My sister got Chikugunya on New Year's Eve!

Yes, my sister is diagnosed with Chikugunya on the morning of 31 Dec 2009. Hehehehe what a way for her to end 2009 and to greet the 2010. She must have got it during our balik kampung trip. My aunty did mention that a few cases of Chikugunya occured in our village when she was visiting us on Boxing Day. We thought nothing of it as we knew we took precautions - i.e. sleeping insides the mosquito nets! Or so we thought ...

After our Musuem trip yesterday, my sister was complaining of joint pain - which she (and all of us!) dismissed as a result of having to carry Al most of the time when we were in the Museum. She had headache and a bit of a fever last night, but this morning it was worst. Her joint was really hurting and she could barely walk! and she also noticed some rashes on her skins ...so, i took her to a clinic ...

 

There the Doctor informed her that it is Chikugunya! Apparently it can take up to 12 days after the mosquito bites for the symptoms to appear. The symptoms include:
          (1) joint paint
          (2) headache
          (3) fever
          (4) rashes

But according to the Doctor - not all of these symptoms are seen in every case.

Another interesting fact is that Chikugunya is a viral disease with no specific vaccines or medicines. Rest and lots of fluids are recommended, and Paraceptemol is also advisable to reduce the pain.

Fruity Christmas Cake Recipe

My dad requested for a fruit cake - when I asked him to choose between Kek Gula Hangus or Kek Kukus Nakhoda ...it was not even in my list! Anway, my mum already knew what dad wants so she already told me in advance that he is likely to request for that fruity Christmas cake ...this is a must-have cake in our family during festivals like Gawai and Christmas..

So, being a good daughter that I am, I baked him the fruit cake ...In fact, I had an assistant that day - in the form of my curious, and adventure-seeking little nephew, Alistair. Al and I baked the cake on Christmas Eve ...originally planned to do the baking in the morning but one thing led to another ...and so on ...so we started baking the cake at 6pm!

The ingredients are as follow: 5 eggs (separate the yolks and egg whites), 1 cup of sugar, 4 cups of flour,  1 can of condensed milk, 12oz butter and a box of mixed (dried) fruits ...still unsure, refer the picture below.

The steps are: (1) mixed egg yolks with sugar & butter till creamy; (2) add milk, (3) add in the egg whites, which has been lightly beaten (4) mix in the flour, and (5) add in the dried mixed fruits.

When all ingredients have been thoroughly mixed, pour into a greased baking tin - steam for 4-5 hours.

And, introducing my assistant ..Little Chef Alistair ...

and this is the page from mum's recipe book! with mum's own handwriting ...neat huh?

When I am writing this posting that I realised that I did not take any pictures when the cake was being steamed or when I took it off the steamer!! Probably because I was dead tired then ...the steaming process stopped at 11.30 pm ...i was already half asleep then!

flymas.mobi – as Easy as 1, 2, 3

flymas.mobi contest 

When I'm planning to travel - be it in Malaysia or outside of Malaysia, my first thought would be to ensure that I book my ticket, get a copy of the ticket or the e-ticket (and made copies in case I lost the original), and getting all the necessary phone numbers of the airlines, travel agents and so on. It is quite a hassle and somewhat time consuming... and can even cause unnecessary stress to the travelers...especially to frequent travellers.

But hey, we are in the 21st Century - the era of advanced technology ...and everyone wants convenience, straight forward and hassle-free transaction when travelling and/or booking airline tickets. and we want it fast...fast...fast ...like NOW...NOW...NOW!!! Well, fret no more ...your options just got bigger! MAS has recently launched flymas.mobi, a mobile site which brings about CONVENIENCE, STRAIGHT-FORWARD and HASSLE FREE transaction related to your travel...with a tagline of "Carry Malaysia Airlines in your pockets with MHmobile"

still not convinced? Read on dear friends ....

With flymas.mobi, one can access to all of the services – book the flights, check in, checking the timetable, and access all the necessary details – all on your mobile! All the info you need is at your fingertips (check out MAS website for details). 

