UK & Italy trip 2012 (part 1)

Early last month my whole family (mummy, hubby, baby and myself) went to send my younger brother (abg) to Bristol for his 3rd year degree in UWE. It was a hectic, hectic, most tiring trip ever. Tiring mostly because we had to carry Batrisyia and her bag during the whole trip but it was a conscious collective decision not to bring a stroller considering the amount of travelling we had to do so I don't know whether I can regret that decision.

 

8 September 2012: 11.40pm - Boarded our A380 flight to London. Hubby was so impressed with the size of the fleet. Take off was really smooth that my sleeping baby couldn't even feel it. She slept for a whole 9 hours. The balance 3 hours we fed her, changed her diapers, twice and had to play with her to keep her entertained. Above all, we were really thankful that she was such a good baby!

 

9 September 2012: 5.50am - Arrived in London Heathrow. Abg had to filled in forms at immigration. Went straight to our 1st accommodation, Hyde Park Executive Apartment (cost us 248pounds for 2 nights). Left our luggage there and off we went to London Marlyborne to take a train to Bichester Village via Bichester North. I think that trip was so not worth it. Paid 73pounds for the whole family train tickets and all we got was one pair of shoes for me. Met Azmir and Mimi there but we didn't stay long. Wanted to have dinner at Holiday Villa but opening time was 5pm so we went to Malaysian Student Department (MSD) canteen instead. Checked in, freshen up, prayed... Thought of going down to Tesco Express to buy some drinks and fruits but everyone just got hit by jetlag and off we went to sleep.

 

10 September 2012: The whole family woke up pretty early (considering we were still on Malaysia's timezone. It's Harry Potter Studio's day! Mimi joined us for breakfast at MSD (again!) and off we went to Paddington Station. From there we took London Overground to Watford Junction and took a shuttle bus to the studio. It was a very cool experience to see the real set where they shot the movies. After that, we (my family and I) were supposed to catch our 3.45pm session for Queen's royal jewel exhibition at Buckingham Palace. I initially thought of going back first but decided against it and decided to be early for the session. Turned out there was an closing Olympic Parade going on! The entrance to Buckingham Palace were closed so we had to make a VERY BIG round to the other side of the palace, running! Batrisyia was happily sleeping on my shoulder and mummy had to fast walk to catch up with me. Poor mummy. After Buckingham Palace, we went back to send mummy. Hubby, Abg and I went back out to Holiday Villa to buy her favourite Lobster Noodle.

11 September 2012: Checked out. Had breakfast at London Paddington and took train (First Great Western) to Bristol. Arrived early at our accommodation to store our luggages at Bristol Serviced Lettings (300pounds for 3 nights), but they let us in early because the place was ready. Very nice place and service! They not only provided a baby cot for us, they also installed a baby gate before the stairs. Took bus #13 (UWE3) to go to Glenside campus to pick up Abg's hostel keys but we missed the stop so we went to Frenchey campus instead. Since we were caught in after hours traffic, it was quite late already. Couldn't do any official stuff so we went to Cabot Circus instead. Bought abg's UK sim card (we chose 3), had light dinner, bought stuff from Sainsbury and back to rest.

Family portrait

I know Syawal already ended but this is our first raya picture as a family with Batrisyia. I initially wasn't really interested to buy new clothes and colour coordinate the whole family but at the very last minute, I changed my mind. I'm glad I did.

Batrisyia 9 months progress

While I am at it, might as well post 2 stories at one go. This is very important to document... my little Tricia's progress.

In July, she has started to make good progress to start crawling but was more comfortable "menyusur", pushing herself forward like a little commando. She could move around very fast but only tried to make attempt to push herself up once or twice before landing on the ground again.

At our family trip a week before Puasa started, crossing into 8 months, we realised her first two teeth were coming out! Another major milestone here. 

Around 9 months, she was finally confident enough to call me "mama" CLEARLY. The reason I emphasized on clearly was because it was not her first time to call me mama but before... her words were sort of muffled and sounded more like "wawa". Back then, she would NOT call me mama unless it was really really necessary and would not repeat it even when asked to. (Unlike the non-stop PaPpapapa-Papa)

On 4th of August, we took her for her first swimming class. It was held at Kompleks Sukan Negara (Panasonic) Shah Alam. A bit far from our house but that is the only swimming class I could find for a baby her age. She seemed to be enjoying herself, kicking in the water as papa pulled her towards him. First class was more of an introduction to the water and helped her practice to hold her breath. How? Pour a little bit of water on her face on the count of "READY, GO!". Repeat many2 times.

Since I got a lot of questions regarding the class, here are the details.

D Swim Academy Sdn Bhd (750654-V)
(Formerly known as Dolphin Sport Adventure Sdn Bhd)
D Scuba Academy Sdn Bhd (989259-W)
Kompleks Sukan Negara (Panasonic)
Lot 4, Persiaran Perkilangan Section 21,
40300 Shah Alam,
Selangor Darul Ehsan,
Malaysia.
Tel : +603 5549 3122
Email : info@dolphinsportadventure.com
Webpage : www.dolphinsportadventure.com

Currently, Tricia can crawl very well and has started standing up by hanging on to something. Sometimes she forgot she can't stand so well yet and often let go of her hands while at it and lose control. Falling down is part of the routine.

