Malaysian Wife, Australian Life

Last week was Ayisha's last week of school. Ayisha's been away so much during the year that in total, she's probably been in school for about 6 months or so. She missed out on a lot of exciting activities, trips & celebrations that I do feel bad about but Michael would always snap me out of it with "she's only 4 lah ".  However, we did try to make it to some of the more important ones; her end-of-year concert being one of them. We came back 2 days before her concert so she only had 2 short days to practise. Her teachers told me before we left that they'd make sure Ayisha would be able to participate even in a small role and the school was even nice enough to wait for us to come back for the full dress rehearsals.  So the day of the concert came & I was all so excited to see what was this 'small' role of hers. The concert started with the youngest kids' performances, which was Ayisha's class - the 4 year olds. I saw some fam...

First & foremost, a very Happy Islamic New Year, Salam Maal Hijrah all! Another year has gone and I've let my blog go without a post for about 6 months now. Bad, I know.   I'm bursting with stuff to tell. So much has happened, good & bad. I really do want to update. Seriously. Ask Michael. See, most days, he'd ask me what I'd be doing for the day and most times my answer would include 'update my blog', among other things. Then today;  Michael: What are u doing today?  Me: Update my blog..  Michael: Ok wait, REALISTICALLY, what are u doing today?  Chet...  Maybe it's the new year, maybe it's just wanting to prove him wrong but here I am, baby!  Right now, we're actually in Khao Lak, Thailand, about 2 hours drive from Phuket town. Khao Lak is the area in Thailand most affected by the tsunami 9 years ago. I didn't know this before I got here. I knew Phuket was badly hit but I thought more Patong beach area etc. But i...

Ayisha is turning 4 in two months. Not long now and she's such a big girl. She goes to the toilet all by herself, no problems. So proud of her. This is after months & months of 'accidentally' poo poo'ing in her undies, mind you. So, go Squeaky go!!  I like having conversations with her and having girly girly talks like girlfriends do. So much to talk about. Tho sometimes when she's busy doing her own thing, only mummy do the talking lah . She also mumbles a lot - bebel2 to herself then when I asked what she's saying, most of the time she'd answer "I say nothing". Bit sad lah cause I want her to be able to tell me everything! So if at 3 she's already not telling me stuff, then 10 years from now how?? It's funny how when they wanted to talk to you, you keep 'hang on, hang on, later, wait a minute' them. Then when you miss them and craving so much of their attention, they just ignore & give the ...

Ok, I admit. As much as I wanted to update daily, I just can't do it. I can give a million excuses right now i.e.. me sick, Ayisha sick, daddy sick, my mum sick blablabla but the truth is, whenever I do get a little bit of time on the computer, I consciously (most times I was just unconscious) choose sleep.  Also, when you blog, u bloghop right, that's part of the fun. So I would find myself catching up on all those blogs I've followed and and and... I just started reading some new blogs like BarelySupermommy & Modg and they're just so so good it's so hard to stop. So how? *sigh*  So I'm proposing to myself a more realistic goal. At least 1 posting a week. How's that? Let's move on shall we?  I haven't written about Eli's development much so here goes. Chubs, as Michael lovingly nicknamed him, for obvious reasons, is almost 11 months and is growing up too fast.  He's really waving now, not graceful at all with hands fl...

On mummy's baking skills when I offered to bake her cake for this year's birthday, "I think it's a little bit tricky for you, Mummy. Let Grandma make the cake ok?" On what she wanted to be when she grows up, A: When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut. I will put on my suit and walk on space and ride the spaceship. Me: Did you learn that at school? A: No. Lily told me. (you know, her imaginary friend who apparently lives in Japan) On not wanting to wear her tudung (scarf) to school, "I like my curly hair, I don't wanna wear tudun. I'll wear it when I'm bigger ok? When I'm 4" On why she cries when we arrive at school, "Im a bit shy mummy. And a bit sad cos I miss you so much" (me cry!!!!) On learning Malay, "Mummy,   Adoi means sakit (painful). That's what all my friends say when they 're hurt. Like this, ADOI !!" (with hand on her head) On wanting more chocola...

..at least!!!  This is one of the things that's on my list. Oh and note-to-self: Ayisha's Princess & Dora books do not count, ok. Many years ago, when I was actively trying to excel in one of those Multi Level Marketing thingy (hint: A****y), I heard this quote for the first time:   “Five years from today, you will be the same person that you are today, except for the books you read and the people you meet.”   ..and it has stuck with me. Since then, I have always had it in my to-do list. It started out rather ambitiously with 2 books per week (whoaah!)  especially during those pre-marriage & pre-babies years. But I've never been able to tick them off the list, ever. Last year it was down to 2 books a month. Didn't happen either. *hampeh* So let's hope this year is the year! Actually, I have my moments with books. Sometimes I can go months without remembering the last book I read and other times I'd find myself reading 3-4 bo...

I'm having a pat-myself-on-the-back moment, -2 postings in 2 days. So far, so good..woohoo! Christmas was awesome. Can anyone guess who's Papa Santa this time? Teehee..... Ayisha got pampered with lots & lots of presents, as per usual. This is the dessert spread. See that sexy looking golden topping, whipped cream filling trifle on the left? I made that. Yeahaa.. It's banana toffee trifle, recipe taken from Better Homes & Garden. Super easy & crazy delish. I swear to you, EVERYONE loved it.  To date I've made it 4 times and I get the same responses every time. I don't know if I'll ever go back to making my  mum's trifle  again. You know what? It's that easy I could tell you right now how to make it. Not to worry about the amount of ingredients whatsoever cos it's totally up to you. Can't go wrong with this one. Ready? Ingredients (by layer) 1) 6 Crunchie chocolate bars - or any chocolate bars with...

The 1st quarter of the year has passed and this is the 1st post for 2013. What's been going on?  A LOT.  I have no idea what happened. Well ok, I had a little bit of an idea.  This happened...  ..and this... ..and now there's Keek and OMG I haven't even started on the more important things that's been happening in my life; like Michael and his unbelievable and remarkable work situation, Ayisha's new school and her morning 'no school' battles, Eli's fast growing teeth & sloppy kisses, looking after my ailing mum...  Even with the Instagrams and WhatsApps and Keek that's been helping me stay in touch with my friends & family even more so than before, I still feel the need to blog. I have so much that I wanted to say that it keeps me awake at night sometimes, I feel like the words should be bursting out of my mouth.  From petty things like how I don't want Eli to think that I didn't lo...