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Happy New Year!
2011 has been an amazing journey for us, filled with ups and downs. We’re so thankful the year ends on a happy note for us, alhamdulillah.
Here’s to summarize some awesome moments of 2011 during my blogging hiatus.
- November Babies birthday celebration. Hi-Tea, scones and great company! Thank you Liza, Farah & Syidah for making this day a memorable one!
- Cousin Ridhwan & Nadia weds. It was unfortunate we couldn’t be there with them on their joyous occasion, but we’re extremely happy for them!
- Cousin Lilin & Hafiz ties the knot. Congratulations to the newly-weds!
- Great short getaway to Krabi (Thailand) with family and close friends! We had a fabulous time there!
- Holes in heart no more. My thirdborn, Anaqi, has both holes in his heart closed, as we found out during his recent heart scan. All praises to Allah!
While we cherish these happy times, 2011 has also given us moments of grief. We lost a cousin very near and dear to us, due to pneumonia :’(. Her demise has truly shaken our families.
Raihaniah, may Allah bless your soul and place you among the believers.
Hopefully 2012 will bring us more joy, prosperity, wealth, great health, and Barakkah from the Almighty - insyallah. Looking forward to a wonderful 2012 ahead!
Like this:
It’s been more than two months since my last update. What’s with the newborn, the new home, children’s schoolwork, and having to ‘entertain’ the helper’s antics, no doubt my maternity leave has never been busier. No chance to ‘action tai-tai‘ walk around Orchard Road shopping with baby on weekdays like I used to during my last maternity leave.
‘Action tai-tai’ two years ago when Anaqi was just a little baby.
So what happened during my absence from blogville?
Friends came to visit.
05th and 6th Mar 2011 – I was still putting up at my parents’ when a couple of my old friends and BFFs came to visit, and showered baby Aqeil with gifts. Thank you lovely aunties and uncles for your generosity.
(More photos are up on Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aprima/sets/72157626584375615/)
New ‘toys’ to play with.
10th Mar 2011 - It was the first day of IT Show 2011, P and I headed down to Suntec Convention Centre where we had plans to recce camera lenses, but were saddened when told that Canon lenses were not available for sale during the show. We then made a quick pitstop to Nubox to check on a few Apple products and in less than an hour, we were proud owners of this – an iMac! (Buh-bye Windows XP!). It comes with a 27″ LED-backlit display, 2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB memory and 1TB of disk space! (yes, very tech stuff, I know)
Our purchase from the IT Show 2011.
12th Mar 2011 – After my disappointment of not getting the-badly-most-wanted-camera-lens at the IT Show, P and I decided to make a trip down to Cathay Photo at Peninsula Plaza to check out a few. I heard this place sells a huge range of camera lenses at reasonable prices and they’ve got excellent sales staff. Anyway, I tried out a couple of lenses on my own Canon EOS 40D and finally decided to get…
Sigma 18-250mm DC OS HSM
… and on top of that, I added an external flash to my checkout basket.
Canon Speedlite 430EX II Flash
Guess what (or who) are the first subjects to model their first tryout?
Chak!
Such are the things that excite me! (Dresses, bags and shoes, you say? Not quite as much.)
Sister’s Engagement & Birthday!
26th Mar 2011 – Yes, my little sister Dhiah is all so grown up now. On this day, she turned 25 years of age and got engaged! (Hey, wasn’t it only yesterday she woke up for kindergarten?). Anyway, she’s engaged to a Mohd Sadiq, who seems like a nice guy. I’ve seen him twice or thrice, but I haven’t spoken to him before. But I’m so happy for them both. Insyallah, semoga pertunangan mereka kekal hingga ke jinjang pelamin. Amin.
More photos on Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aprima/sets/72157626585172549/
Stay tune for April happenings and Housewarming entries in my upcoming posts soon.
15th February 2011 – P had a boys’ night out to catch Iron Maiden – The Final Frontier World Tour 2011 concert at Singapore Indoor Stadium.
I recall him saying this the week before at the labour ward, just before I gave birth: “Bagus jugak kau beranak minggu ni eh, tak rugi tiket Cat A aku.” (Luckily you give birth this week, my Cat A tix won’t go to waste.)
HAHA. (Kongasam!)
The tickets
Here are some pics taken from the iphone. They were this close to the stage.
Then slowly managed their way through the crowd to almost the third row from the stage.
(Images resized & cropped for better resolution)
Also thanks to Sharil for the Intro video.
Flickr photoset: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aprima/sets/72157625960173199/
Last year, sometime towards end of August, we put pen to paper sealing a deal for the purchase of our new home. This comes after a series of house hunting which we had done parallely with the selling of our old flat. We had shortlisted a few units in Tampines area, and eventually found the one we both mutually like.
