Baby Stuff

A couple of friends have been asking what do I want as the baby's present. At the time being, I don't have a clear idea yet of what we REALLY need. Of course, ikutkan hati semue nak beli but I don't want to clutter my room only to find out those things are not necessary. Plus that would be a waste of money. So maybe it's a good idea to list down what I already have and what else I need. Need to ensure I constantly update this post. Hehe. Anyway, I am not expecting it from you people. If I find a good deal first, I will just buy it. Normal gifts such as ang pow and new-born hampers like clothes and powders are also welcomed. Tak payah pening2 nak beli ape. Tak bagi ape pon takpe... But kalau sorg dah kasik, jangan berebut yer. Heh.

What I want/need:
1) Baby monitor (I have not surveyed which brand is the most reliable one, whichever you think is good.)

2) For later, baby carrier. This one looks affordable. - RM 174.90

3) Baby car seat
4) Stroller - Specs: Light (<6kg). Doesn't take that much space when folded. Flexible.
5) Set of cloth diapers - Little buddy - Experience Bamboo CD or Explore CD Preliminary Package - RM148

6) Nursing pillow - Booked by Asri and Echa

What I already have:
1) Pump (I will not explain this further here =p) - Thank you, mummy.
2) Bottle warmer - Thank you, mummy.
3) Bottle sterilizer - Thank you, mummy.
4) Baby cot/play area - Thank you, Hanijoe and Cyan for playgym, hang on compartments and our 2nd set baby cot

5) Mam Gift Set For Newborn and pregnancy studio photoshoot from ilovediscounts ^_^ < 3 - Thank you, looperz!

MAHA NS 2011

Hari Peladang, Penternak dan Nelayan Peringkat Negeri Sembilan
On the 23rd of July this year, I was a proud wife. Hubby was acknowledged as Usahawan Penternak Ruminen Jaya and awarded a cheque of RM1,500.

The day started with me rushing back to Bangi from KL, then Uda Zazli picked me up from Bangi and sent me to Paroi for the ceremony. Lucky I made it on time! Abah, Mama and Abby were already there when I arrived. Abg Mi joined shortly after. Here are some pictures from the event. Didn't get to snap a picture with Abah & Mama as they were rushing somewhere.

@Flyfm958 #Tweetdrive

This morning on the way to work, I made a pit stop at Shell station to buy a loaf of bread and kaya. Across the road, I saw a makcik selling breakfast. Not wanting to have nasi lemak today, I bought bihun and telur goreng instead. Then I made my way to office. Just before I turned off my engine, the Flyfm Pagi Rock Crew announced that #tweetdrive just reached its mark so what we have to do is to post a pic of telur goreng on twitter to win RM300. Well, I never won anything from this kind of contest but it doesn't cost me a thing to tweet a pic of telur goreng. All I had to do was take a picture and tweet @Flyfm958 #tweetdrive. Then I waited for a DM to see IF I actually won. I was putting a teeny tiny hope though I knew my chances were slim... but after a few minutes, I received the DM. Woohoo!!! Here's my winning pic. Haha.

Selamat Hari Raya!

Raya Rimba
Selamat Hari Raya! Maaf Zahir dan Batin from both of us.

Our third family member joining us next year ;)

I fell down!!!

I had a real scare yesterday! Took my shower in the afternoon after I had done my laundry and dishes in the morning. With all that shampoo and shower foam, I slipped and fell down in my own bathroom! IT WAS DAMN SCARY I tell you... being 7 months pregnant and falling down like that. Lucky I was still thinking. I concentrated hard to NOT fall flat on my bottom. Instead I broke the fall using my left hand and made a soft landing with my legs and on my buttocks. Thank God it was not that bad. Only my left wrist hurts and somewhere down my left rib feels a bit sore as it hit hard against my left hand. I was so so so worried about the little one inside of me. Called hubby's primary school friend who is a practising Doctor, aspiring to become an Obgyn, for consult. She said as long as there is no bleeding, baby is still kicking and my belly is not hardening more than usual, I should be fine. No need to go for a check up. Anyway, my next check-up is due tomorrow so I'll just wait to see my Dr then. I'm sure she'll give me a piece of her mind tomorrow. =_= Dunno whether she will still clear my trip to China mid this month.
Anyway, read this on babycenter.com and felt much better.
Is it normal to feel clumsy during pregnancy?
Yes. Many women feel ungainly when they're pregnant, particularly in their last few months. Clumsiness comes as no surprise when you consider what your body's going through: You're carrying more weight, your center of gravity has shifted with your growing uterus, and hormonal changes can cause your joints to loosen, including those in your fingers and toes. You'll get your balance and dexterity back after you give birth.
When should I call my healthcare provider?
...
Also, a shifting center of gravity means you're more likely to trip and fall, which can be scary when you're pregnant. If you do take a tumble or bang your abdomen, your baby will most likely be perfectly fine. But give your healthcare provider a call right away, just in case. You may need to come in and get checked out.
Btw, today is only the fourth day of Raya and 2 days after our National day. So Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir Batin to everyone out there and Selamat Hari Merdeka, Malaysians! Loves~

Ramadhan Activities

First day of Ramadhan I managed to go home and berbuka with hubby. He went to bazaar Ramadhan first and bought food for both of us and I drove straight home, just in time for berbuka. Second day hubby was busy so I went for berbuka with my mom and Bojol at Haslam. Third day I went to service my car in the morning and both hubby and I went for baby's 3D scan in the afternoon. We went to Seremban later with Zairie and broke our fast there. Fourth day went back to Bangi, only to be caught in jam as it was raining (and there was a lorry with hazard light on in the middle of the road just before Nirvana) so I had to break fast in the car and only managed to reach home around 8. My dearest hubby was loyally waiting for me to eat together. I was touched. The next day, as I regretted my decision to brave through the traffic the day before, I decided to break fast with my bestie, Nadia at Marche, The Curve. She was actually craving for meatballs from Ikea but I was craving for Marche's Rosti and since I am pregnant, she gave me priority. Hehe. We practically just shared all the food we ordered. Rosti with cheese, 2 buns, 1 small mushroom soup and one drink each.

