(pre) journey to the east

i've always wanted to go to sarawak. i think it's a fascinating place :) back in college years, i had some close frens fr sarawak but funds were always too limited to permit me 'naik belon' to visit the place.

but now wit 'everyone can fly' motto, i've become very accustomed to checking AA website every other day. & finally! i got a deal i just couldnt resist. return tixs to kuching for 200/pax. i'd be dumb if i let it slip so i just clicked & clicked & clicked & done ;)

must bring gadgets - camera, psp

personal paraphernalia - skin care, hair brush, make up brushes, loose powder, panty liners, kool fever patch,  breathe right, habatussawda ointment

favourite accessories - tudung clips (hair clips actually), bangles, necklaces, chunky rings, dangling brooches, pins for tudung

make ups - facial sunblock (white d-tox, biotherm), foundation (select cover-up, mac), fav lipsticks (579 musthave, dior addict lipstick & 682 rse mirage, dior addict high color), lip liner (06 apple cordial, estee lauder), lip gloss + roll-on perfume (very pretty, michael kors), shea lip butter (the body shop), cream colour base (kool frost, mac), quad-eye colour (majolica majorca), eyebrow definer (02 brown, the body shop), eye definer (carbon black, the body shop), mascara (090 diorshow extase, dior & false lash effect fusion, max factor), eyeliner (black, al sultanah fr madinah & liquid eyeliner 01, the body shop)

trying to fit both mine & dhani's outfits into 1 cabin bag. i packed for dhani 3 pair o jeans, 3 long sleeves tshirt, 5 tshirts, 3 pairs o pajamas, 4 pair o socks. i packed me 4 tops, 1 cardigan, 1 jeans, 2 pants, 3 nite tshirts, 2 nite leggings, 2 fancy belts (that i didnt even wear :p), i pair o nite socks

& i succeeded ;)

but o course these had to be put elsewhere (i seldom bring dhani's shoes coz more often than not, they wud end up being unworn. but i'm glad i brought them tis time coz kuching was rainy most o the time we were there. & dhani was safe. but i wasnt so lucky. as u could see, i brought peep-toe flats & a pair o sandals. wanted to be comfortable. yes, they were all comfy but my feet were wet & dirty. uhuhu)

these were in my sling bag - wet tissue, dry tissue, hand lotion, hair wax (dhani's), our shades, printed boarding passes, camera, psp, wristlet (had to wear wristlet instead o purse to be space savvy), & catherine lim's following the wrong god home (that remained unopened the whole hday thru. we slept in the flight like nobody's business since ours were early morning flight to & fro)

look at how puffy my cross body had become! :p

taraaa... we didnt had any cargo luggage. both were put in the cabin (yes, i'm such a cheapskate! wud try hard to travel light as i dont wanna pay for cargo luggage. haha)

owh. i schemed thru tis some nites prior to the trip. quite helpful. got it for RM12 @ BBW sale. 

the packing was completed the nite before our trip. & i couldnt sleep coz i was anxious. our flight was at 8am so we had to leave at 6am. i had to make sure all house chores were completed to avoid unnecessary stress post holiday. haha. i think i'm becoming a neat freak - doing laundry, dusting off furniture, cleaning the fridge etc etc etc. 

& just a couple o minutes before our ride arrived, i noticed that there was no tudung in our bag. not even one! phewww... lucky i did a final check. or else i wud have to spend on tudungs... or worse, being a cheapskate as i am, i'd be wearing only 1 tudung thruout the whole trip. hehehe.

dont have enuf pop?

go get some fr poplook (ok, that's so lame, i know)
nways, i fell in love wit poplook from the moment i clicked on a fren's tweet mentioning it.
& i've never failed to check out their website on daily basis. hehe.

tis was my 1st purchase. love it so much! i look decent in it or at least to my own eyes ;)  & i love the material too

my 2nd purchase. a bit too long for me that i hav to wear heels wit it. & too much flare for me & the material's quite heavy.

tis one could have been perfect except for the short length (notice?). but i love the sleeves & the silk-like material, it's light. & the color combo is also nice, kan?

tis one looks very flattering on me. eceh! :).love the orange color & the boat cut neckline & the sleeves as well.

yup, i got another one in purple ;)

tis was a misjudgment. the material & the design do not complement each oth. it doesnt look heavy in the pix but it looks heavy wen it's worn. 

dont be surprised. told ya i totally love the design. but tis color looks much nicer in pix, i was quite confused wen i 1st opened the parcel. had to check the tag to confirm. the real color is greyish brown.

