Welcome, Ramadhan!

Ramadhan datang lagi....Alhamdullilah, kita telah dipanjangkan umur dan diberi kenikmatan untuk bertemu kembali dengan Ramadhan, penghulu segala bulan.

Today is the first day of the holy month of Ramadhan. Being a Muslim, we look forward to this month - which is full with blessings. Muslims everywhere strive to purify their hearts and seek for forgiveness and blessings from Allah.

Fasting is not just about abstinence from food and drink during the day - it is  also about sacrifices and character building. How it feels to be less-privileged. But only if you stay true to the teachings.

With temptations of various Bazaar Ramadhan, it is easy for us to sometimes forget the true meaning of fasting. Indulging ourselves with never ending lavish food for the breaking of fast!

Fasting with kids is a joy! I trained my kids to fast at the age of 5 years. Slowly at first - and by slowly I mean that they'll do different kids of half-day fasting. My second daughter who is a picky eater, completed her full month full day fasting at the age of 6! It was easier with her - since she is not crazy about food to begin with! 

Me and hubby - we always had a good laugh - reminiscing about her first full day fasting last year. By 4 pm, she was already in delirium, crying, yelling - to no one in particular - just to let everyone - how starving she was! I managed to calm her down...asked her to sleep...which she did....after an hour or so, she will start again with the crying and screaming. It was funny!

This year she is all smiles - except for the sahur part. We still saw the tears running over her cheek during the first sahur...hmmm....

The difficult part now will be my youngest. She is not yet 5 years - and loves her milk. It will surely be a task - that one! We'll see how it goes.

In the mean time - enjoy this holy month....may we all be blessed by HIM, always.....

World Breasfeeding Day

August 1 - 7 - was World Breastfeeding Week. Articles and pictures splashed over the pages of daily papers reminded me of my own experience.

When I had my firstborn - 12 years ago - there were only about 100  of us engineers in RND. Out of these, there were only around 10 females. Half of them were single so when I was pregnant,  it was no surprise that I was the only one at that time - in the office.

When I delivered my son - I exclusively breastfed him during confinement . The first 3 months were chaotic - as  the baby started to adjust to our world.  My son would wake up every 2 hours for a feed, but fall asleep after less than 5 minutes. No amount of poking of his cheek or  caressing of his mouth will waken him! Since he was sleeping on a baby cot - I remembered feeling like a robot. Baby cried, I sat, picked him up, breastfeed him, put him back in his cot, continued with my sleep and the repeat the pattern 2 hours later!

When it was time to be back in the office, I found it  a struggle to pump and store my milk. Being an inexperienced mom made it harder. Coupled with being a junior engineer at that time which meant that it was just too difficult to manage my time - with tasks and meetings to attend. I ended up giving my son formula milk during the day and exclusively breastfed him at night. It lasted for about 4 months. 

When I was expecting my second child - my determination was high. I was mentally prepared - and most importantly through advise from a friend, I bought a simple battery operated pump. That turned out to be a purchase worth buying! My daughter was not introduced to formula milk and and 2 weeks before I was due back to the office, I started to store up the milk in the freezer.

I would take the milk to the nursery - and the teachers there would put the bottles in a bowl of hot water, come feeding time. In the office, I found out there is no such thing as 'mother's room'. There was not even a proper place in the small in-house clinic which I could use. The nurse asked me to use the 'sick room' - but most of the time - there would be somebody there - having headaches or migraines or what not.

So my best best option was....the ladies room! Yup, I would go to the ladies room and spent 15 - 30 mins to fill up the bottles. I was earlier informed that there used to be a fridge in the in-house clinic. But unfortunately I was told that the fridge was under repair. But the nurses there were very helptful. They helped to get some ice cubes from the cafeteria, put it in a bucket - and then put my bottles in the bucket.  Clever huh! So my routine before I called it a day was to go down to the in-house clinic and picked up my bottles. 

I had to juggle with work and the visit to the loo - to pump! It was not easy and requires time management and loads of patience. Over time I managed to master some skills to shorten the time to pump. Before I knew it - I had achieved the 1 year goal of exclusive breastfeeding!

