Of Xmas and presents......

The kids love getting their Christmas presents as much as they love getting their Hari Raya collection and their Chinese New Year hongbao. So every year, they get triple whammies while the adults get broke three times over!

But oklah, broke-ness aside, I think I enjoy all these festivities as much as the kids do (I repeat, brokeness aside!). Because I love, as Hazrin puts it, the fuss.....(Men don't get it! *roll eyes*)

I love looking for new Raya clothes.........I love exchanging Chinese New Year oranges......... I love buying and wrapping Xmas presents............And I love all the family gatherings that come with each festive celebration.

This year, our family gathering was more meaningful cos Aunty Nan decided to come all the way from New Zealand, to join us for Christmas. This, coupled with the addition of 2 new members into the clan......One being Alex - who married Hazrin's lovely cousin, Janine, and one being a month old baby Xander - Erwin and Jaslyn's second hero.

And this year, the mood was definitely much merrier (and noisier) cos everybody was trying to catch up with one another, while the kids were trying to catch one another! Chaotic? No, that's an understatement, heheh. But I'm not complaining. I love it!

The elders had a great time eating, the young adults had a great time sharing experiences, the young parents had a 'great time' fussing over their juniors, and the kids had a great time being kids, especially since their Uncle Ming and Abang Achek were around.

Granted, our family gatherings are getting busier by the year. And if our procreating fervour is anything to go by, we'll need a hall next time we converge for gatherings.

But the highlight of our Xmas gathering was, as always, the 'Santa Clausing' part. Faris, Faiz and Sufi actually counted their presents! Fazli couldn't count, but he knew he had gotten plenty of presents. Every present he unwrapped was punctuated with a YAYE! NI LI MUNYE! YAAAAAYE!!! He simply loves presents! And if THAT is hereditary, he probably got my genes.......





More pics in our photoalbum.....

OUCH my back!!!

I'm not a great fan of injections, so the thought of having needles pricked all over my body didn't go down too well with me. Unfortunately, with the state of my back, which left me motionless for a good 2 hours before I was wheeled into A&E, I had to give accupuncture a go......

So at the clinic, the physician first tried to determine the source of my pain. Then, satisfied that the problem was caused by strained back muscles as well as nerve supression caused by a slightly dislocated spine bone, he started inserting 4 needles onto the top of my hand. It wasn't as painful as anticipated, but I still hate needles..... And to reallign the dislocated bone, he started cracking my back and began sucking the 'bad air' from my battered body. I wasn't too convinced that the back cracking and the air sucking could work (and Sham would definitely freak out if she was there), but it did work! I felt a lot better immediately, and I walked out of the room much straighter and humanlike than when I first walked in.

I went back for another round of acupuncture a few days later cos my back was still sore. This time round, I had about 6 needles down my spine, 1 in my hip and another in my calf. This exuded a nice warm sensation on my back, and it felt really good. The needles were then pulled out, and the physician started 'scraping' the warm spot, turning it all red. The redness apparently, I was told, indicated poor blood circulation. So for that, and for my weak back muscles, I was prescribed some Traditional Chinese medicine.

Fortunate for me, this pharmacist wife of mine has no qualms about me taking safely prescribed TCM, but unfortunately, they tasted as bad as they smell.......
So for now, I'll stick to the needles and suction cups and give the TCM a miss....

The Bangkok Trip

It's 1 week post Bangkok, and we're still reminiscing our trip there...Land of a thousand smiles indeed.....

It was a sponsored trip for just the two of us. No kidz on tow, heheh. And that, if you think was good for us, it wasn't.....at least not for the first few hours. We had the 'kids withdrawal syndrome'........


The sudden lack of 'noise' and 'chaos' threw us off guard, and as we slowly grappled with the sad reality (and guilt) of going on a holiday without our kids, we were also constantly reminded by our parents' pleas, so to speak, to enjoy ourselves and not worry about our poor 'left behind' offsprings. Afterall, they said we "deserve a break for our uncompromising perseverence and unrelentless effort in bringing up and nurturing our juniors". Ahhaha, paiseh.....Oklah that was very encouraging and sweet and all, but Hazrin and I have been parents longer than any of our friends and cousins have been, and we have also been the busiest cos we decided to have all our kids almost all at once (Why that is so, calls for another post altogether, heh). So this holiday, kids-free, naturally unleashed the skeptics in us, and the both of us couldn't help but feel lost. We had forgotten how not to be parents! And when OUR PARENTS insisted that 'the two of us enjoy this trip and have fun', I had to raise an eyebrow.

Ok before anyone thinks Hazrin and I are gonners in the 'romantics' department, let me reiterate that we are fine. We know how to enjoy ourselves, and we know when to have our retreats together. We can talk gibberish all day long and not bore each other, restassured. But we've never had sooooo much time to ourselves before. It's just that with our busy schedule and big but young family, we're so used to handling so many things all at once, and quickly too, that we suddenly didn't know how to slow down. Not good. Not good at all.

So going by our normal pace, we made our way to the departure gate only to be greeted by a certain Phil "You are the first team to arrive!" O.k lah Phil was a figment of my imagination, but we were really the first ones to arrive, hokay. Moral of story is, without the kidz, our 'normal pace' was probably too fast for the 'non-parenting' world. So slow down we did........Hazrin got himself a National Geographic magazine, and I got myself a less nerdy version of a mag.


