it as soon as I reached the office. I have no extra time to blog hop. So am very sorry for not visiting your blog lately. Will catch up on all your stories when most of the tasks are done.

Anyway, back to the playgroup. On Monday we did send Ashraff to his new school. It’s not as I anticipated it will be (anti-climax betul cerita aku ni..hehe). The place is improper. I was informed that the place is a shop, selling Islamic stuffs, mostly books and muslimah clothings. But, I don’t expect it to be small, crowded and a bit dark inside. One of the rooms is converted into a classroom, where the centre runs most of its activities like math & science workshop, parenting talk and also this playgroup. Despite the overall look of the place, the classroom is quite ok – bright and airy.

The class was supposed to start at 9.30 am, but we arrived 15 mins late. There are two teachers (including the owner) plus three other children, who at that time were doing some exercise like creeping, jumping like a frog and swinging. Ashraff was immediately turned off by the exercises. Maybe he is not used to some of the movements. Or maybe he needs some time to acclimatise with the whole new environment.

While me, I’m disappointed from the start. Perhaps I’m comparing this new playgroup with LW which charged 3 times more expensive than this LKS playgroup. It’s not fair, I know. But I can’t help not to compare…

Then the children walked out from the class like a choo-choo train. Alhamdulillah, at this point of time, I can see the smile on Ashraff’s face as he joined the line. It was trampoline time. The children have to walk on a plank and then straight away jumped on the trampoline. Jumping is of course Ashraff’s favourite, thus at that moment, dia lupa sekejap ibu dia.

Next, was the colouring time. Each child was given work sheet, plus a piece of colouring page. Ashraff did half way and lost focus, just as I expected. He could not sit still at one spot for more than 5 minutes. Even at LW, the teacher and her assistant got a hard time making sure than Ashraff concentrates. Just for your info, Ashraff is this close (a very short distance between ibu jari and jari telunjuk) to being classified as ADHD child.

But in LW, they make every session short so that the children is not bored. And within each session, they make sure that the children discipline and obey the rules, in a gentle and subtle way. After few months, the children got used to the routine and rules, and they behave accordingly. For example, if the teacher put a mat, the kids will immediately sit on the mat coz they know that it’s time for story telling/read aloud. In this new playgroup, however, the colouring session took more than 30 minutes! And they don’t emphasize on discipline. So if you are bored, you can go wandering about wherever you want too. Entertain yourself with the stuffs you have in shop. Like Ashraff. He got so bored, he went out from the class, and went to the trampoline area, which is at the other end of the shop and no one cares to call him or bring him back to the class. He found a toy box at the corner of the area and played all by himself. The teacher is busy entertaining other kids.

After few minutes, he got tired of the toys, and wanted to go back home. He almost cried.

At that point, I could not resist the temptation to complain. I looked for the owner but apparently she has went out to send a crying child home. So, I talked to one of the assistants instead. I told her I want to pay for this session only and I don't think I want to send him in for the next class coz my child is bored. I gave her what a piece of my mind. Something which I've been holding back for the last one hour. Bayangkanlah, you bayar and hantar anak you pergi playgroup, but he ended up playing by himself. Like baik duduk rumah macam tu!

But if u imagined me screaming at the top of my lung, scrape those thought away. I'm not like that lah...Despite my blood is boiling at that time, I tried to control my intonation and my volume so that orang kata, takdelah sampai memalukan myself and the person that I'm talking too (there are other people in the shop).

She took note of all my points and shall discuss that with the owner. Oh by the way, this playgroup does not have trial class. So, if your child wants to join, then you have to pay the registration fee and monthly fee there and then.

After few minutes, the owner returned. Still unsatisfied with the service, I immediately voiced out my frustration, complaints and suggestions to her. I told her my son has been playing by himself. He missed out on read aloud as nobody calls him to join (I memang tak push dia to go in coz I'm just observing and imagining the situation as if I were not around..in fact, I tak layan pun dia main sorang2) . Nobody shows him how to do the worksheet too. I told her about Ashraff's characteristics and active nature and said if no one here can't control him, then I don't think he is suitable to join this playgroup.

