March 25th

Yesterday was my birthday.

Azra and Rina, thanks for the birthday SMS!

My boss gave 2 'birthday surprises' by asking me to go to 2 different meetings on his behalf. How kewl is that.

And on my birthday, since boss is not around and Sr Engrs were away too for a course, boss 'gave' (read:tiada pilihan) me the 'honour' to sign SSA report, 1st time ever the report has my sign on it. Nothing special really because it's just a daily security assessment report, but since it happened on my birthday, so it's something worth to remember. (at least to me. Hehe)

What else? Oh ya, I received a poem from an unexpected colleague, the PA to ChiefEngr entitled "A Best Friend..". I'm not sure I want to cry or laugh. But I am touched, really.

The heavy tornado+rain in the evening complement my birth-Day and that was the very day my house was half-drowned with the rain.

I ended the night with going to Kautsar w Ibu, Mak and Nadirah and the Ustaz shared a slide- show showing pictures of orang2 teramat miskin in Kedah. Their houses don't look like a house at all, their hardship to bring up the family, their determination to send their children to school etc, make me feel how lucky I am here, at this age, with my career, beautiful hubby and baby, apartment that definitely look like a home even after the heavy rain, good health, etc, thinking all these make feel I should be a very good servant to Allah for the bountiful nikmat He gives me dari lahir sampai sekarang. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Thank you Allah. Masukkanlah aku dalam golongan yang bersyukur dengan nikmat Mu. Amin.

2 hours before March 25th ended, Abang arrived :* Thanks for the wishes and prayers. Semoga berkekalan sampai ke syurga Amin..

Anyway, the best part of the day is the morning of my birthday.

Before I went to work, after sending Nadirah to Ibu's, seperti biasa salam Mak. But since it was hari luar biasa, I said to mak and hug her..

"Mak, hari ni birthday akak. Terima kasih mak lahirkan akak dulu. Halalkan segala apa yang mak dah bagi pada akak ye."

Mak replied.."Ha'ah la, birthday kamu. Mak pun dah terlupa.."

She held my hand.

"Mak doakan kamu dapat ramai anak, Ja pindah KL, murah rezeki.." (mcm panjang lg but the first two yang aku sangat ingat..)

The best morning ever!

Source

3 Gen-X II

I'm on leave today! Wuhuuuuu! My very 1st entry of the day and hope many will pour in soon since there are many overdue pictures demanding for their very own entry. Sabar ya pictures, we'll see how Lil Madam behaves today while Mummy is around. Ibu has dental appointment so I have to take a day off, plus my sis, Mak, MakcikTimah and Yan are coming from Perak today. Hoho. See, I haven't update on the story about Mak is in Perak since last week. Insya-Allah. I'll do it.

Away from zombie office is the best thing in the world after CharKueyTeow!

Brain Food for Our Baby!

Knew this blog from my dear friend, MommyLyna MSK, thanks alot Lyna! Her name is Lina too, what a coincidence. Anyway, this blogger Momma is truly inspiring. Her daughter has memorized Juzuk 30 at a tender age of 3! Masya-Allah. Allahuakbar! At this challenging era, it's really important for us to provide our children with ilmu Al-Quran, that's one and only way to safeguard us not only from Neraka Allah yang kekal abadi, but also from social ills in our society.

Make learning Al-Quran as our top priority, above others i.e. piano classes, bellerina classes, Kumon etc. And make sure that our spouse is also sharing the same mission like you do. For example, if I can spend USD$99 on Little Reader, will I do the same too for Al-Quran classes, softwares, IQRA' etc. Tak sanggup? Oh, cinta kita kepada dunia masih tinggi. Astagfirullahhalazim. Oh Allah, please guide us to the straight path, Ya Allah. Bantulah kami untuk menjadi ibu-ibu yang mendukung ajaran agama-Mu, Ya Allah. Bimbinglah kami untuk melahirkan anak-anak yang berpegang teguh pada ajaran Islam. Amin amin Ya Rabbal 'Alamin.

We will die. Surely. Anaklah asset yang kita ada selain amal baik lain (jika amal itu Allah terima or redha). The equation is simple and logic, not a rocket science:

Anak soleh = Insya-Allah bahagia lah kita dalam kubur
Anak toleh = Meraunglah kita di sana, tiada suami, mak, abah - tiada siapa sebagai penolong.

