megat is 9 today!

how glad i am that megat's mini 9th birthday party is over! *phew* everyone had fun. i am more glad that megat is very happy although its just attended by very closed family members. you could see his happy faces (auww... kids!) from the pics--



like what i mentioned before, megat is currently into ben 10 sooo much! its not surprisingly indeed that most of megat's gift are of ben 10' stuff i.e. toys, figurine, tumbler, lunch box etc. so when lil' safiya saw that, she was like, "semuanya ben 10!". ya... you know... the truth is safiya hates ben 10... hah! she's into girlie stuff like hannah montana, totally spies, kim possible etc. then when my lil' sis passed the party bag to her (safiya), she told safiya, "sowey... its ben 10 again hehe...". kuE's note: i made the paper bags myself. while puteri did the ben 10 stickers herself. go here to view it. safiya just smiled.

other than megat, my lil' sis gave presents to megat's cousins too. its like xmas you know. thank you so much sis for making everyone happy too. ai... dapat bonus ke? hehe...

the best thing is megat only knew about this mini party today. we have been hiding about all the surprises all this while-- the gifts, the party bags, my sister' day trip, etc. its kinda fun you know! enough said, you could see it from the pics cuz "a picture is worth a thousand words", ya?

get well soon, my dear safiya

as usual, i did my once-in-a-while routine to check on puteri's fon this morning, after i re-arranged her wardrobe. i guess its not wrong for me as a mother to do it on my kids. its definitely my rights right people.

it was on puteri's bed. i saw that there's an unread message received at +/- 0015. i click it. i was surprised when the message was from my cousin sarah in austria. her daughter safiya has been admitted to the children's ward of dehydrating because of vomitting so many times. they are supposed to reach klia on thursday +/- 3am with grandma, just on time for them to join us for my lil bro's engagement this sunday. now i dunno how is it gonna be like. with help from Allah the allmighty, i pray that safiya will be in good condition. i love you so much mwahhh...

kuE's note: the above pic has been taken on 21 may '06 in prague, maybe by safiya's dad. they were on their way down praha tower.

the day we celebrate puteri's 13th birthday

first and foremost, i have just awoke then had a nice, great warm shower hehe... i doze-off at the family room's sofa around 6.30 pm, when most of them were still here lol... dah terbayor ler my hutang tido for last night... *phew*
well before i carry on writing, here's something that i would like to share with you people my inspirations. if you could see from my blogspot's dashboard' screenshot, my blog is approaching the 500th' post soon. hmm... wonder what i should write then. any ideas people? but please dun tell me to come up with something like "500 things about kuE". how long it gonna last then. whatever it is we will see how it goes. anyhow people, ideas are always welcome... just holla me occay?

yesterday was my mom's birthday. we didn't celebrate. but just some kenduri doa selamat along for the reopening of our premise. o yea... forgot to tell you people that we are back in business officially since last thursday, after temporarily closed for about six weeks or so. thus, so sorry my dear... i didn't expect that i would be sooo busy that time till got no time to entertain you. i was damn busy up and forth from here to sales office in ipoh and another office in prai. whats more with meetings with my other task force members. that time i always wished that i could have 25 hours in a day instead :~)

so since there were no celebration for mom, i just baked this (refer right pic). whats the red thingy in the mixer you asked? hehe... simply click here to read more about it.

after everyone went back, i started to bake again at night. this time for puteri and my sis' simple but meaningful birthday celebration, with our very closed family and friends. it was grandma's idea though. eventually she wanted to cook laksa johor for everyone. at first i just wanna bring them to penang... simple as that. besides that i haven't get puteri's present yet. you know when our kids were small, we can buy what we wanted for them, but as they grow older, i believe that its good to let them choose their own present. like puteri, she wanted an oly digital camera too! but of other model of course. well, maybe we will go jalan-jalan this weekend instead or see hows things goes on :P

so after i completed baking the birthday cupcakes around 1 am, i just slept on the sofa, infront of the tv at the family room. megat was sleeping there too. he always like that when i did my baking especially at night. it seems he wanna accompany me. i already awakes by 5 am to do the frosting for the cupcakes. go here to view more of the close-up pics.

