The Azlan's Merdeka Day Weekend

In continuation of the wedding celebration we had last week, we managed to cram in a whole load of family activities during the Merdeka weekend. We did not plan to go anywhere this time around as we wanted to avoid the Merdeka/Bersih crowd, so our activities are mostly confined around the Selangor area.

Date: 30 August 2015 (Sunday)

The kids cooked breakfast for mummy and daddy. We made savory bread and butter pudding together. They had so much fun and have already requested for us to bake a cake next. I find cooking to be an awesome way to teach the kids in taking instructions.

Restaurant Review: Zawara Coffee
Been meaning to check out this cafe for ages since my Aunt reviewed the place a few months back. The restaurant is situated in Bukit Jelutung and is quite easy to find. Very spacey (with a in house surau/toilet etc). The place is quite laid back, a nice place to lepak with family and friends.

We tried a few dishes, the kids had the Spaghetti Arabiata (not in picture but taste wise it's spicy and nice but nothing special), I got myself the salted egg buffalo wings (nice but would have been better if it was spicier), two types of churos, one with ice cream & chocolate sauce and the other is with butterscotch sauce ( I prefer the chocolate sauce to the butterscotch, but the churos itself is very nice, crunchy on the outside and lighly dusted with cinnamon, super yums, we originally ordered one box but the kids loved it so much we  had to order extras:))

For drinks we had the Tinkerbell ice blended (super bland, I don't like it at all) and Lan had the Hazelnut Latte (he said it's ok) and two bottles of mineral water. We paid around RM85 for everything. Not cheap but the price is pretty much standard for cafe food in Klang Valley. 

Did we enjoy ourselves? A BIG FAT YES and I would totally come again to try out the other food items on the menu. 

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Date: 31 August 2015 (Monday)

We celebrated Merdeka by celebrating my little Malaysians. We treated them to rides, lunch at their favorite restaurant, shared an ice cream sundae, had a haircut, planted a tree and just spent loads and loads of quality time together. Alhamdullilah like Malaysia, my life is not perfect but there's more good than bad in it, and for that I'm thankful :)

Wedding Bells Alert

Last Friday, my cousin Mimie got married and I was there to celebrate with her and the rest of the family. My family is very big on gotong royong  and since the cousins on my dad's side is pretty close, we try to be there for her and my auntie to help out.

The munchkins had to attend their Merdeka Day school event on Friday so it was just my parents, Lan and I. Alhamdullilah everything turned out great

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Nikah Day: Masjid Negeri Shah Alam

Date : 28 August 2015

The beautiful bride and one with my cousin Amer, myself and the newleyweds.

No babies, means plenty of chance to camwhore with my husband :p 

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Reception : Dewan Jubli Perak, Shah Alam

Date: 29 August 2015

My gorgeous flower girls, doing their flower girls duties :) 

Trying to get a decent photo with all 3 is a MISSION of its own....

Mummy dah give up, so decided to take photos with other family members instead. Hahaha

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Mama Sue and her countless selfies :p 

Thank god for willing "wefie" subjects, with the exception of my husband yang on mode berserah dan redha. My anak buah and children are pretty much camera ready 80% of the time and will come running when I say "come take a photo with me". Yeah "vain" is part of our family DNA.

Alhamdullilah, it was a great time spent with family. Can't wait for our  next family gathering.

P/S: Kidzania Review Post is up --> Press Me

What Hari Raya means to me...

1. Opportunity to meet up and catch up with my beloved family :) 

I know people loves to complain about their relatives, but Alhamdullilah I have the best ones (plus minus a few odd jobs haha)

The Hanif Clan

The Malek Clan

 @ Merlimau 

Annual Family Open House @ Our Crib

2. The super stressful annual raya family portrait

Like I mentioned on IG, this semi "OK" pic took at least 4 hours and  6 different photographer (one semi professional) to achieve. No little models in making in this family for sure :p

3. Opportunity to seek forgiveness and spending time with my beloved husband (haha)

 Mr and Mrs Barney :p 

4. Yummy food???

Sadly I didn't manage to take a pic of my fave ketupat, rendang and kuah lodeh combo. Super yummy and  worth gaining the extra thousand pounds :p

5. My babies

Last but certainly not least. Hari Raya means nothing if this little munchkins is not by my side driving me insane but making me laugh at the same time. Love love them so very very much...

I know it is a bit late, but I want to wish my friends and blog readers a Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir Batin. May our ibadah in Ramadan be accepted by Allah and hopefully we'll get the chance to have another Ramadan next year * InshaAllah*

There is no compulsion in Islam...

A post extracted from my FB...