Marilah kita tinggalkan anak2 yg soleh dan solehah sebagai asset kita nanti. Bukan sekadar soleh di-bibir, tp sebenar-benar soleh-solehah. If all the mommas in the world bersungguh-sungguh nak melahirkan anak-anak yang patuh pd ajaran Islam, insya-Allah amanlah dunia ini. Hey, I'm still learning to become a good mom too, I admit I'm not doing the right thing all the time. Hiccups do happen. Semoga Allah beri petunjuk, mudahkan jalan, dan ketemukan dengan orang2 yang mahukan kebaikan dan Islam. Don't repeat my mistakes if you read/know any and just select whatever you think is following what Islam wants.

Below is Lina's entry on Brain Food. I'm inspired. Start it early, start it now Mummiess!

Kali ini saya ingin berkongsi resepi saya pada sesiapa yang berminat. Ia sebenarnya khusus untuk ibubapa yang percaya akan makanan yang baik boleh membentuk minda anak kita yang baik. Apa yang diperlukan untuk resepi ini ada 9 perkara:



1) Kacang Badam (Almond)
Ia terkenal kerana kandungan minyaknya. Ia juga makanan yang diwajibkan untuk para hufaz dari negeri Timur Tengah. Saya juga diberitahu, orang Yahudi membiasakan anak mereka meminum susu badam suam pada setiap hari. Badam yang saya beli ni memang dah boleh makan terus. Selalunya orang jual kurma mesti jual badam dan kismis juga selain dari barang2 lain.

2) Kismis
Bahan ni memang orang kita dah kenal kebaikkannya hingga mereka boleh gelar kismis Minda.

3) Minyak Ikan
Saya guna jenama Pristin kerana kandungan Omega 3 - DHA dan EPAnya yang paling tinggi di pasaran Malaysia iaitu 5 kali ganda dibanding dengan yg rendah. Saya rasa semua ibu2 tahu akan kegunaan minyak ikan dalam membentuk otak bayi sebelum bayi lahir lagi.

4) Kurma

5) Madu

6) Buah Tin

7) Habbatus Sauda

8) Ekstrak Daun Zaitun Olive Oleo
Melancarkan penghantaran nutrien-nutrien dari bahan bahan diatas ke dalam darah dan seterusnya ke otak. Ia juga adalah anti bakteria, anti fungus dan anti virus. Resepi ini tidak memasukkan sebarang bahan awet selain dari ekstrak daun zaitun ini.


9) Air Surah Taha
Air biasa atau untuk lagi bagus air zam zam... yang dibacakan AlFatihah (1 kali) dan Surah Taha, Ayat 1 - 28, 11 kali. Ia adalah makanan rohani yang akan melembutkan hati kanak-kanak degil, mereka yang berhati keras dan ia juga memancarkan kebijaksanaan mereka. Ia adalah doa Nabi Musa memohon kebijaksanaan dari Allah. Kalau nak pekat masukkan sedikit sahaja air sahaja.



Lihat urat2 pada kacang badam.. ia mirip kepada rupa urat-urat otak kita. Saya pernah terbaca, Ini adalah kejadian Allah untuk memberitahu kita kegunaannya pada manusia.



Badam, Kismis, Kurma dan Buah Tin di blender halus.

Tips : Habbatus Sauda dan Buah Tin di masukkan sedikit sahaja kerana jika terbanyak, ia akan menyebabkan 'funny taste'...tak sedap. Sukatannya, agak-agak saje. Boleh buat ikut suka tangan kita.. Yang anak kita suka makan tu, taruk lah lebih. Tak perlu masak, semua bahan ni memang dah boleh makan begitu saja.

Ni suapan yang ketiga ni! Sudah tu.. simpan untuk esok pulak!

Bila dah siap, boleh makan terus, amalkan 2-3 sudu sehari. Kanak-kanak belum banyak gigi pun dah boleh amalkan. Dalam bekas diatas, saya telah masukkan 3 kapsul minyak ikan berkepekatan tinggi. Darwish dan Wisya memang suka memakannya. Rasanya penuh dengan lemak kacang badam dan manisnya madu lebah. Cara mudah untuk memberi makanan sunnah yang banyak kebaikkannya pada otak beserta dengan minyak ikan yang kaya dengan DHA dan EPA! Disimpan dalam bekas dan diletakkan dipeti sejuk (bukan beku). Selamat Mencuba..

14 months and counting

Mummy has to put this down, else the thoughts can easily slip away from this forgetful Momma's brain.

