I am a Bling Buubies Nursing Apparel's reseller!

This is a sticky entry, please scroll down for the latest entry.
p/s: Thank you, thank you, thank you Adik!!!! -hugs n kisses-

Hello ladies!

I am so excited about this. I have been given the green-light with selling
Bling Buubies Nursing baju kurung online, here on my blog.

Personally, I have breastfed both my boys and while doing that have been (first born) and still is (second son) very rewarding; mentally, physically and financially, there are times where I felt torn, between keeping my virtue in tact and fulfilling their demands.

I always wear casually on outings; blouse, T-shirts and slacks and the occasional baju kurung.
If you breastfeed, you'd know how it is,right? Whenever your services are required, you'd have to 'discreetly' find a seclusive spot (heh..good luck with that, especially if you're in a mall), lift your top-piece and let the baby/toddler have at it.

Now, with shorter top-pieces, things are easier, but with baju kurung, you'd really have to do a lot of fidgeting and maneuvering before you can get down to business.

Now, a few talented SAHMs had gotten together and build a business based around breastfeeding and things related to babies. One of their brand is Bling Buubies Nursing Apparel; Baju Kurung and Jubah, where these pieces have been constructed to ease nursing, even in public.

Check them out:


Miss Maisara 03 (RM180.00)
Color/Motif - Grey-Blue / Floral motif
Material - Korean Washable (Easy to iron and maintain. Suitable for mothers who value time)
Nursing Opening - Type 1
Available size: M

Miss Maisara 02 (RM180.00)
Color/Motif - Pearl White / Floral motif
Material - Korean Washable (Easy to iron and maintain. Suitable for mothers who value time)
Nursing Opening - Type 1
Available size: M

Miss Maisara 01 (RM180.00)
Color/Motif - Pearl White / Floral motif
Material - Korean Washable (Easy to iron and maintain. Suitable for mothers who values time)
Nursing Opening - Type 1
Available size: M

Measurements for size M:
Shoulder length: 15.5 in
Waistline: 28 in
Length of top-piece: 40 in
Length of bottom-piece: 41 in

These are ready-made pieces. They also do custom-made orders if you have your
own fabric choice.


If you wish to purchase these beautiful, practical and affordable baju kurung, just leave a comment below or PM me on my Facebook page.

Let's get stylish, breastfeeding Mamas!

Earth Hour

Come on, people!

Pledge to join the Earth Hour Movement.

I really wish I could join the event at Sunway Piramid tonight.

From 8.30 tp 9.30 tonight, let's all turn off our lights and other 

electrical appliances.

That's for tonight, but we can still do our part in conserving our energy resources 

and help save the earth through other everyday activities.

What I've been doing everyday to help our earth:

1- Unplugging any electrical appliances not in use. 

It actually works! You can cut down on your electric bill by doing this.

2- Turning off lights and fans when leaving the room.

This is really simple to do. When nobody is in that room, turn off the light and fan. 

Even now, we are not using the fan at all since its raining outside & the house is cooled by the breeze.

 

3- Refusing extra plastic bags when purchasing small items.

E.g. when I'm only buying a packet of Shahrin's formula. 

There's no need for a plastic bag for just this one, right?

4-Reusing plastic containers for food items.

Instead of buying new, fancy, overpriced porcelain containers or other types of containers.

E.g. I reuse the plastic containers I got when I bought Raya cookies for storing sugar, Milo,

Nescafe and Shahrin's formula as well as other items.

Though I really wish I can spruce them up a bit. They do look bland. 

There are other 3R (Reuse, Recycle, Replace) tips I use around the house curtsy of my Mom 

but I think I'm going to save those for later.

So, Happy Earth Hour Everybody!

Doodling with Shahrin

Shahrin loves to draw and color. He used to get so upset whenever he accidently colored outside the lines of the picture he's working on.I always had a hard time convincing him that it's ok to do that, because who cares anyway, right? These days he had gotten better at drawing and coloring 'inside the lines'. I'm not sure how he figured out that coloring outside the lines is not right but I've read somewhere that it can be taken as a sign that the child is not mentally developing correctly. Personally, I say that's BS but then again I'm not in the ECE (Early Childhood Education) thing, so what do I know. Heh.

