Monday, June 29, 2009

Sniff, Sniff, Cough, Cough

This is exactly how I sound like in the office today.

The weather has been really crazy - one minute it is so boiling hot, the next raining ice.

Plus, I haven't really had a good rest lately.

Aaahhhccchhhoooooooooooo!

Friday, June 26, 2009

GONE TOO SOON

I'm devastated that MJ has passed away. We were all so excited to go and see him live this 1st Aug in London O2. But I guess, it was not meant to be. Rest in peace MJ.

Like A Comet
Blazing 'Cross The Evening Sky
Gone Too Soon

Like A Rainbow
Fading In The Twinkling Of An Eye
Gone Too Soon

Shiny And Sparkly
And Splendidly Bright
Here One Day
Gone One Night

Like The Loss Of Sunlight
On A Cloudy Afternoon
Gone Too Soon

Like A Castle
Built Upon A Sandy Beach
Gone Too Soon

Like A Perfect Flower
That Is Just Beyond Your Reach
Gone Too Soon

Born To Amuse, To Inspire, To Delight
Here One Day
Gone One Night

Like A Sunset
Dying With The Rising Of The Moon
Gone Too Soon

Sunday, June 21, 2009

You'll never walk alone....


Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone




(if you think the above is so poyo, wait till you see the picture below)...


Mmmuauhahahahahaaa.....
I guess if Hubby & Haidan can withstand my SpiceGirls obsession, I think it's fair I'll tolerate theirs. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

Our Hamley's Trip

Yes, as promised we brought Haidan to the oldest toy store in London - Hamley's.


Hamley's was organised - each floor serves its own function. There was gadgets and computer stuff (LG), teddy bears and cuddly toys (GF), games & puzzles (1F), babies & toddlers (2F), all-about-girls (3F) and all-about-boys(4F). So, it was easy for us to navigate through.

Haidan was a bit scared on the GF coz there were so many teddies and animal cuddlies. He was not fond of the big tigers and lions (which Mama was all crazy about!). But he loved the deco - he can't stop pointing out the colourful stars on the floor and the scattered demo toys around.

His favourite area was obviously where all the In The Night Garden toys were. He spent the majority of his time looking at the In The Night Garden books.

It was not overly crowded as expected, though we did go quite late and there wasn't any sales or anything. I must admit I was a teeny bit disappointed probably because I was expecting it to be so huge and full of toys and live characters and music and... (yes, I imagined it to be like Disneyworld!). But that aside, Hamley's was what it is, a toy store which the kids would love to go. Although it is not as big as ToysRUs, but there's something about the atmosphere in Hamley's that makes you wanna be a kid again.

Monday, June 15, 2009

A wonderful weekend

I have vowed to lock myself up last weekend in order to get my Chartered form over and done with. However, I have failed miserably because the weather was so nice and we did not want to miss a good opportunity for Haidan to get some well-deserved fresh air in the park. We went to Hyde Park in London and Haidan had a blast with his Ummi running around chasing the pigeons, admiring the trees and flowers and telling the dogs off at the park.

Although I don't have any regrets as we had so much fun as a family last weekend, I can't help feeling so anxious the moment I woke up this morning - knowing that my CEng form has yet to be completed. I have so little left to do but my procrastinating is taking over me. I promised my boss and manager that I'll get it submitted in Mid June. Today marks the middle of June and I'm still struggling...

Oh God please give me the strength and focus for me to complete this as soon as possible. To tell you the truth, I'm getting so fed-up with it already! The sooner I get this out of the way, the sooner I can enjoy being free to go anywhere and do anything without feeling guilty.

Friday, June 12, 2009

TGIF

7 hours to go....

Tick tock tick tock....

Yes, I'm bored and can't wait to go home. Sure, there's still loads more work to do in the office but suddenly I just miss being home, with my Haidan kemetot.

Am counting the hours till I catch the train back to Sutton and pick him up from the nursery. Aside from the long tiring walk and horrible weather ahead, I'm so looking forward to Haidan's cheeky smile, serabut hair and twinkling eyes.... ahhhh.. priceless!