Happy Birthday Hubby and Selamat Hari Raya!

Hello people. OMG! Time flies so fast. I've been wanting to update my blog several times before but work got the better of me and when I reach home, Tricia gets all the attention that I don't have the energy to do anything else.

Since Ramadhan is leaving us very soon, I would firstly like to wish all of you Selamat Hari Raya and maaf zahir batin atas salah silap selama ini. Berayalah berpada2 dan ingat-ingatlah mereka yang kurang bernasib baik. I have been fairly lucky this year to be able to break fast and sahur at home quite often as my family members in Nilai cook regularly. I don't need to eat out that often, which suits me well as this year is my first time celebrating Ramadhan as a mother. It may not seem very significant since Tricia can't understand this yet but to me, it means less going out for berbuka and terawih. It is fine. My priority is different now. Menjaga anak juga satu ibadah. I am glad that she now understands that I need to pray. Throughout the month, she didn't cry for me to pick her up until I finished my prayer. Good girl. ^_^

So many happenings since I last updated but I am going to dedicate this post to my dearest husband.

Hubby celebrated his birthday last month and we are now the same age again =p Well, my birthday comes first so for more than a month every year, I am sort of a year older than him. Ngahaha.

We went to Morib Gold Coast for a quiet celebration just the 3 of us. It was not bad. I like the room and we LOVE the jacuzzi. Don't put high expectation though. It is not of Sepang Gold Coast standard. The corridors were not even carpeted or tiled... bare cement but the room was cosy and suitable for family with kids who enjoy water theme park. Dinner concept was very open... not only it was buffet-style, the tables were those big round tables fit for 10-people, which means you might have to share your table with other guests. But considering the price I paid, I think the trip was value-for-money.

Tricia fell asleep quite early that night, around 9pm so hubby and I made full use of our time together enjoying the jacuzzi for about an hour or so until Tricia realized we were gone and started crying. I went out the tub to attend to the little baby and when I turned back, my big baby was already covered in white bubbles!!! So much for growing up. Hehe. My little joys in life.

The "excitement" didn't end there. Tricia wouldn't stop crying and after awhile I realized she actually wanted to GO OUT! At freaking 11pm at night. Sigh my little girl. Picked up your daddy's habit a bit too early. Lucky we had a place to go to. There was this deck built by the beachside where you can have drinks while listening to live band and enjoying the night breeze. Quite nice.

We had a good time. Didn't wake up for sahur coz we were too tired trying to get Tricia to sleep. But we salute the hotel for providing sahur in the first place as not all hotels in Malaysia do. To my sayang, Happy Birthday dear. May you get everything you wish for in life. Lots and lots of happiness and LOVE from Tricia and I.

June 2012

Hello, peeps. June is here already, which means I am one year older.

Happy 2x Birthday to me. Hihi.

What update do I have for you? Hmm... let's see:

1) exam - CFA this year was the most straight-forward I have ever sat for but unfortunately I didn't finish covering the whole syallabus so expect to revisit the paper AGAIN next year.

2) money - signed S&P for our 2nd property purchase like finallyyy... With the tightening policy of new loan by BNM, it was SO difficult to get a loan given that I am so highly leveraged. In the end, took up my staff loan, which I had initially saved for the purchase of our dream home later.

3) Batrisyia - she crossed her 7th month last Sunday and is now starting to push her tushie up - the beginning of her crawling phase

pic taken at Abby's wedding

4) Games - Hubby and I were sooo addicted to this game Empire Defense 2 on his tab but unfortunately, after working our ass off to level up, collect crystal and upgrade our soldiers and equipment, the game decided to reset on us, Not Once but TWICE! We basically have to start all over again... Are you mad??? Do you know how many hours we had clocked in for that. That's it! -uninstalled-

Term Structure and Hedging

Hi all. It's lunch time and I am reporting from my new department. Supposed to be studying but my studies is not progressing anywhere. =_= Why do I keep wasting my money enrolling for exams when I don't even put enough effort to pass it... Anyway, our team consists of 4 people including my boss. I am the odd one out in many ways:

1) I am the only Malay here. 

2) I am the only one married.

3) Consequently, I am the only one with a child. 

I used to wonder how my former boss in CIMB-Principal survived being the only Malay in the office. Now that I am experiencing it myself, it is actually not bad at all, as long as you can get along with your teammates, your racial background does not really matter anymore. Sorry if anyone finds this statement racist. I have no racial issue. It is just that... I used to think I would only feel comfortable if I have at least someone with the same background around with me... a mixture instead of being the only one singled out. But I am happy to report, so far I don't quite feel out of place (except when they buy cakes containing alcohol or go out to non-halal place for lunch =p Haha. Okay. Not that often.)

On the 2nd and 3rd category, I am hoping and praying that my boss will get married and have a baby soon. Wakakaka. Okay. Maybe not so soon but at least in 2-3 years time? Motive? So that she would be more understanding when it comes to family issue. Not that she's not understanding now but I also don't have a pressing need to be at home YET. I hope, when the time comes, when I need to be with my baby, she would understand what it feels like. Hehe. After all, she IS 2 years older than me. =p 

Tricia 6 months today

My dearest baby girl is 6 months today! And to mark this date, I did what I have been waiting to do since the day she was born - open her ASB account. =p Excuse me for being too money-oriented but it is important to start saving from young.