The house I kept wanting. Shahrin drew this for me after I told him that I want my own house, sweet of him.

His attempt at an anatomically correct 'stickman'.

Ok, I did the top part & Shahrin did the bottom. I let him play on the lappy last night while I watched CSI S11, he called me to come & see this. Boy, did my heart swell up! Hehe. 

He also loves making stuff with his building blocks. When he showed me this, I asked him what is was & he told me, "Flower la Ibu" like 'Duhhh?' hahah

This is what Ahmad drew. Shahrin certainly got the talent from him.

"Ibu, see? Shahrin buat monster!" The four smaller blobs are monster-fairies. Such imagination.

The simplest lunch ever!

 

Fried anchovies with chilies

Well folks, I have got to be the laziest wife ever! Ahahahahahahaha.........
I served this to my husband this afternoon, with a side dish of fried egg.
And that was it for lunch. However, if it were up to him, the fried egg alone would've been just fine, with a splash of soy sauce and a dollop of chili sauce on the side.
This one is very easy to do.
All you need are:

1) Sun dried anchovies (half a bowl or how much you want it)
2) 3 - 4 small chilies (a.k.a cabai Melaka)
3) 3 medium size onions
4) 2 garlic cloves
5) Vinegar
6) Sugar

Cooking:

Firstly, fry all the anchovies till they are crisp. Remove from the frying pan and set aside.
Then, saute the diced/sliced onions, chilies and garlic. When they are just about turned brownish, pour in some vinegar, about 4 spoon fulls or depending on how much sourness you prefer. Finally, add in about 3 spoon full of sugar. Stir everything together till the caramelized sugar have coated every anchovies.

And that's it. You're done! Simple, right?
Just the way I like things to be, simple. Heh 

Happy Day!

A few months ago Shahrin saw a boy bought a golf toy set at the shop we frequented. He wanted to buy one too at that time but I managed to distract him with something else. I was saved for that day and thought he wouldn't even remember ever wanting it. 

Last week, I'm not sure how, he remembered about the golf set and kept asking me to buy it for him. He just wouldn't stop asking about it. No amount of "NO!" from me kept him from asking for that set. He pestered me all day long, saying one thing to the other, even going as far as saying, "You love me Ibu? I want to play golf." Seriously, I am not lying! Ahmad went back to the shop but they no longer have any golf set.

So, I finally told him that we have no money. Know what Shahrin said? "I have in my piggy bank. Ibu pi bank and ambik la duit tu.." with 1 finger wagging in the air. I burst out laughing but I was also touched by his offer. It hurt a little when I couldn't even buy my son a toy set.  To have him offer HIS money just so he could have fun like a normal kid, really rubbed salt on my financial wounds.

In an effort to make him cease, I told him that when I have the money to buy one, I would buy him one. I promise. A few more sentences along that line and he was satisfied that he WILL get the golf set one day. Fortunately, for both of us, I did 2 paper editing the last 3 weeks and was due nearly RM70 in payment. So, after my writing class today, I went to see the friends who asked me to edit those papers. With that money, I was able to buy the coveted golf set for Shahrin. It was worth driving in the rain, on a motorbike in fact.

 

Stopping for a little cartoon break.

Having a 'cuppa' amongst the new toy.

Shahrin's part of the set.

Nazrin, clueless with what to do with them.

Right now, he's sleeping with that same ball clutched tightly in his hand.

Yeah baby!

Ulalala..Adik has really spiced up my blog! Lovin' it!!!!!
Muchas gracias Adik.

I especially love the 'portrait' she made, of the boys and me.

Maybe one day, when I have enough money (heh), I might ask her to revamp this blog a bit.
Kind of grown bored with the green background it currently sports.

More later, k.

Just For U!

