this is me without wax

Testing

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 02:22:00 +0000

testing one two three

And The Rain Comes Pouring Down

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 01:49:00 +0000

And The Rain Comes Pouring Down

it's wednesday 8 june 2011 2309 hrs. it's pouring outside and i've just hung my laundry out to dry. all three babies are asleep...and as for me, will i ever learn not to take green tea after 5pm?

i've just finished isya prayers and yes, with the rain outside, i sincerely pray that Allah grants my doa. isn't it funny that whatever you ask for may not be good for you, and what you don't want may be what He has destined for you? such is the test of one's faith, to have belief in The Ultimate Planner.

it's my 10th day of holiday which means i have spent 10 days cleaning the house (seriously, i hate cleaning!) and 9 home cooked meals (because that 1 day was sunday and we had a huge lunch at a family's jemputan which served ayam percik).

i have 20 days left before the next insane semester starts again and from what i've been told from the senior, the past semester was going to be child's play compared to the horror to come. i seriously do not know how i'm going to cope with the increasing workload. Allah grant me the strength to get through this, please.

do you think that it's wrong to think about the past? about how things were different? about the choices you made that got you where you are today? how you wished you had done differently, made different decisions? hindsight is always 20-20 they say...the trick is finding the power to make your situation better, right?

yes there are days i think back and wonder how different my life could be.

Aper Dah Jadi...?

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 01:48:00 +0000

Aper Dah Jadi...?

hai lah kasem...aper dah jadi...

yes so i had the proverbial mid life crisis and decided i didn’t want to keep doing what i was doing for the rest of my life. so very gatal and decided to change careers, starting from scratch all over again. thinking that it’d make me happy, if i were doing something really meaningful with my life. it was exactly this kind of wishful thinking that brought me here today. Feeling lower than plankton’s poop.

i’m supposedly supposed to be having my reading week (studying week lah tu) and exams are on next monday and thursday. not forgetting the trauma of the paper ones last week, i now have to study and delve deeper into the subjects covered there in greater detail for the paper twos. yup, macam tak cukup gitu kan? my two main subjects are anatomy & physiology and linguistics. hahah no prizes for guessing which i thought i would do better in...but guess what? both are equally tough! Or it could just be me, strangely slow in picking things up? Or it is my brain, less plastic after leaving school for so many years?

i am so tired. truly.

but nope! shan’t talk about that today. let’s try to survive my first semester, and i’ll see if i’m not too traumatised to share....

hmn...let’s look at the bright side and appreciate the gifts from God, shall we? my two tots...are a complete handful. amirhamzacubitbarutahu seems to discover new ways of testing my patience, while amnihanaagigitbarutahu is fast learning new ways of buat muka kesian.

i’m running out of ways to threaten and punish them, mainly coz i’m such a big wuss and could never carry out the punishment that i threaten them with. yeah yeah i know that’s like the cardinal rule of parenting, right? i must mean what i say. yesterday i told amir hamza that if he said “bontot” one more time, i’ll put him in the store room, where all the “ghosts”, “cicaks” and “lipas” of our house resides. (now, i myself had this punishment inflicted upon me during my childhood days, but that’s story for another day).

soon enough, he said it and as soon as he did, looked at me with a half-amused, half-expectant expression on his face. perhaps it was a combination of my tiredness, or the weather, or my hungriness or the fact that amni hanaa was sucking on my knees at that time, i stood up. firmly pulled him to the store room and put him in it. lest u think i’m heartless, i didn’t shut the door lah, just kept it slightly ajar but he couldn’t push it open from inside.

yes he was crying and screaming, for the whole of the two minutes i left him there. amni hanaa being the ever so helpful little sister, waved at him from the gap in the door, konon nak comfort along dia lah. as soon as two minutes was up, i opened the door and sat down on the sofa. amir hamza came running out wailing “sorry ummi!” and immediately ran to me, expecting a hug. i really was in no mood to molly cuddle or kasi muka dengan dia and i wanted to re-establish my “parental prestige” (chey chey chey) with him. so i held him at an arm’s length and looked him in the eyes and told him what he did was wrong, and that i was very upset with him and so was Allah (we recently taught him the concept of Allah, and tak boleh kasi Allah marah, and Allah saying kita and kalau ikut cakap Allah, nanti dapat pahala, etc).

and i’m pleased to report that the offensive word has not been heard uttered since!

“Oh Allah, my children are rightfully Yours, loaned to me to test my life here in this world. Grant me the abilities to do right by them and carry out my responsibilities the best I know how. “

"And please also throw in some extra brain power for me to do well in my studies, please."

(backpost) Amni Hanaa - The Birth Story

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 01:45:00 +0000

Amni Hanaa - The Birth Story

she was born a month ago...so before i forget, this is the story of how she came into the world.

5 April 2010

1025hrs: 29 wks check-up with dr biswas. i told him i was feeling fine, no contractions nor show nor pain anywhere. my blood pressure was behaving. i simply complained that i was feeling really really tired all the time (hint! hint! read: put me on hospitalization leave until my EDD please) and so he did! a VE revealed that i have not dilated so he did some stretching or something and he said most probably he will see me again within the next 24hrs. i gleefully left the clinic announcing my hosp leave to colleagues and family. went home to rest and had a nice loooong nap.

6 April 2010

0530hrs: subh. abi asked how i was feeling and i said i was feeling perfectly fine. no contractions, no show, no water bag, nothing. just still very sleepy. so he went to work and i went back to sleep.

0630hrs: amir hamza kicked me out of bed. i got up and showered and got him ready to send him to cik tina's house.

0700hrs: came back from cik tina's place. started to feel funny.

0730hrs: ok now not so funny. i've never felt contactions during hamza's time, so i wasn't sure if this is it? sat down and tried to concentrate on the feelings. but cannot be! they're only 5 mins apart! should they get progressively faster? like 15mins...then 10 mins...then 5 mins? how come mine are already 5 mins apart?!

0747hrs: yup...these are contractions! confirm! steadily coming in 5 mins interval, lasting about 20 secs each time.

0803hrs: contractions are now about 40sec long. called NUH's delivery hotline where i told the nurse that i have GB6 and would need antibiotics at least 4hrs before delivery. she said to keep monitoring the contractions and my pain score. called and updated abi.