We took Thai Air Asia and Hazrin indulged in a bowl of instant noodle......He enjoyed it very much. Nothing beats eating instant noodle in an airplane, he said. And that was to be the beginning of our many cherished moments in Bangkok.

We sort of consoled our guilt-ridden selves with plenty of shopping for the kidz.......and ourselves.


Then, as soon as we got used to slowing down, we pampered ourselves to massages and plenty of unrushed dining.

The service and warm hospitality of most of the Thais we met there were superb. And that livened up our moods and helped us unwind. You don't want to unwind in a country where service is very frustrating and people are very cold. Jams and hot weather, for which Thailand is notorious for, were not so bothersome either.....I think they more than make up for it with their smiles.

All in all, the trip had served its purpose. We both had plenty of rest, fun and laughter, and we came back home with a year's supply of clothes..................

PS - More pics in our 'Bangkok Trip' Photo Album

Land of a Thousand Smiles

Here we are (just the 2 of us) blogging from the departure gate of T1, on our way to Bangkok. Unfortunately we only have 15 mins at the terminal. So stay tuned and watch this space.

Special guests this Eid

This year, Eid started pretty early for us........

It started with Kak Linda's homecoming. The twinz welcomed her at the airport with their homemade birthday cards - which they proudly displayed, much to everyone's muse. I thought the both of them looked like professional travel agents, fetching an important client by the name of 'Aunty Mas'.

As always, the kidz were all bashful when Aunty Mas finally came out of the arrival hall. And as always, they would insist on following Aunty Mas (a.k.a Aunty Santa Claus) back to Mama's place to check out their presents.

Unfortunately, this time round, she couldn't stay long. Probably because she had a lot of patients waiting for her back in London, or maybe it was because she had to rush off for a holiday in San Francisco (how cool is that ?!). Whichever the reason was, we were still glad she came back. And before she left, the kidz managed to show off their messy room to her, and gave her some farewell hugs to last her till her next visit here....

We also had another special guest - Syazana. Mak used to babysit her when she was just a baby, but when she made a surprise visit on the eve of Eid, she was a full 16 years older. Mak was so happily surprised, thanks to Mariah. It was a simple reunion, and we spent the night reminiscing her childhood antics and rummaging through Mariah's box for some old photos. It was like opening a pandora's box cos my old photos were really almost ghastly! But it was a good night nonetheless, and a very good start to a good Eid.......

And last but not least, we had our much anticipated reunion with Lin, my long lost cousin, when we invited her over for steamboat two Sundays ago. I had expected the reunion to be rather awkward, but the contrary was to be. Everything was, much to my relief, so casual and natural, almost as if we had never separated. And the best thing was that we could still 'connect', although she's got too good a head on her shoulders now for me to bully around anymore. She's all grown up now, and though she came across as a strong and independent person, like all the girls in our family, she's still full of dreams.....

And the kidz......they actually warmed up to her almost immediately. Lin even got herself a fan in Faiz. He followed her around like a paparazzi and took plenty of shots of his newly found Aunty Lin.

The reunion, as intended, renewed our long lost 'cousinship', and more than ever, our relationship is set to grow stronger and better, as we once wished it to be, Insya Allah

And oh yes.....the kidz also had a special guest. They had their own Eid gathering with Danial in their room........They had a great time, baby talking and eating the night away!

Our White castle

To our friends and relatives who couldn't make it to our house this raya, here's our white castle. Step right in.......




Our Dining Room






Our T.V and Computer Room





Our Living Room





Our Dining Room




Our T.V and Computer Room




Part of our Dining Room




Our Reading Corner





Our Dining Table




Sufi's Room







Kitty in Sufi's Room

First Day of Eid Mubarak

Here's just a peek into our first day of Eid Mubarak. As it is, we're not done visiting juz yet, so watch this space......


Mak & Ayah's Place





Mummy & Pak's Place












Kakak and the kidz













Yaya, me and some of the kidz















Abang Nazif, Shabana and Danial












Najwa, Nur and us again





Danial, and Azfar being attacked....

When Chico Met Kitty

Chico was all hostile towards Kitty when they were first introduced. Having been the only cat in the family, Chico felt threatened by Kitty's presence. His jealousy and anxiety made him puke all over the house, and he ended up hiding all day long, even refusing to eat and drink.















However, being a mak nenek that she is, Kitty was adamant in her attempt to win over Chico's heart. She repetitively approached the big guy ever so casually, and was not deterred by his growls and scratches. We were so worried for her, but she was unstoppable! Call her naive, but her persistence actually paid off, cos Chico finally gave up being hostile. If you can't fight her, you might as well just join her....heheh
Well, good for him cos he's gotten himself a cute 'lil playmate. Hazrin now calls him Abang Chico......

Hello, Kitty

Kitty joined the pack last weekend, thanks to Melati. She's a cross between a British short hair and a Tabby cat. Was told that her father is very friendly, and her mother, being a tabby, is presumably intelligent. Guess that's why she's such a mak nenek...

She's so full of life, but when the energy is zapped out of her, she can suddenly slump and fall asleep....while playing!!!.
She was busy playing with Chico and me (read : not Sham) the other day when she jumped into a basket and fell asleep almost instantaneously, head hanging out of the basket and all! How cute is that?!

Shhhhh....artist @ werk

The twinz are beginning to show talent in drawing and colouring...

Here's our family portrait...

Faris's aeroplane

Faiz's robot

and not to be outdone, Fazli also wanted to show off his artistic talents as well...

unfortunately he chose to express it on our wall...looks like a graffiti artist in the making...