Throwback: Mini holiday in Muscat

I guess 2014 can be aptly called the year of traveling for our little family. Fahim has broken Zara's record, in which he started to travel since he was 3 months old, compared to Zara who started at 6 months old. Fahim's first destination was London, definitely unbeatable for Zara whose first trip was to Miri.

I know this post is a little late, but I just like to share our recent trip to Muscat, Oman celebrating Eidul Adha.

The trip was for 4 days 3 nights. I have never been to Oman before. So I did some homework by of course googling and asking a friend of mine Wan Harizah who is currently residing in Muscat. We didn't know what to expect beyond the info that we got, but overall it was a good trip. Not the best though since the best human planner (read: my husband) wasn't the one who led the way (haha!) but yeah, it was enjoyable. Check out our journey.

 The journey to Muscat took us 12 long hours! About 4 hours of the time were spent at the immigration offices, and about 2 hours of lunching + praying + nature's call. Alhamdulillah the kids were alright (read: tak meragam!) and mama tak show tantrums. Lol :D

 Kudos to Mr. Hubs for the high stamina throughout the day. He couldn't really last the journey from Bangi to Muar (his grandma's house)  so 12 hours for him was a great achievement. Well, my record of longest driving was only 6 hours straight.

 

 Okay. So we were too tired to take a few shots on the night of our arrival in Muscat. Here's a glimpse of Muscat scenery from our room. The big building is the Opera House. Very beautiful indeed. But because the weather was still scorching hot at that time, we didn't stop to take photos around the area. But Muscat was beautiful and clean. No skyscraper to boast the uniqueness of the city. I love it. Not being a contributor to the signs of the End of Days is actually very cool. And the people were friendly.

 

Did I say we celebrated Eid here? Haha, so here we were, donning our 'ulang tayang' Eid attire. Picture taken at the lobby of Intercontinental Muscat. Very pricey during peak season. We paid AED1k per night hokeh!

 

The kids and I. The girl in black is my neighbor's daughter. Her name is Alya. Her family was on the trip as well.

 

 Went for a visit to a Malaysian friend who resides in Muscat. Seen in this picture are my travel companions and the 'tuan rumah', Kak Suria

We were on a long journey to see the Bimmah Sinkhole  (I forgot the name of the area) Just look at the view. Excited to see the clouds because clouds are like impossible to see in Dubai. Sigh. I was so dumbfounded by the view of the rocky mountains. It was just spectacular.

 This was the Bimmah Sinkhole. It was really really deep. Not just the water but the staircase leading to it also caused shivers to my spine. I am no fan of swimming though, but this creation by Mother Nature was definitely mind blowing. All praises to Allah.

Fahim and I. Although it was like unbearably hot, but Fahim was a champ. Bila tengok views like this, selalu terfikir how was it back then during Rasulullah SAW's time.. Must have been totally difficult for our Prophet to travel to convey his message.. just how big his Iman was.. incomparable at all.. SubhanAllah..

 

Zara enjoying herself in the hotel compounds.. As usual she always enjoyed her outings at hotels..

 Fahim got introduced to playing with sand.. haha. Bangun pagi terus kena angkut to the beach. Sand castle time! The beach behind Intercontinental Muscat is clean, not as many people as the other end of Qurm beach. Most importantly, it was kinda shaded, thanks to the trees. Haha.  Sorry la mama memang puteri lilin. Papa pun sama jer putera lilin. Lol.

Wefie sket berdua. Macam gambar masa honeymoon kat Bali pulak, lol

Ok, we stopped here at Sultan Al Qaboos Mosque on our final day in Muscat before we head home. The architecture was superb, but the same thing with giant mosques, it was not women and children friendly. Ablution room is located far from the praying hall, in which if we farted then you know what I mean.. either terkentut-jelah-malas-nak-repeat-wuduk-solat-ajelah (sila gauge tahap keimanan sendiri la kan..) or guna-air-mineral-amik-je-wuduk-sambil-siram-air-kat-pokok-tepi-tu (dapat jugak pahala siram pokok kan..) Furthermore, there was no shaded area to connect the ablution area and the praying hall. In short, memang tak human-friendly la.. kalau hujan.. confirm basah.

