It's been almost 4 years now..

Pejam celik pejam celik, rupa-rupanya dah hampir 4 tahun kami berada di bumi Khartoum, Sudan ni. Kecuali DH yg mula menjejak kaki di sini awal Feb 2007, kami berempat (saya, Umar, Hafiz dan Lutfil), sampai pada 3 Nov 2007. Maknanya 3 Nov 2011ni, genap 4 tahun anak-anak membesar dan menghirup
udara di bumi bertuah ini. Yang tak tahannya tu, ibunya ni yang membesar sekali! Penangan selera yg sangat adventureous dan perangai sekali-mencuba-berkali-jatuh-cinta-nak-order-lagi memang membawak beban ( in kilos!). Haiyaaa...

Masa mula sampai, Umar 4.5 tahun, Hafiz 2.5 tahun dan Lutfil 1.5 tahun. Umar masuk KG1 (or Pre-Reception) di Little Fr1ends. Sekolah swasta ni kepunyaan 2 orang adik beradik perempuan dari keluarga berpengaruh di Khartoum ni. Kalau sebut nama keluarga ni, kiranya mahsyur dan tersohor. Masakan tidak, emak diaorang tu dulu pun dah jadi pengetua kat Un1ty High Int'al School, dulu satu satunya sekolah antarabangsa kat bandar ni. Mesti hebat sesangat kalau tahun 70'an dulu dah jadi pengetua sebuah sekolah antarabangsa kan, kan? betul tak? for a lady pulak tu? Sekali tu, ada pulak poster bekas Puan Pengetua ni terpampang kat dinding sekolah yang anak-anak dia usahakan tu. Masa tu sebelum ada acara perasmian besar-besaran sekolah tu tahun lepas. Dalam gambar tu, emak diaorang ni pakai sari. Namanya pulak Avinash. Agaknya emak diaorang ni asal dari India kot. Patut muka dua beradik tu pun ada campuran sikit, bukanlah muka asli tempatan. Nama pun sorang S0nia, sorang lagi Mona. Bagus jugak Umar masuk sini dulu.Sistem dia lebih kurang macam di Malaysia, jadi faham-faham ajelah kan. Bab-bab membaca , mengira , menulis tu semua mesti dah kena master sebelum masuk Year 1.

Hafiz dengan Lutfil pulak masa tu belum schooling age. Aduhai, jadinya ke mana pun pergi, bawak la 2 handbags ni, mengekor lah ke sana ke mari dengan ibu terchenta ni..;p. Ke halaqah (usrah ke...eleeh..macam la pergi every week pun, ponteng je memanjang..;p), get-together aka coffee mornings ke, shopping ke, school meetings ke, Umar's Parent-Teacher Conference ke, muka Hafiz dan Lutfil pasti ada di mana-mana. Kekadang penat jugak heret diaorang ni. Diaorang pun memang penat sebenarnya asyik kena heret ke sana ke mari. Ye lah, bayangkan lah. Tempat kat sini, bukannya macam Suria KLCC ke boleh lepak kat food court ke kalau penat, boleh pi fast food ke, bukan ada air-conditioned room. Kalau tengah summer yang panas membahang, alamat terbakar le kulit kena panahan mentari. Walaupun pergi souq yang ada shed/roof, masih jugak ku terasa bahangnya... Panas dia lain macam .'Macam' dia lain sikit.Susah mau explain itu macam la.. hehe.
Tapi, apa-apa pun, nasib baik budak 2 orang tu jenis yang dengar kata lah jugak. Bukanlah jenis yang tak makan saman. Setakat merengek nak balik, merengek panas, merengek nak duduk, nak dukung, tu biasala kan. Adat budak lah kan. Ibunya je lah yang kena sabar lebih sikit. Ini tak....( tarik telinga sendiri..:(  )
Susah payah itu ku harungi jua, dan lihatlah donia..dengan 2 handbags itu merata jugak ku merayau, banyak jugak souq2 yang diterjah, banyak jugak lah investment yang dah ditabur di bumi Sudan ni. Kiranya Hafiz dan Lutfil bukanlah faktor penghalang kepada kesungguhan saya untuk membantu menyuburkan ekonomi import eksport negara ini pada tahun 2007 dan 2008.