It was a milestone much cherished. Something that looked impossible at first glance - considering the hassle required to pump! A few things that I noticed was that during that 1 year, my daughter had less problem - specifically health problems. She was rarely sick - unlike my son who was frequently down with something - especially if one of the kids in the nursery was too.  And the additional benefit - the saving of $$$ - I'm sure you know how outrageous the prices of infant formula milk is. 


Come baby no 3, the routine continued. A visit to the loo to pump, but this time around I skipped the visit to in-house clinic and instead just put the milk in a warmer in my cubicle - as the place had aircond on full blast, anyway! Again, I managed to achieve my goal of 1 year exclusive breastfeeding. 


When my youngest daughter was born, I determined to continue my tradition.. Finding time to pump was slightly easier as I had more control of my tasks and meetings. The night feeding was also bearable - as all my daughters - unlike my son - had longer feeds and thus I had longer sleep cycle.

The battery operated pump was great and I managed to use them for all my 3 girls - a very good buy, if you ask me!

I am also very proud that my persistence in fully breastfeeding my girls had inspired other engineers - following my steps. Some of them were amazed at my determination, calling me supermom and admitting that she was using me  as idol! After my youngest daughter, I noticed that breastfeeding has gained momentum in our office and coupled with the fact that there are now around 800 engineers - the environment has also changed. There is now a 'Mother's Room' - where new mom can pump in comfort. I envy them....but that is truly a good change.

Cheers to Breastfeeding!!!!!

Bandung Chronicles - Day 4 - Au Revoir

Day 4 - it is finally 'Au Revoir' Bandung! After a tiring 4 days in Bandung - it's time to pack our bags and head home. Fuh, the number of bags that we needed to lug down the stairs! We had to call the helpers from the hotel to  bring them down. Extremely heavy!

Breakfast was this amazing 'nasi uduk'. Similar to our nasi lemak. The gravy looks like rendang - and the sambal bilis with crispy potato bits were to die for! It was really good! We had to wait for almost an hour before our van finally arrived. During that time we took the opportunity to take more pictures and also to buy some knick knacks (fridge magnet, key chains anyone?).

Our flight was supposed to be at 12 pm - which will give me an hour to make it to my connecting flight to Penang. Unfortunately 12pm came and go....and still no sign of us leaving! After half an hour we were finally inside the flight - a good 45 mins delayed! There goes my connecting flight!

I was with mixed feeling....it is always sad to leave a place...but at the same time, I missed my family terribly - can't wait to see all of them again.....

We landed in LCCT at around 3.45pm, and as expected the counter to Penang wasl already closed! I left my friends after taking my luggage and headed straight to the AirAsia Sales counter. What I saw next frustrated me! About 50 people queuing - with 3 counters open - but the queue hardly moved!

The guy in front on me seemed friendly. He smiled and then I thot - well, since I'm going to be here a while...might as well I make small talk with someone! That must be the best decision I had that day! 

The guy was very friendly. He was waiting to buy tickets to Singapore. I told him about my all-girls trip to Bandung. He cheekily asked whether it was a kind of bachelors party - in which I had to smile! Nope...I said it was just us girls....and he casually asked whether I'm already married. And he was quite surprise that our hubbies let us on the trip! Then he asked whether I am 'mamak'.....errr......a quick no there. Did I say that I conversed with him in English? Anyway, I'm going to flatter myself here and assume that my English is great that he probably thought I am a descent of Indian as well....ha..ha..ha...

Out conversation then centered into the reason for me queuing there. Then he asked to look at my flight schedule...and said ' this delay is caused by AirAsia...not your fault...you should complaint...go to their customer service'. Errr...I looked back and saw there were around 15 people behind me - with around 45 people in front....understandably - I was reluctant. He said to me ' Tell you what, you go and fight your case...make sure you get to the next plane for free...but if everything else failed...you can always comes back and queue behind me'. With that...and lots of thanks, I dashed away to find the customer service.

There was a couple in front of me - at the service counter. From what I eavesdropped (shame!) - they missed their flight as well. I asked the guy and he confirmed that he missed his flight to Penang as well - and was asked to pay rm65 each for the replacement flight. That seemed like a good deal - I checked to make sure I have the cash on hand. The when it was my turn, I relented my story to the girl. She checked my booking and then said that she'll book me on the next flight. Unfortunately the next flight will be at 9.45pm! It was 5 pm - so it was going to be a longgggg.....wait. I had to say yes - and to my surprised - the ticket was given to me - FOC!


