the little person who puts a smile on my face...everyday

today i feel like posting some pictures of my 2nd born, my adorable little pumpkin pie, my pretty princess Aishah...

she is now 14 months old and have grown a bit more hair and can pass for a girl more often than before. she knows her songs quite well like "if you're happy and you know it", "I love you" song by Barney (who doesn't?), "incy wincy spider" and lots more. she will greet me at the door everytime i come home from work with "Aishahhh..." yes, she calls other people by her own name...she knows how to say other things as well, like "mmmmaaa" for mommy and "daeeee" for daddy. she's taking her time to talk but suffice to say, her communication skills are well understood by people who surround her.

her best friend is her bolster which can be seen in this picture here...

...she takes it everywhere she goes, like a hand bag, and has a good grip on it too! she has in total a collection of around 4 of them (just like handbags, we ladies need to have a different one every now and then, don't we?)

as you can see, she enjoys playing with her brother most of the time, who still has not mastered the art of sharing. Aishah, on the other hand, is used to her brother's antiques that she'll just give up the toy and move on to another. see how second borns are usually more level-headed, wiser and unfeigned by little-little setbacks? ehemm...traits she takes after her mommy :)

she lovesss her food (also another trait from mommy)..and i just love the way she chews her food..so girly girl...like a true princess. :)

one thing her mommy likes to do to her is to pakaikan tudung for her..juz coz she looks even more adorable with it.. just check this out...

but she, on the other hand doesn't like the idea very much and tries to rip off the tudung from her head as fast she can...

just the other day, me and hubby were talking..and we both agreed that Aishah doesn't take after neither of our looks...but she could be easily identified as Nazim's sister..

so there it is..the little person who makes my heart flutter everyday :)

mixing business with pleasure

i was just reading the synopsis of Grey's Anatomy Season 3 on the website, since i hvn't seen the latest episodes yet...and boy oh boy, now i really have to get my hands on those DVDs soon! It makes me wonder...do these things that happen in Grey's really happen in real life?? I wonder if our doctors' and interns' lives here in Malaysia are just as exciting as the ones in Grey's? i think i asked this question before to a relative who has worked in a hospital overseas before and the answer was...it's not unlikely. since you're spending all the time working together in the hospital, i guess there's bound to be some "accidents".

looking at their exciting lifestyles on screen makes you wish that you'd have that sort of exciting lifestyle too. one day with McDreamy and the next McVet and then there's McSteamy..and then there's the ubiquitous flirtation among colleagues..and quickies in the hallway or janitor rooms..ahh..the excitement and all. who wouldn't be into it?

but then again, in real life, imagine what a screwed up life you'd end up with?!

i might be living in a coconut shell and that i'm totally oblivious to the maybe not-so-bizarre-after-all-situation which is already happening at many workplaces in Malaysia. hehe..to these people..they might be getting all the tips from watching Grey's after all.. who knows..

anyway, i just like the show coz it's just fun to watch and gives me and hubby something to look forward to and make fun over some scenes like the episode where Addison was desperate for feeling a little 'dry' coz she hasn't had any for quite some time with Derek...and then one day after mistakenly realizing that Meredith had slept with the Vet, Derek went straight home to a tired-looking Addison and blurted out these words..."do you want hot _ _ _???" to which Addison replied (while stripping her own clothes off..)"Thank you! Thank you!" hahahhaha... don't you find it amusing? well hubby and I did..

well i guess what i'm saying is, watching Grey's Anatomy has one way or another spiced up my life, by imagining that i'm either Christina (with Burke...oh remember the scene where they first "got together" in the their so-called resting room?), or Izzie (with Alex...not with Danny). I can't seem to remember imagining myself as Meredith (with Derek) because i never quite felt the chemistry between them.

anyway, ok..i'm rambling and now i seriously have to be in bed because it's 1 am. and it's monday tomorrow!

old habits die hard

i have a few habits..some started a long time ago and some, pretty new.

one old one is biting straws. the moment i drink anything with a straw, i will definitely start chewing it until it flattens and you will only see a line and no hole. another one is picking up or rather trying out other peoples' food when i have my own. haha when i first started to know my hubby, he was a quite ticked off with this habit of mine. but now he's quite ok with it. hehe..and another one is i have the tendency to listen to the same song over and over again when i am in love with a certain song.