Want to book your flight? Go to flymas.mobi

Want to check in hassle-free? Go to flymas.mobi

Want to check the timetable? Go to flymas.mobi

Want to check your flight status? Go to flymas.mobi

Lost your luggage? Check the status at flymas.mobi

Want to know the deals and special offers at MAS? Go to flymas.mobi

All you have to do is just access flymas.mobi from your mobile phone ...easy peasy, in fact as easy as I, 2, 3 ....So, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR????? Check out flymas.mobi now - and you'll see what i mean...for your convenience, ease of mind, and many more....I, for one, will sure use this service in the future ....great job MAS!

Instilling a reading habit

i read in parenting books (yes, i do read something other than my favourite paperbacks!) that a child should be expose to certain habits to encourage their development. One of those activities is reading. Parents are advised to read to their babies and toddlers to encourage language development. And it is also advisable for the youngsters to be exposed to books - especially picture books at the early age - to enhance their vocabulary ...

In our case, we use flashcards to attract Al's and adik's attention. Flashcards are colourful - and convenient to use. Child at that age has very short attention span - so using something colourful can help them memorise. I often use the flashcards to show Al's the household stuffs like car, fan, torch light and so on ...he can catch up better when he saw the flashcard and the actual stuffs ...

We also buy books for the kids. Dad encourages us to buy books for them, in addition to other stuffs, for their birthday and special treats ...tips: choose picture books with colourful pictures, and limited text ...again, depends on the age of the youngster ...i also choose books that is light ...easy for them to hold without having the books fall on their noses!

Nowadays, Al and adik sometimes play ( they can't read yet!)with their books - sometimes first thing that they do in the morning ...and even before they go to bed ...

I think it is important to instil this habit - especially at this age (like Al's) where the toddlers are at the stage where they tend to imitate the adults' activity - might as well teach them that reading is fun!

Dupro (Dumex) - the new look

We were having problems the last few months ..most of the supermarkets that we went to didn't have the big or medium tins of Dupro (Al's milk formula) ...i have a picture of this Dupro Step 2 in my mobile - coz there are so many types of milkpowder in the market and their packaging are, to me, somewhat similar ...i always confused Dupro and Dugro! In fact my dad bought (happily he thought!) a large tin of milkpowder, but he only reliased it was the wrong brand when he reached home ....

In our mind, Dupro Step 2 is a blue-coloured tin, with a elephant picture on it ...so, when i was shopping with Dom and Jane - buying the kids monthly supply - we (or rather Dom) noticed that there is a tin also labelled Dupro Step 2 but in entirely different packaging - it was green! but the other info is the same ...we asked the sales assistant and was told that it was the new packaging! we were doubtful hehehe ...I was still doubtful, until I saw this (pic below) in a supermarket in Samarahan - it is the dupro in the green packaging but also a notice to show what (packaging) it used to be ...then I am convinced!

I think it is important, as parents or guardian, to know when they (the producers baby formula) re-package/re-labelled their product. This is to avoid giving our babies the wrong formula ...or looking high and low for something that has already be re-packaged ...tips for reducing parenting-related stress ,...hehehe

spending time with mummy

Al and adik spending quality time with mummy ...these photos were taken during Jane's short stay the last two weeks ...

 

see how happy they were???

Despite the distance, and the absence, these boys remember mummy really well ... as if they have never been apart! so mummy, please don't be sad ...the boys are well taken care of ...and the internet (if the connection is good!) can bridge the distance ..

Mr Muscle

We have a Mr Muscle at home ..Adik got the name when we saw his "outstanding" muscle while wearing his new sleeveless t-shirt ...but when I look at my camera, I did not take any of his "Mr Muscle" photos that day ...i only have these images - courtesy's of mummy's camera ..

but the muscles are not "outstanding" in these pics! and for once, adik is actually smiling (see above!)...

