Home from Home

2009-02-07T11:31:00.003Z

It snowed in Dublin on the 2nd of Feb and on the 5th of Feb. People were like got panicked. The kids got excited. Schools were closed and people got trapped in hospitals and at work place as they couldn't travel as the roads were bad.

Dublin very very seldom got snowed and so when it does everything came to a halt. It happened like every 5-6 years or so. In my time here in Ireland I've experienced plus this one 5 times snow in Dublin.

But I'm sure the Canadians and other Europeans who had experienced very bad snowstorm just like belittled us and laughing their heads off to us Dubliners who got excited for a few inches of snow. Orang kata jakun lah! Hahahaha.....

Well, enough said. Here are the photos of the kids enjoying the snow.

In the mood for......

2009-01-24T20:07:00.003Z

Today I was in the mood. Hmmm....That statement itself may have gotten the men thinking one thing only ;P. But...no. Not that kind of mood. Sorry.

I was in the mood to cleaned up the house. Well, the house was a mess anyway after a week of neglect so vacuumed, steamed and dusted.

Then I was in the mood for cooking. First I cooked mee kung fu or cantonese mee. Whatever the name, I cooked it. Yum yum.

After that I got the craving for cupcakes. So I searched the internet for recipes. There are thousands of sites!! Anyway, went to UKTV food and looked for Rachel Allen's cupcake. I got bitten by this cupcake bug coz I watched her show one night while flipping through the channel. Then at the UKTV site itself got few cupcake recipes. Looked at a few and I noticed that the measure for butter, flour and sugar are the same. And so I chose one with the bigger measure so that I got plenty of cupcakes.

Baked one batch with orange flavour. Zup zup zup....one by one got eaten even without the icing yet. So decided to make another batch, this time lemon flavour. Then I said well, since I got this far, lets make another batch and I can give the others to my friends. So baked one batch of vanilla flavour.

Now, after all that work, I'm tired. It's late, so my friends gonna have to wait to get their cupcakes. Not that they know they're gonna get some anyway. Now it's time for me to sit and drink my coffee and.............blog..............

My own home...

2008-12-20T19:34:00.004Z

My own home, my own home

Father's hunting in the forest

Mother's cooking in the home

I must go to fetch the water

'Til the day that I am grown

'Til I'm grown, 'til I'm grown

I must go to fetch the water

'Til the day that I am grown

Then I will have a handsome husband

And a daughter of my own

And I'll send her to fetch the water

I'll be cooking in the home

Then I'll send her to fetch the water

I'll be cooking in the home

Do you remember this scene from Jungle Book? I watched this scene and I laughed at how Mowgli the boy was hook, line and sinker just with 'lirikan mata'. No words needed. NAMI asked my hubby what happened there. Hubby answered, the boy was under a spell. He said You will have that same spell on boys soon. Hahahaha.....

The lyrics itself is telling us how life is really. Abah work, mommy at home taking care of us. Even working mommy...mommy comes home and takes care of us. And mommy teach daughters how to run the house when they've grown. And the girls, I think most of us did think of getting married, what kind of husband we want and how many kids we'll have....and how we'll teach them and so on and so forth.

This scene and the song, to me actually captures the essentials of life and the relationship between men and women in such a simple way but has meaning which is deeper at so many levels.

What's been happening.....

2008-12-15T20:19:00.006Z

1. I had an accident. Crashed into somebody. Nobody got hurt but I was quite shaken actually especially because little MIMI was at the back seat. Police came. Car was out of commision in the garage. The other car was badly hurt too. Adah...CANNOT TELL MAMA HAAAA!!!!

2. MIMI had her 3rd birthday. Gosh...how time flies...

MIMI with her presents

Abah and his princesses

NAMI putting on the stickers on the dollhouse

MIMI and her present Upsy Daisy

Amidst the chaos of life with accidents and all, I'm thankful to Allah for keeping us safe and get to live another day. Thankful that we still got our health, people that we love and love us. Amidst all the troubles that we're currently experiencing, we're still better off. Alhamdulillah. Just need to get through this rough patch in life with doa and tawakkal...Insya-Allah things will get better.

A child's observation.....

2008-12-06T13:48:00.002Z

One day in a Kelas Kenali Islam organised by us in Luc@n, my daughter NAMI was up front doing her public speaking. She's talking about her family.

After she finished her teacher (Dr.Glam) asked her

What does your mommy likes to do and your daddy likes to do?

Well, my mommy is always cooking and my daddy is always sleeping.

Well, berguling-guling lah my friend ketawa.....

Still alive and kicking.....barely....

2008-11-12T20:26:00.004Z

Salam to everybody

I am soooo sorry for those who visited here and see no new post. Nothing updated. Wondering what had happened. Well, rest assured I'm still alive and well. Should have put up a notice saying I'm in hiatus or something like that.

It's middle of November and soon it's the new year. The year 2008 been a tough year so far for me and my family. It's like one thing after another came crashing down on us. I felt like being crushed under a huge mountain. If I feel that way, I wonder how hubby's feeling. He seemed so cool about things that sometimes I think is he for real, does he know the consequences of the worst scenario. Well, I'm always the worrier in the family and he's the calmer one. One need balance in life eh....

Anyway, currently we're involved with someone who we thought was a good person but end up causing chaos in our life as well as our friends' lives. We're hoping for it to end soon so we can get on with our life but who knows, she might just drag it for her convenience or purpose.

In September, my hubby received bad news of his father who got admitted to HUKM and diagnosed with leukaemia. After few phone calls home, he decided to go home. At first we thought only him to go but after discussing and couldn't bear the thought of celebrating raya on my own here in Dublin, we decided that best all of us went home as it might be our last raya together with his dad. And sadly it was, as he passed away in hospital on 3rd raya. It was devastating to all of us, and my two kids did not even get to see him when we arrived home and did not get to kiss him goodbye. Well, at least he got to be with them when he visited here last winter. And the memories they will remember of their Atuk, if any, will be of happy moments.

Amidst the sadness of the death of hubby's beloved father, my sister got engaged. Well, I was there for the merisik occasion only as the engangement took place after I returned back to Dublin. But my sister said it was meriah like kenduri kahwin!

Then, few days before we were supposed to fly home, my mom was admitted into orthopaedics ward. There was sublaxation of her cervical bones with nerves impingement which caused numbness of her hand. So we decided to postponed our flights home to see what's gonna happen to my mom. But the postponement was in vain coz not much was done and it's like waiting forever for anything to happen. I felt like I was in a slow motion movie where everything was sooooooooo sloooooowwwww. Both of us kept comparing the healthcare system here and back home and how things are done and we got frustrated. No wonder nobody wants to go into hospital unless you''re really dying. I guess everybody got horror stories to tell when it comes to hospital.

Anyway, MRI confirms the sublaxation of the bones and she needs surgery. I called her and told her to go for it as it will only get worse and it will not resolve by itself. She's scared to her wits (who wouldn't!) but she got till Raya Haji to decide. I pray that everything will be okay for her. At this stage all she could think of is the worst. And it's harder for her as both her daughters not there beside her - the doctor daughter and her beloved daughter. (I'm not her beloved...needed only for technicality purposes...to explain things medically to her! Kah kah kah...merajuk konon piiraaah!) And it's hard for me coz I can't be there for her.

And as the year coming to an end, so is my post for the night. I pray for better tomorrow and brighter future. Allah knows best and He has plans for all of us.

Life can be so surreal sometimes

2008-07-18T16:48:00.002+01:00

*sigh* That's how I feel at the moment. I feel like I'm in another world, sort of like a dream and I can't wake up.

Just got back from UK last nite. Very tired. Took emergency leave. Went home in the afternoon, cooked dinner for 2 days for hubby and his friend, packed my bag and left the kids at my friend's house who was also going with me.

The reason of this sudden departure? A friend of ours, Shaz and Abg Amin who was staying in Dublin before they moved to Luton to enable Shaz to do her Masters in Dermatology, experienced the nightmare of all parents. Their son Ashraf died in his sleep after a fever. He was 8 years old.

The story was that Ashraf was complaining that he felt hot and having headaches at school. Abg.Amin went and picked him up and attend to him at home i.e give calpol, tepid sponging and all. Shaz came home and checked Ashraf, looking for any rash, checking his pupils and all. All seems ok. And so they did what most of us do, even us doctors, thinking that it's just viral or flu and what we need to do was just bring the temperature down and if it doesn't settle then or the temperature went up to 39 or 40 C then straight to hospital. BUT Allah loves Ashraf more. That morning, Abg Amin fell asleep beside him, just for a moment. When he woke up Ashraf's gone. Shaz did CPR until the ambulance came but he was gone. It was less that 24 hours and their life changed forever. Shaz is 8 months pregnant and she had a final exam the next morning.

The body underwent post mortem but as yet no conclusion as to the cause of death. So they're doing a thorough post mortem and so there's no funeral as yet. Both of us girls, me and Dr.Glam and a few others from Dublin, went there to help the family and be there for them. But it seems that it's not our rezki to help them with the funeral. Only to offer our condolences and be a shoulder to cry on.

"Berat mata dan hati memandang, berat lagi bahu yang memikul" I just cannot comprehend, I will never know how they feel, and I hope I will never experience it. The only way to console a weeping heart was to tawakkal and redha as to Allah's plan. He knows best and only He knows the reason to it all. Seems harsh to swallow but in Allah we believe and in Allah we trust.

I can only keep telling myself that. If it happens to me, I don't know how will I cope.

Al Fatihah to arwah Ashraf Mohamad Amin.

2008-07-06T12:02:00.003+01:00

I was still asleep when suddenly BUZZ...BUZZ....BUZZ...my phone vibrated.

Ooohhh.....who is calling this early on a Sunday morning? Looked at the phone; I suddenly became wide awake. Oh no...it's the nursing home. And yes, it was bad news. One of my patient died suddenly last night. They called me yesterday afternoon informing me that she was unwell. I told them to transfer her to the hospital but the staff nurse said she's stable at the moment. So I told them to call her relative and informed them of her condition and asked whether they wanted her to be transferred. I also told them to call an emergency doctors service to review her. I didn't hear anything from them again, assuming that either she was seen by a doctor on call or was transferred. So the call this morning really shook me as I didn't expect it at all. And I got quite upset. And all the what ifs and questions came through my mind, thinking will the outcome be different. Aaahh....such is life...full of twists and turns

What a start to my Sunday....

2008-07-04T21:49:00.002+01:00

This morning, I arrrived at MIMI's creche and when I lifted her off her car seat, a shooting pain shot across my lower back. I nearly dropped MIMI but managed to put her down. Gosh that hurt. I stil managed to walk to the creche and drove to work.

It wasn't bad at first as I was walking and standing doing my rounds at the nursing home. It was during lunch with hubby and NAMI at a cafe that the stiffness and pain across the back persisted. It was because I was sitting for too long. Gosh...to get up from the chair and walk...difficult. Lucky there was no admission this afternoon so I had a rest in the hospital residence while waiting for NAMI birthday party to end.

Oh yeah, NAMI got an invitation to a birthday party from her friend from her previous school. She was so excited and kept reminding me to get a present for the boy. The party was nearby the hospital I work, that's why I rested at the doc res'.

Anyway, while resting I got to watch the semi of Nadal vs Schuttler (WImbledon). It was a walk in the park for Nadal in the first set but Schuttler gave quite a fight the 2nd set (tie break). The result as expected Nadal v Federer in the final this Sunday. Well....I'll be watching F1 Silverstone first before I watch the tennis final. But have to wrestle the remote from the king first though as the rugby Tri-Nation championship is starting tomorrow.

Just got back from watching Kung Fu Panda. OH MY GOD!!! You have to go and watch this movie as IT WAS SOOOOOO FUNNNNNYYYY!!!! Gosh....we were laughing our heads off. Good to let off steam.

Hmmm....Maghrib already and so I gotta go and then rest. Hopefully my back will be better tomorrow. If it stiffen up....we're gonna have some trouble in the domestic area....No mom, no cook, no food! Hehehehe....

Forgotten

2008-06-27T18:31:00.002+01:00

Buzz.....buzz....buzzz

My phone vibrates. It's Dr. M

Helloooo....

You didn't tell me

Tell you what?

That NAMI finishes early today.

Eh...I didn't know.

OK lah....

and he hung up. Leaving me wondering or rather assuming he's already on the way.

I was in a state. Aiiisshhh...how it didn't occur to me that today being the last day of school the kids will be let home early I couldn't tell you. I wasn't anywhere near NAMI's schooll; Dr. M's nearer. I called the school's office, no answer. Alamak....I panicked. Then I thought of few friends that were at home in Luc@n that could pick her up. Called one....no answer. Called Tokeh Kedai. He said he'll be there straight away. Then thought of another girl who usually picks up my friend's son from the same school and she is nearer to the school. Called her and asked her to go back to the school to get NAMI. She obliged willingly.

After all that calling all I can do was wait. I am very bad at waiting. Very impatient. My worry was that the school would send NAMI to the police station if nobody pick her up. Hahahahah.... that extreme was my worry. Anyway, I called hubby to know where he was and he already arrived and got NAMI. Tokeh Kedai arrived at the same time and so was relieved that everything's ok. I was relieved as well as it was my fault that this happened. Shish....

After I've calmed down, I even smiled at the thought of me calling everybody available to go and pick up my daughter. Just imagine 10 cars arriving all at the same time to pick up one kid. Hahahahah....the teacher would have thought like Waaahhh...important nye this kid...her mom sent a cavalry brigade!! Lucky I didn't know anybody with a helicopter...or he would be the first I'd call!

What an afternoon......

2008-06-24T19:58:00.003+01:00

This morning I was driving to work when suddenly my mobile rang. I was already wearing my headphones so I can continue driving while answering the phone. It was my sis.

Woit KD. Apa cerita nie? Busy sangat ke? Blog tak update, online pun tidak, call pun takde.

Heheheh....well, to tell you the truth, takde le busy sangat. Just got nothing to blog about. No mood to even bloghopping. Am I depress? Well, sort of. My laptop buat hal lagi...crashing and restarting by itself. I can't use IE...so have to switch to Mozilla Firefox. So kinda throw me off my surfing rhythm. This time I've backed up all my data so if I have to totally reboot I'm prepared.

My kids are well. NAMI will be on summer holiday soon. She's enrolled for an art camp nearby late July for a week. Still, I have to find other activities to fill her summer. I think it's more expensive to keep my kids at home with all the summer camps than sending her to school. I thought of sending her home to Nenek for the summer. At least she can learn Bahasa. But I doubt she'll learn bahasa. I think her Nenek will learn English from her rather! Hahahaha....

MIMI is doing well in the creche. She's rather enjoying her day there. Just now the carer told me they're gonna put her into the older toddler room coz they said she's a bit advance for the room she's in. Waahhh...bijak rupanya anak aku nie! Hahahaha...

But let me tell you something. NAMI made MIMI a bracelet from beads that she got as a present from Luqman when we went to Dubai last January. So now MIMI wearing it and really loving it and showing it off to anybody she met. Anyway, the next morning I was bathing MIMI when she suddenly cried her heart out. I was startled, thinking maybe it was the water being too hot or did I hurt her in any way. She was actually crying because her bracelet got wet. Oh my God...no matter how I tried to explain and tell her that the bracelet can be dried off she will not accept it. She even put her hand up so that it will not get wet. Hehehehe.....kelakar le budak-budak ni kan...

Life can be routine and mundane but sometimes life throws you a curve ball. How you deal with it may affect your current life. It could make your life topsy turvy, turn your life around or it'll just pass you by. It could be a wake up call, a slap in the face, or something totally unexpected and wonderful. That one curve ball could make or break you, lift you up or pull you down, be blessed with it or ruined you totally. Life is full of surprises and can be unfair some times......

Ahhh...I'm being melancholy. But no matter how you look at it, it's your life and the most important thing is how you turn a bad crisis into a positive outcome. It's all about perception.

Anyhoo, it's been a great summer months of May and June. The outlook for July seems to be gloomy BUT it's still the summer months and we can pray for better weather!

What we did Bank holiday weekend

2008-06-04T19:24:00.004+01:00

Gosh...I'm sorry for those who visited here and saw no updates. The weather's been great last week and so people spent more time outside since Maghrib is nearly 10pm! And I was busy organizing Kg.Luc@n Family day which was held in Blessington. That was a great day of fun for both kids and adults.

Then I and a couple of other families went to Bloom, a garden show in Phoenix Park, Dublin. It's sort of Chelsea flower show but not as grand. Anyway, I had a great time. The kids had fun and I bought 2 orchids.

Pretty or not my orchids? I spent €50 for the big one and only €5 for the purple one. My friends all teased me saying that in a few months time these orchids will wither and be like 'hidup segan mati tak mau' Hahahaa....well, this type of orchids are the easiest to manage. Lives on little water and feed. Suits me fine....but we'll see...

My 2 girls and their friends in front of flower displays. Pretty? I know my kids are pretty but the flowers pretty too right?

My friend Dr.Glam smelling the roses. Me? Not a rose person. Too thorny and difficult to take care of. I like low maintenance garden and plants that I can just plant into the ground and forget about it. Pandai-pandai lah sendiri nak hidup! Hehehh...kalau gitu tanam rumput and lalang je lah yek! Kikiki....Itu pun susah gak actually, coz then nak kena mow and weed semua. I even asked about synthetic grass, which was available there. See how lazy I am to maintain a garden?! Got no time laaahhh!! I think I have to hire a gardener maybe.............

It's been a fantastic weekend and I felt revived by it after being sick last week.

2008-05-18T12:16:00.002+01:00

This morning at the dinner table suddenly MIMI cried out

Mommyy....busuukkk....

So I checked her nappy...no...no poo...

MIMI still crying and said buuusuuukkkk...

So I thought....hmmm...maybe she wanted to poo....

So we went to the toilet, put her on the sit and wallaa....

I did it she said...

Hahahaha....today MIMI pooed in the toilet bowl.

See.....how such little, maybe meaningless to some, achievement was such a great moment for me....Hahahaha.....

Anyway, tagged by Kak D...here goes

1. I don't have handbags. I don't understand the fuss about having so many handbags. Hahahha....I got one leather bag which I sandang like a knapsack. Even that I don't use a lot of time. I usually just carry my wallet in my pocket....especially if wearing a jacket. In the summer I just carry my coins wallet with few notes in it in my pants pocket as well as my debit/credit card and my driving licence.

2. I don't eat pedas. Yes...tak tahan pedas. So I don't eat sambal belacan, or tempoyak. My masak lemak cili padi is like not pedas at all....hahaha....And I don't know how to eat budu or cencaluk. Not a Melayu at all eh...

3. I am house proud. I like my house clean and in order. Ya lorr..if things in order wouldn't it be easier to find things?

4. I hate sewing...Gosh....I just hate sewing. And to think I took kelas seri rumahtangga during form 1-3 dulu. Kikikik.....If Dr.M's pants was torn...which happen quite a lot...it will take me weeks to take out the needle and thread and sew. I would grumble to Dr.M why he had to tear his pants and so on...

5. I can't draw.

6. I love gadgets...and I like watching the teleshopping show. I even bought some things from the teleshopping. I'm easily fooled by the advert. I bought the TOBI steamer thinking it will help me with my ironing BUT I iron lagi cepat dari pakai benda tu. Some things I bought are good, some are rubbish. But now I learn to read reviews first before I buy. I saw the new Dulux PaintPod and now I'm intrigued....

7. I follow F1 Grand Prix race....and I support Ferrari.

8. I am happy. I am happy with my life now. I am happy with what I'm doing. It's not the top job, but I like the flexibility of it. The people I work with are great and accommodating. There's no chance for progress career wise but for family life it's great. Alhamdulillah I'm blessed.

All sorts of stories...

2008-05-11T23:14:00.006+01:00

Firstly...thanks to everybody for the birthday wish. To date...still no effort to garu more...*sigh*

Secondly, two of my kitchen appliances broke down. My trusted kenwood mixer brokedown first (after 2 years of use) then my breadmaker. *sigh* I wanted to make pizza dough using my kenwood but because of the high mileage of the machine, the blades just didn't want to turn anymore. So I resorted to my breadmachine to knead my dough. The breadmaker brokedown the second time I wanted to make pizza dough...on a different day. So...terpaksa le guna manual. Penat juga menggenyeh dough BUT success to the persistent. Heheheh...

So, since I bought the Kenwood from Argos and I had the product replacement insurance with it, I had to go back to Argos to get a new one. (This insurance basically gives you a new one if you break the old one or gives you a money voucher to the price of the product that brokedown). BUT the model I had was not in their catalogue anymore. Thus I had to choose a different model. Not much choice there as I want an all-in-one kitchen machine. Belek punya belek punya belek, I chose Kenwood Prospero. A bit more expensive than the one I had but I just had to add a few more euros to it. I got money vouchers from the hospital for well earned hardwork anyway, so I just use those.

So my first project with it was crème brûlée or as my sister call it creme bla bla . Ooohhhhh..... Woohooohoooo......I tell you...niiiiiceeee....I liiiiikkeeeee....And my crème brûlée was a hit with my friends. Recipe here.

Then, Saturday night, while Dr.M went to play badminton we girls skyped with my sis, the girls' Makngah. Below is the clip of the two girls

So that's our weekend. Hope yours were as fulfilling.

2008-05-08T20:11:00.006+01:00

Ni cerita basi dah actually...dah lama nak tulih tapi kan...sibuk lah...jadi doktor lah...mak lah... chef lah...laundrette lah...so by the time ada masa untuk diri sendiri dah letih bebenor...

Anywaaaayyy.....