To do in March + April:

1. Iqra' - setel all Fathah in March. And try to prepare FC Kasrah for April. I really hope I can find good Arabic flash card in the KLIBF next week like below: Glen DOman Reading Kit: Arabic. Sapa tau where can I buy this one, please shout out! I found this kit from an Indonesian online shop. Do I need to go there to get one? Uwa. The price? 2.5juta rupiah! Erk, I have no idea how much is that in RM. Tak pernah sampai indon lagi. Bibik indon ku pun belum tiba. Aduh. Kalau dak boleh pesan suruh bawak untuk Ibuk.


3. There's no such things as tooooo late for anything. So Abi's high level task: start Nadirah with memorizing Al-Fatihah. :-) You're the star Abi!


4. Finish up GD Maths Dot card. Yes, we are stuck with it and we need to finish that up before her 18mths birthday.

5. Have to let Nadirah knows that there's more than just animal in this world. So, Mummy need to work hard and try to make her interested with our new set of FC: Nature Discovery Cards. So, this will be our theme for the month.


To accompany that, these DVDs are just perfect:

No more animals. Unless we are done with the theme ok sayang?

Ok, 5 is more than enough. If we can get it done at least half of everything, I'm more than happy. No pressure - purely happy and joy moments with my dearest.

These days, Nadirah has shown off a lot of the things she has learnt to Mummy and Abi. (and Ibu and Ayah of course) Last 2 nights when we were at Dr Azhar Yaakob's tazkirah, me and Nadirah sat at the back. As usual, I brought along her FC whenever we go to Kautsar or Naim.

Without expecting anything, I showed her YBCR Flip Cards:

1. SITTING - she was standing, and looking at that card, she instantly seated! Mummy dah teruja. And start showing the next one:

2. WALKING - she stood up, and walk past me (about 7 steps) and stopped, and looked at Mummy with her cheeky smile (mcm nak cakap, "see Mummy, I knew it! I can read!"). I think I was in tears. Since she was responding well and still in focus, I showed another card.

3. FEET - she walked back to me, sit in front of me and goyang2 her feet. Gosh. That moment was priceless.

I stopped my testing session there. I'm afraid she's getting bored of it.

I know Aleka did this at 9mo. But nevertheless I'm a happy Mummy! GLEE!

It's here!

Google pics

The book fair is here people!

I can't wait! Last year nadirah was 3 months young when we were there, now she's walking! How fast is that, Masya-Allah. Our billies still got some space right Abi :P

So mommies, jom pegi!!

Baby gadget

My cheeky baby is getting cheekier by day. Last weekend we went to BabyJaya Uptown Damansara and bought her a new carseat, Halford Premier Zeus.

And this cute bag too. She lurvessss it. Kalau front view nampak mcm nadirah nak gi hiking or bungee jumping.

BPA free BRO tumbler for her. Asyik btol minum air.

Thanks Abi! We heart you :*

The smell...

Source

The 'new book smell' is so irresistible to me. Just got my new Solusi 17th Edition from Aci. (I've been bugging Aci on Solusi for many days already!) I smile all ears, open to the 1st page, then 2nd.. and smell the mag. *fresh*

Can't wait to lie on my sofa @ Jasmine and read. Ahh, only if Nadirah go to sleep @ 8pm every night. Impossible.

I heart Solusi..

Source

..and new book smell too! Abang, we probably need this spray for our living room ;-)

No-Dairy, will you?

Epoi, can you get this book for K Nyah please?

"Professor Plant courageously tells a compelling and very personal story on breast cancer that is a must-read, not only for women interested in this disease but also for the scientific and medical communities, who should sit up and take notice. It is time that the long-alleged nutritional worthiness of dairy be brought up for discussion."
--T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University, project director of the China-Oxford-Cornell Diet and Health Project, joint chairman of the Diet and Cancer Project of the American Institute for Cancer Research, and co-chairman of the World Cancer Research Fund.

"This important, provocative book by an impressive author cannot be ignored. Through this breathtaking personal odyssey, Jane Plant forces us all to think differently about the causes of breast cancer. Indispensable reading."
--Devra Lee Davis, Ph.D., M.P.H., Clinton Administration appointee to the National Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, visiting professor, Carnegie Mellon University

"Dr. Jane Plant provides a much-needed challenge to the conventional paradigm in dealing with the epidemic of breast cancer. This authoritative, well-researched but easily read text finally provides a focus on the powerful science of disease prevention. Here are the tools allowing women the ability to reduce their risk."
--David Perlmutter, M.D., director of the Permutter Health Center, Naples, Florida