Sekarang ni Umar dah pun in Year 3, Hafiz in Grade 1, Lutfil in KG2. Umar di sekolah antarabangsa komuniti khartoum, Hafiz dan Lutfil di sekolah Amerika Khartoum. Umar chose the school that he's in now, and I chose the school for the other 2 boys. That explains the 2 different schools for my childrens. Not enough explaination? maybe later, in next year's entry. remind me, will you? ;p

Nampaknya sempat jugak kami membesar bersama-sama ( ibu dan 3 anak-anak lelakinya sahaja, tidak termasuk suaminya..) selama 4 tahun. Boleh tahan lama tu.
Bila budak-budak dah besar dan semua dah bersekolah ni ( yeayy!!), ibu dia memanngggg lagi panjangg lah langkahnya. Eh, tapi takdelah panjang mana pun. Saya ni jenis baik jugaklah ! Ahaks! Masuk bakul nampakkk.. heheh. masih ingat rumah , dan banyak jugak melepak di rumah walaupun dah free sikit nak ke mana-mana. Nak ke mana-mana tu, kena tengoklah dulu tempatnya, apa yang nak dibeli, kesesuaian (guano eh eja ..) jadual supaya tak clash dengan aktiviti lain. Sini namanya je duk Sudan, tapi aktiviti kat sini kalah aktiviti masa zaman kerja duk KL dulu. Kalau bukan aktiviti Petronita, aktiviti sekolah. Kalau bukan aktiviti sekolah, aktiviti emak-amak di kompleks ni. Kalau emak-emak di kompleks ni tak buat aktiviti, kita join emak-emak luar kompleks punya aktiviti pulak. Tu lah pasal, takde aktiviti cari aktiviti.. . Kalau tak terasa jugak hambar duduk di sini, jadi kita isi masa yang ada dengan pengisian rohani dan jasmani..huhuhu..;p. Tapi adakah saya perlu berterus etrang dan mengaku bahawa selama ini, mulutlah yang banyak sekali diisi? Dengan kata lain, mulut paling banyak aktiviti..Ke , memang semua dah sedia maklum? isk, isk, sheeshh..weh, dengan makanan lah, apa lagi?? So,why am i complaining about the weight gain again? I am not complaining. Actually, being a woman , I am just WHINING!

Now, where have all the years gone? Why didn't i pen anything about what I have experienced all these 4 years, all the ups and downs, all the excitements, all the growings and all the tumblings, all the moments that I (hopefully) have wisely spent together as a family here? I couldn't answer that one. Really. As much as i wanted that every event that we have gone through as the 'next' entry, I never managed to actually sit down and write that entry. The same thing goes to photography. I was an avid photographer , I even owned an SLR years ago (this was before DSLR where everybody i think has one, if not two). Now that I have my own family, I found myself staring at them, at their faces, and I do stare at my DH , too . I refuse to do this through the viewfinder. I'd rather indulge in that moment, and I don't care about my camera anymore. We have a Nikon D80 and I rarely carry it with me. I know that there are moments that needs to be captured , especially that the boys are growing and we (the parents) are, too (growing old). I will try to make the effort to snap more pictures. I will try to REMEMBER to BRING my camera. Then, I will try to remember to snap some pictures!

If I could tell you one thing about being here with my family, it is this: I absolutely loving it. I love it being here with my darling hubby and with my 3 anak lelaki. I have learned so much, and i am still learning, every moment, every day. I learn how to grow/age,( betul kawan-kawan), how to cook, how to take care of myself and how to take care of my family. I learn what is really really important to me, I learn ( am learning) about what is important to my DH, and what is important to my children. I am still learning. I learn form the young and the old madams here, from the kakaks and the adiks I have met all the years I live in Sudan.

I also learn, that given the opportunities, I, you, we , anybody, could do things that we never thought possible before. Well, at least I have done quite a few things that I have never thought I could do in the past. Having said that, going back, InsyaAllah, I will become someone ..err a little better ( if not much better), who has learned a lillte bit more of herself, of what she wants in her life, of what she wants for her family and and how she wants its done. InsyaAllah..

denim skirts for sale

holidays in malaysia- jjcm

Woohhooo..we are going home .Balik kampung...

It's not that we haven't balik kampung for years ..saje je nak rasa seronok, though we just came back from kampung on 4th Aug this year. The thrill of balik kampung is always there, no matter whether you balik kampung from Kajang, or from UM ( uni days) or from JB ( in laws).

