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Crash and Burn

Sorry I have not been updating as frequently. Many reasons why. I have crashed my darling Dell lappy, so have been using Mr. AKO's Toshiba. Managed to ruin that also and for the past week have been using Mr. AKO's VAIO. The thing is, eventho it's a VAIO, it runs on a snail pace. Man, what's that all about eh?

Haven't sent my lovely pinky Dell for some TLC yet. God, how I miss my own computer.

Sigh Sigh Sigh.

Good Old SP

No no no, SP stands for Subang Parade, not Sungai Petani (though I do enjoy visiting the latter too). As a girl born and bred in Petaling Jaya, my earliest fondest memories of childhood apart from playing chase with my friends at "Padang Bomb", were the trips to the shopping complex. Most frequented was the Jaya Supermarket at Section 14 which was at that time considered 'THE' place to shop, where we can find the first Cold Storage in Malaysia. Not forgetting the coveted Kathy's Toy Store where we bugged our parents countless times to get what our hearts desired. Another place was the shopping complex in Ampang (Ampang Park), where there was an indoor theme park, where I spent many happy moments jumping on the inflatables. Of course its not as state of the art as the likes of Cosmo's World etc that we have today, but it was the coolest once upon a time.

But all in all, my favourite was and still is Subang Parade. Still remember the first store to operate there was McDonalds. SP opened its doors in the year 1988, when I was in Form 1. SP witnessed my growing up in the teenage years and it is the main hangout point for the kids within the Petaling/Subang vicinity. It's the place where I had my first date (ha ha ha), also where many birthdays etc were celebrated both with friends and family. And.... it's also the place where I had my first official date with my hubby! There was once a cinema there too and it was the place to be spotted and do some 'cuci mata'.

Within the 20 years of its operation, it had undergone changes in management, changes of tenants and the most recent renovation took place in 2006 where it was revamped to give it a more modern and appealing look. Back in its hey day in the early 1990's, it was the longest shopping mall in South-east Asia! Although it no longer holds that title, SP will forever have a special place in my heart. I H.E.A.R.T SP. Oh God, is there such a thing as a love affair with a shopping mall?

Now, I go to SP on a weekly basis, latest was last night where we brought Baby Azan for his first visit to the sacred ground tee hee hee. And it was the first time I used the fairly new Baby Room in Parkson. Verdict? Good place to feed the babe, the room was bright with cheerful colours and the air conditioning could be felt. Good good. Good old SP ey? Makan ice-cream kat Baskin Robbins cam biasa jugak.

Oh. And I bought new spectacles. I lost/misplaced my last one. I know....again! Apa Nak Buat-lah. I will collect it later today. Let's pray I will not lose this one for let's say.... 10 years? He he

Ok. Bye for now people!

Cookies and Scones

The house smells nice today, I did a bit of baking following Ammar's request for chocolate chip cookies. It turned out crunchy and not too sweet, much to my liking. The boys gobbled them with milk, me with horlicks (ahha, unlikely combi). It would hv tasted better if I add in chopped roasted walnuts though but I was afraid the boys would blahh them if I did. But I did add in some Nestum.

Last Sunday I decided to bake scones as I had an intense desire to relive my afternoon tea when I was in Edinburgh. Kemaruk lah orang kata. The scone recipe is a little bit different from the usual plain scone recipe, as Philadelphia Cream Cheese was added to the dough. So my hubby said it tasted a wee bit like bagels with cream cheese. Ha ha. I thought the taste was nice albeit a bit too crispy (my fault! I know better next time). Had the scones with cream and raspberry jam. Yumm! Freshly baked, the aroma was irresistable. Coupled with Twining's Lady Grey tea. MMmmmmmm...

Tried to cajole my boys to eat them.... EEEkkkk Yucky was their answer! NYAMPAH!

Mission Accomplished

A week ago I attended a college reunion held at a well known hotel in the outskirts of the city. It was a sweet affair, I felt that we have not been apart at all. We fell back into easy conversations, happy just to be in each others' company. It was not at all awkward, in the contrary, it was a splendid night. Good food, great company, full of laughter, pleasant banterings and lots of catching up! Although I have not seen most of them for more than 8 - 9 years,in my eyes they looked the same. They will forever be 24 to me. Funny, but thats how I feel. 6 years we spent together, at the phase where we turned from teenagers to adults. From Cheras to the United Kingdom and back to Malaysia. Most of us are mommies and daddies now, I can hardly believe it myself.

At the time of the reunion, Baby Azan was 46 days old. I brought him along to the hotel, with the voluntary babysitter of the night of course. Who else but Mr. AKO. The plan was for Mr. AKO to babysit the baby while I reminisce about the olden days with my beloved friends. The idea was for Mr. AKO to sms me when the baby needs to be fed, so I can just take the elevator up to the room and breastfeed the babe. Little did I know that he would be sending me 'RED ALERT' messages EVERY 40 minutes! I rushed up like a madwoman everytime and fed him while dear Mr. AKO watched the LCD television while eating lamb chop! The unfairness of it all! Grrr..