Yesterday morning Dr.M suruh le garu belakang dia. So kita pun garu le sikit. Then he said

Uh...mommy garu takde effort langsung

To which I replied

Hmmm...kalau dapat birthday present ada le effort sikit kot....

Hehehhee....yessss....Last Saturday was my birthday. Happy birthday to me. I turned 34. Hmmm...a year wiser? Dunno...more crankier? I think so...Getting more forgetful? More so.

Anyway, it was just another day for me. No hoohaa...or whoop-pe-di-doo. Dr.M wasn't even home that day. He was away in Cork....playing badminton.....Hmmph. I got birthday wishes from my mom and my sister. *sigh* It's not so bad....coz my colleagues Dr.J and Dr.Glam treated me to a lunch-do the Friday before and they bought me a cake. Awww....sweet of them. Thank you you all...So we had cake before Dr.M went off to Cork with his friends.

I was kinda sad and disappointed that he didn't even made an effort for my birthday....even just to be there. He said he doesn't celebrate birthdays....Well...then tak yah celebrate his birthday... but celebrate le mine. Not that I want a celebration but at least be there on the day or just do something to make me feel special as it is my day. It's my feelings that need to be considered.....

Ah....I guess most men are like these and I'm not the only one feeling crappy come birthdays. It's just that come his birthday, I make sure I did something special and get him a gift...however small....even though he said there's no need for it. Ah...no biggy lah....like my mom said.....Tak celebrate pun takpe....asal sihat semua. Hmmm....ye laaaaahhhh.... Hehehe

2008-04-30T20:12:00.003+01:00

We have a new addition to our medical staff. A young doctor from South African. Yoh...I can tell you...he is a looker. Heheheh...and everytime he speaks, his accent reminds me of DiCaprio in Blood Diamond. He is very talkative, cheerful and enthusiastic. He's like a kid really...hehehe...

And so, last night he was on night shift and as always we always asked those who's on last night how was it. And he said in his South African accent....

Yoh....I was busy. They kept calling me and calling me to do things in the ward. I didn't get to sleep till late.

Then Dr.Glam teased him

I think they all like you, and they all want to see this new handsome doctor. So they all looked for things for you to do so that you'll come to the wards.

Hahahah.....

Then Dr.J came and told us a story when she was doing a shift. She got called to a ward to review a lady patient in a shared women's ward. Anyway, when she arrived these 4 ladies all looked at each other and then said

Oh...are you on? We were expecting someone else.

Yes. Dr.TF is off so I'm here. Anything I can help with?

Oh...this lady here was complaining of a bit of pain in her tummy but...it's alright. It's not that bad. She'll be alright.

Hahahaha...Dr.TF was a male doctor.....

2008-04-25T15:30:00.000+01:00

I haven't been actively blogging for a while and just now I got an SMS from a concerned blogger friend asking how I was. He thought I might not be well or something. Thanks for thinking about me...

Anyway, I've been busy. We've got guests one after another. First it was my BIL who came from UK. Well, he lepak-lepak je....more for Dr.M's company.

Then the visit from the wonderful Coventry blogger. I was working one day when suddenly I received an SMS from her asking whether she and her kids could come over and visit. Hahhah...I was delighted and of course I said yes. She came in April but the weather wasn't too kind on us but we managed some outings in the cold. See here for her account and wonderful photos as my photos don't capture the moment as good as hers.

The kids had fun...(I hope!) and NAMI made a new friend with Princess D. My baby MIMI took a shine to Kak D, even called her mama. MIMI loved playing with the kids and vice versa. I guess MIMI was enjoying the attention she got and milking it while it lasted. Little D was getting comfortable and friendly with Dr.M. I think Dr.M was enjoying the boys company as we haven't any boys as yet.

It was lovely to have them and the house was full of excitement and laughter (not to mention quarrels!) Hahahaha.....My only regret was that we didn't get to bring them to other parts of Ireland. Maybe next time, during summer, we might do a road trip somewhere. Jangan serik ya!! Would love to have you again....

Then came Dr.M's senior from Malaysia. He was in London for a course and decided to hop over to Dublin to meet up with a few of his friends who are still here. So the weekend was filled with lunch at my place and then dinner at another friend's house the next day. He had fun going down memory lane and seeing Dublin after 14 years and catching up with old friends.

The guest of honour is 2nd from left. All others are native dubliners. Heehe...Yang paling besar tu Big Boss lah..tuan rumah....

And so that's my April filled up to the brim. Now the weather seems to turned for the better. I hope it stays that way as we plan to have some outdoor activities during the summer. All the kids couped up in the house with all the energy all summer can't be good for you so we need an activity to unleash the power. Hahahhaha

PS : Anybody else want to come over to Dublin?

2008-04-20T23:35:00.000+01:00

Lama tak post entry. Hari tu masuk ofis terus kena ding dengan Mrs. Little Muffins. First question dia tanya naper dah tak blogging? Dia ingat after my last entry about appearance I dah sibuk sangat bermekap sampai takde masa nak berblogging. Kah kah kah!!

Anyhoo....terima kasih pada semua orang yang komen kat entry lepas. Hihihiih....macam-macam jawapan ye....yang lelaki nyer tertarik pada kecantikan. Baru perasan bini tu cantik ye. Siap taknak gi keje lah, tak pun kensel plan A go for plan B.... . Ada yang encourage to dress up... ye lah kan...sedap mata memandang kan Bro Mat Redo1. As for the women...takde salahnye bergaya sekali-sekala especially untuk husband tersayang. Bak kata Syana...ada spring kat kaki, hati gumbira...Ye laah...kena puji...suka lah hati kan!! Heheheh....

Anyway, pagi tadi, hubby tengah tengok rugby, I baru masuk living room and tengah minum coffee. Tetiba ada suara kecil bertanya

Abah, what happen if these people want to pee or poo?

Which people?

These people, who are playing rugby on the field.

Kah kah kah...Hai....apa lah agak nye yang terlintas dalam fikiran dia masa tu yang buat dia tanya soalan tu. Hihihihi....

2008-03-28T17:18:00.003Z

I wonder what would he do if there's a sudden change in my appearance....

I am plain. I don't dress up. I don't wear make up. I wear flat shoes. Not attractive at all. Got no sense of style or fashion. Basically I'm not gonna get heads turning my way for second look.

I was commenting on one of the staff who's wearing heels. Dr.Glam who's with me at the time then said...

I wonder what would Dr.M thinks if suddenly you dress up, in a lovely top and a long skirt, wearing lacy shoes with heels, then you do up your scarf in a fashion and wear lipstick...I think he would say Eh...lawa jugak bini aku ni ye...

I said...

Naah..he would say...Nie nak gi keje ke nak gi mana nie?!

If that happens to you men out there, what would you do/say/think?

2008-03-27T16:39:00.003Z

I've worked here in this hospital for nearly 3 years now and I think I know most of the nurses' names in the wards. I think it's just rude for a person working alongside you and you don't bother to get to know their names. I took the trouble to learn their names. There are many nurses in one ward, and most of them have common names like Mary or Marie or Marian. There are only 3 doctors on duty in the afternoon. Only 3 and it's the same ones day in and day out.

And I'm there everyday, chatting with the nurses, addressing them by their names. And you addressed me as 'the other doctor' to my colleague. Well, I think that's rude but you know what, the next time I see you I'll still address you by your name just to make you feel uncomfortable coz you don't know my name though I'm here day in and day out for 3 years. So there.

2008-03-26T14:47:00.005Z

Hehhee....I was watching these 2 gentlemen; hubby and his brother; playing Prince of Persia on the PS2 these past few days. The funny thing was that they kept scolding the Prince for not doing what they wanted him to do padahal it's them who's controlling the movement via the controller. I think the frustration and anger shown was actually directed at themselves for poor skill controlling the Prince. Ye lah kan...too many button combinations to press at the same time while panicking trying to fight the villains. I guess only those who play games will understand what they're going through. Hehehe..but to me it's just so funny listening to them getting angry at this character but I just kept my mouth shut coz I know they'll just flip if I say anything.

I'm more of a Nintendo DS person. I play the Brain games, trauma centre, Cake mania, Big brain academy and any sort of game that uses the stylus instead of the buttons and controller. I'm not that skilled. Couldn't be bothered to learn which buttons to press for what action. Hehehe...

I remembered my first game console. The Popeye of 'Game and Watch' series. Any of you had that? A few of my friends had it too and we exchanged. So I've played 'Parachute', 'Octopus', 'Treasure Hunt' and a few others. The controls were simpler, basically just need to move the character. Ah...those were the days when things were much simpler. Nowadays life is so complicated.

2008-03-23T17:20:00.000Z

At dinner one evening

Yang, do you remember your final medicine/surgery case?

Yeah, sure. I remembered I had a renal transplant patient. While I was interviewing the patient, a doctor came in and told me to feel his abdomen.

He narrated his experience to me, recounting about his short cases and his paediatric and obs and gynae cases. I looked at him in amazement and told him that I couldn't remember my final cases or even where I did my exams. He just smiled as I said I should have remembered it. He agreed by saying that it's a pivotal moment in a doctor's life coz it's a make or break situation. He continued saying that he remembered that he was with me when I went to get my result. I said I couldn't even remember THAT!! Hahaha

I am just amazed at how one can relay their life story, writing memoirs, remembering every detail, events, people that came into their life; when it occured, what day and what year. I couldn't even remember during the weekend which day I did what!! Gosh...My life must be very mundane and they just whizzed by in a blur.

The existence of forgetting has never been proved. We only know that some things don't come to mind when we want them.

~ Friedrich Nietzsche

I remembered important events alright but dates and years may be a bit blur. Photos triggered memories that's why I love taking pics and putting it in albums and doing it like a scrapbook coz I knew I'm bad at remembering. (How I become a doctor beats me as it required a lot of memorizing!)

We do not remember days; we remember moments.

~ Cesare Pavese, The Burning Brand

Well I guess keeping a blog is not such a bad idea then eh....I have a place to refer to when my memory has failed me.

Journaling is a great way to express your feelings and a good way to save the memories for years to come.

~ Tara Grant, from Simple Scrapbooking Tips & Ideas

I met a 96 year old lady in my nursing home last week. She is still in good health, still has her wit with her and still sharp. I just hope that I age that well.

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.

~ The Wonder Years, TV Show

image from cartoonstock.com

2008-03-20T14:49:00.002Z

Last night was a bad night for both of us. Dr.M was working night shift and he didn't get a wink of sleep. And so he when he got home, kissed good morning and boom! Switched off like a light bulb. But then he had to wake up again 2 and 1/2 hours later to go to another job. Lucky for him it's just half day so hopefully he'll get some rest.

As for me, MIMI was vomiting a few times last night. I don't know what's wrong. No problems during the day. She was asleep by 9pm and at 11pm she cried. I went upstairs and she and the bedsheet were covered with vomit. So I had to change her and the bedsheet and all. Put her into my room while I went to clean up the mess. Soon after I heard she cried again and yup...now it's my bedsheet and all. So had to change her again and the bedsheets.

Then later that night just a few small vomits but nothing major. Just wipe here and there and went back to sleep. But at 5am after a drink of milk she vomit all over me and the duvet and the bed. Hehehhe...between me and her, we've changed few sleepwears and 3 bedsets. My house is like a laundry now with all the sheets hanging to dry.

This morning, we fasted her from drinking milk and just let her have light meals like bread and biscuits. She's not impressed. She still asked for her milk.

As for NAMI, she went to the zoo yesterday with her friends. Came back home complaining of itchy and sore left eye. This morning it's watery and sticky with some discharges. Hmmm.... maybe some monkeys gave her a kiss.

Amidst all that, I was thinking of cancelling my morning shift at the nursing home and just stayed at home till Dr.M comes home from work and then I'll go to work. But then I got a call from Dr.Glam saying that she's not well and I had to cover for her from 12pm this afternoon.

Anyway, did cancelled my nursing home shift but had to go to the hospital earlier than intended. Sent the kids to my friend's house and told her that Dr.M will pick them up at about 1:30pm later today. NAMI was feeling miserable with her sore eye while MIMI was unbelievably chirpy.

Oh well, when things happened, they happened all at once. Just hope Dr.M is still standing when I got home later this evening.

Hopeless men...

2008-03-18T23:09:00.003Z

This afternoon at the doctor's office

Hey...Dr.Z...How are you?

Aarrghh...I just want to curl up in my duvet. Huhuhu...

Alahai...sian dia. Why? Aiseh...don't be depress.

You see, Dr.Z's wife and daughter went back home to Malaysia for a few weeks and so he's left here to fend for himself. And now he's missing them. He said sometimes at night he thought he heard his daughter's voice at home in her room. I'm glad they're coming back home next week, or we would have to tend to our hopeless Dr.Z.

Then my friend Dr.Glam joined in the discussion and told the story of when she went home to Malaysia for a month during her maternity leave. She said at first her hubby agreed coz he said then he could study and all. But then he realised he made a huge mistake after coming back from sending them all to the airport. He said he felt something was missing. She said her hubby called her almost everyday and couldn't study at all!

Back home I told hubby the stories of these hopeless men. He said Why do you think whenever I'm not busy during my night shift I called you?

Of unspoken truth and understanding

2008-03-16T10:54:00.003Z

Hubby's senior during med school migrated back here from Malaysia a few months ago. Then he went home to fetch his family. They all just arrived back a few days ago. Hubby, as usual wanted to welcome this newcomers to Kg. Luc@n and so wanted to invite them over for lunch or dinner this weekend.

But I said Let them get settled first in their new home and get over the jet lags and all. They're still tired from their journey and they're in a new environment.

The more we should invite them over....so that his wife no need to cook and all. This is not like Malaysia where you can just go out and buy just about any food under the sun to take away.

So I agreed and so he called them. I was busy in the kitchen when he came in and said They decline the offer. He said they want to settle down first.

I just said Hmmmmmmm......while still working away at the sink.

He spoke imitating me Hmmmmmm.....See....I told you. But did you listen? Nooooooooo..... and walked away.

I just laughed....

2008-03-10T21:45:00.004Z

Small little tiny things that makes me go

He put me in his contact list as Sayang A****a

He came back from night shift Saturday morning. Instead of waking me up, he let me slept in and he settled the kids (bath and breakfast - bread with butter and nutella hehehe)

Exchanging sms saying goodnite and luv u before going to bed when he's on night shift.

Filling up my car with petrol without me asking.

One Friday night I asked him whether he was working Saturday morning and he said yes. Then he asked You want me to cancel? Aaaawww.....that's alright dear...thanks for the thought...

Not to mention the hugs and kisses of course.

2008-03-08T00:11:00.003Z

Aish...nyampah lah. It's quarter past midnight. All my plans gone out the window.

I was berkobar-kobar nak clean up the house tonight and get everything ready for breakfast tomorrow so that tomorrow morning relax sikit.

BUT it all gone wrong after flipping the TV channel and got stuck watching Notting Hill instead.

Aarrrggghhh!! I seriously can't resist a rom-com....

Next time kalau dah buat plan kena tutup TV pekak kan telinga butakan mata and stick to the plan.

Okaylah..nak pi tido...esok nak kena bangun pagi...banyak keje nak kena buat.

The coin story

2008-03-06T11:40:00.002Z

Yesterday me and my colleague, let's call her Dr. Glam, we were at the nursing station counting our coins that we have for lunch. Not that we don't have money, it's just that we're lazy to go back to the office to take our wallet. So what we had was just my coin purse.

Anyway, while we're counting, a consultant surgeon walked in and saw us counting. And he quipped "Bad times eh?" Hahahhaha...!! Hmmm...if only he would open his wallet and gave us a tenner that would be great!

We had €6 worth of coins and when we're about to go, the nurse reminded us not to forget our money. So we said "Oh..it's only €6, for our lunch." And she said "Oh my God, is that all for the two of you? Do you want some money?" Hehehhe....takdelah miskin sangat kami nie....Thanks anyway...

Then we went to the restaurant, chose our lunch and then total €8.55. Oh gosh!! Alamak....So what to do, had to open the coin purse and gave her all my 10c, 20c, 50c, 5c, 2c and 1c. The cashier quipped "Have you been singing last night?" Hahahha...not that I would have gotten any tips if I had. I might be thrown out most probably!

Quite an embarassing moment for us but....ah well...they know us and they're just pulling our legs.

2008-03-03T22:00:00.009Z

I watched "Are you smarter than a 10 year old", a new quiz show with questions based on the UK syllabus from age 6 to 10 years old. My goodness...the UK syllabus are really hard and well rounded from sciences to maths, languages and history, music and geography, religions and famous figures, literature and astronomy. Can you imagine one question was a 6 year old history asking about crimean war? Even I didn't know that and wow! A 6 year old had to learn about that. Go ahead, click on the link and play the online game and see how you fare...

I am craving for a book to read. Ever since Harry Potter series came to a closure, I am itching to read or follow a book serie. I want to feel the excitement, the anticipation, the worldwide craze that was Harry Potter. Been reading Spook, but it's not as intriguing or as gripping as Harry Potter series. Don't want to read A series of unfortunate event as it's sad to continue reading the unfortunate events of those kids. We watched the movie the Golden Compass. Dr. M read the trilogy and he said it's different from the movie. But he said that the book is totally against our aqidah (I think it's written by an aethist..I dunno) and so that kinda of put me off a bit. That is silly, I know, since I read Harry Potter but...dunno lah...may be I'll read it someday. Now they're making The Spiderwick Chronicles. I saw this series of books at the bookstore during Christmas and was thinking of buying the whole series but couldn't get the whole series. Maybe I should have bought them from Amazon. Anyway, it's a childrens book and it's not thick at all. Maybe I could do a project of reading it with NAMI because it's a story of fantasy world.

Another thing that I'm dying to do is to try out my new Olympus Evolt 510 dSLR. Ooohh...I've been itching to try it out but I just have no time. I've been reading the how to of dSLR, the functions, aperture, shutters and so on and they have exercise at the end of each chapter for me to familiarise with the camera. But that's all I've been doing...reading...I need to do the practical. I hope with the coming months of summer, I'll get to go to the park and practise with it.

Mmm...people at home are getting palpitations over the general election and here I am writing about things that is so mundane and unimportant. I'm sorry. People at home, please cast your vote to make the change for a better Malaysia, for a better future.

2008-03-02T20:51:00.005Z

Happy Mother's Day to all mommies out there.

The kids made mother's day card for me in school and creche.

NAMI's card

MIMI's card

Of course both cards ended up on the Fridge of Honour, along with other arts and magnets

Then NAMI said to Dr.M

Abah, where's your card for mommy? You have to make a mother's day card for her

He answered I don't have to make a card for her. It's Mother's Day not Wife's day!

Haahhahahaa! Kureng asam...hampeh!!

2008-02-29T14:36:00.006Z

It's Friday yeay!! The weather sucks though....

Yesterday I got home early. Clean up the house and told them all biscuits, kuaci, pistachios and cereal bars are ban till Sunday. We're having guests for lunch tomorrow and I just do not have the time to clean up again coz I'll be busy cooking.

This morning, while having my breakfast, I flipped through the channel and watched "You've got Mail". It was halfway through already but I've seen it before, once I think. So anyway, breakfast finished and it's 9am and I still got 30 minutes before I need to go to work. Hubby was there too, and both of us were laughing enjoying the banter, the flirting, the flattering between men and women in the movie.

And we laughed our heart out at this scene coz it's just so typical of men charming the ladies with flattery. But it work both ways too...

Anyway, the movie brought back all memories of the tingling feeling, feelings of anticipation, missing you feelings and so on masa bercinta. The fact that the love developed from the internet and grown made it more interesting. Just like nowadays people are chatting away online through YM, or MSN and connecting through blogs. Never met before but friendships develop and bloom and can be everlasting.

Ah...I just love a good rom-com movie. I like the exchange of banter, flirting and charm between man and woman. The part of falling in love and being in love just makes one feels warm and fuzzy. Hihihih...

Talking about warm and fuzzy, I was watching "Terms of Endearment" late one night with him. But by 11:30pm he said he's going upstairs. So I asked him "Do you want me to go up with you too? Coz if you want me to go up I'll go; if not then I'll watch this till it's finish". He looked at me and just sat down next to me and we watched the movie till the end. The end of the movie was sad where the girl died from breast cancer and I was crying my eyes out. He hugged me and said "Insya-Allah we'll grow old together". I pray so too.

2008-02-27T21:49:00.002Z

Duduk luar negeri nie, macam-macam pengalaman. Masa memula sampai dulu musim luruh, agak sejuk le jugak..macam jakun je bila bercakap ada asap keluar dari mulut. Hahaha...

Sampai ikut London, ada le dua hari before terbang ke Dublin. Jadi berjalan le sekitar kota London. Naik double decker bas tu, naik tube, pergi Trafalgar Square main dengan pigeons. Heheheh...

Bila sampai Dublin dijemput personally oleh warden masa tu, arwah Pak Ngah dan terus diberi kediaman. Lepas tu senior lah yang show us the ropes of living in an european city. Macam mana nak check certain food boleh makan ke tak boleh, kat mana nak beli ayam halal, stationery shops and so on.

That seems like a lifetime ago. Never crossed my mind, our mind that we're gonna be working here, got married, bought a house and have kids schooling here. Never crossed our mind that we're going to die here.

But that all changed. Ajal maut di tangan Tuhan and can happen anytime, anywhere. Last year during hari raya, the father of a Malaysian who came over for a visit died here in Dublin. Phone calls and sms here and there, the news reached us here in Luc@n. Hubby and a few friends set out to get the word out and kutip derma, and then went for tahlil organized for the arwah.

That unfortunate event opened our eyes for us who are living here. Questions began popping in our heads like what will we do if this happened to one of us. So Kg. Luc@n decided to get together and discuss about khairat kematian.

