Leaving the girls for my second umrah trip (T_T)

I remember in 2015, my good friend was telling this every time after solat,

"This year, I want to go for umrah!"

But she didn't make any preparation for that. Come December, her brother in law (BIL) was supposed to go to Umrah, but had to be cancelled due to work, guess who went to replace the BIL and his wife?

Then 2016, this same friend of mine was telling me again, every time after solat,

"This year, I want to go for Hajj!"

Again, she didn't make any preparation and about two months before Hajj, guess who was invited by the Almighty?

One day I asked her, "How?"

"If you want something good bad enough, Allah will help you!" Her level of faith and dependency, I cried!

"I did want it bad enough.." I said.

"What hold you back then?" She asked, smiling. I thought hard. It was the girls. I am one hell of clingy mom, so does my girls. "You have to let go. When you know it is a good thing to do, your niat is for Allah, Allah will take care of them."

I took it to heart.

I let go, sincerely for the first time, let loose, give all the control to Almighty and left them for Umrah for 6 days. And my heart is totally peace in Makkah and Madinah, I missed them. But I wasn't paranoid, it didn't ache.

I am blessed to be constantly reminded by good people surrounding me. Love said, that is also my form of rezeki. Mufti Menk said sometimes, Allah gave a reminder to us via normal people and normal event.

So how was it to leave them?

I told them earlier of my plan, reminded them every day.

Left them love letters, so they could read one by one every day. One side of the letter was coloring page, one side was my notes.

Left them homeworks, day by day.

In return, Khaira made us a box with letters from her day by day as well before we left. It was priceless.

Aisha was crying almost everyday at night before we left, but once we were in Umrah, she was doing ok. Khaira on the other hand was cool and all before we left. But on the day, she cried for half a day. Was inconsolable at the airport.

But, Alhamdulillah for my strong family support. One of my brothers and my SIL took leave to cheer them up. They brought them to Petrosains the next day. My parents in law visited them every now and then at my parents' house. Everything was smooth sailing.

Every day, K would write us letters and send us the photo. A sent some too, but of course, it was just some sketching of something that we could not make sense of.

We would call them everday via Kakao as apparently Whatsapp Call was blocked in Saudi. It was quite difficult to get the sim card as contrary from the previous year. Booths in airport was offline, so we waited until the next day to buy sim card in Makkah. I had to roam for two days.

They would send us videos and pictures and voice messages. This was my favourite!

By day 6, K was already super sad. Cried at night a bit and all, but it was ok, because we reached Malaysia the afternoon of 7th day :)

Alhamdulillah, the longest I left them and the first time both of us were not there. Thank you Alllah for taking care of them while I was gone, and for taking care of them all these while 24/7 :)

My 32nd birthday

Ohh so old!

Sadly, I couldn't take leave on my birthday as my leave this year was very very limited since K was warded last April.

I had to work as usual, it was the first week of semester.

Went to lab and I received a call. Shortly after..

Received a bouquet of flower from my aunt. Awww...

After lab, had a lunch date with my favourite girls.

While having my lunch, this BFG came to surprise me with a box of KLduck in Olive Green. I have always wanted KLduck, specifically in Olive Green. My fourth duck, yay!! (2 out of 4 from Love) But it's not the Duck that really matters, it is the fact that he came all the way from work for lunch to meet me!

Had dinner with my beloved back at home. Had too much of fancy food, I told my mom I just wanted a comfort food this time around, Tomyam from my favourite Mamak. Sorry guys. (They were expecting some steaks from steak house, hehe)

I am 32, Alhamdulillah. Thank you Allah for my excellent health and my wealth (my family and friends). Thank you for giving me a husband who still shower me with surprises and spoil me with gifts. I pray you will give me an idea on how do I surprise him back during his birthday next month, Ameen.

A wise man on a raya night

My Raya morning started off gloomy.

Then, I realized.. Alhamdulillah.. both my girls are healthy, so do my hubs and both our families. I am grateful for everything.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitry everyone. May Allah SWT accept our fast, prayers and all our ibadah. Please do forgive me for all my wrong doings, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

This year was my first to spend my first raya at my parents'. Normally would be in in-laws' (Ampang) the whole raya week since most of my aunts and uncles would be away, so I would just stay near late Grandmom's place at Kg Pandan just in case.