08421hrs: needed to pee. oh hello show! called the nurse again and she said to come in already. summoned abi home.

0930hrs: abi reached home and i called a cab. waiting at the lift lobby, i cursed the hdb scholar who approved the design of the estate to have such a stupid carpark and lift lobby layout. not the first time a taxi has problems reaching my lift lobby.

1000hrs: reached NUH Emergency. pushed to Ward 22 and registered. already 5cm dilated!

1100hrs: antibiotics? check! drip? check! say hello to the anesthesiologist who's here to give me my happydural. i told her the first guy who did it during hamza's time took FOUR tries to get it in. that's 8 jabs! she was shocked and promised to try to get it right the first time. i don't know about you, but getting the epidural very very very very painful. she got it in the 2nd attempt and apologized. apparently i have a small back and column there is kindda narrow.

1130hrs: rest time! told abi to have his lunch. i took the time to ngaji and zikr and relax.

1230hrs: abi came back from lunch (amboi! lunch hour ke pe?) bringing me a giant ice cold bottle of evian. since i'm not allowed any food, i gulped the water by the mouthful.

1245hrs: *sob* *sob* the happydural starts to wear off. feeling the contractions all over again...dr biswas came by and checked. i'm already at 8cm! strangely, despite all the water i was "sipping", i developed a dry throat which caused a coughing fit which led to me throwing up.

1315hr: my room was bustling with activity with various nurses coming and going. perhaps i was the only patient in active labour at that time. i heard a familar voice coming through the doors. it's nurse shefaly!!! she's a mid-career switch nurse whom i've worked with on many promotional activities. she's now a preceptor with the O&G dept and she has a bunch of students along with her today. she made arrangements for another preceptor to take her kids as she wanted to help me with my delivery. with my permission, she took two kids to stay with her and observe.

1330hrs: ok seriously...i can't tell when the contractions started and when it ended. it was just painful ALL THE TIME. abi had to look at the print-outs to tell me when one was coming. another coughing fit and i threw up again.

1345hrs: through all the pain and shivering i felt the need to buang air besar. the thought struck me as being hilarious. how can i be thinking of pooping at a time like this? and how can i want to poop when i haven't had anything since last night's dinner? ok then the ball drops and i realized what i was feeling was the need to push. haha!

1450hrs: dr biswas finally arrived. i was concentrating on the contractions and breathing and i was relatively calm. until i heard him say "scalpel." waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat??????????? started to push. this time round i could hold the pushes for longer, up to 15 counts. but oh the pain...ooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

1412hrs: out comes amni hanaa... : )

1413hrs: dr biswas started to deliver the placenta. my coughing fits worsened and i threw up the remaining water in my stomach. as dr biswas was sewing, i kept coughing and he had to stop, lest he ended up giving crooked stitches.

1415hrs: ok all done! thanked everyone and had my baby girl in my arms for the first time.

and that's how amni hanaa came into the world.

end note: ok i just realized i don't have a birth story for amir hamza! how did that happen? hah! ok next entry!

(backpost) Amir Hamza - The Birth Story

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 01:44:00 +0000

Amir Hamza - The Birth Story

he is almost three! and before i start forgetting any details, this is the story of how he came into the world.

thurs 24 apr

lunch: went for a good lunch. my colleague casually mentioned that today i was extra neat, dusting my desk and putting away my things. : )

tea break: my neighbour pulak comment, "eh you are very neat today. your desk is not messy at all! you are making me nervous."

after dinner: feeling some cramps around my pelvic and abdomen but naively did not suspect anything. so innocent, right? continued to toss and turn the whole night through.

fri 25 apr

5am: woke up to pee. oh oh there's blood! just a bit, but but...*panic sekejap* (biasa lah, first time per...)

8am plus: heading for check-up at 10am with abi! stopped at macs to get an SME and iced milo. brother (pak supir for the day) and thither came to fetch us since she also had a check up around the same time at KKH. somewhat gleefully i updated them that hey maybe i've been having mini contractions throughout the night and my show came this morning! hahha..brother dropped me off at NUH and headed to KKH.

10am plus: yup, in labour! at 3cm dilated, dr biswas dispatched us upstairs to the delivery suites. the anaesthetist was there and ready to gimme my happydural. which was, until that point of time, THE MOST (and i am not exxagerating here) PAINFUL experience of my life and made me also prefer the pain of contractions that to be jabbed 8 times. hahahhah...

12pm plus: aby left for prayers, lunch and home to get our baby bag. blissfully and legally drugged, i drifted in and out of sleep, zikir-ing now and again. checked with the family too - ahaha! thither pun kena warded!

2pm: aby came back with some contraband (ice cold pokka green tea). i was not allowed any food...HUNGRY! 4 cm dilated. what!!! talked long and honestly with aby and laughed and tried to focus on what was happening.

6pm: dr biswas popped in for a quick visit. 6 cm only! time to break the water bag. now between this time and the actual birth, i lost all concept of being coz the pain was too much. they sneakily halved the happydural dosage so i'd know when to push, but for the life of me i couldn't feel anything other than pain in that general area! i remember abi holding me on one side and the nurse on the other. he kept saying, "ok dear last push. you can do it!" but it was the "last push" for probably around 100 times. oh and yeah! dr biswas pun so stern. at one point he actually said "don't cry. crying will not get you anywhere." !@#$%^&**!!

2346hrs: amir hamza came into this world. : ) both of us got cleaned up, dressed and moved to ward 96.

sat 26 apr

0912hrs: thither pun give birth finally...hello ilyas izzuddin!

HOUSEKEEPING!

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 01:43:00 +0000

HOUSEKEEPING!

this blog is under maintenance for a bit...be back soon!

Honeymoon Langkawi Jan 2010

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:44:00 +0000

Honeymoon Langkawi Jan 2010

our 5 day escape to Langkawi for a rest after a hectic hectic December as I was "grounded" in office, thanks to a team member who had a birthday in the Christmas week, and another who had a birthday in the New Year week. so in January, aku pun balas dendam.

sand in his hand

penat cowwwwwwwwwwwww.

halfway climbing down 10 flights of stairs to reach the suspension bridge.

hah not sure why he looks like a grumpypotamus here.

on the way back to the hotel, we stopped at perdana quay to have dinner at “the loaf”, the bakery-cum-restaurant owned by tun mahathir.

at the top of the waterfalls.

couple time!