Dr. Z did the research and presented the topic. He opened with addressing the need for us to have a will. Then he told us of the series of events that followed after a death. Who to call, what to do, what happened to the body, where will it be buried and so on and the cost of it all.

The main objective was to set up 'Tabung Khairat' for our kampung and a committee to handle it if such unfortunate event is to occur. It seems that Malaysian embassy does not have any such funds and it's up to the arwah's family to shoulder all cost. The history was it seems that there was such tabung around the world for arwah's family to borrow money from but nobody bothered to repay back the borrowed money so that's why they abolished the tabung.

Anyway, at the end of it all, the tabung was set up and every Malaysian family living permanently in Luc@n is to contribute a certain amount into it and the committee was set up. Basically it's our way to help ease the burden of the arwah's family in his/her time of need.

It's a preparation for the worse. We're hoping none of us living here need to use it any time soon...Only Allah knows...we can just doa for panjang umur, sihat walafiat and murah rezeki.

Time...

2008-02-26T09:08:00.006Z

Have you notice that when you're late or in a rush the time flies? And that's when everything that you need has gone missing or misplaced. And everything will go wrong.

Have you notice when you're waiting for something or eager or excited about something the time is ever so slow? It's like the second hand is taking forever to move.

And I'm sure when you're having fun the hours pass unnotice and seems like seconds. But when you're miserable every second feels like a lifetime.

When you're young and busy, 24 hours a day is never enough. When you're running against a deadline, time given is never enough.

But if you just stop and pause and enjoy the world, your surrounding, your families and friends, your pets, your hobby, whatever that makes you happy, time is moving just right. Only problem is, whether you want to find the time that is just right for you.

In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

By time!

Surely the human being is at loss.

Except for those who have faith and do righteous deeds and exhort one another to truth and exhort one another to patience

Sûrah al-`Asr

Time is precious. Once it's gone, you're not gonna get it back. Do what you can in what ever time you have. At the same time take time for important things like families and friends and nourishing one's soul.

2008-02-25T09:12:00.004Z

Success!!

No tears today when I sent MIMI to creche. She was quiet but she let me took off her jacket and then she herself walked to the table where the kids gathered. Then she sat there and let me kissed her and said goodbye. She didn't even budge when I walked away. She just looked at me.

But the look on her face was a sad face. A face that said Well, I tried last week. It seems that this is it. This is gonna be the way. I guess I better accept my fate and learn to enjoy myself here. I know she'll pick me up later.

Ooohhh.....my feelings? Mixed up. I was proud of her coz she didn't cry. I was sad coz I had to send her there. I was sad too coz now I felt like she doesn't need me as much. Ooohhh...my baby's growing up!!

Susah lah...Nangis sedih tak nangis pun sedih! Hahaha....

2008-02-19T17:16:00.005Z

The alarm on the phone went off. Aarrrghhh...Had to wake up. The day began......

0630 - 0700 : Wake NAMI up.

NAMI. Wake up. Come on.

But Mommy, I'm still sleepy.

That's why I told you to sleep at 7pm.... Blah...blah...blah...

Wake up hubby.

Yang, bangun. Kata nak jalan pukul 0730am

What time is it?

Quarter to 7.

Hmmph. Ok

0700 - 0745 : Masak dinner. Toast for breakfast for NAMI. Masak air. Get NAMI's lunch ready. Hubby go to work. Kiss kiss. Hug hug

0745 - 0815 : Mandikan MIMI. Me mandi myself.

0815 - 0900 : Send NAMI to school. MIMI to creche. Sob..sob...cry...cry...Go to work.

0900 - 1130 : Work work work. Hellooo...goodbye...Go home

1200 - 1300 : Do house chores. Angkat kain. Jemur kain. Vacuum sikit. Siap lunch budak.

1310 - 1330 : Pick up NAMI. Pick up MIMI. Send to friend's house till evening. Thank you..thank you..You're the best. Rush off to work again....different hospital.

1330 -1400 : Vroom....Vrroooomm...Alahai..cepat lah sikit. Slow nye kereta nie... Overtake....vrrooomm...vrooomm... Orang dah lambat nie! What's that? OH NOOOOOOO!!!!!! Yellow fluorescent jacket...Aaarghh....

1400 - 1415 : Got stopped by the Garda (police)

Mam, this is a 60km/h limit and you're driving at 88km/h.

But officer. I'm already late. I suppose to be at the hospital now.

This won't take long Mam. Can I have your license please.

Aaaaarrrggghhh!! I didn't mind the fine, it's the penalty points that I'm gonna get. Tainted my record bersih...that's gonna cost me at my insurance renewal. Ciiissss!!

1415 - 1700 : Rush...rush...rush....Admit patients. Miss lunch. Oohh..so hungry. Chocolate will do...

1800 - 1840 : Stuck in traffic. Pick up NAMI and MIMI at friend's house. Got home. Get ready for dinner.

1900 - 1945 : Hubby's home. Dinner with family. NAMI to bed. Play with MIMI. Get ready for swimming class.

2015 - 2130 : Swim swim swim. Float float float. Kenyang minum chlorine. Get home. PENGSAN

Oh my baby...

2008-02-18T16:27:00.002Z

Today, it's MIMI's first induction day at the creche. At first she's excited, looking at all the other kids. Then when we get to the toddlers room where she'll be cared for, she began to feel quite anxious. She went in alright and played with the toys but her eyes kept reverting back to me checking that I was there waiting for her. Then I slipped out while she was unaware and the cry from her just torn me inside. The supervisor said I could stay with her for the first day coz it's just 1 hour but I needed to go coz I know she'll be fine. So off I went though my heart's bleeding.

Later I went in to pick her up I saw she's sitting at the table with the other kids and joining in with the singing. She's not crying but I can see she's not her joyful self. When she saw me straight away she ran to me and cried her heart out. Oooohhhh.....

Tomorrow she'll be left for a little bit longer. 2 and a half hours. I have to coincide the timing with when NAMI finished school so I can pick them up at the same time and send them to my friend's house and then rush off to work again. Wednesday she'll be left for 5 and a half hours and Thursday will be her first full day. I know she'll be alright. She's a toughie. It's just hard on me to see her distressed and all when I first drop her in.

I know it's gonna be okay and she'll learn to love the place coz it's all play and she'll have friends there. It's the first few days that's gonna be hard for us.

2008-02-15T15:27:00.003Z

Hello. Good morning Mrs. C. How are you keeping today. I'm sorry to bother you but I have to take some blood sample of you to check your thyroid functions. I told Mrs. C as the nurses gathered around her and sitting her in her chair.

Go away! Don't touch me! She said to the nurses. They all tried to calm her down and talked in soothing voices, like trying to coax a child really.

She saw me and said Sister! Sister! (she thought I'm a nun as I'm wearing tudung) Please help me. Help me. They all trying to hurt me. She begged me and trying to grab my hand.

I spoke to her again in a calm and soothing voice explaining what I'm going to do. When she realised she's trapped she began to struggle against the nurses who've been holding her, all the while shouting and screaming.

I was ready with the needle and as I was about to prick her Pttuuiih! She spat at me. Luckily there's no mucus or salive. Just air. But it really caught me by surprise and that I took a deep breathe in and said "Astaghfirullahal'azim, Allahu Akbar Kabira" and I went in and jab her. The nurses must be wondering what I had said. I just hope they didn't think it was cursing in Arabic!

She howled alright but I got my blood. The nurses released her and told her off. I went on and did other things the nurses wanted me to do and before I went, I passed her and she apologised. I told her it's alright, as long as she doesn't do it again.

There would be times when I went and examined patients or tried to take bloods from them and I'd get hit, kicked or cursed. Usually cursed. Hehehe....But that's it, the reality of it. These patients have demetia or Alzheimers, and they just not in their right mind. They don't know what they're doing. It's just instinct. They acted out like children. And they become like children, very dependent on you. Some are mobile, walking around but most are full nursing care.

It is sad but that's the reality of it. The modern medicine allowed people to live longer and the result is a bigger elderly population. People just need to be aware of the condition and the care that comes with elderly patients that have Alzheimer's or dementia.

Things you do...

2008-02-13T20:16:00.003Z

You know, people do things they never thought they'd do when they love somebody. Never knew about rugby, I learnt about it. Never was a reader, now he is one. Don't know how to swim, now I'm taking lessons. Why? Because I love him and I want to share his hobby.

One time I gave him an experience birthday present. It was a scuba dive trial, "Discover Scuba". Little did I know that he loved it. He even took the PADI course for diving. And so now he is a scuba diver but still level one. He dived a few times in Dublin with a friend of ours. When we went home last August he bought scuba diving stuffs as it is cheaper and better choices back home. Anyway, he kept urging me to learn to dive so that we can dive together. I was apprehensive at first but after I went snorkelling a few times when we went to Sabah and Redang, I was set in mind to pursue it.

And so that's why I am going to swimming classes every Tuesday night, trying to float, getting chlorinated water up my nose and hoping not to drown...

NAMI v MIMI --- NAMI

2008-02-08T14:33:00.000Z

As you know I have two kids. And they are a joy. They are so opposite each other that you just couldn't help yourself but compare.

As always, MIMI will always copy whatever her sister NAMI is doing. So we always say to NAMI to show good examples. But there are times when MIMI just wants to be left alone or wants to play by herself but her sister NAMI insists that she plays with her and play her games and according to her rules. So they fight. Usually ending with NAMI crying saying "But I want her to play with me!!" So we reminded NAMI that sometimes when she is drawing she doesn't want MIMI to disturb her...so it's about give and take, tolerate each other and sometimes just have some quiet "me" time.

I found NAMI is more girly and proper. A princess in short. Not very flexible at times. She takes her time when eating or doing things. There is just no urgency in her movement. Which sometimes frustrates me. She cries for even the slightest thing. Like she has no pj to wear, or the shower head is turned sideways and she can't move it, or I made her roti butter chocolate lipat instead of roti butter gula and not lipat....and many others I don't care to list lah...!

But NAMI is helpful. When she wants to be. Boleh disuruh, which I'm glad. She knows if water spilt or there are crumbs on the floor, never mind who did it, she'll wipe it or brush it, without me telling her to do so. It took few tellings though but now it's terpahat in her brain to do so.

But she can be persistent. Every nite she'll ask me "Can I sleep in Adik's bed?" even though she knows what my answer would be. It's a double decker you see and she sleeps at the top bunk and I think she's a bit concious that she'll hit her head onto the ceiling. There's this one time when we were travelling and she wants an orange. She ate few already and she just had lunch and we didn't want her to puke in the car due to kenyang sangat. So her Mak Ong (Kak N) told her to wait for half an hour before eating another one. She asked "What's half an hour?" So we told her to look at the digital clock in the car, say it's 4.15pm. When it's 4.45pm that's half an hour. And so we continued on the journey me and Kak N chatting all the while when suddenly we heard "Can I have the orange now?" Haahha...all this while she's been keeping an eye on that digital clock! And we thought she's forgotten about it.

She is diplomatic, she is artistic, she is not agile and can be clumsy at times, she lacks confidence until she sees someone her age doing it, then she knows she can do it. She tells stories with excitement and full of vigour. She is my girl.

2008-02-05T13:29:00.000Z

This morning I went to the ward and a pathology report was on the table. It was Mrs. O's biopsy report. She has breast cancer. *sigh*. I just got a call from the team that I referred her to and they said she had been referred to an oncology team. Because of her age and co-morbidity they're just going to put her on hormonal treatment. She is an elderly and has Alzheimer's.

Last year I referred another patient to Breast clinic and she also turned out to have breast cancer. The same kind and so now she's on hormonal treatment.

I'm writing this out because these patients are on full nursing care. Meaning that they are fed and bathed for. I was called to review these 2 ladies who were on different wards(on 2 different occasions). They said they found a lump on the breasts on these two ladies. When I examined the lumps found on these 2 ladies, even by looking at it I knew it was cancer. The skin changes such as inverted nipple, skin dimpling and orange peel appearance told me straight away that it was cancer. When I felt the lumps they were hard, non-mobile and non-tender. I was very concerned and very disheartened. I asked the ward sisters "How was this missed? I mean, these patients were bathed and changed clothes nearly everyday. How come nobody noticed that lump? How come nobody felt it? I didn't even have to search for it or press hard for the lump. It's there point blank! It couldn't just materialized overnight" The sister couldn't answer me and she was just as puzzled as me as how it was missed.

Another patient presented with bleeding per vagina. It was just a small amount but consistently everyday. So referred her to the gynaecologist. They did all the necessary tests and it turned out to be cervical cancer. And as the the other 2 ladies, she's not for further treatment as she will not be able to cooperate.

These 3 ladies presented late in their lives and so usually if they are not fit and well or there's no quality of life or the risk outweigh the benefits, they usually resort to palliative care only. But these cancers, breasts and cervical can be caught early with screening. Here in Ireland there are centers that do breasts and cervical cancer screenings. They do cervical smear test and a mammogram. And for breasts cancer women should self-examine. Get to know your 'twins' and if there's any lumps or bumps do not hesitate to consult your doctor.

These cancers if caught early are treatable with surgery +/- adjuvant therapy such as radio or chemo therapy. So I'm calling out to all women out there, please don't be shy and go for check-ups. It's such a shame if these cancers are caught at later stage when all the treatment that you go through can buy you only few months while if caught early the prognosis are much better.

But of course, all are in the hands of The Almighty and He is the one who knows best. But as sis Raden Galoh wrote Doa, Usaha, Ikhtiar and Tawakkal....konsep DUIT....

So people go and book your appointments with the screening center and be done with it. 2 tahun sekali je....or maybe longer...

When in Dubai

2008-02-03T22:04:00.000Z

Go for the desert safari

We went to Jabel Hafeet

We did karting

The food we ate

The images of families and friends in Dubai

We had a lovely time in Dubai. Now back in cold and gloomy Dublin, I'm missing the warmth of the company of families and friends, the smiles and laughter that echoed whenever we met and the cherished friendship. May Allah bless you people who accommodated us there and may we meet again someday.

2008-02-01T19:31:00.000Z

The page of 'new post' was open and the cursor had been blinking for few minutes. I had been staring at the cursor and the blank page for few minutes, waiting for anything to transpire so that it can be transformed into words.

But what kept coming into my head was how tired I was. I need a holiday after this holiday . I guess the adrenaline and the excitement was what kept me going during the holiday; and when we reached home this morning the fatigue just took over me and nothing took precedence over my resting.

There are plenty of chores to be done. Unpacking, the laundry, the ironing, cleaning the house top to bottom, the toilet, cooking. But I couldn't be bothered. We just ordered pizza for lunch and for dinner I went to my friend's house and tapau for hubby. Hubby's friend was coming over and so he asked him to buy some fried chicken. He came and he commented "Hehhe..tonggang langgang rumah!" I just replied "Penat lah F. You nak tolong kemaskan ke?" Hehehe... I'll take his comment as a compliment (meaning my house clean lah kan most of the time.. ) Then he went and commented "Hari nie makan Pizza hut and fried chicken...makanan tak berkhasiat" Cisss! I replied "Satu kali nie je you datang I tak masak dinner terus kena kritik!" Hehehe...takpe lah...I knew he was just pulling my legs.

I'll write about the trip next time. I just like to thank Along and Kak N for their kindness and hospitality when we're there. I like to thank Abg Arief too for your graciousness accommodating us for few nights at his place. Though separated by distance, the warmth of kinship and friendship remains strong and I pray that it continues on. I wish we could be there longer, maybe next time.

When we arrived Dublin this morning at 5:00am, and the cold wind swept across the face, reality set in.....I'm home.

2008-01-23T15:35:00.000Z

Bonjour....Oui...I'm in Paris. The long silence was due to family visit here to Dublin. We went for a tour of Ireland; Dublin to Giant Causeway in Northern Ireland, a break at a friend's house in the west, driving around the scenic route and went to the Cliffs of Moher (it was sooooo foggy couldn't see the cliffs at all!). We then spent 2 days at Killarney region, staying at Lake Caragh and visiting the Malaysian community in Killarney as well as making new friends.

Now I'm in Paris. Ooohh...Paris is sooooo besutiful in winter. It's lovely. All the while we're touring Ireland it was raining and gloomy and cold. In Paris the sun is shining, the winter tolerable and lovely. We were here before in August a few years back and that was fabulous but this time of the year the city is picturesque with its bare trees. It's pleasant for walks in the parks, sitting in a cafe and watch the world go by. It's a wonderful city to get lost and be in love. To me Paris is a romantic city...especially in winter.

Tomorrow we're off to Dubai, continuing our holiday. We'll be visiting Dr.M's brother Along there as well as our beloved family friend Mr. Idham. I heard Dubai was raining and floods everywhere. I hope when we're there the sun will be shining on us. But whatever the weather, we'll be in the company of good friends and families.

2008-01-05T22:28:00.000Z

So many people have been asking where I've been. What I've been doing. What's happening to me. Long time no update one. ...my sister even sms me asking how I was and was there anything wrong coz it's been a while since I've updated. Thank you everybody for caring. I'm touched.

Well, let me tell you then. First we had the coming of age to 2 years old of my little MIMI. Happy birthday my dear. She was so confused and was looking bewildered at all the attention she was getting that day.

Then the arrival of my BIL and family; Along and Kak N who came over from Dub@i to spend their christmas holidays with us. We had a great time together driving around Ireland; getting lost in Belfast, climbing the Giant Causeway, braving the cold wind in Muckross House, experiencing the countryside of Killarney and driving through the Gap of Dunloe. We went to a fellow Malaysian house in Killarney whom we met only once in Dublin but their welcome were warm and friendly. Their layanan was ikhlas from the heart and we were treated like old friends. Only Allah will repay your kindness.

Below are photos from their visit.

Then all 3 members of my troop fell ill. Both kids were down with fever and respiratory tract infection. Started with Dr. M really and so far I'm the only one still standing strong holding the fort. I hope I will stay healthy for the duration of my holidays coming next week.

So, that's it for now. It's been getting colder and colder by the day. It snowed twice already here in Dublin and the wind and rain been lashing down this past week. I just hope when my guests arrived next week the weather would be better.

2007-12-31T22:55:00.000Z

I was down in the dumps. Kepala serabut and hidup a bit kelam kabut at the moment. I was busy entertaining too during xmas holidays. I was about to write something about betrayal but changed my mind. Why? I just read Kak D's entry of the poem/prayers about how one should live in the present and appreciate the past instead of living in it. So let bygone be bygone. And after a long time no entry and not bloghopping or even visit my own blog, seeing my blog friends still dropping by and wishing me a happy new year filled me with hopes and happiness. There are still kind and trustworthy people around. And for that I am thankful.

So, with the rising of the new year, come new hopes and dreams. New targets to achieve. I pray that the new year bring more rezki and barakah to everybody.

2007-12-11T21:47:00.000Z

You know how there would be one song that you could hear over and over again and it still gives you goose bumps everytime you hear it? I first heard this song in "Scrubs" sitcom and it just grabbed my heart. Not so much for the lyrics but more for the acoustic music. After I knew who's the singer I googled and found that he has a few songs in "Scrubs" and they're all equally good. I then googled Joshua Radin and found few sites that gave previews of his songs and I'm hooked.

If you follow "Scrubs" you'll notice a lot of their songs are unheard of. It's more towards indie and acoustic. Which is my kind of music for the moment. The same with "House M.D".They played songs from Cary Brothers, Ben Harper, The Fray, Colin Hays....

Your taste of music grows with you, it changed as you mature in life. When I was in college, I listened to "Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns and Roses and played air guitar and head banged to the guitar solo. Bon Jovi and Def Leppard were once my favourites too. Odd times I would listen to Poison, Aerosmith, Nirvana but mostly just their hits.

Then when I came here to study I met Dr. M and my taste changed a bit. I liked (and still do) R&B; such as Boys to Men, Toni Braxton and Sheila Majid. I learned about Queen, a bit of classical music (the famous ones anyway), got to know about U2 (who's Irish by the way!) some oldies like Abba, the Carpenters and bits and pieces like Zainal Abidin, M.Nasir.

And do you notice that as you grow "mature" you are not bothered about who sang what song and what's the lyric like? Hehehe...I can remember the lyrics to the songs I heard when I was younger but to the new hits I was like eh....couldn't be bothered. And the songs they played in the radio pun not great pun lah...to me anyway.

If I look in my library of mp3 I see variety kind of music from acoustic to alternate rock, both English and Malay as well as classics. I would love to listen to them all at one go but if I burn them on CDs the most I got would be 21 songs. What I'm looking for now is an MP3 player that I can hook to my radio player in the car and play my music while I'm driving in the traffic. An Ipod would be the choice but it's a bit expensive and I have to have iTune with it. Sony is alright too but it has no expansion slot and the highest would be 8gb. They say Creative Zen is great but it couldn't be hooked up to my radio in the car via auxillary cable.

Any suggestion people?

Huhuhuuhuh

2007-11-25T09:24:00.000Z

My laptop is sick. Can switch it on but hard drive is dead. It happened before but the hard drive kicked back in and was working fine but now it's totally dead. I'm a bit sad not becoz of the laptop but for all the data in there. Most of the photos I had backed up but the recent ones like the trip back home, my brother's wedding, the Redang and Sabah trip; those ones I didn't backed up yet. So....I'm soooo sad now. Maybe there won't be any data loss...but...most probably there would.

