6 years ago today...

... our twosome was blessed with a third person...


Our darling girl is now 6 years old... she's grown into a lovely young woman, pretty, bright, caring, loving, playful, responsible... a good big sister to Hariz and hopefully the new baby on the way as well...

She can be aggravating at times too... but maybe that's because she's too much like me in some (Hubby would argue many) ways... stubborn and hard-headed, but soft at heart (yea yea, like the mama...).

We love you Kakak... may you grow up to be the best person that you can be...

Aidiladha under quarantine...

Adik has chickenpox, real bad chickenpox...

As a result, we spent Hari Raya Haji at my parents' place... had to cancel plans to go back to Seremban (although Hubby did go back this morning to help out with Qurban, and came back with lots of yummy food courtesy of my MIL and SIL :) ), had to cancel our planned family dinner outing, and have had to make alternative plans for tomorrow...

What's tomorrow? The annual school concert, where Adik was supposed to join in for the first time! He's got his own routine with the rest of the 2-year-olds, but we don't quite know what it is... But now he'll have to miss it and stay at home with Opah who's volunteered to watch him... I think I'm more upset about him missing the concert than he is hehehe...

We thought it was great that Amani got a very mild version only 2 weeks ago, and never thought Adik would come down with it again (within a span of 2 years!)... sekali tengok, his case is worse than Kakak's! He's got the spots everywhere... around his hairline (under his bushy hair, sian dia...), on his body, on his face, even right near his anus!

So now Kakak will get to do her speech with her classmates, and we can only record Adik's friends performing... hopefully when we show him the video, he'll do his own performance :)

*Sigh*.... dah la mama tak boleh nak cuti next week... Opah la yang tolong jagakan... sorry Adik ye... nanti Adik dah sihat & mama dapat cuti hujung December, we go jalan-jalan ok?

Salam Aidilfitri

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!

Finally back at home after being away since the Friday before raya... a week feels like a couple of days aje! I can't believe it's time to go back to work already!

This year we celebrated Raya in Seremban first (only the 2nd time in almost 6 years of marriage heheh) and came back to KL on the 3rd day (coincidentally Amani's birthday too). The snag about taking a whole week off? Other people are not around yet, all happily enjoying their holiday in their kampungs! Oh we poor people whose kampungs are in KL... but all was not lost, we took off to visit relatives outside KL too...

In the beginning, though, it felt somewhat subdued... hambar... usually we'd go and visit my grandma on the 1st day, and if we celebrated in Seremban first, we'd stop by on our way back to KL, but this year is the 1st year that she's gone... it feels strange not to see her... have yet to visit her grave, but will do so insya-Allah soon...

Am trying hard not to think about work... once we get back, the budget cycle's gonna be in full swing, and the mid-year review's coming up right after that... and the restructuring that's gonna affect us in Oct... not to mention the Hari Raya gathering in 2 weeks' time that I've been 'volunteered' to lead... aughhhh... any ideas for an independent work opportunity anyone????

My Daughter the Shopper

Kakak has the makings of a shopping 'kaki' (abahnya kata, anak mama la tu... hehehe... I refuse to comment for fear of incriminating myself...:p)

And how do I know this?

We went shoe-shopping for the kids today... Kasut raya of course, as well as kasut nak berjalan-jalan... both Kakak & Adik have pretty much outgrown their 'nice' shoes (heck, Adik couldn't even put his foot in! That chronic wooo...), plus the sandals that they use to go to school are looking pretty beat up... Stakat nak gi nursery tu OK la, tapi kalau nak gi jenjalan, kurang comel laaaa...

So off we went to Jusco I Utama... Hubby and I like the selection there, and of course the prices are reasonable. Ingatkan it would be a short trip - grab the shoes, try them on, pay, leave (see Abah, no 'lencongan' from Mama... I had good intentions OK!) Rupa-rupanya anak daraku boleh tahan jugak shopping! Adik's shoes were chosen easily. Of course, it helped that by the time we got to Jusco, he was asleep in the stroller, so Mama sesuka hati je la tried on possible shoes on his feet as he slept; plus, he didn't get a say in the selection hehehe...