In fact, I feel the same thrills if we were to balik kampung JB from Kuala Kangsar ( KK- my kampung). I guess it's the travelling that makes me so excited. Betul la kata orang, it's not the destination, but the journey that matters!

We will be in Msia from 27th Nov till 15th Dec. A bit over 2 weeks, and already i can see us rushing to go here and there, meeting relatives, friends, makan-makan, buying stuffs, settling our unfnished businesses, paying bills, etc. This time around , i am so determined to get the keropok lekor on board. Musti, musti..

During our previous trips back to Msia and coming back here, we bought the fish crackers, but never managed to bring it here, because of excess baggage. Keropok lekor were never really our priority because there were always books (mommy's and childrens') , food stuffs, other food stuffs, more food stuffs but not keropok lekor.

So, yes, this time, your time will come keropok lekor! ( Ya Allah, permudahkan lah urusan membawa keropok lekor ke sini. Amin) I am now thinking that once we have keropok lekor in our current house, alangkah indahnya petang hari, makan keropok lekor, cicah sos cap Pah Bedah , minum teh -o panas, mata bertaut, senyum terukir , oh alangkah indahnya sekali lagi). Hee.hehe..

Oh yes, we will be bringing lots of paratha as well. Memandangkan saya tidak pernah berjaya membuat roti canai yang menjadi roti canai, maka keputusan ini telah dicapai. Dan burger, frankfurter, fishballs, meatballs, crabsticks, etc. Bayangkan kalau keadaan memerlukan, dan anda agak liat untuk mengeluarkan duit sebanyak RM15 hanya untuk mendapatkan 6 keping burger patties, bukankah lebih baik membawa bekalan dari Msia, where it is much much cheaper and InsyaAllah, kualiti terjamin, halal dan bersih? We bought quite a lot of those from HPA, or Az-Zain or any muslims products available. It's just my personal options.

Once in Malaysia, we'll be doing lots and lots of makan-makan. I once went to Laksamana Cheng Ho's restaurant, ( ehm not once, twice) but it was closed. This time around we hope to be able to sample their food, dengar macam sedap sangat??! Ye ke?

Anyway, even in Bangi (we live in Kajang-near Bangi), there are lots of reataurants/ food outlets opened recently. It's very much welcomed by us hehe. There are Wong Solo- ayam penyet, Nasi Ulam with their scrumptious nasi kerabu and nasi dagang breakfast spread, Ghazali Nasi Bryani Gam- i love their kambing and ayam masak merah, and a few more kopitiam and what nots. Memang gantung periuk, senduk and kuali.

I shall make a list of where to go, what to get now. Recommendations of outlet makanan sedap very much welcomed.

having fun with playdough..

This is the playdough recipe that is used in Hafiz's preschool. Mr Dave was so nice to share the recipe with the other parents, and we have been making it 3 times, since. Next, i will ask tempe recipe from Mr Dave, dengar kata dia suka sangat makan tempe, he might have his own simple recipe to make them, who knows? ehehe

Playdough recipe
( adik, kakak abang and bibiks, sila ambil kertas dan pensil, atau anda boleh kopipes dan tampal di fridge menggunakan fridge magnet Vladivostok yang anda kirim kawan tempohari :D)

Use proportions of:
1 Cup of flour
1/4 Cup of salt
2 tablespoons of cooking oil add water ( to desired consistency)
~ waaahh..kalau taruh gula dengan sedikit vanilla essense, sudah boleh buat biskut raya nih! :)

Method:
To make regular playdough, just mix up the ingredients then add oil and enough water a bit at a time to see how things are working out.
If you make it a bit sticky, then the kids can add extra flour to play making things. You might want to start with a little water, then build up to the consistency you want.

Some kids like to prepare the playdough themselves, a sticky dough is great so they can add extra flour. Umar loves making shapes, scluptures and doesn't bother to modify the dough. For him, i usually make playdough with just the right consistency so he can start right away..
Oh yeah, we added food colourings and flavourings as well. We have had blue playdough with banana flavour ( what a weird combinations), eggyellow-coloured strawberry-flavoured and apple green colour with vanilla flavour.

From the start to the end ( 'end' means until the dough finally crumbled all over the floor, because it dries up really fast here..), there will be testing assumptions, tasting, tasting and tasting... Oh, did i mention tasting? Here are some photos from our 2nd day of having fun with our playdough.. I hope you have fun making your own playdough too! Try it!