Progress so far 

- Tricia has started eating solid food since she was 5 months+. I could not wait until she reached 6 months because she was just too eager mimicking our action whenever she saw us eat. Been giving her Cerelacs and Heinz products (the semi liquid food and biscuit) so far.

- This baby girl is now able to recognise people and tell time! I effectively have a curfew now. If I come back past 10pm, she will start to cry. Remember this when you grow up, Batrisyia Hana. I have a curfew because of you so don't make so much fuss in the future when YOU have your own curfew. Hehe.

Tricia can meniarap and hold her head up

Hubby was home early last night. Around 11, we settled down and ready for bed. When we were lying down waiting to board the ship to dreamland, Batrisyia suddenly rolled to her side and was on her front (meniarap). She could actually do that soon after she crossed her 4th month but back then, it was a struggle to keep her head up and she would cry for help... for someone to turn her back to the normal facing-up position. Last night, however, she was very proud to show to us, both her parents, that she can now hold her head up for a considerable amount of time. Why did I say proud? When we acknowledged how clever she was for doing that, she smiled and kept looking left and right to mama and papa. When I turned her back and asked her to go to sleep, she did it again! And we had to clap and cheer her for a few minutes until she was satisfied and finally agreed to go to sleep. I am so touched that she made it a point to show her newly-acquired skill to us. Clever girl, sayang.

She also practised another skill last night i.e. grabbing. She was particularly uncomfortable during the night due to her cough. It didn't last the whole night but enough to wake her up and made her upset. Every time she woke up, she somehow felt the need to wake me and and how did she do that? By pulling my hair! Not once, okay. A few times! Adoi. Sakit la, manja.

Cameron Highlands

A couple of friends wanted to go to Cameron Highlands for the weekend and since hubby generally likes going to Cameron Highlands, I offered to arrange for accommodation. What should be a weekend with friends turned out to be a weekend with family as they all bailed out at the very last minute. Each with their own reason: sick, no mood, didn't get mom's permission. =_= Kinda ironic since the date was picked to accommodate everyone else. I would not have picked this date as my exam is just around the corner. Booking the place was a real headache as I was trying to keep the cost at a minimal. Hubby already said to let it be and absorb the cost if need be but me being me... I wanted to make it as cost effective as possible. And absorb the cost we did. Seriously, if there is a next time, I would make everyone commit to it by paying a non-refundable booking fee. 

 I came home Friday night feeling tired and not in the mood to go. Packing not done and baby was sick. But big thanks to hubby for taking the charge, rushed here and there to get baby's medicines and last minute supply and packed our stuff in a jiffy. Then off we went to KL to pick mummy and abang up, before meeting Zairie halfway for the climb. Alhamdullilah, everything went smoothly and we made it safely there. When I entered the unit, I was pleasantly surprised to see how big the unit really was. Everyone had enough space to gather in front of the TV in the living room as sofas were plenty. Why we picked Villa Dahlia in the first place was because of the kitchen. Hubby likes to eat fresh veges every time he comes here so we must be able to cook... so no hotels. You can get your pots and pans and towels from the reception. Even plates and utensils are available in the kitchen. So... naturally, first thing we did Saturday morning was shopping for veges before cooking our big vegetarian lunch! Plus, fried chicken as the side. Haha.

Uda in front of the signage

After lunch, everyone took a break by freshing up, taking a nap, praying etc etc but hubby was already excited to go to Boh's Sg Palas tea plantation. It had a breathtaking view and hubby pointed out that one of Ombak Rindu scenes was shot here. Not my first time here but it's good to be back. Ordered 2 chocolate rolls for myself =p and had Strawberry Rasberry infusion tea. Tasted like Ribena. Luckily, hubby insisted we went early as the place closed at 4.30pm so we had just enough time. After that, Uda and I split up. They went to the pasar tani by the roadside and we went to Taman Agro Tourist. Food and drinks here are all strawberry based. Very the berry. We made it just in time here too as the place closed at 6.30pm so we had just enough time to sit for a drink. Went back to our apartment right after and had steamboat dinner (thanks to Uda and Ebuzz) and nasi + sayur + telur dadar (thanks to mummy). I didn't cook much because I cut myself at my first attempt. =p Slept early that night as I was down with flu. Tricia also was uncomfortable because of her blocked nose. Pity us. Zairie left at around 8pm.

Next morning, had egg-based breakfast before we checked-out. Then Uda, Ebuzz and Nazwan left. My family stopped by the market for some last minute vege shopping and then took a breather at another tea plantation, Cameron Bharat. All in all, it was a good break. I didn't think I would enjoy it but I did. Special shout out to my hubby for making it such a fulfilling trip. And Uda, thanks for not ditching me!