Different story with Kakak! Punye la banyak kasut try... yang I suka, dia tak suka... some that she liked were too pink for my liking (baju raya biru la, turquoise lagi!!) the ones she liked were pretty, but they didn't have them in her size... I literally felt dizzy, squatting down to put the shoes on and off, and standing up again. I'm sure if a doctor were to check my blood pressure tadi, it would have been on the low side.

In the end, we spent more than 2 hours there, just at the shoes section!!! Hubby & I wanted to finish the shoe-shopping there and then - malas nak gi cari lagi lain kali... in the end, tired out and sleepy, she finally found a pair that suited her (and us!). She fell asleep on Hubby's shoulder while waiting for the SA to bring the new pair of shoes.

So what were the fruits of our labor? 2 pairs of shoes, and 2 pairs of sandals, one each for Kakak & Adik... after this we only need to look for a turquoise Baju Melayu for Adik, possibly a sampin and songkok for him as well, and we're all set! Hmmm.... agak-agak Mama nak beli bag or kasut baru tak? Heheheh... We shall wait and see...










Oh, and why did I say Amani is a potential 'kaki shopping'? She kept on trying the shoes, even the ones she didn't like, just because she liked trying out shoes!! She definitely has taste, and doesn't hesitate to give her opinion on things! Tu yang lama sangat nak pilih kasut budak tu! Dia siap bagi input lagi to me when choosing fabric for tudungs hehehe... skarang ni dah terbantut kejap hajat mama nak beli bag baru, cos when I showed her a picture of the bag, dia kata tak cantik!!! Huwaaaaa.... anak mama... takpe la, maybe later you'll change your mind? :p Dah besar skit nanti mama ajak jalan sama-sama ek...

Floored by a Bug (2nd time this year!)

Hubby's been the lucky one so far... he's the only one who's managed to evade being infected by whatever bug it is that's infected our 2 kids as well as yours truly.

Amani got hit first... she began vomiting in the very very early hours of Saturday (we ended up sleeping outside in front of the TV at my parents' place and gave my dad a shock at dawn hehe), had a slight case of diarrhea and continued with up-n-down fever all through the weekend... she skipped school on Monday to fully recover.

When we got ready to go to work on Tuesday, Adik pulak started purging (3x before we even left our place! Our bed was a mess, believe me... had to do laundry pulak pepagi buta...) and eventually he stayed at home that day. Luckily Hubby has lots of days off still, so he stayed home for both days.

I went to work and spent Tuesday feeling very 'sebu', as if I ate the wrong thing that gave me tons of wind (at first I blamed it on the banana I ate that morning for breakfast), but by the time I got home, I was feeling even worse... my head felt like a band was slowly being tightened around it, and I nearly threw up when the doctor did the checkup... So I ended up staying at home yesterday too, together with Adik. Can you imagine what it was like to take care of a sick kid who was not behaving sickly, while not being well yourself????? He was purging every few hours, and I had to change him before the contents spilled out (yeah, gross, I know heheh) and also irritate his skin. We spent the whole day watching Toy Story 2 (interspersed with Elmo & the Bookananeers [Adik's version of Bookaneers] and a Reader's Digest Animals are Amazing video) in between trips to the bathroom for both of us. For the record, I absolutely hate throwing up and purging, OK? Especially when I didn't get any diarrhea medicine as well!

Today my fever and heachache has subsided, but I'm still at home - my tummy's still acting up... both kids are at school though, unless we get a phone call sometime today saying Adik's not well. Adik wasn't purging anymore, and he never ran a fever to begin with, so we felt he was fine already since the doc gave the bug about 2 days to run its course. I'm quite confident that his activeness (ada ke such a word?) and strong constitution has helped him recover faster.

Now I've got a few more hours to rest.... mama dia pulak yang lagi lambat nak baik...

Robbed!

Our place was robbed yesterday.

The story:-

Because of today's public holiday, I got the day off yesterday as replacement leave, but Hubby had to work. So I spent the day shopping for fabric with my mom and searched for sandals at 1 Utama before picking up Hubby and the kids later to balik kampung...