As always, with or without his sleeveless shirt, adik always look macho ...it's in the expression!

and this ...

 my hero ......Brad Pitt, eat your heart out hahahaha

kindness of a stranger

When I was in Bintulu earlier this week, I met with this taxi driver - who turned out to be a very kind person. I was in his taxi for a trip to the hotel from the airport. My flight was the last flight into Bintulu that night ...not many people around the airport and i was thankful that I can get a taxi straight away ...i booked him for my trips the following days ...just to make my life easy!

turned out that he is very reliable! Always punctual, very courteous, and friendly ...and i also found out that his wife is the one who runs the taxi kiosk at the airport ...they just know me ..and yet they were very nice to me. I had to wait at the airport for 6 hours that day, and they invited me to rest at their kiosk, offers me drinks and foods (from the cafe of course) ...they don't have to do that but like I said, these are kind people ...upon talking, then we realised that the guy comes from a village not far my dad's village! small world ....but they were already nice and kind to me even before they know where I am from ...

Kid's entertainment at home

Both Al and adik are addicted to watching telly ...both were exposed to the telly programme, in particular Channel 613 on Astro since they were little..so, it is not surprising that they are both addicted to watching TV...when al was little, his fav includes Pocoyo, Clifford the dog, Dibo, Little Enstein, Barney and so on ..more colours and so on that attract his attentions ...now adik loves them as well...but Al has shifted to a more "mature" programmes or show ....al is more into watching DVDs ...like BEE Movie, Bolt and Night at the Museum ...

His first DVD was the BEE Movie ..we watched it like 6-7 times a day!!! All of us can now memorise the lines from the show ..even my mom, and that is saying something ...

Then one night I decided to watch Night at the Museum ...i thought it would scared him, but the effect was completely the opposite..he loves it! love the dinasour, which he pronounced as C-show! We found ourselves alternating BEE Movie and Night at the Museum ...for about 2-3 months! Even adik started to like these two movies ...


Recently, my sister bought him the BOLT DVD ...a tale about a dog finding his owner - turns out Al likes that as well  ...and as expected, we wathed BOLT the whole day ...sometimes if we are lucky, Al would alternate it with either BEE Movie or NATM ...

and now, as of last week, Al got a new favourite ...Ratatouille ...we had the dvd for a long time already, but i recently discovered it when I was looking for something ...Jane started to watch the disc, and Al was immediately hooked! and, as the story goes, do does everyone at home ...hehehehe ...so now, we have stopped watching NATM, but still watching the other three discs ....probably till the new fav comes along. I have ask my sister to buy Nemo for me - to give al and adik as joint xmas present!

a new beginning

I am back in Kuching now ..has been for a couple of nights. I am literally speechless ..unable to think of a proper word to write coz my mind is still still overexcited about the outcomes from Bintulu...i really really am thankful..syukur alhamdulillah ...my wish has been granted, and for that I am trully thankful.

Now I can start afresh...what a wonderful gift to greet 2010 ...this means that I can start thinking about my plans for the future and that makes me think about my priorities ...i would (try my best to) make sure that

(1) i would make the best of every situation - despite the fact that some situations may not be to the best of my liking; and

(2) i enjoy life to the fullest - spending quality time with family, love ones and friends, and also to ensure that I take timeout for myself

what more can I ask for ..i think what I have right now is already a blessing ...i have great family, I have many great friends who support me through thick and thin, a great job, a house and most importantly, I have future that completely mine ....a new beginning, a new rainbow to search for!

Self reflection in Bintulu

It's 9.34 pm on a Sunday night. I am in a hotel room in Bintulu ...i just arrived in town about an hour and a half ago...I dont know what to do ...I dont really know the town, and when I ventured out just now - in search for food- most of the shops are already closed! Mind you, it was only 9pm ...the only things opened at this time are the eateries and the pubs/karaokes/lounges ..and there are plenty of those around the hotel ...

I didn't feel like eating out alone, so I just had mee goreng - takaway - with bottles of mineral water. Right now, I am blogging while having my dinner in bed! my mum would definitely disapproved hehehe ...