For more pics, visit Langkawi Jan 2010

Mrs Duck And Mr Sheep

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:25:00 +0000

Mrs Duck and Mr Sheep

i am pregnant again. another bundle of joy is expected to arrive in april 2010.

excited?
over-the-moon?
worried?
anxious?

all of the above.

who said it was easier the second time round? well, i’ve been told the actual delivery will be way easier and faster, but that’s about it. i had morning sickness, afternoon sickness and night sickness this time round, and up till today, in my 19th week, i still do my occasional merlion impersonation. i had friends thinking i was expecting even before i was and recently my dear beloved mother herself has been offering me clothes – those that has gotten too big for her.

*gasp*

yes, go ahead. gasp away. i haven’t really lost the weight i happily put on for hamza, but thanks to all my merlion impersonations and heartburns which started too early at 12 weeks, i have not gained a single kilo. not possible, you say, but pelik tapi benar, it’s true, whatever weight i’m gaining for the baby and the waterbag is being off-set(ed) by losing fat somewhere else. the scales don’t lie, honey.

hamza treated me like a leper in the first few weeks. when alone with me, he would go from room to room searching for his dad, shouting “abi? abi?” in that sing-song tone that i’m actually guilty of. only recently he started getting clingy with me, poking my tummy saying “baby!”

but that’s probably thanks to aby’s new working arrangements. he’s up at 5am, leaves home by 6am and reports in by 7am. after a few weeks, i observed that it has a physical effect on him as he is barely conscious after isya’. but it’s a good job with good pay and good benefits so i’m not complaining. : )

work is …well, work. my boss left for greener pastures, and there is such as huge sense of relief. i no longer dread going to work as much, i don’t think of work all the time, i don’t have nightmares the night before ghrm meetings. but after two years of being subjected to her training, it was inevitable that i (yes, about to have a masuk-bakul-angkat-sendiri moment here) have learnt the best from her and performed better at my work. everyone knows this, and they all have a certain expectation for “jacq’s girls”. i just have to constantly remind myself not to over-do the high standards and especially not impose them on others. on days that work does get to me, i go home and pour my heart out to the grumpy 18-month-old boy at home, who will listen attentively to my ranting, nod at the appropriate moments, and share nuggets of wisdom on life with me over his farmyard animals. if it’s a really bad day and only if i say "please", he might even let me kiss mrs duck and mr sheep for comfort.

*sigh*…the joys of being a toddler.

tell me again...why am i not an SAHM?

i bet i could make millions writing about the adventures of Mrs Sheep and Mr Duck.

Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2009

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:18:00 +0000

Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2009

i convinced him to wear his "songkok handsome". it worked!

family pic

the whole jamil tribe

penat collection!

for more pics, visit http://omnichups.multiply.com/photos/album/43/Hari_Raya_Aidilfitri_2009

Happily Frustrate Mommy & Daddy Daily

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 14:34:00 +0000

Happily Frustrate Mommy & Daddy Daily

"here we are...this is not quite like the movies..." not sure by who but it's the trailer to jon & kate plus 8 on discovery home and health, hamza's favourite channel.

i am soooooo tired.

but you got a whole week off from work!” i hear you say.

here’s a breakdown of my week. you tell me, penat ker tidak.

friday: picked hamza up from cik tina’s and the poor mite was lying helplessly in her arms running a temperature of 38.7. at home, gave him the paracetamol and sponged him down. he only slept at 10am plus, thanks to our constant sponging as he hates it when the cold cloth touches his skins. of course, us sticking the thermometer into his ear (albeit for a few seconds only) every 30 mins majorly pissed him off too. he woke up every hour that night.

saturday: he woke up at 7, all smiles and giggles. the fever has broken! alhamdulillah! we had some fish porridge for lunch, and i noticed red spots in his elbow. like me, he is allergic to some fish, so we didn’t think much of it. went to nenek’s house in the afternoon to make sheppard’s’ pie. abang ilhan and ilyas were there too! hamza and ilyas did their usual maori-like greeting, touching nose to nose, forehead to forehead, many many times. at 5pm, just as i was starting to add cheese to the potatoes, aby who had bathed him said, his fever’s back. ya Allah…panas nya! supposed to visit andak after maghrib, but shelved that plan and went home immediately. at home, another shower and paracet, and he slept at 7pm. i took the opportunity to peel 45 cloves of garlic in preparation for the aglio olio i was planning to make for the sohahabahs reunion the next day. right after i peeled the last one, hamza woke up. it was 11pm. fever is now at 39 so in goes the ibuprofen and more sponging him down. we tried to put him to sleep, but again he woke up every hour at 3am, we decided desperate times call for desperate actions. we packed him in the car, blasted the air-con full blast and drove at 50km/h on the kje to tuas. would have really ended in jb if we had our passports. drove around the jurong extension, tuas extension and only god knows where as aby played tour guide trying to keep me awake. hamza only fell asleep on the way back. we reached home nearly 5am and totally crashed after subh.

sunday: we woke up at around 9am, thanks to the sms from my sohabahs asking about the reunion that was due at 11am. i’m thinking “oh god i have 4 packets of spaghetti, 2 cans of mushrooms, a packet of chilli padi and a bottle of evoo, not to mention the 45 cloves of garlic." as aby showered hamza, we saw more spots on his wrists and ankles. but his fever’s gone! hmn…ok we’ll just go to the doctor, get some more meds and find out what’s wrong. if everything is ok, we’ll head to fauzan’s and i’ll just order pizza or something. so we headed down to dr helana’s.of course the queue was sooooo long, we waited at a fitness corner to give hamza some fresh air. and of course being civic minded people that we are, to keep his germs from everyone else.

going full monty to keep him cool so he won't scratch.

while waiting, cik tina called to say that her daughter a.k.a hamza’s bestfriend, also has spots on her hands and feet and ulcers in her mouth. i knew then our fate was sealed , that we were not going to make it to the sohabahs reunion, and not risk faris, fadhil and farah. (eh they all start with f!!!) i also called thither to tell her of this development and to look out for the boys, especially ilyas who did the whole maori-like greeting with hamza on saturday.

we saw a locum doc whom i feel like strangling him with his stethoscope. he took one look at hamza’s spots and declared that it was typical chickenpox. even after i told him hamza might have been exposed to hfmd, even after he examined hamza’s mouth and showed me the two ulcers there, he still maintained that it was chickenpox. more paracet and ibuprofen and calamine lotion plus 7 days child sick leave for me. made the necessary announcements and headed home to start our quarantine.

applying calamine lotion all over him.