We stopped by our place to pick up our bags on the way from my mom's to Seremban, and since it was supposed to be a quick stop je, we didn't park at our usual place, but just in front of the lobby entrance. After quite some time, Hubby came down with a strange look on his face. 'Rumah kite kena pecah masuk...' came out from his mouth.

I was in shock. While Hubby went to the entrance guardhouse to inform security and do the necessary, my mind was reeling with all sorts of thoughts. 'There's nothing of value in the house... I KNOW I locked all the doors and padlock before leaving... what did they take? How could this happen???'

I was pretty sure Hubby's laptop would be gone, but couldn't think of anything else the intruder would have taken since anything else of significant value would be big, ie TV, fridge, DVD player etc. Turns out he got away with quite a decent loot - the laptop, our digital camera (but without the charger, which was obviously moved from its original place but not taken), my watch (just a Swatch, but it was still a pretty watch, and still quite new), Hubby's company's complimentary backpack (it had a compartment for a laptop, and could fit in everything else he had taken), my Coach leather wristlet (barely used!), and the saddest thing of all - our rings. I don't have much jewelry, except for whatever I have on me, but I had a collection of rings that were of sentimental value to me... cincin merisik, my graduation ring, Hubby's RMC graduation ring, a lovely tanzanite & diamond platinum ring I bought in the US, a filigree white gold ring from the US, and the most irreplaceable of all, arwah Wan's diamond and gold ring, which my aunt had given to me since I was the only one who could wear it... everything else we can insya-Allah slowly replace in time, but Wan's ring is lost for good...

Memang I sedih pasal cincin tu... I was planning on turning it into an heirloom to be passed to Amani, then Amani's daughter, and so on and so on... and it was a link between Wan & me... I hate the robber for what he did!

It was a lot of hassle to settle everything... had to go to the police station to make a report (that experience alone is worth an entry, tapi malas nak citer... boleh buat sakit ati jugak kalau ingat balik...), be home for the investigating officers to come and do their thing, replace the doorknob and padlock (the padlock was completely missing, BTW, and the grille and doorknob forced open) - and all this had to be done even though none of us had any dinner yet...

Thankfully my mom and brother came by with some food, and my BIL helped buy the padlock and doorknob (takut by the time everything was settled, there weren't any hardware stores still open)... semua rasa macam taknak tido situ for the night after that. Amani was scared when I told her 'orang jahat masuk rumah kita', and wanted to sleep at Atok & Opah's... poor thing, she wondered what was going on, and I didn't want to lie to her... so the kids went off with my mom & brother first while we finished cleaning up, then all of us spent the night at my parents' house...

When I started cleaning up the mess the instruder left behind in our little wardrobe, I picked up a damp Ralph Lauren XXL shirt. I thought for some reason maybe my BIL came by with a different top and changed before he helped Hubby with the door, but he said it wasn't his. Then it dawned on us.... 'Omigod, it's his blo*#y shirt!!!' Even though it was technically evidence, we didn't want to keep it anywhere near our place, in case la kan... so Hubby threw it away. I guess we were lucky... apparently some robbers' pantang entails leaving their sh1t behind, so at least this one was 'cleaner'...

For a while, I wondered what would have happened if I had decided to just stay at home alone yesterday... would he have still forced his way in? If he didn't, that'd be OK... but what if he HAD come in while I was there? I didn't want to think of what could have been if that happened...


The ending:-

We are thankful that no one was hurt... but we're still shaken by the experience... I pray that this will never happen to us again... a family is supposed to feel safe in their own home, right?

Something to ponder upon... if the guards didn't see anything suspicious, would that indicate another resident is responsible for this?????

Potluck Party Ooh La La

Just hosted a potluck gathering at our place yesterday...

For the first time ever, we had a big bunch of people over (all Hubby's siblings, plus families, plus my parents-in-law), and man, was the house packed!

In Seremban, my in-laws' big house provided plenty of space for the kids to run around and play to their hearts' content, without disturbing the grown-ups' conversation. Yesterday, no such luck!

