A weekend with Kak Jem

Kak Jem, who used to take care of us when I was a scholar, paid London a visit for work. Since she's also a very close friend of Hawari's, it was imminent that she would continue to stay and spend the weekend with us folks in Surrey. It was so good to see her again! (The last time I met Kak Jem was so long ago- I think before I left for Manchester kot...). As usual, she greeted us with her winning smile and sisterly hug when we picked her up in London last Friday.

We buka puasa at Malaysia Hall, (hehe Pak Wie tegur my tummy dah double the size when I last visited!). Kak Jem agreed when I told her how lepak being at Malaysia Hall is, considering her past few days of posh dinners in London, and how it made us feel so at home....

Anyways, lepas melantak-nasi-dengan-rakus-sampai-mengah, we walked a bit and continued our melantak session at Waffle House for dessert. Oh my God, the belgian waffles with strawberry ice-cream is so sedap, OK.... pure bliss! Definitely will paksa Hubby to bring me there again in the near future! We then dragged our heavy tummies back to Sutton and called it a night.

On Saturday, we celebrated Kak Jem by giving her a pre-birthday gift of watching the Phantom of The Opera at London's Her Majecty Theatre. To tell you truth, I didn't know what to expect because I've never read the book or know the storyline of Phantom because I always thought its like one of those horror-movie thingy, with the mask and all. You see, I HATE horror movies. Vasantha and I was once dragged in to a Korean horror movie and we ended up not knowing what the story was all about because throughout the whole movie, we closed our eyes and ears sebab takut giler! So, with Hawari & Kak Jem, I was trying to control macho (but deep down inside I was so dead worried that the Phantom would probably sneaked out behind me and I'd just die of heart attack!) In the end however, Phantom proved to be an excellent experience- the kind of a sad story of cinta-tak-berbalas, which left me to tears... I enjoyed every second of it, although the occassional Phantom's loud surprises did jerk Baby Bubbles to kick my ribs throughout the show!

We then followed Kak Jem shopping- good timing because it was the first day of the mid-season sale but very tiring because there were so many people around!!! I was quite proud of me-self for not being sucked in the sale ordeal, mostly because we needed to save money for Baby Bubbles coming and plus I tak larat nak go through the hustling and bustling in the mad shops- Hawari & I opt to just wait and sit outside for Kak Jem, while enjoying the fresh air and watching the kerenah of Londoners around. We had a late proper dinner and managed to catch the last train back to Sutton around midnight.

This morning, Kak Jem left for Heathrow and it was quite sad to see her go... Its always nice to see a familiar face when you are in a foreign land. It was such a short visit but we hoped she enjoyed it, I know I did.

Picture purrr-fect!

We needed to get an official photo for Boboy's microchip certificate. So, it took Hubby quite some time to convince Boboy to stay put and get his best angles.

Trial 1:



"Ooopss sorry.. a bit too far plak, I better zoom in.. try again!"






Trial 2:


"OK, looks better... but too much to the left lah... can you turn a bit to your right, please??"







Trial 3:



"Almost there.. if only you can open your eyes a bit bigger...??"






Trial 4:



"OK, ok... you're not too happy now... err.. let's all take a 5- mins break.. eheh!"




Trial 5:

"Yup! Puurrrrr-fect!"

A long weekend in bed

Last Friday, I had to undergo a glucose-tolerance test and some other blood test at St Helier's Hospital. I was to follow a strict diet menu 3 days before and then fast from Thursday night till Friday morning. The test requires you to fast until they draw out some blood (about 3 vials full), they'll then give you this very, very, very sweet glucose drink (think 1 glassful of water diluted with 10 tablespoon sugar!), which you have to finish within 1 minute... and then you wait for 2.5hours in a lounge until the nurse comes back to take more blood (3 full vials).

