Malaysian Wife, Australian Life

We actually have guests arriving from Sydney last weekend. We took them to Ubud on Sunday for the Monkey Forest (again!! someone's super happy :p, I stayed outside) and then to our favorite Sari Organic restaurant. They absolutely loved it. They're now in Gili for the week and will be back with us this weekend.  In the meantime, on weekdays, it's back to just Ayisha & me and we've been spending a lot of time indoors. See, with me being all pregnant and sick, I couldn't stand walking around for too long, even by myself as I get quite faint and nauseous. I didn't want to risk passing out having Ayisha in tow so we don't go out much anymore, just the two of us. Playing in the garden & having a swim are also pretty rare because of the same reason. Poor Ha :( Luckily she goes to playgroup 3 times a week. I used to be doing errands while she's at school but I couldn't even do much of those anymore and Michael sometimes helps send & pick her u...

...unexpectedly getting pampered for no special reason on no special occasion. It was just another Saturday. Days before that, Michael has been telling me that we're going to be doing something special that weekend but he didn't want to tell me what it is. Drove me crazy but I really do love surprises so I went along with it, asking casually what to bring, what to wear etc, thinking he might slipped. But he didn't. So where did we end up? He dropped me off at my favorite Spa place in Ubud, where he booked me for a half day treatment of a four hand massage (woohoooo!!), a body scrub, a facial and hair creambath. I was ecstatic :)) It was a total surprise because I really thought we'd be doing something together. The treatment of course, was out of this world crazy fabulous. Just what I needed after lots of days feeling blergh & nauseated.  Where did they end up? Where he'd always wanted to go - Monkey Forest, Ubud. (thanks for THAT not being my surprise! :p...

I don't mean to brag (ok, actually I am :p) but when it comes to making trifle, I am one of the best. The fact that there's really nothing in a trifle that could go wrong is the main reason why this is true. Layers of soft yummy cake, fruits, custard (mmmmmm...), jelly, whipped cream and more fruits - how could it not be so good? You can never fail with trifle. Unless if you make it ala Rachel from Friends - putting beef sauteed with peas & onions in it! I may not be known as making the best cakes & bakes in my family but they know that trifle is my thing. It's always a hit when I make it. I've also shared this with a lot of my friends, some of whom have become such an expert at making them, even better mine. This is true because one time, Michael actually asked me to learn how to make it from my friend when she served her trifle, without realizing that I've made the exact same thing for him few times before. Isk.. There's really nothing much to it and...

We're now back in Bali. As always, it all felt too quick. We arrived late Sunday night. Delayed flight with Air Asia separating mother & child when we did our web check-in. What's that all about? It was ok that Michael & I got separated but to separate Ayisha too? We emailed our complaint only to be served with 'you should buy your seats' automated response. When we requested to be seated together at baggage drop off, the staff said she couldn't help. On the plane, we were hoping good people would kindly swap seats with us - same ones, only different rows. But they both wanted to be directly behind their other family members and refused to swap just across the aisle. The thing is, in the middle of the flight, one of them moved to the front next to her family who happens to have an empty seat next to them and another lady moved to who knows where. One came back every now and then (maybe to check if we took it!) then at the last minute, came back way after se...

The next Squeaky!!!! A lot of you guys are absolutely correct! We are going to be a family of 4 by May next year, Insya'Allah. :) We've had 'the code' on our fridge for the last few months but people who came to visit and saw it couldn't guess the right answer. So, bravo bravo bravo!!!! :))) And thank you for the wishes too, we're very very excited! I am 3 months pregnant now and just had my 1st scan few days ago in KL. Looks pretty much similar to Squeaky's 1st scan but I think the nose is not as flat.heheehehh The whole experience is very different than when I had Ayisha, except for the morning sickness. Urgh..I forgot how horrible morning sicknesses can be. By the way, it should be called all day sickness too. I was weak, nauseous & blergh the whole day most of the time and really not up to doing anything. Then the 2nd trimester came and I don't know if it's a mental thing or what but the nausea has somewhat subsided and I think I'...

It's no 11/11/11 but it's a pretty important number to us. Can anyone break the code?

We're now back in my hometown, JB. The 11.11.11 wedding was good. It was just great to be surrounded by family again. It went pretty quick tho. I didn't get to spend that much time with my aunty and cousins because we're following my parents back to JB soon after the wedding. But we''ll be back this Friday for the groom's reception and I can't wait for that one! It's always much more fun when it's the family's side of the wedding. The big day started really early but luckily Ayisha was all in a good mood, despite the lack of sleep. She's all shy at first but soon she's all 'Up & down & shake, shake, shake" in the middle of the crowd. Ha with the groom, Uncle Amir, right before the solemnization Doa right after the akad , at one point Pooh too has to make doa :p my aunty & cousins with the newest member of the family My aunty Mona is my mum's younger sister. We've always been close to her famil...