Hee hee. No lah I was not mad, just amused. And I was in such a jolly good mood to see my old friends again so it wasn't a problem at all. Oh. But I didn't get to stuff myself silly at the buffet table. Too bad. And I didn't get to mingle as much as I planned to. But all in all it was allright. I was happy. The baby was happy and the daddy was happy. So, mission accomplished :-)

I managed to snap some pics of the little cutie and his babysitter in the hotel room. The bed was real comfy.

Babysitter turned Mr. Boss


Syoknye lepak kat sini

Catching Up

Brought Baby Azan to Dr. Patrick earlier today. Told him that I thought Azan had a blocked nose due to the sounds I could hear emitting, eventhough there was no mucous or anything coming out from his nose. After checking, I was told he hasn't got the flu, blocked nose or anything of the sort. He convinced me the snuffles occured because the nose bridge of most young babies are low and the snuffling noise is caused by air tying to pass through the very small nasal passage. He clarified that the lining of the baby's nose is very sensitive and sneezes and snuffles we hear are essential to clear out the nasal passages and prevent dust from getting into the lungs.

Azan was weighed also and he has gained another kilogram, he is now 5.7 kg. Not bad eh? Who says mother's milk is not enough to nurture a babe. InsyaAllah, memang mencukupi dan lengkap untuk keperluan bayi.

My three older boys are growing rapidly too. They are fast catching up with me. Soon, they will all be taller than mommy. Ekkkk, not only am I the only female in this family, it seems that I am the only 'smurf' too. Tsk. Thank God for high heels and platforms, at least I will not look too dwarfy. Err, I HOPE.

We love coconut milk

There's no denying it, we Malaysians love 'santan'. The sweet, white milky cooking base derived from the flesh of a mature coconut. Coconut milk can be either used thick or thin and available even in frozen and canned form. Its widely used as an ingredient to most Southeast Asia's cuisine. Though it is said to have high oil and sugar content, it is also known to be antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal (yup, for real!).

As a true blue Malaysian, I too love my santan. Who can say no to a creamilicious masak lemak cili api eh? And the mouth watering cendol, yummeh!

So this morning, I found myself drawn towards the stall at the pasar pagi near my house, to say good morning to Pak Chu Nasi Lemak to get my dose of that fragrant rice cooked with the heavenly santan, accompamied by sambal kerang, fried anchovies and peanuts with cucumber on the side. Right after I am done blogging, picture me seated in my sunny kitchen, indulging myself with my banana leaf wrapped Nasi Lemak, and sipping my hot tea. Join me?

Home Alone

Remember McCauly Culkin as a kid. Very very cute. The adult Culkin is di sebaliknya in my opinion, langsung tak cute. Its tragic the way many child stars become a has been when they are in their teens. Many fell victim to drugs, booze and whatnot.To be fair, many outside factors contributed to their downfall but in the end its their own stupidity it happened the way it did. I believe everybody have a choice, and what one chooses makes a difference.

Oh my goodness... apa yang I melalut ni.

I just wanted to say that I feel very much alone as Mr. AKO is off to Hong Kong again. Sigh. Funny how I feel like patah sebelah tangan when he is not around. Actually, come to think of it.... betul lah kan as I 'tak cukup tangan' (short handed?) with my four Superheroes nih.

I am so sedih as it seems like my 3rd son's skin will never be eczema free.The experts repeatedly told me it will stop in its own time but WHEN? 2-3 years time? When he's in secondary school, or college? No definite answer to that and that makes it even more frustrating. Now the skin breakouts are becoming more severe and nasty. Rasa nak menangis everytime I look at him.

Imagine not being comfortable in your own skin. Kesian my Adam.

Wild and Free

Hello, have not been updating for quite some time, suddenly I have a gazillion things to do eversince I was done with my confinement. In this modern era, berpantang is not what it used to be. Even though I held on to the 40 days, I was not totally house bound. Within that period, I was out to the hospital three times, to Tesco once, to Azfar's school's Charity Bazaar, drove Azfar to music sessions twice, drove Ammar to kindy twice and ahmmnn.... that little trip to Sunway Pyramid once ;-) And as for just duduk and berbaring and bertungku and berstokin and jalan pelan pelan like Jepun? I discovered that highly IMPOSSIBBLE even LAUGHABLE with 3 boisterous boys and a baby in the house.

Well, that's over and done with. TUTUP BUKU on berpantang.

Let's take a peek at my labu lemak manis. He is sometimes seen berbaring atas katil like the pics below. Most of the time he can be seen attached to my chest. Adoi.



My three elder sons love this little baby. Azfar and Ammar will search for him first thing when they come home from school. And my third son Adam will place his favourite Ultraman figure next to the baby so that brother Azan can play with it. Oh the sweet and best things in life....... are free!