Young Readers

I think another useful skills that I've acquired as a mother is book patching/repairing. My children love their books to the point that sometime they would tear and eat it (seriously, hehehe) especially if when my back was turned on them even just for few seconds :)


Above is among the first books that I bought for Adam. It a soft cover books with thick pages suitable for toddler that I bought when Adam had not even turn one year old and gave them to him after a few months he had turned one year old. Below is among the damages that he had done to those books. Noticed the hole in the center of one of the book, that is where he had chew and ate a 'little' of the paper until I saw and stopped him :) - till now I'm still baffling on how he manage to chew right on the center, any corners of the book would be more explainable. Some of the pages had came off, but I had patch all of them as good as I could with cellophane tape. A few of the pages had been ripped off and rendered to tiny bits like one of the book below and that is beyond salvaging :)



Above is 'pop-up' book for kids that we found in Borders for reasonable price. Even my husband and I was fascinated by them (we were so excited that we took the Spanish version of 'Extreme Animals' but were able to exchange it few weeks later ^_^) , thus we bought them for Adam when he was just two years old. He likes the books and I think had been prodding on how the pop-up work, thus some of the pop-up had been teared off, like the tongue of the tiger below, but I had again manage to cellophane taped it :) But a pop-up eagle in the book had lost one of its wing and I couldn't find it (this was Aisyah job). The only extreme creature left untouched is a pop-up cobra - I think the kids are afraid of it :)


As Adam turned three years old, he took more good care of the book. But now I had Aisyah who had just turned one year old, so the cycle repeat itself. Below is one of the pop-up book in which Aisyah had shown her 'talent' in art just this year :) The pop-up cannot normally 'pop' anymore from over-flipping. Down below is her top favorite books. Whenever I sing 'Ba ba black sheep' with them, she would quickly reach for this nursery rhyme book and ask me to sing all the other rhymes. I had to patch this book with tape as well since some of the pages had came out from the binding (in fact the page of Ba Ba Black Sheep had been missing).




Anyway I would not stop buying them books just because of this - hopefully as they grow older they would take good care of their books and could read and really understand the content as well. And as long as I could I would try to repair all the damages in the books any way and well that I could.

P/S: BTW, situation had improve a bit nowadays, since I have Adam as 'peace police' - he would happily report Aisyah 'vandalism'; 'Ibu... Aisyah koyak buku'. But when both of them fought over one book and it tore apart, he would quickly fled and hide under the dining table :)

Guilty As Charged

I had a confession to made! You know, when sometime you accidently saw a long time/old friends from hometown, schools, work at supermarket, parks, restaurants or anywhere, a polite way is to go and at least say 'hi' or more. Well, I always avoid/duck away from such situation. If I saw a familiar face, I would go to the other way or pretend that I had never saw him/her on the first place - yeah... I suck!

I'm afraid of the question that would come up in such meeting, 'Buat apa sekarang?'. Even someone that I just met/knew would sometime asked the same thing, 'Kerja apa?'. Till now I can't cajole myself to feel dignified over my answer 'Tak kerja, duduk rumah saja, jaga anak.'

I had also been asked, 'Suami tak bagi kerja ke?', 'Tak rasa rugi ke?' and there was an acquaintance who asked me 'Macam mana sekarang duduk kat rumah?' and went on to tell me that when she was staying at home with her kids (now she is working), she had to drag herself downstairs every morning thinking 'another usual ordinary day'. Of couse I, who try as I might or could to avoid any heated situation especially with families/friends - it is only in this blog that I could be blunt and speak my mind - just smile back at her when in fact the very answer in my head at that time was, 'Well, I'm doing fine and I used to feel the same when I was working'.

I think when I said to others that I'm a homemaker/stay-at-home-mom, their immediate impression of me, if we had just met, would be that I'm uneducated or frail and with old friends, that I'm unsuccessful, not independent or foolish. And of course there is no use or even appropriate for me to go on and tell them that I had a degree, explaining to them it was my choice, telling them my of my dreams/ambitions/goals, showing them I'm doing fine and totally happy and stressing to them 'beneath all this, I'm still a tough, strong, independent person who still made my own choice, think on my own and decide on my life!'. Why would I explain myself to anybody anyway, hehehe... and so I decided to quickly walked away to the different aisle in the supermarket...hmm...

Later I would truly regret it (why would I care of what others think of me anyway). If I had the courage to walk and say 'hi' to her, maybe we could be friends again like old days...hmm...