Also, this year was my first sleep over at Kuala Selangor, my other late Grandmom's house since I basically have nobody to take care of in Kg Pandan anymore.

Wouldn't it just last year you called me up, Mak, when I was in Kuala Selangor, asking if I would come back for the night, a reassurance that we will always be there for you?

Ahhh.. where do I in turn get the reassurance this year.. I miss you Mak.

Sad stories aside, I met a wonderful man that Raya night. One worth sharing with my readers.

13 years ago, an MD of Perodua made friend with my husband whom was working at O'Briens Cafe after SPM. He obviously did not have to, but being humble as he sincerely is, he did anyway (I'm far from MD, I wonder if I ever make friends with a waiter who serves me). And they remained very good friend ever since.

Well, he's retired now, after being a COO at Naza Kia. And he lives our dream life definitely. Now he rents an apartment in Tokyo; his most favorite city and would be back and forth from KL to Tokyo. You can tell that he's having one wonderful family around him. A very humble house and cars. A dream life, simply to put it.

Sometimes, when Love and I were so hectic with our work to earn a decent income for our family, we seldom asked ourselves, when will this stop? Both of us always try our best to be the best in everything, we have achieved so much so young but with one downside of course, we always need more time with the girls, with each other.

I mean, we saw one Datuk at 50 still needs to work to sustain his lifestyle, when will this end? Bigger income, but bigger house, bigger cars, and endless work like this still?

"One day, I gave an Omega watch to every employee I have in Perodua," the man in the picture with Love told us that night. "Everybody was happy.."

Of course, they should.

"Until they found out I gave one person a Rolex," this man answered our question so wisely as he already is.

We smiled. Such a strong analogy, this one :)

Dream family, dream life. Soon, inshaa Allah.

May Allah SWT grants us happiness always with whatever that we already have. May we have a humble life in shaa Allah.

Sab's wedding and Mochi's birthday

It has been a while since my SABians clan got hitched. Last month, Sabri got married to her 11 years girlfriend, leaving Fai the only one among us.. of course, no pressure dear. Actually this one needs to be pressured, because she is sooo workaholic ok!

Also that weekend was fun for me because it was Mochi's birthday! Got to meet my Ampang friends, it has been a while.

The kids had so much fun, must have bouncing castle for the girls' birthday next time! (>_<)

Always blessed to have these bunch in my life ♥

Horse riding

So many events come and go.. I couldn't find time blogging about it. But this one is worth the catching up session.

Khaira has been forever obsessed with this Disney movie called "Brave". I'm not particularly happy with it. But, hey.. better than "Frozen" anyway.

In this movie, there is this Princess called Merida. She's good at horse riding and archery. Sunnah kan.. and Khaira has been obsessed with these two as well.

A friend of ours recently held a birthday party at a horse riding club, cowboy style.. so we thought we would all be dressing up like cowboy and cowgirls..

Except Aisha. We dressed her up as a cow instead. Ohhh.. the fun..

Khaira got to ride a horse, she has been so obsessed with horses since she was small. We would frequently visit the horses in my office where she claimed one of the horses is hers and named the horse as "Nurul Asyikin" sigh..

It was a very wonderful and memorable event for K.

Happy birthday to Hareez and Adleena. And thanks Ainee and Krel for having us!

Not a penny more, not a penny less - A review

Read the second book of Jeffery Archer, I must say that his style of writing becomes kind of predictable.

Not that it's a bad thing because he really knows how to draw the readers attention. But it's like a formula to it already, you know.

Not a penny more, not a penny less is about 4 strangers who thought they were being conned by a muti millionaire, Metcalfe. So they made 4 different plans to get back their money from Metcalfe at exact amount, not a penny more, not a penny less.

The idea makes it look like my kinda book.

But with Archer, he prefers the unnecesary details more than the necessary ones. So, the execution of the plans were very brief making it to have less climax for me.

Oh well, I rate this 3 over 5. Sorry Archer!