I was truly surprised! To the guy who advised me to go to the customer counter - a big THANK YOU ! I did not managed to bump into him - to personally thank him. I asked hubby to check for MAS flight - but the RM359 price tag blew me off!


So there I was, alone....as my friends were all on their back to Pekan. I had a long early dinner of nasi lemak...savoring the food and the surrounding. Then it was back to Hercule Poirot while waiting for check in. 


The flight was finally announced - and being given seat 1A - meant I was on 'hot seat' and was the first one to board! By 10.30pm we landed in Penang, but unfortunately, a delayed in luggage pickup - we were running around in 3 aisles - meant that I finally got to hug my children at 11pm!


That was sure a longgggg.....day.....

Bandung Chronicles - Day 3

Day 3 agenda includes another trip to Pasar Baru as one of my friend wanted to get some more telekung - which she missed out yesterday. She actually drifted away from 4 of us - and ended up dishing more than we did (for the same item)  - and determined to get some of those awesome things that we bought! 


Breakfast was rice with beef rendang and cucur jagung - very unassuming - but surprisingly delicious (could it be that we were very hungry?). Oh yeah, we had to make changes to our booking - as the travel agent that booked the flight for my 4 friends did not include check in luggage! Imagine their genuine surprised when asked to pay, during check in in LCCT! Not sure whether that is simply ignorance from the travel agent - surely we'll have check in luggage - unless they assume that we'll be buying everything including bags in Bandung! Anyway, since it is cheaper to edit the luggage request online, that what I was doing.


To my horror, since the website was upgraded over the weekend, the login info was also changed - and to make matters worst - my friend forgot her password. Rather than wasting our time in from of the computer, we decided to go to AsiaAsia counter in the airport instead. Our luck changed from bad to worse - as there were at least 4 people in front of us - with 2 counters open - but hardly moving! It was like 45 mins before my turn came. My Indon is smattering (as in smatteringly bad!) - so I opted for English instead. It was not too difficult to get my points accross but the girl was super slow - and then I noticed her tag 'trainee' - duhhh! After about 30 mins - we  were finished. I upgraded my luggage to 25 kg and my 4 friends added theirs.


Then it was Pasar Baru - where we were given 2 hours by Haikal. We bought what we wanted and then headed to the ground floor - in which rows and rows of stalls selling 'jajan' - chips and what-not - are located. Other that the pisang salai - I also bought malinja chips and the surprisingly delicious samosa with beef rendang filling. Buying those jajan were not easy as we were swarmed with locals trying to push their wares to us - plastic bags, knick knacks, etc - and then there were those beggars pestering you for something.


Next destination : Tagkuban Perahu. This is a very famous tourist destination - a crater in the mountain top. It was quite a distance away, but we enjoyed the ride. As it is in a Highland, the Avanza had a hard time trekking up - so much so that the supir kept switching off the aircond. There were lovely stalls set up along the way, with numerous fruits on display - plus rabbits! Yes, you herad me, rabbits selling for about RM5 each. Auwww....so cute those fluffy animals.


Anyway, halfway through - it started to rain - and it got heavier and heavier. By the time  we reached the mid point, were we advised to turn back! There goes our plan! So turn we did and instead headed for 'Kampung Daun' a cultural village. The place is magnificent. Huge area with well built shelters for diners. It was really a feast to the eyes - and the good food complement the whole experience. 


With a full stomach, we set for our next shopping destination.  We headed to Kartika Sari, the famous pastries of Bandung. The building is clean and spacious. On the top floor, there was a shop selling Bandung t-shirt with unique artworks. The Kartika Sari shop was abuzz with customers. My experience there was slightly marred by the attitude of the

We went thru the Chimplas Walk....a place made famous by the numerous denims and leather goods. The shops lining the road were beautifully (?) decorated with giant statues of Aladdin, Rambo, you name it!

Alas, we did not stop there and instead headed to Toko 3, a famous jeans outlet. I bought a pair of Levis which was cheaper than what I can buy here in Penang. Let me see, my cheapest Levis bought in Penang was RM150, and the most expensive was the limited edition pencil slim in a unique light coffee color - bought around RM300.