Making Room For The Kids

After much deciding and calculating we finally made a separate room from us for the kids. Nothing luxurious or fancy, just two single matresses for them - all this while they had been sleeping on the comforter/'toto' on the floor of our master bedroom. We save the bed frame for later when we had more budget and also taking into account that Aisyah wouldn't roll over and fall out - even on this matress she tend to sleep right on the edge.



Everytime we went to Ikea, in the bedroom area, Aisyah would always jump on the bed and pull up the comforter and pretend to sleep, so I was determined to buy her a comforter set - we did not use any comforter in the master bedroom since the is no airconditioner in any part of the house and seldom use any blanket either. Above is Aisyah modelling for me after I've set up their beds :)

Both were excited on regard of having their own room. They seems happy with this new arrangement. The first night, their father had to sleep with them for a while when all they did ware jumping, playing, chatting and laughing came the bedtime. I was the one who felt a little bit emotional with the separation - I've been sleeping with them in the same room since they were born...hmm... Second night, Adam exchanged bed with Aisyah - he told us, Adam 'panas' (by this time I had hung away their comforter since they both kick them away came morning) - unlike the first night, Adam straight away felt asleep since his grandfather who came for a visit took him to the playground in the evening. Aisyah who had her nap late in the evening where left with no 'partner in crime', browsed through her book, sang on her own for a while, tossed and turned and finally felt asleep. Third night, Adam went back to his initial bed right beside the window and been sleeping there since.

It had been nearly a week that they slept in their own room. Aisyah who still woke up at night for BF would cried for me or walked to our room and woke me up :) Our plan is to let them sleep in the same room until the time come to separate them each with their own room - most probably after Adam go to school or much earlier, insyaallah...

Wisdom Hair

Can't help but smile when my friend wrote in her comment that everybody is getting older. Can't deny it either. Yes, we are growing older by days :)

There is a phrase, older and wiser! But, not me. I'm getting clueless by days. Still pondering on the same thing when I was young. What I 'want' or 'had' to do with my life? Truth be told, had a lot of things in my mid of what I want to do or be. But I'm a chicken shit or just plain lazy to move ahead :) As for now I'm truly grateful to get on with my life one day at a time. Insyaallah... jika panjang umur I'll do everything else that stuck at one corner of my head :)

Just early this year (even before I turned big three O), I noticed a strand of white hair right on the front center of my head, above my forehead (huhuhu... I always wish for a lushful hair like my mother - her hair had just recently turned a little white - and the skinny body like my father but instead I inherit my father's hair - he had just retire last year but his head had long turned all whites - and my mother's figure ^_^). On impulse I pull that white hair out. It grow white again at the same exact spot! Maybe there will be more to come around that spot and then I'll have that rugged yet charming look like Roque in X-files... hehehe... keep on wishing/dreaming Sarah!

P/S: Not X-files but X-men, hehehe... when my head is not coherent with my hands - thinking too fast but typing too slow :)

Getting Well

Everbody had just recover from HFMD except for husband (yup, even I got infected but only a mild case). It started with Aisyah who complained of sore mouth when she tried to eat. Then I started to notice small red rashes on her hands and feets. She had a mild fever then. But all this does not hinder her from eating. This girl really love to eat, she ate almost everything - I think she would even chew on sticks and stones if we let her :) - but still she maintain a skinny small figure.

Then Adam started to had ulcers in his mouth and rashes on his hands and feets. Being a 'drama queen', he complained endlessly especially the pain in his mouth. He stopped eating. He tried to eat his favorite meal of 'nasi and telur goreng' when he was hungry but end up crying when he could not chew and swallow the food. I would make him some porridge but he dislikes the any kind food with soft and 'mushy' texture. In the end he only drink plain water through straw for two days.

As for me, it started with terrible itching on the hands especially around the fingers and on the soles of the feets. Then there was tiny rashes inside the wall of the mouth and on tongue. The tongue felt numb. I had no fever but my body felt slightly weak.