Monday, June 01, 2009

Haidan's Kidney Scan Drama

We woke up really early as the appointment at St Helier is at 8am. When we got there, we had to wait an extra hour coz the nurse told us the doctor's on leave so they are trying to find an available doctor. Hmmmm..... sabor je lah.

The procedure was to stick a tube on Haidan's veins and then inject a radioactive liquid into him. 3 hours later, he has to return and will then have to be sedated and put through an X-ray machine to check his kidneys.



So, while waiting for the doctors, the nurse put a numbing cold cream on the top of his hands and also in the crease of his elbows. She said he will have to wait for 30mins before they can cucuk a tube on the numb areas. While she was preparing the cream and tape on his arms, Haidan behaved really well. While waiting he played in the play room, waving hellos to the other girls in the ward and was walking all along the hospital corridors macam pak jaga doing his rounds, hehehe. All the nurses made way and gave him a bow as he passed them by! hehehe.. quite over lah jugak kannn...

45 minutes later, the doctor arrived and he was taken into another room. Haidan was OK when suddenly the doctor decided to cucuk him on his wrists instead! He said he could not see a proper vein line where the numb cream was and so dengan tanpa segan silu Haidan obviously brought the whole ward down by screeching his head off!!! Can you imagine how painful it must have been! My poor darling was crying and screaming in pain. They placed the tube in and gave time for Haidan to settle. Not long after that, Haidan was whisked away to the radioactive unit for the injection. I was not allowed in the room but I (and the whole hospital, I think) could hear Haidan crying. Siap makcik tua waiting with me outside for her turn, macam dah takut dah!



After that ordeal, we had to wait for 2 hours. The nurse told us NOT to let him sleep coz he needs to take his sedatation medicine before the x-ray. My poor baby dah letih giler and Hubby and I had to dance, sing and prance silly to keep him stay awake... he wasn't amused at all though....

3 hours past and the nurse came with a syringe full of purple liquid which she claimed to be very drowsy and that Haidan might get a "little tipsy" before he will doze off. Unfortunately, Haidan was on a real high!!! He was swinging and turning like a drunken master all over the ward and could not stop talking ala-ala bahasa Mandarin "ooohhh... cheih...ahhhh..chieeee... pu cer tauuuu... cher tauuuu....". Drama gak lah. 5 mins later terus terbongkang berdengkur OK! Power gila the ubat!



They then whisked him off to the radioactive unit again and strapped little Haidan in those MRI-look-alike machine. It was like a scene from Superman when they had to put baby Superman in a space ship with a rotating circular entrance! Me and hubby seperti biasa macam jakun were busy snapping photos lah kannn!



Half an hour later, the much sedated Haidan was brought back to his ward. The nurse told us to try to wake him up so that they could check he's eating and drinking OK before letting us go. Hmmmm... after all the trauma he had to go through plus the potent liquid in his body, obviously it took him 2 hours before he actually wakes up mamai-mamai. Hubby and I sampai dah tertidur kat kerusi waiting for him to wake up. When he finally woke up, he was treated with yummy toffee apple muffin and milk and we were allowed to go home.

Phew! What an adventure! Mama and Papa are so sorry that you had to go through all these today, sayang. But because you were such a brave boy, Papa promised that he will treat you to Hamley's OK. You were a super trooper and we're very proud of you. We hope the results of the kidney scan will be OK, Insyaallah...

Sunday, May 31, 2009

DIVERSITY wins!!!!

Diversity won Britain's Got Talent 2009, beating the nation's favourite, Susan Boyle!!!!!



OMG!!! I'm so happy!!!!! They were brilliant. I was screaming my head-off, with my tears flowing non-stop (yes.... I get very emo with this type of shows.. eheh...) and even little Haidan was stomping his feet! Congrats, Diversity :)

HHHooorrraaayyyyyyy!!!!!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

OK, next!

Life goes on.. yes, American Idol is way past behind me. Now I'm into me new obsession - Britain's Got Talent!!!!

Yup, that's it- the coming weeks we're going to make every single effort to balik awal to catch the live semi-finals. We'll definitely be glued to the TV!