She then tried to convince me by detailing the whole programme where by on Monday it emphasise more on academic like read-aloud, doing work sheet etc. While on Tuesday will be more on living skills like cooking and baking, arts and crafts..or going for an outing or swimming.

I take note of that and said I'll give one month a try and see whether Ashraff loves it.

This owner then asked Ashraff what he loves to do and Ashraff told her that he wants to jump on the trampoline. So she gave the permission to do so. After few jumps, she called Ashraff in and Ashraff immediately followed her instruction. She then had a one-to-one reading session with Ashraff and showed Ashraff how to do the work sheet. Ashraff did it perfectly with not much complaint. I was contented at that time. Well, at least he got something beneficial today.

Then after the 1 1/2 session is over, I had another talk with the owner. She asked me how playgroup in LW is conducted. We have more of a mum-to-mum talk rather than parent-teacher talk. She told me that in LKS she wants the children to have fun instead of restricting them on a schedule. At least not for the first few sessions coz at this point of time the children are emotionally unstable. Their loved ones like mum and dad are not around. So, if you try to discipline them, then the more retaliate they will be. I agree with her point.

In LW they do it on weekend, where parents could tagged along, so they can force the children to follow a certain routine, and should they end up crying, the parents will be there to console them. It's different from this new playgroup, where the sessions are done during weekdays.

I told Hubby my experience with this new playgroup. He told me that if we can no longer afford LW and this new school is also so-so, then we stop sending Ashraff to any playgroup. Oh, oh. That will be my last choice. At least no matter how bad a playgroup is, if he can learn something from it, be it to socialize, English or Islamic (plus the fees is not that expensive), I think it's way better than having Ashraff to stay at home and watch CD almost all day. And from the look of it and knowing how fast Ashraff in grabbing information, I think he can learn something from this new playgroup. It takes time for him (and myself) to adapt.

After all, our plan is to send him to a proper full-time kindergarten next year. Playgroup is just a platform for him to prepare himself for school, that's all. So like I say, we'll see how it goes and we have until the end of the year to judge.

Should you are interested in the playgroup, here are some details:-
Venue : Near Giant, Taman Permata, KL.
Time : 9.30 am -11 om, Monday and Thursday.

I wouldn't say that this playgroup is bad coz it all depends on your child's character and how you perceive it to be. Like another mummy who send her child there, she said that her son loves the place and she loves it too. I guess I'm comparing it too much with LW. I should be more open...and be fair. Just look at the fees...you can't expect too much from that kind of fees.

Oh anyway, just to flush away my concern on Ashraff's schooling, I decided to survey some of the kindergartens near by our house. I came while the children are still there so I could observe how the classes are conducted. I like this one centre. Nope, it's not one of those "franchise" kindies. It's just a normal, self-owned kindy. I love the atmosphere - spacious with big pool at the back, it's clean, bright and airy and most importantly, it's just few houses away from my parents' house. Strategik kan? So BIG probability we will Ashraff there next year.

Oh my, after reading back my entry, I sound so much like one pathetic, higly stressed and kiasu mommy!! My son is still small but I'm treating the whole issue like macamlah nak decide mana universiti nak masuk...or what job he should pursue...
Gosh, I should take it easy...Still a long way to go...hehe...

Sunday, August 12, 2007

I'm stuck in the office!

It's weekend, but I'm stuck in my office.

We were forced to attend a 2-day course held on Saturday and Sunday. It was supposed to be done in Bukit Tinggi, but due to unforeseen circumstances, we have to do it at Level 26 in the same good old office building instead.

Now, what am I doing here blogging instead?