i was getting ready for work by 9 am when megat asked me, "mama, you work on chor's* (this is what megat called his sister) birthday too?". owh... kids, you know of how cute they think people. so i told him that it was just for a while to make sure that everything was under control ;)

whatever it is i came back home around 12.30 pm to prepare some stuff for the party. like i said earlier, it was just a simple one, nothing fancy like megat's 8th birthday. anyhow we still get ready not more than 10 goodie bags, specially for puteri's small cousins. its just handmade paper bags from some recycle wrapping paper we have at home, consist of party size chocolates and snacks like chickadee (we use to have this during our school days remember, then danone started to produce them again), ngan yin's ground nut (or better known as kacang cap tangan), cadbury time out and zip, rice crackers (the one available at supermarkets where kids also adult love it so much) plus a hotwheels car for boys and two blue ribbon clips from maggie t for girls. although its not much, at least we were happy to see the happy faces of our small guest.

earlier when i was happily arranging the birthday cupcakes, my sister came. suddenly i was so damn shocked when she shouted, "WOIII!!!...". she quickly took the one with number, and ran away from me. in other words, both us siap main aci kejor lagik! lol... she locked herself in our parent room's toilet grr... after quite some time, i went back to the dining room. she followed me while teasing me like small kids. everyone were laughing like hell. she then ate the cupcake infront of me. when she saw me snapping her pics, she warned me not to load them in flickr wakakakaaa...

alright then people... here i leave you with some pics of the party. my favourite is the candid pic of puteri and my niece safiya. the last one showed safiya who was being shy, after we granted her wish to blow the candles too. "dunno ler of how many times we celebrated safiya's birthday in a year", safiya's mom (my cousin sarah) mumbling alone lol... viel Vergnügen!

she ain't a bad girl

i am really a fan of this girl ever since she was with no doubt. even my niece safiya like her too - her (safiya) favourite is the song hollaback girl. the pop star announced that she won't wear revealing costumes during her concert in kl. so now all the 'decent' people of malaysia would know that she ain't a bad girl!

gwen stefani, who is currently on the road with her 'sweet escape' tour, is due to perform in kl next month but the national union of malaysian muslim (NUMM) students want the concert scrapped because gwen's image offends islamic beliefs.

mohamad hilmi ramli said: "her video clips promoting the event are too obscene. we want the organizers to cancel the concert, failing which we will ask the authorities to intervene". ramli also slammed malaysian mobile phone company maxis communications for promoting gwen's concert and exposing young malaysians to "moral decay".

he fumed: "maxis has been staging a series of foreign acts to make a profit and to expose our young generation to things such as moral decay."

gwen's kl show is due to take place at the stadium putra bukit jalil on 21 august.

i first knew about this (i mean, the say by NUMM students thingy) when i read auntie ena's blog a few days ago. then i thought wahh... up-todate jugak auntie ena nie ye hehe...

read more on E! online.

cousin (dr) sarah announce pregnancy

my cousin (dr) sarah and husband FOB (safiya's parents) are expecting. congratulations! i would like to wish all the best to both of them on this wonderful news.

so basically whether you found out yesterday or a few months ago, here are a few tips about sharing your status. you'll also find some creative, fun ways to announce your pregnancy.

1. know that some women wait until a little further along, in case of an early miscarriage. if this is a concern for you consider waiting until after the first three months, when the rate of miscarriages drops.
   
   
2. understand that some women call everyone they know the minute they find out they're pregnant. this group feels that in an event of a pregnancy loss, they'll cope better with informed friends and family to support them.
   
   
3. tell your partner first then decide who else to tell. do you want your co-workers to know about your pregnancy? how about your friends from high school? grandma and grandpa? be careful who you tell, and in what order.
   
   
4. remember this is his child, too. with rising home pregnancy test usage, your partner may have been there with you, holding your hand and waiting for the results. if your husband, boyfriend, or partner doesn't know yet, consider more than just "hey, i'm pregnant". this is an exciting and special moment, one the both of you will remember forever. if this is an unexpected—and possibly undesired—pregnancy, be as calm as possible and allow the other person time to digest the news. the first reaction is not always indicative of the true feelings.
   
   
5. choose a way to share your news so that you do not just come right out and tell people that you are pregnant but use a creative way. leave the pregnancy test on the bathroom counter.
   