My favourites? Aidan and Diversity! I love these 2 acts! Though I feel Diversity might have a tough competition with Susan Boyle up with them tonight.

On another note, the weather has been brilliant this weekend! Looking forward for the good long weekend rest :)

Friday, May 22, 2009

I'm so sad...

... that Adam didn't win American Idol.

When the results were announced, I was dumbstruck speechless.

"Nnnooooooooooo!!!!!!!!" was my response 15s later.

Maybe because I'm tired, or my period's due, but definitely I'm gonna be so emo tonight.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Mr Incredible Part 2

Hmmm... everytime Haidan wears his Mr Incredible pyjamas, he'll be a bit hyper....

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Haidan's Drama Minggu Ini

It was a normal boring day at the headquarters. I was getting fed-up of the video games and nothing good was on TV.


When suddenly, the phone rang. "Hello? Yes!... A damsel in distress??? Oh no! OK, I'll get help!"


"Oh no! The girl is in trouble! Someone needs to rescue her. Someone whose brave, someone whose strong....


Someone whose.. Taaarrraaaaaaaa!


Mr Incredible!!!!!!

Day 26 - Progress

Got on the weighing scale and I am now 58.9kg, I lost 3.2kg already since I started. Horrayyyyy! (clap, clap, clap!).

Measurements wise, I lost 9cm this week. So total cm lost so far = 26cm! (waaaah, tu dah besar pinggang posh spice tuh!)... Hoorrayyy! (clap, clap, clap!)

According to Angela, I've done quite well, losing the weight steadily as planned. So, I'm very happy it's working!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Day 24 - Update

I have been very bad at updating my blog! But I have kept my food diary in check though. I am now on Day 24.

The past 2 weeks was an up & down roller-coaster ride for me. Last weekend was my birthday and I had great fun with friends and family. Diet wise, I kinda blew it that long weekend (Day 16-18) - skipping my shakes for yummy nasi minyak and lamb chops! Though Hubby re-assured me that I needed the treat coz birthdays come once a year and i should celebrate. Problem was I kinda over-indulge myself and by Tuesday (Day 19), I felt so guilty I got depressed. Angela called me up and advised that it was alright to indulge as long as I am aware and have the determination to get up and go on. So I did.

The following days (Days 20 till now) I got myself in the routine again - shakes for breakfast, yummy lunch, shakes for dinner and 8 glasses of water with my exercise twice a week. Next week I will go to the gym 3x a week pulak and try that out.

Yesterday I met up with my girlfriends for a yummy lunch at Vinneapolis - it was lovely! The food was extra yummy and the company was great as usual. Though I'm quite sad I couldn't join them for their slumber party. I'm sure they had a blast. I just had to say no coz I have my report to finish.

Yes... my overdue report. I have now managed to finish the overall draft and now it's all typing and 'cosmetically improve' it to make it sound good! It's a challenge coz the sun is shining ever so nicely and my birthday gift cards are like calling my name to bring them to the shops and spend.... sigh.... But I realised that if I don't finish this bloody report soon, I will always carry this guilt in me and I can never enjoy my weekends as much as I want to. I have come to a point where I'm just sick and tired of it not being finished!

OK, enough whining. Got to get back to work!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Day 9 - Result and Reward

This morning, I nervously stepped on the scale. After 1 week of following the diet (with a bit of oopsy here and there) I have lost 2 kilos!!! Yes, My weight dropped from 62.1kg to 60kg!!!! Hooorrrraaayyyyy!!! (Clap, Clap,Clap!) I also took my body measurements and lost a total of 13cm!!! Double Hoorrraaayyyy!!! (Clap, Clap, Clap!)

So, I decided to reward myself and dragged Hubby to drive to London and I splurged to stock up on my facial stuff!!!! Hooorrrayyyy!!!.. Aish, ni baru seminggu dah over gak lah... but tak kisah mmmuuahahahahaa... (err though when the credit card bill arrives, I'll have the last laugh lah kannnn... eheh..).

We also met the Atanmayas for a lovely Sausage&Mash dinner at Portobello. We missed them dearly so it was a really good night out!