First, the whole course has a bunch of boring topics.
Secondly, it is not related to any of my job.
Thirdly, the handout given are a jumbled up.
Fourthly, the sound system is crap. Orang duduk belakang tak boleh dengar so they start having their own conversation. Macam pasar!
Fifthly, there are too many attendees cramped up in a small training hall sampai nak bukak handout pun tak boleh.
Need I say more?

Oh, you get my point on why I leave the course and choose to blog, right?

Despite that, I managed to drag my feet to be in the office eventhough it's weekend. Why? Because attendance is compulsory. So what I did was to come, signed the attendance sheet, and during the first break, took my pen and notebook, and chiow!

But I don't think going back home is appropriate..that's a bit too drastic.
Instead, I chose to sit at my work station..and surf the Net, blogging, bloghopping.
Jahatkan?

Well, I'm not the type yang curi tulang macam ni...but if the course is so not related to my job, I feel like I'm just wasting my time. Actually, if it's not related but you could still gain knowledge, that wouldn't be such a waste of time, but if you can't hear a thing the speaker is saying, then that is definitely wasting my precious time! My family time, for God's sake!

I'm not the only "mengular" employee here. Let me see, on the floor itself, I can see..emmm...1, 2, 3,4,5...errr like 6 people excluding me...hehe...

Enough of the topic.

Now, Monday and Tuesday, I'm taking a leave.

On Monday, I've planned made for Ashraff. In the morning, I'm going to send him to his first LittleKhalifah's playgroup. The playgroup is to be held twice a week, and each session lasted for 1 1/2 hours. One month cost us only RM100.00, way cheaper than the current playgroup that we sent Ashraff too. Since it's going to be on Monday and Thursday morn, and I'm working, we shall be paying for the transportation as well which is like additional RM20.00. The owner of the centre will fetch Ashraff at our house.

But for the first session, I'll send him to the center. Our plan is basically to stop the Sunday playgroup that Ashraff attended at LOrnaWh1ston. Reason being, it's too expensive! Now that we are going to start paying for our new house, we can no longer afford to pay Ashraff's fees. I know it's bad planning and budgetting...Despite that, we still think LW is good if you can afford it.

So on this new playgroup, from the conversation I had with the owner, they will have activities like swimming, horse riding and trip to supermarket, just to let the children learn in a fun way. Oh, I'm so excited! It also teaches children Islamic value...which is not available at LW. As for English (as we both are very concern on English), I believe Ashraff can learn to master the language by watching good educational CDs.

For example, this new CD I bought for him. It's called Adventures with GOGO (something like that!), suitable for children age 3 to 9. The series are not highly publisize like BabyEinstein for e.g., but I found it's really good to teach children simple English sentences. I mean I saw significant improvement in Ashraff. In this series, the character will say a clear and repetitious English sentences, for instance, a character will ask Gogo "What's your name?" and then Gogo will answer "My name's Gogo". Then Gogo will counter-ask "What's your name?"..then the character will answer "My name is Jenny." Then Jenny will ask "How are you?"...Gogo will answer "I'm fine, thank you". Later they will sing a song using the same sentences, over and over again.

In one CD, you'll have like about 7 topics. Like in the CD I bought Ashraff, it has the following topics:-
What's you name?
What's his name?
What colour is this?
Is this your mother?
etc..(can't really recall..hehe..)

So now I can see that Ashraff knows how to ask questions in full English sentence, like the other day he asked me "What colour is this?" while pointing to his jammies...I asked him back because I know he knows and he just want to test me. He answered "It's red and blue". No longer he answered "Red dengan blue" macam dulu...

And now he knows how to answer "I'm fine, thank you" when his teacher asked him "How are you?". Although he got confused with "How old are you?". If you ask him this, he'll answer "I'm fine, thank you"...hehehe. And now dia lagi pandai. Whenever you ask him "how old are you?" or "how are you?", he'll answer "I'm fine, thank you. 3 years old". Belasah bagi dua2 answer! Hahaha...

Now, back to my plan for the 2-days leave.