Needless to say, the unit we chose isn’t our first choice. It would have been that one unit right opposite the stadium near the mosque, had negotiations not turn out ugly. We had high hopes on that one. In the end, it was not meant to be.
So we scouted around some more and selected our next best option. Location-wise, it is perfect. Quiet, near a neighborhood park on one side, and opposite a school on the other. It is also easily accessible to the train station, malls, market, eateries, banks, bff’s home – all via a couple of nearby walking routes.
Since we downgraded from our previous flat, space-wise,it is slightly smaller. But I feel that doesn’t really matter as long as everyone is comfortable when our home is ready. We decided to hack down a wall just to make it appear “bigger”. We also made plans to renovate the whole kitchen and bathrooms for a whole new look-and-feel.
Here’s a preview of our unit before the reno works:
Here’s a preview of the place on the third day of reno (post hacking, before layering of new tiles):
More photos on my Flickr set here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aprima/sets/72157625979446664/
Renovation works will resume after the Lunar New Year holidays. I will be updating my photoset throughout the renovation process as and when I have new photo updates.
That’s all for now. Till my Part 2 update.
o·gee [oh-jee]
–noun
1. a double curve, resembling the letter S, formed by the union of a concave and a convex line.
2. Also called gula. Architecture . a molding with such a curve for a profile; cyma. Abbreviation: O.G., o.g.
- Dictionary.com
For those who are not yet aware (yes, I have been babbling much about this over twitter since August 2010), we are moving house for the second time since we got married in 2004. Our new home will be my second, but P’s third (I was just an occupier when we were putting up at Teban many years ago).
When we first bought our Tampines home in 2007, I was heavily pregnant with Mika (second child). The house was purchased at a pretty reasonable price for a place near central area. No renovation done what-so-ever. We never engaged with any interior designer, not even professional painter. We did the paint job ourselves (yes, I painted the house partially during my third trimester then).
It was an eventful journey. Here are some photos taken after our home was prettified then:
More on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aprima/sets/72157607899532168/
Three years passed (and third child later), we decided it’s time we sell what we call our home, with reasons due more to certain circumstances than any other. It was decided with a mixed feeling of emotion.
After several public viewings, it was on 19th August – slightly after the stroke of midnight – that we finally found a buyer and ultimately the deal was sealed.
Above snippet from my twitter timeline.
Months later (and pregnant with the fourth 
), when the sale completion date is almost near, we find ourselves having to pack our belongings and clear the house. It was a tiring affair, but manageable nonetheless. Thankfully this time, I have a maid to more or less help out.
Since 27th Dec 2010 *is* the completion date, we thought moving out on Christmas Day would be ideal. So we did just that. On the morning of 25th Dec 2010, our movers came to wrap our furniture up and had them moved to a storage warehouse. We had engaged Rodex Movers – very professional and efficient, and charged us reasonably – to handle the move. I will definitely recommend for those of you who wish to engage in one. [Rodex, if you're reading this, pls kindly reward your men generously for their tremendous job despite having to work on a public holiday!]
Here are some photos of the move.
More on my Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aprima/sets/72157625773639588/
That’s all for now. Till my Phase 2 update.
P.s: If you’re wondering where we’re putting up now, we’re now staying over at my parents, at least until our new home reno is done, and my confinement is over (after birth of forth child, that is).
Here I am trying to revive my almost-dead blog (again) after a five-month long hiatus. I don’t have any good excuses for my lack of blogging (plenty of bad ones, but no good ones). Non-coincidentally, I’ve picked a nice binary date for its resurrection
So what’s been up (or down, if I may say) throughout this undeserving abandonment period? I try not to end up in an endless rant, so here goes…(I’ll start with the good bits first)
Hold your horses, Anaqi!
Since the last posted video of the little bub taking his first few awe-worthy steps, the boy has now mastered the art of speed. While this achievement is in every parents’ tracking milestone, I often shudder at the thought of him having bumps and bruises on his forehead each time he fail to apply brakes when he makes his little dashes, and eventually bang himself onto the wall, or high-table, or the organ, or his siblings! The last time he collided with his brother, Mika, he imprinted a tooth mark on the tip of his right brow!
Birthday Get-together: Aries and May Babies
We never fail to organize a get-together for a mini birthday celebration no matter how belated it gets. This year’s Aries birthday celebration took place at Yati’s abode, and May Babies get-together at Liz’s. Of course you’ll bound to find non-Aries/May Babies also ‘menyibuk’ blowing candles on cakes *cough*Misha*cough*
But let’s give Misha some credit for her effort in making birthday cards for Ahnaf and Nasha, shall we? 
More photos can be found on my Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aprima/sets/72157623949140720/
Sahril and Elysha weds.
Yes, the tallest one in our group of poly friends finally weds to long-time girlfriend of 15 years, Nuryn Elysha. The event took place at Downtown East Pasir Ris, and dear hubby is privileged to be his driving companion in our very own MPS.