Rosti with cheese

After prayers, we went for dessert at Paddington House of Pancakes. 3 layers of oreo pancake with strawberry and marshmellow. ^_^

I went back to KL that night. Hubby came back to me later as he didn't want me to drive home alone so late. We were supposed to attend a property investment talk organised by CIMB Propertymart the next morning but both were not in the mood so we just slept in and went to watch movie at GSC Mid Valley later. As there was no suitable screening time, we went to watch Captain America Gold Class!!! Freaking RM100 for 2 tickets. =p Yes, hubby likes to splurge like that once in awhile. Haha. Didn't take any nice shots as I didn't want to appear too Jakun. =p Plus can't take pictures inside the cinema as it was already dark. The seat was large and comfy. There was a small table in between us to put our food with a little button to call for service but too bad it was fasting month so we can't order any. We even get a blanket each. I overheard a mat saleh asking for extra blanket and he was making so much noise when he was charged RM5 for it. Satu dah cukup dah... Yang ngade2 nak order extra tu apa pasai?


We were supposed to break fast in KL with the extended family that day but hubby couldn't resist his mom's nasi lemak and ikan bakar so we went back to Nilai instead. Came back down to KL and brought mummy out for pancake. This time I used the 2 coupons I bought from Mydeal.com.my. RM8 for one pancake and iced lemon tea each. Yummy.

Bersih 2.0 rally

On the 9th of July, there was a street demonstration Bersih 2.0 in the middle of the city. Everyone was advised to stay away as roads leading to the city center were closed/blocked by the police. Hubby and I stayed in the whole day, hubby woke up only around 4.30pm. I wanted to go out badly to buy some maternity pants so just a little after 5, we picked Ayet up and headed towards KL. Entered KL around 6-ish, roadblock after Sg Besi tol was already dismantled. Roads into the city centre were still blocked so there was a mild jam on towards Jalan Tun Razak. We made a pit-stop at Delicious.

Me with my hot chocolate My scones! My scones!Hubby's prawn dish

After that, we went to KLCC and I managed to buy a flat shoe from Bata. By then, it was nearly 8pm and hubby wanted to watch the news so badly. To our disappointment, we can't find any TV showing TV3's news in KLCC itself so we had to drive out and went to Pelita, a mamak shop nearby. What we saw on TV was quite bad with all the gas pemedih mata sprayed to the crowd and people throwing bottles to the police. 1 person died when he got a heart attact in the midst of all that chaos. Tsk tsk. Drama. After the news on Bersih rally was over, we went back to KLCC where I got myself 2 pairs of working and 1 stay-at-home maternity pants. We made a quick stop at an ice-cream booth in front of the shop before we made a dash to Tony Romas, The Curve for our BBQ ribs. The traffic was clear as most people preferred to stay away from the city. What a crazy outing day it was. ^_^

Ramadhan During Pregnancy and Twin Girls Birth!

Okay. Where do I start? Maybe I shall go backwards, most recent events first. Today is 11th Ramadhan. Thankfully... so far my baby and I have been fasting without fail. Yeay! Alhamdulillah. Dr Siti said I should have no problem fasting but try to sahur as late as possible, which is exactly what we've been doing at the moment. I have been waking up around 4.30am, cook fried rice, wake hubby up and go back to sleep for about 15mins. My worry is that if one day we overslept, should I still continue fasting? Let's hope Allah gives us opportunity to fast for the whole month this year. Ameen.

Terawih wise I have not been successful. Mainly because I usually get very tired by the end of the day and go to sleep around 8.30-9pm like that. Perform Isya' prayer only when I wake up for sahur. Secondly, as my belly gets bigger and my feet sometimes swells up, it is harder for me to pray especially for an extended period of time. Even performing the daily prayers is a bit of a task now but I should not make that an excuse. Should try to squeeze in a few days at least.

Last Monday 08/08/11 at 10.10pm, Bang Own and Kak Zizah's twin girls were safely born into this world via C-section operation. The mother was fully awake during surgery and was only given epidural for the pain. While Bang Own was in the labour room with Kak Zizah, I waited with Nyah, Bang Amir and Bang Sham at Haslam, sipping a cup of teh tarik. Mummy arrived just on time to see the babies. We are estatic to welcome both of you into the family, Qistina and Qaisarah!

Blogging to capture those memories

I noticed I don't blog as often now compared to my student days. I used to blog at least 2-3 times a week for a couple of reasons: 1) I wanted to remember my student life studying overseas as it was such a precious experience. 2) I had too much free time on hand. 3) I was feeling rather lonely and updating my blog kept me occupied. I didn't think it was that important for me to be updating my blog that often until recently, now that I am living the life I wanted: married to the man I love, back in Malaysia and working. Plus, we don't have internet at home so it's pretty difficult to squeeze in time to blog at work during lunch hour as I would either go out or would be too busy with work. But most of the time, I am just too lazy to type.

What happened recently? I just finished reading Can You Keep A Secret and Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella. In Remember Me?, this girl got into an accident, resulted in amnesia and lost 3 years of her memory. I asked my husband how would he remind me of the things I have forgotten, to which he replied, "I will show you your blog". Okay, that's a good idea!

Also earlier this week, Camy has been asking me what to bring when applying for kad nikah and how did we receive our marriage certificate. Couldn't answer both questions precisely because I could't really remember. I browsed through my blog and sadly, I didn't blog about it. Haha. So I guess I should blog more often now in order to help me remember things in the future. Plus it's quite fun to read old posts when I am bored. So this post onwards, you will see some very frequent updates, until my enthusiasm dies of course. =p

It's not about the money, money, money...

Well, I guess most of time, it IS about the money, Jesse James. I kinda feel a bit cheesed off when people only get connected with you to ask for money. I saw it happened to my mom, to my hubby even but lately it has been happening directly at me. For instance, a friend whom I have not contacted since primary school, found me on FB, was friendly for a few weeks then ask to borrow money from me. When I said no, I never heard from him again. I guess I always wanted to be a nice person, making people assume that I would always help those in need but truth is, I am very calculative especially when I don't trust you. Very few people make it into my trustworthy list. So I advice you not to test it or you might be disappointed.

Another fact that you have to know about me is that I am a cashless person. I barely have/carry cash around. Most of the time I only have about RM10 in my wallet, enough for a day's lunch. If I have more than that, most probably I will spend it on food/parking/misc expenses. Big expenses I will just charge to my credit card where at the end of the month will be settled immediately after I receive my salary. And EVERY single month, after I paid off my credit card, I am usually left with nothing. It might not be a good cash management style for you but it works for me. I track my expenses very closely and I settled all my commitments on time so far. Alhamdulillah. I do have a little money aside for my rainy days but I assure you it's not a lot. Most nights I will rely on my mom or my hubby for my dinner so stop assuming I'm some rich young bitch with a lot of excess cash.