& below are the ones i wud love to have... 

fallen in love wit the sleeves. & i think the cutting is simple yet quite fashionable. i hope the material is easy to iron too

a simple cardigan. also available in black. but they r out o stock for the time being.

another one wit the same design. waiting patiently for re-stocking.

tis was love at 1st sight. but i contemplated too long & it was sold out. not sure how i wud style it or how wud i camouflage my bulging tummy. let's get it 1st, who knows it wud be a source o motivation to reduce tis ever expanding waistline???

cute, isnt it? bn eyeing tis for months but to my disappointment, no re-stock

i'll definitely buy tis. vibrant color to boost my spirit on mundane days :)

love the color combo & the simple cut

tis is one sweet blouse. the frills on the shoulder gives it a girlish look. can be worn to the office as well as any outing ;)

the only thing that stops me fr getting tis is the sleeves. wudnt it be a bit too long for me?

tis one's nice too. simple. i sometimes like simple ;)

i wud loooooveeeeee to get tis one. but i know it's not designed for a shorty like me :( if i buy then i get it altered, it wudnt be the same dress again, wud it? 

these two were updated on the website 2day. i got really excited that i had problems deciding wic one to get. took me almost 1 hour to finally firm up my final choice.

i've ordered the purple blouse. 

cant wait for 2moro. yeay!

go to poplook & i bet u'll find something that u're gonna like.

if u dont, at least now u already know the ones i like... (cue: nxt month is april. heeeeeeeee)

(there r 2 other websites wit chic & fashionable collections: tis & tis but i've never purchased anything fr them yet. eyeing quite a few blouses tho ;) i think all 3 websites suit my taste & wit tags that r within my budget for outfits. i dont usually buy tops more than RM 60. ok, stop gaping. seriusly, i dont. i only buy those cost more than RM 60 wen they r on 50% discount ;p)

ps: tis isnt a 24/36/48 or watever hours sponsored post ;)



best!

hopping on the car, upon seeing him, my 1st question was 'how was your exam 2day?', to wic he answered wit utter confidence plus & a big grin plastered on his face, 'best, mummy!'.

never have i heard such answer before. curious,  and i asked him again, 'wat was so best 'bt it?' (ok, not the kind o language u shud use actually but i was just too impatient for his answer that i couldnt spare any minute correcting him or even correcting my own language). 'best! it was just best! so easy. i think i answered all correct, 2day & also yesterday', still grinning fr ear to ear.

ok. as confident & convincing he might seem thruout the whole conversation, i wasnt too convinced. let's just wait for the results.

but i like that he now understands the concept o test & examination. he already knows that he has to revise for tests & exams, he might have to spend extra time for tis on top of the 1 hour h'work time every nite. he doesnt complain anymore. unlike wen we 1st did it, he refused to do revision, claiming that he had done his h'work & he wasnt assigned to read again wat he had read in class. & the test being skolah agama test wasnt helping also. he's yet to be able to read & write in jawi, so he withdrew quite easily at first.

2moro's last day o exam. but we didnt have time to revise 2nite. must wake up earlier so we could revise over bfast. insyaAllah, he'll be fine. furthermore, exam is 'best'!, kan... ;)

i just have to blog tis

his sch shoes 2day. 1/3 o me wanted to cry, 1/3 o me wanted to really really really scold him, another 1/3 o me wanted to just toss the pair in the dumpster.

but then... it suddenly hit me: he's 7. & he's a boy. tis is just wat a normal, happy, adventurous 7-year old boy does. i was just like tis wen i was at that young age. i remember, on numerous occasions, getting home soaked in mud for playing 'polis sentri' or 'ram ram rep' or just simply running & chasing each other on the vast school field. bonda never complained much. & ayahanda was the one who washed my sch shoes clean wen he got back fr our fruit orchard...

blogging 'bout tis makes me smile... the earlier exhaustion now doesnt feel that pressing anymore...  may tis boy who's sleeping peacefully beside me get a chance to enjoy a childhood like i did... if bonda could do it wit 6 girls + 1 beloved husband, surely i could too... + i dont have a husband to attend to, so i should really be able to... insyaAllah.

wat he learns in school...

he brings back & kelentong me... some instances:

situation 1
'mummy, u know wat is kaifa haluka?'
'yes, it's how are u, kan?'
'eh pandai la, mummy... wat's the answer?'
'ana bilkhair?'
'waaa... terer! wat is it?'
'ntah, forgotten already'
'it means, alhamdulillah, i'm fine'
'mane ade alhamdulillah la... i'm fine je'
'hahahhaha how do u know??? hahahaha'

situation 2
'wat is ahlan wasahlan?'
'i dont know... tell me'
'it means itu seorang budak perempuan'
'tipuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'
'hahhahaha hahahahahahaha hahahhahahaha'
'chessssssssssssssssssssss'

& tis painting we did together is awarded A+ and pasted at the back o his class :)

finally!

he has stoppd crying @ sch. alhamdulillah. senang ati.