But I'm a bit sakit hati with the technician who was helping me on the phone. I think when he heard a lady's voice he already stereotyped me as a ding-dong who doesn't know sh*t about computers. He sounded patronizing and like irritated. And when he said that there might be data loss I asked him is there any way they could retrieve the data (coz I know they can) before any repairing, he told me off, more like scoffed at me. He said It's not our job to do that, it's your job to back things up. Come on lah...I KNOW that...I'm not computer illiterate ok!! I'm not any ditzy who owns a laptop. I do back things up. Most of my data backed up pun...just my song collections (which I can download again no problem with that) and the photos mentioned above. It's just that it was untimely that this happened before I could do any backing up. He could have just said I'm sorry ma'am they couldn't do that and stop at that. I would have been fine with that. But noooo....he made me feel bad about myself for not backing things up. *sigh* Men..

Anyway, my laptop masuk clinic this Wed. I hope it'll be ok. It's insured so I don't have any cost to be worried about and if they couldn't repair it..they'll give me a new laptop.....Hmmmmm......a nice thought but a bit sad coz of the lost datas. Oh well....we'll see lah.

For the moment I'm using hubby's laptop. Well, house laptop actually. And so a lot of my favourites are not there....leceh le sikit coz I have to type or search for my fav sites instead of just go to fav's. Oh well...at least it's working fine......

2007-11-20T17:01:00.000Z

Unit D

Doktora, Mrs. F fell over the weekend and she's complaining of pain in her right wrist.

Ok. Let me take a look at her.

The wrist was swollen and tender. Decrease range of movement. She won't move the wrist as I instructed her to do.

Okay, send her down for X-ray.

*Mrs. F did have a fracture of her wrist and now in a cast.*

Unit C

Doktora, we noticed Mrs. H has unequal pupil

WHAT??!! Okay. Is that new or has she always had unequal pupil? I said as I looked through her medical notes

Anyway, I went to Mrs. H and shone the pen light into her eyes. True enough, the left pupil was bigger than the right one and didn't react to the light as it should. Movement of the eyes were normal and there were no ptosis of the eyelids.

I called the Royal Eye and Ear hospital and spoke to the opthalmologist on-call and he said to send her in right away.

*Mrs.H was admitted to Royal Eye and Ear hospital and verbal report from them said she has increased pressure of her left eye.*

Unit A

Doctor KD. Mrs. K's urine is bloody again.

Oh no! It was clear when I left here Friday.

Yeah...and it was clear over the weekend. But now it's back.

It was bloody alright, with clots and sedimentations. She has indwelling catheter. She had a bad case of urinary tract infection and was on IV antibiotics. We thought she had cleared the infection as the urine was clear and she was better in herself.

*sigh* Okay. Continue her antibiotics and I'm going to refer her back to the Urologist she was under before.

Right. I'm going to call her daughter and tell her what's happening.

Today Mrs. K's urine had worsened. But her daughter told the nurses that they don't want her to be sent down to hospital for this. But I said to the head nurse that we need to know the cause and it's wrong not to do so. I know she'll be undergoing a lot of test but it's the consultant urologist call. And when they know the cause and they decided not to go for treatment then we oblige. But not before.

I'm highlighting these cases because my patients are all elderly ladies in their 70s and above and so judgement call to treat or not to treat is a bit tricky. There are a lot of factors to consider such as their quality of life, their co-morbidity and family wishes. It's easy to just brush it off with simple explanation; like it's just a sprain or bruised; or oh since she got no other symptoms the pupil must have been like that before it's just that we didn't notice it. Do what you think is right for the patients because in the end you are the one responsible for their care. And to seek expert help when you're in doubt.

Either you fix those holes or....

2007-11-18T21:15:00.000Z

Yes....it worked. Threats do work at times. Depends how you said it too. Tak mau lah sampai perang dunia ketiga kan.

Anyway...I've been nagging Dr.M to fix the holes on the walls for few weeks now. He's been busy working so I let it be.

But last week he was free as a bird but what did he do? He lepak-lepak and watched 'House' and 'Heroes'.

Then his set of Lego he bought from internet arrived and so I said

Either you fixed those holes on the walls or I'll hide all those Legos

That surely got him going.

When he finished he said

There. Are you happy now?

Hmhmff...half happy...you still got the chair to fix

And he cupped my face with his hands and smacked a big kiss on me

Gustav Klimt - Kiss

Hmmm...that sure shut me up.

But I'm still half happy....the chair still need doing....

C'est la vie

2007-11-16T16:17:00.000Z

I was putting an IV cannula on a patient just now. I admitted this patient on Tuesday. She had been unwell for few weeks. Not major unwell but like tiredness and she said she sweats profusely. She put it down to stress at first as she was a midwife and works in a public maternity hospital. She finally went to her GP and she was commenced on antibiotics. But she was no better and so her GP referred her to a physician here in this hospital.

I took her history and she was never in hospital for anything. Not on any medications. No other symptoms like weight loss or bowel problems. She was admitted for further investigations.

Yesterday I heard the news that she had liver mets. No primary found as yet. As I was putting the line in I said "I just heard the news. I'm so sorry" She looked at me bravely and said "Well, if it's to be, I just have to go on. There's no point pondering. Life has to go on."

And she kept talking saying that

I never smoked and never sick and it's terrible being hit with a news like this. It's like being hit with a train and you're not prepared for it.

And she was thinking out loud whether should she go for the chemo, is it worth the trouble...

Then she said

I'll have to get those funky bandanas and bangly earrings to match as it's the fashion for chemo patients. I still have to get the news out to family and friends

and I said

You'll have lots of visitors then

and she said

Yeah they'll be streaming in. I have good friends and neighbours. But what really worried me is my big baby (her hubby). I don't know how to break the news to him. I don't know how he'll take it.

I finished and when I turned to go I squeezed her hand and gave her a smile and she said to me

Don't you fret. I'll be alright

Some people are born to be a tough cookie. And they are amazing. And they still think of other people around them.

2007-11-15T14:33:00.000Z

I am a doofus..

Yes everybody...point your fingers at me and say it out loud "You're a doofus" Hehehe...

You know that my glasses got bent by my beloved Cik MIMI and I'm wearing my spare one that's tinted. So I went to Specs@vers on Monday to get new ones. They have Buy one get one free offer from €99 inclusive of lenses. So I chose one €189 ultraflex frame so that Cik MIMI could never bend my glasses to smitherin again and one square half frame. I had to go for Ultraclear and thin lenses as my prescription is high and so that cost me €180 for the two pair of lenses. (Kalau yang inclusive in the price tu tebal lenses dia...tak lawe le saya! Hehehe). So the 2 new glasses cost me €369.

Anyway, today I went to pick up my new glasses. I brought in the one that's bent and asked can they swapped the tinted lenses with the bent ones. They said yes they can but there's a risk of the lenses being damaged while being cut to fit the frame. I said that's okay since I got 2 new glasses anyway.

So I gave them the glasses and I wore my new glasses. They said to come back in an hour to pick up the ones to be swapped and it'll cost €45. I was like soooooo gutted inside coz I knew if I had done that on Monday I wouldn't have spent €369. *sigh*

So now I have 3 good glasses........Emmmmmm

2007-11-13T00:24:00.000Z

STOP!! You don't have to tell them that!!

We were at a car dealer today during lunch time looking for a 7 seater. It's actually for me so Hyundai Santa Fe was my choice. I was examining the car when I commented that when the back seats are up there's practically little space for stuff. So the car dealer asked

Are you looking just for a people carrier or for storage as well like putting suitcases and all? And is it gonna be 7 seaters all the time or just some of the time?

Then hubby got excited and started babbling about how the car was actually for me and that we have 2 kids now and so we don't need the 7 seaters all the time but then we are planning to try for a third kid and so we do need 7 seaters all the time something like the grand voyager but that's gonna be down the road.....

And I was like standing there with my mouth and eyes wide open thinking WHAT??!! STOP! STOP! STOP!! He doesn't need to know all that. He doesn't WANT to know all that. I was embarassed already.

Luckily the salesman went away to get the keys for the Grand Voyager before he started telling him other personal stuff.

Shish! Men...they do put their foot in their mouth at times!!

2007-11-11T23:18:00.000Z

Lama tak update

Takde benda nak cerita. Just boring routine stuff.

Can't wait till end of the year. And early next year.

Something to look forward to.

Family visiting from the land of far.

I like being host, especially to people I care about.

Penat...but fun.

Hope they will like staying here.

No luxury though, tak cukup bilik. People will need to be shifted and some would be sleeping in the lounge (not me!! hehehe)

Hope they like my cooking too. Tak terer like both my biras...Don't have any specialty that they can request for.

Mana nak bawa jalan hah time winter nie? Nak bawa pergi west of Ireland...bbbrrrrrrr....sejuk ooo

With wind and rain, one might just be blown away! Hahahaa...

Hmmm....have to do some thinking and preparation...(practise masak! Hahaha...!!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Occupational hazard....

This is my second glasses. My spare one. The first one tak leh nak salvage dah. Senget and bengkok and kalau pakai memang tak selesa and pening.

This one...*sigh* This one ada magnet clip on sunglasses which I like. Kat sini dia orang tak ada model clip on dah coz they offer 2 for the price of one which they said you can make the second pair sunglasses. To me tak best coz I need one as a spare and kalau I buat sunglasses then tiap kali nak pakai sunglasses I have to slip off the normal one and then slip on the sunglasses. LECEH LAH and TAK PRAKTIKAL!! Apa lah dia orang nie.

Anyway, I got another pair tapi lenses dia tinted. So these past few days dok nampak semua benda kinda orangy. Hehehe...patient sure pelik tengok I pakai tinted glasses in the hospital.

Anyway, I'm gonna use the lenses on the above glasses (it's a new prescription...cost me freakin' €162!!) to the tinted glasses frame. I hope they can do it in few hours coz I can't function without my glasses. If they can't meaning I have to fork out for new glasses.

Hhmmmpphh...lepas nie kena sorok glasses from cik MIMI!! Tak pun buat laser eye surgery...

2007-11-11T12:41:00.000Z

YEAY!!!

I changed my template. Cantik taaaaakkk?

Dah lama nak tukar. Dok fiddling with Photoshop, trying with various pics and finally settled with this one.

I am happy...I am happy...YEAY!!!

Did it myself...which is the best part...

Pat on the back for myself

YEAY!!!!

Musing in Frankfurt

2007-10-28T21:47:00.000Z

Have you ever looked outside your plane window when you're flying at night and while the plane was flying low enough for you to see the lights below? I was caught by surprise tonight when I looked out the window and I saw the dots of coloured lights spattered below in a patchy pattern on a black canvas while the plane was descending towards Frankfurt. And my thoughts flew to NAMI and of what she would say

Mommy, it's like art isn't it

I would love for her to see what I saw and then to see her transform her mental image into a piece of art.

I knew I would miss my baby MIMI but it seems that I miss NAMI too....

It's no fun travelling alone....

2007-10-22T23:18:00.000+01:00

Oooooppppssss

I picked up NAMI from my friend's house this evening. In the car, I asked her

NAMI, you're fasting today right?

Yess...

You didn't eat or drink or pick your nose?

Nooo!!

Okay then.. Good girl.

We reached home and when we're inside she went rummaging into her sister's MIMI food bag.

Ooooo....Mommy you bought the juice. Adik didn't finish it.

I was busy bringing things into the house from the car and while I was taking off my shoes I heard....

Ooooo.....gulp...gulp....That was nice mommy

I was like nearly shouted at her...

NAMI!!! YOU'RE FASTING!!!

And when she realised what she had done she bawled her eyes out. In between her cries she said

Ooooohhhh...that means I still have 4 more days to do!!! WAAAaaaaaAAAAA!!!!

(she's doing her puasa enam)

Anyway, I told her it was an accident. As she didn't mean it we'll count today.

Buka time 6:16pm. It was 6:10pm when that happened.

2007-10-16T17:30:00.000+01:00

I'm having post raya syndrome which consist of penat, mengah and malas nak pergi kerja. Thoughts like why do I have to go to work...and why didn't I take this week of to celebrate raya came to my mind. Oh well, at least I did have a celebration.

When it was announced that raya was on Saturday for us here in Ireland everybody said a prayer of Alhamdulillah. Hehehe....nobody minded fasting for another day. Raya on Saturday meant there will be raya for most of us whereas if it's on Friday most of us would still be working and will be celebrating raya in the office/hospitals/sites/kitchen...etc....

Anyway, of course the ladies were busy preparing for morning raya and the men went out to do the takbir from house to house. As always my house was the last as hubby is the Tok Penghulu, so it was 1am when everybody's done. This year takbir not many participants but still plenty enough.

What did we do during raya

1. Prayers
Hubby just prayed here in Luc@n instead of our usual Clonskeagh mosque. Hubby said even here the crowd was huge. Penuh lah sports centre tu. Meaning the Muslim community here is large with the likes of Malaysians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis. Patut dah boleh buat satu masjid dah sini. And another muslim school.

2.Beraya
We didn't get our usual dose of nasi dagang at Haji Fauzi's house. We heard later the crowd was massive and there was a queue as long as a hundred people! Hehehe... that we believe as his house was always the first target for people who did their raya prayers at Clonskeagh mosque and Malaysia Hall. So we beraya at our friends' here in Luc@n je and even that took us till 1130pm.

Seronok lah as everybody wore the baju kurung and baju Melayu. Kids were especially excited as they got to see their friends. All of us here are still young families and so the eldest would be like 8 or 9 years old. The suasana meriah and filled with happiness and laughter. The silaturrahim between us was definitely strengthen. It was an opportunity to meet and greet and catch up with each other.

3. Our House
Since we were out beraya so people didn't get to visit us. So we invited them to our house the next day. Bukan buat open house pun, jemput-jemput gitu je and I masak budget just for kampung Luc@n je. Ended up punya lah ramai orang datang. I buat 10kg chicken wing habis. My menu of mee kari tak cukup. So orang belakang memang tak dapat le. Nasib ada marinated ribs. Itu pun letak je lesap! Hehehe...next time lah people yek...

4. Topic of conversations
I don't know about the men, but I heard snippets of it. Main topic was rugby world cup and the general opinion was that England was lucky to get through. Hubby was trying his best to defend England but he was a sole supporter of belief that England deserve to be in the final. General topics among us anak puasa tak, kerja kat mana January nie, bila nak balik Malaysia, bila due nak bersalin, banyak ke buat kuih raya, apa masak raya nie...general topics nothing serious. Nice and relaxed atmosphere.

So that was our raya. It was simple but enjoyable. Celebrated among our friends. Hope yours was as wonderful.

Enjoy the raya images.

Takbir raya at one of the houses in Luc@n

NAMI and MIMI di pagi raya

The Luc@n kids

Kids main bunga api

My menu for the house. Dah nak habis baru teringat nak ambik gambar. Below is the spicy chicken wing. Hmm..yuumm yuumm

Our guests at our place

Me busy cooking, cleaning, refilling....

MIMI with her special pose

Challenges of Ramadhan and Eid mubarak

2007-10-07T02:21:00.000+01:00

Aduuuhhh...penat nya. Just finished vacuuming the house. As for the furniture, tomorrow lah I put it all back in place.

We had buka puasa, khatam quran and tarawikh at my place tonight. It was pot luck. There were bihun goreng, pecal, lasagne, chicken wings, perut goreng, lamb curry, kuih onde-onde, lepat pisang, murtabak, fruit crumble, cake, jelly and fruit salad. As I was the host so I made the most simple menu; nasi ayam and ayam tandoori.

My place was set out for Maghrib prayers before the eating session. After the prayer the table was moved to the centre so that both ladies and men had access to it from both sides. Anyway, as soon as the food was put on the table, everybody pounced like a hungry lion! Tak sempat nak ambik gambar.

I was busy getting everything ready, cleaning up, refilling, entertaining...I didn't get to taste any of the above mentioned. I just got to eat a few onde-onde, 1 small portion of murtabak and 1 piece of my own chicken. Nasi pun I tak jamah. Too busy...Itu pun ada few of my friends yang tolong I.

Everything was ready by 6:30pm and we're just waiting for our guest to arrive for berbuka. Kak N and family arrived first and she was surprised to see that everything was ready and there was nobody else helping me out. I told her, it took me 3 days to prepare everything; and all was done after work.

Day 1 - Prepare the chicken , marinade.
Day 2 - Prepare the house, clean
Day 3 - Cook

You see, since returning back from Malaysia I have been without a helper. My new helper will come after raya. So for now I send MIMI to my friend's house. As for NAMI, I send her to school and my friend's helper pick her up and she'll stay at my friend's house till I pick her up. Bersepah-sepah anak-anak ku.

It is tiring, as it is ramadhan and so it's an early start to the day. I have to prepare food almost everyday and prepare MIMI and her food and stuff to be brought over, prepare hubby's dinner and sahur when he does night shifts, as well as get ready for work.

Ahh....can't complain though. At least I got only 2 kids to worry about, to juggle my time. At least my difficulty will be short lived. My predicament is nothing when compared to others.

Such as the parents of Nurin Jazlin, who now have to face this coming Syawal and the years to come with sadness. Never again will they hear their daughter's laughter on raya day. They will not get the opportunity to see her grow up to be a beautiful girl. Her life was cut short. It's always unfair when parents had to bury their child instead of the other way around. Our hearts wept for them and only Allah knows best.

Another is our virtual friend D, who is standing tall and strong, being the pillar of strength for her husband Mr.D who is fighting for his life. No words can describe her plight. Our hearts cried out for her. We all prayed for her. May Allah give her strength to go through this difficult time of their lives.

Ramadhan, a holy month. Full of trials and tribulations not only for the physical but also for the soul. May we reflect on ourselves this ramadhan. Did we have a good ramadhan? Did we nourish our soul? Did we make time to make ibadah? Or is it just hunger and thirst?

Eid Mubarak everybody

May it's filled with blessings

From KD, Dr.M, NAMI and MIMI.

A cause for celebration

2007-09-24T05:25:00.000+01:00

Cause #1

Can I speak to KD please

Yes, speaking.

Hi this is E**a from Griffeen Valley Educate Together. You put in an application for NAMI for the school last year. I'm calling you to tell you that we have a vacancy for her.

Yeay!! That was certainly great news for us. The school was right in front of our housing estate and I can walk her to school everyday and then go straight to my nursing home via the back road. No more traffic jams, no more waking up early, no more spending nearly 3 hours in traffic every morning, no more stress and rushing around trying to get to school and to work on time.

All this while NAMI had been at school near my hospital. Convenient enough but the journey there, ploughing through traffic was hell. It's been a juggling act between me and hubby. I would send her to school and if hubby is free he would pick her up but if not then I would have to pick her up but then she would have to stay in the hospital with me till the evening. Not ideal as she wouldn't be able to rest and have a proper lunch.

But now, I can walk her to school every day and hubby can definitely pick her up if he's not working daytime. If that's not possible, our friends around can help out as their kids are there too! As for me, I can go to work later as it will only take me about 20 minutes journey to the nursing home from my house when there's no traffic.

So, this Monday it's a brand new routine for us. NAMI was indifferent about changing school. She didn't cry on her last day at school and didn't ask why she's changing school. It's like "whatever lah!!" Hehehe....I think I'm the one who felt sad at leaving the school as I got to know the parents who sent their kids to school every morning.

Oh well...it's all for the best. I just hope NAMI will be happy in her new school as she was in the other.

Alhamdulillah...this is certainly rahmat ramadhan for us.

Cause #2

NAMI had been fasting till 1pm everyday while at school. She's been very good and her teacher even asked her to explain ramadhan to her classmates. She explained

Fasting means you cannot eat or drink for the whole day. You have an early breakfast then at sunset you can eat. I am fasting till 1pm because I'm a kid but when you're a grown up you have to fast the whole day.

I think that's sufficient enough an explanation for kids.

It's been tough asking her to wake up for sahur and she eats very V E R Y slow. We had to urge her to eat faster. Even when she eats half an hour earlier than us she'd still be eating while all of us had finished.

Anyway, being the weekend I told her that we'll try for the whole day. And SHE DID IT!! She whined about being hungry a few times but she kept at it. She did a whole day Sunday too! Well done to her.

So today we're gonna try whole day during school day. I wonder how it's gonna turn out...

2007-09-16T08:54:00.000+01:00

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Dublin. The time now is 12:05pm and the weather is a bit overcast. Please remain seated....

Aaaahhhh....when I heard that Irish accent, I smiled. I'm home, away from home. Alhamdulillah we arrived safely as well as all our luggages and boxes.

Soooo tired one laaahhhh...but the state of the house demanded attention. So I unpacked, did laundry, dusted, cleaned, vacuumed, mopped, cooked....aiyaahhh....No place like home eh...

Anyway, my experience in Malaysia....wonderful! Theme this time, island and sea and nature... hehehe...nantilah cerita...

Suffice to say...