Just on a side note, hubby and I are eye-ing a property in Nilai for investment purpose. We have paid the booking fee and waiting for S&P to be drawn. No, it does NOT mean we have a lot of cash to be invested. We leverage on bank loans for investments i.e. we take up loan and expect rental income to pay off the monthly payment and maintenance fee. Which only means I have a LOT of debts lined up behind me. I'd rather settle all my debts first before I start giving money to anyone.

3rd and 4th check up

3rd check up was a success. It fell on my mom's birthday. Hubby and I arrived around 7.05am and managed to get number 7 from reception and was 4th in line for Dr Siti. Yeay! Had early breakfast where I had coconut water, which made me frequent the toilet like every 10 minutes. The baby was downward-facing that time and when asked whether we could know the gender already, Dr said it's too early for that =( Anyway, Dr Siti put the radio on so that we could hear the baby's heartbeat. Hehe. Hi baby. Funny thing after the check-up though, I rushed to the toilet immediately. Only after I was done was I told that my blood test came with urine test. =_= By that time, after 5 toilet trips, my bladder was, as you can guess, empty. Hubby had to go downstairs and bought mineral water for me before I could successfully filled my cup. LOL.

16 weeks

After a successful race for our 3rd check up, we were late for our 4th one. Thanks to Ahmad, hubby's friend, who managed to keep us up outside from 12-4am the night before, by telling us his tales of a broken engagement. Arrived slightly after 7.30am, got number 30+ which we thought was not too bad but only to be told that we were no 19 on queue to see Dr Siti. Sigh. Lucky none of us was in a rush so we just hang out, had breakfast, visited Cyan, who was admitted there at the time and came back for the check up just ard 12pm. Just after mummy had a short conversation with Dr Siti, she was called to the labour room pulak! Haish. Byk betul dugaan. When she came back about half an hour later, she informed us that the blood/urine test was good. Baby has a low chance of down-syndrome, which is a good news, hopefully... amin. And then the Dr asked, "Do you want to know the gender?". I immediately shouted, YES!

Mind you, both of us were very sleepy that day since we didn't have enough sleep. All this while I was so damn confident it is going to be a boy. So you can imagine when the Dr announced that "It's a girl", we were both very shocked and very HAPPY! Not that we won't be happy if it is a boy. Just a little more excited to have a girl. That's all... =p Hehe. I asked the Dr whether she was sure it's a girl or she just made that deduction since she couldn't see a boy's balls. She taught me to see the private part. In her word, "when you see 3 lines, like a hamburger, then it's a girl" So here's her picture on her 20 weeks check up. Too big to fit into one ultrasound picture already. Can't wait to meet you, sweetheart. ^_^

20 weeks

Thankful for my pregnancy

I just got back from an amazing vacation in Redang. It was just ah-ma-zing! Not only I have my girls with me, I also brought along my whole family; hubby, mummy and abang. But that's not what I wanted to write in this post. Maybe the next one if I'm in the mood for it.

Since I am done with my exam (though I did very very badly), I am now in the mood to do some light reading. Currently reading "I do, Now What" by Giuliana and Bill Rancic. Reading about how tough it is for them to conceive a baby was really moving. It was a real struggle but it is such a beautiful partnership they have together, very supportive of each other and a very loving couple.

This morning though, while I was driving to work, I turned on to FlyFM as I usually do. Today's Fix-It was a request from a wife. She has been married to her husband for 6 years. They have been trying unsuccessfully to conceive and it frustrates both of them to the core. But what is different in their story compared to G&B's is that the husband went to have a one-night stand and made THAT other woman pregnant. I can only imagine what the wife is going through right now. Although the husband "tried" to stick with the wife, when given the ultimatum between the wife and the baby, the hubby chose the baby. So sad. Sobs... He kept on repeating what he did was definitely wrong but he got a baby out of it and he didn't regret that. He didn't sound guilty a bit. Life is so sad.

Anyway, now I understand a bit more how straining the struggle to have a baby can be on a relationship. As unexpected as it was, I must be Very Very VERY thankful that Allah decided to blessed us with this pregnancy. I pray everything will go well and smoothly, insyaAllah. Amin...

The Northern Lights

One day I want to go see The Northern Lights... So beautiful

Source: Beverly and Pack / Flickr

18 days to CFA Level 2 2011

I am nervous. As usual, I am NOT prepared, NOT ready and I wished I have more time to study. At the same time, I can't wait for the exam to be OVER! I have a VERY long list of what to do once the exam is over.

1) Spend more time with family and friends: Visit Haslin and baby Daanish, lepak-ing at KL house, lepak-ing in Nilai, go see primary and secondary schoolmates.
2) Play my Wii games... (Oh how I've missed you)
3) Read story books - done with The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown and I do, Now what by Guiliana and Bill Rancic...
4) Go on vacationS - Langkawi, Terengganu, China? (if condition permits, ie still safe for me to travel despite being heavily pregnant that time)
5) Shopping baby stuff
6) Learn to cook lots and lots of new recipes ^_^
7) Copy and catch with TV series - Grey's, DH, HIMYM, maybe GG +++
8) Print pictures to decorate the stairway
9) Fix Inspira with a spoiler
10) Buy long overdue GPS for Abg Nad
11) Iron hubby's t-shirts (been putting that on hold since forever)
12) Paint bedroom wall near toilet with anti-fungal paint
13) Start porch renovation
14) Kemas rumah, throw away unwanted items
15) Find new tenant if necessary
16) Settle our bills and speeding tickets. (One left coz discount period is over.)
17) Buy new toner for my printer

and the list goes on and on...
Can't wait!

