Sunday, February 28, 2010

When it's hard to say NO

Today we went to Babyland in SS2 to buy a potty for Naufal to start potty training.. Like every other time that we went before, Naufal would point at everything from clothing to books to toys in hope that we would agree to buy him something. This time he was screaming for a bike, but for the numbers that is shown on the price tag, I felt that we could get him something of a better quality if we added just a few extra pretty penny and bought it from a bike shop. So we coaxed him by promising that we would go to the bike store next.
Moments later we arrived at SS3 and entered a bike store (situated just outside taman bahagia LRT station).. Naufal was so excited and couldn't stop smiling


At first Naufal grabbed the closest bike to him. It happened to be a pink bike..


He decided to try a green one next..




Time to examine the cartoon characters and the squeaky bee honker..


I just can't decide which color I like best!


The White one looks cool too..


Ok you can have the bike.. Could you possibly smile any wider Naufal?


Let's try the red one first before we make the final decision.


Honestly I like the White one best!! Ok, let's do an inspection to see if it needs a service before we take it home.


The mechanic added more air to the tyres and tighten the bolts..


Naufal excitedly watch as the final touches on his bike..


Test drive.. Hehe


Naufal's next birthday present, bought 6 months in advanced will be stored at granny's place until it is time to bring it home.. I have a feeling that mummy will be buying more presents within these next 2 quarters leading to Naufal's 3rd birthday!!


-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Monday, February 22, 2010

Naufal, cepat pakai kasut!!

It is undeniably true, kids are creative creatures...

We were at my parents' house last weekend and Naufal was happily playing with his toys. He was pretending that the alphabet blocks are birthday candles. He stacked them up as high as he could and then he would sing "Happy Birthday" (arguably one of his favourite songs right now), and he would blow the blocks. Hoping that his blowing is strong enough to blow it all down. When he felt that he has blown long enough (but the blocks wouldn't bulge), he would push the blocks and clap cheerfully as if it was his powerful blowing which had crumbled the structure. He would repeat this a couple of times until he sees another toy, and his imagination starts playing again...

So when we told him to quickly put on his shoes so that we could go out to dinner, he grabbed the closes toy next to him and pretended that it was his shoes... hehe.. 5 steps later, the whole thing crumbled, and he ran screaming outside to get his real shoes..


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Talk to the guy in yellow

Have you ever been to a store, then realise that your shirt is exactly the same shade as the staff uniform?


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Friday, February 19, 2010

Current thoughts

This week has been breezy, everything seems light and easy. For one, the traffic back and forth to work has been absolutely fantastic. My travelling time has been slashed down to half.
The office itself is so quiet and the email input has been kept low.

Not only is this week a 3 day week, Friday is also pay day and work hard play hard (WHPH) day. This means that we get to take the afternoon off to do whatever we want.. for me, it usually means shopping (Friday is usually the start of some sale in KLCC), or just going home and enjoy the free time. Today, Norman and I are planning to go to IKEA and Houz Depot. There's still some things to buy for the house, so I hope we would get most of what we need in time to pick up Naufal from kindergarten later today.

Other than HR screwing up my payslip (last month's and this month's), I am so looking forward to BONUS next month... I feel like going on a holiday, I mean a real holiday where I am a tourist!! I'm thinking of going to Hong Kong or the Gold Coast, I want to take Naufal to Hong Kong Disneyland or Warner Bros. Movie World in Australia. Will have to discuss with Mr. Husband first, must look at the schedule and all too.. Anybody been there before? What's your review?

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

HAPPY 30th MONTH BIRTHDAY, NAUFAL!!

Last weekend my cousin came over to visit my mother’s house, her eldest daughter baked some cupcakes and shared it with us. When we arrived at my mum’s that evening, Naufal saw the cupcakes on the dining table. At first he didn’t want to try them. To lure him into trying them we lit a candle and stuck it on the cupcake. Everyone started singing Happy Birthday to him, and he would excitedly blow out the candle.. with a sweet smile on his face he would say “Again!”.. so we repeated it all over again.. after a while he picked up a spoon and happily ate his “birthday” cake.