I am not sure what I am  planning to talk about in this posting..my mind is seriously blank - perhaps I am consciously blocking certain things out of my mind - I do not know. I am surprisingly calm today - was not rushing to pack my things, and was not rushing when it was time to go to the airport ..and this air of calm is still with me...the previous time, my heart was already doing the flip-flops days before the hearing ...but today it just different. Maybe I am hardened by the previous decisions? Maybe I am not hoping for anything but more like "berserah", leaving it to fate ...I honestly do not know. I hope that tomorrow is a good day for me ...but if it is not, i am praying for God to give me the strength to overcome this hurdle yet again ....i will keep this in mind, if God is not granting my wish on the  spot or at this moment, God maybe saving it for a better, more suitable time in the future ...

But one thing that I realised on my way to the hotel was that I have a great support from my family, my friends and my colleague! my collegue and a former boss texted me and offered his help, which I find very humbling. My other friends - you know who you are - are always behind me 100% and that means a lot to me...

before i am getting mighty emotional, I am logging off ...it will be a long day tomorrow ...

out for breakfast ..Al's style!

Al cannot be separated from his favourite McD Chicken porridge ..hehehehe we went for breakfast at Mile 7 after picking Dom up from the airport ..and while were we there, Jane bought Al's his fav meal ...so, while waiting for our order at the shop (i was waiting for my laksa!), Al started with his own breakfast ...hehehe luckily the shop does not have one of the signs that prohibits outside food hehehe ..thank God for small mercy ...

What can we do? Al is very much into that porridge and he absolutely refuse to take any other rice-based meals ..or noodles! My dad even tried to outsmart him by buying porridge from the shop, and re-package it in a McD's polysterine bowl ..he only managed to eat one or two mouthfull ...he KNOWS the difference between "common & ordinary" porridge and the McD porridge ...

my backyard ...

When we moved into this house two years ago, the very first thing that my dad planted at the backyard was the lime tree (pokok limau nipis) ...and two years on, it had started to bear fruits ....which is very handy when we want to use it in cooking and so on ...and knowing my family, we often need a lot of these sour little fruit for making our umai ...

My dad is the one who is responsible for all the planting and landscaping here ..and lately he was a bit overwhelmed with his babysitting duties, and frequent trips to the village, hence accounting for the lack of maintenance at the backyard ..he only started to clear some of the undergrowth under the lime tree a few days ago ...

My dad like to do these chores ..he said it would keep him going and as part of his exercise routine ...if he is happy, we are happy :-)

weekend activity @ THe Spring

Two weekends ago we went for a shopping trip to the Spring - what can I say, it is the newest shopping mall in Kuching and the nearest to my house - so we went there again! My mum and dad didn't want to go with us - they said they are tired (just came back from the village the day before), so i went with my brother and his family. We planned to take pictures near the massive xmas tree there but it didn't go according to plans...the reason: Al was crying his eyes out coz he is so scared ...when he was about to touch the xmas tree, the band started to play just behind the tree ...so, he was shocked! To the extend that he would pulled my hand and ran away ..at one time nearly ran into a salon just to get away from the tree! But adik was ok ...he was content to sit next to the tree and play with the ornaments ...

and (tragically) this was when adik got in contact with a toddler with HFMD ...a toddler ran out from nowhere and touched adik - the parents were not seen round the kid!  I don't know why the parents are being inconsiderate as to bring out their sick and infectious toddler out to a shopping mall! talking about blatant irresponsible parenting behaviour!!!

anyway, that incident aside, we had a fun there ...Jane and I were happy to shopped for our shoes and begs coz the boys were happy to be in that shop - away from the huge Xmas tree. Al was running around happily while adik became the centre of attention from the salespersons there! Leaving me and Jane browsing happily round the shop ...

                                    

and also having some more pictures round the shopping mall before heading home ...