Playdough – sedia untuk diapa-apakan saja…

Umar’s blue colour, banana flavoured dough..

If it were to be a dough-nut- I’d call it Smurf Do-Nuts!

Hafiz- mula mengapa-apakan doh tanah liat itu..
Tenaga dalaman diperlukan untuk membuat prints
sebegitu rupa, ya adik-adik..!!

The boys in action.

my rolling pins......

Umar's Smurfs Do-Nuts?

Umar menggelecek dan menggentel!!


Lutfil, Umar (dan siputnya)

Lutfil seperti biasa, menunggu 'bantuan' sampai..

Lutfil cuba modify antennae siput Umar..jaga-jaga..’praaappp!- bunyi antennae itu dipatah-patahkan..(adegan ini tak dapat disiarkan, takut mengganggu ketenteraman awam..)

Hafiz must have thought making siput out of a playdough is ‘kacang’, and was out to prove that he can do better than Umar!

Hafiz’s siput . The siput I think is a bit nervous, ye lah..kaler pinkish kan…
(Note the reflection of the snail, never thought it would show up that clear..the table top must have been so shiny –clean or maybe oily-shiny? Errkk)

Umar is always into animals/living things. I had thought that he would make a T-Rex, or creatures from the oceans, or a sea-horse. Turned out it was a snail!
The red fish was Lutfil’s. Don’t worry, it doesn’t smell that bad, and the taste is the combination of roses and mango..! care for some tasting?

colour of my life..

Every weekends , i will be reminded of the promises i made to the boys. Tuntut janji tuu..When they asked if they could cut a picture out of an old newspaper, play games on PSP, help me bake cakes, make playdough( they like to make rather than play playdough!), use water colour or the tempura paint, the answer is always
"Wait till Friday/Saturday/weekends" ( 'weekends' is when i don't feel like being specific, so it could be friday, saturdays or the next weekends) :D
Umar will of course, remember what he asked for, and what day i told him he could do it then.

So, early Friday mornings he will bug me to take out the brushes, paints, paper, scissors, glitter glues, all the necessary stuffs neededto produce that magnificent piece of art. As other kids, they love mixing colours and painting their favourite subjects, Umar's the natures and ocean livesand it is cars, planes, horses and cats for Hafiz. Lutfil is not so choosy and he'll just paint anything and ON anything! ishhh...:D
Photos that were taken last Friday...









On top of that, they use the glitters to put that glamour touch to their final work. It's amazing to see them put all their focus and energy on the papers and colours. It amazes me more to see how they perceive their surroundings, by what they put on the paintings. Sometimes, it's from their imaginations, or books they have read, or from places they have been to.
Umar did some paintings on beaches ( siap dengan pokok kelapa membuai-buai) and lots of sketches on ocean-floor creatures-
that's definitely from picture in books he'd seen, or maybe NatGeo Wild or even Nemo! haha

It is the only time when i can have the TV all to myself ( BBC Lifestyles is what i want to watch), because at other time it is either Baby TV, or Disney
Channel or NatGeoWild ( news can only be watched in the mornings). That, or i switch it off altogether, semua orang tak payah tengok.
However being me, memang suka playing with paper and colours; so i will join them and show off my art talents - macamlah ada pun..hahah
DH masa ni is either watching us or doing his work on his computer, takut nak join, karang kena gelak kuat-kuat punya...!! heheh





When it's time to clean up the mess, i will just need to sing a song out from barney's show, 'Clean Up'and Umar, Hafiz and Lutfil will quickly come to the rescue. "Kalau tak mau, next week no more painting for you"- ini janji Ibu yang ingat!!

old home VS new home

The first picture was of our apartment in Riyadh area, Khartoum. Our house was on the ground floor. There were 9 families in that building, and we had 4 vans ferrying us (schoolchildrens, madams to the souq, childrens to extra-classes, madams to shopping, etc). It was not grand, but it was nice. DOn't be tricked by what you see from the outside. I'd like to think that the inside of our homes were comfortable enough, good enough, and catered to all of our needs.

The second picture, is of course, the new P3tronas Sudan Complx. It houses the office buildings and also the apartments for the staffs and their families. Alaaa..macam kuarters polis la tu..

The inside is a bit modern (note the "bit"), makes you feel like you are in Malaysia.