Dah alang-alang orang godam blog Kak Anis ni kan. Nah org kasi adiah untuk Kak Anis..with Love~~

Posted by : Teja Mama Tuah. Ahakss!

Is it a sign?

I've been getting a lot of business opportunities lately.
Some I can join without having to put up my own money and some do.
While Ahmad's been talking a lot (*gasp* Ahmad actually talks? Is that even possible? hehe..joking) about renting a shop and setting up our own bundle business. He'd even asked our neighbor if we could set up a hut of some kind or smallish store on his empty lot for our bundle business. I'm not really confident about this new update. He has been talking about having our own shop since we first started selling bundles. Nothing came out of it anyway, so I'm a bit skeptical about it. Plus, the fact that we don't have anything left in our savings. If he thinks I'm going to ask my parents to bail him out, again, then he thought wrong!

However, I have been thinking a lot about joining a business of some kind. As I said, I've been presented with quite a few selection of businesses, especially online, that I could pursue. But based on my experience, I am not a good salesperson. Example, the first job I ever had was as a credit card promoter for a company affiliated with AmBank. They have their own card with their own perks. I lasted only 2 weeks there because 1) I was the only Malay working there, 2) my Supervisor told me to go out and find potential subscribers on my own, without any guidance from him, 3) I had a bad incident involving a Bangladeshi man in a woman's toilet in the Bukit Bintang shopping area and 4) I had no idea what I was talking about when I was promoting the card. I am really not a good promoter at all. I don't know how to make people WANT to buy want I want them to buy.

For now, I'll just go with the flow and see where the tides will take me. I'm waiting till the end of the month to really focus on any business ventures because by then, my classes would be over. Dreading exam day though. Heh.

A sigh of relief..

Alhamdulillah, I've finally finished editing a manuscript for a PhD friend and before that was another manuscript, needed to be proofread urgently by a MSc student. Didn't think it would take this long to finish, she (the PhD friend) gave me the hardcopy 2 weeks ago! Since she said it wasn't urgent, I pushed hers aside while I read through the other manuscript. But I'm glad it's over, I couldn't focus on anything else this past week because I needed to finish editing it before my test next week.

On that front, I'll be sitting for another test on the 23rd and I'm due for a business report, to be handed in by the 31st. As you may already know, I haven't done anything about that report, procrastinating as always. *sigh* However, I do have a 'rough' outline of the content I'm supposed to be writing for that report. So, I'm feeling quite relaxed, for now, heh. Wait till it's 2 days before the report is supposed to be submitted. Then you'd see me, pulling my hair out, eyes propped open with toothpicks and my boys crying endlessly in the background because I won't be paying any attention to them. How do I know all these? I've been there, done that for too many times to count. I never learn.

As for Ahmad, he's been 'busy' making a door grill and an awning for his friend. By 'busy', I mean taking his time completing something that can be done in under a week, if he is really focused. He took his sweet time finishing the order; waking up late, spending only 4-5 hours on it and heading out to his favorite hangout spot whenever he felt like it. And he's only going to charge that friend RM150! I mean, come on! For a 2 weeks job, plus the electricity and miscellaneous stuff, that cannot be the price he should be asking! After all, that RM150 will be gone in an instant when his motorcycle payment comes up, which is next week.

Man, I need to focus, I kept getting up to watch TV! It's Hawaii 5-0 now hehe.
Okay, I'm back..

Where was I? Oh ok, so, I have good news. Watch out for my sticky post (credits to Adik from Abjadmenjadicerita for the tutorial on how to make one).

Nite-nite for now, peeps.

Rain, rain, go away...

It's raining heavily this morning.
Could barely open my eyes for Subuh prayer.
Went back to bed afterwards and slept-in till 10am, heh.
If the boys hadn't been playing on top of me, I would've kept on sleeping.

What a nice weather we're having today.
Love the coolness the rain brings.
Feels like its clearing away the oppressing heat and stickiness of dry weather.
Every drop brings with it the elixir of life.
Without rain, there would be no water.
Without water, there would be no life.