Actually on Tuesday, I don't have specific plan. Maybe siapkan few newspaper orders and then that's it. The rest of the day, I nak main-main dengan the two boys. Maybe bring them for a walk or something. Lazing around...Just to compensate the time I lost for not being with them during the weekend. And maybe to give my body a rest after having to come to the office like 7 days a week...

Oh, oh, I not only update this blog. I've also updated my next door window. I've posted an entry on how to make personalized T-Shirt...and also to introduce our new product which is Personalized Printed Ribbon. You might need it for that special occassion, who knows? Just check it out, alright?!

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

What's on my mind?

This is a jumled up update on what I’ve been thinking lately.

Currently there are two main things on my mind:-
1. The Holiday.
2. The Double Birthday Celebration.

Both needs planning.

I’ve read Eiseai’s blog on her family holiday to OZ. Few things concern me:-
1. The size of the bassinet in the flight. Only that big? I’m sure Aliff won’t tolerate the size of that confined space. Dia yg jenis tido golek2 from one end of the bed to the other end. We’ve tried training him to sleep in the crib but he is very much restless. Oh, I hope we survive the 8-hr journey. Hmmm…might sound nasty but I’ve been thinking of cough syrup lately….

2. The head gear. Eiseai’s Amir wore a hat and Asyraf wore a snow cap. My boys hate anything on their head. Part of it is our fault. When Ashraff was merely a baby, we let him wore a cap coz we . Tapi tumbuh ruam2 merah yang sangat banyak dikepala sebab peluh, so from there onwards, we thrash the idea of wearing him any head gear. So now, Ashraff hates to put on any caps. Aliff pulak..entahlah, tak pernah cuba nak pakaikan…

But I presumed, they’ll be fine without any headgear, coz rambut masing-masing dah panjang. So that could keep them warm, I hope.

Now this month I got invited to Aidan’s First Birthday Bash. They are having “Pirate” as the theme, with the theme colour being white, black and red.

Hmmm…what would my boys be wearing? All pirates wear head gear and am sure my boys would hate that idea. Dotty, kalau tak ikut theme bolehkan? But tak syok lah pulak…

On the party planning, fuhh…still a lot more to do…

Let me see what we’ve got so far…

The Theme – check.
The Venue – check.
The Date – check.
The Party Favor – in 3 categories : adults, kids and babies. Kids’ are well taken care of. Adults? Still indecisive. We were thinking of a mug (filled with candy). Or candle with personalized wrapping. Or bookmark. Personally, if you were my guest, which one would you prefer? For babies, I intend to look for squeaky / noisy toys. Party shops’ favors are priced ridiculously. Kat mana nak cari yang murah ye? 2 ringgit shop?
The Cake – need to get quotation from our client who’s doing bakery and pastry for the past 20 years (he’s the one who did the cake for DatukCTNurhaliza’s nikah and reception). If it’s exorbitant, I might order from a friend of mine who does 3D cakes.
Decoration – balloons, streamers and ribbons. But still haven’t thought of banner. Kalau nak buat customized banner mesti mahal punya.
Games and activity – only one thing that is confirmed which is bubble time. I’ve been pondering on few other activities that is suitable for Ashraff’s and Aliff’s age but need to have a look at the budget. Any ideas are welcomed.

Oh, we intend to do aqiqah as well. Don’t be surprised that we haven’t done aqiqah for Ashraff and Aliff yet. So, dah alang-alang nak buat jamuan, terus buat aqiqah sekali. But, nope it’s not going to be for both. That’ll be way above our budget. It’s going to be for Ashraff only. Cuma 2 kambing je yang akan tumbang, insyaAllah.

Lately also I was thinking of having cupcakes for the birthday. And also a mascot for the party. Ishk, banyak betul Ibu ni nak buat. If only money is not an issue..hehe…

Oh you guys, having list down all these preparations, takkanlah we all tak jemput u all pulak. InsyaAllah, you guys will be invited. Just hope everything turns out as planned.