It has 2 blocks (for the apartments), A & B. Block B was completed first, and we moved in on 26th July 2008. The unit is smaller than our old house, but then, it feels spacious enough for our family. Apart from the book shelves that we brought from Malaysia, everything else was provided.(wardrobes, mattresses, dining table, 2+1 sofas, fridge, plasma TV,etc).

The complex also has a playground (can be seen from our living room), and a field. Things were a bit clumsy at first, but Alhamdulillah, after a few weeks, things havebecome more organized, and we have started calling this new place "our homes"..

at last..

Salam..

at last, I i'm writing something in my blog! The internet connection is not very good lately, and any changes ai wanted to make a; olour, fonts, etc ..all do not seem to work..huhuhu..

sedihnya..



So, do i like where I am now? YES! Definitely!

From time to time, when I encounter a new friend, the question they usually ask: "So, how do you like it here? Okay duk sini? best tak Khart0um?" I'll give them my biggest smile, and say: "Best, I suka." No regret? NO!



Best apa duduk sini. Banyak lah yg kurangnya, but I always tell myself that I if I want to have all that I 've had backhome, then don't come here. So, instead of complaining and mengeluhkesah pasal kurang tu dan kurang ni, I happily accept them as 'differences'.



Some of the people I have met here, either hate this place, yet stay because the hubby's here, or hate, leave and go back. It's up to you, really. But things are much much better now. What with the new modern complex, yang jadi kebanggaan sepelusuk rakyat kh4rtoum ni, sebab tu sainag dan malam depa duduk lepak depan complex, memuji archictecture bangunan yang tersergam ini..agaknya lah !:D hehe.

Now, more and more families are here, and I do feel like I am in malaysia. Hey, we have monthly bazaar- harga sudan eh, bazaar ramadhan, cooking class- belum adalah lagi madam ajar masak sudanese recipes, biasanya mesti malaysian recipes- a bless jugak pasal DH kan makan malay food! Malay food pun tak pas ada hati nak belajar international food. Eh, roasted chicken pakai rosemary ngan olive oil kira international apa?! heh..

we have Kelas KAFA, kelas Tutuion maths, Bahasa Melayu ( tusyen kan dikira trademark pelajar malaysia). Ada school children yang tak pergi tusyen tak? haa..ni ponteng la ni :P

Apa lagi ye malaysian feel kat sini? Oh ya, 'mangkuk tingkat' servis pun ada kat sini. kalau ada yang datang agak-agak malas nak masak, order je dari madam-madam yang berkenaan. Kiranya kalau makan dengan Mr X yg ada wife kat sini, tapi bawak bekal nasi + ikan goreng aje, memang Mr X tu akan malu gilerr la. mangkuk tingkat ni macam macam ada, masak lemak cili api, masak sambal udng, sup sayur, etc. I pun kalau DH bagi peluang, nak je order mangkuk tingkat untuk seluruh keluarga, lunch and dinner ,7x seminggu. Breakfast no problem, kitorang makan roti canai pun ok hahaha..

So, i rasa kalau ada orang hesitate nak datang sini, buanglah ketepi perasaan cuak itu. Tak payah tapi-tapi lagi, datang je! Trust me and you'll see !

MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA!

Selamat Hari Kemerdekaan Yg ke 50 Tahun everyone!

How was your merdeka day? We ( myself & the 3 boys) had a quiet morning and we had merdeka-related activity in the afternoon ( not for lutfil, though).

I am glad that I registered Umar and his 2 cousins (nadia & nabila) for the Merdeka-themed cake decoration activity@ UkS centre yesterday. We had great fun. At least I did, HAHAH.

I teamed up with Umar and Nabila with Nadia. There were 2 other teams ( Uks owner's ckids, and one of another Uks member and her little girl. Umar was so excited that he got to play with the icing, and knife, and other 'tools' needed to get the job done. Once in a while ( or was it most of the time?0, he would lick his ingers, wrist, and get some more icing from the container. He even ate the moon and the star (fondant), that were supposed to be placed on top of the cake.

Luckily, they have many more extras of those, phew!

We finished quite early, but the decoration was far from fancy. very simple, teramat sangat. No wonder other people finished theirs about 30 minutes later, rupa-rupanya they were creative enough to put up other sorts of lip-lap, lip lap for the decoration. And we had our plain bendera. 'kwang, kwang, kwang...

Releks Umar, this is our first attempt, remember? We'll do better the next time we do this..