This morning when I got to the office I realized that again it is the 17th.. which means that it is Naufal’s 30th month birthday!!!
So what can he do now?

Well, he can walk, run, jump, balances on one feet, dance and sing. Memorizes the alphabets, numbers and Arabic alphabets. Able to recite “doa makan” and some “zikir”s and simple “surahs from Al-Quran”.. He is able to brush his own teeth, with little assistance. With supervision he could take his own shower, washes and dries his own hand after meals. He can wear his own pants, in fact he sometimes puts his pants on over his pants (which makes him literally look like superman, hehe).. He’s still not potty trained, we haven’t really tried yet. I think when he starts sleeping in his own bed we’ll start. I hope his bed will be delivered this week.

The best thing about this age is that he wears his emotions on his sleeves, his kisses and hugs are so sincere. Unconditional LOVE. And your heart would just melt when he sings “I love you, you love me, we are one happy family, with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won’t you say you love me too…” Ahhh, I hope he will always be this cute!!

Some of the things he would say are really charming, unintentionally funny and most of the time surprising to me. He is obviously learning English at his kindergarten, once he was eating something and once it finishes he turns to me and said “Ibu, I want some more!” in his regular sing-a-song tone. The funny thing is that he picked up the local Malaysian “LAH” slang too.. whenever he’s correcting me he would use it. Like yesterday, when we arrived home from my mum’s at 10pm, I told him that the neighbour’s kids are already asleep. However, the neighbours are obviously entertaining guests and their door and gate was wide open. Upon hearing our car driving in, their kids ran out calling after Naufal. Naufal turned to me “Ibu, belum tido lagi LAH!!” hahah…
I noticed that he is also interested in music. Like on our last trip to Penang, he was strumming his uncle’s guitar and excitedly singing nursery rhymes. Perhaps we should get him exposed to musical instruments.

There are times when he can be challenging to manage too, he’s starting to make whining sounds. I know that it is not crying, and so I would always tell him to stop, cause I don’t want it to turn into a habit. I would always have to distract him so that his attention is shifted to something else.
I recently noticed that he begins to have fears. Last weekend, he was afraid of the CNY dragons. He used to like it, but this time he is afraid. He was also afraid of the moving animal toys that he has in his room. Again, he used to like it when he was younger. Perhaps this is all part of his emotional developments. I will have to explains to him that there’s nothing to be scared off.

Anyway.. HAPPY 30 MONTH BIRTHDAY NAUFAL!! WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH...

Monday, February 15, 2010

For the love of books..

Naufal just simply LOVES books.. eventhough he can't quite read by himself, he's already recognizing the letters of the alphabets. When we read together he would point out letters that he knows.. sometimes when we go on long distance trips the best thing to keep him in his seat is the good old jolly book..Sometimes he would read out loud, well make up what he thinks the storyline should be..
Often he would sing some song that associates to the things he would see on the page.. which is often the theme song of the cartoon.. or something that resembles that.. hehe
To encourage his love for books, I would occasionally buy him a new book once in a while, depending on what cartoon he likes at the time.

So when I saw a contest that would give us a chance to win a book, I just couldn't resists it..
The winner will be selected randomly (random.org) so the higher the number of entries you have, the better the chance of you winning.

To take part in this give-away, complete the following items:

For 1 entry
Follow this blog and/or become a fan of Huiwearn Kids Store on Facebook -

For 1 entry
Link us to your blog by adding littleredreadingnook.blogspot.com to your blog list


For 1 entry
Add Little Red Reading Nook's new blogshop banner (logo) to your blog sidebar


For 3 entries
Blog about this give-away. In your blog post, pls include the giveaway banner above and make sure you place a link back here.


Grand prize : Maisy's Home & Garden Pop-up & Play Book
Selling price at major bookstores RM79.90. This is the most expensive children's book in my blogshop - my selling price : RM58.00. Click on link above to read full description of this interesting book.



Best blog entry: Hello Kitty Mystery Gift Hamper sponsored by Huiwearn Kids Store
So what are you waiting for? Get those entries in QUICK!
Dateline : 3rd March 2010


It's that easy.. let's all give it a try !!