Fasting was not too bad because we're kinda used to it in Ramadhan, but being around fasting-pregnant-mat-salleh-women was something that I wasn't prepared for. Well, hunger and pregnancy hormones don't mix well on a Friday morning.. and to actually wait in a lounge room doing nothing except reading magazines from the 1980s are not exactly calming for us, who are mostly in our 7 months. There were 4 of them in my same session, all looking grumpy and cranky, as if none got enough sleep the night before. They gave the nurse on duty such a hard time, complaining on everything they could possibly see and touch in the lounge- from the radio being too loud or not loud enough, to the couch not having enough support to the cotton gauze being too itchy on their skin etc etc... I guess in Malaysia, we don't complain that much because the thought of just being attended to in govt hospitals are considered a blessing dah pun! Their nagging even made Baby Bubbles uncomfortable, kicking all the time, as if telling me to just get out of the room and take a walk!

By noon, I was done.. but with all the nagging and blood sucking experience, I was so dead tired that the journey home felt like forever. Had a quick maggi goreng and crashed into bed. Seriously, I haven't felt so tired in my life- even answering Hubby's call feels like an athletic feat. I slept the whole weekend through, didn't do anything but stayed in bed!

As I woke up today (finally!), I felt so guilty- I did promise Hubby to continue with my report writing this weekend. Now rasa macam so wasted dah a good weekend at home. It could have been a productive one, but instead it was just spent in bed. Oh well....

Microchip-ed Boy!

Hubby decided to celebrate our special day by officially implanting Boboy's Microchip. So, pagi-pagi dah Boboy was fed with his favourite dish and was treated extra special to bodek him not to panic and make a scene in the hospital later. Unfortunately, Boboy (being the 'mamat-over') could sense that he was going to the vet and as usual, screamed his lungs out all the way to the hospital. When they arrived at the reception, the whole staff on duty were quite amazed on how loud Boboy was, even the dogs kept quiet.

Anyways, much to our surprise (and Boboy's as well!), putting in the microchip wasn't all that bad- no anaesthetics, no surgery- just one simple injection. The microchip was so tiny to the human eye that it just took one simple jap, and Boboy was all done! Penat je with all the drama, Boboy oiii... tak sampai 5 minit pun!

I think he knew he was a bit "the over", so all the way home Boboy was quiet as if nothing happened... malu lah tu... Here's some of the photos Hubby managed to snap on his ordeal of being Micro-chipped:

10.00am: Boboy looking suspicious of the extra special attention he's getting out of the sudden


11.00am: Boboy with his muka sepuluh sen ready to go to the vet


11.30am: Boboy officially Microchipped!


12.00pm: At home, showing off his "scar" to Mama.


12.30pm: Boboy all tired after his convincing drama performance.


Next, he will have to get his rabbies japs pulak and wait for a 6months cool-off period. Then, he'll be on his way to the UK to be with us (Insyaallah)... Horraaayyyy!!! I can't wait!!! Miss him so much already...

Happy Anniversary.

A photo of my heart and soul taken on our nikah night, Sept 11 2004.



Sept 11 marks a special day for me & Hubby as it is our Anniversary. Although we are miles apart, every year on this special day, Hubby will try his best to be with me to celebrate. Unfortunately, this year had to be an exception.... spending our 3rd year Anniversary without Hubby was really sad and depressing for me- it just doesn't feel right. I really hope this will be the last time we will celebrate our Anniversary apart.

Anyways, Happy 3 years Anniversary, Hubby. I love you always...

Good food & good company make a good weekend

My sis Serina has moved out from her London flat and will be staying with me and keeping me company for the next 2 weeks till she goes back to KL for good. It has been quite a while since we had our sister-bonding weekends- we usually go window shopping or spend the day swimming and gossiping in the jacuzzi pool or steam room. But since yours truly dah jadi mak buyung, nak jalan kaki keluar rumah pun dah malas. So we ended up spending the weekend at home watching DVDs. Hawari pun decided to join us later in the afternoon.

I made nasi lemak complete with kari ayam. Hawari brought yummy desert a.k.a rambutam-dalam-tin which is so sedap! While enjoying the food, we watched My-Ex and Premonition back to back. Premonition was quite tiring as it really got us thinking on the twist of the movie... obviously, to think after a good 3 pinggan nasi lemak each proved quite challenging.. hehe. But all in all, it was really a good relaxing weekend.