UKS Charity Activity 25TH AUG 2008

This is the first time i joined the Ummiku Sayang (UkS) charity group for their mission,
the location was the Kajang Hospital ( so, that explains my participation, dekat dengan rumah lah!). The targeted group was the Pediatric Ward of the said hospital. It was great fun to see such a crowd, but of course those kids turned-up with all the bandages, IV lines, arm sling, etc. At first, they looked a bit uncomfortable, what with the 'costumes' and maybe the fact that they are not well ( we were in the ward, remember?!). The moment they got the gift packs, the printed paper merdeka-themed cap, and of course, the big beautiful cake of the same theme, they started smiling and being bubbly again. I managed to capture a few smiles, not only from our little patients, but from the parents as well ( oh, some with the whole family in tow!).

There was also a story telling session (Read Aloud), by Mdm Nita with her 2 beautiful daughters on stage, giving the children an excitement of 'A Walk in the Jungle' and 'Nasi Lemak Ibu'. Hmm...this RA session made me wonder, when will I do mine? My audience is usually my 3 boys, of whom I can act silly with, or put up some hillarious actions ( diaorg gelak, apaaa..). But infront of other kids? Other kids, and THEIR PARENTS? Oh..no no..NO! I think the first thing those parents would do, is to ban their kids from further watching this 'over-acting auntie', next is to cautious their kids from befriending my 3 musketeers, and ..OK! I KNOW I'M EXAGGERATING! I KNOW, I KNOW!! STOP!! back to what i wanted to write, people.

The UkS children were kind enough to hand out a big Get Well Soon card for our little darlings. I am no stranger to wards, nut gov3rm3nt hospital wards? Taking care of sick kids in the hospital wards like I have seen last Saturday, is something else. When I say , that my children checked-in and checked-out from hospitals, i have already made that sound like spending a few nights and days in a good hotel. In fact Umar thought that if not for the IV lines and the process to insert the IV lines, it was a good hotel, no doubt! What with a dedicated doctors, and kind nurses who always check on you.."fever?, no fever?, here's your lunch!, here's your medicine', ooh..no wonder he thinks of hospital wards so positively!

As much as I want to say to the mothers I met that :" I understand how you feel", or 'I've been through this', or "Anak saya pun baru keluar hospital Isnin lepas", I can't. I just can't.

While I always had a spacious room only for my son and me, with a bathroom, mirror, cupboard/wardrobe, a sofa, a chair, a cable TV , lights here and there, newspaper, air-conditioned room, sometimes request for a baby cot, so that I could sleepmon the bed, or ask for another bed if the need arises, good food for the mother and son, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

The mothers or whoever were taking care of the children in the ward, do not have all this.

I'm not sure of those in first class wards, though? Any such thing as first class wards?

They can't just sleep in private, the children who obviously need lots of rests may not have the proper nap they needed, what with the neighbours crying out loud, they are oblivious to the passers-by, etc,etc,etc. It would have been a good lesson for Umar, too! Plus, it was his 4th birthday on that Saturday, 25th Aug. But I didn't bring him along. Maybe I should, the next time I join this kind of activity.

All in all, i would say that it was a success and I'm glad that I made the effort to be there. Bravos to UkS members who were there, (physically or in spirit), who made great effort to give the children of the Kajang Hospital's Pediatric Ward, a day to remember. Clap, clap, clap..

For more picture of the events, please go to my flickr. Wait, not yet uploaded, soon, InsyaAllah..

Oh yes, Umar was warded again, on the 17th Aug, this time of asthma. He was breathing very heavily started Thursday evening, and I heard a funny sound everytime he exhaled. I brought him to Az-zahrah medical centre, Bangi at 12.00am, and he was giving the gas once and some medication. I plan to bring him to GMC, since they have his records of croup, bronchiolitis, etc, but early Friday morning he had difficulty in breathing, even telling me that "Ibu, Umar penat". He looked vey pale when we were in the car, and looking at my watch , it was 7am on Friday, knowing the traffic, I was just scared that we might not make it on time, since he looked very pale and breathing very slowly, as if he was so tired of taking deep breaths. So, I made my move to Az-Zahrah, about 20 minutes from the house, and he was admitted. We spent 2 nights in the hospital, and since it was near, we took a home leave on Saturday morning to see the 2 little brothers. They were at home with Bibik. My DH was always at the other end of the telephone line, and knowing that i can always call him, however,whenever I wanted to, helped a lot too!