Kekadang pelik dengan the way buildings are designed.. design la ikut cara manusia function.. bukan nak cantik aje.. duhh

And the worst part is, kids of Zara's age were not allowed to enter. Confirm la mama Zara taknak masuk kalau Zara tak boleh masuk kan.. The condition was Zara had to wear a scarf to enter. I was like nak terkeluar ayat 'wtf!!???' dah tapi memandangkan ni masjid and demi menjaga nama baik Malaysia di mata dunia, ai batalkan sahaja niat itewww. So, sudahnya..

 Sudahnya mama solat je in front of the door of the praying hall! Ada aku kesahh?? Haha. Sayang kan masjid patutnya terbuka jer untuk muslimin muslimat tapi dek kerana restriction yang tak masuk akal terpaksa la mama meng-kempunan-kan diri bersolat dalam dewan masjid yang gah ini demi keselamatan anak-anak.. cewah. Bukannya Zara dah hit puberty and tak reti nak tutup aurat ke apa kan.. Look at the door. Sikit punya lawa but hmmhh.. tiada erti..

Haha.. banyak pulak membebel pasal masjid ni.

Ok so after that, we headed back to home aka Dubai..

The journey back home was made beautiful by the momentary drizzles.. lama sangat tak merasa hujan di bumi Middle East ni.. kekadang terfikir bila kurang hujan adakah berkurangan rahmat dan rezeki daripada Allah.. I'll keep this question in my head..

Ada a few more places that we went to but the pics are in my hub's phone and the camera. Interesting places like The Palace, Zubayr Museum and sightseeing around Muscat. 

In short, Muscat is an interesting place to visit. We would go here again I think so.. but definitely not by car, haha. The looonnngg and weary hours of waiting at the borders is an experience not to be repeated. Naik flight lagi senang. Fly sejam je sampai la Muscat.

My preliminary perspectives of Dubai

Hye uolls. How is life treating you? Mine not so bad. Not so hectic either. Only feels hectic when both kids are crying at the same time, lol. Oh well, life goes on. Nothing is too big to be worried about every day, isn't it?

It has been 2 and a half months here in Dubai. Weather's getting better. It's a lot less hotter than it was when I arrived in August. Every friends here are eager for winter to come. Me? I dunno what to expect. Just play along and see what's so nice and fun about Dubai in the cooler temperatures. I haven't loved Dubai so far. It's a city of modernization and money in short. It's a city of modern-day caste too, but nobody seems be bothered with it. For me, to rank Dubai out from experience, it would fall below London, Reading and Yokohama for sure. It's not a city for people who appreciate history (like me) or origins of stories (like me) But I have not missed Malaysia that much either (except for the families and my friends back home though).

So what have I been up to in Dubai this coupla months? Well, I made new friends here. I guess it's more fun listing them down. I'll list those whom I more familiar with (cuz the ladies group here is quite a crowd!)

Sal

She's my neighbor, living at the apartment in front of ours. She's an electrical engineer with an Ir title. Now she's on unpaid leave, and I suppose her hobbies now are cooking, baking and sewing, haha. She cooks A LOT! A mother of 3 cute kids.

Aisyah

She lives a few floors below mine. Ex SLB engineer who ventured into children development, which explains her love for teaching. She usually leads the playdate for our kids (since she has all the good ideas!) and she has the talent of sewing. One thing I admire her for is the way she likes to remind us of Allah. And she always says Alhamdulillah, Subhanallah, Masha Allah.. very good practice to keep praising Allah. A mom of 3 too! Currently pregnant.

Nadia

The guru for sewing! Haha. She likes to don her daughter Maira in her self-tailored skirts. Really cute cuz they have this bohemian style look. Sal is very keen to learn sewing from Nadia and Aisyah that I feel drawn too! Lol. Also pregnant with her 4th child. She lives in the apartment across the road.