1. The wedding went alright. The photographer was great with his catchy "1, 2, 3 jangan kelip mata" melodi style phrase that by the end of the day everybody was like using it..hahahha....
2. I tell you, jauh lah Kuala Trengganu tu!! Hahaha....we drove like the whole day...with plenty of stops in between of course but it's like taking forever!!! Departed from Kajang at about 10am and reached KT about nearly Maghrib. Aaiiiyyaahhhh.... penaat laahh!! Next time naik flight lah...
3. Talking about flights, we merasa lah naik Air Asia. Not bad lah for a cheap airline. Clean and friendly. We were lucky we didn't experienced any major delays in our flights; just a 15 minutes delay when we're flying back from Kota Kinabalu to KL. But there's only courtesy for senior citizens. People with kids not given priority to board first and what scared me was that they do not offer baby seatbelt for infants. I was like have to ask for it baru dapat. My hubby saw a few people with babies tak di offer pun the baby seatbelt. I knew about it coz I travelled with babies before. So I was like....eh? Not standard practice ke to give seatbelt to infants?
4. Now talking about driving, hehehe...I guess cerita nie sampai bila pun tak habis. And I guess there are worst drivers than Malaysians. What I noticed on the roads when we were driving was that the attitude of "Aku, aku; kau, kau. There's no need for me to care about you" and the need to have berani mati kind of attitude. Hahahaha... An example aah..We were trying to cross a crossroad and it was a busy road. And so we inched bit by bit trying to get out and we're nearly in the middle of one lane. The cars just swerved around us not even stopping to let us go and the cars on the other lane pun takde kasi can nak kasi masuk. I mean like "What the...??!!" Is it so hard to give a courtesy flash and slowing down to let us out? What's the rush?? Kiasu betul!!
5. I experienced the hu ha of 50th Merdeka. Gosh..."Malaysiaku gemilang", "Kerana mu Malaysia", the flags, the lights, the parades, ish ish ish...Such grandeur...but I think so shallow...coz I think not many appreciate the meaning of merdeka, of being free. What has the nation achieved? Has the integration between all races been achieved? What about bangsa Melayu? Any improvement in social, personality and economy? Anything that we can be proud of as Malaysian? Malaysia memang boleh but we need to be boleh in areas that matters...globally and for the nation.
6. I also noticed about English words di Melayusasikan. I was like, why? Belanjawan becomes bajet, barangan becomes produk and many more. All this while we've got the message through, why the need for melayusasi now? If we keep doing this we'll lose our language and identity.
7. I got to experienced my first spa massage at a luxury hotel that we stayed in Kota Kinabalu. Hehehe...Nice...
8. Last but not least, I got to fast ONE day in Malaysia. Hehehe...not bad lah... considering that all these years dok puasa sekejap je....by 4:30 or 5pm dah buka... sort of like missing lunch je...Merasa lah pasar Ramadhan and suasana orang membeli nak berbuka. Me and hubby was walking around looking for what to eat before we head off that night to go home. I was looking for pulut panggang and he was looking for ayam rangka...but alas...not our rezeki...Rezeki kuih lain...

Well, that's in a nutshell of what I've seen. I know that's just the surface and the issue is much deeper. 3 weeks there, with wedding, holidaying, shopping and makan...can't see much eh!!

Hmmm...tomorrow is Monday..time to earn back some dough.....

Selamat berpuasa everyone

2007-08-22T03:04:00.000+01:00

"Kepada warga negara Malaysia, kami ucapkan selamat pulang ke tanahair"

Yess!! It's the eleventh hour..and I can still blog!

The Aerlingus pilots called off their strike, so we're flying today. Yeay!! Alhamdulillah...Off to the airport at 4am (sat lagi je niee!!) We're all packed; I stayed up all night doing it.....as usual. I stayed up cleaning up the house too...buang sampah, kemas bilik, tukar cadar....So that bila balik nanti boleh terus boomm...tidur and rehat!!

My two kids sleeping but already taken their bath so just have to wake them up and off we'll go with the taxi. I am sooo tired..my legs are like cramped and aching....Still did a little bit of shopping just now. Cari baju my daughters for the wedding. Hehehe....Now I understand the term shop till you drop...

So....I pray that we have a smooth and safe journey. Selamat pergi and selamat sampai...Insya-Allah...

Babai!! Seronoknya! Hehehe....

Cerita shopping...

2007-08-16T22:40:00.000+01:00

Tadi pi shopping. Pi ngan si NAMI. Nak cari t-shirt and seluar untuk sekolah dia. And baju dia pun dah banyak yang dah kecik. And seluar dia pun banyak yang dah koyak.

Sian tengok dia pakai baju t-shirt dah lubang-lubang, koyak seluar. Bukan koyak besar pun... kecik je...tapi bila biarkan..lelama besar jadinya. Nanti orang tengok apa lah anak doktor pakai baju koyak rabak nie..Hehehehe...

So pegi le cari baju dia. Hmmm...takde yang menarik perhatian. Kalau ada pun simple sangat design tapi mahal. Well...mahal pun tak le sangat...tak sampai €10 pun...kira cam kat Malaysia tak sampai RM10 le...

Anyway...bukan design je tak menarik..saiz pun takde...Bukan takde lah. Si NAMI nie umur je 6 tahun..tapi badan besar. And tinggi. Cari seluar dia tadi pun memula try saiz 8 tahun...muat-muat je! Ambik le saiz 9. Panjang le sikit kat bawah..takpe lah kan...dia membesar...

Seluar takde masalah...Baju nie...Dah pilih saiz 10 (ikut age) pun tak kena gak. Pendek lah... sempit lah...nampak perut buncit dia tu lah...Aiseh...Nak pi beli baju budak teenager...tak berkenan pulak....tah apa fesyen tah...Tu saiz 10 ikut umur budak Europe tu! Agak nya fesyen sekarang kot baju bebudak pendek and ketat...Tapi at least dapat lah 2 jacket for this coming autumn and winter.

Pastuh nak le cari baju si kenit tu pulak. Pi le Boots...ada le offer. Ambik le few pasang. Ambik age 2-3 years punya. Balik rumah try kan kat dia. Alahai....maut-muat je...itu pun sendat sikit... nampak le perut buncit tu....boleh sempat pakai few months je tu...Tak berbaloi betul kalau nak beli. So esok kena le pulangkan balik...tukar saiz 3-4 years old...Tangan panjang le sikit...takpe le tu...boleh lipat...tapi at least selesa sikit pakai...

Dah since kat Boots tu kan...kita pun belilah sunscreen...Beli Ambre Soleil punya tu... terpengaruh ngan advert dia...katanya ada photostability...kira macam tak didegrade dek UV light gitu lah...So since dah buy one get one free...apalagi borong lah....Bukan apa..balik Malaysia nie banyak nak pi pulau and mandi laut...so baik lah kita protect the skin from the sun...kot mana lah tau kan..kena skin cancer ke nanti...(sebenarnya tak nak gelap!! Especially my kids...hehhehe)

Pastuh kita pun nak cari kasut untuk kita. Dah 3 tahun dah tak beli kasut. Kasut yang sama pakai pi keje, pi jalan bandar, pi balik Malaysia hari tu...hehehe....Dah dapat satu dah hari tu...nie nak cari sepasang lagi...At least boleh alternate...Berkenan le kat ada satu kasut tu...Try le...tapi tak pakai socks...so..muat-muat je...kalau pakai socks tu sure ketat. So minta le saiz kita...takde pulak...Takpe lah...

Itu le cerita kita pi shopping siang tadi. Weekend ni nak sambung lagi before fly balik. And nanti sambung shopping kat Malaysia pulak...

That's not a dog....

2007-08-14T15:53:00.000+01:00

I was ironing the clothes while hubby was playing my nintendo DS brain game. Anyway, there was this question asking him to draw.

D***, what is a collie? he asked

Ala...anjing Lassie tu... I answered

Ooooo....

Then

What's a bulldog?

Ala...anjing pipi labuh tu laaaa...

A few minutes later...

What's an armadillo?

Aiyoo you nie...tak tengok Dora ke? (Dora the explorer is a cartoon series that my kids love to watch)

Ooooo...I know...I know which one...

Then came my daughter....

Abah...whatcha doing?

Ooooo...I'm trying to draw here...

What's a collie? Obviously she saw the questions....

Oooo..it's a dog....

Then she saw hubby's drawing and she said

That's not a dog! That looks like a cow!!

Hahahhahaha!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Update

Just received a call from my travel agent. Said that Aer lingus is planning a strike next Tues and Wed...which is my departure date. I was like NOOOOO!!!! (My flight is on Wed 22nd Aug by Aerlingus to Frankfurt and connecting to KL by MAS.)

She said she's been trying to get me flights out to Frankfurt by other airlines or flights out to KL from Paris or London Heathrow for Wed 22nd but all were full and the only thing she can get for me is to fly out to Paris on Thurs and connecting to KL...meaning I'll be arriving KL on Fri morning. Not good prospect since the wedding will be the next day!

Anyway, she said don't panic as yet coz Aerlingus might resolve the issue and so the strike might be called off. She will hold on to the alternative tickets though just in case. She will call me to tell me about my fate in few days time.

Hmmm....Takde le disrupting our schedule sangat but letih lah baru sampai and terus nak kenduri esok nye...And kami ada le barang hantaran satu, tapi tak de le penting sangat pun yang tu...coklat je...

Well...I hope Aerlingus tak jadi le strike....

2007-08-11T10:11:00.000+01:00

I dented my car!!

Yesss...WAAAAAaaaaaaaAAAAA!!!!!! I dented the boot of my car and now I can't open the boot!! NOOOOOoooooOOOOO!!!!

Every time I parked there, I was always cautious of the railings nearby. So whenever I reversed the car I would be wary of it. All this time I got away with it. Yesterday morning, a split second I was having doubts parking there but I parked anyway. And I was reversing carefully, slowly looking at the mirrors and all and suddenly CRACK....DUUMM...My heart fell to the bottom of my stomach and I wailed...I knew I had hit the railings. Adussss......

Told hubby about it when we met for lunch and he just smiled, hugged and comforted me.

Alaaa...sian lah dia. I think it's time to get a new car....

Hehehhe....He's been pestering me about it for quite a while...but I just finished paying this car and so I nak lanyak this car until cannot run anymore...

He said Belilah the new C-merc tu.

Hahahhaa!! The way I drive?! Tak pe lah ...Hahaha

Anyway, he said maybe I need to get the reverse sensors...hehehh...

So...while I'll be holidaying in Malaysia, my car will be holidaying in the garage....

Berapa lah kena tu agaknya....adusssss.....

Cerita gajah lah kita hari ni...

2007-08-10T00:07:00.000+01:00

I was watching "Eye for an Elephant" on UKTV Documentary last night and it really stirred me. It's about this photographer, Martyn Colbeck who followed this group of elephants led by a matriach (female elephant) they called Echo. He and Mirk Birkhead, the producer of the documentary followed the family for 15 years. They captured amazing events in the family's life. The documentary was basically a concised version of the trilogy Echo of the Elephants, showing just the important points in the family's life.

Anyway, what captured my heart was that how caring the elephants were towards their calves. That they are emotional animals. That they are capable of grieve. There was one scene where this elephant called Grace gave birth to a premature calf. Grace lifted the baby calf with her tusk and trunk to put it somewhere out of the sun. The baby calf died that night and Grace stood over the body for 4 days.

There's another story about another elephant in the family called Eliot who twice lost her calves and how she became uninteractive with other family members until she got another baby.

How heart wrenching is that. Here we read in the papers people were leaving babies here and there or women going for abortions just because it's unplanned, unwanted, inconvenience.... And here we can see clearly the elephants have more humanity than these so called humans....

It's a like watching a soap opera. There's kidnapping, male fighting, births, deaths...amazing...

New found friend

2007-08-06T17:26:00.000+01:00

Our next door neighbour has a new kitty cat and MIMI has been so captivated by it. Everytime she sees the cat she will shout with excitement and want to go out and play with it.

So to cat lover, MIMI's fan and Mak ngah nye...here's a video of her playing with the cat.

Cerita makan-makan

2007-08-01T13:49:00.000+01:00

Kat Malaysia tak payah risau pasal makan kan. Pergi le ke mana pun, pusing le ceruk mana pun, sure ada gerai makan. Cuma sedap tak sedap je.

Lepas tu ada bermacam jenis pulak tu kan. Dari makanan berat sampai le ke kuih muih. Kalau pergi pasar malam tu kan...memang rambang mata...semua nak beli. Semua nak rasa. Ye lah kan...kat sini mana nak dapat semua tu...melainkan masak sendiri ye tak. Nak cuba buat boleh...jadi tak jadi je ye tak..

Lepas tu kalau time kerja, nak lunch pun senang. Semua halal. Tak pun pergi le food court ke, KFC ke, McD ke...senang kan. Kat sini...kat hospital tempat I kerja ni lah...kalau takde fish...kena le makan sup dengan roti...Buatnya sup pun bukan vegetarian...lunch le dengan coklat je! Hahahah...Fish pun kekadang dia masak steam or poached tak pun dia masak salmon...yeurgh...I cukup tak suka salmon....

Bila dah datang sini baru le I belajar masak. Masa student dulu selalu le telefon mak tanya macam mana nak masak whatever lauk...gulai ke, masak lemak ke, masak merah ke, sambal tumis ke...Dah lama-lama confident dah ada...paham basic sikit....mula lah try bermacam resepi..tak pun invent resepi sendiri. Bukan sedap sangat pun...tapi boleh le makan...

Mana le ada belajar masak kat rumah tu. By 16 years old dah masuk MRSM. Then terus ke MSMKL. Lepas tu ke Ireland. Hehehe....selama nie tolong-tolong je...siap kan itu ini...potong itu ini...Mak yang masak semua. Tak pun beli je kat kedai lauk tu.

Itu yang bila student-student baru datang sini semua kelam kabut belajar masak. Masa datang tu penuh le beg dengan instant Brahim lah, Maggi lah, and apa instant lagi. Rendang ada, asam pedas ada, korma ada...macam-macam! Hehehe....

And I'm not surprised kalau ada yang bila nak kahwin baru nak belajar masak. Especially mana yang bekerja and single and duduk dengan housemate yang single juga. Jangan marah ye...my observation je. Ye lah kan...balik kerja dah penat...dah lambat...kalau I pun malas nak masak. Lebih-lebih lagi kalau food is abundant macam kat Malaysia. Senang lagi beli aje, or makan luar. Tak yah nak bertungkus lumus kat dapur memasak panas-panas tu and lepas tu nak kena clean up pulak the kitchen.

Bila dah duduk luar ni, baru le perasan betapa kayanya Malaysia dengan pelbagai jenis makanan. Kat sini memang le ada halal chicken, beef, lamb and seafood. Tapi seafood mahal... and tengok jenis ikan juga. Lamb and beef pun mahal juga. Sayur pulak, kalau nak sayur sawi ke, bayam ke, kangkung ke....mahal wooo...and nak kena pi specialist shop kat tengah bandar tu nak beli. Kena le belajar makan carrot, broccoli, peppers, turnip, parsnip.... Tu yang susah tu bila orang Malaysia datang sini pastuh nak makan macam kat Malaysia...Nak terung lah, nak peria lah, nak petola lah...Mana nak dapat cik oooii!! Heheheheh....

Tapi kan, bila balik Malaysia, kami sedap lah makan kan....Tapi kan...anak-anak I dah biasa makan style sini...spaghetti, cheese, yogurt, fromage frais, minum fresh milk and juice...bila balik Malaysia tu susah nak makan...kurus anak-anak ku...

Itu lah kan...asam garam kehidupan...ada best dan ada tak best nye...Kita macam mana pun patut bersyukur dengan rezeki yang kita dapat.

2007-07-30T23:51:00.001+01:00

Happy birthday

NAMI my dearest

I wish you all the best in the world

You are 6 years old today

May Allah bless you with his rahmat and hidayah

6 wonderful years (headaches as well as joy) with you

I will cherish the memories forever

2007-07-27T00:40:00.000+01:00

Habis! Finito! Finished! Selesai!

Apa nye nie!?

Heheheh...today at 0015 hours I finished this book...

And I have to blog that I have finished it. It had taken over my routine...for the whole week.

We knew it's coming out last Saturday. My friend queued at Tesco the midnight it's to be launched. My other friend bought the book that Saturday morning on his way home from work. He was post-call but still managed to read the book that morning. I bought the book that Saturday afternoon in Tesco, costing me €10.90.

The race was on...as it's the last book and nobody wants to be the one not knowing what happened!! No one wants to be receiving smug looks from those who had finished it...No one wants to hear accidently any spoilers...Hehehhe

We watched the movie Order of Phoenix the last Thursday before the launch of the new book. I read the book before but forgotten the details except for the essential story line. Hubby said the movie was a bit fast coz he re-read the book before we watched the movie. I don't care, coz to me Order of Phoenix book was a bit dragging...and the movie, though skewed a bit from the book, got the essential part in it.

Anyway, so hubby got to read the latest book first and I ended up reading the 6th book, The Half blood Prince. I was the faster reader, so even though hubby started first and I started 2 days later, I caught up with him. Then I finished my book on Tuesday while he's still got few hundreds pages to go...Heheh...What did he do? He stayed up till 5am to finish the book...Awwww.....Kissed him thank you then I told him to shut up and not to tell the ending!!

These two books had taken over my routine. All the free time I had was spent reading these books. While eating, while watching TV, in the hospital; both of us engrossed in reading. Now I feel sooo relieved that I have finished. Now I can get back to blogging, chatting, sleeping....

On another note, I also finished paying my car loan. Yeay!! Selesai satu hutang...Let's see..what's left...mortgage, student loan....

Kids maturity comes at odd times...

2007-07-24T22:39:00.000+01:00

My colleague, Dr.Zac's FIL got sick and so he and his wife went home without their daughter, MA. So it's my responsibility to drop by once in a while to their place to check on her and the helper, see if they need any supplies. I brought my two daughters along, as MA loved playing with them.

Anyway, I asked the helper if MA said anything or asked about her parents. The helper said MA said the parents don't love her anymore. Awwww.....sian lah MA. Then I pulled her aside and asked MA

Where's mommy?

Mommy working in Mesia

And what about daddy?

Daddy working in Mesia too.

Do you miss them?

Yeah, I miss them.

Alahai...sian lah MA.

Then while I was driving home, NAMI asked me

Mommy, why MA mommy and daddy left her alone here?

Well, MA's mother's dad got sick, so they had to go home to Malaysia quickly.

Why couldn't they bring MA along?

Well, everybody would be too busy taking care of MA's grandpa and nobody would have time to take care of MA.

Mommy, is Atuk and nenek sick?

No NAMI, they are well Alhamdulillah. Nobody is sick at the moment.

Please don't leave me and adik if you and Abah have to go back to Malaysia if they're sick.

Aww....sedih hati ku mendengarnya. How astute she is to the circumstances surrounding her and how she can draw her own conclusions from her observations.

Oooppsss....sorry Cik Adah...

2007-07-19T23:11:00.000+01:00

This morning I called my sister

Adah, KD nak minta tolong bayar deposit for the Pulau Selingan a.k.a Pulau Penyu kat Sabah tu.

Hah berapa kena bayar tu?

RM700.

Bayar kat sapa? KD percaya ke main bayar gitu je?

Oh, nie bayar kat K.I punya adik. Dia yang book kan semua. So bayar masuk account dia lah.

Oh..bayar cash ke? Credit card tak leh ke?

No, cannot. Kena bayar masuk account dia lah.

Adah mana ada RM700 KD! Hahaha... Adah ada RMxxx je... Apalah KD nie...tanya orang hujung bulan!

Hahahaha!!! Cash advance lah pakai credit card.

Itu pun tak cukup. Cash advance Adah RMxxx je

HAHAHAHA!! Kok sikit nye?

Ye lah...mana boleh banyak-banyak cash advance kat Malaysia nie...nanti orang lari lorr!! Minta kat MAMA lah.

Aaahh...tak mau lah...

Oooo..KD takut ngan MAMA eh...!! HAHAHAHA

Hehehehe...takde lah...nanti dia pot pet pot pet...berleter kata itu ini...Never mind lah. I'll TT my duit P*t****s + duit deposit tu today and then she can deposit the money into the girl's account. Kalau dia nak bising pun at least it's my money. Hiihihih....So okay lah. I'll talk to you later.

Hmmmm.....am I still scared of my mom? And what my sister buat dengan duit gaji dia sampai tinggal RMxxx je? Mesti sebab banyak sangat keluar dating nie!!

Newbridge Park and House Luc@an family day

2007-07-16T15:19:00.000+01:00

What a weekend! Hahahah....

Saturday morning the sun was shining through the curtains. Yeay!! So my family and another family in Luc@n decided to go to Newbridge Park & House to book our spot for the BBQ. By 10am we're there and waited for others to arrive. In the meantime we got calls asking whether it's a go ahead or we're resorting to Plan B (which was at my place) But we said Come over while the sun is shining.

Anyway, the day started off great with odd drizzles at times which we could handle (umbrellas over the BBQs). After eating session we had games for the kids AND the parents. That was fun...seeing the parents running and tumbling all over the place trying to win for their kids!

Anyway, at 3:30pm the heavens opened on us and sent us scattering for cover. Some of us braved the rain to help cover the food and moved stuffs out of the rain. It was just for about 5 minutes or so but enough to soak us and put an end to the BBQ.

Well, it was fun while it lasted. Whenever the sun comes our way, we had to grab it as nowadays, all we had was rain, rain and more rain....

Let the pics tell the story....

The Fish, chickens, burgers, satay and lambs

Penatlah mommy, lambat sangat nak masak

MIMI and Huzaifah sleeping amidst the chaos

It's mine!! Let go!

Mommy! Nice puddle to splash in..

NAMI trying to pull the ball with the hoop

Abah trying to roll the hoop

Mommy trying to blow a balloon as fast as she can while being cheered by her 2 supporters

It's time to play outside

2007-07-12T22:48:00.000+01:00

Ooohhh....What's that shining through the curtains? OoooOOOOooohhhhh...It's the SUN!! Yeay!!

Last Saturday we went to Newbridge House. It's just north of Dublin in Co-Dublin, about 30 minutes drive from our place. We went there to rekki the place for our Luc@n family day next Saturday (weather permitting of course).

Got there, it rained. so had to stay in the car for about 10 minutes or so. Soon it lighted up and we walked around in the park.

Lots of green about. There is a picnic area with benches and tables. We saw some families barbecuing. We spotted a perfect spot for the gathering next Saturday. It's near the playground, has 3 benches and tables and some green area for the kids' games.