"what's with the gooey cold stuff abi?"

monday: i felt a nagging feeling, like really tak puas hati with the doc. so we went back to dr helena to actually see dr helena and she confirmed that it was not chickenpox but hfmd. more ulcers had developed in hamza’s mouth and the spots that were pink before had turned slightly reddish. a call to cik tina confirmed that her daughter was also similarly diagnosed. we drove to my office to take my laptop (what, did i really think i was going to go scot free?)

tuesday & wednesday: we developed a routine of the next two days. after breakfast, i’d walk hamza out and let him roam around in the empty basketball court for his exercise and hopefully to sweat out the virus from his body. after that, he’d help me with the chores by unfolding the clothes i’d folded, unsweeping the floor i’d swept and putting back the trash after i’d put it out. he also helped me with my office work – in fact he sent 3 emails to my boss without my knowledge.

yup, i can send emails now! to ummi's boss!

after lunch, he’d take a 2 hour nap while i tried to do whatever i can with the house and catch up on work emails. once he’s awake, he would demand play time again all the way until 5ish, where his abi comes home, when of course, once he’s home, i’m totally forgotten. that night i called cik tina to get an update on her daughter coz if she’s past the infectious stage, i’d want to sent hamza back there tomorrow and go back to work. instead, horror of horrors, she informs me her son has now caught it from her daughter. looks like i’m totally maxing out my childcare leave this year. second horror of horrors, poor ilyas has caught it too! so i warmly welcomed my thither to the happily frustrate mommy daily club.

thursday & friday: aby develops small reddish bumps all over his body. he is also running a fever and was given 2 days mc. great…now i have two babies to look after.

saturday & sunday: took the opportunity to clear the house as a pre-pre hari raya spring cleaning. really took apart hamza’s room and cleared out his closet to separate the clothes he no longer fits into from the clothes of his size. heh…at 15 months, he is still comfortably wearing size 9-12 mths size.

spot the baby!

and now…both babies are sound asleep. hamza developed a running nose just after asr today. have given him zyrtec and paracet, hopefully it’s just because of all the dust from the cleaning.

and i am going back to work in a few hours time.

so you tell me…you penat tak?

Amir Hamza - 15 Months

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:06:00 +0000

Amir Hamza - 15 Months

Amir Hamza turns 15 months. A handful of cheekiness and some times, a grumpy old man in a 15 month old baby's body.

we were shopping at giant jb and didn't bring the stroller.

he was too tired to eat. so we had to improvise.

he remained asleep after the took the stroller out.

at the clinic after a blood test.

he's fascinated by the band-aid on his index finger.

fooling around with my phone in the dark.

my colleague gloria gave this tent+balls set. he totally loves it.

i'm not too crazy about it because...well, guess whose job it is to pick up the stray balls all over the place?

caught you red-handed!

riding a bike...

...just like abi.

mother's dinner at Fish & Co.

icu had a drink that was bigger than hamza's face!

some weekends we'll head down to the water playground at Lot One.

he loves getting wet and slowly daring to try all the water elements.

the taps and the buckets...

even if it squirts up into his face. he used to cry, but slowly he got used to it and has even learnt how to avoid getting water in his eyes.

and this is the part i like best...

when he crashes to sleep for a good 2 hours after a

mere 15 mins of water play...

I'm Bringing Blogging Back

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:58:00 +0000

I'm Bringing Blogging Back

"i don't wanna miss one smile, i don't wanna miss one kiss..." - aerosmith.

mak cowwwwwwwwwwwwwww……berabok nyer blog aku ni.

ok updates! work-wise, only one word can describe it: s t a g n a n t.
since h1n1 happened, everything else takes a back seat. emails are not answered as timely as before as most of my counterparts at the other hospitals are down for triage duty. most of the events have been cancelled, and although the gahmen says we're moving towards a more relaxed approach, our cluster is still moving along cautiously, with daily temperature checks and travel advisories. thank goodness all overseas travel has been suspended – partly due to the flu situation, and partly due to us doing such a good job last year that 5 year targets have been met at the 3 year mark. : )

so yes, i have a bit more free time at work, which i use constructively by finding out more about "the big change" and other relevant information which will support my cause. ooopps, i've not told you about "the big change"? oh good, ok in time i will reveal more. till then, doas are much appreciated as i go down this new path in life. : )

on the home front, hamza turns 15 months in a couple of weeks time and i love him more and more everyday. isn't it funny, that just as a mother thinks she's loved her child as much as she can, the next day she loves him just that much more? well, i can love him to bits but love alone doesn't make me a good mother. sometimes i do delay his bedtime to catch the 9pm channel 8 drama serial, or forget to bring his biscuits, or leave his milk at home. *terlupa lah...betul.* *sigh* but i try my very bestest best. it's very entertaining to err...entertain him nowadays, when his cheekiness and "clever" ness comes out. actually, i wanna say naughty, but aby says we shouldn't say he's naughty, we should say that he's clever. or curious. well…when he's smearing baby powder all over his toys, i think he's being too clever. and when he's sticking his finger into the laundry detergent container, he's just being too curious!

aby's in the midst of changing jobs. alhamdulillah, we have rezki on that front, as in he gets better and better offers. i wish we can sneak in more couple time together. must not forget to work on our marriage while raising kids. i found that we learn something new about each other everyday, especially in the area of dealing with hamza. we have very different parenting styles, which i guess is a very close reflection of our respective characters. yes, we clash sometimes, but i think we have to work on finding middle ground before hamza grows old enough to notice this and try to pit us against each other. : )

rejab's coming to an end, and shaaban beckons. soon the blessed month of ramadan will be upon us. i have to start planning for pre-made meals for iftar (hmn…bulan puasa selalu nak makan macam macam) so reaching home at 6.15pm is not such a mad rush and as minister of (my)home affairs, i have to draw up the schedule of the house, who’s fetching hamza, who’s cooking, who’s cleaning, etc. i pray that we do better in ramadan this year, compared to last year, where work took center stage for me and aby had to pick up the slack. i really wanna rant about the oh-so-many dilemma of a working mom, but we’ll save that for another day.

i really need a holiday.

or a reunion, at least. SOHABAHS! DO Y'ALL HEAR ME?!?!