A night at GTower

Hubby and I wanted to spend some quality time together over the weekend and was looking for a place to stay. His friend, Zam, suggested GTower. I browsed through www.agoda.com and got the room for RM330 a night (inc tax) without breakfast. Zam sounded SO enthusiastic about the place, the room, the sky bar and especially the pillows! True enough, they actually have a special menu for pillows! That was quite unusual but awesome. We settled with what we have though. It was actually more than enough. And we had the most comfortable sleep ever. The whole family slept from 6.30pm until 10pm! =_= bad bad... Blame Batrisyia for not waking us up. We then had dinner by the pool side before relaxing in the room again (and ordered dessert for supper).
We generally had a good time except a bit frustrated that they had shower instead of bathtub. =p We were also informed by Aienn earlier that kids are not allowed at the Bridge Bar and Sky Bar so it was good that breakfast were not included or we would have to go separately, taking turns to take care of the baby. Hubby said we will come back here one day for the sky bar, without the baby, since we missed out on that opportunity this time. That shouldn't be too difficult since it's only in the middle of KL.

The King Size Bed (with Tricia in the middle of it), the room and view from the room.

Dinner by the pool side.

Master Chin at Central Market

I'm moving to a new desk effective next month. This whole month is my transitional period. Morning I will be with Money Sales. Afternoon, I will go one floor up to Term Structure Hedging. I have been unhappy with my work performance for awhile but I stayed on because 1) I feel the need to "give back" to the department for helping me getting my PKMC licence and accepting me into Treasury. I was told by a senior to stay for at least 2 years, which I did. 2) I wanted to move out last year but couldn't find any internal vacancy (by internal, I mean Treasury only) AND I got pregnant. So when I came back from maternity leave, I straight away made an appointment with our career advisor and got my transfer. Yeay to that!

I know this is the best decision for now. I want to learn more technical stuff and this desk offers just that. I got to learn about FTP pricing, IRS, hedge accounting and a lot more which are very2 technical. One guy there was from the same batch as me but he is a level higher than me already. I know I am at least as good if not better so sometimes I wonder why didn't I joined this department earlier like he did. Fate, I suppose. At least I have my Batrisyia Hana now so I must strive harder to be better at work. 

Back to the point, with all the uncertainties in the future, I feel like going to Master Chin to see what lies ahead in my career. I thought of going to him after Abby went to see him earlier this year. Just for fun. I will believe what I want to believe anyway so it is not really "fortune telling". More like stating the current situation to your face. It costs RM90 to "read" about yourself and one subject of Tarot card reading. I gave him RM100 and instead of giving me RM10 back, he asked me to pick two subjects instead. Haha, okay. 

First, I had to write my name and my date of birth. Apparently, in my past life, I had a loved one, and a happy family but they all died so I was very very sad. When I came to this world, I sometimes got very sad too. Then I had to put both my fists on the table, thumbs up. Looking at my face, he said my first child is a daughter. (Isn't it obvious? Hubby was feeding Tricia beside me that time. LOL) I will have maybe 3 children. At least 2. I will have a boy too. I have a lot of siblings (really???) but they stayed far from me (oh. I forgot my dad's children. Haha.) Referring to my cheek/cheekbone, I have power/leadership skills. My lips shows long life.. at least 80 years old. Then I had to clasp my hands together before putting my hands on the table facing down, showing all my fingers. Same thing, power, leadership, good at marketing (Hah? I doubt it. If not, I would have done really well where I am), can talk to people. Then he flexed my fingers a bit and said that I'm very close to my siblings. (Maybe one) Next was palm reading. I like to help people, can work as Dr, nurse etc. (Heard this from Abby), marriage, children, long life, emotional but easily contented - got car, got house, happy already. I like to change my mind that I might have missed a lot of opportunities because of that. (Hmm? Job wise?) Tarot card reading, I chose work/career and luck/money. I had to shuffle the cards with my left hand and then split the stacks into 3 before putting them back together. Work/Career - First card was death. (Okay, I was scared.) But apparently it means rebirth - people will help me when I need it. I have been unhappy at work. I prayed to my Allah. Someone is being unfair to me. People not treating me right. People are jealous of me. (Huh? Jealous for what? I have no achievement whatsoever yet.) All the cards are bad. I might be moving in a few months or so if I continue to be unhappy. (Hmm.. Is this referring to my new department or old one. I'm so confuse.) Luck/Money - Again with the death card. This year is okay. I have money but is not enough. (Yes, it is not enough. I'm going to travel overseas and I have no extra income to spend!!! Well, money is never enough anyway.) I am good with money. When I have no money I stayed at home and when I do have money, I know how to spend them well. I guess that's it about me.

Hubby's story - He was a soldier. He killed many people in his past life. So he has to pay back karma in this life. What he has to do is talk to a river (???), any river, to dispel the karma away. He had many siblings. He got married in his twenties. (Duhhh.. obviously. He is still in his twenties.) He will have 3 children, but quite difficult to get boy, will only have one. (Good to hear the same prediction, ey? Haha.) He has strong fingers, has power and leadership, long life. His tarot card reading - own business - already stable, looking for something new to do, received a lot of support from family, father helped him set-up the business in the beginning. Money wise - same as mine - when he has money he knows how to spend and enjoy but when he has no money, he will just stay at home. Health - Generally no problem but he worries about it too much. Just a little headache once in awhile. That's all I could hear and remember coz I was busy with Tricia that time.