So, then we went to the playground. Good size, plenty of swings, slides and cater for toddlers as well as the big kids. NAMI and MIMI had a blast. MIMI tried everything NAMI played. She played so hard that by 8pm she's fast asleep. Tak sempat nak tukar nappy and baju.

Now all we have to do is pray that weather is good this Saturday.

Mummy! I saw you're far away....

2007-07-09T20:56:00.000+01:00

I was driving home from work when suddenly "mummy pick up the phone please", my ringtone assigned to home rang.

KD, emergency. NAMI cakap dia nampak benda kecik. Dia nampak TV tu tiny my helper said

Ok. I'm on my way home ni.

It's 7:15pm. It's raining. Luckily there's not much traffic. I reached home in less than 30 minutes. But all the while my head was running down a list of possibilities of what's the problem.

Got home, checked NAMI. Did visual field exam. She could see my fingers okay, no blurry of vision. Could read and tell colours. She felt hot though. Speech was okay. No rash.

What's wrong NAMI?

I don't know. I was eating in the kitchen and suddenly I saw the TV very small.

Small or far?

I don't know.

Can you see things clear or is it blur, like you look in water?

I don't know.

Aiseh...susah lah nak ambik history from a 6 year old kid.

Anyway, she seemed okay so I calmed down a bit and got my dinner. While my dinner was heating up in the microwave, I gave NAMI Nurofen and told her to lie down on the couch beside me.

I was eating away when suddenly she shouted

MUMMY!! You're small! Your head is small. You're far away.

What about the TV? What about kakak?

The TV is okay. Kakak ok. You're far away.

I was seating beside her, holding her hand.

She started to cry. I pun dah gelabah. Hilang selera makan.

Went upstairs to solat Asar and get ready to go to hospital but called hubby first.

Yang, something wrong with NAMI. She said she saw my head small but my body okay. This occurs intermittently.

Oh...she's just disorientated tu. It's the temperature. I experienced the same thing when I was small. Just bring the temperature down.

So you think it's just the temperature ye? I gave her Nurofen already. I'll give her Paralink and I'll do tepid sponging on her.

Hmm...I examined her just now. Tummy's okay. No vomiting or headache. Please look at her throat, in case there's Strep infection. I think it's just viral. Give her plenty of fluids.

Ok lah yang, I'll do that. Have a good nite and I'll see you tomorrow morning.

I gave NAMI one and a half paralink suppositories and examined her throat. No Strep infection. No enlarged glands. I wet a towel and sponged her down. Soon enough she was singing and playing with MIMI. Her temperature came down and no more episodes of visual disturbances.

*sigh* When it comes to your own child, all the medical knowledge went out the window. You can keep calm and can think at a certain level but when it becomes serious and you began to worry, you become a mother. Your medical knowledge just terrifies you more. You'd think of the worst coz there are a lot of possibilities. And with high temperature, you know so many things can cause it and so many things can go wrong.

I'm glad my hubby keeps a cool head and perceptive. If it wasn't for him I would have driven to the children's hospital tonight.

Cerita Cik MIMI

2007-07-05T23:21:00.000+01:00

Bencilah. My hospital dah blocked a lot of my usual surf sites. Hehehe....Okay lah...work is work...I WORK ye...but takkan lah news site, newspaper site pun nak block...kalau nak block youtube tu paham lah kan...(and jangan lah block blogger...what am I gonna do while waiting for my patients to arrive...(eerrrr....study?) ;P) Balik rumah mana ada masa nak blog sangat...masa tu le nak main ngan anak, nak manja-manja ngan hubby. Dr. Zac pun perasan I nie dah tak betul coz they cut off my sanity i.e blogging...Anyway...ada le reason for me to get 3G wi fi connection......

Anyway, MIMI dah boleh cakap MUMMY. Yeay!! When NAMI was starting to talk, she said abah first so I won this time around. All this while she said Maa je. But she calls me AND hubby mummy. Heheheh...confuse le budak tu...

All this while MIMI's been at home. She rarely gets to get out of the house. One is due to the bad weather we're currently experiencing but also because we're working and we don't go out much. Anyway, whenever we're getting ready to go out, and she knows she's going too (coz she'll be wearing her jacket and her socks), she'll get her shoes from the shoe rack and sat on the stairs waiting for us to put her shoes on. And when that's done she'll be the first to run out of the house! And she'll be running around laughing! Hehehe.... Nasib le rumah kat cul-de-sac...

Anyway, then when the car door opens, she'll climb up the backseat and get into her car-seat all by herself and waited there till we buckle her. Sian dia...so excited to go out. Sometimes when she saw us getting ready to go out, she'll take her shoes and when we said she's not going, she'll cry. Alahai...breaks my heart to see it. Siaaannn lah MIMI tu...

MIMI climbing into her carseat

And she is soo good now. She can close doors when asked. Pick up and throw rubbish into the bin. Whenever she comes down the stairs she'll close the safety gate herself. When she pooped, she'll say come and gesture to the stairs to go upstairs to the bathroom to be changed. And when we give her her bottle she'll take it and parked herself at her spot on the couch and when she's finished she'll bring the bottle to the kitchen sink.

She's very playful, pandai bergurau. She likes playing with NAMI and NAMI adores her. They are very cute and cuddly at this age. I love this stage, the age of 18 months and 2 years old...the age where they still wants and needs you. I cherished this moment coz at this stage I'm everything to her. Whatever it is it's Mummy....Kalau ada mummy nye..orang lain dah tak boh dah...Kekadang rimas gak nak gi toilet pun tak leh...but...still...I love the attention I get from her. Hehehhe....

Agenda : Shopping

2007-07-02T22:09:00.000+01:00

Arnott's sale. Perfect timing. Just got salary. Time to spend it!! Hihih

Got up early. Made breakfast. (Sale punya pasal boleh aje bangun pagi!!).

Friend came. Hubby, who's getting ready for work asked her where's her husband. She answered

Where else...working lah. The hubbies go to work and the wives go out and spend the money! Heheheh...

Anyway, we got there early. No crowds yet. Good...We took our time. My plan was to get a clock for my mantelpiece, an oven gloves and look for shoes for hubby.

Went to home section. Hmmmm...nothing interesting.

Then got to pinggan mangkuk section. Aiseh..there's Villeroy Boch New Wave cafe mugs. €25 each you!! Gosh...berkenan...but my friend pulled me aside and said ...Next time KD...next time...(maybe they have it in ebay...hmmmmm.....)

Went to linen section next. Waaahhh!! Good bargains man. Down duvets 50%, Dorma, Sheridan, Bedeck....aaahhh...Rambang mataku. BUT...BUT... what grabbed my wallet was the Karla Bree complete comforter bed set. 50% from €380. Add a pair of curtains and 2 bath sheets. Heheheh... total tak sampai pun €300. Good lah tu ye tak.

After we offload some stuff we continued shopping. Went to shoes section. Got 2 pairs of Clark doodles shoes for MIMI for €20. Men shoes... waahh.... good bargains... good shoes... Gotta call hubby

Yang, did you get my SMS?

No. Haven't read it yet. Why?

Well, got good offers for men's shoes. There are Caterpillars, TImberland, Ben Sherman, Wranglers, Clarks, Hush Puppies. And all priced from €50 - €80. You better come coz there might not be any sizes or any style that you like soon.

You think?

Yeaahh!! So call me when you get here okay.

So while waiting for hubby, me and my friend went to Debenhams to have coffee and cakes. We then parted company when my hubby called.

At the men's shoes section, hubby belek sana sini, cuba yang tu yang ni, we got one comfortable pair. A Wrangler. There was this Timberland pair that he liked but there's no size. So he said we have to go to a Timberland shop and find that shoe. Shish...mengalahkan pompuan!!

Then we went looking for his shirts. Got some and few 3/4 pants too. It's already 3pm, so we decided to go. On our way to the parking, I passed this stall selling necklaces, bracelets, pins and so on. Browsed and saw a brooch that I had once but left in Malaysia (now being used by Adah my sis). So I decided to get that and another one in different colour. The owner suddenly spoke Malay to me. Hahaha....and then she surprised me by giving me a huge discount. I got the brooches for €20. If according to the price tag it would cost me €32. I didn't even asked for it. Hehehe...thank you sista!!

Then another surprise. While queuing to pay for parking, suddenly there was a lost of power. And so the pay machine went kaput and rebooted when power was back on. Put in the ticket, the machine said ticket's paid. Heheheh...Other customers got the same message too. Then the parking attendant said parking's free for the moment. So everybody went off smiling! woohoo!!

And you know what...I still didn't get my clock or my oven gloves. Hehehe...well, at least I got new curtains for raya and lovely bed set for winter!

Tagged for a bus

2007-06-29T18:50:00.000+01:00

Pak Haji Jeddah Mr.Idham has started something wonderful here in blogosphere. He has us united in a good cause which is to get a bus for this orphanage . For every person who completed this meme by the end of July, he will contribute RM127 on your behalf to the Darul Izzah Orphange, Bangi.

The rule is.... If you are tagged, you need to write an entry related to the meme. At the end of your entry you just need to tag as many person as you like. You will then leave a comment in their blog to let them know they have been tagged. And to include this message,

"By doing this meme you are contributing rm127 to the Darul Izzah Orphanage".

And please leave a message at Mr.Idham blog so that he can keep count.

Then please copy and paste this rule somewhere in your entry

The meme is about completing at least seventeen out of the following twenty seven sentences........

1. A person is only as good as his words and his actions

2. Friendship is always welcome, treasured and remembered

3. To love is to accept and to forgive

4. Money makes me travel
the world.

5. I miss ayam percik pasar malam gombak, pulut panggang, ABC, asam boi, KFC

6. My way of saying I care is by being there when needed most

7. I try to spread love and happiness by being nice, smile, and sincere

8. Pick the flowers when you feel down in yourself.

9. To love someone is to love unconditionally

10. Beauty is God’s creation

11. When I was thirteen, what I remember the most was my first crush

12. When I was twenty one, I remember falling head over heels in love with Mr.Said

13. I am most happy when I did a good job, got someone well from their sickness and save lives.

14. Nothing makes me happier than to come home to hugs and kisses from loved ones

15. If I can change one thing, I will change my garden to a
low maintenance one. Malas lah nak potong rumput!!

16. If smiles were contagious, then I would be guilty of spreading it

17. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just be civil to each other

18. If you want to fly then you have to grow wings

19. Money is not everything but everything else need money

20. The most touching moments I have experienced is to be married

21. I smile when I think of the funny and silly things my kids did

22. When I am happy, I am very high in mood and can go jiggy with it

23. If only I don't have to work then I could stay at home with my kids

24. The best thing I did yesterday was sew my hubby’s torn pants though I hate sewing

25. If I ever write a book, I will give it this title,"The mother physician"

26. One thing I must do before I die is to perform my Haj

27. Doing this meme, I feel like I’m helping someone to achieve something worthwhile

To anyone reading this, such as Rd in Sarawak, Mat Redo1 and AKses and Mr.Idham himself you're tagged officially. To others who drop by it would be great if you can do it as it is for the kids.

People of blogosphere...you are wonderful!

Can NAMI come out and play

2007-06-25T11:49:00.000+01:00

I was eating breakfast when suddenly there was a knock on the door

Hello. Good morning.

Can NAMI come out and play?

Well, she's having her bath now. I'll tell her you're looking for her. Are you Jamie or Aaron?

I'm Aaron.

Okay. Ill tell her alright.

Closed the door and shouted NAMI quick, your friend Aaron is waiting.

Then it occured to me....soon will I presented with this kind of scene and questions...

Hello Ma'am / Aunty / Mrs. Said....Is NAMI ready for her date?

And will I be saying NAMI, quick, your date is waiting...

Or will Mr.Said just shoots them at the door?

Oh dear...end of Junior Infant for NAMI...

2007-06-24T01:17:00.000+01:00

Yes.....next week will be NAMI's last week of school and then off for the summer holidays. I have already few things to keep her occupied and not just watch TV all day. There will be books to read, writing sessions, drawings and paintings and more imaginative playing rather than watch cartoon. And of course Insya-Allah mengaji session in the evening now that she doesn't have to go to sleep early.

Anyway, her school held an open day for parents to see their children's and other students' work throughout the year. So I went and see NAMI's class. Nothing new to me as I see it everyday when I sent her to school. But I saw one new thing. Each child in her class is to write a wish and this wish was posted on the wall outside the class. I saw NAMI's and she wrote "I wish that all the boys like me" I thought Alamaak! Budak ni kici-kici dah pikir pasal boys ni.... Then another thought came to my mind... Was she being bullied or was there a boy that was rough with her?

So I went and spoke to her teacher. The teacher said Nooo! That was something we did, very general and for writing exercise. Noo..she was very popular with the other kids. Well liked. Never had a bad note about her during recess. She has her girls clique but then she played with the boys too. And she is very sensitive and mature for her age. There was a case in the yard where kids were like being shunned and not played with. So I spoke to the class about how would they feel if people didn't want to play with them. The next day I saw NAMI went to this kid and put her hand over the kid and invite her to play with her friends.

I was like...Awwww...anak aku nie....beaming proudly!!

Anyway, by the end of Junior Infant she can

Read using phonetics and she's able to recognise common everyday words.
Write. I can say her writing is one of the legible ones and neat.
Grasp maths concept and can do simple additions and subtractions within 1 to 10.
Speak Gaelic (Irish language)
Her colouring much improved. Can see beginning of the year it's outside the line and all over the place but now neater. Still slow and takes her time colouring and no concept of people's face cannot be purple or green, or red face, yellow hands and green legs or stripey! Hahahaha
Her command of English is better and her vocabulary is growing. Though her usage of present tense and past tense verbs still interchangeable.

She likes school and I know she'll keep asking when she'll go back to school coz she misses her friends. As for me, school's out meaning I can go to work later and go straight to the nursing home. And joy oh joy...no traffic in the morning!!!

Thoughts over the weekend

2007-06-23T00:27:00.000+01:00

Thought #1

I just realised that however good one person cleans your house, you'll still find a fault. That it's not done properly, or according to your standard. Ada je yang tak kena. And you have to clean it just to satisfy your whims. Hmmm...waste energy only!

Thought #2

If you use someone else's stuff, do you take good care of it? I would coz it's not mine. If anything happens to it I'm responsible. And I take care of my stuff so that it will last long. Don't you just hate it when people that use your stuff began to think it's theirs and began to add or change the stuff according to their taste? And use the stuff like it's theirs? And not take care of it coz it's not theirs? Isssshhh.... I hate people who took kindness and luxury for granted.

Thought #3

I'm sure many of you have subordinates working for you. I'm sure you notice those who go the extra length, those who make the initiatives and those who give good impression to you. And I'm sure you like working with these kind of people coz they make your job easier. And I'm sure these people get recommendations for promotions. Don't you just hate working with people who have no vision, no insight, no initiatives...just do what they're told, do what the scope is. Sometimes they do it quickly. If quickly and good job still alright but if quickly half-assed job... won't that make you go mad? I hate it when people do things quickly half-assed so that they have more leisure time for themselves....

There's a lot more thoughts running through me head today but it's just too personal and someone might just get hurt. So I'm just gonna take a deeeeeeeep breath and just let it go.

Things that made me smile today

2007-06-20T23:15:00.001+01:00

A clay sculpture done by NAMI at school

Greeted by these two at the door when I reached home from work

Received tender loving care from this man when I'm unwell

Our tickets home arrived

All because I love you...

2007-06-19T00:03:00.000+01:00

It's quarter past 11pm. I just got back from meeting hubby at my hospital. I crept up to the kids room and MIMI heard the creaking of the stairs and my footsteps. She saw me peeping into the room and she woke up from her sleep, walked to me saying Ma! Ma! with a smile while holding up her hand asking for a dukung. All my weariness and sleepiness were swept away with a hug and a kiss.

What's the story you asked me. Well let me tell you.

I stayed back at the hospital till 7pm; not because I was waiting for the traffic to die down, but to go to NAMI's school. The school had an open day for the parents to visit the classrooms and to see the works done by the students as well as meeting the teachers.

Anyway, while I was there hubby called....

I need a favour from you. I left my wallet at home. So maybe we can meet somewhere in between Luc@n and Br@y, you can pass me the wallet.

Alah yang. I'm still at school ni. Macam mana boleh tinggal?

I was watching DVD. Leka, looked at the watch I realised I had to go already. So rushing le tadi.

Iiiiissshhhh!! Do you need it?

Ya la...I'm driving all over Br@y all night. Nanti kot polis tahan tengah-tengah malam and I don't have a licence, susah lah...

Hmmmm....Let me go home first, have my dinnner then I'll call you.

So I went home, ate my dinner and called him. We agreed to meet at this shopping complex at 10pm coz he had to do a house visit first.

10pm my phone rang.

D**a. I still kat Br@y lagi nie. Took me longer to find the patient's house.

Ok lah yang. You meet me at the hospital coz I can do my maghrib while waiting for you.

Ok, I'll see you there

So, I drove to the hospital and went to the doctor's res. My colleague was surprised to see me there and asked Are you being kicked out from your own house? Hahahaa...very funny!!

Half hour later hubby arrived.

Thank you. I love you.

Ye lah...Next time just put the licence in the car.... *got a pinch on the nose for that remark*

I got a call in Roundwood. 1 year old child query meningitis.

Eh yang. You better call back and asked the history. Ada rash ke. How's the child. Better for them to go straight to hospital if they think it's meningits.

You think? But it's a private call...€65...

No yang. It's a long way from here. It's a child query meningitis. Serius tu...

We parted ways and then halfway home hubby called.

I took your advice and called them. The mother was very anxious. There's a non-blanching rash and the child was listless. So I told them it's gonna take me at least 45 mins to get to them. They better use the time to get to a hospital rather than wait for me.

Oh good for you.

You just cost me €65.

Yeah, but you might just saved a child's life...

Ok lah...you're right...no price tag there...Ok I'll see you tomorrow evening. And if no badminton we'll go watch Pirate.

Alrighty. Have a good night.

Well that's the story. Moral of the story

1. If you think your child has meningitis go to hospital straight away because time is of the essence in saving your child's life.

2. Men, please keep a copy of your licence and a few spare cash in your dashboard so there's no need to ask big favour for a delivery service from your better half ;P

It's 1am already. Good nite everybody!!!

Raising my kids in a foreign land

2007-06-17T20:29:00.000+01:00

Hubby were driving with NAMI sitting in the back. Then he hummed

Do it right. Do it right to me..

Hey!! Don't sing that song with NAMI at the back

Why?

It's a dirty song.

It's dirty if people think it's dirty.

It's a dirty song lah! What else do people need to "do it right" to each other? Hihihih.... Just like the song Push it, push it, Push it hard....

Eh, it can be a song for someone in labour...Push it hard!!

Hahahaha!!

The above are just an intro to my entry. I apologise to my non-muslim readers as this is an entry about bringing up muslim kids in a non-muslim country.

We in Kg.Luc@an had our monthly forum and the discussion this month was about raising kids in a foreign land. It was interesting discussion between us all and few points and views were expressed.

I've been here in Ireland for about 13 years and counting. I have been bringing up my kids here in Ireland for 6 years and counting. There are difficulties in terms of religion and cultures but there are great points too.

What I find most difficult is teaching my kids about religion, about faith, about being a muslim. There are only 2 muslim schools here in Dublin and there are a lot of muslims with schooling age kids. Each school has only one class for each grade. So you can imagine the competition to get in.

Anyway, NAMI didn't get into any of the muslim schools. She's in a multi-denominational school (no religion based). So it's up to me totally to educate her about Islam and to teach her to read Quran, to do her prayers and the proper akhlak. I can tell you, I failed miserably in teaching her to mengaji. I am truly ashamed. My excuse would be I am working and by the time I got home it'll be too late for any mengaji. I am promising myself now that this summer holiday I am going to teach her to mengaji. No matter how tired I am that evening.

We are lucky we have an Ustazah here who just arrived from Malaysia following her husband doing his phD to do a regular Kelas kenali Islam here in Lucan. So NAMI goes there every Tues and Thurs for an hour and I am very grateful to Ustazah for the time she's willing to give for the kids here.

That's my biggest regret of living here in a non-muslim country. In Malaysia you have Islamic school in the afternoon. In Malaysia you can hear azan when it's prayer time. In Malaysia you can see Islam being practice widely like fasting, wearing the hijab, celebrating the eid and so on. Not here. You're fasting while you see your friends eating openly. You celebrate eid but there's no holiday, no anticipation like Christmas. You wear the hijab and people look at you differently or think you're a nun instead. Hehhee...

But one thing for sure I can tell my kids clearly what is Islamic and what is not while in Malaysia there would be a big grey area that you have to deal with.

So, that's the faith side of things. Culture is another, like speaking bahasa. Aiyah...I can tell you my daughter cannot speak bahasa well. She understands certain phrases which are used everyday but if you asked her a question in bahasa she might asked you back what do you mean. And if she understands you, she will be most comfortable answering you in English as this is her first spoken language. And to top it all, she's learning Irish (gaelic) which I don't know. So she might be cursing in Irish and I would still go oh well done! Hehehee....

I had an idea of sending her home to my parents during summer holiday to learn about Islam, mengaji and to learn bahasa but I think I'll miss her whingy self too much! So I think I have to make steps in ensuring that she does not lose her knowledge of bahasa.

Another aspect is food. Here I educate NAMI of what food we can eat. I taught her about suitable for vegetarian food (the "V" label), about why we can eat chicken and hotdogs at home and certain places in Dublin but not in her friend's house, certain sweets that we can eat, why we cannot drink certain drinks and so on. So far NAMI has been very good. When we go shopping she will ask if there's the V label on the packet of biscuits or the yogurts. I showed her that we can eat kellogs products because it has the V label as well as the halal label. I can trust her to go to her friend's party because she knows what she can and cannot eat. I still check though, asking her what she had and if she comes home from the party hungry then I knew she didn't eat anything there! And if the neighbours gave her sweets or crisps she always asked me to check whether she can eat it or not.