We're going back to Malaysia tonight!! Wooohooo! My cousin is getting married tomorrow, along with the many other couples who've chosen this sexy date to tie the knot. I know this for a fact because his solemnization is as early as 8.30 am, the only time  left  his Imam's available - all other slots are booked out! Not a problem, I love weddings. Furthermore, this is FAMILY. So I'm super excited to be back for this one. :) After the wedding, we're going back to JB with my parents & Limah (ice kacang here I come!!) and will be back in KL the next week for the reception on our family's side (the groom). Not sure when I'll get to update next. So till then, here's some pics of Squeaky! Playdate with Putu Ela - our friendly neighbour & also friend from school! Watch out daddy! I'm taking over!

Ayisha is actually a quiet, shy little girl. It takes her a while to warm up to other people and she normally sits quietly until she's comfortable to join in. Even when she does, she's pretty tame. Not really running or jumping around. Talking? Not even a 'hi'. I guess a lot of kids would be pretty reserved too at first, especially to strangers. People would always ask me 'is she not talking yet?' because she's all so quiet. I'd normally just answer with a simple 'yeah, just a lil bit'. I was not about to force her to talk and sing especially to people we barely knew (I do force to family all the time tho..heheh). Besides, I am glad that she's cool in public, giving a well behaved impression lah konon2 . kikikiki..... But man, the things that came out of her mouth when she's with us, I could hardly believe it. Sounds so grown up, so mak nenek like that. Makes me laugh all the time. This morning, she was trying to grab her Monty Monkey...

Eid Adha was celebrated last Sunday here in Bali. It was pretty quiet as not a lot of people celebrate it. It's pretty much like any other Sunday. However, they do have a gathering in the park for prayers and then later the slaughtering of Qurban. I didn't plan to cook anything for Eid because we're supposed to go to my friend's house for a whole roasted goat meal. But Ayisha's been rather sick so we ended up staying at home. When I woke up that morning realizing that we're not going to have any special Eid food, I just had to do something. With limited stuff in the pantry, I made instant  pulut kuning (yellow sticky rice) using rice cooker and chicken rendang - very easy ones from here & here , with a few missing ingredients. We also had some serunding (meat floss) that we brought with us from Malaysia, so that was pretty much our meal on Eid morning. Oh, I also made some custard sauce to go with the jellies I made for Ayisha the day before and chilled ...

My husband forwarded this to me the other day and I laughed & laughed & laughed! It's just hilarious. This happens to us all the time, every time. :p Whenever he's looking for something and it's in my bag, he'd always ACCEPT the challenge and along with a big sigh, would rummage through my bag. Sometimes he just pours everything out and STILL, couldn't find what he's looking for. Of course, 97% of the time he's just having a 'man look'. You know, searching/looking for stuff the way a man does; quick-scan-thus-missing-what's-right-in-front-of-your-eyes kind of look. Oh and yeah, there are times when his key is really NOT in my bag and is actually somewhere else. My mistake (tho very rarely lah , right ladies? :p). So you can imagine how doubly frustrated he is after going through all that trouble with my bag. Having said all that, I know you still love my cheap $10 bag that I've had for ages. The one that looks small but can sur...

Sorry Katie, this is not about your royal wedding to Prince Charming. It is the wedding of the other Prince Charming, the one that I've been anticipating for at least for the past 3 years, the one that I'd surely be hyperventilating over.....drools drools drools...... Pic from here Are you invited? I SO VERY AM!!!!

Last Friday night, Ayisha's school had a fundraising Halloween Movie night. We've never celebrated Halloween before and I don't think it's big in Oz either but in Bali, they seem to celebrate everything, so we just go with it lah . Kids were supposed to come all dressed up and as I didn't want to spend money for something that she'd only probably wear for 2 hours and because I am so not creative, I dug out her old clothes bag and found her ladybug outfit. We got it for our friend's Safari themed birthday last year (which she only wore once, hence the not wanting to buy fancy outfits no more) and thank God it still fits her! The wot wot headband was given by my sister Wa last year - Thank God too Ayisha included it as a 'to take' toy when we moved to Bali. At first I wrapped it with black paper & red flowers to make it look more ladybug-like. But she said ' sakit,sakit ' (painful) when I put it on. Must be my 'rough' handicraft s...