Anyways, here's my 7-months-mak-buyung-picture. As you can see, I'm looking more like a teapot by the day... Baby Bubbles is growing so fast, I can already feel the strain on my back. Bedtime is also a challenge- as I need to sleep on my side now, the guide book mentioned piling up on pillows to make sleeping more comfortable. Hmmm... at night, my bed definitely looks more like a kubu tentera with all the pillows surrounding me...

My durian drama

Last Saturday, Hawari & I went to the Malaysian 50th Merdeka Fair in Hertford. Best giler coz there were loads of Malaysian food ala-ala pasar malam atmosphere- kuih-muih, kueh teow, nasi lemak, nasi kerabu, apam balik, sate, ais kacang etc etc. Obviously, being pregnant gives me the licence to melantak dengan rakus sampai mengah... hehe. There was also performances, raffle draws, lion dance and some tai-chi/ kung fu demo thingy going on. Obviously, its a big event for most Malaysians in the UK to come along, therefore a good opportunity to meet up with each other... not forgetting some surprise reunions. I managed to meet Zura (she looked so lovely!), Kak Zihan from OGP (without Jeril-a.k.a-anti-social yang last minit cancelled), Hawa from BBGS (and a few other BBGS juniors), as well as getting to know new friends- particularly Aznim & family, who were just wonderful. The weather couldn't be any better- as a group of us, gathered under a big tree near the stage with loads of food and enjoying each other's company. Kak Zihan & Aznim were so kecoh sampai senak perut ketawa. I haven't had so much fun in a long time!

Anyways, back to the title of the story... what's a Malaysian fair without the Malaysian king of fruit - the durian. Yes, they were selling durians for £2 sebiji. Me, being the hantu durian could not resist to buy sebiji and got all excited on the way home, as I dah lama mengidam nak makan pengat durian. By the time Hawari & I reached Sutton, it was nearly 11pm and I managed to convince Hawari to kupas the durian before he leaves home. In order to make sure the whole house tak bau durian, I managed to contain the isi in a tupperware inside the fridge and got rid of the kulit durian (all nicely wrapped up!) in the garbage bin across the road of our apartment. I was convinced that I managed to hide all clear evidence (although I'm sure ada bau sikit lah) and went straight to bed.

At around 4am, my housemate and his friend, Adam, came home from London. Unsuspectingly, they encountered a strange smell- like leaking gas, most prominently in the kitchen area. Suddenly, they got into a panic and alerted the British Gas emergency unit! (Obviously, being in the UK and in the middle of autumn especially, durians were the last thing on their minds!) By 6am, a crew of gas inspectors arrived at our apartment taking tests and inspecting each and every gas pipes in our kitchen as well as the connecting pipes outside our flat to investigate this 'strange smell'. They also put on a 'CAUTION-DANGER' notice on our front door. All this drama happened while I was still sound asleep (dreaming of a bowl of hot pulut slathered with yummy pengat durian....)

By 8am, the inspectors still couldn't figure out where the gas leak came from and decided to come back in 24hours, this time with professional help. In the meantime, they issued out warning notices to the entire flats in our apartment block to not turn on their gas supply, just in case of an undetectable gas leak. They left shortly before 9am. Adam and my housemate retreated to bed after the long sleepless night ordeal.

Me on the other hand woke up around 9.30am, got all fresh and geared up to masak my pengat durian. As soon as I entered the kitchen to turn on the stove, suddenly Adam came running in to stop me. With his zombie-pucat-ness expression, he told me that its not safe to cook because there was a gas-leak-smell since they got back last night. Convinced that he was just pulling my leg (and irritated because I really tak sabar dah to cook my pengat durian), I ignored him and opened my fridge to reveal the tupperware with my durian in it. Within seconds, the whole kitchen bau macam leaking gas and out came my housemate half asleep rushing to the kitchen. I immediately said, "What??? Its just my durian lah!!!!" And the whole house burst into laughter.

In the end, we had to call up British Gas to explain everything, nasib baik lah tak kena saman or bayar their emergency service tuh... All this drama because I mengidam my durian... oops.. eheh...