Day 6, 7 & 8 - Settling in

These 3 days I have noticed an improvement. I am not as hungry as the first few days. In fact I don't feel the urge to snack anymore. I guess my body is settling into the diet routine. I realised I'm more comfortable of having the shake in the morning, then a good normal meal for lunch and have the shake for dinner instead. This works better for me because the normal meal at lunch keeps my hunger at bay till dinner and I have more energy at work. Also, a shake for dinner works well as I don't do much at home anyways and Haidan keeps me occupied to not think about the lovely dinner Mama cooks. Since I don't want to miss out on Mama's cooking, I'll pack dinner for next day's lunch! Thus, I still have Mama's lovely cooking and save lunch money as well :)

Exercise wise, I have made the commitment to walk from my office to Leatherhead station instead of taking the coach - well it was easier this week coz the weather was lovely! Went to the gym on Friday (Day 8) and noticed I had more energy, compared to the first few times last week - I could barely survive 3 squats and was huffing & puffing when doing the bicep curls!!!

On my charteredship progress, Hubby was very kind to help type out my draft notes... (thank you sayang!!), since I type very slowly - I'm still those people who just can't hafal the keyboard and pauses every 3 seconds to check the screen for every word I type hehe...

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Day 4 & 5

Day 4 - tried breakfast and lunch with shakes and a good meal (salad with chicken kiev) for dinner. Was struggling during the day sebab lapar giler!! Tu-lah dia kannn, dah biasa makan banyak for lunch and munching bebagai! Anyways, went to gym so felt quite good :)

Day 5 - Effects of the gym has kicked in :( Feet were numb and my tummy felt sore.... Had shakes for breakfast in train, then decided to have lunch instead in the office. Semangat berkobar to replace my dinner with a shake was greatly dampened when Mama surprised me with her Nasi Ayam + Sago Gula Melaka dish on the dinner table. The hearty meal is to celebrate my inlaws last night here in the UK before they leave for KL tomorrow. So, errr.. so decided to skip shake and had a small portion of Mama's yummy nasi ayam with a teeny spoonful of sago. Aiiisshshhhh... camner nie????

Anyways, Hubby uploaded the pictures taken from the past couple of weeks while inlaws are around. Here's some of Haidan's best moments:

"Can someone please move this thing out of my way??? Taaa...."


"Jalan-jalan cari makan...."


"Step by step...- me doing a Joey NKOTB impression with Nenek Yah as my errr...background prop"


"My cheeky chicken poxy facey"

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Day 3 - Lazy Sunday

I decided to stay home today coz dah menggelabah lah kann report tak siap lagi!

Morning I had my shake while everyone else had toast for breakfast. Haidan was so sweet- he noticed I wasn't eating like everyone else, and so he kept on offering me some of his peanut butter toast! Thank you sayang!... I did nip a bit sebab nak jaga hati dia kannn... don't want to expose him to rejection at this tender young age you see... eheh..

Lunch I was a bit stronger to resist the temptation of a whole bowl of mee bandung my family was having. I did have 3 spoonfuls just to taste from Hubby's portion and carried on sipping my shake. I didn't feel guilty because I think it's quite important that I don't be too strict on myself, but at the same time not to overindulge and break the diet. I think change should be done slowly and steadily... at the end of the day I am looking for a long-term result.

All I want to do is to be able to fit in my old clothes again. Technically, this means that my goal is to achieve my ideal weight of 50kg (I'm now 62kg) by 30 Sept 2009. So I have 5 months to lose 12kg, hoping to never gain it back!

Career wise, my aim is to get my Charteredship submitted by end of June. Don't want to delay this further... OK, guess I have to go and start work again. I still have a report to finish and submit tomorrow!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Day 2 - Portabello Market

My Day 2 was an ad-hoc chaotic disaster!

I have to say that the Tea Mix really kept me awake- I slept quite late last night and ended up waking late this morning! So, had my first shake at 11am and rasa tak puas sangat sebab lapar lagi! So I had a few cucur udang for brunch as well! Hmmm... not a good start lah kannnn...