Was the money worth it? Not for the facts, no. But it was quite fun to do something different once in awhile so yeah... I didn't regret it. 

Broga Hill

Hubby had been telling me (more like bugging me) that he wanted to go hiking. When he said either at Gunung Angsi or Broga Hill, I straight away agreed to Broga Hill. Reasons being 1) I know there will be a lot more people at Broga Hill and 2) I think Broga Hill would be an easier hike than Gunung Angsi. (I had no idea where Angsi is... Hubby told me it is near Ulu Bendul.) Wanted to go the weekend before but he was not well and I was not prepared, so we decided to go last Saturday morning. I woke up as early as 4am to prepare our egg-mayo sandwich and woke hubby up only at 4.30pm. Bags packed, fed baby (who was left with her tanter Abby) and off we go at just a little after 5am.

Reached there before 6 but we stopped for subuh prayer at the nearby Petronas station. We started our journey up around 6.20-6.30am and we reached there just before 7am.

Starting our journey

Journey up

Sunrise

Us at the top

Accident (part 2)

Alhamdulillah. That guy who hit my car the other day was a very responsible guy. Since I sent my car in for repair, I did not call him at all. And the car took sooo long to be repaired by Proton. After nearly a week, Mr Lee actually called ME and asked about the status of my car. The day after, when I told him I collected my car from the workshop already, he actually wanted to come and see me but due to work commitment, he couldn't. So I told him that he could just bank in the money, which he did. I am just grateful that my car got hit by a responsible guy like him, not someone who would just run away when clearly he had the chance to. Yeay to honest and responsible Malaysian like him!

March blues

I cried driving home last night. Tears came rolling down after my boss called me in to explain it to me. Called hubby but he was not available to talk. He said "see you at home" but I know I won't be in the mood to talk about it once I reached home. The problem was very personal so I can't just call some random people to talk about it. After hubby, the one person that could light up my day is my baby girl. You are my sunshine, my life, my everything. So I drove back to her as fast as my car could take me. When I got home, she smiled at me, whined when I hugged her to sleep and held my hand. That was all I need. Maybe "this" is the price to pay for such a beautiful, beautiful thing in my life. You are a beautiful blessing given to me, my dearest baby girl. And it was such a small price to pay in exchange of these precious moments with you. 

So for the record, although it was not great, although it was really upsetting, I am still thankful for the blessings I have in my life. It was not as bad as I think it was. And it definitely could have been worse. I just don't take failure too well but I need to learn to be thankful and appreciate the things that I do have in my life. For we are only human... everything can be taken away from you in a blink of an eye. So do spend some time appreciating the things most dearest to you and not focusing on the things you don't have. But of course, after I recover myself, I will need to strive hard to make it better. Not mope around and be left behind.

Tricia dah "sunat"

Hubby requested I blog about this event. Not that I won't but the fact that he requested it should mean that it is pretty important. He wants Tricia to read about this one day. Yesterday, 21/03/12, Tricia was 4 months and 11 days old. I took leave to bring Tricia for her so-called "circumcision". I said so-called with the inverted commas because it is not like what we do to the boys. It is just a small cut done down there (don't ask me specifically where because I didn't dare to look yesterday) just buat cukup syarat. I initially thought it was just customary to the culture, not a religious requirement. But after some research done with Abby, we found out that it is actually sunat to khatankan girls. So I decided to just do it. Asked Kak Azah and she did Qysteena's at Klinik Sariah in Bandar Baru Nilai.

I was nervous... When we arrived, Dr Sariah was not around. Apparently, she does the night shift. Dr Zaiton was on duty. After much thought, and since we were already there, we decided to just do it with her. People told me that the Dr will only use a needle to perform the procedure. But when I entered the Dr's room, there was this metal container with a metal scissors in it. (Panic!) So I just held Tricia's hand and stared at her face. She was looking and smiling at me. Guilt crept inside of me. (Soon she will feel the pain and not want to smile at me anymore. But we had to do it, my dear. It is sunat.) Her father was looking at what the Dr was doing. But within a minute, it was all done. Tricia didn't even cry! I was so relieved and proud. Dr commented, "terdiam die sekejap". But that was it. I didn't dare to look at the cut or whether there was blood but the maid told me there was no blood at the pampers when she changed it later. Lega... ^_^

Well done, Immigration Department of Malaysia

I just want to do a quick shout out to our Immigration Department of Malaysia / Jabatan Imigresen Malaysia. Went to do Batrisyia's passport last 25th February 2012 (Saturday) at the Presint 15, Putrajaya branch (They are open half-day on Saturdays and Sundays now) and they were very efficient! We were given an express number since we had a baby with us but silly me, I submitted hubby's application separately so I had to take another number to renew hubby's passport. Even after the mixed-up, it didn't take us too long. Went there around 10-ish and after taking the passport picture, filling in the form and queueing (twice), we got it all done by 12pm. Came back the next day to pick the both passports as we were too hungry to wait that same day.
Bravo! You prove that government agency can be efficient too. Here's my baby girl's passport picture. ^_^ Baru 3 bulan lebih dah ade passport.

Please turn off the lights, mama.