1st and 2nd check up

I've been wanting to blog about this earlier but since my colleague got seconded to CIMB Thai for a month, I've been slightly busier than usual. So let's make this short. A lot of people have been telling me how lucky I am to get an "easy" pregnancy. Alhamdulillah. =) Apart from being a little tired and bloated than before, nothing much changed. So far no sign of morning sickness yet and I am already stepping into my second trimester this week. Let's hope I could skip that altogether throughout my pregnancy.
Let's rewind the story a bit. When I found out I was pregnant, I still had some cramps at my lower abdomen area, something like period cramps. Being new to all this pregnancy thing, I was a bit worried and insisted to go see a gynae. Mom suggested me to go to a normal GP but I refused. I have no personal favourite at that moment so mummy suggested I go see her ex-classmate, Dato' Dr Siti at Sime Darby Medical Centre. Apparently she's really good and famous that even if you are a little late in the morning, your appointment could be pushed to after lunch.
I immediately took a day off from work the next week, the earliest I could afford as I was relieving someone else that time. Mom told me that gynaes don't usually see their patients until at least they are 6 weeks into their pregnancy. Tracing back to my last mentrual date, I was excited to know that I would already be 6 weeks for my first check-up, meaning I could already see the baby's heart beat.
If you could see in the pic below, the tiny dot was the baby's heart beat at 6 weeks. It was flickering when the pic was taken. And the line across it was drawn by Dr Siti to measure the amniotic bag. The baby was merely 3.1mm at the time.

6 weeks

Second check up was quite dramatic. We arrived at 7.50am and only managed to get number 60+. The counter was not even opened yet! We were number 23 in line for Dr Siti and were told to come back after lunch. Both mummy and hubby were busy with work so I insisted to go alone so that I would have a little peace of mind not having to rush here and there. Abang was very sweet to come along for this check up.
And this is the baby's pic at 10weeks. It was nearly 10times bigger than before at 29mm. My next check up would be on my mom's birthday, 28 May 2011. Stay tuned!

10 weeks

Keep it alive!

Yesterday, like any other weekend, was a day to run errands and chill. I woke hubby up ard 10.30am... did my laundry... cleaned the house A LITTLE... then woke hubby up again ard 12.30pm. I promised my mom and bro to go see them and I'm sure hubby had stuff to do too. He did wake up, walked downstairs and started to laze on the sofa, in front of the TV. When I told him I wanted to go back to KL and probably have lunch with my mom and bro, he asked me to cook instead. Fine... I cooked something really simple coz I was in a hurry. Chicken soup with potatoes and carrots, fried sausage and tempe thinly sliced. He decided that day should be spending-quality-time-together day since we barely see each other on weekdays.

Ard 5pm, we made our move to KL. Picked mom and bro up, supposedly to send him off to college in Sunway but ended up eating rojak and durian by the roadside and did grocery shopping at Jusco AU2. We got to see the AF contestants practicing in their glass house inside the building. (How to concentrate like that when everyone can watch?) Sent mom and bro back home instead of to college... had dinner... then arrived in Bangi ard 10.30pm.

Hubby suddenly asked me, "Want to check-in into a hotel?" Huh? What's wrong with our house? Then he replied, "Just for fun. If we go for karaoke, we would probably spend more or less the same amout." These things were running through my head; laundry, dishes, ironing etc etc... But hubby said that can wait. So we packed our stuff (after I rushed through the dishes) and off we went to the nearest hotel, Hotel Smart. It is so near, it is like LITERALLY 15min walking from our house!

It was actually not bad... For a night, we had air-cond and warm water in the morning. We woke up the same time, had breakfast together before we went off to work. It was kinda fun. I love my hubby for always trying to keep the relationship alive. Although we have only been married for a little over a year, we have been together for more than 8 years already. I have to say this is actually MORE FUN than when we were dating coz we can go off anytime, anywhere we want... No more limitation. ^_^

How we found out...

I have news to share. I am, or shall I say WE are, pregnant! At the point of me typing this down, I am 6 weeks along. Due to people's believe though, we can only make the official annoucement after the first trimester is over. Let's see if I can hold it that long before I hit the button "Publish Post". I want to record every single memory of this experience, this journey so this is gonna be a bit boring to some. Feel free to skip any post with this label altogether. =) So how did we find out?

My LMP (Last Menstrual Period) was on the 8th February, so the next one is due on the 7th or 8th of March... a Monday and a Tuesday respectively. All the signs signifying that it's coming were there... the moodswing, the cramp etc... But still no sign of the red flag. I took a home pregnancy test Thursday morning and it was negative. Okay.... Friday still no sign so I took another test at 10pm, just before we left for PD for our family vacation.

The result: As shown on the top right corner of the picture. Pregnant. (Very early stage). I panicked. OMG! This is really happening??? Hubby reached home about 5 mins later and I called him up. His cousin, Ayet, was left downstairs. Me: Remember I told you my period is late? Him: Yeah, but there was a time it was even later right? Me: Right but... (points towards the bathroom sink where the test result was) Him: What is that? Oh... don't tell me... What's the result? Me: Have a look yourself!

Okay. Don't panic. Let's just do another test later. So we packed and went to PD. All the way thinking that it could not be positive. It's not like we are on family planning or anything. But we've NOT been planning for so long and nothing happened so THIS came as a total surprise.

So the next day, we went to the pharmacy and got another test. This test stick is more expensive than the last one used. So hopefully more sensitive. The rest of the family at that point of time were playing volleyball downstairs. We excused ourselves to take the test. The result: VERY Positive. Okay. There's no denying it now. So what do we do? What do we do? We decided to tell his mom. Mom-in-law was cool about it and told us to wait 2 weeks before we make an appointment to see a Doctor. So okay. Time to cool our heads off...

Came back from PD. And just to be sure... I took another test, using a cheap pregnancy test, the same brand that I used the first time, the one that gave me a negative result Thursday morning. This time I could clearly see that TWO lines... so it's a definite positive. Okay. Reality setting in. Gotta go see my mom and tell her. So that night, met mom and bro at TGIF Wangsa Walk for dinner and we broke the news. Mummy took the news better than we did, I mean she wasn't so shocked. =p Haha. Went to the pharmacy immediately to buy Obimin and lotion (to avoid stretch marks). Our journey as parents begins right there.

I am normal

I noticed I have not been updating my blog for awhile and my last post has something to do with people telling me I'm fat. The other day a friend asked what's new with me. I answered "nothing much... only fatter". His reply was "you know what is the good excuse for you to get fat right? Get pregnant". So I browsed through a website my friend used when SHE was pregnant. And the result is - I AM NORMAL. Hoho. Please stop telling me I'm fat, strangers. Haha. Because when I do get pregnant, my weight is going to escalate as shown in the chart below. Yeah, it's too small to see but you get the idea.