More photos can be found on my Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aprima/sets/72157624219075462/
It’s a Digital Age.
And so I’ve succumbed to ‘the dark side’ (as many say), ditching my Blackberry Bold 9000 for the new iPhone4. The week of its launch, the husband and I decided to place an order with Singtel for a pair (yes, husband ditched his existing telco as well). Due to the huge sell-out, we had to wait for the new stock to be available. We’re amazed that it only took us 1 week before we have our hands on our ‘new toys’. But now it looks like OUR kids have THEIR hands on OUR new toys! >_< (I’ll save the details for my next post)
Crash-Boom-Bang.
02.06.2010 was a fateful day for us – a day that had led to an interesting chain of events. The husband had fetched me from work this very day, and as we turned into ECP, there was a massive jam due to an earlier accident. In the midst of cars changing lanes and abrupt braking, we got ourselves into a 5-car collision, and we were at the tail-end of the collision. How sad. We ended up having to tow the car over to the workshop.
This picture was taken the following day at the car workshop, where the damages were more visible than during the night before. As the repairs were taking place, we started talks with our existing car insurer for policy renewal as it was expiring in a month. Sadly, they refused to renew our insurance policy. We scouted around for other insurers yet faced the same rejection. Their reason? We made 2 claims in one policy year and our total claims (including third-party) exceeded $30,000 
. When all appeal failed, we were left with no other choice but to leave our car untouched at our parking space for months.
Being too dependent on our little transportation, we found ourselves handicapped for the very first time after 4 years. It’s not easy when you have 3 kids in tow. Husband and I even decided that it’s high time to let the car go – sell it off, and see if we can get a second-hand replacement under another name. Meanwhile, someone by the name of Ken from a brokerage insurance agency came to hear of our situation and offered help. By God’s grace, on 06.09.2010, he managed to source an insurer for us, albeit with steep conditions. I was ecstatic! It didn’t matter that it burnt a hole in our pockets, but we’ll do all it takes to get our dear MPS up and running again (until the right time comes to REALLY let it go).
Now that THAT’s settled, and road-tax renewed, we’re getting it serviced and hopefully we’ll get to ride it again next week
31.12.2009 – Unlike past new year’s eves, P and I decided to stay home and welcome close friends to celebrate 2010 countdown in the comfort of our abode. No Chijmes, no Clarke Quay, no Sentosa this time. Just our humble living room enjoying one another’s company.
Majority of us contributed food – P prepared Sambal Udang (Chilli Prawn), Chicken Wings, Mixed Vegetables and Beef in Oyster sauce; Liz brought Aglio Olio, prepared by Liz herself (It really tasted good! I should try making that sometime); Yati brought pudding with lychee (I had numerous servings of that! *yum*); Sahril & Eileen bought some yummy donuts; and P’s friends brought drinks.
But the best contribution of all was definitely Juliah’s & Azhar’s Nintendo Wii, hands down! It was my virgin try. Felt awkward at first, but once I’ve got the momentum right, I just (felt like) didn’t want to stop *lol*.
These guys, on the other hand, are pros! Look at the amount of effort they put in on BOXING! Haha!
Even Misha wasn’t spared. In less than a day, she’s able to ‘BOWL’ (and ‘PLAY GOLF’ the next day!). Way to go, Misha!!
Guys, thanks so much for your company, we had a really great time that night, no doubt! To Juliah & Azhar, thanks for loaning us the Wii for another day! We tested enough to make us want to get one for ourselves, heh.
More photos on my Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aprima/sets/72157623004915391/
These past two weeks have been really great in terms of catching up with my long time girlfriends. Despite our family commitment and work schedule, we somehow managed to slot in a brief period to meet and catch up. Not forgetting to mention, all this is possible thanks to the holiday season where, for some, get to leave work early on the eve of Christmas and New Year, while others get off days due to temporary company shutdown.
So what were on our agenda?
24.12.2009 (Christmas Eve)
The plan was to meet up at Changi Airport T3 for lunch. At Earle Swenson’s to be precise. With the kids! P asked me if I was able to handle all three by myself. I told him I’ll manage somehow. And in fact I did! Of course once I’ve met up with my girlfriends, I’ve had HELP (Thanks a lot, babes, you know who you are!). So as ‘janji melayu’ goes, the meeting time of 1pm somehow became close to 2 in the afternoon, haha! But at least we’re clear off the lunch crowd (at least I thought there would BE a crowd, but then again it’s Christmas eve, so there might not, yes?)
