Oh my Aisha!

Last night, we were all on the bed ready to sleep when Aisha decided to hop down the bed cheekily.

I was tired by then and started to scold her.

She then took Khaira's telekung and sejadah, rukuk and sujud, then went up to the bed again. An act that she usually did with Love before they went to sleep, only that day, Love had performed his prayer earlier.

What a view. :)

In a mean time, enjoy Aisha's videos which I played again and again in my phone for weeks!

What a kid's painting tells us..

Khaira was so into drawing and painting these days. A trait, which unfortunately skipped a generation. Dad was really good at this artsy stuff.

So, my Dad was ecstatic with Khaira's fond in painting and drawing that he bought so many water colours, painting board, brushes, etc for her.

Each day, Khaira got better in drawing. One drawing that I fall in love with is me at work, teaching. I framed it.

A drawing of my 4yo

Most of the times, its just funny drawing as this..

I did not give it a second look when she first showed me.

But, the next morning, it hit me..

This picture is about her loss.

That week, a day after another, she lost something precious to her.

On Friday, her class teacher moved to a different kindy. Her name was Teacher Ezzah (She spelled it Iza), hence the girl with the letter 'iza' on top.

On Saturday, she woke up to feed her fish to discover her Flowerhorn was dead in the aquarium. Hence, the dead fish in the aquarium.

I did not talk about the drawing with her, neither did she. The following days, her mood was cranky. But we pampered her as we realized from her drawing that the two losses impacted her more than we thought.

The picture of the dead fish in an aquarium appeared in many of her drawings after that, it broke both our hearts to even capture the photo of them.

A few days after that, she was cranky as usual, got scolded just a bit by my parents, but she cried so bad, that I got up to her and hugged her, said to her, "It's no big deal, why are you crying so badly?" I consoled her, probing slowly.

"Khaira rindu Teacher Ezzah," and she broke into tears, finally. "Khaira nak jumpa Teacher Ezzah," she said.

Finally, something at first she couldn't express in words.

After she talked to me about it, her mood was as usual again.

But the incident hits me that children tell us stories in so many ways. In her drawings, in her lego bricks, in her paintings, in her moods. Simply because, they are not yet able to express it in words. And, we just need to look closely to listen to them, to connect to them.

Khaira, Aisha, I hope you know that I am always here should you need to tell me anything at all. I won't push you to tell, I might probe you a bit should you need that encouragement, but do know that I am always always here, ever ready to hear what you are going to throw at me.

Much love XXX.

Kuching!!!

Kuching trip officially marked as the 14th states in Malaysia I have visited, woot!! 5 days in Kuching for work/holiday had been exhausting but fun fun fun!

Day 1

Arrived at Kuching International airport around 12 noon, rented an Innova for all 8 of us (6 adults and 2 kids) and took 1.5 hour drive to Sarawak Cultural Village.

Entrance fee: 
Adult - RM60
Kids - RM30

Was starving the moment we arrived, so had our lunch at Restaurant Budaya Sarawak, with all the traditional food, highly recommended!! So delicious with free wifi some more.

Sarawak Cultural Village was so so fun for us. It is like Sarawak's version of Taman Mini Malaysia, only better. We went to the long house, Melanau's house, etc.

You could also by souvenirs here.

Their traditional bridge, so much fun for the girls.

A very peaceful lake in the middle.

And if you walk until the end of the village, you will discover an isolated small waterfall. Water was so refreshing and it was just us, we had sooo much fun!

Everyday at 11am and 4pm, they have a show in the theater. Please try not to miss this, because it is one of the best, if not the best show I have ever experienced. Look at my brave little girl went on stage to dance with the dancers!

We checked in at Merdeka Palace Apartment, a very decent 3 bedroom apartment that cost us RM350 per night via Agoda, sooo worth it!

Later that night, we went to Top Spot for our dinner, had luxurious and omg so affordable dinner, half the price in Semenanjung. Ayam goreng Nestum so yummy! Sorry no picture, because it is a seafood restaurant with alive lobsters and crabs and fishes and the kids would all the time want to look at all of that. Tiring!

And we wrapped our Day 1. I love Kuching already :)

Day 2

Woke up super early and and an hour journey to Mt. Santubong for a sunrise. View was beautiful along the way, we met an old man jogging with Sumpit, so so Borneo!

Back to Kuching for our breakfast at Kopi O Corner, which is well known for their Mee Kolok and Laksa Sarawak. Mee Kolok best sangatttt!! And had my teh sibeng, yums!

After breakfast, we went to Kubah Ria Sunday Market. Kubah Ria is a wet market with fresh fruits and veges, some you couldn't find in Semenanjung. But on Sunday, the locals gather to sell various things including their traditional crafts.

Headed back to the hotel, freshen up and went to the famous Kuching Waterfront. This 50 cents boat, I love!

Had lunch at the foodcourt opposite the forefront (need to cross the river), I had my yummilicious dried mee kolok.

Then, walked further up to buy our ikan terubok masin (soooo cheap btw) and kek lapis Sarawak.

I had a meeting that evening, so my loved ones proceed to Damai Beach where the girls played sands for three hours!! Balik, terus tanned (T_T).

At night, we strolled along the forefront, had our dinner at Ara Ikan Terubok by the side of the river. Weather was nice, view was beautiful, food was.. omg superb!! My Nasi Goreng with seekor ikan terubok = RM5. Crayyyy zyyyy!!!