*sigh*

Now that my current dilemma has passed, I'm back to feeling relaxed again.
Haven't done anything except for frying some bananas for breakfast just now.
Toys are strewn everywhere.
Crumbled pieces of biscuits are all over the floor.
Dishes are piled high in the sink.
Dirty clothes are piled high in the dirty laundry basket.
Clean clothes are piled high in the clean laundry basket.
The bed isn't made; Ahmad's still sleeping, lucky man.
Wish I could join him under the covers.

But.

What the heck?
I'm just going to relax this morning.
I'll take care of things when I feel like it.

Because today, I'm free.
Have till next week before the cycle goes around again. *sigh*

"Rain, rain, here to stay,
Making Elo another fun day!"
-Elo, from Dibo the Gift Dragon, Astro Channel 613-

Hang on to your seat!!!!

coz here we go again!!!

de ja vu............................................

seems like this problem ain't going away any time soon..
either i do something drastic OR i'm gonna go spastic!

The silver lining..more simple recipes.

After my Ahmad decided to quit his job (again!), I was faced with the dilemma of cooking for my family. Don't get me wrong, I like cooking but I'm not a very good cook, plus I don't know that much recipes. However, when faced with the responsibility of feeding 4 hungry tummies, my especially heh, on a tight budget, I do believe I got by quite well.

Just this week alone I tried two more of my mom's recipes. 1stly because I miss my parents so much (wei Ateh! Let go of them!! I need them here!!!!) and 2ndly because these recipes were very simple to do.

The first one is the simple fried dumpling.

Please excuse the uneven-shaped dumplings.
They were supposed to be roundish and puffed up but this was the best that I got.

The ingredients:
Flour
Sugar
Water

That's it!

Very simple, isn't it? All you need to do is mixed these ingredients together till they are the consistency of a slightly runny dough. I do recommend putting in the sugar a little at a time, giving the dough a taste before frying it. It should taste just a bit sweeter than plain dough.

I used a spoon to scoop up a bit and plopping it into hot oil. I should have used my hand to scoop it, then it would have been rounder. Another advice, pour in a lot of oil into the frying pan, make sure it is very hot before frying the dumpling. Scoop in just 2 or 3 at a time because they will poof up. When they've turned golden brown, remove them from the oil.

This sardine with chili complimented (hah! 'compliment' my *ss, this was the only dish available to be eaten with the dumplings, my mom usually serves the dumplings with curry :p) the sweet dumplings quite nicely. Yummy!!

The second one is Bengkang Roti.
(erm..sorry, don't actually know the word for bengkang in English)

This is the finished product. I know it looks unappetizing but it was quite nice,
if I do say so myself. It should have looked like an upside-down cake, of sorts, but due to technical problems (eh? say what?) the result was quite disappointingly charred.

It started this way:

Soak a few slices of day-old stale bread in coconut milk.
You can also use fresh bread and plain milk.
I used 6 slices of a day-after-the-expired-date Gardenia bread.
Heh, no point in throwing away the bread, they still looked good to me.
That was the whole point I used this recipe my mom made up, because she didn't want
to throw out stale bread and neither did I.
Add a pinch of salt, a few spoonful of sugar and add flour, just enough to make it thicker.
Plop the whole thing into a pan/pot and put it on the burner on low heat.
Keep an eye on it because it did not take long to cook.
When you see that the top part has turned brownish, that means the bengkang is ready. Or when you poke a fork in the middle and it came out clean, that could also means that it's cooked.
Mine was a bit charred, not sure whether it was the pot's fault or mine. Heh.

Well, that's all for tonight folks.
Will update more simple recipes when I have the time. Heh.

Wish Nigella lives next door! She cooks so simply yet yummy looking dishes.

Dear All,

Been getting quite a lot of attention these days, thanks to the free iPad contest.

I don't feel the urge to do any more entries for this contest, partly because I realized that my previous entries were not very creative at all. Another part is because I think the organizer is dragging the contest for too long.
It's okay, really.
Though getting a FREE iPad would be the most absolutely wonderful thing,
the feeling has faded a bit due to lots of things.

