The Korean Dream

...that finally came true...

Tonnes of memories worth mentioning, but the new experiences gained really make the trip great!

• Traveling with kids are very2 challenging especially for long distance journey but with lots of efforts and preparation it was better (read: lots of toys, wrapped sticker books, small surprises)



• I just discovered that I have kewl, beautiful cousins who love to shop and shop and shop - such a great thing to have in common!



• When in Korea, stay in Namsan- Myeong-Dong is THE place where shopping is just a 5 minutes walk and NamDaeMun & DongDaeMun are a few subway stops away!



• Rapuki, grilled fish with kimchi and daun sirih, nasik tiga segi with tuna & kimchi, susu pisang, baklava, shrimp and sotong burger, Krispy Kreme & Cold Stone ice cream tastes better when you are with great company! Too bad I missed the odeng and Mr Pizza trips...:-(



• Don't purchase a ticket untuk main kat Lotte World when you bring along the kids~~ we learned the hard way :-)



• Be prepared to angkut your stroller up and down the stairs at places where there's no elevator



• Buy all the brooches, key chains, lipgloss, table runner, wall clocks, cutleries, bracelets, rings, comforters, fleece, kain cotton, silk, polyester, renda, beads, ribbons, cushion cover and handbags as you wish as you will regret not buying it as soon as you arrive at Inch3on airport! - Thank God Nana is coming home 3 days AFTER us! hahahahah



• Don't even think about excess baggage when you are traveling in a group; there's always extra space enough for you to buy another piece of comforter!



• Bring you mom and auntie for overseas trip~~ the home-cooked food are heaven-sent esp in winter!



• Be prepared to spend 1 hour + to dress up the kids before outdoor activities and risk another 30 mins to wrestle them (if they berak)



• Be prepared to change dirty diaper @ subway station/on the field/ Unesco hut



• Bring lots and lots of wet wipes and tissues for the snots--hahah



• Long john sucks for breastfeeding mothers!



• Jagung Korea tak sedap



• Kopi Korea semua sedap



• Tulis nama atas snow happening gila- tak caya, ask Abe Halim



• You have to be a Korean soap #1 fan to appreciate Pulau Naminara



• Bring extra heavy duty bag - u've gotta buy Beg Love/beg Map/beg Doraemon and risk them terkoyak once u reach KL1A



• Never complain bila kaum wanita membawa balik barang yang baru dibeli; there are always enough space for everything (we know)



• C0ach & L*Vs AAA imitation are aplenty; not cool OK sebab guna zip YKK



• Stokin 3 pasang 5ribu won best gila
  


• and another 1001 things to capture, I'll let the pictures tell the stories...

I (almost) Left My Heart in Myeong-Dong

A Long Pause

I've been neglecting this blog for too long I don't know what to write anymore. We're all so excited for this upcoming trip to the Land of Brooches and Silk- and we just can't wait to see snow for the first time! Haha jakun gila.. but it's okayyyy... at least we gotta experience it once, right? Ilham especially, is all geared up for the trip and I noticed that he has been pretending playing in the snow.. "Oh it's cold! It's cold!" He sometimes threatens Ichan by saying that "kalau naughty nanti abang keluarkan baju dari beg" as he saw us packing our things. It looks like we are taking the whole house with us! We surely suck when it comes to travel light. Gosh! Everything was in there except for kitchen sink! (and vacuum cleaner)

On other note, Ihsan has learned a few words albeit unclear pronounciation. Except for duck, nenek, abang, banana (only the 'na' part) and keropok (only the 'pok') part, everything else is still MAMA! He is still bf and very clingy! Some mornings I wake up with a terrible feeling & not getting enough sleep as he nurses like.. once every 30 minutes! That's so challenging and I'm now really paranoid when he calls me up in the middle of the night and cries when I spank him (slowly though) when he doesnt want to release me. Planning to wean him after our vacation, if I have the heart... Tak sampai hati when I look at his face...

Happy New Year!

Few things worth updating

1. Ilham's first safari experience
2. Ilham's first picture with a badut and afraid of it
3. Ihsan's another set of new words- duck & frog. Now even Ilham is no longer Bang but Duck/ frog
4. My parents will be home from the Holy Land this Thursday!
5. Passports for the kids will be ready next week
6. Finished 2 out of 5 of my new books
8. Yantie's visit

Gambar Pasport Kami

Colours Of My Life

Colouring on a rainy Saturday morning..