"You must have done something right"

I woke up all emotional yesterday, one of my good friend, Kak Husna was about to have her PhD viva that morning and I could not be there with her because I was one of the panels for the internship program's interview held by my parent company.

The turnover of the interview was very poor, 2 out of 9 students came. When asked why, one of the candidates said the email went to her "Junk mail" and defended those who did not come.

"But you are here," one of the panels, Mr. O pointed out.

"I am lucky because I happened to check my junk mail last night," she said innocently.

Then, Mr. O said something that hits me really hard..

"The fact that you are here today must mean you have done something right."

...

At noon, I received a message from my friend saying she passed her viva, and I was super ready to go out and celebrate with the girls.

In the car, on the way to Alamanda, we talked about how it is all rezeki from the Almighty. Once, a researcher received the best FRGS project and so many recognition, but nearly failed for her PhD viva. Us, with funny PhD projects, Alhamdulillah had such easy viva, the irony.

"It is unpredictable, all these," Kak Husna said.

Well Dr. Husna, the fact that you are here today, doing minor correction for your PhD thesis must mean you have done something right.

That simple sentence somehow has a powerful comforting effect towards me.

You must have done something right..

How Allah swt is fair.

Berbuka with kesayangans Ramadhan 2014

We have missed the first two weekends of Ramadhan since Love was warded due to dengue.

That Friday after Love recovered, we went to TGI Friday's Paradigm Mall with my dearest Uniten clans. Incomplete since Mel, Farah and Mimi had to cancel last minute. But still so much fun nonetheless.

Look at my cranky baby

The venue selection was just so so. Traffic was super clear to Paradigm. We left at 615pm and we arrived just before buka. I booked a table earlier but they forgot our reservation. Not making me happy since they gave table at the outside and Khaira apa lagi.. running around lah since dekat dengan air pancut outside. Sigh.. But the surau in Paradigm was very convenient :)

My forever fav food in TGIF is always the Nachos!

Then, on Saturday we went to The Club for buka puasa with Love's relatives. Khaira by that time socialized well with kids near her age. Made our day ♥

Sunday, had our buka at my grandmom's crib. Sighh.. the only grandmom we have this year. I can't imagine how Raya would be..

Monday, went to Tony Roma's Citta Mall with Love's uni clans. Ok. Best gile. Service was superb. Food was delish. They threw us so many desserts and appetisers in the house. Would definitely go there again!! And boy, the surau was also convenient enough for me to bring Khaira in.

Ohh.. and Monday to Wednesday.. kids eat free! Khaira had so much fun because this particular branch is very kids friendly. And Tony Roma's always have the best caesar salad with grilled chicken. :)

Tuesday was Nuzul Quran. Had our usual buffet tradition at Kelab Darul Ehsan with the in laws. This year, they had violinist. Khaira was mesmerized so we had our buka peacefully. And later she danced non stop to the music. I have no complain at all on the food. But the surau, memang can be improved a lot lah. Hopefully next year.

Spot Khaira

The fourth weekend on Saturday, we had Papa John's all you can eat at IPC for buka with the Ampang clan. We bought the Groupon deal, RM 82 for 3 pax. The service in IPC was super duper slow.. totally wouldn't recommend this place for buka.

Then on Sunday, went to Cozy House for buka with my SABians dearest. Reservation please if you intend to buka here. And must place your order before 4pm on that day. No website for the menu, so must memorize the menu like that lah. So funny. Dah la ala carte served only after 8pm. But the food was super good so it was worth it.

The Friday just before Raya, I planned a date just the two of us with Love. Burger King + Hercules + all you can eat durian at SS2. It was a damn good one.

That Saturday, had dinner at Horizon Garden, Bangi with my family. It was a simple one, went back right after buka so we can have our Maghrib at home.

And the next day, Raya eve.. the tradition. We had all the ketupat and rendang for raya.

Alhamdulillah, ya Allah for giving me the opportunity to have this Ramadhan and Raya.. I must have been so blessed :)

Meeting my kesayangans

Now that the time to give birth is nearing, the nesting instinct becomes crazier.