Kak Zaida

This lady loves cooking too! And she doesn't cook simple stuff okay. Nasi kerabu, laksa johor.. huh you name it. She lives near the beach so it's kinda fun going to her house, haha. A mom of 3.

Kay

A new member of our playdate group. An ex staff of Petronas, has already been here like 3 years. So when I meet a Petronas counterpart, it's easier to connect kann.. haha. 

Well I definitely have a lot to learn from my new friends. It's good to have friends who can be role models to me.

Zara and Fahim are doing good here. Healthy with good appetite and improved social skills. Zara is learning many new things here, thank you to the outings and playdates. Fahim, well, he's learning to walk now.. and I just started to give him solids on a daily basis. Yep, 10 months of exclusive breastfeeding.. woohoo.

So how's being a stay at home mom feel like? Haha. Well, it feels like I am on a loonnggg leave. I was usually not in the office pun kan (Group Travel Selalu kan hehe) so it doesn't really feel weird. Only that I don't do my KLCC outing alone anymore la tu je, haha. I don't really miss Bangi. It's a lot less stressful here. But time sure does fly realllyyy fast in Dubai.

Okay, I got to go. Blogging on a frequent basis still doesn't look feasible to me as yet. Not that I have lost the passion for writing, but most of the time, things are quite complicated to explain here on a blog. Furthermore, there is Instagram that is so easy for me to update my newest up-tos. Well, I am always on Instagram, FYI :D

Hello from Zara and Fahim :D Our new home in Dubai

Surat cinta pertama daripada Dubai

Salaam namaste from Dubai!

Salam namaste? Dubai ni ramai orang india.. So kalau cakap salaam namaste sure ramai yang faham, betul tak? Hehe. Anyway, baru rasa2 nak settle down kat sini. All the packages and luggages dah habis unpacked. So, life's back to normal. 

(Ramai orang india ehh.. sebenarnya berharapan nak jumpa Aamir Khan ke, Shahid Kapoor ke, Kareena ke buat filming sini.. lol. Neil Nitin Mukesh tu.. paling hensem lah. haha)

Sure ramai yang tertanya, ok ke duduk rumah after 7 years of working? Boleh tahan ke? Soalan ini selalunya ditanya oleh mereka yang bajet careerwoman la kan.. atau nak ada anak tapi malas jaga sendiri. I know that feeling, haha. Walau lepas ada anak dah tak berapa nak bajet careerwoman, tapi kerana tuntutan bekerja and peer pressures tu, gaya mesti maintain, betul tak?

Ahh, melalut pulak aku.

Honestly stress kat rumah and stress at work adalah 2 perkara yang berbeza. Tapi I guess stress at home adalah lebih seronok daripada stress at work. Stress at work (setelah menganalisa diri sendiri dan whatsapp conversations from my colleagues) adalah amat tak best kerana merasa kebergantungan terhadap manusia lain, yang selalunya mengecewakan. Be them your beloved colleagues ke, your most hated boss ke, or just this lady from department lain yang takde kena mengena tetiba minta something that takes away your time from your pile of work (I would love to write down their names mannnn...), for now adalah lebih baik stress di rumah. Seriously I'm not kidding.

Well, at least, when habis masak (and stressed kalau Fahim tetiba terbangun melalak sebab mama takde), Zara will eat and look at me and say "mmm.. delicious, thank you mama.." Boss ada nak cakap selalu "Good job..!" ? Haraamm.. lagi bagi kerja on top of my already full plate ada la. In a way, the sense of accomplishment I can obtain more easily (and mmg akan dapat pun!) at home. Sense of accomplishment at work.. hmm.. the last real one was masa dapat TUV certification kot. That was 3 years ago!