If you are wondering what it says in the picture - Your pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) is 22.9, which is considered normal. (Okay technically a little fat.) During this pregnancy, you should gain between 25 and 35 pounds. (Around 15kgs... Whoa). Anyway, I will just start a new label so that when the time comes, I have something to refer back to.

How ironic...

Even after losing a couple of kgs since I started going to the gym regularly last Oct, some people still tell me I'm fat. When I told my mom my knees are starting to feel uncomfortable sometimes, she said probably because of obesity. Hoih. I must admit I have been putting on weight since I started working more than 3 years ago (and getting used to a bad habit of having dinner after 8pm) but I don't think I am obese! And for people to constantly tell me the same thing over and over again is just getting annoying. It's not that I don't notice it. It's not that I am not doing anything about it. And I heard you the first time so stop making the same comment when meeting me. I have been this size about a year already. Why won't people get used to it already and stop comparing me with what I was 3 years back.

Moving on, while some people just critisize, some offered good solutions. Hire personal trainer, subsribe gym membership, buy PB corset, eat supplements and the list goes on. While I am thankful that at least these people give me useful advice, mostly from their own experience, I am still trying to stick to my resolution: losing weight with no/minimal cost. It's not just about saving whatever little money I have for other purposes but I also find it a bit ironic that we have to spend so much to lose weight when people in Africa barely have enough food to eat.

With that in mind, I tell myself that I HAVE TO be determined in order to lose weight and be healthy. I will continue to work out regularly by making use of that free facility instead of paying for gym membership. Many of my friends bought the corset and really recommended it. Of course it is tempting to just spend and buy that thing. Working out help me to maintain my weight but not reduce it. But I won't give in. So from today onwards, I will TRY to cut down my rice intake for a month. (This is going to difficult for me) See how far it will get me.

Risk averse

I am finally following up with my plan to take up the interest-only-package loan, initially intended to settle hubby's PTPTN loan. Now I am just taking it to take advantage of the (dividend-interest) income. *tamak* I will stick to my new year reso to pay PTPTN consistently for the time being since the interest/admin fee is relatively low so I will just invest current ?available? excess fund credit elsewhere.

I decided not to apply this loan for hubby coz 1) I do not want him to be committed to a big monthly fixed payment at the moment hence I would have to take a smaller amount of loan, which would bring a very low return. 2) The hassle that we have to go through to apply for him: the 5% downpayment (he is not eligible to take 100% loan as he is self-employed with no payslip/tax return documents), providing all the SSM documents, a few bank statements, opening new account for standing instructions and to top them all, I would be the one doing the application and management thereafter is just a bit too stressful. So I will take it under my name. Easier.

During morning briefing today, I saw my classmate during our MT programme gave update on the FX market as he usually does. He is now an FX trader, just what he wanted to be since back then. I WANTED to be a trader but didn't have enough guts to enter the market and fight for the position. It hit me this morning: I am very Risk-Averse. Not a good trait for a trader actually. Haha. Money desk, where I am currently at now, is actually the best place for me to be. While I am loading myself with all these ASB loans, which are pretty risk less, my friends have started venturing out into stock market, mutual funds, private ventures etc... All of these are definitely riskier. High Risk, High Return. Basic right?

When will I get there, I don't know. Possibly when I have extra fund, which I cannot invest in any safe investment anymore. That is a long way to go. For now, let's just keep whatever little money I have SAFE. Hehe.

LIFE as it is...

This is actually a prelude of why I actually thought about all those things I wrote yesterday. Like I said I watched too much Grey's and DH last weekend, which led me to think about MY life so here's some season 7 spoilers you may not want to read.

Greys

Christina Yang is one of the best Year 4 Residents there in Seattle Grace. After the shooting incident (season 6 finales) she was traumatised until she actually quit her job. Having that good a surgeon, a cardiothoracic surgeon, quit and be a waitress/housewife instead is indeed a waste but what if that is actually what she wants to do???

DH

Lynette was one successful career woman. She put her career on hold once to care for the family and let the husband support the family instead. One day her college friend came to visit her and told us that Lynette was voted "The Most Likely To Be Successful" back in college. And she commented, "Look at you now". The friend, if I'm not mistaken was voted "The Most Likely To Marry Rich", which she did. She's rich and very fashionable etc.

So that was why I suddenly had time to reflect on MY life. I am glad to know that I am happy. If I could turn back time, would I choose a different career that could probable make me more money. No, I don't think so. I'm fine where I am now. And it wasn't my intention to brag about my grades in school or the extra curricular activities. My intention was the opposite actually. This advice is not going to be good for kids but this is my take in life. Sure your grades are important but it's not the only thing that matters in life. If you don't do that well in exam, if you short a few grades to get into the best university, it's NOT the end of the world. Rezeki orang di mana2. Rezeki masing2 tak sama. Life is what you make of it. So live your life to the fullest. Different people find happiness in different things in life so just because they may not seem rich and successful to you, it doesn't mean that they are not happy. That said, have a good day, everyone! ^_^

My life as it is...

I don't have internet at home so whenever I feel like blogging or have an idea on what to blog about I would just stall it until I get into office. Last weekend was a long 4 day-weekend due to CNY holidays. I spent most of my time at home, with Saturday in my KL home when hubby went to work. Naturally I just wanted to curl up, watch TV, catch up with the never ending house work etc and TRY to do a little bit of studying in between. Somehow, maybe due to the effect of watching TOO MUCH Grey's Anatomy & Desperate Housewives series, I had time to reflect on life... My life. The question of whether I am happy now?

*The entry is a bit too long so if you are too lazy to read, just skip the whole thing and go to the last paragraph. That should summarize everything.*

I must admit I am blessed through out my life. Despite my difficult childhood, I did have it good in all other aspects. What I am about to type I think will come out a bit perasan so bear with me a little. This is all that has been playing out in my head yesterday. In my primary school days, I think my bestfriend and I are among the "famous" girls in school. Mostly because we are loud and we mixed with boys. "Famous" I say because kids in school like to tease both of us by pairing us up with all the "famous" boys. Plus it was a very small school. No, both of us didn't have any bf then. My philosophy was why would I need a bf now? Pretty useless to be in a "committed relationship" at that time, don't you think? Needless to say, I scored top grades all year round. I was always top in my class and the worst I got in my whole 6 years in primary school was top 10 for the whole standard. Pretty good, yes but I guess despite all that I lacked leadership skills (although I was a prefect, I was not the head girl or anything) and I was pretty rough for a girl, getting into fights all the time.