Then, Hubby announced that he wants to go to Portabello Market. Since I have not been to it before I decided to tag along too. Portabello was lovely - its just their version of our pasar malam. Though they have more antiques and we have more food je lah! Managed to tempis godaan Hummingbird and crepes dengan sukses! Hey, it was not easy OK munching on tasteless protein bars while Hubby, my inlaws and Haidan gobbled on Paela, chips, pastries etc in front of my face! Everytime Hubby lovingly goes "Mmmm Yummmmy" on his next bite of food he bought, I gave him my ultraman pose and reached my handbag for my bottle of water - hoping that every tasteless gulp will protect me from his devilish attack!

After 3.5 hours of walking down Portabello road (yup, it took that long coz I had to stop to wee-wee every 3 minutes.. eheh), we then went to Pottersfield to enjoy the fantastic view of Tower Bridge amidst the wonderful weather. Haidan was enjoying himself walking through the water fountains and playing peek-a-boo with the art-statues around. Dinner was at Malaysia Hall and we left home & caught up with Britain's Got talent :)

My progress:
* Charteredship - errr.. none!
* Diet:
Mid-morning: Formula 1 shake & Formula 2 with cucur udang at 11am
Day: Protein Bar at 1pm & 3pm. Formula 1 shake & Formula 2 at 5pm
Evening: Yummy Yong Tau Foo at 9pm.
Water: Lost count, so say approximately 3x750ml lah. (Though the amount of times I went to the toilet seems like I drank the whole of river Thames!)

Friday, April 17, 2009

Day 1 - Sutton Library

I woke up early this morning dengan penuh semangat, had my first Herbalife shake (Strawberry with Soya Milk) and my usual Berrocca and vitamins. Packed all my stuff and got Haidan ready for the day. I left home around 11am and went straight to the library.

This was my first ever visit to Sutton Library - wow! I didn't expect it was quite good. The library had the normal books and all but also a media centre with loads of cds, audio books and the latest dvds as well. The best part of the library was the children's section - it was a secluded area with loads of books and play centre - I was already imagining bringing Haidan there once in 2 weekends! The only setback was that there were loads of college kids around coz I think exam period is coming. So, it was quite difficult to find a kiasu spot for me to do my work. I ended up sharing a long table with some college kids. I settled in quickly and kept telling myself "Stop procrastinating, stop procrastinating...". I could sense the minah college beside me was rather uneasy at times.. hehehe.

Progress wise for my IET report was not excellent, but good enough. I managed to finally sit through all my past PPA forms from PETRONAS and highlighted the projects I want to include. I also finished writing the draft Gap Report for Kate to proceed to sign me off on some tasks that I've done in PETRONAS so that I won't be expecting to do in KBR for my Chartered application process.

Before this I get so overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to be done, that I kept procrastinating on finding the perfect day/ time/ mood to finish ALL at once. So far, that brought me a step back instead of a step forward. So I am going to divide and conquer and achieve small tasks one by one to make it easier for me. Here's my plan:
* By this weekend 19/4/09 - complete Gap Report and fill in IET form with PETRONAS experience list and competencies. Submit to Kate on Monday 20/4.
* By next weekend 26/4/09 - complete Jan-March quarterly report and go through KBR list of work. Submit to Kate on Monday 27/4.
* By 3/5/09 - complete IET form with KBR experience list and competencies. Submit to Kate on Tuesday 5/5/09.
* By end of May - Finalise draft for IET submission.

Diet wise, here's my progress:
Morning: Formula 1 shake & Formula 2 at 8.30am, Protein Bar at 10.30am (lapar dah!)
Day: Formula 1 shake & Formula 2 at 1.30pm, Protein Bar at 4.30pm
Evening: Chicken kiev, loads of salad and 1/2 cup nasi goreng at 7.30pm.
Water: I managed to gulp the 3x750ml water bottle (tea mix & plain)! Hooorrraaayyyy (Clap, clap, clap)

My verdict: I found I wasn't tired at all (which was really good), I had so much energy throughout the day... akan tetapi I noticed I get hungry by 10am and 4pm. By dinner tu perut dah berbunyi siap!