Earlier in the evening, the bigger kids went down to the pool, supervised by Hubby, his brother and his wife. Everyone then came back up to enjoy the potluck spread. We had sate & fried mihun, rendang & puding cendol (courtesy of my mum-in-law), nasi Arab, KFC, cakes and fruits galore, thanks to my bros & sis-in-laws. We the hosts provided the drinks and disposable ware hehehe... We were all pretty stuffed by the time the conversation turned serious.

We were discussing the family's plans for a group holiday this year. The last time we had such a trip was almost 3 years ago, so it was high time for another one. The general consensus is to have an outdoorsy holiday, to give the kids the experience of being in the great outdoors, sometime in Nov or Dec. It can't be any earlier, cos 2 of my sis-in-laws are delivering babies in April & June, and some of the kids have major exams coming up. So in the end, 1st choice was Eagle Ranch, PD... if that's a no-go, then someplace similar to that la yang kena dicari... As per our tradition, we'll be buying gifts for the kids, so guess who volunteered for that job??? :)

Anyhow, during this discussion, we had to put up with the kiddies watching TV just a few feet away... the hubbub, omigod! Kalah riuh sekampung! Hehehe... nak halau suruh main tempat lain, takde tempat dah! The rooms are all filled with things, so no room to play in as well. So the adults had to manage the discussion as best as we could. Nasib baik none of the neighbors complained heheh...

After the fun and frolic, spent this morning vacuuming and mopping (well, Hubby did the vacuuming heheh... thank you baby) up the mess, and after a spot of ironing, finally I could sit down to do some office work (and surf the web, obviously :p)

Feel like unwinding with a spot of window (or actual?) shopping later today.... and Hubby said yes! :) Whoooppeee!!!!

tummy bug

We're all recovering from a suspected tummy bug... myself, Hariz, & Hubby... even my brother's down with something similar. Luckily Amani is OK so far (let's hope it stays that way!), which I suspect is partly due to the fact that she is geli with her brother's saliva, and thus doesn't take too kindly to his slobbery kisses hehehe... as for the rest of us, that could very well be the price that we pay for Hariz's affectionate (and very wet!) kisses - a transfer of whatever virus he's got to us!

It basically started with Adik vomiting a few days ago... when we brought him to the paediatrician, he told us if it's a virus (as he suspects it is), it'll lead to him having diarrhea later on. Since it was probably contagious, we decided to take him out of nursery for the day & just rest at home. Typical of Adik, even though he's technically not very well, he's still running around happily in full steam.

My agony started yesterday... I've never made so many trips to the loo in one day! Dah lama tak kena... I felt weak the whole day, plus my body ached all over! Let's not talk about appetite... I barely ate at all the whole day. The last time this sort of thing hit me was a few years ago, due to food poisoning. Hubby fought off the virus differently - he ran a fever, and his tummy wrestled, but at least he didn't have to stay within 3 feet of the loo heheh...

Now we're all lepakking at my parents' place, and everyone seems to be recovering nicely... I greatly enjoyed this morning's breakfast! I'm so glad my appetite's back hehehe...

Kakak's new school

Tomorrow Amani starts her new school... well, not new in the sense that it's replacing her current school, but new cos tomorrow she starts going to Madrasah AnNur for her kelas agama & mengaji...



She's had it easier than most in her transition from daycare to kindy, cos her nursery handles both. As she gradually progressed from year to year, her activities at 'school' (nursery) have started to incorporate more learning. She's also taking extra Mandarin classes there, ever since her Mandarin teached spoke to us about her willingness and interest to learn more, and her ability to pick up the language very well. So this year, she's already doing kindy lessons in the morning, in line with other pre-schools, and her additional Mandarin class takes place twice a week in the afternoons.


Because of that extra Mandarin, we've had some problems trying to source for suitable kelas mengaji. Luckily, when we spoke to the teacher at the Madrasah, they're actually OK with her taking off early on the days she has her Mandarin class... ye la, pre-school kan... exams pun bukan la major, so nothing much to worry about there. At first we only wanted to look for mengaji, but the Madrasah feels it's much better for her to learn the other stuff as well (including amali solat), so that the learning is more comprehensive. We're definitely OK with that... we do want her to pick up things like solat early in life, and expecting her to learn from us yang tak berapa pandai sangat ni pun of course is not enough... and we feel that with her ability to pick up languages easily right now, it gives her an advantage when learning mengaji in a more structured manner... since she gets to maintain the secular while going for the religious, that's great!