ok i'm bored now....i'm just so feeling so malas right now to do any work. so what else to do right? then blogging. except for yours truly, there isn't a single soul in the office coz everyone is either out on a course or out attending some seminar or just plain AWOL. so here i am blasting my speakers off with Samson's Bukan Diriku for the milionth time. I need to get a life. I know. But i'm also feelin a little under the weather which forces me to forget about my intention to AWOL myself to get a little R&R at Jusco for either a haircut/wash or facial..but the thought of picking up my heavy ass and driving in the hot hot day is just something i do not wish to endure.

there are a few things i have to do now that's work-related. like boring editing work which i'll get to later..and ohhh shaitsss...thank God i stayed back in the office instead of gallavanting to Jusco...I just remembered i have a 4.45pm meeting today! Phew...so that means i have about an hour more to do whatever..

my grad school application has not really taken its full speed as the deadline is still pretty far away (dec / jan). but i have my statement of purpose ready! yeay! and i managed to coerce 2 people to be my referee! hihi..now i just need one more person to testify that i am this and that and butter me up nicely so they can accept me into their grad school!

but of course, i have to score that GRE next month or else..it'll be crap for me. huuuuhhuu if only i could start my Ph.D. like right now and not be bothered with all the entrance issues...if only life was that easy.

i get on the weighing scale at least once a day. and i can't figure out how the HECK the needle is now pointing at 60kg when it was all the while pointing at 57kg three months ago! Then i may have got the answer today..it's probably because i have my period (yeah lame excuse) or have i really been pigging out for the last 3 months? (yeah that makes more sense) coupled with the fact that three months ago i did not have any maids and did everything myself! now that i have two maids, this losing weight thing is getting pretty hard to achieve. THAT'S IT! No more rice for me for the next TWO MONTHS!

eternal friends

A friend of mine from college is getting married...in Brooklyn, NY. The wedding is in December, and I'm really hoping I can go, although I think the chances of me boarding on an airplane alone all the way to the US is pretty..well none actually. Coz I think hubby wouldn't really find the idea of me leaving the kids behind is such a great one. What about him going as well? Hmm...he wouldn't wanna go JUST to attend a wedding...hmm..oh well, we'll see how my luck turns at the end of the year..

The reason why I really wanna go to this particular friend's wedding is because she is one of the better friends I made in the US. She is in fact, the first person I made friends with at the University, living just next door to me at the Stockwell Hall - the only all-girl dormitory at the U of M. Well, anyway, her name is Angela, and she is a Filipino American. She's one of those people I can instantly connect with (I've met a few people who share this instant connection with me).

When I first knew her, she used to have a boyfriend, but her boyfriend at that time was all the way at SUNY Buffalo, NY, while she was in Michigan. Once in a while her boyfriend would drop by and then I would never see her for a couple of days.

I genuinely enjoy Angela's company. We would hang out in each other's room (most of the time in my room coz her room tends to be messy all the time! hehe) when don't have classes and both of us enjoy food very much. So I would cook something really really simple like rice and she would open up a can of sardine or mackerel in black bean sauce and eat to our hearts' content. Sometimes she would open up a can of SPAM, and at that point, I wasn't sure if I should have it or not, but it sure looked delicious when you're hungry! but of course, i didn't have that SPAM as I was not that clueless ok.

The thing about her is that I just love her simplicity. Her friendship..her personality...her moods..She can even lick a plate of rice with just drizzles of kicap clean with nothing else. I also remember that she has nice handwriting. There was one time we got bored with our own rooms that we decided to swap rooms for the night....My freshmen year was fun because of her friendship, among other things.

And then during our sophomore year we decided to become roomies but not for long as I had to move to the other part of the campus to be closer to my classes whereas her classes were near the central campus. In the end, I moved to the North campus..and a few months later she followed suit..Our friendship still remains even though we didn't really see much of each other. One interesting thing though..my hubby (who was then NOT yet my boyfriend) even had a tiny little crush on Angela and I used to tease her about it..and when he became MY boyfriend she was teasing me back. hahah..