Fruit season

It is that time of the year when you get to see various fruits being sold everywhere - even by the roadside and in offices! We are lucky enough that we have our own orchard. Dad had this idea of planting various types of fruit trees way back in  the 1980s. He actually brought us (the whole family) during these "outings" whereby he and whoever he hired to help him would plant the trees, and doing all the other gardening stuffs while we would play in the river, fishing, or setting up tents while looking after the bbq .. Mom would be cooking and so on ...it was kind of fun, and thinking back, I think it was dad's way of ensuring that we were involved hehehe ....

anyway, there were many different types of fruits in our orchard ...and this year the harvests were bountiful! We have dabai (looks like olive - see my other posting on this):

 

and rambutans (the Anak Sekolah species, the old rambutan, yellow rambutan and seedless rambutan)

Also have buah mawang (check my earlier posting at 30-something blog)

mangoesteen (first time bearing fruits)

mangoes

durian

Yesterday, I acted as an agent on behalf of my mum - selling dabai here at the uni. Two colleagues kept on asking after our dabai, saying that they wanted to buy from us ...i gave them some before that but didn't realise they like it so much! ...so, i did just that. It was sold out in less than 30 minutes - I didn't have to sell them door-to-door, just left them in the General Office with Ros & Ratna ...and came back to collect my basket and the money hehehehe my mum was so happy with the result! perhaps I would do this again the next time mum and dad get our new stock - 3 more dabai trees bearing fruits, and awaiting collection! and we thank GOD for this year's trully bountiful harvests ...

Balik kampung trip

Last month we took both Al and Airell for a trip back to our village ...it is the first trip like this since Al stayed with me. It was kind of a last minute thing - dad's cousin is not well and we decided to bring the kids to visit her. She is quite old and rather poorly. So, we visited our long house...

Anyway, Al had a great time...he was running around happily ..i guess he was happy with the spacious ruai (common varandah) and experiencing new things. A boy who used to live in a high-rise apartment in Kuala Lumpur suddenly found himself a very spacious ruai of a long house in Sarawak ..

Adik, on the other hand, was cranky ...the reason: it was hot and humid, and he was sweating ...he was calmer once we took off his t-shirt and changed it with a loose top ...

if only my grandparents were still alive to see them ..and to see how we - my parents and my siblings - are right now...Dad was commenting on how proud my late grandfather (dad's father) would have been to see who we have become ...he was very proud of us (me and my siblings) before and used to show off our drawings (my kindergarten drawings!) etc to his fellow neighbours and relatives ...sadly he died when I was only 11 years old ..i still remembered him ..i was the eldest grandchild and very pampered by him. Am sure he would be proud of us, and i am sure Al and adik would make my parents proud too one day ...

Family visits

We had a number of visitors lately ...because Jane and Dom were here, so we had a bit of makan-makan and all that ...the special dish being served was camel rendang! Jane brought a few kilos of fresh camel meat from Riyadh and dad made a rendang dish out of it ...it has great reviews from those who tasted it ..dad said it is more tender than beef! The only persons who did not dare enough to taste the dish were my mom, Jane and myself!

some of our visitors with my brother and dad

Talking about family visits - they are fun, and a great way of catching up with each others news. My Aunty Mira, for example, visited us to tell us of her son's upcoming nuptial ...we haven't seen each other for a long time - we were neighbours in Sri Aman, and she is my mom's second (or was it third?) cousin ...so, it was nice to see them again ...and looking forwards' to Len's wedding after Xmas ...

My uncle Shane also came over to see us - he is younger than all of my siblings but we still call him uncle - he is my mom's cousin ...hehehe and at the tender age of 20 something, Al and Airell already called him Aki (Grandfather)!...hehehehe a young grandfather...

Sometimes we take our families for granted - we lost touch, we don't visit each other and what not ..but now i am thinking that if we don't know each other, visit each other, getting to know families and relatives now, we won't have the chance if our parents/ grandparents are no longer here (touch wood!) to introduce us ...

Al's new shoes

Mummy bought lots of presents for the boys and one of those gifts is this kid sandal for Al. Adik also has a pair ....but coz he is yet to master the art of walking, his brand new sandal is being kept by nenek in one of the storage areas.

Here's the price tag ...it costs 25 Saudi Riyal ...bought at Al Haram Centre ...

 The sandal is a bit bigger than Al's current size, but he likes it ...nowadays he would wave everyone goodbye if he thought that he is going out  ...and also would find his "shoes" when he saw anyone of us is dressed up to go out of the house! This first picture is of Al wearing for the very first time his Arabian sandal ...hehehe