Nowadays, other than pop-up books, and books with musical buttons to press, Naufal is also enjoying write and wipe books.. I guess with this new development, I will have to hide the crayons when he is done.. otherwise the walls will be in jeopardy!!

It's so much fun, it's like a new adventure for him.. and everytime we are done reading together he would surely have a smile on his face :)

Friday, February 12, 2010

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE weekends (who doesn’t?).. but I’m having jitters at every thought of this weekend. Getting nervous with every second that passes, as this will be the weekend that I have the in-laws over.

Not just the parents in-law and Mr. Husband’s siblings, but the whole extended family.. the aunts, the uncles, the cousins, with their kids (if any).. AND it will be the first time that I’m cooking for them!!

As they are coming for tea (which may extend to dinner), I’ve done my homework by hunting the internet for recipes and getting them QA/QC’d by my super-chef mother and sister. In fact, I am even contemplating on kidnapping my sister in these desperate times!!

Yesterday, on our way to the supermarket to buy the food for this weekend, my mother-in-law called. I think she knows that I am worried about the incoming of hungry relatives, and she was reassuring me that she will be there to help me “bersilat dalam dapur” when the need arises. Talking to my mum, she was adamant to make sure that I don’t resemble a COOKING DUMMY too.. I am so glad that I have the moral support.

Today, before my immediate in-laws arrive, I’m going over to my mum’s to prepare the Cucur Badak and jelly trifle. Will have to shove it all in the fridge when I get to my house until it is ready for consumption tomorrow. Tomorrow morning I plan to make chicken curry, which they can eat with Roti Pharatta for breakfast. I also plan to start cooking bubur kacang hijau (for tea later).

For lunch we will all be going to one of the cousin’s wedding (which is why the whole extended family is here).. and the family gathering at my house will be afterwards… tea and maybe dinner. If they stay for dinner I might just cook bihun, or order pizza!!!

Oh how I wish I know how to cook, and be confident that it will be delicious every time.

2 Cempaka

As I was surfing around Facebook, looking at my own profile, I came across a class photo of when I was 8 years old :) I am overly joyed at this, because I have lost this photo.. I wonder if anyone has the other class photos of me when I was at SRK Sri Petaling.. (I was transferred to Armley Middle School when I was 10)...
Guess which is me? No... No... Yes, I'm on the front row, the 3rd from left. :)
Oh, how I wish could go back in time...

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

5 Things On My List

I was tagged by Monina...

5 things I’m thankful at…
1. God for giving me a chance to live this wonderful life.
2. Having a great husband who understands me in and out
3. Great parents (and parent in-laws) who has been very supportive and loving
4. Contact Lense, my vision would be blurry without it (I have a childhood memory on this.. I hate wearing glasses)
5. The sunny weather in this blessed country – having spent most of my childhood and teenage years in seasonal countries where most of the year is freezing cold, I am really thankful for the warm weather, it gives me a happy pink glow :)


5 things I regretted about…
They say we shouldn’t have regrets in life…but I can’t help it to have a few, such as…
1. Not making an effort to learn how to cook from my mum. Now that I am a mum myself, I always have to refer to a recipe book before I start cooking, where as my younger sister is a SUPERCHEF..
2. I also regret never making the effort to learn to sew.. I love fabric (especially beautiful silk batiks from Terengganu), and I am willing to pay generously for them, but tailoring costs just as much as the material!!! I feel cheated!!!
3. Not keeping in touch with my primary school friends when we moved to UK. I really missed them, but being so far away I didn’t call or write (no email at the time). We finally got back in touch through friendster, but with each of us leading our own separate lives we have never met yet since 1990.
4. Not buying any CORELLE dinnerware and COACH handbags while I was living in US.
5. And my number 5 regret, is saying yes to that senior guy in college in my first year. I was getting over someone else, and am definitely not ready to get into another relationship. I knew he had high expectations, and I broke his heart and he hates me forever.. and I am sorry, really. I’m not a heartbreaker in real life.. (I must’ve been temporarily insane at the time)