Anyway, I don't know how long I will be staying at home of course. Tapi for now rasa nak kerja tu belum ada la lagi. Perasaan nak ambil masters tu memang membuak2. And the course has already been identified. Cuma I already missed the semester for this year because it started before I left Petronas. So tahun ni tak dapat la kan. It's alright. I'm more eager about my sister's wedding planned at the end of this year. So yep, really looking forward to that occasion. Mana taknya, kakak pengantin lagi bersedia daripada pengantinnya, haha. 3 pasang baju dah siap dah. And kasut sekali!

Dubai, presently it's hot here. Tapi tak lama lagi nak cuaca sejuk dah. These few weeks my life is about home, cooking, shopping malls and taxis. Lol. Belum beli kereta lagi. Pun tengah fikir2 nak beli kereta apa. But our new home is very near to restaurants and groceries, so it's really convenient. Baru nak kenal jiran2.. hehe. Slowly2..

Hello from Zara & Fahim! You lucky lots.

Oklah, sebenarnya banyak nak tulis lagi. Tapi masa tak mengizinkan (teruna dan dara di rumah memerlukan perhatian mama, hehe). Ada hutang post lagi kan.. hutang dengan FSI girls, and hutang nak bercerita macam mana saya berjaya menjual kereta Honda City saya. Pengalaman yang berharga tu.. hehe. 

Alright. See you in the next post. Adios from Burj Khalifa!

2013: It's a wrap

2013 will bid farewell in a day's time. Memang tahun ni rasa sekejaaaap sangat kan?

Fahim pun dah 19 days today. I'm recovering well from my delivery. That Tanamera postnatal care set is so good I'm enjoying every day of using the components included in it. Yep, and I highly recommend it to other mothers too!

Pengalaman bersalin kali ni is very different from my 1st. Fahim was overdued by 4 days from his EDD (mama ingat Fahim da taknak keluar2 dah.. lol. Rupa-rupanya dia nak keluar on 12/12) and he weighed 500 grams more than Zara did. This time around I would say I am better informed about natural way of delivery, all thanks to my colleagues especially Caah, being an advocate of natural delivery (that means no medical intervention during the  delivery at any stage). I thought I wouldn't be able to do it; that I would again depend on epidurals.  But I was wrong. I made it! I managed to give birth to Fahim through SVD (my impian throughout the pregnancy ok!). It felt great. I thought it would hurt like hell. But after all that I have been through, all I can say is that the pain is absolutely bearable. Not that I'm saying it's not painful; kena ketuk kepala pun sakit kan.. it's just.. bearable.  Bearable as in I can endure it again.

Besides the natural delivery I had, I think it wouldn't be possible without the understanding of my best-in-the-world gynae Dr. Idora. I gave her my birth plan at week 37 without much hope of exactly following every point that I requested (e.g. no epidurals, requesting to walk around before delivery, no episiotomy,  etc.).  When I got into the labour room, I lied down on the bed (not my preferred position. Sakit belakang gue!) and the nurses placed the baby heartbeat and contraction monitors on my belly. Dr. Idora came in and she said it was ok for me to remove the monitors and walk around. I came to the hospital with 4 cm dilation. And I gave birth in less than 3 hours after that. Yep, it was fast! What was even more flattering, one of the nurses asked me if I went to the hypnobirthing class, because I didn't utter a single word nor shout nor breathing heavily when I was pushing.  Kembaang seyhh :D

To mothers yang berimpian nak deliver naturally, I recommend you to see Dr. Idora. Not many gynaes I hear who would as best as possible try to adhere to the birth plan. Actually bukan tu je sebabnya why I like her very much. Nak cerita panjang pun tak guna kan. Just make an appointment with her and you'll know what I mean.

Pantai Hospital KL pun best. Well, maybe not the car park la kan, but the nurses made me feel comfy and taken care of.  We stayed at the hospital for 3 nights, in waiting for Fahim's jaundice report to come out.  Thank Allah he was alright.

Maybe giving birth to Fahim was the highlight for me this year (my highlight came a little late don't you think?) or should I call 2013 is my year of 'perut buncit'? Lol!

Zara, papa and I spent our 1st Jan 2013 in Yokohama, shopping. 1st Jan 2014, we will just be at my parents' home. My confinement's not over yet, remember?  Maybe we'll wait for the news on 31st December rally? Haha.