Now, please check out this link to see a clearer picture of Ashraff’s chocolate wrapper and this link for more information on the product (including the price), in case you are interested.

Monday, August 06, 2007

How long have you become a parent?

I told Hubby one day that no matter how many children we have, the eldest child’s birthday is always special. Why? Because it is a sign of how long we have become a parent.

In our case, yesterday (Sunday) marks our third anniversary as parents. 3 years of parenting…and I still got lots more to learn.

Our Ashraff turns 3 on 5th August 2007. 3 years have passed, but I still remember every single detail of the day Ashraff was born. The arrangement in the labour room, the TV show that was shown at that time, how the nurse who attended me looks like, how I refused to have any pain killer, but later surrender to having pethidine, how long I was in the labour room (9 hours - 5 hours in labour and 4 hours of constant monitoring after the labour coz I had a heavy bleeding), the look on Ashraff's face the very first time I hold him in my arms, how clueless I was in breastfeeding Ashraff for the first time...ahhh...a long list of that significant event in my life.

Time really flies. Now, that boy of mine is already 3 years old. I can’t believe that he’s a big boy already. He is as charming and cheeky as ever. A joker in the house that make us all laugh with the unexpected things that came out from his mouth. But of course, this joker could also be the one that makes my darah bugis goes upstairs. I’ve been reading and re-reading the book “Cool Mum, Super Dad” few times in hope that I’ll be able to apply some of the advices given in my daily parenting life.

And this year, unlike the past 2 years, Ashraff knows the meaning of birthday. He was so happy the moment he opened his eyes in the morning, and found me laying besides him singing birthday song.

And for the whole day of yesterday, he has been singing to himself “Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to Ashraff, Happy Birthday to You”. Perfect pronunciation with perfect tune. We were not aware that he knows how to sing that song until he actually sang it. He must have learnt from all the birthday parties that he attended too.

This year is also special coz this time around Ashraff has school friends and teacher that he can share this special day with. So, as mentioned in my earlier post, we celebrated his 3rd birthday at his school.

The cake-cutting ceremony was held during the 15-mins snack time. Ms. Van was kind enough to let us have the simple occasion for Ashraff. Ashraff’s eyes lighted up the moment he saw the Spiderman cake we bought for him.

The birthday boy, dressed in the personalized t-shirt I made for him, was extremely excited when Ms Van, Citra (the assistant) and all his friends sang birthday song for him. And this year Ashraff could blew his candle perfectly (just one shot), of course, with the help of few of his also excited friends.


Tok Abah, Tok Mak, Bibik and Aliff also tagged along as they want to witness that very special occasion. I also made chocolate wrappers for Ashraff’s friends and teacher and I let Ashraff gave it to all his friends. He hesitated every time he handed the chocs though coz he wants the all of them to himself. Ahh, the possesive Ashraff!

Tengoklah muka tak puashati Ashraff...hehe...


It was a short and simple event, but all in all, I am thrilled that Ashraff got to enjoy this moment. Oh, I got to meet the very preggy Mommy Nael for the first time. She brought along some chocolates for Ashraff. Thanks a lot!

To Ashraff, the past 3 years has been the most wonderful and rewarding time of our life. You were the one who teaches me the meaning of responsibility and patience. Having you, I learnt to become a motivator, a teacher, a singer, a story-teller, a negotiator, a handy man…and lots of other different roles that I have to switch from day to day. It’s tiring but I never regretted any of it. I just hope it’ll never end. Happy 3rd Birthday, my son! Hope you have a good year ahead…

Love, Ibu.


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Oh, oh, people. We managed to pick a name for CMOG's giveaway. Pls check my other blog to see whether your name is choosen...

Friday, August 03, 2007

When the shoe doesn't match...

I'm not a supermom...like what most of you said in your comments. That's a bit too over-rated.