I didn't know if I would be able to have my Raya or not, didn't know how fasting for a full term mommy would be. Thus, I was just so glad to get to meet my kesayangans before Ramadhan.

After all I'm gonna miss a lot during my confinement later on. Weddings of my two best friends and ohhh.. David Blaine in Malaysia :( lots of open houses.. sedihnye. Dahla I'm a Raya freak.

Anyhow, I thank Allah for the opportunity to meet my SABians bfs. Do you know that we are ALL pregnant this year? Hurrah!

And the opportunity to meet my dearest Unitenians at Mika Kaleel's first birthday.

Earlier that day, we went to Baby Adleena's aqiqah. I so love the matching outfits of these daddy-child though Khaira refused to look at the camera.

Anyhow, happy birthday Mika darling. And welcome to the world Baby Adleena. Semoga menjadi anak yang soleh/solehah dan sentiasa dalam perlindungan Nya. We love the both of you a lot.

Khaira time!

Back when I was little, when I was the only child in the family (had my brother when I was 5), I used to have a lot of me time with my dad. Mom worked half a day on Saturday, so right after we sent mom to work, we would spend the morning in Taman Titiwangsa and afterwards had some brunch near mom's office, just the two of us.

I looked forward for this every single time. And up until now, it became that moment you always remember and treasure for your whole life :) I wish Khaira had one too.

So, last Saturday I had an invigilation to do. I was thrilled that Love decided to spend the time, just the two of them at Jusco. Was I worried to leave them? Of course. Reminded Love countless times to change her diaper and feed her. Not that I didn't trust him but mothers are like that I guess.. haha..

What's with the face?

My time with Khaira came yesterday. Brought her to KLCC park, met my friend, Kak Mawar there. We had so much fun!!!!

Of course, less than 2 hours later, Love surprised us at the park. Too much cases nowadays, he said it's worrying leaving only us girls. He had a point there though I wish I could spend time just the two of us, Khaira and I every week like this.

That is why they deserve this.. my utmost respect to every single mother in the world today.

Apart from pampering Little K, on Sunday, I pampered myself by catching up with my girlfriends after a while.

Look look, let's welcome the addition of this little one in the family!!

Mika Khaleel so handsome!!

Later that night, we went to Shary's wedding at Kelab Tasik Putrajaya and afterwards we brought Khaira to see the fireworks at PICC.

Such a splendid, tiring, fun weekend I love!!

The loss of Cory Monteith

If you've been following my blog for quite a while, you'd notice that I'm a huge fan of Glee.

I was not a big fan of Finn Hudson aka Monteith. I'm in Jesse's team. So I wonder why Finn's death had a profound impact to me.

You see.. Monteith was found dead, alone in his hotel room where the autopsy confirmed the cause of death was excessive alcohol and drugs. He was struggling with his addiction for years.

It was unbelievable. A healthy looking young man with a quarterback sort of body.. who would have thought.

At the moment I'm writing this, one of my closest friend was struggling with drugs and alcohol him/herself.

And I of course was not at all equipped to deal with it. Other than accepting him/her as who he/she is (probably the reason why he/she came clean to me and only me..) I'm pretty much as clueless as you are on drugs and stuff.

People can be rebellious. I never told him/her to stop. But by showing him/her enough love over the years.. I hope it'll help him get over them.

But the passing of Monteith made me wonder.. it's obvious how much love and support Lea Michelle provided him on his addiction but the addictions were still there all along. And to tell my friend to stop altogether might lead to a risk that he/she will never tell me the truth afterwards.

Sigh..

RIP Cory Monteith.

An aqiqah and a birthday party

It was baby Imaan's aqiqah last weekend. Omg.. She's so adorable!!

Pelamin, hee hee..

She sleeps like a baby, with SIL and BIL

With in law's family..

Since Imaan's aqiqah was in the morning and we had Eusoff birthday party in the evening, we decided to drop by at H&M Setia City Mall. Bought a winter jacket for Baby K (for our Goldcoast trip) for only RM39!!

Some pics candid by Love while we were waiting for our turn at the cashier.

Baby K was wearing the new winter jacket :)

And, this is TiSya, Baby K and Adik Eusoff.

A perfect 'family' photo :)