"I don’t understand why some schools need to close their canteens to “respect” Muslims who are fasting. If it was my son who is doing the complaining, my answer would be “WTH are you doing in the canteen in the first place? Go hang out in the classroom/library/surau” 

When I was growing up, 80% of my “gang” comprises of non-Muslims, some are super polite who’ll hide under the table to have a sip of their drinks while the less considerate ones will openly drink ice milo right in front of my face. (Oh well, to their credit they did offer to buy me one if I want to break my fast earlier..haha). But past the age of 9, when I finally decided to sincerely fast on my own, nothing my friends can do or say will affect my fasting.

At the end of the day, If I (hypothetically of course *cough2*) drank the tap water while pretending to take my wudhu, was it really because I saw my friend drinking or was it because I had no willpower to stop myself from consuming unfiltered water? Just because my willpower sucks, that does not give me the license to impose my religious beliefs on others.

I walk in front of the cross every single day for 11 years when I was in MGS, read my friend’s baby bible when I was 10 and after I started driving even drop my friends at the church for their mass after our lepak session. Heck I even dated a Christian for 5 years at one point of my life. Did I ever felt the urge to change my faith at any point of these events? Alhamdullilah, it is a BIG FAT NO. You want to know why? Because I truly believe in my syahadah “There is no god other than Allah and Nabi Muhammad SAW is his messenger” All thanks to my parents, family and teachers guidance.

So to the paranoid Malays, maybe instead of pointing fingers as to how other people can ruin our Iman, maybe we can step back and look at our shortcomings and learn the way of Islam through Al Quran and Sunnah. Let’s lay the foundation of Islam in our children so deep that no matter what other people choose to say or do, nothing will easily waver their faith. And from this point onwards when we decide to force our beliefs onto others, maybe we can ask ourselves, is this how Nabi Muhammad will act? A real Muslim will know the answer…"

What brought this on? I'm just tired having to expain myself again and again due to the actions of some ignorant individuals. Salam Ramadhan everyone, forgive my wrongdoings (if any) and may all of us have a blessed and fulfilling month :)

Keep Calm and Travel On...

I know for someone with 3 little children, we do travel quite a bit. Trust me it ain't easy but I'm currently at that "exploring stage". I don't care if it is  a trip in the country or out of Malaysia, I just want to see new things and expose my children to new experience/places. I would willingly eat out of my brown bag everyday if it means more travel opportunities :p. 

Some people may think that it is a waste of money as they would rather buy new bags/ gadget etc but I really do believe in the quote that "travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer". 

You'll be surprised of the impact travelling has on little minds. Little children are actually able to absorbed new cultures like a sponge and it made them very inquisitive and will open their eyes and hearts to the different cultures/races/religion around the world. Hopefully it will be less "kau-kau and aku-aku" mentality from my children. Inshaallah. 

Oh well, maybe one day I'll be able to visit more of those "exotic" destinations with my family, as for now I'm more than contend with my "Cuti-Cuti Malaysia" adventures. Finally completed the entries of my hotel reviews and travel diary of the following places I've been for the past 3 months. 

1. iCity- City of Digital Lights
2. Bagan Lalang Adventure and Avani Sepang Hotel Review
3. Hatten Hotel Malacca Review
4. Malacca Foodpedition

So any ideas of where I shall visit next???

The one on turning another year older.....

I'm turning 32 tomorrow *inshaallah*

I don't know what to feel really? Happy (Yes), Excited (Yes), Grateful (Yes), Tired (Yes), Sad (Nope) Mixed feelings all around....

I know I'm blessed for what I have in my life and the things that I've achieved so far, but I want to do so much more. So much more of what? I'm still figuring this out. Sometimes I can't help but feel like I'm missing out. Hmmm... maybe I should make more travel plans to get out of the rut. Or is this just an excuse to go for another long holiday? hehehe

Anyway, I'm addicted to this song called "Conqueror" from one of my current favorite TV show "Empire" by "Estelle and Jussie Smollet". The lyrics totally reflect what I'm feeling at the moment.

Life is like a big merry-go-round,
You're up and then down,
Going in circles trying to get to where you are.
Everybody's been counting you out,
But where are they now?
Sitting in the same old place,
Just faces in the crowd.
We all make mistakes,
You might fall on your face,
But you gotta get up!

[Chorus:]
I'd rather stand tall
Than live on my knees,
'Cause I am a conqueror,
And I won't accept defeat!
Try telling me no,
One thing about me
Is I am a conqueror,
I am a conqueror!
Ooh oh

Got a vision that no one else sees,
Lot of dirty work, roll up your sleeves,
Remember there's a war out there,
So come prepared to fight!
You never know where the road leads you,
Not everyone's gonna believe you,
And even know they're wrong, don't prove them right.