Last night, I came home quite late. Since my car is currently in the workshop, hubby had to pick me up. We went for dinner and went to repair hubby's spectacles before we headed home. The maid was busy trying to make Tricia sleep. (If I typed "put her to sleep", would it sound like the maid was trying to kill her?) So I picked her up, carried her around while her father was having his supper at the kitchen, then brought her up to our room. She looked sleepy but at the same time it was like she was trying to say something. I gave her the pacifier, which reduced the protest a bit but she was still making some dissatisfied sound until I turned off the lights. Right after the lights were turned off, she straight away closed her eyes and went to sleep. Senang jaga anak mama nih. Sayang sangat lah!

Accident

I got into a minor accident today. It wasn't major at all. I was driving my normal route to work this morning and suddenly I felt the car jolted, in front of the TUDM airport. Initially I thought I failed to balance the fuel injection into my manual-transmission car's engine. Then I thought, it couldn't have jerked that bad. So I looked at my rear-view mirror and noticed that the car behind me was extremely close to mine. Oh my. First time got into an accident alone. 

So I went down, took the guy's number, asked for his card (he didn't have one), took picture of both cars and drove off. Just like that. He promised he would cover the repair cost and everything but who knows. Hard to find honest people on the road these days. I also didn't press for anything that time and that is clearly my fault. Reason being, I hate to fight. When it is unnecessary like this, I would just avoid it. Unnecessary compared to the trouble I had to go through dragging him to the police station or made him pay me on the spot. I was alone and late to work. And to me, it wasn't that bad. If I had to cover the cost myself, I could probably afford it... UNTIL I was told that the estimated repair cost is around RM1K (550 for bumper, 380 for paint job and labour charges, around 100 for plate holder). Oh God. Pengsan.

I called back this guy. His name is Mr Lee by the way. (I don't know why people kept asking me the guy's race... Quit being racist people.) And told him about the estimated cost. He checked with another Proton service centre and was told that the cost would be more or less the same. What I didn't expect was, he asked me to share the cost with him =_=. Okay. That was direct. I said since I'm a bit broke at the moment, I am only willing to top up around RM100... since he asked for it. So his total cost should be around RM900. Yeah. Yeah. I should NOT have done that. But I was in a good mood and my day could have just gotten worse than that so to me it was not that bad. So I sent in my car just now... The mechanic warned me to get the payment first BEFORE I sent the car in for repair. But again... so not worth my trouble.

My car

His car (no scratch at all)

Terengganu Trip (July 2011) - Camy's wedding & Babymoon at Redang Island

Read Kak Jane's blog yesterday and realised that I don't update my blog as often as I should (no matter how many times I said I would). I went travelling a lot especially when I was studying in the UK but entries tagged "Vacation" were like less than 10! Even THAT includes vacations in Malaysia. Went through my old entries and found a couple of untagged vacation posts but even after re-tagging, there were still a lot of unwritten entries... Soon-to-be forgotten memories.

Let's not waste time. Time to catch up with my really delayed vacation posts. First up - Terengganu Trip (2nd - 5th July 2011) Months before July, Camy announced that she will be getting married and invited us to her wedding in Terengganu. Since I would be done with my exam that month, the girls and I decided to go for a holiday in Pulau Redang. Irna was our travel leader for this trip and anything to do with Redang was arranged by her.

As usual, I brought my mom and my bro along. (Mom hardly goes anywhere if it is not for work.) With that, my car was already full. Everyone else arranged their own transportation, mostly flew there. Camy took a comfortable 4-bedroom homestay for all of us to stay in Kuala Terengganu but the girls ditched me and my family so we got the whole big house to ourselves.

Since we went our own ways, we had dinner separately from the girls that night. Went round and round the area until hubby stopped at the police station! to ask where is the best place to have dinner. I don't remember the name of this shop but it was situated under the bridge and it was yummm.

The next day, we made our way to Pulau Redang for our vacation! We stayed at Redang Holiday Beach Villa and we took Semi-D Bungalow with seaview. ^_^

The first day there was spent relaxing, enjoying the view from our chalet. After dinner, we went to the beach to find "the blue sand", which are actually planktons that glow when rubbed, and found them! Irna was so excited because she didn't get to see them during our last trip here. We continued our walk until we reached Laguna beach resort and stayed there for awhile for drinks while eating kuaci.

The next day, after breakfast, we went to the marine park. Aizat arrived with Babar and his friend but couldn't make it to the marine park together. When we arrived, everyone went for a swim except me. Since I was 5 months pregnant that time, my gynae didn't allow me to go snorkelling. Initially, I sat quietly reading my book on the beach but after half-an-hour I jumped into the sea. Well she did say "Can swim but no snorkelling". Ironically, I arrived at the platform in the middle of the sea earlier that some who had been swimming way before me. =p Yeay, pregnant woman. Haha. After some rest in the evening, we spent some time on the beach again.

I know the pictures don't do justice to the beauty of nature over there and the fun that we had. Most pictures were taken by some more expensive cameras than mine but unfortunately I only have these few. But all in all, I had SO MUCH FUN over there with both my family and my girls. This trip was also my babymoon trip, our "honeymoon" together before the baby arrives. It was definitely a good break for me and for all of us.