5 Alive Celebrities I wanted to meet….
1. The whole Grey’s Anatomy cast (can that be count as one person?)
2. Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom
3. Suri Cruise (she’s so cute)
4. Jessica Alba
5. Beyonce Knowles

5 Places I wanted to go…
1. I want to go to Houston (or London), and spend 4+ years as an expat!! I have been daydreaming about this for so long…
2. Dubai.. or Egypt.. wait, I want to go on my umrah/haji first!!
3. South Africa (for the World Cup!!)
4. Outer space.. and I want to go for free like Dr. Syeikh Muszaphar Shukor.
5. And DisneyWorld!!! Just like Monina, I want to bring my family to DisneyWorld, spend the 4 days exploring each kingdoms like we did a few years ago!!

5 childhood memories
1. After our daily mengaji session at a nenek’s house on my street, this was when the Al-Ikhlas Mosque (also on my street) was being built, my sister and some of the other kids were collecting tadpoles at the playground next to the construction site. We just completely lost sense of time, and my mother must’ve been so worried. When we finally got home, she was so mad at us!!!
2. When I was in kindergarden, my teacher brought the whole class to the library and my friends and I was excitedly choosing our book. Before that we have booked our table and seats, but when we came back someone else was sitting there. So in frustration, I screamed for the other person to sit somewhere else.. As screaming in a library is forbidden, my teacher had sent me back to class alone. As I arrived, I sat there crying alone until I feel asleep.
3. Before pre-school, my sister and I would pretend that we are rock stars. So we would usually take turn standing on top of the double-decker bed (pretending that it was a stage), ad we would belt out any song that we could think of at the top of our lungs. I guess we did this quite often, if not everyday. Then a year later, I started going to kindergarden and my sister was left alone at home. Our concerts have stopped. Then one day, we were picking up the clean laundry from the hangers and our backstreet neighbour says that she really missed hearing our singing… We were really shy when we realised that someone else was able to hear us sing.
4. I used to remember how my friends and I was so head over heels over ‘New Kids On The Block’.. it was the first boy band that we loved!!
5. When I was in form 4, I discovered that I needed to wear glasses. So one day my dad bought me to the opticians and we bought a pair of glasses. They were huge, and I am sure it covered half of my face. So I only wore it when I am in my class, any other time I would take it off and clip it to the buttons of my baju kurung school uniform. One day, I went to the toilet and my glasses fell in the toilet hole (it was one of those squatting loos).. We had to get the janitor to fish it out. I wore contact lense ever since then….

5 people to continue the tag circle…
1. My ex-officemate, Antz
2. My officemate, Liz
3. My ex-classmate, Nang
4. My soon-to-be-a-bride friend, Shahida
5. Whoever readers who have time ok!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Devil in Disguise

It is always a dilemma for working parents, when they have to spend time away from their children, particularly if one of the spouse has to be away (frequent trips out-station, or even short term assignments abroad).. Do you have an in-house maid or part time maid or send the kids to nursery? Some maybe of slight advantage where they could have their un-working sibling or parents to look after their children while they are out, but some are short of options and have to divulge to a maid.

Every time I read a news article or an email on how maids are abusing the kids and babies under their care, I had to cringe with anger at the irresponsible devil in disguise. Today I read in an article about a maid who was just recently hired (6 months ago) whose antics were caught on video by a hidden camera that was installed by her owner. The parent of the 2-year old child and an infant baby was curious about the sudden change in her children’s behavior, as they seemed hungry and constantly crying and seeking attention. It turns out that the maid was making the 2 year old do the cleaning in the house, repeatedly hitting both the children and worst of all, feeding the baby an empty bottle in an effort to stop him from crying and not feeding the other child. In fact, the little toddler is left high and dry as he begs food from the maid who eats in front of them. So what is the maid doing? It seems that her routine is to lie on the couch and watch TV.
From my personal experience, I have heard many, many other tales from my cousins and friends who are disappointed at their maids. Tales of their baby and toddlers left alone while the maid makes a run, tales of their maids who brings their boyfriends in the house, tales of maids who hit the kids, tales of maids who steals, tales of maids who doesn’t understand your orders, maids who keeps making long distance calls, and the list is endless..