Anyway, my friends were enjoying themselves - trying out pairs and pairs of jeans - each claiming to be 'smaller' (in size) than the other! It was loads of fun! 


We finally call it a day and headed back to the hotel at 8.30pm. Next was the hectic few hours of trying to fit all of our coups the last 3 days - in the designated luggage - which was not a small feat!

Bandung Chronicles - Day 2

Day 2 started early. Since it was a budget hotel, we got 2 adjoining rooms that can fit 5 - and surprise, surprise...the rooms are adjoined via a bathroom! So there you go, 5 ladies sharing one bathroom!

By 8 am Bandung time, were were in front of our meager breakfast. It was some kind of soup with blended beef and corn - I dipped bread into it - not bad! Haikal called to inform us that he was caught in bad traffic - which meant that we spent almost an hour and a half for breakfast.

When we were finally on our way to Pasar Baru - sure enough, the traffic was outrageous. People were everywhere - lots of them! Haikal dropped un on the fourth floor and gave us 2 hours to shop - while he and Anuar (another medic student - who was to be our supir for the day) will wait for us in the masjid. 

First thing first....we headed to the fabric shops. I bought the silk chiffon my sister asked to buy plus another chiffon for myself - that is exactly the same as the one bought by 2 other friends. This shall be our 'uniform'...let it be the envy of others...ha..ha...ha...

Then it was off for the telekung (or mengkana - a term used by folks in Pekan). It was pure dizzy! Aweasome - we were spoilt for choices! I snagged 3 and then hunted 3 cute colorful ones for my girls. Then it was the 'bju kurung sulam'. Again a dizzying experience. Knowing us to be Malaysians, the shop assistants lured us 'kakak, belanja kakak'....belanja referring as spending money in their shops....

After a fruitful few hours in Pasar Baru, our next destination was Rumah Mode - the exceptionally famous outlet mall. Fuh, looks like this is the well heeled Indonesians shop. You can see kids seated - absorbed in their Nintendo  and PSPs, while their parents scrounging for branded fashion wear. I walked off with shirts for dear hubby and some shirts for the kids. Hopefully they'll not outgrow them - those are meant for Raya!

By the time we were done with Rumah Mode, the faithful Avanza is almost full! It was then an early dinner....a good one! Then another round of walk in the area - where outlet shops are located (small ones). We were back in the room quite early - and fully exhausted!

Bandung Chronicles - Day 1

Thanks to Air Asia, now literally - everyone can fly....The fares are so affordable that friends of mine are flocking to Singapore, Bangkok, Phuket, Ho Chin Minh, Bali - you name it!

So that was how it began....an old friend - from my home town mentioned about the cheap air fare - and that we should plan a getaway together. Before I know it - the 5 of us were on our way to our selected destination - Bandung!

It was my first trip together with friends. I used to travel to Bahamas, US, China, Singapore - but those are all alone - and for work purposes (though I have to admit - I have squeezed a lot of shopping in between the various meetings, audits or conferences). 

Leaving my children with dear hubby was not something I that I look forward to. Now that the kids are grown up - they were a lot of questions to be asked. Hence my promise to buy them stuff = more shopping!

Due to some delays here and there - I ended up in LCCT around 8am - with a flight for Bandung scheduled for 3.30pm ! Luckily my younger sister in Kajang is able to pick me up from there and I had some time to wind up in her place. I met up with the 4 others there and thanks to another friend - we were safely in LCCT - on time for our flight.

It was a generally smooth flight - except for that one turbulent - that left almost half the passengers screaming in shock - I  believe the plane hit a clould - but for some reason dropped a bit -  as I could feel that sudden surge down!

When we reached there - the weather was perfect...slightly chilly - just as I expected it would be - Bandung being a highland. One thing I did not expect was the immigration procedure - palm print, thumb print, retina print - reminded me of my US journey. And for some unknown reason - I was (the only one!) asked to open my luggage. The young immigration officer noted that my bag is empty and playfully asked whether I am planning to shop - which I replied with a smile. Anyway, a thorough check was done - with them looking at the seams, stitching and what not....hmmm....I wonder.... 

The hotel driver was already there and we were whisked to our hotel in no time. It was not that far from the airport - but I was quite bewildered at the roads taken. It looked like we were driving on someone's backyard - and the road condition - was horrible! But to my amazement - our driver (supir) managed to maneuver splendidly! 