Amir Hamza is ONE!

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Wed, 06 May 2009 01:18:00 +0000

Amir Hamza is ONE!

he turned one on 25 Apr 2009 and we held a kenduri doa selamat with together with ilyas at my place for family and close friends. here are the highlights of him turning one and his birthday present to his parents.

with cousin ilyas, born the day after.

on the monday after that weekend i got a call from cik tina saying, "eh your son macam nak pengsan, panas!" we rushed to NUH A&E that night.

we only left the hospital at 3am after waiting 2 hours for hamza to pee to collect a urine sample for testing.

two days after that, his fever broke. and then the rashes came. all over his stomach and hands.

another trip to the A&E where this time only one parent was allowed in and we were quarantined because of the rashes. another 3 hour wait.

in the end, diagnosis was roseola.

on sunday after sending mother and father off on their honeymoon, we went to the Jacob Ballas Childrens' Garden.

for more pics, see Amir Hamza is ONE.

Country Road, Take Me Home

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 04:16:00 +0000

"...reminds me of my home far away, and driving down the road i get a feeling, i should have been home yesterday..." - john denver.

two weeks into syawal and i still don't feel like hari raya. *sigh*. is it true, that you feel less excited about celebrations as you grow older?

this year ramadan was my worst ever - what with me getting so caught up with work matters and preparing for the perth trip. rushed home at about 5.30 ish everyday, trying to make it home for buka. then at home, aby and me will take turns to prepare food/amuse hamza.

then after maghrib more entertaining and making silly faces at him while the other cleans up and runs around the house doing what needs to be done.

after he's gone to sleep at about 9 plus, both aby and me will collapse. pengsan kau. thank god alhamdulillah there were the days that we went over to mother's for buka where there were at least more hands around to carry/watch/play with the babies. at the very least, abang ilhan was more than willing to entertain ilyas and hamza while the grown-ups ate.

i had very mixed feelings while in perth. one minute i would miss hamza so much i'd leak and the next, i'll be so relaxed and happy that i can just do my work and enjoy perth's weather. fasting in perth was a bit hard, especially with sahur coz my hotel didn't have 24-hour room service. oh well, i made do with cold fresh milk (yum!) and bread of biscuits. buka was not so bad.

they called this the "combination" - chicken, beef & mutton kebab with veggies, onions, tomatoes and hummus.

hot chocolate from fast eddy's.

my team even had time to catch the train to fremantle for look-see look-see on sunday. i wish they had signs like these on our MRTs.

then i came home and it was one week to raya. i barely had time to clean the house, attempt to buat kuih and go through the traditional routine most people do in preparation for hari raya...and then raya pun tiba.

with our mishap in the baju kurung for hamza, aby got him a pair on petang raya. oh well, he can fit into it next year too.

then in a blink of an eye i had to leave for melbourne already. note to self: avoid midnight flights. my very groggy team and me grabbed a quick breakfast at queen victoria's market barely 3 hours after we touched down. sitting by our table was this busker singing "country road".

"i should have been home yesterday. country road, take me home. to the place i belong."

sitting there in the cold with my tepid hot chocolate and rock-hard pastry, i suddenly felt a sob choke up my throat. for the first time ever, i felt homesick seh. not just missing aby and hamza and my family, but everything about home.

so i was quite happy to be at the Singapore Day on that saturday, surrounded by other singaporeans who are also away from home. the queue to get into the park was a few kilometers long, apparently singaporeans from all over australia and not just from melbourne came. i met quite a number of friends from home there, even an old crushee from good ole' cckss! best of all was meeting my dear chicken nurizan and her hubby there. (note to izan: how come we don't have a pic!!!!)

so you've heard that it was a big success and there was so much food there like nasi lemak, nasi ayam and chilli crab, right? get this: none of them was halal. and for the last time, "no pork, no lard" does not mean it's halal. the only thing i had all day was combat rations from mindef's mobile kitchen. that's. just. great. *pout*

i must have been the happiest person on board that qantas flight coming home. but upon sampai rumah, my poor baby was running a 39 degrees temp. hai...

"wow...besar nya stamp. nak post pergi mana?"

but he's all better now. boleh jalan raya lagi : )

selamat hari raya to one and all. maaf zahir batin.

Because You Can

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:55:00 +0000

Because You Can

Ramadan Mubarak. Alhamdulillah, by the Mercy of Allah we are once again blessed to be visited by the Holy Month of Ramadan. Ramadan is a time of spiritual renewal as we are enjoined to reflect, contemplate and increase our spiritual devotions through prayers, Qur'an reading and good deeds. Ramadan is also a time of giving, as Prophet Muhammad once said, "It is the month of charity, and a month in which a believer's sustenance is increased."

In the spirit of this holy month, SimplyIslam is pleased to adopt the Muslim Kidney Action Association (MKAC) for our Ramadan Charity Basket project. The MKAC has been in the forefront of providing care and support to our Muslim brothers and sisters who are suffering from kidney failure and chronic ailments & providing financial assistance to their families.

Insha'Allah SimplyIslam & MKAC is organising the Ramadan Charity Basket program on Saturday 20 September 2008. Essentially, we will be giving food provisions to some of MKAC's welfare recipients. The food provisions include rice, milk, sugar, dry foods and other basic amenities including Eid novelties. The food provisions will help them in their needs for Ramadan and Eidul Fitr Insha'Allah.

In the spirit of Ramadan, we hope to raise $5,000 to provide the Ramadan Charity Basket for the sick, poor and needy. The MKAC welfare recipients truly deserve our compassion and we seek your contribution and support for this project. Your donations would bring much needed cheer and relief for the kidney patients and their families.

You can donate by cash, cheque, bank transfer, credit card, charge card and Paypal. For details, visit our website [click here] or call 65474407.

For those who wish to volunteer and distribute the food provisions, call 65474407 to register your interest and keep yourself free on 20 September 2008, from 1.30 to 6 pm.

For all enquiries, feel free to call Sis Saira Elley at Tel 65474407 or Bro Mohamed Nassir at 90703200 or email info@simplyislam.sg. Looking forward to your participation in the Ramadan Charity Basket program.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward you for your kind contributions with His Blessings and Bounties in perpetuity, Ameen.