My Little Riders

Ilham has mastered the skill of riding his new bike. And Ihsan doesn't miss the opportunity to make Ilham carry him around - he is the one insisting though I know Ilham keeps complaining as Ihsan is too belat for him to carry around!


I see 2 different personalities, in both of them. Ilham is afraid of everything, including the lawnmower, pest controller and garlic. Yes, garlic, you heard me right! But he is not afraid of darkness and ghost, as he said.

Ihsan is not afraid of all those insects, nevermind the lawnmower, he is only afraid of cats and rugs- anything furry.

Ilham is a 'follower', from my observation. And Ihsan is a leader in his own sense. He doesn't make way, he wants to win everytime they berebut something and Ilham is the one yang akan mengalah. It amazes me sometimes that 2 boys coming from the same womb is very different with each other :-)

It's gonna be tough week ahead. Me being a P.O. for the stupid D.I case, me having to stand up and defend the RM1.9M budget, me sticking to my gym schedule. Me having to juggle everything in between. Life is a bed of roses!

To School or NOT To School?

Last week I took Ilham for a short visit to his future school, as we plan to enroll him here. I just can't stand the fact that he watches all those ridiculous Indonesian dramas everyday with the bibik. So in order to stop him from speaking Indon with his baby brother (and us!) I think the best thing to do is to send him to school. But I'm still contemplating, yeah, silly me, whether I should enroll him now or wait until he's 5, as when I looked at the schedule, it's occupied with lessons from 8 am to 1 pm! I wish they have good playschools over here instead of kindy; which means serious learning~ takut nanti dah 6 yrs old bosan pulak pegi skolah..

He seems to like the idea of going to school + new friends + ride a van. But he told me "Tunggu Am besar sikit" which could actually translate to "Not now"~~ sigh.. we have not made any decision, yet. With me always going outstation and bringing the whole family everytime, I know it's not a good idea as Ilham will probably miss school!

Ihsan, on the other hand, will be bored at home of Ilham goes to school. He is now very attched to Am. At every chances possible, he will hug Ilham or sits on Am's lap- to which Ilham would say "Chan ni belat la"

belat=berat How-la to go to school, he can't pronounce R.. his R is being replaced with L everytime? :-)

Selamat Hari Raya & Happy Birthday Ihsan!

{The birthday boy having a jolly good time & Family Photo on 5th Raya ~ birthday boy refused to look at the camera!}

Ihsan's celebrating his birthday in 2 weeks time. How time flies! With achievements like- 4 gigi bawah, 1 gigi atas, walking properly, learned how to Hi-5, bye, no-no and salam cium tangan, he is growing up so fast!

Selamat Hari Raya & Maaf Zahir Batin to all my friends. That means to a handful of you who read my blog :-) Have a good time! As for me, I'm sure I'll have a great time as for raya last year I have just delivered Ihsan and didn't get the chance to savour all the delicacies! (walaupun ada yang curi-curi makan gak hehehe)

Take care, all!

5 years and counting...

of being married to each other.
And 10 years of being with each other.
2 beautiful babies. 10kg (extra!) on the scale :-)
1 life. 1 dream.

To eternity!

Happy Anniversary, papa!

of Small Planes & peanut allergy.. and anything in between..

I survived another Beech 1900D trip! Can't remember yesterday was my trip keberapa, but the main point is, I survived! Everytime I board the small plane, I told myself that I might not make it. I know, some exaggeration here but with all those turbulence (okay, exaggerate some more), who knows?

Aaaanywaysss.. Ihsan survived a bintik2 outbreak. We were confident that the culprit was the sebijik peanut that I gave him on our way back to TM. At first I thought it was chicken pox. So, another item to be added in Chan's Cannot Eat List- peanuts. First it was cow milk, then egg, now, peanuts. Lepas ni tak tau la apa lagi...

Highlight of last week: Fazie's Family Visit. TQ Nash and Gegurl for visiting Am & Chan! Lepas ni datang lagi yea...