Anyway, Angela decided to move back home to be closer to her mom in NY in her junior year. So we didn't get to celebrate our graduation together. She graduated from Cornell and I managed to visit her before she graduated. And that was i think also the year she broke up with two/three-timing boyfriend who clearly did not deserve her. I still remember how disappointed she was when she found out how he had been cheating on her all the time she was in Michigan.

I don't think she reads my blog..but if she does, i just wanna say..

Hey Angela!

I really had fun during our freshmen year I wish I could play it all over again..Remember that song "Don't Speak" by Gwen Stefani? Yeah, I still have that photographic memory of you doing your own version of the videoclip. haha..

Congratulations on your wedding!

love,

Fara

i've been spoiled...yet again by dear hubby with this...

just as i wished for it the night before..then the next day, bam! i got it! i truly don't deserve this...considering how my gifts to him are always, almost never at par with anything he got for me..i thank you God for giving me a husband who likes to spoil me silly with lotsa love, bling2 and more bling2..alhamdulillah..man, i really gotta think of some nicer things to give him for birthdays, father's day, anniversary..etc..

on another note, spent mother's day at KLCC watching spidey, lunch and a bit of shopping for the two mothers (my mom and mom-in-law). then went home, just to freshen up a little before we headed out (again!) to bangsar village with kids and whole family.

alrighty then! catch ya later!

the 12 Layer tag...

rather than grading my students' finals, i think i'd have more fun doing this tag...so here goes!

Layer One : On The Outside
Name : Leo Mommy
Birth Date : 16th August 1977
Current Status : Married with a pair of kiddos
Eye Colour : Brown
Hair Colour : Black with streaks of brown from the last dye..
Righty or Lefty : Righty

Layer Two : On The Inside
Your Heritage : Malay/Indon (everyone in malaysia would have this heritage, somehow or rather)
Your Fear : not bringing up my kids the ideal way, the way granted by Islam..
Your Weakness : a delectable piece of cake..or kuih..
Your Perfect Pizza : New York Pizza - just a thin slice of nothing but tomato and cheese topping
Your Thoughts First Thing When You Wake Up : can i sleep just a little bit more..
Your Bedtime : ranges from 930 when i'm dead tired to past twelve when i've had a bit of caffeine
Your Most Missed Memory : starting my life in the US at the age of 17 and a half..that was some of the best times i've had in my life..

Layer Four : Your Pick
Pepsi or Coke : quite indifferent about it..
McDonald's or Burger King : Burger King, but since it's further than McDs from where i live, McDs will do..
Single or Group Dates : Single
Adidas or Nike : don't really care
Tea or Nestea : Nestea i guess
Chocolate or Vanilla : Chocolat sil vous plait..
Cappucino or Coffee : Plain old coffee with cream and sugah pleasee

Layer Five : Do You ...
Smoke : Nope
Curse : sure...but only the kiddy type ones in public..the hard core ones are reserved only to my own ears...
Take a Shower : of course..
Have a Crush : nope
Think You've Been In Love : it's what got me to where i am now - married with kids..so yeah, i've been in lurve alright..
Go To School : will go again soon, with Allah's will
Want To Get Married : errr..already done that..
Believe In Yourself : that's the thing with me..sometimes i just need someone to tell me that i can do it...
Think You're a Health Freak : i wish i was...but i do get the urge to stay healthy once in a while..

Layer Six : In The Past Month
Drank Alcohol : nope
Gone To The Mall : that's pretty much our routine here in Melaka...
Been On Stage : No..and i don't plan to..i don't really like being in the limelight...
Eaten Sushi : how can i not have?! it's one of my favs!
Dyed Your Hair : Yes..last was in Dec...

Layer Seven : Have You Ever ...
Played A Stripping Game : No
Changed Who You Were To Fit In : Hmm..eons ago..

Layer Eight :
AgeYou're Hoping To Get Married : n/a

Layer Nine : In A Girl/Guy
Best Eye Colour : I guess i like the asian/oriental type..so brown or black..
Best Hair Colour : still the oriental type..so Black
Short Hair or Long Hair : short, clean cut..for girl, long brown hair with lots of locks

Layer Ten : What Were You Doing
1 Min Ago : Doing this tag
1 Hour Ago : putting my son to sleep
4.5 Hours Ago :Eating a plate of mee with lala which i made myself..in front of tv
1 Month Ago : nothing spectacular..that's why i can't remember it..
1 Year Ago : haha..had to check back with my old postings..i was in s'pore zoo..