Anyway, for this post, I would like to thank Yatie Chomeyl and Ibn Mustakim for their recent comments, about my blog and my contest entry.
Thank you both for coming here and saying nice things about me and my writing.
Your comments really means a lot to me.
They validated my self-worth and the way I see myself, through this blog.

I know I can learn from both your blogs too.
Yatie, I love the thoughts and the information you carefully placed in your entries. They make for a wonderful learning experience, especially the ones regarding Japanese nurseries. I have a 5 years old & been sending him to a pre-school nearby since he was 4. I would've loved to home-school him but taking into account my own (in-capabilities?), I think it would be wiser to place him in better hands. By the way, I strongly agree with you on the banning of inappropriate pictures on Muslimah's blogs. Thank you reminding me too.

Ibn Mustakim, you were right about that entry. Though in my defense, that was my very first entry, so, yes, it was kind of rushed and done without much thought. However, I like to think that my 3 other entries have improved, somewhat. I know, going back to the organizer's blog & reading through all the other entries, I felt really bummed since mine are not even up to par.
Thank you anyway for giving your comments. I really appreciate it.

As for now, I need to get down to business. I have 2 more journals to proofread, by tomorrow.
Haha..procrastinating queen here!

Dear Mama,

"Sayang Mak, buat apa, kacau ka?"

Every time I answer the phone, this is how her greetings go.
She is always concerned about whether or not she's disturbing me with her calls.
No, Ma, you can call me anytime at all, I don't mind. In fact, I always look forward to giving you a call and tell you how lovely my life is.

*bawling like a baby*
.
.
.
.
*wiping off snot*

Hey Ma, do you remember our little chat in Ateh's room about 9 years ago?

I do.

You were right, every thing you said that night came true. Well, except for the part where I am supposed to be someone successful, attending a formal dinner at a fancy 5-star hotel.

And still, I couldn't deny my heart no matter how hard my head tells me not to.
Stupid heart.
Bleeding heart.

But still, if I knew then what I know now, would I have done things differently?
Maybe I would be more forceful about having our own place before getting married.
Maybe I would have pursue a career before having a baby.
Maybe.

Still, I pray for strength to deal with things I cannot change and wisdom to change what I can.

Ma, I love you!

Dear Anonymous,

Thank you for your comment and your prayer, it means a lot to me.

I try to be as honest to myself as possible, while at the same time *trying* to get across what I actually mean without revealing to much.

Blaghh..

Who am I kidding? I write whatever I feel like writing, right? This blog was created because:

1) I wanted to have someplace to unload/think things through/for safekeeping my life's experience. Who knows? Maybe some day soon, my boys could come here
to know more about me, their mother.
2) I need financial independence. I'm sure by now, you've read enough of this blog to know why. And a dear friend of mine had suggested that I could blog and earn at the same time.
Thus the Nuffnang ads and the previous ManggaAd that I've cancelled because I'm impatient.
I thought that I'd start getting checks as quickly as I can write entries but I'm slowly learning the truth about blogging for money.
3) I can reach out to like-minded people. I love reading about other people's stories, especially when they write from the heart. That way, I don't feel so alone and I hope to learn from them.

Can I suggest something for you?
The first blog I read was Cecily's who wrote about her loss. She was featured in Reader's Digest in an article about infertility. Though I am not infertile, I'm sure you know that, right? heh, somehow, her posts about dealing with the death of her unborn twin sons had me going back for more. She wrote so beautifully and truthfully that I feel her sadness through the words.

Recently, I found another blog, equally enthralling, due to the blogger's openness about her own short-comings. Ellie's blog is another good read, especially for someone who is battling inner demons (Me! Me!). I love how she always makes her post conversational-like; her monologues, her hats with her children. The way she makes you feel like you're not so bad after all. I always look forward to reading more from her.

Go check them out whenever you're free.

As for the breaking-the-traditional-Malay-wife-behavior thing, I don't think that's quite true. Heh. Yes, I am aware that Islam calls for wives to guard her husband's treasure (keep the family and what ever earthly belongings they have, safe) and secrets (meaning not blabber about their husbands' short-comings to anyone, especially not on the Net, heh).