"[This book] should be read by every...woman wishing to avoid breast cancer and to live life to her fullest potential. The book is well documented and easy to read. Your doctor should be recommending it to you."
--John McDougall, M.D., medical director of the McDougall Program, St. Helena Hospital, Napa Valley, California

Your Life in Your Hands

Went to CaCare @ SS19 last Saturday. Yeong recommended me another book, Your Life In Your Hands by Professor Jane Plant, a renowned Scientist and British Geologist + breast cancer survivor. Thanks Yeong! I picked another book, The Hellelujah Diet by Dr George Malkmus. Reason being, the book claimed that the diet recommended is based on Bible and I have a book entitled "Rawatan Penyakit dan Tips Menjaga Kesihatan Cara Rasulullah". I'm pretty sure both books will agree in many ways. I'll find out the answer and insya-Allah will share the common points here. May Allah give me enough time to read all the books on my Billy. Honestly, there are times that I feel like giving up my job and just read books all day long. I'm a happy bunny with the new addition on my Billy. All I need is time!

Below is from CancerActive.com, a worth reading article to all women if you haven't got time to read her book. I found out that Publisher's Weekly's comment on her book here is very biased and trying to discredit her scientific approach and effort in recommending the new way of diet to prevent and cure cancer. The article below is like answering back what PW has said previously. In other words, if you say you have a way to cure cancer, you'll be condemned to the max because no one can do that; except the Mainstream Cancer Industry. Fullstop.

Enjoy reading!

It's Been An Exciting Time

Professor Jane Plant was our very first "Living Proof", in July 2002, and what a story she had to tell! Her battle against breast cancer took so many twists and turns that she recorded it in her recently updated bestseller Your Life in Your Hands so that others could benefit from her research and experiences. Awarded a CBE for services to science, Professor Plant is still a member of many government committees and Chief Scientist of the British Geological Survey.

Two and half years ago she told us how she beat progressively more advanced breast cancer five times. First diagnosed 17 years ago, when her two children were still at home, she underwent conventional treatment, including a mastectomy, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and was given three months to live. Her life changed when her osteopath told her to give up dairy products. Within six weeks the lump in her neck (the cancer had spread to the lymph) had shrivelled and disappeared. It is the mixture of science and personal experience that makes Jane's case against dairy products, if you have breast or prostate cancer, unarguable. Now just weeks away from her 60th birthday, she tells us what she's been up since we told her story.

"I've been very busy and have written another four books - something I would never have thought possible before! I've also moved to London and am enjoying doing up my house. It's been an exciting time too, because I have been given honorary professorships at Exeter and Kingston universities, been made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and became the first woman President of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy.

I use acupuncture, weekly-to-monthly counselling and my diet to get me through

Professionally it's been fantastic, but I have had a lot of problems and stress in other areas (personal and work) so I'm not convinced of the role stress plays in breast cancer. If it was a problem, I should have had my cancer back, but I check myself very carefully and am OK. I think it's important to be honest, and I have had the odd touch of depression in the last couple of years. I've been prone to that since my teens and am pretty good at overcoming it. I think the fact that I suffer from anxiety and depression and got through cancer is quite important. I use acupuncture, weekly-to-monthly counselling and my diet to get me through.

When I read all the anti-soya publicity, the cynic in me has to laugh. It's utter nonsense to say that soya is going to cause problems because it's oestrogenic - scientific nonsense! There are three points to make here:

1: The Chinese have virtually lived on soya in the past and they had next to no breast or prostate cancer. When I've been in China, I've spoken to doctors who have never seen a case of either.

2: The phytoestrogens in soya are between 1/500th and 1/1000th the strength of human oestrogen. They are thought to lock onto receptors in breast or prostate tissue and protect them from animal oestrogen in the way Tamoxifen does - but without the side effects.

3: Most plants contain phytoestrogens, so the idea that these are dangerous is ludicrous. Recent research shows that the main pathway of animal oestrogens in the diet is from dairy. That is far more significant than soya. In The Plant Programme, the book I wrote with Jill Tidey, we explain that the typical healthy Japanese diet is based on 30 separate ingredients a day, not just soya. So use it to replace dairy and if you're allergic, try rice, pea or oat milk.

I particularly want to get the message across to men as they're very difficult to reach. Prostate cancer is fast becoming the biggest killer cancer of men and I very much want them to read my latest book, Prostate Cancer: Understand, Prevent and Overcome to prevent themselves getting this horrid disease.