Well It's About Time!

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:47:00 +0000

Well It's About Time!

"watch you smiling while you are sleeping...wondering if it's me you're seeing..." aerosmith

the 4G thumbdrive that i got for $25 is apparently corrupted and i lost all the pictures of india in there. what a bother.

i was in india for 6 days earlier this month...and it was a real eye opener for me. i learnt so many things from so many aspects - it was my first working trip representing an employer and it was the first time i had to leave hamza for more than 24 hours.

as apprehensive as i was about going, i put all doubts aside as i left hamza with his nenek aby and steeled myself - "ok no need to be so emo about it. being emo's not gonna put food on the table, duh" so i left. and suprise suprise, although he was on my mind incessantly, i was able to relax and enjoy myself! pumping didn't turned out to be as leceh as i thought - each time i arrived in the hotel, i'd ask to leave the freezer bag with the hotel's deep freezer and once i have three packets of milk, they'd bring up the bag to my room to pack the milk in and then it goes straight back to the freezer. they even labelled my freezer bag "MEDICINE - DON'T TOUCH!" and drew an skull on it, y'know the ones you find on the warning lables for poison? funny right?

india seriously grows on you. the people, the culture and even the smells become very familiar and comforting after a while. not to mention it's really easy to get halal food there - namely coz they are very big on vegetarianism and all poultry, beef and mutton are from halal sources. the only issue is the water - you even have to brush your teeth with bottled water. but all good hotels provide guests with 1.5l of bottled mineral water daily. i requested for more coz i needed to sterilize the pumps and bottles after every use. the whole lost handphone thing also turned out to be a blessing - at $4 per minute and 90 cents per sms? oh tak per...can claim a new handphone : )

i'm going off again soon...another six days in perth on the 10th and for two days in melbourne on hari raya ketiga and keempat. sigh...what to do? mother says hamza will have many more hari rayas insya Allah but an opportunity like this for me may not come a'knocking any time again.

never mind i'll just bask with him now.

oh you may wonder what that's red file he's hugging? that's all of the insurance policies that aby and me have taken out for hamza. we have to watch the budget, so for a start, we've managed to cover him for the basic things:

life policy: very very important. this covers him in the event of death and critical illnesses. it matures when he turns 65 and he'll have a nice sum of moolah for his retirement.

education fund: pun very very important. this policy will mature when he's 21 but the great thing about this plan is that i will only need to pay the monthly premiums until he's 12! after that, the value of the fund is large enough to work by itself. how cool is that? it might not be enough to cover all his education costs but at least it will help.

personal accident plan: pun very very important. in the event of an accident or even an injury, it'll give him income if he's hospitalised and will cover all medical costs. i really like this policy coz they define dengue as accident. aper...orang langgar nyamuk? ha, boleh claim? claim lah. : )

in all, aby and me are forking out about $200 monthly for all of hamza's policies. when we buy insurance young, it's much cheaper and he's covered for everything coz there's no exclusions or pre-existing condition. we see it as an investment for his future, insya Allah and if anything happens, we'll just leave it to God.

as usual, this blog will shut down temporarily from 1 to 30 sept for my annual spiritual maintenance and upgrading, so have a good Ramadan peeps!

ps: i just re-read my whole post and it seems like i'm endorsing insurance. let me clarify: i do not sell insurance, i just think that it's really important. an i don't support any particular company. instead i have a very trustworthy consultant who carries out her duty as she sees it to be fardhu kifayah for the muslim community. so i don't recommend the company but i recommend her as a agent if you're looking for one.

Dear PM Lee, we mothers would like...

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:55:00 +0000

Dear PM Lee, we mothers would like...

Government to announce pro-family measures to raise birth rate - CNA, 21 July 2008
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/361819/1/.html

next month most likely during may day rally, kan? is it gonna be another shocker like 2004 when they announced that the civil service will be moving into a five-day work week?

kita tungggggguuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!

more importantly, will i get them also???....hopefully ALL babies born in 2008 will qualify for the new benefits.

"Dia Marah Marah Dia..."

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:58:00 +0000

"Dia Marah Marah Dia..."

"saya selalu benar, saya tak buat nakal, saya in si [insert name here], seorang berakal..." - nenek roy.

don't get me started on the "dia marah marah dia..."

hamza will be 9 weeks old tomorrow. how time flies! i'm much better with him now, coz we're finally getting the hang of each other. i know his cries, and can pretty much isolate the manja - nak - dokong - cry, the i'm - hungry - feed - me - now! - cry and the i'm - really - sleepy - but - lawan - mata - cry. that's about it. there's no cry for when he's dirtied his diaper. i'll know when that happens when he's suddenly very quite and looks kinda funny and then three minutes later, i can smell him. sheesh!

hamza and his abi sleeping the day after he was born.

hamza and his abi sleeping now.

my babysitting woes have been solved, alhamdulillah. through getting to know neighbours around the area, we found a family we're comfortable with. today is only the sixth day that hamza is there, but so far so good. the makcik didn't really believe me when i cautioned her of how loud and alarming hamza's cries would be...well, she believes me now!

sappy story alert! the sunday before we were supposed to send hamza for the first time, i was busy preparing all the harta karun that he might need. milk, clothes, diapers, bottles, etc...and hamza was behaving so well! such a good boy, smiling and gurguling away with me and his abi. macam nak ajak berbual. and when the morning came, we sent him there and he immediately fell asleep! i passed the instructions to the makcik and left in a rush. and cried all the way down to the first floor. *sob* *sob* *sniff* *sniff* *baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawls!!!!!!*

in my mind i was thinking, "it's not fair! how come she doesn't have to work!? how come I have to work?! how come I can't take care of him?! how come she gets all his smiles and his laughs and his chuckles?! how come she gets to bathe him?! how come she gets to feed him?!"...irrational thoughts they may be...but all the same, i felt really really really bad. aby just hugged me and said "alah, just think of it as if we left him at rumah mak, lah. you go home and sleep."

the second we reached home i rooted in the laundry basket for the clothes hamza wore yesterday still smelling of milk, baby powder and minyak yu-yi and crawled into bed - where i must say i had the nicest uninterrupted nap i've ever had in a loooong time. heh. ok so i've cried the one time. the token cry to cukupkan syarat. : ) now, i'm really really thankful that i know cik tina is taking good care of him. at least, i can go back to work knowing he is in safe hands.

talking about going back to work...yes...i'm supposed to return this week. *groan!!!!!!!!* probably tomorrow or thursday, i haven't really decided yet. i've told them i won't come back on a monday, knowing how insane mondays can be. so many changes have happened while i was away, i hope i won't take too long to catch up. one part of me really wants to get lost in the world of diaper changing, singing silly rhymes and making baby faces with hamza. the other part also wants to go back to the corporate world and make things happen. sigh...of course it's possible to do both. mother did it, thither's doing it, heck...how many mothers do you know are working full time? i guess it's a dilemma that all full time working moms face.

aby...quick! earn at least 7k/month! then i can retire and be a stay-at-home-mom!