Before we headed back to the hotel, we took our compulsory Kuching shot here :)

Day 3

I woke up early as my conference started that day. I was the Secretariat Chair and was busy running the show.

My loved ones had fun at the padang opposite our hotel and had the best rojak in Kuching, before all the boys headed back to Seri Kembangan including Love, his leave was shorten and hence we need to rearrange back all our flight schedules.

MIL arrived from KL that evening, leaving just us girls; Mom, MIL, the girls and me.

That night, we had a dinner at Hilton. It was a fun one :) Food was good and show was superb!

Day 4

Work some more while both moms and both girls went to Sarawak museum, 5 minutes walk from our hotel. Entry was FOC, and they had the best meehun soup opposite the museum.

I picked them up for lunch and again, went to Kopi O Corner. Then, headed to Kubah Ria, mak-mak loved the market.

After lunch, I headed back to Hilton for my conference. Arrived back in my hotel in the evening to bring Khaira swimming. Aisha was sleeping peacefully back in the hotel.

In the evening, we strolled along Waterfront and had a nice dinner.

Day 5

The end of my conference. Alhamdulillah, all went well. Packed our stuff so that the courier could pick them up later.

Then, headed to our hotel to check out, dropped by Fort Margherita and headed home.

Kuching, both the holiday and the conference were fun. Tak puas. Would like to go to Kuching again, next time.. to Bako National Park when the girls are big enough, in shaa Allah.

Next trip?

I just booked a flight to Brunei!!! What can I say, I love Borneo too much!

Leaving Aisha..

Work has been demanding lately. Apart from teaching and research, I am also heavily involved with consultancy.

Recently, I had to go to Bersia, leaving the girls for a night.

Aisha was just 18 months at that time, still breastfeeding and it broke my heart so badly leaving both of them crying inconsolably.

But, I just have to. I have been asking for too many exemptions before.

You know, that time when I naively thought a lecturer's job is just to teach, that time seems too funny now, yet I am not laughing.

Oh life..

Little Musolla Trip

Khaira's first day of school in 2016 was a month later than her friends due to our umrah trip.

All was smooth sailing this time around, Alhamdulillah. No more crying or sad face, in fact she was at peace. Not the happiest, but major improvement than last year.

I continued with Genius Aulad after her never ending drama in Little Caliph, couldn't be more thankful.

She was looking for her class teacher when she was 4 yo to give her flower, but the teacher already moved out. So, one for her class teacher, Teacher Ezzah.

Less than a month in school, she had her first trip already, to Masjid Putrajaya. I let her go, can you believe itttttt??? This clingy mommy, I'm so proud of myself *pat at the back*

Of course, I was so itching to follow her but I had meeting on that day. But right after the meeting, I just had to see her at the mosque. My baby was so so happy.

Recently, she had another trip to Zoo Negara. Itu, jangan merepek. Haha. Of course I said NO, I just make a big giant leap, take it easy.

"Why won't you let her go. If it was me, I definitely would," my dad protested.

"HELLO!!! I was the only.. I repeat.. the ONLY one among my friends whom never attended any school trips before up until I was in high school," I almost snapped back. But I just laughed and said,

"Are you sure, Ayah? Are you sure?"

True story, peeps. (T_T)

Guess what? He couldn't even reply me back. Cheh.

Sighhhh.. how come the kids grow up so fast nowadays. So true what they said, the days are slower, but the years are faster..

Just a few weeks ago, I registered her to Standard 1, can you believe it? Didn't I just give birth to her, peopleee???

Hello Kitty Go Around 2016..

..was one I regret going.

Little girls had been obsessing to go to Hello Kitty's house forever. So, I thought it was a good opportunity for us.

With the price of RM48++ for adult and RM38++ for 3yo toddler and above, and another RM50 for 5 vouchers, it was a waste of my time and money, baik pergi Sunway Lagoon.

Firstly, because it was small, and only places to take pictures. No rides whatsover. And the games were too hard, even for expert adults like my husband (he always won something), what more for the kids.

My review, it is not worth it especially if you bring your kids. At least have a Hello Kitty mascot walking around pon the kids dah happy.

But if you're a big fan obsessed with collectibles, perhaps you would enjoy it.

The religion is simple - A review

Some time ago, my boss gave me this book.

He is one of those old slick professor, trying to give dakwah subtly in his everyday life.

When he was invited as a speaker during one of the Photonics conference, he started his talk with surah An Nur talking about light, then relate back to Photonics.

When he gave his Professorial talk, in one slide where he talked about his achievements in life, he put a figure of Kaabah in the timeline, indicating that was the year he performed his hajj.Though he didn't mention it during the talk, but it indicates that hajj was his biggest achievement, perhaps more than the professorship itself.

Nonetheless, when I was not wearing my hijab last time, I used to always listen to his advises on hijab.

So, when he gave me this book, I thought it was so typical of him.

I read the first page and immediately hooked.

You know how in school you have learned about the six principles of faith or rukun iman, but you actually never understand it in details? Well, maybe it is just me because I didn't attend sekolah agama back then.

This book talks in detail about the rationale of each principle, especially a whole lot about qada' and qadar in a simple words; QnA type.

I rate this 5 over 5 and I believe it is a must have book in every Muslim house!