I don't cook. Ok, when we were living in our own house, I did the cooking. Not so much out of interest coz I'm not keen in cooking, but it's more of nak bagi family makan. And hubby wants to eat home-cooked meal sebab dia cakap during lunch, dia dah makan kat luar. But now that we've moved in to my parents' house, my mom did 100% of the cooking.

And I got a maid to help me looking after the kids when I got some project to do.

So not a supermom, aye? I salute those that could raise the same number of children like I do (or more), with no helper, and still could indulge in some self-fulfillment activities like reading, watching favourite TV shows, baking/cooking, sewing etc (I could name one mother here...Eiseai!)

That is what I called a supermom!

Anyway, enough of supermom's topic. Let's move on to story about shoes.

I have a "personal show cabinet" in the office, and it's right under my desk. It's not neatly arranged coz I jenis yang tukar-tukar kasut kat office. Kalau nak masuk meeting, I'll wear a professional looking brown coloured mules. Kalau sekadar nak masuk toilet, I'll wear my everyday sandal which I also used back and forth to the office and also during weekends. Kalau nak solat, I'll wear my selipar jepun.

And I'm the type that likes to take-off my shoes everytime I'm working at my desk. Nak kasi angin masuk...hehe..

So this is when things go all wrong...

Today, me and my boss were called to see one of the GMs. I was scared to sh*t coz his secretary was telling me that this GM is very angry at me for giving him the wrong info. Oh, not really. It's more of me and my boss do not disclose a consistent info. I bagitau lain, my boss bagitau lain.

So, when we were called, I grabbed my notebook, wore my shoes, and rushed to catch the next elevator that goes upstairs.

As the lift's door closes, I saw my own reflection at the door (our lift jenis yang silver in colour, so boleh nampak reflection) and to my horror, I found that my shoes do not match! I was wearing my brown mules on my left foot, and my black sandal on my right foot. Apparently those two were of the same height. That's why I do not realise that I'm wearing the wrong shoe while walking to the lift.

I quickly hide my feet under my quite long kain baju kurung. Done. Now, how I'm suppose to walk out from the lift to the GM's room, and then walk back to my desk without people noticing my shoes?

It was almost lunch time at that time, so when the lift reached its destination, they were lots of people already queueing in front of that particular lift. Alamak! Camne nak buat ni?

So dengan muka yang maintain, sambil senyum pada sesiapa yang mengenali diri ini, I walked out from the lift hoping that no one will look down and saw the shoes I'm wearing. Thank God everyone is anxious to catch a lift so nobody notice..(or I think nobody does). And my boss? I let him walked in-front of me so that he did not get the opportunity to see the the shoes I was wearing.

Then, me and my Boss had to wait for the GM to call us inside his room. I sat quite far from my boss, with my feet hide under my kain. I felt terribly uneasy the whole time...and was hoping that I could return to my desk the soonest...

Fast forward. The meeting with my GM went out well. He was not angry. He just need to discuss on few other matters. And I...ehem..manage to keep my feet tucked under my kain at all time during the discussion. Oh, this kain is my saviour. I was thinking on what it'll be like should I'm wearing a pants...

On the way back to my desk, the floor is empty as everybody has gone out for lunch...As I reached my desk, I let out an air of relief...Phewhh!!

Oh, this reminds me that I need to clear up my "personal shoe cabinet". Get it arranged or something. Or else, the same incident might happen twice...and I definitely do not want it to happen again!

Have a nice weekend everyone!

This over-ambitious Ibu seems to have lots of plan this weekend...
1. Make Ashraff's chocolate wrapper
2. Make Ashraff's personalized t-shirt.
3. Pick a name for CMOG's giveaway.
4. Fulfill orders for personalized newspaper to be sent by next week.
5. To try a new recipe for Aliff's food based on the new baby recipe book that I've just bought (this seems to be the only time I cook..hehe).
6. Order Ashraff's birthday cake for the cake-cutting ceremony this Sunday.
7. Make a personalized colouring book for Ashraff to kill his time during the 8-hr flight to OZ land.

Dunno whether I'll be able to do all...