Then I went to a boarding school for my secondary education. Being in one of the top girls boarding schools in the country, my grades became average among the rest. I was not the best anymore and for awhile I found it difficult to adapt... no boys for me to beat up or get into a fight with. As time passed by, I studied harder to get into the best class (to be with one of my bestfriends), which I did, took up more responsibilities along the way, became quieter because of that, but again, still did not hold any top post in school. I dated... not really but went out with people... but again refused to be committed in a relationship as I felt that I was not ready although sometimes I did feel a bit lonely inside. But being committed to my studies and extra-curricular activites kept me busy and occupied. Left school with straight A1s for my SPM.

Left TKC, went to MMU for awhile before I got my JPA scholarship (where I got to know and befriended my hubby in real life instead of virtually) and later enrolled myself into KMYS for my A-Levels. Here, my grades again became average... not because I didn't do well. I still scored straight As for my A-Levels. Still managed to get an A for my maths though I did HORRIBLY for my paper 4 because I had a fight with my then bf (my hubby now) the night before. I was average because I had to struggle to score and everyone else was just very good, smart and so much better. However, to my amazement, I manage to finally hold a top post, not the college students' council but I was at least the house captain. It was something.

And as you might have guessed, it was after I left school that I was finally ready to be in a relationship. It was a whirlwind, crazy, awkward relationship. Both of us were first-timers with this relationship thingy. It was hard trying to reconcile the differences on how a guy & a girl thinks/feels, both coming for a single-sex school background. Our relationship only officially began after I went to KMYS, which means we were in a LDR for 5 years. 2 years while I was doing A-Levels and 3 years while I was doing my degree. It was the craziest, most happening phase in my life. For the first time, I was really happy, at the same time I could be REALLY sad when we got into a fight, which was all too often. But we worked things out and managed to hold the relationship together.

I came back from the UK, got my degree, work for 2 years before we finally tied the knot. I would say with all the good grades, straight As, excellent extra-curricular records, I actually now lead a pretty average life, nothing outstanding about it. I must say I should be thankful with all the blessings I have, but all those achievements before don't really matter now. True, it got my to where I am now. I am MOST thankful for that. I earn enough to make a living out of it. But what matters most to me now is that I am happily married to the love of my life, happy to be leading a boring life in the suburb with him. Happy to cuddle all day long. Happy to hug him to sleep and to wake up with him by my side. I am not outstanding in any way anymore and I am happy. It is bad actually, I think because people kept telling me that they have high hopes for me. Whatever~ If the opportunity comes along, great! It not, I would like to say I feel contented with my life now. Okay. I do hope bigger things happen to me... getting a big project/raise/promotion whatever, but for now, I am just happy. =)

Like a baby

I have always wondered why we have to continuously pat a baby for him/her to fall asleep. Wouldn't it make the baby become more aware instead of falling asleep with all that constant patting. Well, last night I got my answer... first hand. I wanted to sleep early since I have to rush to work early this morning. Hubby came home ard 10 and wanted to go out for a drink, which I obliged. Dengan penuh pandainye, I ordered Cappucino, which obviously contains caffeine so naturally for me, I couldn't fall asleep easily when we got home. I tossed and turned in front of the TV (hubby was watching it) and found it difficult to fall asleep (normally I will just turn off no matter how loud the tv is). So hubby, the sweet guy that he is, patted me to sleep... I dozed off in less than 5 mins...

Sepang - Johor - Brunei

I realised I have been MIA from the blogosphere for awhile despite so much happenings in my life this month. As I previously mentioned before, Dec'10-Jan'11 has been a busy period for us. I attended department's regional AMD at Golden Palm Tree Gold Coast, Sepang mid month (15-16 Jan 2011). I had very low expectation based on reviews my colleague read online. Turns out the place was not bad at all. The room was spacious, the environment relaxing and the view was okay. I had nothing much to complain except when I went back to my room for the first time at ard 10pm+ after dinner, I found out the room was already occupied. Lucky there was no one inside. So I had to go back to the reception and get another room.

On the 20th, it was a (Thaipusam) public holiday for most of us. Hubby and I woke up quite late with so many things to do. We had to attend a nikah ceremony in JB at 9pm and started our journey from Nilai only at approximately 6.30pm. Naturally, we had to maximise Inspira's speeding capability and I am so thankful that we made it on time! Safely! That was even after a short stop at Linggi for Hazmi to take a shower and detoured to the nearest Petronas since we ran out of Petrol + toilet break. That said I filled in RM85 worth of RON97 petrol for that journey, which was fully utilised. Filled in RM90 petrol for the journey back but we still had more than 1/4 tank when we reached Bangi the day after (average speed back was 110km/h). Shows how much petrol the car can consume when you press the pedal. Good thing I took Friday off because hubby was not feeling too well that night so we checked in at Kozi Hotel in Danga Bay.

Final trip for this month was Brunei 22-24th Jan 2011. Sabah trip got postponed/cancelled... Thank God. I cannot continue living off suitcases like this while I still have to go to work on daily basis. I nearly regretted my decision to go to Brunei as a holiday destination as most people say there was nothing there to see. Well, I am glad I did. True enough, there was not many tourist attractions there. But we got to see a lot. For once, the people there are still very friendly, like we once were. They truly respect their Sultan, which is also their ruler, unlike ours where PM is the one calling the shots. Their petrol is OH SO CHEAP at 50+sens compared to our RM2.40/litre. Their cost of living (food etc) is not as expensive as ours. Their traffic was very clear, thus less stress. The downside is that they are not as developed as KL. It looks like a small town, like Alor Setar perhaps. Not many things for locals to do. We went to 2 malls. Went to watch a movie. There was a bowling alley. And that's it. For tourist like us, we went for a boat ride around Kampung Ayer. Tasted their Nasi Katok, bought from Pasar Malam near our hotel but to me it was normal. It was like plain rice + sambal (4 variaties to choose from) and a small piece of fried chicken. It was cheap though. Only BND1.

So that was it. I shall declare a hiatus in our travelling schedule from now on so that I shall START concentrating on my studies. Looking at a longer intervals between blog posts, I suppose.

More ASB loan?

