On days when the Dad is away, abroad, she does get up in the middle of night. Searching. Because, it is at these odd hours, the Dad will be strumming his guitar in the mute of the night, next door. Strums that she have grown accustom to, sleep to and that she knows Dad is nearby. No worries.

Thinking that i’m asleep, not watching, I observe her, in the dark as she slowly slides out of bed, tiptoe to the door and calls out softly…

“..deddiii?…..”

Long pause.

Breaking the silence, softly, i’ll call out…

“..dad’s away for work…come, sleep with mama ok?..”

and she will slowly close the door behind and creep back into bed. You know she misses the Dad greatly by the way she snuggles under your chin and pulls your arm over her as if to cradle.

The honesty in kids this young. Amazing.

I miss him too, Rania

Little is known about this Roti Naik. Said to originate from Istana Johor. Best put, Roti naik is kinda like a cake but bread. Eh? I don’t get it either but who cares, it tasted awesome. It looks like your regular potato bread or KFC bun but it’s more buttery and moist.

Yours truly, decided to recreate it. Searching for the recipe wasn’t hard now that everything and anything can be googled. So I found one and compared it with gramma’s recipe. Tweaked about and this is what I got….

The ‘standard’ Roti Naik …

…but me being me…loves everything colourful, so, I side-tracked abit and created Rotechnicolour …

I’ve been working up Roti Naik’s for a few months now and use my dad as the ‘food-taster’. Ye la, kena pekena tekak orang Johor la kan. On some occasions, dad would like it so much, he’ll take it home

This Ramadhan, I plan to sell Roti Naik, I think it’d be a good alternative to rice and consumed during sahur because it can be very filling Could possibly keep you filled the whole day too So, any interested readers? Just drop me a message

I took up running. I don’t know where the run-bug came from. I don’t know if I’m getting the motivation from noticing many friends who are into running, I don’t know if it’s because it’s the best way to lose weight. But if I can recall, a friend of ours, Alicia who was pretty much into running and marathons, kinda got my attention. Still, it didn’t explain why I wanted to do it. I even bought a Nike+Sportband to jumpstart things, even a new pair of running trainers.

I wasn’t able to do any running or brisk walking throughout my pregnancy and it was during this time, alot of my friends got into this running trend. I think, the motivation and drive came from there.

Now, 2 months post-birth, here I am, running, walking, jogging on a daily basis. Macam lepas gian and being a full time housewife, this activity is actually relaxing. Although my routine starts at 6am onwards, I come home refreshed and alert. This must be the runners high people talk about. If you don’t run for a day, you feel like you’ll go crazy

It would be nice to run my first 5k but only when i’m ready. I clock 5k in 1 hr…which is, not good …It should be 30min, or less …qualifying time ..and judging from my runs via my sportband, i’m nowhere near there.

I need to train for the 5k if i want to participate but I think, I need to remind myself that i shouldnt push it…C’mon, 2months, post-birth, let the body heal on its own pace, Hanim

Been running since early July, so far, I think i’m losing weight. Feel much lighter than before and people are noticing it. I like I hope to look good in my Raya gab this year. Will be up in Perlis this time around .

Okeh! Till the next update …toodles.

I need this. Well, apart from the fact that we’ll be going on our yearly Awesome Vacation up in North Thailand soon….this is what i’ll be needing to jump-start preggy Me. The trip to Chiang Mai means lots and lots of walking day night, I’m so excited about it and I want to be fit in time for it. I’m doing myself a favour anyway. Getting sick and tired of looking bloated with this pregnancy AND the weight gain too, I want to get out of this. The only bump and bulge and I want to see on me is my tummy. I want to see how far can I push myself with this. I have all the time in the world now kan? Accidental Housewife

Before leaving my job, I had plans to get into Pregnancy Yoga but then, I had to scrap it. A class can be, rather costly for me now. Had to, cut down a few activities I had in store. It’s okay, not sweating or fretting. There’s always that early morning jog I used to do. A bit of cardio here, stamina building there and good breathing practices.

I’ll be well into my 2nd trimester at this point and will be at my most highly-active too. I told hubs, if there’re going to be any more trips abroad for us, this is the right trimester to do it. Come tri3, I’ll be kinda slow and the most serious trips i’ll be taking will be more regular gynae visits.

Here’s an article I found. Sure am gonna put it in to good use.

Source – http://www.parentingweekly.com/

Forty Weeks of Fitness |

Jogging while Pregnant

Still have a little bounce in your step? Jogging is a full body workout that can be safe for you and your baby provided you are not considered to be a high risk pregnancy.

Before heading out for each run, consider the temperature, precipitation, amount of daylight left and level of traffic on your route. During your run listen to your body and slow your pace or walk when you feel the need. The increased weight on the muscles of your pelvic floor, combined with the impact from jogging, may lead to uncomfortable pressure in the deep abdomen. Should this occur, choose one of the many other activities available to you.