In a nutshell, life has been good. I've learned very important lessons in the past month. Be thankful for what you have, and be patient. Allah knows best.

Selamat berpuasa, friends. Have fun shopping for raya! :-)

A Walk To Remember

Ihsan officially took his first step on 31st July 2008 and has not stopped eversince! HE is now all over the house trying to sharpen his new skill.

Haven't been updating the blog for almost 2 months now. Been soooooo busy with work (who doesn't?), traveling with the kids- for work (again!) , work, work and more work I feel so exhausted I promised myself to sleep the whole weekend, but of course I couldn't :-) . Do I sound THAT busy? Blame it on my boss :-p

I hope things will be slowing down during fasting month. Fat chance! I feel tensed just by thinking about the endless events for the whole Ramadhan + Syawal. Demmit!

One thing I really look forward to- visit from Gegurl & family end of August! Yeaahaa!

Okay now I'm outta here, gonna spend the extra long weekend with my new books. Bliss!

Ilham Is 3!

My little boy turned three last Friday, got a bicycle from Nenek and few Thomas stuff from us, bought early this month when we were in KL. I am soooo damn proud of myself for two reasons; looking at how grown up Ilham is, and for the first time in my life, I've successfully baked a carrot cake! So now I am proud to say that I know how to bake cakes! (the other ONLY one cake I'm good at baking is cheese cake) but that's another story, as it doesn't have flour as the main ingredient. I am a hopeless when it comes to flour, seriously. I once made choc chip cookies only to have it turned flat as saucers, I once tried to make Rocky Road and managed to throw away the whole batch and once attempted to make brownies and I forgot how it turned out to be!

The cake was successfully baked with team effort! I outsourced the drawing of Thomas to my brother, and my dad helped to susun the M&Ms. My mom helped to regularly check the cake, as after 1 hour, we couldn't smell anything, until my mom increased the temp! Samada resipi salah atau memang aku yang tak betul :p

But Ilham loved the cake (I think) and he blew off the candles thrice. He didn't get even a bite of the cake though, he already warned me "Am nak lilin saje. Kek mama je makan" Oh well. For his birthday, my wish is for him to EAT.

Uzey has left for his 'camp' and won't be back until July 5th. And Ilham woke up with a temperature today. Too much sun and surf, I presume. As we checked in at Aw@na on Friday. He had such a great time with the uncles and grandparents.

I'm at home enjoying cuti free as the whole office + plant is cut off electricity since Friday.

Don't know when I will be back blogging, dah takde topik menarik. Don't even have visitors except one. Ha! ha!

Take care all. Doakan Ilham panjang umur, sihat, murah rezeki dan membesar menjadi anak yang soleh.
:-)

Ihsan- Updated!

For an 8 month baby, I observe than Ihsan is very advance….

(excerpt from babycenter)
8 month old, four week

How your baby's growing
Your baby's likely to be mobile soon if he isn't already (he already is very mobile) so it's vital that your home is toddler-proof. (except for the fridge-lock, we haven’t installed anything yet esp the drawers, I’ve seen him men’sepitkan’ his fingers twice already!) You'll also notice he's becoming more assertive (yes, very true) and beginning to express his likes (bath time, and nothing new- gigit remote control, handphone, paper, tissues) and dislikes (mealtime when he is sleepy). Take a toy away from him (he cries like there’s no tomorrow) and he'll probably object loudly. He's also likely to protest if you leave his too long, thanks to the onset of separation anxiety. (when he wakes up and no one is around, he will make an alarming cry) This is the time when your baby starts showing extreme attachment to you and his regular carers and an intense dislike for everyone else (as of now, only me, uzey and the bibik are his faves, even nenek is a ‘stranger’)

9 month old, first week
How your baby's growing
Has your baby pulled himself upright yet? Yes? (yes, he has even started to cruise with only one hand holding on the chair) Then watch out -- it's a prelude to walking. Many babies are quite happy to stay grounded at this stage though. (not Chan) If he is, you'll probably find he's sitting more confidently now and he may well start creeping, crawling, or bottom-shuffling.