Hopefully in 2014 I'll have the chance to visit Japan again (I dunno why I like Japan so much) Haven't planned for our 2014 vacation yet. But trust me, 2014 is gonna be gloomy for Malaysians. I hope it's gonna be gloomier for those who voted in the name of stupidity and ignorance.

Ok, so here are a few happenings in 2013 that I will not forget:

1. Twice visiting Japan with my husband and Zara.
2. My husband caught fever during our summer visit to Japan.
3. Zara contracted scarlet fever during our family holiday in Bangkok. She was treated at Bumrungrad Hospital.  Thank Allah she wasn't admitted. We purchased new tickets to head back to KL the next day.
4. Fahim stayed in my tummy for extra 4 days, much in contradiction with my anticipation for his early arrival.
5. I missed my ACD this year. They postponed my assessment 5 times this year due to the reason of no assessor. The final date given is too near to my EDD. I have already requested for MC on my 38th week. I hate ACD. I really do.

I do look forward to the new year. I wanna promise myself that 2014 will be a year of rigorous travelling, more energy to accomplish the things I need to achieve, and that I will never lose sight of what is important.

And oh.. I look forward to holding our house warming (finally!!!) and many more vacations with my darling husband and 2 little ones.

Welcoming myself to the 3-series club. LOL!

Most valuable gift for 2013. Mirfahim Zuhri ^_^

The 101th post

Don't ask me what's with the 100th, 101th post. I kinda just think that these numbers mean well to EE engineers.. well, at least to me. It also seems like I have begun to spend my days without so much thinking of blogging. Is it some sort like a change after marriage? Hmm, I would say not exactly. I suppose the fact that I only have 2 weekends left before I take a long hiatus from the office (and from my family - that's the worst part) squeezes the time I have to complete loads of things.. work-wise and also personal-wise.

But amazingly within these few last weeks, I really had a great time (well, let's also say my 2 weeks in Kerteh was fun too :) Nadi and Wilson are the reason definitely): Zamila's wedding, luncheon with Fatin & Jaja, Edzuan's house warming cum Mikael's 1st birthday party (thank God for the avenue to fulfill my promise to Hazlinda to meet her before I leave!), 2 times of durian feast at home (trust me I never knew that I could eat more than 6 ulas!), some shopping using all the vouchers that I got during my wedding (hihi) and Yayasan UTP Concert 'Tapestry of Colours" filled my time (apart from work and commuting to and fro Sg Buloh - Kajang).

 Alone browsing the Net at Awana lobby.. 

(Can you imagine they don't even have room internet connection.. and they charge RM25 to use wi-fi at the lobby! Whereas other hotels with cheaper room rates offer free internet utilization in the room! Huh)

Friends from childhood.. At Zamila's wedding

 

Alamak Tein, I'm 2 ringgit short!! RM50 notes adalah.. (cewah.. lame gile) Masuk buku 555 eh..

 

My companions for Yayasan UTP concert.. ever loving sisters

I'm currently reading Nicholas Sparks' Dear John.. after falling immensely in love with the movie ( I just love that kind of genre.. love stories..) The novel has not disappointed me so far.. plus imagining the characters while reading as Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried like in the movie makes ambling through the novel even more appealing :)

Ramadhan is approaching very very soon. I am thankful that I have another chance to go through this blissful month. I'm not really certain how I will adapt to a different environment soon.. and with really long hours of fasting (I mean extending 7-8 hours more of fasting from the usual 5.45 a.m to 7.30 p.m).. well, that is something iman has to take control over.. and I trust that a hungry stomach means nothing over accomplishing a day fasting with patience and ibadah :) Insya-Allah..

I just wanna record this here

I guess 2009 is a sweet year for my mom.

Adding to that is this.

Aim high Mak! Our love is always with you :)

The highlight of my weekend (^_^)

Introducing my nephews and niece, the cutest in the world!

Mukhriz and Marsha

and little Mirza