Bento Boxes - The Farry Way

I've been bitten by the "bekal" bug lately. Every Friday the kids are required to bring food from home to share with their classmates. Last year when it was just Ryan, I will usually buy cupcakes/breads from the bakery. Too much hassle to cook dishes for one kid. Now that I have to cook for Iman and Ranya too, it is worth more the trouble :p

The munckins prefers pasta and rice dishes. Surprisingly food such as icing donuts and cakes are not too well received among their peers so I try to stick to basic food items. Ryan is not to keen on the cutesy deco (star carrots, bear nasi lemak etc), so I will usually save those for the girls. Gosh my baby boy is all grown up because teddy bears are no longer cool *boohoo*

I've also taken to start bringing lunch boxes for lunch. Awesome way to save money, what with the rising prices of goods and GST etc. Oh well it is also a healthier option since I know what goes in my food and I can vouch for the cleanliness factor. See... there is silver lining everywhere :)

Have an awesome weekend everyone....

Iman and Ranya Q1 Developments

It feels just like yesterday that we celebrated the arrival of 2015, in just a blink of an eye it is already April. Time move so fast, sometimes it feels like all I ever do is try to catch up. Anyway, Lan and I attended the munchkins "Report Card Day for 1st Quarter of 2015" two weeks ago.This post is dedicated solely for Iman and Ranya :)

Teacher Nisya took us through the twins activities in Tadika, highlighting their current skills and things that needed improvement. I'm happy to hear that the girls have started to socialized and does not follow Ryan around as they used to. They're also learning to share and listen to instructions and doing a lot of activities to developed their fine and gross motor skills.

Iman Khadeeja

In terms of speech, I would say that Iman is the more advanced of the two. Her speech is clear and very precise. Iman enjoy singing and dancing and is very quick in terms of memorizing lyrics and steps. Currently her favorite activity is playing with play dough and cutting and pasting paper strips. In summary she like making loads and loads of mess.

She's able to recite Al Fatihah,Surah Ikhlas, doa makan, tidur and naik kenderaan with assistance. Other development includes knowing her numbers and ability to understand instructions in both English and Malay. However, she will usually converse in Malay. Iman has very little patience for coloring, but that is slowly improving, at least nowadays she tries to keep her colors within the lines :)

This little princess has an opinion about EVERYTHING. From clothes, shoes down to the color of her headband. She love to imitate everything I do and is currently obsessed with make up and wanting me to put on innai on her feet -__-  I'm ok with the innai but is very much against the idea of makeup. We keep on telling her she's beautiful and don't need the extra enhancement unlike me who's old. Her reply to me was priceless 'Kakak tau kakak comel, tapi kakak nak jugak pakai makeup sebab kakak nak cantik macam mummy". It was difficult to say no to that :p so we compromised a tiny bit by allowing her to put vaseline on but only on weekends (and only if she asked for it).

Ranya Fatimah

My little drama queen :) Ranya loves her books. Sometimes I will catch her quietly sitting in a corner turning pages to her storybook. She is also the first to pick up a book and will make me repeatedly read to her everyday. She is quite eloquent but since she has a very manja way of speaking, it sounds a bit pelat and babyish. However, Ranya is able to pick up new English words at a faster pace in comparison to her siblings.

When it comes to arts and craft, she choose to do things her way. For example when we were doing cut-off  body parts for her school project last week, she insisted on turning the mouth upside down because "her doll is angwyy". Since it is her project I relented. Like Iman she's mastering her surah, doa's, numbers and alphabets.

Ranya is also the most sensitive of all my children. Every little thing will set her off and her favorite line after getting a scolding from Lan and I is " Mummy/daddy tak sayang dedek, dedek nak balik rumah atuk, mummy/daddy gemuk". 

I'm also happy to report that both twins are currently potty training and is 80% out of diapers. Thanks to the encouragements of their caretakers in Taska. Accidents are now so much farther in between. It is a bit more challenge when we go out but Lan and I just need to be patient. Potty training twins should be an Olympic event of its own :)

Now that the twins are in preschool, I need to make sure that my time is evenly divided to ensure that I can sit with each child and check on their progress and identify their talents and weaknesses. By doing so I'll be able to determine the most appropriate learning method for them. Since each child is different, the way they process information may be different too. Some kids learn through visual, while some may thrive more when their audio sensory is stimulated. It is not enough to just want and raise a child as individuals, you have to be ready to treat them as one too.

Alhamdullilah, for everything that Iman and Ranya have achieved so far and I pray for the ease of future developments. Our main priority at the moment is to instill as much manners and discipline in them, something we're currently struggling as there's is now 3 of them to keep up with, but we try. Inshallah with time and patience, we will get there :)

Note: All photos are credited to the Teachers of Tadika Ceria Az-Zahrah