I am rather meticulous when it comes to money (rather is an understatement). I currently *manage* Setapak Indah bills, Bangi bills, telephone bills for all 4 of us (mummy, abg, hubby & myself) and my own credit cards + loan payments on monthly basis. If you have been following my blog last year, you should have known that I took quite a big chunk of ASB loan (big chunk for MY standard). Now that dividend for last year has been declared and paid, I am quite settled with that for the time being i.e. I have enough funds put aside to cover one year of installments so I don't have to worry about that for now.

So I started digging for other debt that we have to settle and found hubby's PTPTN loan. He has around 26K+ outstanding and has never REALLY bothered to consistently pay for it. I said REALLY because he kept saying he will pay it when he has extra funds but you now how expenses never really end. He does pay sometimes but it's so inconsistent that it barely covers the interest/admin fee portion. So I made new year resolution to pay that loan consistently this year. Of course, hubby argued why would I be paying for it when it is HIS loan. Whatever hubby. Your money, my money, your loan, my loan. I ask money from you whenever I'm broke anyway... (which is often =p)

Taking into account 26K+ loan with 3% interest annually and monthly payment of RM200, it's gonna take yearsss for the loan to be settled. (Where's my financial calculator?) Definitely MORE THAN 10 years. So I told myself, I need to shorten it so that we can move on to other things later. So my target now is to shorten it to 3 years within managable monthly commitment. How? I know about this ASB loan paying interest portion only for some first few years. The catch is the interest rate for this package is higher than the normal ones. If I take that loan paying the interest portion only, I can use ASB's annual dividend to settle hubby's PTPTN. In 3 years time, I would be way ahead of the PTPTN payment and will be left with insignificant amount of debt left. Oh I also plan to prematurely cancel the ASB loan, of course pay the penalty fee, before I have to start paying for the principal. So my mission now is to hunt down an RHB ASB loan sales person. Don't know whether I have enough limit left under my name. I worry if I use hubby's name, he will later want to use the dividend for other stuff than to pay his PTPTN loan. Haha. Well, not really. I just find it a hassle to manage things that are not under my name. I will always have to drag these people along whenever I need to do any transaction. Anyway, that is my mission now. Apart from chasing my car dealer to quickly clear my neo's loan, that is!

AFF Suzuki Cup Win - Goodbye 2010

Yesterday Malaysia won the AFF Suzuki Cup for the first time. Yeayyy! ^_^ Our PM declared tomorrow, Friday 31st December 2010 a public holiday. Double yeayyy! That makes today the last working day of the year. I am excited, of course, to get that extra 1 day holiday but today was and Monday will be a freaking busy day for us. Reason being today is a year end! (closing book etc) and on Monday we have to deal with 2 days of maturities (die).

Anyway, 2010 has been a good year for me. Hubby and I took a number of extra steps forward. I moved in with him mid-January 2010 after 3 months of marriage... we furnished the house and made it home together nearly a year ago. I am still adapting to living together but getting a better hang of it now. =p

In June, I finally sat for my Level 1 CFA paper again. I said finally because I was supposed to go for the December paper but I was coughing so bad that I was willing to let go the RM2K+ exam fee to not attend the exam. =( But good thing I passed Level 1 in June so I got to move forward to Level 2 this coming June.

Travelling has been crazy. Went to Melaka for Haslin's wedding 1st January, Terengganu for Norul's wedding in March, Pangkor Laut with parents-in-law, mummy and abg in June. Went to PD for Hanijoe's wedding also in June and then twice for vacation with each side of the family in July. Went to Penang in October for anniversary and an impromtu trip to Cameron Highland. And the list gets crazier.

December 16-18: Hatyai

December 24-26: Penang

January 1-2: Melaka

January 15-16: Sepang

January 22-24: Brunei

January 28-30: Sabah

That's like almost every weekend with little breaks in between. Huargh... Tiring and burning a BIG hole in our pockets but alhamdulillah for the opportunities. I believe this is rezeki of its own kind. Not to forget, both hubby and I changed our cars this year. Hubby gave back his Naza Kia to his mom and bought Mitsubishi Triton just before Hari Raya Aidilfitri. That was to facilitate his business for the annual mantai session. As all of you might have known, I just traded in my little Proton Neo for a Mitsubishi Lancer WANNABE i.e. Proton Inspira. ^_^ Loving these both babies of ours. Hehe.

Investment/Monetary wise I bought an apartment in Kajang at simply no cost at all, albeit a small, cheap one. Rental has been consistent so far, Alhamdulillah. And although I don't have a clear saving at the moment, I took up a huge debt i.e. ASB loan that is now forcing me to put aside a HUGE (for me) chunk of money monthly, for it to be available in the future... 15 years to be exact.

All I have to say now is Goodbye 2010, and Welcome 2011. Hopefully 2011 will be a better year. Although I don't normally have a clear resolution for any new year (it has always been to pass exam with flying colours... irregardless whether it is a new year or not), this year I really have something to achieve in this new book.

1) I want to get back my pre-wedding weight, with no/little financial cost involved.

2) Start studying for CFA as early as possible. (Possibly after the Sabah trip)

3) Pay hubby's PTPTN consistently. (He seldom pays attention to all these things but I am very particular about money and THIS is clearly a commitment I must honor.)

With that, have a good new year celebration everyone! See you next year. *wink wink* ;)

Hatyai Trip

Last Thursday, hubby and I followed my parents-in-law, together with Kak Ina, Abg Nad and the 2 kids to Hatyai, Thailand. FatherInLaw had a wedding to attend and all of us got to tag along. This is my first trip to Hatyai. Yeay...

We left early Thursday morning from Nilai. FIL borrowed an Estima to fit us all in. Stopped for breakfast at Rawang (Thank God. Hubby and I were late, thus didn't have time to eat.), then we stop for Lunch in Kedah at this Ikan Bakar shop, apparently family's favourite. Sedap!!!