   
6. make a romantic dinner for the two of you. while your partner is expecting a four-course meal, you'll serve baby-esque food: baby-backed ribs, baby carrots, and baby's apple juice served in little sippy cups. for dessert, serve baby teething cookies.
   
   
7. have a movie night and rent baby-related movies: nine months, junior, baby's day out, etc. write your good news on a piece of paper and place it inside a dvd or vhs case. choose the first movie—not the one with the note. when the movie ends, get up to go the bathroom and tell your partner to put in the movie you selected. wait for him to read the note. come out of the bathroom, smiling and saying, "it's true!".
   
   
8. wait for a holiday and literally "give" your partner the news. buy a t-shirt with DADDY written on it, a baby-related key chain, a baby book, as well as a few baby items, and put them in a gift bag. cover with tissue paper and then have him open it.
   
   
9. take bubble bath. run your partner a bath adding lots of bubbles. write a sweet letter announcing the news, wrap it in a plastic baggie, and pop it into a baby bottle. hide the baby bottle under the bath bubbles. when your partner gets into the bath they'll feel something, find the bottle and read the note.
   
   
10. play scrabble. do your best to choose only words that are baby-related.
    
    
11. take a shower together. write on your belly in washable marker, "Baby On Board" and allow your partner to get in the shower first.
    
    
12. order a cake from a bakery. request the word, Daddy to be written on it. then ask your partner to pick the cake up for you and bring it home because you're too busy to go yourself.
    
    
13. send a card with the good news, chosen name, and a copy of the sonogram. this depends how far along you are, of course. otherwise you could just take a picture of you and your partner and include that, with or without your proud belly showing.
    
    
14. have a backyard BBQ. while everyone is eating, stand up and make a toast. say, "we just want to thank everyone for coming here today. it means a lot for us to have our friends here. by the way, we're having a baby. so, who wants dessert?". everyone will burst out laughing, ask if you're serious, and then celebrate!
    
    
15. leave a baby name book out somewhere around the house.

tips

• the sooner you share your news, the sooner you can begin planning the baby shower, choosing names, and buying essential baby furniture and clothes. there is a lot to do in the nine months before your child is born.
  
  
• get creative and brainstorm some ideas of your own. personalize the announcement in any way you choose. this is your child and you can have as much fun as you want!

warnings

• if you want to wait to share your news, keep in mind that vomiting, a growing belly, and multiple visits to a doctor may inadvertently spill the beans for you. if the pregnancy becomes too difficult to hide, you may want to announce your pregnancy now, when you can still surprise people. otherwise you may lose that exciting element.
  
  
• be aware of your timing. your good news may rub salt in someone else's wound. did your sister-in-law miscarry last week? be sensitive to her feelings as well. imagine how you would feel.
  
  
• never announce your pregnancy while in an argument. this is tacky and ruins what should be a special occasion. screaming, "well i'm pregnant, so you'll never be out this late again! kiss your friends goodbye!" is a horrible memory for the both of you. having a child is an adult decision, so act like one.
  
  
• again, people's first reactions aren't always their true feelings. don't be offended if people are surprised. weren't you?
  
  
• know your partner. some men would enjoy the methods described above, and some would prefer a more serious approach. make sure that you make a night to remember for a good reason, and not a bad one.

kuE's note: sarah's pic taken by my sister last month.

does 'duyung' really exist?

Duyung Movie 2008

hahhaaha... i bet everyone would be surprised if i said that lil' safiya came over yesterday with a vcd of 'DUYUNG'! support our local movies okay... hehe... we watched it around 4.30pm. its only run about 1.5 hours.

let me share with you people the plot of duyung the movie. i would say duyung is a light-hearted fantasy romantic comedy. the movie revolves around jimmy (apek in his element), a nature-loving man who lives in a fishing village and spends his time looking after the environment by clearing rubbish. he has always believed in the myth told by his mother that if the environment is looked after, a mermaid would appear. and yes, the beautiful mermaid did appear... if not there'll be no duyung... duh~~

overall the movie is average and very much predictable. apart from that, "Duyung" is actually a good watch for those who need something to do to fill their time. the message that it delivers (preserve the environment) is a good reminder to us all. hmm... i wonder if there's any man like jimmy out there??