He Dies?! HE DIES?!?!

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:14:00 +0000

He Dies?! HE DIES?!?!

WARNING: CSI SEASON 8 FINALE - SPOILER ALERT!!!

i was gobsmacked shocked last night. i cried! suddenly!

i did not see that coming at all! I would have never guessed that the sherrif was dirty and will kill him. nothing could've prepared me for the last scene and watching him die, i wanted to pick up the phone and call 999...di atas sedih seh!

Watch The Video Here!

OK Just Stop It!

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:22:00 +0000

ok that's it!

i'm giving FACE to FACEBOOK coz i'm truly tired of all the invites i've been receiving and it seems like the whole world is on FACEBOOK except me!!!

so now i'm on FACEBOOK.

are ya happy now, FACEBOOK?!?!?!

Mommy Wow! I'm A Big Kid Now!

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 05:27:00 +0000

Mommy Wow! I'm A Big Kid Now!

heh...not that big yet. currently he's doing this...

which gives me time to sit down and blog for about five minutes. but anytime now he could wake up and demand attention by looking like this...

although after that he will reward me with this...

he's been going out a lot. on good days me and and thither will get the boys up and go places, well...places that are stroller-friendly at least. and yes, the whole lot of us, thither, me, ilyas and hamza and when brother is not working, do look quite a sight.

"But The Sister and I did venture out to get ourselves some caffeine fix (poser aje these 2 non-coffee drinkers) at the newly-halal Coffee Bean. We had the luck of dragging The Brother along, and as expected, got our fair share of “Congratulations” and “Twins eh?” and looks which say “Wah-this-guy-very-terror-ah-got-2-wives-and-2-babies-at-the- same-time”. What else will they think when they see a malay guy with 2 malay women with 2 strollers… muahahaha!": ->thither's blog.

on fifth june we took him to get circumcised at the place brother works at. poor lil fella. he has no idea what's about to be done to him.

*gerun*...aku tengok aku yang seram. i thought he was going to scream bloody murder, thankfully syukur alhamdulillah, he slept thru the entire thing! even when the painkiller was first injected.

he's ok now, that cincin-thingy has dropped off yesterday and he doesn't appear to have any complications. he was so well behaved, we took him to ECP for some fresh sea breeze.

and tu nangis pasal nak pergi swimming lah. hehehe! we've also collected his passport! may he be as kaki-jalan as the rest of the waris lani are. : )

so dapat passport ajer terus pergi amik nenek and head on down to T3 for some popeyes.

he's pretty tired out from the whole weekend, he sleeps better now. so when he's doing this...

aby and i try to get some sleep ourselves.

on another note, i'm trying to train him to sleep thru the night, well at least from midnight to about six. the longest he's ever slept is about 5 hours, but i'm going back to work at the end of the month and i totally cannot face work+boss_with-OCD with insufficient sleep. hope to get his routine down before that. luckily aby is a light sleeper, and will wake up with me to help with night feeds, although burping is still my primary duty. i also have babysitting blues that i have to resolve asap (will rant more in another entry) if i want to go back to work with a clear head and a peaceful heart.

know of any malay/muslim babysitter living around choa chu kang north six?

Confessions Of A New Mother – Uncensored!

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Tue, 27 May 2008 08:39:00 +0000

Confessions Of A New Mother – Uncensored!

overwhelming. that one word summarises the past month.

hamza is four week two days old today and it has been insane. suddenly my life revolves around this screaming crying lil being on a sleep-feed-poop routine. the sleepless nights are more manageable now. at least he no longer bawls – the first few nights i swear the whole cck north six were woken by him.

tak takut ker?

penat doesn’t even begin to describe how i feel. it seems that nothing is easy with hamza. he cries at everything. and his cry is not like his cousin ilyas’s cry – that of a cat, more a whimper really. oh no siree…hamza’s cry is the true blue test of healthy his lungs are. the deafening-highpitched-lip-quivering-face-turning-red-and- then-blue kind of cry, which automatically stops when i pick him up. this means every time he’s asleep, i have about two to three hours to eat, bathe, do whatever i can around the house and catch some sleep myself before he is up again.

and don’t even get me started on breastfeeding. for the record, YES I KNOW breastmilk is the best milk. YES I KNOW mothers should breastfeed their baby for as long as possible. YES I KNOW there are abundant benefits of a mother’s milk. but NO I DIDN’T KNOW that for the first few days after birth, you won’t get anything or if you’re lucky, you’ll already be producing colostrum. NO I DIDN’T KNOW that your breast will no longer be yours, they’re the baby’s to feed on demand. NO I DIDN’T KNOW that my back, shoulders and arms will ache from remaining in the breastfeeding position for extended periods of time. and what about the stress of holding a crying kicking screaming baby to your breast as you try to guide his mouth to the correct latching angle? and guess what? as soon as that’s done, you still have to subject them mammary to the breast pump – if you’re like me, trying to build up sufficient supply for when i go back to work. they didn’t tell me all this! (or maybe they did, i just wasn’t paying attention in the antenatal class.) breastfeeding is an art, not something that a mother and her baby does easily right from the start. kudos to those who do, but for those who don’t, i can surely understand why they gave up and switched to formula. it does not make them any lesser than a mother. i think there’s too much pressure on mothers to breastfeed their baby – i for one felt very pressured in the earlier days, so much so that i felt like a failure for not being able to feed hamza. i cried when he cried of hunger. i cried when aby fed him formula. i felt so useless at that time. thankfully, the stressful days are over. once you get over the beginning, have faith! it’ll get better and easier. syukur

alhamdulillah thanks to God aby has been fully participative (is there such a word?) right from the labour until today, i have never felt like i am alone or lost, he’s always there with an equal say of what’s going on with hamza, waking up for night feeds, taking over the subuh shift when i collapse, cooking me meals, doing the household chores – basically doing everything i stopped doing. and this amidst his work and classes. on my more emotional days, i would cry and tell him i’m sorry he has to all this. he’d hold me and say “you’re doing a far more important duty.”