We're still finalizing our strategy for tomorrow though... do we pick her up from nursery/kindy & send her to the Madrasah? Or follow discreetly behind the van & meet her there? Do we just drop her off, or linger? Amani tends to cling a little in unfamiliar situations, so I'm not sure how she'll react tomorrow... We've already told her about the new school, and her usual response to new situations: 'Amani nak mama...' I have faith in her adaptability, and she's a very well-behaved student (based on the feedback from her nursery handlers and kindy & Mandarin teachers)... I'm sure she'll be just fine... Whatever it is, we still have to be there to hand over the necessary paperwork, so we'll see how it goes... we still have tonight and tomorrow morning (while waiting for the streamyx guy hehe) to decide how we're gonna do this...

visit to the zoo (revisited)

The pics from the zoo trip are already with us... yeay! Thanks to KC for the fast & excellent service :) When my brother gets married, I'm gonna push for him to get KC to do the pics hehehe...

I feel like doing a family photo session every year...

In 2007, this was it... Taman Bukit Jalil
Last year, the zoo... National Zoo

Once I learn how to post photos on the blog, I'll put more up! :)

possessions & remembrance...

last sunday, we had a tahlil & family gathering at my auntie's place. the tahlil was for arwah my grandmother, who passed away on 29th nov 2008. 2 of my uncles were away performing the Hajj when she passed away, and just recently got back, so this was definitely a somber session... of course, we missed the tahlil itself cos Hariz was asleep, so had to wait till he woke up before we took off. my brother and parents reached Bangi first obviously hehehe...

it wasn't just a tahlil session though... my auntie wanted to hand over arwah wan's possessions to her waris-waris, hence the family gathering. before we got there, i wasn't feeling particularly sad, cos although her passing in itself was a something for us to mourn, we didn't dwell on it for too long as we believed it happened for the best. none of her children and grandchildren wanted to see her suffer, and i believe she did suffer for a long time. being an active, 'tak duduk diam' kinda woman all her life, being bedridden after partial paralysis as a result of a stroke was torture for her. i guess for most of us (tak berani la nak kata for all kan), kami rela & redha dengan pemergiannya...

when my auntie brought out arwah's things, the first thing that struck me (again) was - banyaknya kain batik wan! people liked to give her kain batik, as she wore them on a daily basis, but she always kept the new ones she got from her kids, grandkids and relatives and went on using her old ones... sayang katanya, plus obviously the old ones dah lembut, lusuh and sejuk... memang la best nak pakai daily! heheheh... as a result, the pile of new kain got pretty high in her closet. when she got sick though, my auntie started using them one by one, nak bagi wan merasa pakai.... after the funeral, my auntie told me to pick out a few pieces for myself first, cos wan dah sebut nak bagi some to me... so i did... took 2 brand new ones, as well as a piece that i've seen her wear often. it somehow still had her scent on it...

so this time around, since i already had a few pieces, i just watched while my aunties and cousins chose the pieces they liked. ok la if yang balance je i amik, since i dah dapat dulu kan... takyah la sibuk-sibuk, tul tak? heheh... masa ni i was still ok, but one item on the large table buat i rasa sebak sekejap... it was a jewelry box, the kind that displays a photo on the cover, and it had our picture on it... it was the jewelry box that i bought for her from the states, with an inscription about grandmothers around the photo frame... it was given to her maybe 9 or 10 years ago, together with a picture of us taken during Hari Raya when i was in Form 4 or Form 5, and she was still using it ('used it' is more appropriate kot now...)! i could feel tears welling up as i saw the box, but quickly controlled my feelings. call me 'buruk siku', but that was something i had to keep. the aigner handbag i bought for her at around the same time tu, takyah la kan... hehehe... yang tu takde sentimental value sangat...