Pay special attention to your clothing, from head-to-toe. Suit up with a comfortable and supportive sports bra, weather-appropriate clothing, good socks and shoes that give you the stability and cushioning needed to absorb the shock of each foot strike. On a business trip? Don’t forget to pack your running shoes and ask the hotel concierge to recommend a safe and scenic jogging route; running is a great way to discover a new city. If you are more comfortable indoors, hit the treadmill at your local gym. Leave your earphones at home and take your cell phone or a friend. No matter where you are walking, be sure to keep a bottle of water with you and rehydrate frequently.

Baseline Rules

• Speak to your doctor about your desire to stay active during your pregnancy and listen to his/her advice and recommendations.
• Wear appropriate shoes and clothing (layers work great to avoid overheating).
• Monitor your breathing rate and adjust your intensity accordingly.
• Take frequent water breaks to stay hydrated.
• Stop exercising immediately if you feel dizzy, faint or experience heart palpitations.
• Stretch! Areas to focus on include your hamstrings, quadriceps, IT bands and calf muscles.

If You Were Inactive Before Pregnancy…

This is not the time for you to take up jogging. Instead, start with a walking program during your pregnancy and establish a consistent workout routine (three or more days a week) to prepare you mentally and physically to take on jogging after your healthy baby is born. Look into local running clubs or teams. If you are having trouble finding one, ask the sales associate at your favorite athletic shoe store for brochures or contact info for local clubs the next time you go in for a pair of running shoes.

If You Were Active for At Least Three Months Prior to Becoming Pregnant…

Assuming you have been an active jogger prior to becoming pregnant, go ahead and hit the pavement! Things to consider before and during each jogging session:

• How are you feeling today? Don’t become frustrated with yourself if you can not run as fast or as far as yesterday. Your body is undergoing immense changes…this is not the time to break your personal record!
• You are carrying additional weight, so pay attention to any discomfort.
• In order to maintain a healthy heart rate you may need to do walk/jog intervals.

After completing a 10 minute walking warm-up, begin a three minute jog/ two minute walk interval. Continue the five minute intervals for 30 minutes or as long as it feels comfortable. As an alternative to intervals, after warming up for 10 minutes break into a steady jog for 20 minutes. Be sure to cool down with a five minute walk and stretch. And don’t forget to replace lost fluid and electrolytes after each workout. In order to replenish your potassium levels, eat a banana or drink a glass of orange juice mixed with water.

Sample Workout:

• Walk for 10 minutes, jog moderately for 20 minutes, walk for 5 minutes.

For the past 1 year, I invoked the Graphic Artist and photographer in me. The 2 things that have always been Me. Catching up with the times, I self-taught myself the art of Digital Manipulation and Digital Photography, which..I’m still scratchy…but doing so-so with. Regular rounds of target practice have helped me, without realising it, build a portfolio of sorts! Something I last did during my college days in St. Martins.

Back in UK, in the 90s, photography for me was the SLR…then the emergence of the Digicam intrigued me. I got a Sony Mavica as a Christmas gift from a ‘happy customer’ during my workdays in KFC and from there, everything became history. I just went trigger snappy

Now, that feeling’s renewed with my Lumix LX3. I still keep the Sony Mavica and my Pentax SLR. I wonder if it’s a collectible Candid photography is what I like and still working on till this day.

On top of it, comes digital manipulation. I could spend hours on end playing and editing pictures but my latest ‘piece’ seem to have struck a few sumbang chords.

This…is just the ‘lighter’ side of me….. It’s the following 2 ‘Dark Side’ s that can shift things abit.

…and THIS is what I should refrain from doing since I’m pregnant No. I won’t. These are photo’s digitally manipulated to my minds desire (The photo is from Kukubesi, except the 1st one, that’s my doing) . I am just expanding my talent branch hahahahha….of course, one needs to be diversify.

I’ve been reminded to not delve and ‘berkenan’ these things because it might ‘menurun’. Bollocks. I berkenan my arty farty Adobe skills and hope THAT turun. I don’t have an obsession with ghouls and zombies but an obsession with this form of digital art.

Please, lighten up. Ok, excuse me. I’ve got some pics to chopchop.

So I take a deep breath and say, it’s somewhere out there. Just, don’t stop, unfortunately, I’m already in my 4th month which may seem to be on the ‘heavy’ side to land a hit for a job. I may just have to stop for a while and take the back seat but there are bills to pay and hubs to help out. It’s no tai-tai life living this way when half of the day you’re thinking of bills although I’m ready for a drastic change of lifestyle. Mellowed-down and re-tuned according to the moment.

I envy friends who are still bobbing and bouncing about having fun but realistically, I can’t be them. I’m pregnant and I should be taking care of myself and have my own version of fun in my
own time and my own way.

These past 2 weeks have been interesting though. I’ve been sewing and cooking. It’s actually a joy pondering out what to cook for dinner and then pour over the recipes available online. Google anything, any ingredient you want and there’ll be something for anything. Like, there’s no reason to not cook or try to cook something.

I’ve picked up sewing too. It’s amazing how you can DIY a baju kurung from You Tube or any online blog. So here’s me berangan-ing trying to make Rania’s baju kurung . If jadi, nanti I put up pic la yah hahahah…

OK…time to search for today’s menu…seems like Hubs its getting tired of the malay range of dinner…so…time to diversify abit….

Toodles!