syukur alhamdulillah thanks to God i also have the support of family around. both neneks are ever-willing to take hamza off our hands for us to run errands and what-nots. we even had a little down time to catch indiana jones. and of course the wonderful friends who dropped by to celebrate our birthdays.

faizal, mazlan, fahmee, emi and baby ammar on aby's birthday

yani, baby aliyah, aisah, liza and azad on my birthday.

zack/nadz/kak al: i don’t have photos from your visit! email me can?

we had a very quite and simple celebration of our second wedding anniversary – falling asleep in front of the tv with hamza in his abi’s arms.

so that’s my update for the month. nobody said motherhood is easy and i know it’ll get harder. for now i’m going to end this post with the cliché of all clichés…

whenever i kiss his bubble gum tummy, it's all worth it. i wouldn't want it any other way.

Here's Looking At You, Babe

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:03:00 +0000

Here's Looking At You, Babe

world, please meet amir hamza bin shahbudin, who arrive on Friday 25 April 2008 bersamaan dengan 18 Rabiulakhir 1429H at 11.46pm, weighing in at a healthy 3.28kg.

amir hamza, meet the world. : )

will be back with more once things settle down, insya Allah.

A Tale Of Two Floods & The Domesticated Me

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:55:00 +0000

A Tale Of Two Floods & The Domesticated Me

"cause you were just too busy being fabulous, too busy to think about us..." - the eagles

what a week. it started with the flash floods at my workplace, which caused the entire building to stay in office for an hour last thursday as the roads and exits were completed underwater. five cars were stranded in the middle of the road as their owners waded about in calf-high water.

then there was the other flood happening in my .. erm... down there. it started the night before and seemed to be wet till the next day. strangely, i didn't panic. i called aby, who did. in his strange calm way. so i called NUH's delivery suite and the midwife told me to come in immediately, so nice to ask if i'd like an ambulance to fetch me. looking at the five cars from the office window, i said "no thanks, can i go home first?" for some strange reason i really wanted to take a bath and eat something first. she said as soon as possible after dinner. we arrived at the hospital just after nine pm. told to report at the A&E department, i was promptly plonked into a wheelchair and whisked away to the ward within two minutes, taking an express elevator.

it was there that my embarrassing moments happened. firstly the nurse there just told me to remove all clothing from waist down. in my mind, "huh, no gown, or skirt, or blanket? seriously?" i looked at her. she wore a stern "hurry-up-i-see-these-things-everyday!" look on her face. fine.

then the registrar came in to conduct the examination, signalling the start of the second embarrassing moment. the nurse moved me into position and of course by reflex, i unmoved them. she made a "tsk" sound and forced my legs to comply. *sob* macam nak nangis. aby held my hand while i tried to cut off the circulation from his wrist.

ok ok i hear many of you saying that yes, they are professionals, and yes they do these everyday, and yes, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. but still i feel malu ok. i mean, it's my first time having someone other than the one i don't have a batasan aurat with looking and touching my down there. yeah people tell me later on in the delivery suite it'll be worse, but i'll be too high from the gas or in throes of pain to notice anything or care about anything. i'll cross that bridge when i get to it. in the mean time, call me a prude. or if anyone has useful tips on how to cope/get used to it, do share.

anyway...i tested positive for leaking liqua, so kena warded immediately. at that moment, i never felt more thankful to be a staff of the Group, hence being entitled to an A1 room where aby could room in with me. my gynea came in at eight am the next morning and sent me for a scan. water level: good. weight of baby: very good. (read: 2.6kg!!!) mommy's temperature: normal. so rest in bed one more day for observation and then with a dose of antibiotics + 10 day hospitalisation leave, i was allowed home on saturday. yay! what a dress rehearsal for the real thing.

so what have i been doing at home? lotsa sleeping! and tv-watching. and cleaning and putting things away. my kitchen's finally done.

yeah, that's it. small and cozy. i realize it's far from resembling nigella's but let's call it a work in progress. the first dish i cooked in it was my all-time favourite dish to cook. spaghetti. nothing fancy schamancy. : )

in case you're wondering, the top picture is how normal people eat pasta. the bottom one is covered with cheese, which is how anak2 & cucu jamil eat things - we just can't get enough of cheese.

and today i finished washing all the baby's clothes. or at least what he'll need for the first few weeks of his life. i washed them. by hand.

step terror eh? i think it'll be the first and last time. next time, it'll be mr washing machine.

i'm going back to work on monday, where it will be the last three weeks before i go on maternity, insya Allah. i wanna do a proper and complete handover so that life there can go on smoothly without me. also one of my team members will be going on maternity in november, so i think i should set a good example, doncha think?

gosh, this is a long entry seh. penat saya type. penat awak baca?

The Kite Runner

noreply@blogger.com (chups) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 12:14:00 +0000

The Kite Runner

this review rating deserves 10000 stars.

finally the long awaited movie is out and i caught it at 10 something on sunday after the cny weekend. gila kan? firstly i did not know it was released in singapore already and secondly i did not know it was playing at the cathay and cineleisure only. aiyayayayai...

i though i would cry buckets. i stuffed my bag with tissue and aby took the tissue box from the car...just in case. but suprisingly i did not cry. not when hassan was hurt, not at the orphanage scene, not when amir came back to kabul. well, i did tear at the part where amir and his father was escaping to pakistan and that horrible russian soldier "wanted half-an-hour with that lady". that scene used up half a tissue. laughing so hard when amir's dad met the russian doctor later used up the other half.

but overall i am di atas happy and satisfied that this movie did not stray very far from the book. it was 95% accurate and the screenplay writer kept the spirit and essence of the book. so unlike da vinci where the movie totally mised the point.

ticket value: worth buying the DVD box set.

best line in the movie - hassan : "but couldn't he have just smelt an onion?"