most of arwah wan's possessions were of the clothing & bags variety. her gold jewelry was melted down and made into gold bangles that my auntie distributed to all her sisters and sisters-in-law as tokens of remembrance... makes it easier to be fair jugak kot? wan's stud earrings were given to my cousin, cos none of the aunties wore earrings, and wan's gold & diamond ring came to me... again cos the ring didn't fit any of my aunties or my mom. yang muat, my cousin & i aje, but since i tried it first and declared if none of the aunts muat, i amik... aci ke tu? hehehe... it's not really for the sake of the jewelry itself, but it meant a lot to have something of wan's that i could possibly pass on to my own daughter...

i hope, even though my grandmother is no longer with us, we as a family would still remain close and connected... let us sedekahkan al-fatihah to arwah Tijah bt Abd Jalal, may she rest in peace and may Allah bless her soul...

balik kampung

'balik kampung... wooo oooo ooo balik kampung.... wooo oooo ooo balik kampung.... hati riang (or is it girang?)'...

i used to sing that song (not out loud all the time la hehehe) whenever i was planning to 'balik kampung' - be it from the boarding school, or from the states... now that phrase is applicable when i go back to my parents' place, ever since our official move hehehe...

my kids are still adjusting to the move... last night before we left my parents' place after dinner, i told Amani to get ready cos 'kite nak balik rumah'. she looked at me with this confused look on her face and said, 'nak balik rumah kite? banyaknye balik rumah kite...' guess she doesn't quite grasp the concept of moving. she knows the condo is 'rumah kite', but since at the moment she only gets home in time to go to bed, she still spends more time at her atok's place than her own...

this morning, hubby brought them down to the playground before their bath. both kids were thrilled to go (well, Amani excited la nak main swing etc etc... Adik just wanted to run around!!) so that gave me time to do the laundry, put our clothes in order, etc in peace hehe. rupa-rupanya, while they were at the playground, Amani told him she wanted to bathe at her grandparents' place... cos they went down before taking their bath hehehe, which was what they do sometimes at my parents' house during the weekends. hubby of course said no, we bathe here la... then she went on to say she wants to run around in atok & opah's garden... anakku rindu kat kampung rupanya...

so here we are... 'balik kampung'... for the first time my kids can use that phrase to refer to my childhood home...

as for me, i'm still adjusting too... tuning my body-clock to think that 5.30am is a perfectly reasonable time to wake up, and that midnight is the best time to fall asleep... eventually this reduced sleep will lead to some weight loss (i hope!!! my tummy's looking a leeeetle bit more rounded that i what it used to be... aw heck, dah buncit laaaaa, terpaksa ngaku pada diri sendiri! nak diet, tak kuasa beb!). hopefully i can manage to take cat naps every morning on the lrt to keep me alert at work :p on the plus side, this week i've signed in at work early, so i don't feel bad about not staying back too long after office hours hehehe...

moving...

tonight is officialy our last night here at my parents' house... after 5 years of marriage and 2 kids, we are finally moving to our own place.

it's a huge step for us... for me... this has been my home for the past 16 years...

don't get me wrong, i'm always thrilled to be in my own place. i loved moving into my dorm during freshman year, and similarly loved the whole process and experience of moving into an apartment the next year with my friends... the choosing of the apartment, the furniture hunting, setting up the place, finding stuff to decorate our rooms... having a kitchen to work with (of course, the cooking was basic la... whatdidja expect? :p) going grocery shopping, paying the bills, maintaining the place... it's not like i've never lived on my own before. i know what to expect when it comes to having your own place.

even so... this house is special to me... i've lived here since my younger days... this was also where i first started life as a married woman, and my kids have always known 'Atok & Opah's house' as their own too... this will be a big adjustment for everyone. granted, this move is way overdue, considering that there's now 4 of us living in a 10x14 bedroom and our condo was ready some time ago (read: complete with furniture ok!) but a lot of things happened in between to delay it. and now, this is it! i guess we're lucky in the sense that my parents aren't the kind to insist that all their kids cling to them and stay at home. they're both kinda of the mindset that kids should learn to be independent (but if you're still single and working in kl, stay at home la! don't waste money renting at another place! hehehe) i'm just sorry that they'll get to spend less time with their grandkids. honestly, without the kids in the house, it feels kinda empty without the noise (tears and laughter both).