But.

I think (in self-defense) that all wives do that, not out of disrespect to their husband but as a means to better themselves as wives. When we gossip, we often get tidbits from each other, on how to handle arguments or cranky husbands or even how to win the everlasting battle of who's parents' turn is it to go back to this Hari Raya? Heh.

I love my husband so much, it hurts, literally.
But I still have the urge to knock his stubborn head off, once in a while. So, if I can let that fantasy go by telling others about my current beef with him, I will.

So, dear Anonymous, do come back again for more real life stories! :D

When the element of control is lost..

Everything falls apart at the seams.

And it's not an easy task to pick up the pieces.
To have everything back to their relative normalcy.

*sigh*

I woke up feeling quite energetic this morning.
This morning...seems like ages ago.

The energy has since left me & I'm currently feeling deflated.
Maybe I need a couple of that Energizer batteries to keep me going.

This was my morning To Do list:
1- Hang laundry to dry.
2- Make breakfast. (I tried my mom's bread-cake-thingy recipe, didn't turn out like I expected)
3- Sweep the floor.
4- Fold the clean clothes-mountain.
5- Wipe dusty counters. (Initially from last week's To Do list)
6- Make lunch.

As of this minute, I've only managed to complete #1, #2 and #3 and I'm poofed.

Looks like I might need a couple more Panadol.

Any volunteers?

Ibu's sick...

Sick..mind, body and soul.

These past few days had been horrible; Shahrin puking everywhere,
Nazrin wanting to be hold ALL the time!

The house is a complete wreck.

I could only do the laundry, even then it's because my father had given us a washing machine, without it, dirty clothes would've piled high up to the sky. *sigh* like the unfolded ones...

This past week, when I finally have the time alone, the boys sleeping and Ahmad off doing what he does every night (don't ask, I don't know..), I tried to write something.
But my tired brain couldn't come up with anything..
That first sentence up there? I wrote that 3 nights ago!
Fortunately tonight, I feel a bit better and think that I really should just force myself to write something, regardless of the cohesiveness or even the content.
Kind of like 'free writing', see what comes up, you know?

Well, last time I checked with the iPad organizer, she had listed several entries.
When I read through each one, I immediately felt defeated.
There is no way I'm going to be passed to the 2nd part of the audition.
I, myself find my entries as not creative and uninteresting, as oppose to the other entries listed by the organizer. Sorry, too tired to even attempt going over there and link them up here.

Reading all the other blogs suggested by the participants,
I realized that I need to work more on my niche.
So far, all I did, have been to write according to what had happened that day or if something interesting got stuck in my mind and I just have to write about it.
I don't really offer any useful information, or post interesting stuff,
or even write a good post.

In order for me to draw more readers to this blog, I need to upgrade my entries.
I said before that my life's stories is my 'niche', so, instead of just writing about my family being sick, maybe I should write instead about *how* I got through the puke and the high fever and the never-ending crying. Maybe I should focus more on how I made use of the tips I got from my mother on how to bring down a fever. Or what to do or not do when Nazrin's head is burning hot, yet his feet are cold as ice. (When this happens, DO NOT put water (jelum) on his forehead, try to keep him comfortable and wait till his feet are warmish
before putting a damp cloth to cool him down)

I need to do more research on how to upgrade my blog.

Hmm..any suggestions?

Before I forget..

All three male family members have fallen sick with fever since 2 days ago.
Me? I'm barely hanging on...

I need to write these down before I forget but they are going to be here for a while. The house is a mess right now and I need to tackle it first.

Ok, here goes:

1- After watching Oprah, I realized that a) I have a body-issue and b) a food-issue.
2- I need structure in my life if I want my old self back. I practically grew up in a boarding school where everything has been laid out for me; what time to wake up, when to eat, when to study and even when to sleep. I need that kind of routine back.
3- I am stuck in my comfort zone, I need to shake things up!

Till later!