Our designated tour guide is Malaysian student - Haikal - who happens to be a relative of my friend - who is doing his medical degree there. He picked us up around 6.30pm which was already dark (7.30pm M'sian time).

The traffic was horrendous. It seemed that the weekend is the last day before school opens for the year in Indonesia. So you got parents scrambling to do last minute shopping. It also meant that a lot of people especially from Jakarta were down there. But I have to say, I am impressed with the driving skills of those people. Somehow they can maneuver in tight spaces and have lots of tolerances towards each others. The horns are blaring everywhere - not so loudly - and not done in anger - but just enough to alert other drivers. Same goes to the numerous 'kapchai' seen on the road. 

The kapchai are using full faced helmet...nice looking ones....and most of them with leather jackets. Probably owing a kapchai in this city is already considered as another status quo.

Anyway, off we went to Paris Van Java - the so-called hip mall  of Bandung - which was supposed to hold a midnight sale. The mall looks like any other slightly upper class mall - something like Gurney Plaza (albeit smaller) - but not as upscale as Pavilion or Gardens.

Nothing much there. We have a quick bite at J.Co and then queued like forever to pay for some of the stuff bought at Sogo. I bought a few shirts for the girls there....reasonable - and something that I could not find in Penang - at that price! The queue at the counter was hardly moving - the culprit? A few dissatisfied customer hogging there....arggghhh....


It was already 11 and we were extremely hungry! Haikal asked us to wait at the car park - saying that the supir had parked at the roof top. After waiting for about 20 mins in the hot and stuffy car park area - we decided to go back in the mall and waited near the exit door. The clock ticking - and still no hint of Haikal not the supir. After about an hour and a half...we met Haikal who told us that we need to walk to the entrance of the mall. 

But still the supir was nowhere to be found. The traffic was a nightmare. Scores of cars coming out of the mall - making traffic almost to a stand still. With the 6 of us, waiting by the roadside...inhaling the sweet smell of fumes - in an empty stomach. All of us are getting irritated (mostly due to lethargy and off course hunger). We were then told to walk to Sukajadi Hotel...since the supir will be waiting there!

What the ****....it was a good 10 mins walk...not something that you want to do at midnight and with aching feet and hungry stomach! Finally we found that stupid supir...and had to drive for another 20 mins before we finally arrived at the restaurant (which was thankfully still open!)

There you go...after lunch at 10 am, I finally had my dinner....in Bandung...at 1am Malaysian time.....

Pitch Fever!

The fever is now pitch high!!!!

Some of the more shocking result includes the elimination of the last champion and 1st runner up - Italy and France.

And then off course the totally devastating (at least for me) defeat of Brazil to Holland! They were leading...and yet lady luck were not with them.

So far, my favorite team is doing awesome! They managed to thrash the 3 Lions - 4 to 1, which needless to say, saw a lot of Malaysians sobbing away. Probably the BPL is close to heart of many Malaysians - thus their loyalty to the team. But German played magnificently. Their counter attack was awesome! Thanks to a mostly very young players - they had that stamina that looked lacking in the England team.

Then there were the quarter-final against the Argentine. Maradona - his usual self - was brimming with confidence. They were fresh from defeating Mexico and showed their fighting side. But alas it was not enough! They were actually thrashed by German 4 to nil ! Something I (or most of football fans) never imagined would happen in the game between 2 giants.


It was a bittersweet victory for the German team - bitter as Mueller had another yellow card which meant that he will not be able to play in the semi final. It was a sweet revenge - where Mueller at least got Maradona to remember him - for a long time to come! It was noted that back in Jan 2010 - after a friendly match with the Argentine - Mueller was there - sharing the table with his coach and Maradona for the press conference. Maradona - thinking the young man is one of the ball-boy - were furious that he had to share the stage with a ball-boy and refused the press conference - unless he is alone on the stage ! Huh, served him right - that he is now humiliated by the young man !


And tonite - actually it is 2.30 am - we will see Germany fight it out with Spain. Germany was defeated in 2008 in the Europe Championship - that has been the yardstick so far. What with superstars lining up the team - Xavi, Alonso, Torres, Tevez - Spain is definitely a power to reckon with.


Germany shall need all the tricks that they have - for this match. May the force be with them......