His language skills are developing rapidly too. He's listening intently (he likes to watch TV and he seems to enjoy it very much) and taking in everything he hears -- he may even begin to understand simple words and phrases (he understands NO, CHAN!) . Encourage him by talking to him simply, but as you would to any other person. His personality is also emerging and you'll be able to tell if he'll be Mr Life and Soul of the Party or Mr Shy and Retiring by the way he responds to others. (very ‘reserved’ baby when it comes to strangers)

Ihsan- Updated!

For an 8 month baby, I observe than Ihsan is very advance….
8 month old, four week

How your baby's growing
Your baby's likely to be mobile soon if he isn't already (he already is very mobile) so it's vital that your home is toddler-proof. (except for the fridge-lock, we haven’t installed anything yet esp the drawers, I’ve seen him men’sepitkan’ his fingers twice already!) You'll also notice he's becoming more assertive (yes, very true) and beginning to express his likes (bath time, and nothing new- gigit remote control, handphone, paper, tissues) and dislikes (mealtime when he is sleepy). Take a toy away from him (he cries like there’s no tomorrow) and he'll probably object loudly. He's also likely to protest if you leave his too long, thanks to the onset of separation anxiety. (when he wakes up and no one is around, he will make an alarming cry) This is the time when your baby starts showing extreme attachment to you and his regular carers and an intense dislike for everyone else (as of now, only me, uzey and the bibik are his faves, even nenek is a ‘stranger’)

9 month old, first week
How your baby's growing
Has your baby pulled himself upright yet? Yes? (yes, he has even started to cruise with only one hand holding on the chair) Then watch out -- it's a prelude to walking. Many babies are quite happy to stay grounded at this stage though. (not Chan) If he is, you'll probably find he's sitting more confidently now and he may well start creeping, crawling, or bottom-shuffling.

His language skills are developing rapidly too. He's listening intently (he likes to watch TV and he seems to enjoy it very much) and taking in everything he hears -- he may even begin to understand simple words and phrases (he understands NO, CHAN!) . Encourage him by talking to him simply, but as you would to any other person. His personality is also emerging and you'll be able to tell if he'll be Mr Life and Soul of the Party or Mr Shy and Retiring by the way he responds to others. (very ‘reserved’ baby when it comes to strangers)

Ilham With...

his creation of "rumah yang paaaaaling cantik" and "robot Am"

I think Ilham has some creative streaks in him. Definitely not from me. Maybe it runs in the family, like this fella.

Ihsan Is 8 months

of Measles and everything else

Ichan on his new rides. Notice the bintik-bintik merah on his face? There's a lot more on his tummy. Thanks to the virus, Chan dah kena demam campak.

Siapa campak Chan, Mama? I'm still struggling to answer this question by Ilham. My oh my... Kenapa Chan kena campak, Mama? I'm sure in his mind he imagines Chan being thrown away by someone or thrown at something i.e the wall?

The last 8 days have been superb, as I was on leave except for Tuesday when I attended training at S.Alam. And the boys spent time in Wetworld while waiting for me. Trip to Petrosain5 on Sunday was even better, with 13 of us joining the 'rombongan sekolah'. Even my parents enjoyed the educational trip! It has also converted Ilham to a helicopter lover.

I've gotta stop blabbering now. I leave you with a pic of astronaut in year 2033.
Ciao!

The Ups dan Downs of Life

Today is one of my down days. I feel like going home and never come back so I don't have to face the harsh reality. I even googled Rezeki, in search of something to keep my spirit up, and I found this.

"Sesuatu yang telah dijamin oleh Allah kepada seorang hamba adalah rezeki. Sesuatu yang dimintakan pertanggungjawaban oleh Allah adalah rezeki juga"

I guess it's not my time, yet.

Downtime aside, I'm sooo looking forward to this weekend! With 2 birthdays; Uzey's and Yantie's.. (happy birthday in advance darlings!), Ilham's first Petr0sains trip, an advance M0m's day feast (there goes my penat-penat daily run on the treadmill), shopping and more shopping!! Won't be in until 7th. Too bad I've gotta give my weekly yoga a miss next week.

Life is not so bad, after all. Penatlah nak pikir benda-benda yang takde faedah ni.. draining my energy..

Selamat Hari Buruh, buruh-buruh sekalian!!!