the good thing is, both kiddies will still lepak here after nursery before we go home to our own place, since my mom (and my dad) don't want the kids to stay at the nursery on overtime. gives them a chance to play with them still every day... i hope mama & abah don't get too lonely without them... of course, they're more than welcome to spend the night at our place anytime! :)

wish us luck!

visit to the zoo...

we spent the day at the national zoo yesterday... seriously, i think that was the first time in at least 15 years, if not more, since i was last there! couldn't even remember how it looked like from inside, but did have some flashbacks of elephant rides hehehe (it could have been a made-up memory though). we owed Amani a trip to the zoo as her birthday trip, but couldn't do it around the time of her actual birthday cos it was ramadhan then. we didn't fancy going there with a large crowd of holiday-makers, so had to wait to find a good day to go that was not a public holiday. ambitious me wanted to kill 2 birds with 1 stone, and decided to have our family portrait shoot done on the trip as well. suffice to say, it wasn't easy to get the kiddies to cooperate, as Amani didn't want to pose, while Adik was the Energizer Bunny in sneakers (but was more that happy to smile at the camera).

Amani's first visit to the zoo was last year with her nursery friends. she loved it so much, she talked about the visit for days. then she began making this comment:-

Amani: Kakak tak pegi zoo lagi
me: kan kakak dah pegi zoo aritu (she relates better when everything that has passed is 'aritu' or 'tadi'. last year doesn't really click for her heheh)
this was repeated a couple of times before she said this:
Amani: kakak tak pegi zoo lagi... dengan mama, dengan abah, dengan adik
me: ooooo (duh!!) nanti kite pegi la ok girl...

ever since we said ok to the zoo trip, every once in a while she'd repeat the whole conversation again. i guess to make sure her parents would remember their promise kot :p

so we finally made it to the place yesterday. my grand ambition was to reach there by 9am when the zoo opens, but as all parents with small kids in tow know, punctuality is not always easily attainable even with the best of plans. it wasn't too bad though, as we eventually got there at around 9.30 (when you can pick your parking spot to be as close to the entrance as possible, you know that you're still early :p) Amani was already excited about seeing the animals. she even promised the night before that she'd go to sleep early and wake up in a good mood, and she did! she woke up smiling and happy, and didn't spend too much time in the bathroom for her bath. Adik, of course, was more excited about the prospect of running... here, there, everywhere! before we actually went through the main entrance, he already fell down once (if you see how he runs, you wouldn't be surprised with the fall. he's got this funny, adorable way of running that makes his feet twist and turn around, and you just know that a fall is inevitable somewhere in the future.) luckily no mishaps took place inside the zoo, which could have been quite bad for us if they had. i guess you can't really blame the management, as the place was created years ago, but i personally feel they could improve a few things from the safety aspect, like the railings from the higher viewing point near the bears' area (a kid could easily fall through the bars there in the blink of an eye...) maybe that's something that they'll work on in the future kot... i hope so.

Adik really went all out! he walked most of the time (mind you, he's only a year and 10 months old at this point ok), ran here and there, and generally enjoyed himself. his little curls were plastered to his head with sweat, and he only succumbed to carrying when we've been walking for about 2 hours. Amani had already surrendered herself to the stroller before he did! with his bottle in his mouth, we continued walking around the zoo (me pushing him on the stroller and getting a really good workout - in the sweltering heat!), and by this time Amani was carried by her dad on his shoulders.

Kakak was moody after the initial euphoria had subsided... in retrospect, i guess we could have planned our walk a little better. the monkeys were a hit, but we should have covered the major animals ie elephant, lion, tiger first before the others. when we got to certain animals that didn't interest her, she didn't want to linger too long and kept saying, 'nak tengok animal lain pulak...' poor thing, we made it up to her with the final train ride around the zoo.

funnily enough, she was happier about the whole visit after we got back! she kept going over the animals she saw, the things she did - 'Amani bagi elephant makan tebu tadi' - so i guess it wasn't a total bust.

we were all bushed when we got back... Adik fell asleep in the car, and everyone else took a well-deserved 2-hour nap... my poor legs needed a rest, and i think poor hubby could really use a good massage!! now, the next time our darling girl wants to go to the zoo, i might think more than twice before i agree to the idea!!!