I had my first tut-tut experience. Got my first Thai foot massage, which was, in a way, a funny experience since my tolerance for pain is very low, I made the masseuse jump a couple of times. We had teh tarik, which is not that similar to our teh tarik in Malaysia. Other than that we just went around and did some shopping. Well, I didn't shop much. So I just played games on my phone while waiting for them to shop until hubby said he wanted to go back to the hotel to sleep.

tut-tut

teh tarik

The wedding was beautiful. Generally, although the venue looks pretty much the same for a wedding reception here in Malaysia, they do not have a pelamin area. The culture is also a bit different. Instead of the celebrated bride and groom being hidden until the grand entrance, Thai newlyweds receive their guests at the entrance and have pictures taken with them first. While their guests are enjoying their meal, the bride and groom will make their grand entrance walking towards the stage. Then there was some word exhanging event on stage (I didn't understand a word since they conversed in Thai) before the cake cutting ceremony. Later, the newlyweds would go to each table to hand out the doorgifts to the guests. Wah, so tiring!

I also got a pic with CIMB Thai's atm and hubby managed to snap for me a CIMB Thai branch. He says I am obsessed. Whatever~

My new baby :)

I know I should update my blog sooner on this but I was just too busy at the moment. It is near year end now and one colleague is on long leave so I got my hands full until mid next week. Anyway, I went to Hatyai last Thursday - Saturday with hubby and the in-laws. It was a fun trip but I will update on that later. This post is solely dedicated to my new baby, Proton Inspira BLB 2690, pet name BumbLeBee. Haks haks. After signing the agreement Wednesday night (with the correct rate and after making such a huge fuss over the neo transfer), I was told that I could take the car when I came back from my trip but sadly they are not open on Sunday. All the hardship and drama forgetten once I met this new baby of mine. (Now I understand the feeling of being a mother giving birth to her child... wakakaka)
Meet my new bee:

Loan

Okay. Now is the part to sign my loan agreement. Car should be released anytime soon after it got registered, pending loan disbursement.

Just as I was about to sign the agreement, I saw the interest rate = 4.00%.

Hmm, I was told that it was revised down to 3.50%?

So when the dealer called me just now, I asked him and he confirmed again that the rate should be 3.50%, not 4% which is the old rate.

So I called the bank to ask about it and after checking, she confirmed that it should be 3.50%.

My dealer said just sign the deal, later they will revise. He needs it fast to register the car.

But after I sign the agreement, would the bank WANT to revise the rate down?

I don't want to sign an agreement I don't agree to.

Huwaa... No no no. Wait some more laa.

Temper - Part 2

I was sooo stressed out with work last week that even when I got a call that I can already collect my Inspira, I found it hard to be all excited about it. I let hubby do all the dealing with the car dealer as I didn't want to get involved with things that did not require my immediate attention. I had a deadline to meet, which was the year end party so I didn't want any distraction.

Now that everything is done, I started to trace the progress of stuff and started asking around. To my dismay, I found something very disturbing. Hubby has been hiding the fact from me coz he's kinda scared that I might just burst. He was right at that. If you follow the last post below titled "temper", I was already so mad when I found out that I need to find my own buyer. When the manager called to tell me that I would not get my car as soon as I was promised I asked her what would happened to my current car. She checked for me and said "we will take care of it" so I shut up. Then now apparently because it is year end already, I need to top up around 3K to settle my current neo loan... because cars devalue at year end. So why was that when you wanted to make that sale, you promised me it was okay, and now suddenly cars devalue? Because I made that payment already?

WTF!!! You PROMISED to take it at breakeven. I didn't like that because I think with a little extra effort, I could make a little profit, if not much from it. After all, my loan is 7 years instead of the normal 9 years. But I agreed... Fine... At least, it won't give me a headache. At least, I don't have to top up... Not making a loss. And NOW you want to come to me and say otherwise? Are you fucking kidding me?

I said if I had to top up, just cancel my booking, refund EVERYTHING I've paid before. The car dealer just agreed to it. Then I called the manager to confirm that EVERYTHING means including the "service charge" for using my credit card. She agreed but hesitated. Then she said the car is already booked under my name. I replied, I don't care. If your side do not deliver your words, why should I deliver mine??? Just because I have paid doesn't mean that you can default on your side of the contract. She said she will look into it.

Then the dealer called me and begged for me to top up just 1K. He will cut ALL his commission from this deal. I didn't give in and only said I will think about it. Actually still thinking whether it would be possible for me to sell it at another second-hand car dealer or just stick to asking for refund. After all, I still LOVE my neo. I can live with her for another 4 years until my loan settled.

Only after about 10-20 mins or so, he texted me and said okay to take the car at break even. When can I send the car. Hmpphhh... Now you talking. Hubby can be mad at me for being so short-tempered once... when the news was still very fresh and they had not explored all the options out there. If you think you can push me there AGAIN, you are very well mistaken. Deliver on your words or no deal at all. Better yet, if you can't keep your words, get lost!

Where is the line?

We received social media guidelines a few days back. While some are pretty obvious common sense no-no, some did give me something to worry about. Today, I feel like posting "I am super tired, super stress and just want to go home" on twitter but in the end decided against it for fear of it being too similar to the no-nos printed in the guideline. (Now at home I can take a step back and properly think through of what I am actually going to post here. Lets hope these are within the acceptable area.)

Earlier today, I was haunted by my own doing of telling TMI. I did put a bit of thought in it before I hit send. Is the content okay? Is it too personal? Then I justified it to myself that it is okay to share my feelings, at least with my closest friends. But apparently it was still wrong. I have not been a very secretive person before. I seldom keep things to myself as I tend to share my feelings most of the time. I can keep someone else's secret but if it was about me, at least someone out there must have some knowledge about it.

Yes, I understand. As a wife, I am bounded by "the guideline" to keep the privacy of our relationship to ourselves. "The guideline" is there to help maintain the harmony of the marriage. We shall not tell stuff that are too personal, like your bedroom activities, things that can rock the marriage for fear of other people taking advantage of it, things that are embarrassing about your partner and the list goes on. So just now, before I hit the send button, I weighed the situation and think that there must be exception for very close friends. Because it is not something about what happened in the bedroom, it is not something that can rock my relationship. Was it embarrassing? Was it a weakness? Why was it wrong? Say my partner or myself was suddenly diagnosed with a prostate/cervical cancer, would that be okay for me to declare to the public? Would that be embarrassing? (Pray to God to protect us from all that and may we all have a good blessed passing when our time comes.)

Everything is just a bit too confusing. I know my friends meant well. They were just trying to educate me, also not trying to get entangled in sinful web I just created for myself, for not being a good wife by telling TMI. But where the hell is the line???

P/s: I will take a break from looping while I clear my head for a bit. Maybe I shall go repent.