Last week, on Friday, after Adam looked well again and had four slices of Gardenia bread with butter and strawberry jam in the morning, I made them 'kuey tiow' (flat rice noodles) with simple chicken soup four lunch. Add in some fish balls since the kids love to eat everything in ball shape; chicken balls, meat balls, fish balls. Served the soup with some blanched mustard greens for me and Aisyah (I told you that girl eat everything, her current favorite would be carrot, bean sprout and long bean; the chopped stalk of mustard greens look like long bean so she is more than happy to eat it) and just plain soup with 'kuey tiow' and fish balls for Adam - he had two helpings then, a sure sign he had fully recovered :)

Ride Away

My husband had finally repair my bicycle. I bought that bicycle when Adam was four months old. My intention was to lose my pregnancy weight by cycling right after work, before I went to pick up Adam from his care taker house. There is a small park near to my aparment in Kota Damansara that I could cycle to or I could just cycle around the blocks. After one week, the pedal came off plus there was a problem with the gear - it is not an expensive bike ;) - and my husband said he would fix it (he could fix a millions ringgit complicated machines so a bicycle wouldn't be a problem, that was his exact words :) but he need to take some tools home). Weeks turned into months, turned into years, the bicycle was left to rot outside the apartment - some kid even took some parts. When we moved to Rawang, I was thinking of giving away that bike, but husband promised to do something, so we took it here.

I had many memories with bike. When I was in kindergarten, my parents bought me a small bike with training wheels. I rode it with other neighbors' kids on the dead end road right beside my parents' house every evening except for rains. There I had my first accident, when a girl (later she moved away), a little older than me crashed into my bike. I end up falling with my bike and that girl and her bike on top of me and sprained my left arm. My parents took me for 'urut' near my grandparents (mother's) house right that evening. It was a nightmare. I cried and screamed. Had to go there for three consecutive days. Till now my left arms is a little twisted but it is not very obvious. But that does not hinder me from riding!

It was kind of late till I learnt to ride without the training wheels. Every school holidays, my parents would send us 'balik kampung' for few days, they themselves wouldn't stay with us eventhought they are teachers :) I prefer my father's 'kampung' since cousins near my age would also be there. Unlike me, they could ride my 'maksu' (my father's younger sister) bike. They would carry me on the back carrier though, but it was no fun. Inside my heart,I was very jealous of them :) One school holiday when I was in standard four I think (I told you it was late!) my cousins couldn't come to grandparents' house. I had only my brother and sister with me and the bicycle all to myself. This was when I tried to learn. The bicycle is quite big so everytime I had to stop I would use 'tiang rumah' as my break as I could not touch the ground with my feet. It was kind of funny but since I could now properly ride, my parents bought me a BMX (blue in colour, it was a craze at that time!) :)

I would ride everywhere, at play, going to tution (I could remember that my father would drive behind me when I came back from tution class at night as there was no street lights, hehehe) When I was in standard six and onward I would ride my bicycle if I was going to Sg Petani town to meet friends.

Another fond memory was when I was in PPP, Shah Alam. I went to Subang Carrefour with one of my classmate to buy a bicyle. Then we rode that bicycle all the way from Subang to Shah Alam using the motorcycle lane beside the Federal Highway and took the exit to Shah Alam. I was not familiar with the road at that time so I had to depend on my friend and she was confused as well. I think we took the wrong exit - the next one would be much near to our hostel - thus, we had figure out where each roads lead to and Shah Alam is quite famous for it roundabouts - you would sure to find at least one at every section! To make the matter worst, little that we know, that day was going to be the first day for cloud seeding (to overcome the water shortage crisis at that time). Rains started to pour down heavily on us as we came to Shah Alam's exit - and since I had the first hand encounter, I could tell you that the raindrops from cloud seeding was extra large compared to normal raindrops. Both of us were soaking wet and shivering as we enter the hostel's compound (Alhamdullilah we managed to found our way eventhough it was raining). After that I cycled for few weeks to class every morning and I lost a little bit of weight then :)

Now I could ride again (thank you dear) and I had already done that - to bystanders who happened to see me, they must think 'What this overweight 'makcik' doing riding a bicycle like kid', hahaha... All I could tell you, it kind of make me feel free... :D

Pretty With Fangs

Thursday night at 10 I would be fixed in front of TV (yup, this 'idiot box' could sometime rules our life ^_^) watching my favorite HBO Series on Cinemax. It's a vampire story - True Blood. The lead actor - the vampire - is of course dark, mysterious and handsome. The lead actress is cute, but I hate her Southern accent - the background is Lousiana so everybody speak in Southern slang - I could tolerate other co-actors/actresses slang but hers is too cheeky to me :) Yup, most people including myself are kind of interested in vampire. Maybe because they are immortal or maybe most of the time they are portrayed as beautiful being (the fangs are kind of sexy too - but in this series there are ugly vampire; an overweight man who work as an accountant ^_^) So could you imagine my disappointment last two weeks, when I've finished all the chores of the day, sat on the couch and found out that the first season had ended(even the first season of the series of The Tudor had ended on HBO and I couldn't even remember what happened in the last episode ^_^)