& finally i've started going to the ofis gym. gotta shed some weight & turn tis flab into fab! eceh. smangat. but seriusly, i've gained 10kg since november 2010. that is like 10kg in lebih kurang 1y. & i have never bn tis heavy, not even wen i was pregnant, i was only 46kg then. now i'm 47-48kg. i cant fit into most o my outfits. kebaya langsung x boleh sarung pon. huwaaa!

it's not so much o getting thin, dpt pakai smula office attires pon dh alhamdulillah. now mmg sadly, i cant. & skipping meals feels like the hardest thing to do these days.

i hope daily morning gym routine will help. & i hope i'll be able to restrain myself fr makan x tentu hala. chaiyok!

DAY 1 - 47.1kg / 3.5 laps on the treadmill wit 100 calorie burnt / 10 min on elliptical / 10 min on stretching equipment

bfast - karipap & donut & plain hot coffee
lunch - 1/2 nasi, pucuk paku msk lemak, kobis grg, telur masin
dinner - nasi, asam pds ayam (ok, ku akui yg ini adalah fail! huhuhu)

let's see the progress ye :)

meanwhile, enjoy pixs o ahmad nani @ sch...

thursday assembly 

& he was standing beside me watching other kids. sigh. tp syukur lah x nangis.

the next day he was greeted & cheered by his fellow classmates wen he arrived. alhamdulillah x nangis.

investment

i saw the ad on harian metro dated bile ntah, so i twitted (or is it tweeted?) 'bt it. i wanted to bring ahmad nani, big bad wolf sale was quite an experience for him (we went twice & i became poorer by almost 400 then. but we were ecstatic!)

aunty kay went & tweeted (or is it twitted??) that it's worth going so biasa lah, gud things MUST be shared kan... we planned to go 2gether on saturday (to day lah). we were supposed to meet up s'where & go to the sale 2gether but i had my 1st swimmg lesson that ended later than expected. so it was a chain reaction - i was late --> we went to fetch auntie dd & k1 late --> we arrived @ subang late. sian auntie kay & ajib berakar tgu kiteorg. sudahnye the didnt get to go to the sale wit us sbb ajib had his 1st taekwando session la pulak...

deco o ostrich yg the boys sempat abused! mummy cuak kot it breaks, jwb!!!

the sale was at subang avenue's ground floor. plentiful books o all sorts. children books collection is extensive, as well as novels but not many notable authors were seen. books are priced at as low as RM 1, & the most expensive are around RM 15 ke if i'm not mistaken. their stationery corner is also very inviting, i was all itched to get those colourful sets of pens or watever super cute stuff sold there.

aft 'bt 1++ hour riffling thru, these r wat we brought home :)

not many famous author but i wudnt miss these. wanted to buy 'the last empress' @ BBW tp was unsure, got it confused wit 'the empress orchid' wic i have read. & i even bought 'pearl o china' too. RM 10 each (they r the bigger size o novels. normal-sized novels cost RM 8 each).

was actually looking for deco books, but nowhere in sight. i got myself tis book. i've always loved cactus. i've started planting them again but 2 plants have died. sayang je. now i'm itched to have another trip to cameron hiland to get some more of them. RM 20

it's a book that teaches u to build your own deco lamp. nice huh? and for RM 5, it's even nicer!

some art books - 'modernism & abstraction', 'the figure in watercolor'. RM 10 each.

there r many tie-in books. i was contemplating to get some but then i put them back. i only bought tis for my nephew. RM 8

i was determined not to be greedy & not to be tempted by any cook books. the ones i got @ BBW have remained literally untouched since they were put on the shelves. balik2 aku msk asam pds, msk lemak, asam pds, msk lemak. but these come wit RM 1 tag. only RM 1. u kidding me??? fyi, i've put on so much weight that i cant fit into most o my clothes :( mari lah mengamalkn cara memasak + cara mkn yg btul. i got muself ' low-fat, healthy heart food, low cholesterol, detox, low GI & fit food. and all for only RM 6.

mat kecik only requested me to get him tis. it's an organiser for kids, ade stickers bagai. RM 3

luckily auntie dd bought tis for k1, if not x perasan jwbnye. it's magic colour wit self-inked stamps on the tips of its cap. super cute! i bet it's gonna come handy nnt ni. RM 12

dhani had a set of tis maped colour that we bought @ bandung in 2009 kot. compared to other brands like steadtler luna, stabilo swan or faber-castell, the colour pencils produce much better results wen applied. i thot it's nolt sold here, rupenye ade. i bought 2 sets: 1 for dhani, 1 for mikhail.

last but not least, i just had to buy tis. it's only RM 5. dont ask me why, flipping thru, i just fell in love wit the presentation o the contents :)

the boys yg dh tdo. sure penat.

* mcm nk pegi lagi la. td i flipped thru 'diana's fashion & styles' and also 'madonna in art' & tingat smpai la ni... uhuhuuu.