Layer Eleven : Finish The Sentence
I Love : to wake up and see both my kids and hubby in the room..
I Feel : absolutely lost when kids are not around the house..my life suddenly feels very empty..(just had that feeling couple of days ago when nazim was admitted in the hospital and aishah teman him there..)
I Hate : spiral parking lots..gives me the creeps
I Hide : things from my kids coz i don't want them to spoil them or eat them
I Need : to do something with my nose from getting nose block all the time!!

Layer Twelve: Tag other people..

This one's up for grabs! haha anyone who feels like unlayering themselves, peel away!

blast from the past

i'm supposed to be studying for my GRE now...but i'm wayyy to engrossed looking at old pictures..and i can't help but notice the evolution of my body. from small to big..then medium...then big again..then smaller..but never really could i go back to my size when i was in my undergrad days..*sigh*...but honestly, i only weigh an extra 5 kgs from what i used to weigh...but 5kgs can make a hell lot of difference, especially when they are not at the right places...anyway, in case you are anticipating pictures of me of different sizes, you can just forget about it. coz i ain't putting a picture of a fat ass me here on my glorified blog. hahahah..but i will put up some interesting pictures that kinda have some story behind it..

like this rose for instance..

was given to me by dear hubby while strolling at the Las Ramblas, Barcelona....i thought it as the most perfect rose ever, with its petals so curvy and fragile, yet so intact..

or this one...

it's taken at the pebble beach in Monte Carlo...it was really hot, and since we didn't bring any swimsuit, i think we were the only ones fully dressed at the beach sunbathing!

have u ever seen an octopus up close and personal? is it called an octopus because it has 8 legs?? well count again..

or this one...a perfect day in San Francisco...near the fisherman's wharf..during my previous visits here, it was somewhat rushed..and i never really got to roam around this area..and last feb, i managed to do that. I like SF..and if i could get into a school which is close to this place, then...it'll be awesome...May Allah grant me my wish..Aamin..

deep dark chocolate cake

i tried this recipe from my mom's recipe book..and it turned out just marvelous!

except for a few things...like the icing was a little runny. and the shape of cake wasn't exactly perfect because i didn't use the correct size cake tin..shoulda used a smaller one! anyway, i'm really happy the cake turned out nice (in taste). and since dear hubby is not much of a chocolate cake fan, looks like yours truly would have to down this all by herself...

....or if i'm nice or if i'm tired of it whichever comes first, i might just share with other people..heheh..

what a nice long holiday :)

the last 5-6 days was absolutely a bliss, filled with loads of activities that can make me grin from ear to ear. to start of, i had my long-overdue visit to the facial place where i had an hour and a half of scrubbing, massaging and masking of the face..the place is not that hoo haa, but it's nice enough...my next pampering activity was a visit to this little place, which i did something which i have never done before, but will definitely go there again..:) (khekheke..what did i do there??...ok on to the next activity...) aaah...

the next one was a well-spent 3 and half hours at a spa..this is my second visit to this particular spa, and i just love the ambience. the moment i step foot at the doorstep of this spa, i just feel that i've been transported to Bali...i haven't been to many spas in KL, but i think this one definitely is one of my favs. i chose the lemon spice package...this one's supposed to pecah all the lemak...hehe...fell asleep once during the scrubbing session an once during the massage session. and to put that little cherry on the cake, the whole family spent one night at the Royale Bintang @ the Curve..cute little rooms, very nice, and the best part is, just press the elevator button down, and we're surrounded by all this yummy places to eat!! we had genki for tea, Paddington House of Pancakes for dinner and Ah Tuan Ee for lunch the next day...here's some pix depicting my perfect weekend...

This was where i spent my saturday mid-day...

check out the little steps that take you the rooms..nice :)
i just love the shower floor so much i had to take a picture of it...
another thing i love about this spa is the sunken bath tub...so classical..
and after that...time for some good old sushi!

our all-time favorite pick at genki..

...and then a dip in the pool...

aaah...now that's what i call a guuuddd weekend!!