Anyways, when we reached there, we managed to get seated somewhere near the middle near the salad bar. Some of their meals entitle us to free-flow of salads! *yay* So all of us ordered steak! (I think Yati ordered chix, but yeah, majority ordered red meat). We get to talk (erm, not much, to be honest) in the midst of eating and minding the little children. Heh. At the end of it all, after an almost full stomach, we had the yummiest of all desserts. For the life of me I can’t remember what it was called. It sizzled just like the banana crumble ice-cream, but something else.
Mandatory group pic
The trio
Me and my kids, Mika and Misha (sans Anaqi, who was in the pram)
After lunch we headed right opposite Coffee Bean where there’s this mega-huge Bouncy Castle. But the kids did not play AT the bouncy castle (cos the queue was super long!), but instead right next to it where there’s a mini-playground. We let the kids run free. Too free, in fact! There was a time when some of them ran loose in directions all over! As for Mika, I caught him run off to a nearby elevator! Thankfully he did not follow some stranger INTO the lift, haha! Oh, but he did get lost for a while, and when we searched, we found him already climbing onto the bouncy castle, cutting all queues! That sneaky little boy, he! (Ok, too much exclamation!)
Soon after we all had to part due to individual plans, but we plan to catch up some days later when time permits us again. Without the kids next time round.
We both wanted to have a day out, just us without the kids. The idea was to have some fun by ourselves, bringing back the good old times from before our marriage days. Not saying that life isn’t good now, but just that one day to have that little time away, a break from the kids to restore a fraction of my sanity would be really great.
The initial plan was to send my 3 kids over to my parents’, but because of the whole kitchen/bathroom renovation going on at their place, we decided it’s best to let them stay home, and my siblings come over to babysit them instead.
So in the morning of Dec 20th, my siblings had come over (Thank you Dhiah, Ana & Musli!! Luv ya all!). We made sure we covered all their needs and made them comfortable (I hope!) with Internet, DVDs, baking ingredients, etc. P even cooked up a meal for them early in the morning – Ikan goreng sambal and sayur kicap with beef!
First itinerary of the day was to head down to StudioPerfect to have our couple makeover shoot. Bookings were made weeks earlier, and we’re both very excited we’re doing this again, many years after our previous makeover at CoverLooks.
I had my make-up and hair done by Diah and Nurul respectively (and yes, P got powdered too!), and photography by Nurul. It was a superfun shoot, and I’m not kidding! We laughed so hard till our tummies ache (Okay, at least mine did!)
Here’s one of the edited photos I snagged from their Flickr. (Nurul, hope you don’t mind…)
Ta-da!
Will post more photos as soon as they’re ready.
If you’d like to have your own makeover shoot at StudioPerfect, do email them to make your bookings now. For more details, visit http://etrangle.net.
After our shoot we headed down to Lido to watch the all-hyped movie, Avatar. The initial plan was to have our car parked back at our residential carpark, and take public transport to Orchard. In P’s words, “Dating naik kereta macam tak ada ‘feel’ gitu” (No ‘feel’ when you go on dates by car). Then he babbled about how I would be busily tweeting in the passanger seat while he drive and engage in minimal, or sometimes no, conversation throughout the journey. Haha!
But ultimately, the idea was scratched because we lost track of the time (don’t we all when we’re having fun, no?), and figured we might not reach Orchard in time by 3pm when we’re still at Pasir Ris at 2.30pm!*gasp* So zoomed down we did in our little red car, and by God’s will, we managed to avoid the heavy traffic along Orchard Road – the norm during X’mas season.
Generally, Avatar’s a great movie to watch (in my opinion at least). I love the whole storyline, and of course, the action-packed stuff. The whole magic mushroom journey leads us to believe James Cameroon may potentially be a hippie, hurhur!
Anyway…
Post-movie, we went for dinner. We wanted to have dinner at Carousel initially, but no thanks to a late reservation weeks earlier, they were not able to accommodate us. So luckily, we’re able to reserve seats for two at Straits Kitchen, Hyatt!
We ate to the brims of our tummies! I managed to stuff myself five plates of their buffet spread, while P only had two (he blamed the large popcorn he had during the movie earlier that he couldn’t consume more).
P enjoying his Indian meal
…my second serving…
After a full stomach, it was time we headed home to reunite with our kids. It has been a very fun and enjoyable day for the two of us, and we wish to have more of such outing in future, especially more so once we have a helper around, insyallah.
At Hyatt Hotel lobby.
My girlfriends, Ria and Sue, are embarking on a new project called Suu.Chic.Baby, an online shop showcasing chic and fashionable line of clothing, brought in from the USA, for baby girls and boys. These items are perfect for Christmas gifts, Birthdays and even Baby showers!
My personal favourite is their Mudpie Baby Buds and Gifted Initials Tote (see pictures)
Mudpie Baby Buds
Gifted Initials Tote
Do feel free to check out their range of products here: http://suuchicbaby.multiply.com
If these adorable items are your cup of tea, go ahead and start making your online purchase now!
