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Friday, December 29, 2017

Christmas Weekend Staycation

we made an impromptu decision to have a bit of hotel sleepover towards the end of the school holidays. we haven't been going out and the boys have been on the ps3 and football non-stop the 4 weeks so we thought let's get away for a bit.

everywhere's booked and jammed and don't look that appealing so we decided on kl city centre. we browsed around and saw a good deal from pullman hotel which is near pavilion and near klcc for food and walkaround stuff. its generally and sleep-in & swim staycation and having easy food options nearby is always welcomed.

we had a birthday invitation on the saturday before christmas and packed our stuff to bring over with us. the boys loved the party and seeing homely christmas decoration up close. they've only seen at malls so those don't count. because they were having a really good time, we left the party later than planned.

we got to the hotel at around 7pm and were at that hungry-not-hungry stage. i thought of having an early night as the boys were registered for a kids run the next morning. but somehow we ended up walking towards pavilion to get swimming goggles. we didn't come back that late but the walk tired us out so we were prepared for giving the run a miss, in case hubby or the boys were not up to it.

of course, once that was in our minds, it actually happened. no one woke up sunday morning and before we knew it, it was almost 10am. we woke up and showered and drove to klcc to have brunch and a bit of a walkabout. we knew we couldn't walk much as we knew it would be crowded. we had a good brunch aseana which was surprisingly very quiet. the boys and amira wanted to see the fountain so we walked around for a bit before making our way back to the hotel as the boys wanted a long dip in the pool.

they went swimming for 5 hours, stopping to snack every so often. we stopped just before dinner time to check out the kids play area before leaving for pavilion as we've bought tickets to watch jumanji. the movie ended almost at midnight, which is a rarity for us to be up so late.

we had room service on monday so we woke up really late and took our time to enjoy breakfast. the boys asked for another dip in the pool, of course, but i stayed in the room as amani wanted her morning nap.

a short staycation but a nice getaway for the boys who were cooped up in the house the whole of the school holidays.

Friday, July 07, 2017

Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2017

this year's syawal was very low-key. all the preparations were settled way before raya. everyone's bajus we bought before the fasting month began, rendang was cooked mid-way through the fasting month, cookies were ordered in advance. and well, basically that's it. i wasnt going to cook, i wasnt going to dress up, i wasnt going to actually do much except well...eat.

the week before raya was hectic. with the delivery, amani's admission, my hanging out ouside the special care nursery for 2 days waiting for breastfeeding-calls and waiting for amani's ultimate discharge. she was finally discharged the day before raya and we were juggling 6 under-12s on raya eve.

we put the boys to work, though. they cleaned the guest toilet, cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed the whole of the downstairs floor, wiped every single surfaces, vacummed between the sofa seats and helped set up the dining table for guests.

it was drizzling on the morning of raya, i went down early and went into the kitchen immediately. i cooked beef rendang a couple of weeks before raya and i had to only heat them up for us to eat throughout the day. hubby helped make nasi impit the day before, they were thrown into the fridge to harden and to wait for it to be cut after he returns from aidilfitri prayers, as with the lemang he bought the day before. the only 'cooking' i had to do was to heat up the prepared & bought kuah kacang from brahim.

hubby and the boys went to the moque for aidilfitri prayers while i stayed at home to get amira and amani ready, as well as put the food (whatever that we have) on the table for us to devour.

when they returned, we took our customary raya family photo and had our salam-and-duit-raya session.

after we had a good meal, we went over to a neighbour's house. we hope to do more houses but we were still getting around with a new baby around so we couldn't this year. my family came over bearing food after lunch and hubby's friends dropped by towards the late afternoon. the kids were happily running around outside, after a month of very limited outdoor activities, they were super excited to be able to have a kick-a-bout in the garden.

i do miss cooking on raya eve and on raya morning, but i'll come back with a bang next year, insyaAllah. very quiet raya, actually. hopefully next year will be more hectic and full of screams and shouts and laughters, just how we like it.

Monday, May 01, 2017

Innalillahiwainnailaihirojiun Mummy

it is with great sadness i compose an entry of the passing of a life. it is even sadder that the passing is of my mother, allahyaharmah puan sri faridah mohamed. my mother left us on 19 april 2017, the day amira turned 18 months. i am unable to compose a new entry therefore i'll paste what i had written on my facebook page, a day after her passing...

"Its been a tiring 4 weeks, trying to slot hospital visits in our already-busy daily schedule and getting daily updates. Everything escalated on Tuesday when the four of us received phone calls from TSSC breaking the bad news - it doesnt look good & asked us to make a decision on what to do next.

We convened outside the ICU Tuesday afternoon to get a clearer picture from the specialists. The anesthetist told us, Mummy suffered a stroke post the major surgery she had the previous week, the stroke attacked half of her brain, she also had pneumonia that attacked her right lung. She was on support and had no chance of waking up. The neuro said, even if she did wake up, she would be in vegetative state.

We discussed and came to a decision that she should not suffer any more than she already had. We called her relatives, they came that evening, to see her, to read the Yassin, to say goodbye, and stayed on till well into the night. We agreed that the support will be eased off the next day, Wednesday.

We all went in to see her before we left the hospital. Tiza & I looked at the machine and said, her BP is high! We kissed her hand, said goodnite, see you tomorrow and went home.

We were on NKVE when the hospital called asking us to come back quickly. We drove back to the hospital, it was almost midnight. The ICU nurses said her BP crashed after we left. We cried, read the Yassin to her, whispered our last words to her, whispered the Syahadah to her. We waited by her bedside for an hour and she finally left us at 12.40am. Maybe she wanted to go on her own, without us having to ease off the support.

We had very little sleep that night. We prepared the boys and left for the mosque Wednesday morning. Everything went smoothly and on time that morning. The boys finally got the chance to see Nenny, after not being able to the whole time she was in the ICU. They cried (Ariff was inconsolable) and they kissed her before she was fully covered.

Despite the sad occasion, it was wonderful to see so many familiar faces, faces of friends and teachers and neighbours I have not seen for years. At the mosque, there were primary school friends, secondary school friends, office mates, current neighbours amongst Mummy's friends and family. So many came to pray and pay their last respects to her, she was loved MasyaAllah. The skies were blue and clear and the burial process was smooth.

I did not get to say thank you to those who came, to those who helped us, to those who offered prayers, kind words, to those who spared us a thought, who spared Mummy a thought. But please know we appreciate them all. Alhamdulillah, she was blessed to have such wonderful family and friends and we hope prayers for her wellbeing will never cease."

my mother's life in pictures...

on our last family outing, to celebrate tiza's & amir's birthdays & mummy & tssc's anniversary...

although i was only 6 years old, i clearly remember this birthday celebration. we had it in kota bharu during the school holidays, and i remember mummy and her sisters going all out to prepare for this celeration. i even remember the mihun goreng.