Adik - then and now

was browsing the lappy to get photos of adik ...I am in the process of selecting photos to be printed off ..and also thinking of having a photobook made to document certain phases of our life...like Adik's and Al's early years ...our family holidays and what nots ....my parents are not satisfied of having pictures of their grandkids in digital form, they prefer the hardcopy versions - in the albums!

anyway, found these pictures of adik ....i think he was 1 year old at this time ..some photos are blurry as they were taken using my mobile at the time ....and what strikes me was that Adik does not change much over the years ....

and also, we noticed that most of adik's clothes are RED ...hahahaha ....red suits him very well as he is fair ....his favourite colour which I started on him since he was born. I always, without fail, will buy him several red item of clothing for every special occassion - birthdays, christmas, gawai and what not .....i really think red suits him :-) power colour gitu ...

it was the, and here's the "now" pictures (taken in 2012):

he is a big boy now ...and a very cheeky one at that! He is somewhat impatient (like me) ...and he can definitely imitate my mulut muncung! In fact, his mulut muncung is so me that my closest family notice and often commented on ...hahaha a boy after my own heart :-) His daddy often said that he is mama's little boy coz he always run to mama for help, he always look for mama when things dont go his way, and his tantrum is very much similar to mama ....i think the next step is to introduce adik to Uncle Fendi and Aunty Liz - so they can verify if adik's mulut juih is similar to mine ...hahahaha

Adik's schooling experience

It has been 3 weeks since adik started at his pre-school ...we actually planned to send him to school next year but when Jane met up with the principal, she suggested that Adik start in November ..as there was some slot free ...adik went to a pre-school which specialised in behavioural interventioan ...he has speech delay and upon advice from various professional people, we send him to this school ...we were given a list of names, but we found this one to be the most convenient for us ...and when we checked out the place, we found that we like its structure and the staffs there are very friendly and professional ...and they do not enroll students all at once, it is a staggered process .....since, there was a free slot in November, we immediately took it ....

a bit sullen on his first day ...hehehe he was not used to waking up early!

we were all apprehensive about his first day, knowing that Adik is a bit shy and always avoid strangers ...how will he cope in a room full of strangers, and not one familiar face around??? those were the questions that we have ...but, God knows best ...and adik actually coped extremely well on his first day ....we were the ones who have extreme traumatic stresses on that day!

Like i said earlier, it has been three week already ...we are happy to note that adik has made tremendous progress ...the teachers are telling me that he did well in school ...he even mix around with the older kids, play together etc .....and his anxiety attack is less than before ...he is able to stay the whole 3 hours in the school with people who are not familiar to him ...dont get me wrong, he has his  good days and bad days ...there are days that he will cry when daddy drops him off ...but the teacher said he would cry on and off for 30 mins and after that he will be ok ...and there are days when he would wave his daddy off and be independent ....essentially he is coping really well ...much better than we has expected ...it is a long way to go, but at least he has taken the first steps ....

during my school run day ...

the decision to send him to school which is a bit far from home was agreed by everyone in the family ...we recognised that there will be times when mummy or daddy will be unable to pick him up ...due to their work commitment ...so, me and my parents are helping anyway we could ...for now, I am helping to pick him up from school ...alternate days with mummy depending on our schedules ...while my dad picks up Al from his school ....it is not easy as everybody has their own work schedule, but for his sake, we are making these arrangements between us ....we love him so much and we pray that these schooling experience will be useful to him in the longrun ....and from this three week, progress can be seen ...am so proud of my little hero!

passport renewed! Hassle free @ Simpang Tiga

Renewed my passport 2 weeks ago. Glad to have it finally settled. Have been procastinating actually, coz my passport expires in June 2013, but as I need to get my visa sorted, I have to renew it earlier ....i thought i would loose the 7 months left from that passport ....but, it was not the case...i only loose a month! As the remaining 6 months was added to the new passport ...yipeee!!!!

one of the reasons I procastinated with my passport renewal is because I just hate to queue up ...i mean, all these while (hahahaha every 3 to 5 years lah )we have to queue up in order to renew the passport right ...and there are sometime the case of "over-efficiency" (NOT) of the staffs manning Malaysian public service counters ....tak semua, tapi banyak lah kes kes yang dilalui macam tu ....plus the office at Simpang Tiga is notorious for its limited parking spaces. But, as the dateline is drawing near, I had no choice but to get it done ...so, took the day off to get it done .....

Went there on Thursday afternoon, and found the queue was up to the door and it was a double queue! Went to the information desk to get the forms, and was told I have 3 options (i) renew it using the KIPPAS kiosk on the ground floor; and I can get the passport within 2-3 hours; (ii) renew using online application - so that I dont have to queue; and (iii) wait patiently and that could take hours ...so, I choose option 1 ...beat the queue to the door ...found the kiosk on the ground floor, and there was only 3 person in front of me! The whole process took less that 10 minutes - provided you have all the required documents ready ....very fast and efficient!  I never knew this KIPPAS kiosk existed, but now gladly recommended to Malaysians who want to renew their passport to use them - very quick, and hassle free ...but you must bring these items with you at the kiosk:

(i) the passport that you want to renew;
(ii) a photocopy of your Identity Card;
(iii) your original Identity Card;
(iv) a passport sized photograph - must be a recent one, and should not be the same one as used in your old (or to be renewed) passport;
(v) cash - it was RM300 for a 5 year renewal or RM100 for two year renewal

then after you are through with the renewal, the staff will take your documents and he/she will tell you when your passport can be collected. Mine was ready in 2 hours but I dont want to wait - so i collected mine the following day .....again, it was hassle free (very pleasant surprise!) and took me less than 5 minutes ....it took me longer to find a parking spot there!

so, there you go ....now we have options when it comes to avoiding queues when renewing passport - a good thing indeed! 

 so, have passport - will travel ...hehehehehe

my little heroes

People always made a mistake when they saw me with the boys ....even my aquaitances whom I knew through FB or twitter made the same mistakes ...they thought these two monkeys are my sons ...well, they are actually my nephews but i have been taking care of them since they are little ....especially when their mummy and daddy were working outside Sarawak a couple of years ago ....mummy was in Ridyah for a year, and at the same time daddy was in KL ....but the boys stayed with me in Kuching ...so, yeah, in my heart, I consider them as my own :-)

my manja boy, Airell

my cheeky monkey, Alistair

I was talking to a group of friends from the office a couple of weeks ago, and they said that they have stumbled upon my 30-something blog, and were among the silent readers ...hehehe thanks guys (said they prefer the BM version!) ..and one of them said your sons are cute...are you taking them with you to NZ? I told her that these are my nephews and she was so surprised ...said she always assumed they are my sons ...afterall, they called me mama, and we were very close .....deep down in my heart, these monkeys are more than my nephews ...love them like my own! definitely going to miss them terribly next year when I am gone ......

lady in black?

some photos taken at our office gatherings ...

this was earlier in the year during Gawai celebration at our faculty ...as usual I am wearing black - my official office attire according to some people :-)

during Raya celebration at Uni level ...I am not wearing black as the event was held outdoor :-)

during Students' Annual Dinner (again wearing black!)

after Faculty Retreat - hahahaha again was in black (with green cardy!)

and it struck me that I was always in black! Someone pointed it out to me before but I thought he was joking. But looking back at all these photos, most of my outfit is black ....i only ever use other colours on top of my black outfit - like a cardigan, a shawl, or bright accessories like necklace and bags and shoes ....

pas nie jadi budak itam le nampak nyer :-)