Another movie that I could remember about vampire was 'Interview With Vampire'. This movie featured a few of 'pretty' boys; Tom Cruise, Brat Pitt, Antonio Banderas and Christian Slater, and that kind of heighten my fantasy about vampires :) I tried to read the book by Anne Rice later but couldn't really understand a word!


Nowadays, people are talking about Twilight, but I still hadn't watch the movie or read the book yet (yup, I'm still one of those not-up-to-date gal ^_^)

BTW, Astro are taking away my Kirana channel and going to replace/include it with yet another category - I can't remember what - and of course you had to pay another extra fee if you want to subscribe :( Well, I'm not going to pay extra, I don't care, if there is nothing to watch, I might as well go to bed early :)

P/S: Anyway, to me, all this vampire or werewolf or 'handsome actors' are just fictional characters and nothing more :)

At Glance

I think of all the rooms in my house, my favorite would be the kitchen - second would be my bedroom :) I have everything that I need there. It is also a place that I could be creative and experiment. I was a girl that used to try to wrung myself free from being in the kitchen :D Now I found my solitude in the kitchen, so I would always keep it clean - I would even clean as I'm cooking, hehehe...

My kids are free to come into the kitchen as I would always make sure the pot handle on the stove point towards the wall - would all the time told them 'panas, jangan dekat/pegang'. All knives are put out of the their reach - again I would always remind them 'jangan main pisau, tajam, nanti luka' and alhamdullilah these two are among the few that they heed :) Most of the glassware and fragile plates are put on the top cabinets so 'Aisyah' could only 'punggah' the plastic containers on the lower cupboard :)

Here is a glimpse of my kitchen that I'm so proud of - thank you dear husband (the picture was taken long before I made the sink makeover anyway):






My husband had just recently put a wall fan since I always complain it is too hot in there (thanks again dear). Now I'm thinking of putting a narrow rectangle table at the center with the stools that I already had, so that next time I could sit there, sip my tea and read recipe books while waiting for the baking in the oven :D

Cornish Pasty

There are lots of self-raising flour in my kitchen pantry from my venture of making cupcakes last January. I'm bored of making cupcakes or cakes so I searched the web for other use of self raising flour and found out it is good for making pasties.

I used the recipe in Nigella's cookbook. The recipe for making the dough is similar to making the pastry dough - 250g butter to 500g self raising flour; Nigella used lard, I of course (for religious reason) used butter instead. For the filling, I cooked minced chicken with diced onion, diced potato and diced carrot with a little bit of coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder and seasoned with salt and black pepper.


The dough was then divided to four small balls and each was rolled into rough circle, the size of small plate. Quarter of the filling was put into one side of the circle, beaten egg was brushed around the edge and the other side was folded over to seal the pasty. The edge was curled inwards and crimped in a pasty like fashion (like the way we crimp 'karipap' edge, but mine was a little bit out of shape since the dough was too soft. Anyway this cornish pasty is actually like an oversize 'karipap'. The top was glazed with beaten egg and baked to 180-200 degree celcius in the oven for 30 minutes.



Tomorrow, I would try to make some scones with the rest of the self-raising flour :)

Kalumpang

Last Sunday, we help my sister moving house from Rawang town center to Bukit Beruntung. She moved from her rented apartment to her own apartment (her husband's actually - he bought it before they got married). It is a 3-stories apartment and the neighborhood is quite nice (frankly I was expecting the worst based on the reputation of that area - lots of 'projek separa terbengkalai' and abandoned houses and properties. Well my sister's apartment look kind of new with spacious surrounding area and the layout and spaces of the apartment itself is not that bad either and much better than her old apartment - no wonder she can't hardly wait to move there and save herself from paying rent :)

After having lunch, we went yet again to Kalumpung. This time I made sure I brought my handphone camera (still haven't fix our camera, hahaha), as well as shovel and bucket toys for the kids, so that they would be preoccupied and wouldn't have to shivering-ly whimper 'sejuk...sejuk...sejuk...' all the time :D So here are some of the colors of Kalumpang: