9th Nikah (Solemnisation) Anniversary

There are three important dates in December for me. My birthday on the 16th, Nikah Anniversary on the 25th and Khadijah's birthday on the 29th. And December being a holiday month for my husband, the whole family gets to go out together more often.

There's nothing much I want to mention here except how thankful I am to Allah for making this marriage the way it is today. I stated somewhere in this blog that both of us are not perfect human beings hence the imperfect marriage. We have had our fair share of ups and downs but really, I've accepted that this is reality. Like I've read in the Prophet's Sayings, that when things are making you down, think of the good things your spouse has done for you and the family. Don't dwell on the sad or negative things.

Both of us have grown to be more tolerant of one another. We have also learnt not to over-expect because we may not be able to live up to the expectations. And we will always seek His help to guide us and be there for us always. Alhamdulillah. Amin.



My husband dedicates this song to me. Thank you darling..heh heh..

When friends have not met for 18 years...

I met up my RGS NPCC friends, some of whom I have not met for 18 years. Thanks to Ayu for coordinating the whole thing and Anita for suggestions on where to go and what to do etc. And thanks to hubs for taking care of the kids while I had a merry time with my friends.

Ayu picked me, Zahra and Rozi and we met up the rest - Yinah, Anita and Yanting at Changi Village on Sunday morning. We had laksa, mee siam, nasi ayam, nasi ayam penyet, nasi sambal goreng, kueh-kueh, siew mai, tau huey and an assortment of hot and cold drinks for breakfast.



We shared what we've been up to for the past years and of course time was never enough to summarise what happened all those years. We adjourned later on to Changi Airport, sat at the Viewing Gallery to continue talking and laughing.





I brought home with me nice anecdotes and learning experience from each one of them. What I love about meeting friends is that when we talk and share without much inhibitions and reservations, we get to learn from each others' mistakes and successes. And hopefully we can apply what we have learnt in our lives too.

eXplorerkid at Downtown East Pasir Ris

I've been wanting to bring the children to the zoo but the rain has been stopping us from doing so. I checked out Idobaby forum to find out where else the children can go to. Someone in the forum mentioned a relatively new place for kids at Downtown East. So on Friday morning, we managed to squeeze in an hour in the morning before hubs went for his Friday prayers to enjoy some thrilling time at eXplorerkid.

We had to pay $8 for each child since we are not an NTUC member nor the Club's member and $2 for each pair of socks we purchased. They have a maze with a few obstacles stations for the kids to go through.

Abdullah had a great time jumping, springing, tumbling, rolling, sliding. You name it. He did it. But my girl was rather fearful or was she just not ready...I don't know. But she did not try all of the stations. She was either clinging to me or was just hanging around while her brother was having fun in the different stations.

The maze is rather similar to the Kid Zone (or Zone X or sthg) at Parkway Parade except that this one has slightly more obstacles, two PCs (which was not working when Abdullah tried) and an extra Ball Pool Area. And the entrance fee at Parkway is cheaper.

There is another maze, I remember, outside a fast food outlet at Jurong East Central, which is free. It has less obstacles but good enough for kids who need some adventurous time.

Nevertheless, this place is quite a fun place for the kids.

Muhd's last day with GUG

Abdullah has been attending his weekend enrichment class ever since March. Just now was his last day.

I must say that he has learnt a lot from his 1 1/2 hour class every weekend like zoo phonics, not-common but meaningful children's songs, how to spell his name, simple Science and Math concepts through fun projects and many more. The most important thing is he learns to be disciplined, though he is far from behaving perfectly in class. I know because I got to observe from outside the classroom.

Abdullah is just bursting with energy, I wonder if he accidentally ate too much spring in my absence. At times he can be jumpy. At times he tends to just move about even when he needs to be seated. Back then, as a teacher, when students move about in the middle of the lesson, I would definitely be very upset. Imagine, now, my own son being so active. God.... I just hope that his energy can be chanelled to more beneficial and positive endeavours. Ya Allah, only you can help my son. Amin.

Anyway, I'm sure he's going to miss his teachers, friends and his lessons.

Birthday get-together

Mum smsed hubs when we were in M'sia to celebrate Amalia's and my birthday on the 16th of December. Mum's leaving for Haj next week so we had to do Amalia's as well.

My sisters bought girl toys for Khadijah. (I like to address my girl as either Amalia or Khadijah...both are her names anyway)Of course she was thoroughly happy about the whole thing. You just know it. Her eyes just lit up the moment she was told that the presents were hers. Khadijah has this shy smile when she happens to get the attention. Quite strange but that definitely defines her.

My sisters and mum got me a two-piece dress. They thought I've been so boring with my dress sense after being a homemaker for a while, hence the present to so-called perk up my image...hah hah.

Actually, for me, it does not really matter what I get for my birthday. Seriously. As long as my family remembers my birthday, I'm more than happy. The nice thing is the get-together of family members, the no-holds-barred interactions and the spontaniety of everybody. No inhibitions. No reservations. Even my bros-in-law kind of integrate quite well with us that they are not so bothered about who we really are. You know, we just laugh or talk about what we think about current issues like Aa Gym's second marriage, celebrity divorces, Rufaqa etc without being so concerned about what others think. We were just being ourselves. That's nice.


I love cupcakes!

NIce break

Date : 9 - 10 Dec
Place : Genting Highlands
Accomodation : Hotel Theme Park
Activities : Play, play and play with the children





Date : 11 -12 Dec
Place : KL
Accomodation : Melia KL Hotel (opposite Times Square)
Activities : Shopping and window shopping at Jln Masjid India and Times Square





Date : 13 - 14 Dec
Place : Malacca
Accomodation : WaterCity Resort
Activities : Shopping at Bandar Hilir Shopping Complex - Bargain Heaven (newly opened) and Jusco (cheap diapers)


This picture was taken by Abdullah


I don't know where he learnt to pose that way.

I love you so much.

I love you so much Abdullah and Khadijah. And your father too.

One morning in Botanic Gardens

Botanic Gardens is now prettier and more lush than it was many years ago. There are more open spaces, nice walkways, special pavements for wheelchair-bound people and parents to push their stroller-strapped kids and definitely beautiful greeneries and flowers abound everywhere.



My NUS friends invited me to join them there with their families and so I did. Zai and As each brought their three children along, each of us coincidentally has one daughter. We managed to get a nice spot near a gigantic tree to enjoy the shade. As spread the mat on the ground while the dads repositioned the quite heavy garden bench to share the shade with us. As took out marker pens and coloured papers for the children to draw, Zai shared her snacks with us while I passed around my bite-sized carrots which I'd packed from home.

That morning was sunny but unusually breezy so imagine the cool air that brushed our faces as we had fun catching up with one another while our children played with the ball and dug the soil to see earthworms. Our children had a great time in the open field.



Later, we also strolled at the periphery of a lake where there were two white swans and a duck drifting quietly at a secluded corner. I'm not sure if they are the same ones I saw when I went there in my teens. One thing I'd hope the authorities of the place would do is to erect a fence around the lake to prevent accidents. Half the time, I had to stop the children from standing too close to the edge of the lake lest they end up in the lake themselves. The lake is quite deep so I don't know what's stopping the authorities from having a fence.

For lunch, we ate at the BG foodcourt. This is the second time I ate there. The place is definitely more comfortable than the then Taman Serasi Hawker Centre but they have lesser halal food choices.

Nonetheless, we had a nice time and we'll definitely go back there for more fun and relaxation amidst fresh air and lush pretty greeneries.