Before we head back to KL on Tuesday, we made a pit-stop to meet Norul's new born baby, Adrian Jazreen Zidane bin Ahmad Khairul Naim.

Monday Blues

I miss you already la, si kecik.

Back to work

Hey people. I am back at work now. Hello computer and internet connection. First day back, both baby and I were doing fine UNTIL I tried to call home during lunch time. Both Kak Ina and Abby were still asleep and out of the blue I just cried thinking of my baby. No, I was not worried. I just missed her so much! When Abby tweeted pic of my Tricia and Kak Ina called back to let me "talk" to her, it made me miss her ever more.

Came home from work on the second day, Tricia was still sleeping. Apparently she had been sleeping the whole day. Tried to wake her up but she just made so much noise that after we fed her, we let her sleep again. Came home from dinner around midnight and there she was, eyes wide open. Around 1.30am, I was already too tired to play with her so I asked hubby to take over. Apparently, he was just as tired so he passed the "baton" to abby, my beloved sis-in-law. When I woke up the next morning, I panicked when I saw Tricia's empty babycot. Found her sleeping in the guestroom with Abby. Tonight, no matter what time she sleeps, I will take care of her. I must.

Been reading an article on babycenter today and I would love to highlight some interesting quotes.

Big Story: How love blossoms between you and your child

1)Note: It's impossible to "spoil" a baby with love, attention, and affection, says Emma Adam, a developmental psychologist at Northwestern University. When you comfort your child, you're building a foundation of trust and affection that will last a lifetime. 

2) "It seems contradictory, but the more security you give your child, the more independent she can become," says Adam, the Northwestern University psychologist.

69 days

That number looks obscene. It probably is.

Guilt over not breastfeeding

When I was pregnant, I was very determined to fully breast-feed (bf) my baby once she's born. Sadly, it didn't materialize. She refused to latch on me, possibly because of the short nipple that I have. Tried my very best to not introduce formula milk to the baby in her early days. Forced her to bf on me and agreed to let her latch on my cousin's wife, her "ibu susu", but we didn't (and still don't) live nearby so we couldn't really rely on her.

The first few days, I only produced like 6 drops of colostrum from every pumping session. Only on day 5, a day after my massage session, that I finally started to produce milk. By then, she was already on formula. Since she still refused to latch, I pumped like mad, especially when we found out that she had jaundice. I either fed her EBM exclusively using a bottle or I mixed it in her formula milk. I felt like a milking cow. At week 1, Manoq suggested I get the nipple shield. It worked for awhile but with everything that was going on at that moment, I felt more comfortable pumping. It was a very very very stressful period and I cried like mad. Some people's comments just made me felt worse.

After nearly 2 weeks, I produced around 1 oz of milk from every pumping session. Joy. However, as the baby's need started to increase, my milk production stayed the same. At 3 weeks, it went to 3/4 oz and later it went to half. At 1 month,  I just stopped.

At week 7, I received my weekly email from baby center and it was very comforting to read this.

Your life: Guilt over not breastfeeding

Today's society puts a lot of pressure on new moms to breastfeed. No doubt breast milk is the perfect first food. However, there are many reasons why breastfeeding just doesn't work for some women and their babies, including illness, discomfort, and frustration. Guilt over not breastfeeding can hit especially hard if you had planned during pregnancy to do so but then circumstances made it impossible or more difficult than you'd expected. Both breast milk and commercial formula nourish growing babies. If you've given up on breastfeeding — or are thinking of doing so — be sure to discuss your choice with your doctor or a certified lactation consultant. Talk through your feelings and don't be too hard on yourself. The main thing to remember is that how you feed your baby is ultimately not as important as providing love and care.

Well, I did see a lactation consultant recently. Not for myself and my baby, but to accompany my sister-in-law (SIL) who is due soon. She couldn't bf her first baby so she wanted to seek more help for her second one. I am all excited to support her after what I had been through. After my SIL session, the lactation consultant had a look at my baby and found out that she has a tied tongue that made it difficult for her to latch on to me. So it was not just one factor but a few factors combined that made it so difficult for us. It's okay, sayang. Just know that I love you very very much no matter what. As for me, better luck next time. ^-^

Happy New Year! 2012 is here

I haven't been blogging for awhile. With no internet connection on a proper computer, it is quite difficult to do so.

So... 2011 left us already. I feel like my only achievement last year was to conceive and give birth to my child. No other significant achievement; no career advancement, didn't pass my CFA level 2 exam. Needless to say, I still need to be thankful. Not everyone is blessed with a child even if they really want to.

Let's talk about resolution now. I am bored with 'I want to study harder for my CFA' while 'I want to be a good mother' is actually given irregardless whether it is a new year or not. Initially settled to not have one until I went out with hubby on the new year. We went for drinks and live band at Concorde Hotel sans baby, who was left with my dearest mummy. That night, it crossed my mind. So I decided that my new year resolution this year is to start wearing make up and heels. Ahaqs. Happy new year, everyone!