Early last year, I almost succumb to the services of a live-in maid. I thought that I needed to have a made for my big move into the new house, and most importantly for the 44 days that my parents would be away while they are on their pilgrimage. Not wanting to pay a bomb, I took the recommendation of a friend who knows of a friend’s ex-maid who is helping her friends from the village to get jobs as maids in Malaysia. The fee was half of the regular maid-agency’s and it sounded like there would not be any fuss. So January 2009, although I was hesitant (I hate the thought of a stranger living with us) I paid the deposit (thinking that I would give maid-ing the benefit of the doubt and give it a try), but come September I was still maidless. There were excuses after excuses that I decided to cancel the whole thing and ask for my money back. It has been 13 months and I have still yet to receive all my money, this time the agent is unreachable… (she might be dead for all I care, may she rot in hell)

After multiple frustrations and disappointments, I am now actually glad that I cancelled. The truth is, I really CAN live without additional help. Never need a maid that never made it. My son is far better off in a playschool (he is learning so much and his confidence level has tremendously increased), and best of all, I am happy that I don’t have a stranger living in my house :)

NO COFFEE CAMPAIGN

Other than the NO PLASTIC BAG DAY campaign, I am also setting up my own NO COFFEE campaign... I've hit a milestone today, it has been 7 days since my last cup of coffee :)
I have been surviving on MILO...

MILO and oat for breakfast, MILO after lunch, and MILO at tea time..

Soon I will change MILO to Soya.. and drink that for the next 9 months!!!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Going Green

Selangor state government declared that Saturday is the NO PLASTIC BAG DAY effective January 1, 2010. Retailers and shopping centres throughout the state were urged to reduce the use of plastic bags.
At first I was one of the many shoppers were caught unaware of the new declaration. In fact, I was frustrated at the cashier at Giant who wanted to charge me 20 cent for a plastic bag when I have a full trolley full of goods on our regular trip to the groceries on Saturday. Not wanting to spend so much on disposable plastic bags, I decided to cart the trolley to the car park and unload the items into my car boot.

Later, I am constantly reminded that I should carry a plastic bag to do my groceries. Looks like I need to buy a bigger handbag that could fit all the other bags that I need to carry to buy my groceries.. hahha

However, being the forgetful little missy that I am, I completely forgot to bring our shopping bags last Saturday and was once again caught out at the cashier. This time I was buying baking utensils. So there I was with my mixing bowl, measuring cup, weighing balance, flour sifter, baking tray and a karipap mould (Naufal insisted that I buy, although I have never made my own karipap, but I guess now I have to make an effort to learn cause Naufal loves karipap).. and again the cashier would ask, do you want to buy a plastic bag? I said NO, and this time Naufal’s stroller became the next victim.

Back at home, Saturday once again became a historical day, as it was the first day that I finally installed the oven racks and started baking :) To mark the occasion, I invited my parents and siblings over for dinner, where I cooked IKEA's meatballs, with potato, carrots and maccaroni and cheese (Naufal's latest favourite) and a chocolate cake.

That night I was also informed that our neighbour is hosting a get-to-know the neighbours housewarming, so when my parents left at about 10pm.. my husband insisted that we walk over and say hi..

Anyway, when we again went out on Sunday, I made sure I had all our bags in the car in case we needed to go to the store to buy anything... and guess what, when we did go to the supermarket later that night, we were again bagless at the cashier counter because we drove in my car (and not my husband's car which had the grocery bags!!!)


Thursday, February 4, 2010

Caffeine Addiction

I hate it when I am so dependent on that morning cup of coffee. Without it everything seems unorganized.. and I would feel unmotivated… not myself… sometimes even headaches.

When I was a student, I used to be addicted to my daily dose of Coca-cola. Nowadays, the first thing that I would do while I wait for my laptop to start up is to head to the pantry and make myself a cup of coffee. On weekends, I am just not functioning without it. And it has to be NESCAFE!! Any other coffee just won’t do..
I need to get rid of this addiction, have to reduce caffeine intake for the planned P.. Any tips?