I also wrote Understanding, Preventing and Overcoming Osteoporosis because everyone kept saying they would get it if they went on my diet. I thought I'd better do some responsible research and found the opposite to be true. It's nonsense for doctors to say that if you cut out dairy you'll get osteoporosis.

Countries that have the most dairy and animal product have the most osteoporosis. Cheese is the most bone-damaging food you can ever have. I used to love it but, knowing how dangerous it is, I don't touch it.

I don't think of myself as a cancer patient any longer. It's 17 years since I was first diagnosed and I hope all that's in the past. When I look to the future I hope that more people will read my books and prevent their cancers and, in my own case, that my family is happy."

All Jane Plant's books are published by Virgin Books.

3 GenX

Opah-Mummy-Nadirah

Honey for Baby

I've been waiting for nadirah 12 months milestones coz then only I feel safe to let her take honey as daily supplement. All the while, I've read a lot on the side effects of honey if taken by baby under 1yo (thanks to google, but not many researched are done on this) and one of them is called botulisme, so I decided not to let her consume it until she reaches her 12 months birthday. Hope to find a hard science proof saying the adverse/positive effect to baby, in there's any. If it's good, I want to start earlier than 12 mths.

In actual fact, I was too excited and bought her Manuka Honey, the NZ product that is very famous with its UMF (Unique Manuka Factor) at Bangsar Village Organic Shop. The higher the UMF, the better (google mommies). I was very confident and asked the salesgirl for the highest UMF that they have in shop. And gulp, tersedak makcik ini when knowing the UMF 20+ is tagged @ RM200 plus plus for 500g! Gosh. I don't have enough cash and don't own any credit cards either. Just RM100 in my purse. So I did my cover-up story and settled with UMF 10+, RM80 plus plus 500g.

We are diehard honey consumer. Especially my mom. When I reached home and gleefully tayang my hard earned Manuka Honey, we tasted it and erk. Is the honey suppose to taste that weird? It's hard to explain. Rasa mcm ubat. Hard metalic taste, not the usual sweet honey. Kasik sesudu ke Nadirah, instantly she blew it out of her mouth. Adeh. Don't do this to Mummy. Mahal okeh.

I have to find an alternative. Honey is extremely good. And I found the solution alhamdulillah.

Hiraq Wildan for Kids Dates Herbal Essence. Name panjang bukan main.

Now nadirah is on Hiraq Wildan. I'm at peace because this is an IMP product plus it has more than just honey. All the goodness of sunnah food are included + superfood/herb such as - Honey, Habbatussauda, Dates, Buah Tin, Olive Oil, Kismis, Spirulina, Goji, Rozel and Gingko. And most important, she loves it! And me too. Sedap!

Tiger

My lil mucnhkin loves animal to bits so Mummy bought her Baby Einstein Baby Macdonald Flashcard at Popular Wangsa Walk many moons ago. What I like most about this FC is because the cards show real animals [one of GDomann's criteria in buying FC - real images, not illustration], very colourful, have the animal facts at the back of each card and made from high grade hard glossy paper.In addition, the images on FC are the same as the animals in her 4 most favourite Baby Einstein DVDs (out of 26 DVDs) - Baby MacDonald [suka tahap gaban], World Animals [amat suke jugak], Neighbourhood Animals[suke2], Baby Neptune [animals in/on water]; the FC is by product of the 4 DVDs. It's a double bonus coz she can enjoy playing with her friends off-line and at the same time, seeing the same pictures in repetition can boost up her memory power. Alhamdulillah. These DVDs are life saver. They are the only disctration that can keep her away from me when Abi is not around so that I can quickly mandi, solat or cook. Else, she'll hang her body at my knees.

Normally wherever we go, the cards will tag along.[unless they are left @ ibu's]

Ok, last thursday I came to pick up my baby and had the usual chitchat with Ibu.

Ibu said, "Tadi tgk docementary animal dengan Nadirah. Lepas tu keluar-la Tiger. Nadirah pergi cari flashcard Tiger, pastu tunjuk dekat tiger dalam TV."

Masya-Allah. I kissed Nadirah. Speechless kejap Mummy looking at her roaring baby.

Thank you darling baby for giving me one of the best gift ever! Deep down I know you learnt a lot from our sessions. I know you do. Doman refrained me from testing you and I obey. It's hard for me to follow the rule. And now you've proven to Mummy that you know your friends well. Although you didn't see the tigers in real life when we visited the zoo last time, you can still recognize them. Masya-Allah.

Just beware dear, they bite! Aummmmmmmmm!