I noticed here that the school's syllabus is more relaxed compared to Malaysia. Here the teachers encourage participations in class and this is true in the smaller children's classes. They focused more on the children's development such as social skills and interaction and developing self-confidence. The parents are very involved with the school and parent-teacher association here is very strong. The teachers are concerned about the kids and if any kid is fallling behind, they will call a meeting with the parents.

Teachers are great at school but parents need to show interest in their kids as well.

What I concluded is that I have to watch my children's activities more closely here as I have no support system i.e my parents and family to keep an eye on my kids when I'm working. I need to watch her friends, what she's doing with them, what is she teaching her sister at home, what she watches on TV, what song is she listening to, what she eats, what is she reading. I have to explain things why this is so and that is so. I have to explain why her friends can do certain things and she cannot.

It's difficult and it's gonna get more difficult as she grows older. (teenage years...Aaaarrrgghhh...!!!!)I hope by teaching her early and strengthening her basic knowledge will help me and her go through her life journey in this foreign land a little bit easier.

2007-06-14T21:07:00.000+01:00

NING-NING-NING-NING-NING!!!

DAMN!! An arrest. Ground floor C-Wing.

Hope it's false alarm. Hope it's false alarm.

Dab-dub. Dab-dub. Dab-dub. The heart pounding. The steps quickened.

Went into the room. Lying on the bed, a man looked pale and breathless and cold and clammy

SHIT. SHIT.

So many people around. All looking serious and worried.

Mr. F. Mr.F. Can you hear me?

Oooooaaarrrhhh he moaned.

Okay. Still breathing. Still alive. Pulse felt weak though.

Put on the oxygen mask. Put on the BP monitor. Put on the pulse oximeter. Get in IV line. Put up gelofusion.

Damn. Oxygen saturation just 77%. Not good. Not good.

What's the history here?

An 82 year-old male post-op few days ago. Has history of ischaemic heart disease and a diabetic.

Bad. Bad history.

Suddenly

Oh no. I can't feel a pulse. He's out. Start CPR.

1,2,3,4,5.......15. 2 breaths.

Can someone please put on the AED (automated external defibrillator)?

Anaesthetist already intubated the man.

AED : Analysing rhythm. Shock indicated.

Clear everybody. Shocking.

The thump heard as the shock delivered. And another 2 shocks were delivered.

No pulse. Adrenaline please. Continue CPR.

Someone please attach the monitor on him.

Shit. He's in PEA (Pulseless electrical activity) now.

Okay 3 minutes up. Feel the pulse. No pulse. Look at monitor. Still PEA.

Right. Atropine please. Continue CPR.

They worked on the man. Adrenaline, atropine, amiodarone, all injected one by one, following the protocol of 3 minutes cycle in between each drug. He continued to be in PEA so no shock was indicated and CPR was continued.

Sweat dripping on those doing the CPR. One person alternate with another.

An hour passed. Everybody looked at each other. Everybody looked at the team leader. He shook his head. We all stopped, head hung low...

Time of death......

Leaving the nurses to clean up the patient, we all walked off with a heavy heart.

But not as heavy as the doctor who now face the difficulty of breaking the sad news to the family, who was just with him a few hours ago, talking and laughing together.

This happens almost once a week in a big public hospital wards, even more in casualty departments. But not in private hospitals. Where patients are mostly well and surgeries are done electively. These patients undergo medical chceck-up especially the elderly ones before they go under the knife.

The above was a rare occasion when the cardiac arrest code was not a false alarm.

It's been a tough 2 weeks......

Driving madness

2007-06-12T23:41:00.000+01:00

You know what I hate? I hate passenger drivers. Yes...those who sits in the passenger seat and then tells you how to drive. It really bugs me ESPECIALLY if it's my hubby!!

Uuuurrgghhhh....please lah...next time if you don't like the way I drive...you drive sendirilah!!

I know women drivers are labelled as bad drivers but NOT ALL okay!! His constant nagging did engraved certain points like watching the mirrors even when you stopped coz there might be drivers behind you that need you to just inch forward to allow them a bit of space to get through. Or straightened your car when you parked. Give signals (of course!!) and either slow down or move to the other lane for merging cars. And others lah but those are the main thing he nags about...

I really don't like people (hubby lah...sapa lagi ye tak!) telling me when to exit from junctions, or when to overtake or what to do in certain situations. I'm driving so let me make the judgement call...unless it's necessary then I'll take your advice.

Well, I don't do it often but sometimes I do tell him like to watch out like Red light..red light... or Eh he's braking, take care... But sometimes I shouted and that makes him nervous and then I kena marah.. heheheh... Paham..paham... berderau darah tu...

One weekend I was driving and he was seating next to me and then he said Why are driving so fast? Why are you rushing? Then I said Eh...you always when you drive if people slow you nag. So I am just being kind to other drivers (that is like you!). Then he gave excuse that there's something wrong with my car and I should be more careful driving it! Hahahahah... iiissshhhh!!! Geraaammmm!!! Hehehee

If he drives he nags about other drivers...Oh gosh...EVERY TIME!! I've developed a deaf ear already and just nodded and agree with him. Then he gets irritated so I said You do this every time you drive. You know what I'm gonna say...Just be patient and if there's an opportunity change lanes and overtake him. Do something...don't just nag! Heheheh...

But what gets me is if there's a driver that he's annoyed with it must be 1. WOMEN 2.ELDERLY. Because this occurs like frequently, I dah malas nak gaduh...apa-apa lah....Ye...Ye Yang...betul tu....And at that point he either laughed and pinched me or he gets annoyed. So I have to see his mood too before I do that!

I guess it's universal. Men will always think that they're better driver than women. And hubby just don't trust their wife to drive them around or drive their precious cars! Heheheh...

But men have bad habits too when driving

Am I able for this...

2007-06-07T00:35:00.000+01:00

I was feeling quite down. Dr. Zac noticed I wasn't as cuckoo as always. My hi hadn't the cheery note to it. Suffice to say, another patient of mine died. Another is very sick and is not going to last long. And there are a few that if I'm not careful will deteriorate rapidly.

This morning when I wrote out another death certificate, I counted the slips of past patients. 15 not counting those who I transfered to hospital and died there. In the short time I'm there, which is 9 months, 15 patients died in my hands. A few of those not even 6 months in the nursing home and right before my eyes they deteriorated rapidly. I began to doubt myself.

The ward sister told me not to feel bad coz they had a great life before they came here. They came from the hospital meaning they were not well and now the family couldn't cope at home. They lived to a good age, 90+. I said to her I don't know how long I can continue doing this. She told me I was kind to them and I made them comfortable in their dying days. They died in peace and with dignity. I was beginning to wonder if God going to make me accountable for these deaths.

Dr. Zac said I need to change job or get counselling. Hahaha...that put a smile to my face. Naahh.. I don't need counselling..not yet anyway.

When I was just started working and still thinking of what specialty I want to go into, I know I couldn't do paediatrics. I tak tahan tengok sick kids. I would break down. I know I'm not into surgery though it would be cool to be a lady surgeon and your team calling you Ms. I know I'll be doing general medicine. Never crossed my mind I would be doing care of the elderly.

I remember one of my attachment during my clinical years to a palliative care team. This team deals with patients who are terminal and their specialty is to make their last few months pain free and comfortable. One day I followed the consultant to a patient's room who was just diagnosed with terminal cancer. He spoke to the patient with such gentleness and explain the diagnosis and prognosis to him as clearly as possible. Then the patient asked him the magic question How long do I have? He answered I don't have a magic wand that can tell the time... and before he can continue the patient broke down and cried. And I started to feel a lump in my throat. The consultant was very kind and gentle and held his hand and comforted him. I knew then that I cannot do palliative care. It is just too sad.

I guess the majority of the medical specialty would have dealing with death. Just that some would be on the cards more frequent than others. And as time goes by you get better at dealing with it. And hope that the experirence makes you humble and full of humility. And not numb you of emotions.

2007-06-06T01:44:00.000+01:00

It's 2am in the morning. I've been blinking, looking at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of the night. My window is open as it was a warm night and I can hear the traffic passing by now and again.

Oh...I forgot the milk and bread are still in the boot of the car. Better go and get them.

Huh...my car wasn't locked. Happened few times already. Sometimes I found out in the morning, horrified that the front door or the back door not locked. Thank God nothing happened. Not that I should be making this a habit, but I'm glad we live in a safe area.

I was watching Grand Design last night, a show about houses' architectural and interior design. I watched it to get some ideas for my own home. Most of the designs used big framed glass as windows, or walls, or sliding door, sometimes roof to get in as much light into the house as possible. Anyway, I thought that's nice but can't do that in Malaysia. You'll be like inviting thieves to come and rob your house. Easy what, just throw stones and you'll gain entry already. No grills or bars to impede your way. Hehehe....

I was waiting to pick up NAMI from her Islamic class in a friend's house. Got talking to her regarding her posting outside Dublin and her career and what she's going to do next. I have to say I was surprised to hear that she planned to go back home after she finished her training and worked as a consultant for a few years. I said, wouldn't it be better for her son's future to stay this side of the world since he has EU nationality thus can go study anywhere ie Ireland or UK (and pay EU fees instead of international fees). She said she hasn't think that far ahead yet...

Huh....and I thought she's a keeper....

Then I asked another friend will she and her family go back....She said....She'll stay if possible but there's an option to migrate somewhere like Australia and if that's not possible they would go back. Huh...interesting...

Me? So far I'm staying put....

*Yawn* Well...it's ten to 3am. I better go and get some shut eye.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzz

2007-06-02T17:20:00.000+01:00

Its Saturday. Everybody at home all lepak-lepak...

Normal banter heard...

Abah, I want to watch cartoon, please NAMI whine

NOOOooooOOOO!!! I'm watching rugby... hubby vetoed

NAMI pi mandi lah...dah pukul berapa dah ni... I cried out

Why? Why do I have to mandi?! You tak mandi lagi..?!! Ish budak niii...

Then

Mummy, what you're making?

I'm making clafoutis

What's that?

It's a fruit pudding..I think

After 1 hour, clafoutis ready. I tasted it...Hmmm...I don't like it

Yang, you want a taste?

I kenyang lah

Apa you makan?

Tu..dok makan kuaci and minum air...

Hmmmm.... okay...

Then rugby started and he sat up and ate some more kuaci

Huh...kata kenyang lah, tak boleh muat lah perut tu dah, dah senak lah, tapi boleh makan kuaci tu. I punya clafoutis tak leh nak rasa *penuh muncung and merajuk*

Hehehe...ye lah..ye lah... *pukul manja*

A few minutes later...

Eh..sedap lah D**a ....apa yang tak sedap nye...

And went to the kitchen for a second helping...

Hihihih.... suka hati...

Death comes to us all...

2007-05-31T09:52:00.001+01:00

I was looking forward to my breakfast in the cafe this morning. A warm scone with butter and jam with a cup of cappucino.

Was just about to have my first bite and the phone rang. It was the nursing home.

Oh Doc. Just called you to tell you that Mrs. D M died this morning.

*sigh* Broke my heart and spoiled my appetite. Definitely ruined my breakfast. The scone didn't look or taste nice at all. The cappucino was bitter. Damn.

What a start to my morning.

I want to go to school

2007-05-28T19:03:00.000+01:00

NAMI, tomorrow tak yah go to school lah yek. Ms. C***l is not going to be there because she's on holiday. You'll be going to another classroom anyway and you won't be doing any learning.

But I want to go to school.

But you're not gonna do anything.

I'm being selfish here. If she doesn't go to school, I can go later like 9am or so and straight to the nursing home instead of doing a 'roundabout'.

But Mummy...I WANT to go to school she whined. I did some colouring and dot-to-dot.

Ha..ok lah. Ha..tidur le cepat. Esok nak school.

I thought I'd better gave in and not break her spirit of wanting to go to school. I should be encouraging her and relish in the thought of how SHE wants to go to school instead of me forcing her.

Do you like going to school when you're small?

I couldn't recall a lot of my early school days. I remembered just bits and pieces of it. Like I did a singing performance with my classmates at the end of my kindergarten year at Holy Light Kindergarten. Then I recall going into the classroom on my first day and sitting at the one empty seat in the front. There was another time when there was a spelling quiz and teacher asked us to write on the blackboard. I got asked to spell 'chicken'. I knew how to spell it but I wrote it so small, like I was writing in a book that teacher couldn't read it. So she gave me no mark. I remembered being so confused because I know I was right. I knew then that I have to write bigger next time on the board.

There was a funny incident involving my school bag. I was lining up waiting for my school bus to go home. I had with me a checkered red school bag which at the time was the in-fashion for school bags. So there were a few around. So I was chatting away with my friends and when I saw my bus I just grabbed what I thought my bag and ran. I noticed it felt lighter but I thought nothing of it.

Anyway, in the bus I opened the bag and realised it's not mine. I WAILED!! Yes..I did!! The bus driver got such a shock that he stopped the bus and came to my side and asked what's wrong. When he realised what's wrong he just calmed me down and said that I'll get my bag tomorrow because the other kid was sure to bring my bag too. And sure enough, my mom and I went to the office and there she was, the other girl with my bag. So we exchanged the bags. Hehehe...

Then there was one time I came home running with my report card. I shouted "Mak! Mak! I got No.3." I showed my mom the report and then I continued "Actually there are two of us who got no.2 but that's okay, I'll be no.3" My mom just laughed and said, "Noble of you but you got no.2 too. The next person will be no.4. There just isn't no.3 this time." I can't believe that I would gave way and let someone ahead of me and let them be noted to be cleverer/better than me. Hehehe... Anyway, I'm still like that...especially in my line of work...if you're not sure...ask and say that you don't know coz you're dealing with somebody's life. Better be called stupid than being sued!! Well, not stupid but..."How long have you been practising, doctor?" in a sarcastic way....Hehehhe...

Me during lectures in Trinity College

So, from Holy Light Kindergarten, Convent Johor Bharu, Convent Sentul (primary and secondary), MRSM Jasin, MSMKL for A-Levels to Trinity College for my medical degree....

To all the Final meds out there, good luck in you exams. Enjoy your last long summer holidays before you start working. Coz after you start working, you'll wish you're back being a student when you can SLEEP most nights peacefully and not being paged at 24-7!

Congratulations to new doctors. We'll see you around in July yeah!

And to all other students who are taking their finals this summer, Good Luck. Hopefully all your hardwork will pay off. May my picture of graduating gives you the moral support needed to push the extra mile!

In sickness and in health...

2007-05-27T23:03:00.000+01:00

Yang. Do you remember the first time we met?

Yes. It was at Malaysian Hall. I was washing plates and Ina introduced us

Hey! You remembered!

Of course I remember. You're my first love. You are my only love

It was autumn 1994. I just arrived a few weeks before, fresh faced medical student, excited to be in a foreign land. Away from home and a strict mom...heehehe...FREEDOM!!!

There was a function held at Malaysia Hall. The warden then arwah Pak Ngah, did something like makan-makan and meet the seniors night. I was there with other students.

Later after the event, I went down to the kitchen in Malaysia Hall, just wanted to say hello to my friends who was helping arwah Pak Ngah with the cleaning up. Then I saw you. My heart skipped a beat. And it began to race. You were washing and cleaning up the plates that were used that night. And you were wearing your colourful jacket and jeans.

Approached my friend and when you're not within earshot I asked her

Na, sapa tu? I whispered. I was having palpitations and I could feel it in my ears. But I kept my cool.

Oh tu M**l. M**l, ni D**a. Dia budak Trinity. D**a ni M**l dia budak RCSI. Sama year lah kan, lain batch je. She answered, purposely loud

We just smiled at each other. And you continued working.

Hihihih...I went to the sink and started to help out. Oh my GOD!! Sejuknya air...Brrrr...

Hehehe...air panas dah habis ye. Boleh ke? Kalau tak biar saya je buat Oh my God, he's talking to me...Oh! Such gentleman...Cair daku...Those were my thoughts when you spoke to me.

Takpe, boleh... Nak tunjuk rajin punya pasal, nak you notice me kat bawah tu, terpaksa lah tahan. Last-last tak tahan gak.

You alih pinggan yang dah basuh kat sini. I basuh. Sejuk tu. I surrendered.

I couldn't stay long. My housemates calling for me to get home. I said my goodbyes and went off.

Since then rajin le ke Malaysia Hall. Studied there. Lepak there. Then both of us stayed in Malaysian House, a private new hostel managed by arwah Pak Ngah. We got to know each other, but always in the company of other hostel residents; in the TV room, dining hall or lounge. I got to know that you are from Kajang, you played rugby for your kolej kediaman in UPM and for RCSI; you support England for both rugby and football. You support Tottenham Hotspurs FC and played hockey for college. You told me about your scars on your forehead, how you got 13 stitches in your forearm. You taught me rugby rules as it was Rugby World Cup '95. I knew New Zealand was one of the top teams in rugby. I supported NZ while you supported England. Even now.

Friends in the hostel noticed that we're getting closer by the day. Do you remember how we stayed up late in the TV room in the pretense of staying up late to study but actually we're talking while MTV was playing in the background on TV till dawn? Hehhee...and you know what...of all the songs that were playing on MTV of all those nights we stayed up late you remembered one song...I want you back by Take That. Not appropriate and doesn't apply to us at all but yeah...I remembered that song too.... Hihiihi

Do you remember how we declared to each other about our feelings? Hihihih...It was funny now but very intense then. Both of us were shy and didn't know what to say, how to say it, how to bring up the subject. We both sort of knew that we liked each other but still not too sure. We became an item just in time, as then you told me about people asking you whether we're an item coz if we're not there was an interested party.

As with all relationships, we had our ups and downs. I cried, you sulked, I got mad, you got jealous. We nearly broke up a few times, but we knew we're right for each other. You then gave me this ring and since then I never looked back. WE never looked back. It's not diamond but the sentiment of you forking out your scholarship money for me, that's priceless.

Yang, thank you for being my husband. Thank you for sticking with me through the bad patches of our relationship. Thank you for having faith in us. Thank you for loving me for what I am. I am a better person because of you. You've been wonderful and saying I love you seems not enough to show you how I feel about you, to demonstrate my gratitude for your love. It's been a joy and a wonderful life with you and I look forward for the years to come.

Till death do us part.

Love,

D**a

2007-05-25T20:58:00.000+01:00

Can you believe it...it's Friday already. And next week it's June..half of the year gone. Soon enough before you know it it's Christmas and new year. AAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!! Gosh....I feel like I'm running a marathon that's never ending...

So many things in my mind. One after another screaming for my attention. Sick kids. Nothing really, just viral infections. Just worried that MIMI's temperature kept spiking. No signs of the usual infections such as tonsilitis, ears, or chest. So just lots of neurofen and paralink suppositories and tender loving care, lots of hugs and kisses from Mummy.

The garden. Asked a favour from my colleague to cover for me Mon and Tues afternoon. That was impulsive. The weather was holding, sunny and bright those two afternoons. So I thought I better sort out my garden before the weather turned again.

Mowed. Weeded. Digged. Planted. Back-breaking I tell you. All the while I was doing those things, kept telling myself I wanted it to be paved...low maintenance. Told hubby about it; he said...but we wanted to do the extension...we might as well wait till that's done.

*sigh* The extension. Another dilemma. We bought the house €275k. The value now is about €390k. Architect's estimate of the extension €150k. To raise such amount we have to remortgage as well as take out another loan. So total debt would be about €425k.

Dilemma is to extend or to trade up. We needed extra space. People who extended said that we will not get the same profit as if we sell without extension. We know that. They said extension is very stressful and can be very costly too. Also noted. But I've looked at houses here in Lucan. Price + stamp duty much more expensive than extension. Cheaper options would be to buy in commuter town nearby Dublin. Not an option for me coz my friends, who are my support system are here in Lucan. Then they say buy near place of work and NAMI's school. Hahahaha...if I have €1.2 mil minimum...boleh lah...!! I guess the thing to do now is to get quotes from builders and see what it will amount to. I just don't dare to think of the HUGE amount of debt we're digging ourselves into...

There's still plenty of unsolved thoughts, worries in my mind. Things like looking for a new helper, my mum doing her umrah, us wanting to do the haj, my brother's wedding. Ah...these are all trivial things, nonetheless it's still need attention. Different people different worries. Different needs. Whatever it is, it's our lives and it's up to us to sort it out and to make the best decision for all parties involved. Life as it should be....full of challenges, difficult decisions, pros and cons, ups and downs. Colourful....or it would be a dull life indeed.

What's in a name..

2007-05-20T22:27:00.000+01:00

Proposition: What is the meaning of your kid’s name?Requirements: write about what or how or why you giving the name to your kids.Quantity: FIVE PEOPLE.Tag Mode:1st - You leave their blog and post link and add to the list below.2nd - Let the blogger you want to tag know they been tagged by comment in their blog or etc.

Msau The meaning of SQ and Kiki
Shopping Mum The meaning of Justin and Isabell
Judy Chow Terry
Shannon Rachel
Samm Gordon n Malcolm
Sasha lil J
mott 2 monkeys
Fatty Poh's Fatty Boy
Kd NAMI & MIMI

When I was pregnant with NAMI...waahh..all excited la...first baby lah kan. Went and buy all baby stuff, go for ante-natal class, researched for pram and car seat. We looked for a name. We already agreed to use our initials for guideline. My initials are N & A while his are M & I. So if girls use mine and if boys use his. So I did all the research for the name.