Last Sunday, we had a makan-makan for Umar's birthday. Oh, did I tell you about the Creative Music & Movement class i attended last weeks, with teacher Farra? OOhhoo.. I had a good time. I was the only mother/non-teacher in the class, out of 12 participants. The rests are pricipals/teachers from various kindergarten & enrichment centers. Alamak, berderau darah belajar dengan cikgu-cikgu nih! heheh..

InsyaAllah, will post about them later...

oh, i feel gneiss..

granite formation on Pulau Tepur, Langkawi


layers in sandstone

The fact that langkawi given geopark status as reported today is very much welcomed. After the Tg Balau magnificent structural formation is known as one of the Geological Heritage Sites in Malaysia, this recognition is never too late. Geologist/geology students in Malaysia or from South-East Asia, ( if not the world) have long branded Singa Formation and Machincang Formation as a must stop for outcrop lovers.

Geological sites have not only remnants (rocks, rocks and rocks). Take a closer look, and you would see communities of sponges, bivalves ( the humble, oyster, calm-like), gastropods ( that's like your modern looking snail), and yes,humongous lizard, etc. But of course, outcrops like the famous Morrison Fm, A'insa Fm have been in the limelight since years ago. Give a chance to our local 'lipatan and nendatan', kekar, ricih, batu kapur berfosil dan batu pasir berstratifikasi (jenuh nak ingat the 'local' term, are they correct?) to make the headlines.

Next time you are in Langkawi, stop by these formation/geoparks and have your photos taken there. Bear in mind that in the background, you have there, rocks (geologically) that were formed billion years ago. As for the formations in Langkawi, they are one of the oldest, dated back to Cambrian (eg: Machincang Formation is the eldest in Asia). Singa Formation (mudstone, silstone, ), Setul Formation - a limestone , with some secondary sandstone and shale. Another limestone formation is the Chuping Formation, which is also the youngest among the four formations.

For those in Johor, another attraction for geological park, is the Tanjung Balau area. It has a resort nearby, with a small nelayan community. (On a lighter note, 1 minggu di Tg Balau, aktiviti mandi laut di waktu petang itu musti selepas seharian 'berjemur' di atas batu-batan).

For yr reading pleasures: wikipedia, europeangeoparks, Grand Canyon, more Grand canyon! Jurassic-Morrison

apa yang kau lihat

The above picture was taken from this website. It is considered one of the best pictures of the year 2005. Look closely, the camels are the little white lines in the picture. The black you see is just the shadows! The guy, George Steinmetz, did that by piloting a motorized paraglider, across the world's desets. This experimental aircraft provides him with a unique physical perspective over remote places that are inaccessible by conventional aircraft.

Okay, you did great , Sir. Thanks to you and your passion, you gave us (sedentary people, ehhem) something to wonder and be curious about...

Talking about sedentary lifestyle, a few of my friends have gotten themselves personal trainers at the nearby gyms. The husband won't be so supportive of this. Well, I'll resolve to the eat less, walk more method. My garden...this should be a good start for some work out. Can't seem to find much time to spend outside the house, actually. Lutfil will be crying when he knows I'm around-but-he doesn't see me. And being so small ( erk..7 mo, small lah kan??!), I don't fancy to put him in the stroller while I do my garden work. That would be an easy excuse for Umar and Hafiz to fight each other, on who gets to push the stoller around, and I'll be yelling ..you get the picture!

Oh yes, this weekend husband promised( well, I take it as a promise) me , that I could go to my favourite boutique in TTDI to buy my stuffs. We usually go to TTDI on weekends, since both Umar and Hafiz are attending some classes at one of the centre there. Last year, it was only Hafiz, and I got to go to the boutique everytime we were there, cause husband can handle Hafiz while I did my shopping. But now, since has to handle 2 boys at a time ( I'll never bring them inside the shop for the fear they'll run around and knock things off), I'll have to wait for the suitable time. This coming Sunday, we have decided to only bring Umar to his class, and Hafiz will stay at home. I can't wait, hopefully I would find something that I love, and my size!!

That would be a perfect weekend!Well, it is a muslimah boutique, so you can't get a way from abaya ( very trendy ones), scarves, office wears- suits, long dress and long skirts.

Now, where's the money..gulp!!