Period post-pregnancy

A lot of things I didn't blog about post-pregnancy. Mainly because I didn't have internet connection and secondly because some things look a bit too personal to be posted online. Things that I should have so that I can later compare with my next pregnancy/child birth experience. I suddenly remembered one important detail that I need to jot down. My period. Since I couldn't directly breastfeed my baby, I pumped. Even then, my milk production stopped when Tricia was about 1 month old. I was supposed to go for my post-natal check up 6 weeks/42 days after I gave birth. However, I had to reschedule because I got my period a couple of days before that. If I'm not mistaken, at 40 days after pregnancy.

The other thing is darah nifas. I was able to mandi wajib and start praying before my period resumed. So that was around 35 days maybe? Not too sure about the exact date now but I remember it was quite early. Although some people didn't believe me when I said my nifas period was over and my period cycle resumed,  I believe it is what it is. Who is to say my nifas period was too short. I had asked around earlier and it varies from woman to woman and mine was within the normal range. I'm going to back-date this post if I can because today is 26th January 2013.

I'm officially a citizen!

A proud Malaysian! ^_^

Heart-breaker

At 9 days old, she already made 3 people cry, including me. Please don't grow up to be a heart-breaker, baby.

The Final Push

This is the final journey of my first pregnancy.

On 10th November, the day I was supposed to be admitted, I had some blood show in the morning. Although I was only supposed to "check-in" at 6pm, mummy insisted that I go the hospital asap as she said, that was a sign of my cervics dilating. From Nilai, hubby and I went back to Bangi for some last minute preparation. We took it easy. Had breakfast at pasar, went back to do laundry and packing, went to Manjaku to grab some stuff and only left Bangi around 12pm. Hubby refuses to go straight to the hospital as he said it's going to be boring to just wait around so we stopped at Sunway Pyramid first for lunch. We  went to Delicious, where I packed my pavlova and hubby bought starbucks coffee on the way out. By then, it was 3pm and I couldn't wait any longer.

Off we went to the hospital. I went to the labour room first but they were still preparing my room so I headed downstairs for my admission. It took quite awhile. We only went back up after 4pm. I was given room 12 but sadly mummy can't go in so she had to wait in the waiting room outside instead. After I changed into my hospital gown, the nurse came to check on me. I was 2.5cm dilated. Immediately, she strapped me on to the machines to monitor baby's heartbeat and my contractions.

At 5.25pm, I think I felt some minor contractions but it wasn't painful. Saw baby's heartbeat increased out of the ordinary once in awhile. I commented to hubby that baby was just as nervous as I was. Little did I know that the irregular heartbeat was the reason the Dr broke my water at 6.45pm when I was only 3cm dilated. I wanted to wait awhile since I really wanted the 11/11 date but the Dr had other worries. She checked my water and found it to be normal, no traces of green discharge of baby poo, which was a relief. Dr also gave me something to help me pass motion to clear my bowels by flushing some sort of water into my anus. Yucks. I had to rush to the toilet within 5 minutes.

Around 8.30pm, I could feel the pain getting more intense. Hubby wanted to comfort me by holding my hand but I was gripping the wood bed-handle so tight, I made him warm my legs instead. It felt so nice that I requested him to squeeze my feet with every contraction. Not long after, I called the nurse in to check on me. As much as I dreaded vaginal examination, I had to ask for it to know how many cm I had dilated that time. At 9pm, it was 6cm. At the rate I was going, I knew I wouldn't be able to hold it in until midnight. Dr came to check on me and offered gas or jab. Nurse offered me the gas but I refused to take it. Fearing the pain to come, I asked hubby for my notes. The jab, pethidine, will only take away 20% of the pain but will make you drowsy. Hmm, tough choice but fear got the better of me so I took the jab. Following which, 10pm onwards was a blur to me. I remember instructing hubby to hold my feet tighter and made buzzing sound when the contractions came. I remember asking for nurse to check on me again as I felt the urge to push. I remember I was told it was 8-9cm, which means I still should not push. I remember one of the nurses took out my urine using a cathether but because it was quite uncomfortable, also with the pain of contractions, they gave me gas. With that, I struggled less.
I remember Dr walked into my room at 11pm. I was thinking maybe I could still hold it in until midnight. I was still drifting in and out of consciousness that time. I remember the Dr refusing to give me more gas when she walked in. I remember the nurse reported to my Dr that my first push was no good, the second one was better although I don't quite remember pushing. I remember telling the Dr I needed to pass motion. I remember the Dr telling me that the feeling was the contraction that I need to start pushing. I DON'T remember that they couldn't find the baby's heartbeat halfway through the process. I DON'T remember that they had to stop the whole process to put the monitor on to find baby's heartbeat. I DIDN'T notice that the Dr was using vacuum down there and I DIDN'T feel her cutting me and put cotton inside of me to contain the bleeding. I do remember the Dr came to me, asking me to help her by pushing the baby out. She can't help me if I don't help her. "We don't want to go for C-Section kan Farah?". I remember shaking my head slowly. I remember my final 2 push. I was finally fully aware that time (although I was still closing my eyes) and that was when I actually applied the breathing techniques learned in my prenatal class. With my final push, my baby Batrisyia Hana was born with the help of vacuum. It was 10th November 2011, at 11.32am.
I may not remember everything that happened that night clearly, but I do remember the look of my baby's face looking intently at me when they put her on my body. The feeling was priceless.