If girl, easy. The N will be similar as mine meaning "light". It's just looking for the A part. Liked 'Ain but people here will have difficulty pronouncing it. Liked Atiqah, again difficulty of pronouncing the qaf...people will tend to pronounce k instead. We had few choices but settled on Ad*****h which means "penawar hati" or soothing to the heart...something like that. So NAMI's name means "cahaya penawar hati" or "soothing light".

Then I was pregnant with MIMI. Second baby, working full time in a private hopital already and doing Doctor-on-duty calls. Tough job and tiring. I stopped the doctor-on-duty call in October, a month and a half before due date. Tak larat dah nak naik turun kereta bawak beg berat going from one patient's home to another for 12 hours shift. But kept going with the hospital job (buat admission je pun)) till 2 weeks before due date. Not much preparation for second baby, just bought a new pram, borrowed a car seat from a friend till we got NAMI's one out of the attic, and just few clothes. Others just re-use.

Anyhoo, hubby expecting a boy. I don't mind, but I felt like it's a girl. Coz whenever I looked for a boy's name, nothing seems right. Anyway, I said to him, well if it's another girl we'll use his initial this time. So again I looked for it.

As for MIMI, the I part I know already what I want, something which means "lembut" or "gentle". So I looked for the M part. Liked Mumtaza, Mahfuzah but hubby didn't. So found Mu*****h which means "penjaga" or "guardian". So in full MIMI's name means "pemelihara kelembutan" or "guardian of gentleness".

So, that's the meaning of my kids name. Though I must say...they're not like their names at all. I mean NAMI when small yes penawar hati (soothing) but now ah...menyakit kan hati ada la! Heheheh...As for MIMI...not gentle at all! Very active and boisterous!

Hahaha...only a mother can say such thing about their kids. No lah..they all precious girls!

Now who to tag....Hmmm....
Pak Haji Jeddah Abg.Arief - Along, Angah, Achik, Amirul, Haziq and Luqman
Lovely Ms Turkey Simah - Hatice and Baddin
Loving Jordan K.Rina - Zaid, Safiyyah, Sumayyah, Izzat, Syamimi,
Bakal Dr. D - Abang Z & Abang H, Little D and Princess D
Frenchy Faizabelle - Wafeeq and Nasrin

My tag is optional. Up to you whether you want to do or not. Thank you my friends....

Lessons learnt in life

2007-05-15T22:10:00.000+01:00

Hmm...I felt like I'm completing an essay assignment.

This task was assigned by our Mr.Arief.

How did it happened?

Well...last week...I was in my office...awaiting for traffic to die down and so got chatting with Abg. Arief. He then introduced me to 2 lovely ladies...Syana and JT. Lovely banter we all had....got to know each other....

Sok sek sok sek....Oh ye ke...

Pot pet pot pet....Hahahha...

Konar sana konar sini...mostly Abg Arief doing the konaring...

Anyway he then got a bright idea of setting up this challenge for the 4 of us. We bounced topics out and so we settled on this one.

I have no idea what to write about. I haven't lived long enough or had any experience that can be called lessons in life....

What I can tell you might just be minor lessons, if they can be called lessons at all, that most probably won't leave any big effect on anybody at all..

Anyway, Abg.Arief gave me a few ideas on what to write about...so here goes...

I work in a nursing home so I deal with elderly ladies aged between 60 to ripe old age of 100. Most of them are immobile, bedridden or poor mobility. They need full nursing care meaning need to be fed and changed.

Some have families who visit regularly. And it's wonderful to see the daughters or sons of so-and-so take time to see their mom, sometimes bringing their children to see grandma.

What saddens me is that the people around the patient would be like talking and telling stories to her but they don't get any reaction. She would just stare of or just look at their faces blankly. Not even a flicker of a smile. Sometimes I see daughters with tears in their eyes because they feel so helpless. Because most of these ladies have Alzheimer's disease or any sort of cognitive impairment. Orang kita kata nyanyuk lah.

So you see, take time to appreciate your parents. Take time to talk to them. Take time to enjoy them while they still able to and still know it's you. We are so busy with our own lives that we forget that we too will grow old. Take time to take care of them while they are still here....

Being a doctor, sometimes you don't see patients as a person. You see the disease, the medical problems. You see them as a job to be done, i.e IV lines to be put up, drugs to be given, tests to be ordered and results to interpret. You forget that the patient is someone's child, parent, sister, aunty and so on. You become detached. It's good in a way that you don't get emotionally attached but if you take the patient as a person, I think you will care a little bit more. That's why nurses always get chocolates and flowers and cards while doctors don't get any, coz they feel it's the nurses that tend to them and helped them get better.

Anyway, in the nursing home, I took my time with the elderly ladies. I talked to those who can talk and greeted them everytime I arrived. They responded by saying "Good morning doctor." or "There's the nice doctor". Sometimes they called me sister (nun) coz of the scarf. And a few of them, when they got to know that I am approachable would come to me the second I walked into the door, telling me whatever bothers them. Heheheh...liked the attention but at times can get scary when many elderly ladies coming towards you, tugging at your clothes and hands trying to get your attention. They're just like kids really.

There's this one lady who had poor intake and refusing to take her medications. I saw her nearly everyday trying to coax her to take the meds and her supplement drinks. I even sat next to her and fed her myself, at the same time telling her why she needs her medicines and to take her food. After a few days she said to me "You write down what I have to do" So I wrote in a piece of paper

You have to

eat
drink
take your medicine

She carried the paper everywhere (she thought it's a prescription) and did just what I told her. Now she's much improved and she come and say hello to me every morning

Sometimes people just need some attention and some tender loving care. A small gesture like saying hello or asking how they are can go a long way. In my case they see me as someone they can trust and can turn to if they have any problems. Most of the time they just need reassurance that they are well and not dying just yet. These can be applied anywhere, at work, at home, with your kids or your colleagues. Small to you but it might just make a difference in someone's life.

You would think that since I take care of the elderly I should be able to deal with death. Actually...no. It's never easy, especially when I got to know the family and I have been taking care of them for a while and especially when it is sudden. I still feel that I failed them, that I didn't take care of them. I feel like there must be something that I could have done to prevent the death. But the staffs there always reassure me that it's happy days for them. That it is time. I still feel bad though. My job is to do the best for them, to make their passing comfortable for the dying and not stressful for the family. Whenever there's a sick patient, and my phone rings, my heart will skipped a beat. Every time. I hate the feeling of it. And to come in the morning and write the death certificate...alahai...

The elderly are not so bad though. They've at least lived their life. It's when you're dealing with the younger generation, kids, those who still had plenty to offer that you began to question why.

But that's the reality of life isn't it. Everybody will die. It can come anytime, anywhere in whatever way. Can't live in fear though...so live life to the fullest. It's a cliche I know but yeah...it's true though. Time flies so fast nowadays that you just feel like there's not enough time in a day to do anything for yourself. You feel suffocated, overwhelmed with responsibilities and feel like you can't get a breather. The days blended into months and years and become a big blur. Then one day you realised that you're old and there's so many things that you didn't get to do and regret it.

So I say take time to appreciate the life you have. Whatever that is. Take time to look at the sky, smell the flowers, feel the breeze in your face, hear the laughter of the children. Feel the joy in your heart, let it sing with content. Be grateful that you are alive and well. Pause for a moment. Whatever the worldly things that you have to take care of...it can wait, even for a second.

Phew....just in time....

Memories of old...

2007-05-14T20:39:00.000+01:00

Lot 1**, Lorong Setia, Gombak Setia. That's my arwah nenek's house. She has a rambutan tree in front and at the back. But the rambutan in front is the best one. When it fruit, it's red and sweet and plenty. My uncles would get the galah and kait those high up while my male cousins would tunjuk terer and climbed up the tree and picked the fruit themselves. Sometimes I would joined them but I was not a good climber meaning I can go up but to get down would be a problem.

Anyway, in front of her house there's a small field. Small now but it was huge to me when I was small. And there my cousins and I would play konda-kondi, main getah, kejar-kejar, bola chopping. Sometimes the uncles would join us in a game of bola chopping or football. That was fun time.

Konda-kondi

And just at the back of the small field there's a hill. A high and mountainous hill to me when I was little but it's actually just a stepped up land. Anyway, my cousins and I had plenty of fun there. We played tobagganning with the cardboard box, gunung berapi, where you pretend there's a volcano going to explode and you're running away from the lava, screaming and helping each other to the top, or one of us would pretend to slip and nearly touched the lava! The screams and imagination...gosh...brought smiles to my face remembering that. Or we play monster-monster which was actually another version of gunung berapi except that one of us would be the monster and try to catch one of us, chasing us up the hill (monster not allowed to climb the hill.)

Those days, in the eighties, it was still safe for kids to play outside. So my cousins and I would venture out but not too far. Anyway, there's a field or a clearing just beyond my grandma's house and there was this HUGE pokok saga. We would gather the biji saga and bring home. I think I was thinking of making batu seremban with the biji saga and selling them. So we picked up plenty and bagful of it. When we're bored bending over and picking up, we would piggy back on the boys' shoulder to reach those biji saga still hanging of the trees. Hihihih...I can still picture myself on my cousin Din's shoulder and me with a stick trying to reach the biji saga, instructing him which way to go and him wobbling left and right trying to balance me...

I remember my cousins and I loved to go to the shop. We would gladly offered ourselves to go to the shops. We would go through the back way and cut through other people backyards. I didn't know the short cut existed until me and my girl cousins followed the boys quietly. They were so smug that they knew a shorter way to the shop that they kept it a secret. Anyway, going to the shop was one way to get junk food coz of course nenek would give us extra cash and said "Belilah apa-apa dengan duit lebih tu" But we have to make sure that we finished the treats we got before we reach home. Or the other kids i.e your smaller cousins would want yours.

As always there would be hierarchy in any big family. Same with mine. I think there were few groups. The teenagers..who would usually lepak with the unmarried and young uncles and aunties and would go out in the car with them. Us, who would be just about 9, 10, 11 years old doing our own thing coz we're not old enough (i.e not cool) to hang out with the teenagers and the uncles and aunties...and the smaller ones.

And as always, if you're not in the age group, you're not invited in the activities or not welcomed in the group. Ah...you know what I mean...coz I'm sure you did the same thing when you were a kid. It's like...ala...sibuk je budak kecik nie...ahh..gitu lah lebih kurang...hehehe...My sister selalu le kena gitu...being shunned away...And we'd be whispering among each other or communicate with secret gestures when we're around the other 'clans'....

So many memories associated with that house. All kenduri kahwin of my uncles and aunties held there. I remembered being a bunga telur girl, then graduated to kitchen member, helping with the dishes and putting them on the round steel trays while the boys became the penanggah. That was the best place to be coz we can hear all the latest gossips and got to witnessed the older ones being teased and interogated. "Si itu ini begitu begini..." in their Minang tongue then big laughter would fill the kitchen....Hihihih...

Whenever there's a kenduri in nenek's house, me and my cousin Nana would appoint ourselves as the dishwashers. Nenek got this big tank behind the kitchen and we would use that water for washing up. We loved that job coz we could just sit at one place, just the two of us, and talked.

Those are my memories. My daughters not gonna have the same experience as time and circumstances changed now. She will have and make her own memories with her life here in Dublin. Her cousins are all back home in Malaysia. What she have here are her friends, whom she knew from when they were small. So when she sees the photos later on in life maybe she'll remember the good times she had in Lucan.

A sporting banter

2007-05-13T22:26:00.000+01:00

I was watching Formula 1 this afternoon and my man (red ferrari - left) was on pole. Hubby doesn't follow F1 but he just supported someone other than my man. Just so that he can annoy and tease me about it. Anyway, his man was 2nd on the grid.

The 5 red lights went off and vrooommm went all the cars. My man had a good start and was in front. His man tried to overtake my man and they were wheel to wheel. But my man had the racing line and so his man went off the road into the gravel. His man lost 2 places because of that incident.

Anyway....

HEY! Your man drove dirty he said

Nooo! That was legal. It's a racing incident. Your man should have known better. My man was just protecting his position and he had closed the racing line I replied

No...your man drove dirty...he teased

I was annoyed already and so I cubit him on his chest and then retorted

Well, England is not gonna win the Rugby World Cup. They not even gonna get through the group matches!

Well, that hit the spot. He grabbed me and tickled me silly

Padan muka....

Never pick a fight with an ex rugby player....

Twickenham, home to England Rugby

My two angels...

2007-05-10T16:54:00.000+01:00

I have only two kids but even then I see the differences between the two girls. I think it's still too early to compare but I'm comparing the two of them when they're about the same age.

Both of them started cruising early and by 9 months they were walking properly already. But NAMI wasn't active like MIMI. NAMI was active but her activity was more gentle. MIMI is very active and more boisterous. She climbs, runs, jumps, twirls. Very hard to keep up with her.

NAMI was breastfed until she was one. I tried to mix her feeding with formula as well but she won't take the feed. Not even that she didn't want the bottle at all...even if the milk was breast milk. She wanted the real thing! Hehehe...she didn't like the puting (latex teat). So she went from breastfeeding to fresh milk drinking from a cup with a spout. And when we introduced her to solids, she wanted only the bottled, canned or the boxed baby food. The one I cooked dia tak mau! Until now she is fussy with her food....

As for MIMI...she was breastfed only for 5 months coz I started working. Then started her on the formula. No problem. As for food, no matter whether it was bottled, canned, boxed or home cooked..she ate it all. She's an eater...like her dad. Selera bagus punya...The dad is worried that she'll get fat! Hahaha....

NAMI was more gentle in nature and I think a bit proper. She didn't pick up things from the floor and put it in her mouth. And she takes care of her toys and books, even now...that's her nature.

And MIMI picks up anything and everything on the floor...and puts it in her mouth. Have to really watch her. One time she picked up the briquettes in the fire place and try to eat it. Well, you can imagine her face black with soot! Gosh....

As for MIMI...Masya-Allah....toys will not last long with her. NAMI's toys which was in good condition for years, got to her and in a few days it's dented, broken, pieces lost....As for books....she can even tore the hard books...hehehe...Brutal!!

I noticed MIMI started talking earlier than NAMI. I guess because MIMI has her sister to talk to. MIMI can say bye-bye, baby, look, book, babah, mama, ok, nak and oh-oh. And she is talkative once she gets going. She can babble and babble and babble....

NAMI was much quieter at that age. And her first word was kakak. Then she said abah, opah and few other words but mummy was her one of her later ones. Sedih I...

I have only two and I marvel at the difference of personality two siblings can have at such an early age. Difference personality means we have to approach each child with different angle, different method. And it means more colourful life for the family, more challenge for the parents....

How to score points with your wife...

2007-05-07T00:00:00.000+01:00

Our Mr.Arif had done an entry about "How to keep hubby happy". Hehehe...he's a hubby so he wrote from his point of view. There are few valid points but I feel compelled to counter-act. Now I'm gonna say something from a WIFE point of view. After all, marriage is a two way thing. Can't have one person only take and the other only give...

This is my personal views and not representing anybody else ye. If there's anybody want to add, can do so...I also borrow some good views from J.T

1. Once in a while, let wife have a lie in and the hubby go and deal with the kids who has no sense of weekends and still wake up early and hungry.....Extra points if hubby got breakfast ready...doesn't matter buy or cook....even if it's just baked beans and eggs and hotdogs with hash browns....

2. Let mummy have a "Girls day out" or some alone time and you take care of the kids for a bit. Don't worry...for a few hours only...coz we know you cannot handle the intensity of babysitting.

3. If you, the hubby cleaning up your car, clean up lah the wife's car sekali...apa salah nye. Sure get big hug and kisses punya...and while you're at it...check the oil, the tyre pressure, the wipers blades...Then we can call you "My hero" and then maybe you'll get special "treats" too....

4. If you think hubby like to be praised, women even more. Praise that she look pretty, praise her cooking. Say things like You're wonderful. What would I do without you

5. Saying thank you will also score points. Thanks for entertaining my friends tonight. Thanks for a lovely dinner. Thank you for your company tonight....Thanks for being my wife...

6. Surprise her with a lunch date ke, flowers sent to her office ke, a love email ka....hihihih....if can do during courting why cannot do now?

7. Both of you come home tired, so massage each other feet, back....Can lead to other things for sure one...hihihih

8. Hubby wants wife to maintain body, well...hubby needs to take care of yourself too. Why man can let go after marriage but the women have to maintain herself? Not only cosmetic reason...most wife wants hubby to live a long healthy life, grow old together-gether....

9. Hubby wants wife to look sexy and smell nice. Hmmm....if hubby wears singlet Pagoda and kain pelekat you think that sexy ka? Plus if you come home from gym or playing sports..please take a bath and not just change your clothes..Bau assam le...

10. If your wife complains. just listen. JUST LISTEN and don't offer any solutions unless she asked for it. Sometimes she just wants to let steam off..that's all.

11. Please..please read the signals your wife sends out. It subtle, coz we women malu tapi mahu. But not just those signals...but also signal for you to lend a helping hand, to give a hug, a kiss, a praise, a suggestions or whatever....If you can do this...you score big time.

12. Spend time together be it with family or just the two of you. Time alone together is important too. To see her not as the mother of your kids but your lover, the person you fell in love with in the first place. The love of your life.

13. If you like to be treated like a king, treat your wife like a queen. Pamper her once in a while. Doesn't have to be chocs or flowers...Make her a cup of coffee/tea after a hard day, get her the dinner ke, or treat her out for dinner/movie/ice-cream...Say things like It's your night. We'll do whatever you want to do...Hmmmm...big points there...We love being pampered...

14. Sometimes even small things can score big time. An unexpected hug, a long passionate kiss, come home early from work, even saying I love you can make us go weak at the knees...

15. And oh yes....Please...oh please remember important dates like your wife's birthday and anniversary. Big no no to forget. Can merajuk besar. Don't have to be a big celebration. Just show you remembered. Extra points kalau ada celebration or present especially when it's unexpected....or after soooo long no present or any acknowledgement of the special days...

Like I said, marriage is a two way thing. Treat unto others like you want to be treated. Respect and trust is the basic foundation....Love is the pillar of the relationship and children are the cement.

I'm sure there are more wiser views out there...from more experienced married women. Feel free to add or correct me if I'm wrong. This is just my opinions from what I gather from my short time in marriage. Still a long way to go...

What happened last week....

2007-05-06T00:00:00.000+01:00

Few days before....conversation between me and NAMI

Mummy....today is the 1st of May.

Yes...it's the first day of summer.

And tomorrow will be the 2nd and then the 3rd of May. That's your birthday she said excitedly

Hmmm...yes it is. You remembered. Thank you.

The day before

Mummy....I have to tell you something

Yes...what is it?

Tonight I have to tukar PJs and then go to sleep so that tomorrow I can wake up early. Then I go straight to bath and then wear my clothes and wear my socks. Then I'll go downstairs to have my breakfast and watch cartoon and wait for Abah to come home. Then when Abah comes home I'll open the door if I can reach the keys and then I will go out with him to buy you your cake...

Ooo...is that true?

Yeah..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello.... hubby answered his phone

Yes...I'm just calling you to tell you that your secret is out.

HAHAHAHHA!!! Kurang asam NAMI. Tak boleh harap betul!!

On my birthday

Mummy....where are you going?

I'm going to work

But it's your birthday....you don't have to go to work

Hehehe...I wish it's that simple my dear.

Did you tell your friends at work it's your birthday?

No I did not. Why should I?

So that they can wish you Happy birthday and buy a cake and have a party at the office.

Alahai sayang....thanks for the thoughts....Maybe next time I'll tell them....

Kids....what simplicity in the way they look at life....

My two cents worth of thoughts for the day

2007-05-02T12:39:00.000+01:00

I wrote about this before. I just want to let off steam.

The nurses are in talks with the government regarding their work situation. The nurses want more pay but less working hours. They want to work only 35-hours per week and they want their salary at par with other health care professional...Oh come on...who's next on the healthcare professional's list if not the doctors? They want as much as the doctor earn...who worked all hours, no breaks in between, on the go 24-7, working more than 100 hours per week.... BUT they don't want the responsibility of making life and death decisions, their degree is shorter than the doctors, they got breaks in between their shifts and their shifts NEVER exceed 12 hours!

The starting pay for a graduate nurse is €31,233, which is higher than a junior doctor's basic salary without the on-calls...Nobody cares about the doctors....

I don't mind if you're on strike for better pay BUT you want increase pay BUT less working hours? Where's the logic? I just don't get it....

If there're any nurses reading this I think I'm gonna get slaughtered. If there's no entry for few weeks that means I'm dead!! Hahaha

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's election year this year in Ireland. So all the politicians are busy campaigning from door to door, trying to sell their policies and hoping to get our votes.

Dr. Z's house was visited by the candidates from the party who is currently in government. Anyway, his wife opened the door and the first thing they blurted out when they saw that she's not Irish was "So you're renting the place?" and "Oh, you cannot vote then"

Dr. Z was pissed when he heard what happened and I was annoyed too. They are stereotyping people. They think that if we're not Irish / white we couldn't afford to buy our own house... which most of us did, and that we cannot vote...Okay lah..that one granted lah...but what if we can vote...by doing that they already lost the votes....

If you're a politician, wouldn't it be better to assume that everybody can vote? Let the person they're talking to volunteer whatever info they want to give. And haven't they notice that Ireland has become a pot luck of culture and ethnic? Many Asians, Eastern European, Arabs, Africans...all working here alongside each other and the Irish in harmony.

*sigh* Politicians...No matter what country they're from, what culture or ethnic they are....they are of the same breed....