Celebrating Merdeka a bit differently

Sale! Sale! Apa lagi, shopping time :)
Selamat Hari Kemerdekaan.

Alang2, mai pasang lagu Warisan (Sudirman)

Disini lahirnya sebuah cinta
Yang murni abadi sejati
Disini tersemai cita cita
Bercambah menjadi warisan

( korus )
Andai ku terbuang tak diterima
Andai aku disingkirkan
Kemana harusku bawakan
Kemana harusku semaikan cinta ini

Betapa
Dibumi ini ku melangkah
Keutara selatan timur dan barat
Ku jejaki

Aku
Bukanlah seorang perwira
Gagah menjunjung senjata
Namun hati rela berjuang 
Walau dengan cara sendiri
Demi cinta ini

( ulang korus )
Ku ingin kotakan seribu janji
Sepanjang kedewasaan ini
Ku ingin sampaikan pesanan
Aku lah penyambung warisan


As usual, kindergartens would grab the opportunities to liven up the environment. You know kids, they are easily bored. So, Huda's kindy had a Merdeka celebration this morning.

Permata harapan negara

I also had the pleasure of watching the latihan perbarisan this morning, while commuting to work.

Scary looking, huh? :D

Raya Gathering @Dataran Underground

I never knew that there is something literally under Dataran Merdeka. The name is Dataran Underground. I was not alone, most of my colleagues admitted the same thing. As usual, seronok je dapat makan2 free. Lagi2, kalau buat kat tempat luar biasa sikit. Excited jugak la when we made our moves to the place.

The place is not yet fully occupied. More like a bazaar down there. Souvenirs, muslimah dress shop, baby stuff shop. Food court - need to explore this one in future, kenyang melantak sampai malas nak explore.

I saw a restoran nasi arab. And there is a chocolate museum (that sells chocolate) tapi cuma ada 4-5 chocolate making equipment je kuttt..I'm a chocolate lover, tapi tak tertarik langsung nak masuk.

Hah..berbalik kepada kisah raya gathering. Standard raya food, except...laksa sarawak ooooooOOOiii sedaaap nya. Macam tau2 je makcik teringin nak makan laksa sarawak. This dish was specifically requested by our SGM who is a chinese Sarawakian. Excellent choice Mr Pau! Had two servings, huhuhu...nak lagiii. Pulut with kuah durian...mmmmpphh..sedap nye. Pulut tu dah digumpal siap2, clever...clever.

Bila food sedap & perut dah kenyang...rasa macam floating in happy2 place...*high*

Jaundice Scare

For the past 1-2 weeks, I was getting paranoia coz when I looked at Umar, his skin had this yellow tinge. But I kept this paranoia to myself, since no one else seemed to notice it. Last Saturday, I mentioned about it to my mom but my mom saw none of the yellow tinge...at first. Later however, she said 'Macam ya jugak nampak kuning.' Press Umar here, press Umar there. Yep, I did a lot of Umar pressing.
Monday then, coming back from work, I entered our home, saw Umar and his yellow tinge. I told hubby 'Let's go to clinic and have him checked.' Hubby told me that dia tak perasan pun Umar kuning. Tak kisah lah, I was worried and had this need to make sure that it is not jaundice. While waiting for our turn at the clinic, I pressed Umar's palm and foot sole. Only then hubby noticed the yellow tinge.
The doctor also did a lot of pressing. Luckily the kid was all happy and smiling through out the examination. One thing was pointed out by the doctor ie the whites of the eyes. Umar's were...well..white. Jaundice will cause the sclera of the eyes to turn yellow too. Nevertheless, he also noted the yellow tinge and told us to proceed to Hospital Emergency and have his blood checked.

Umar dgn kulit yg kaler tak best...Mata putih, ok

So we went to the SDMC Subang Jaya's Emergency. Poor guy was pricked for blood samples - 2 blood samples! Tapi tak nangis pun...most probably he was too engrossed with the different surrounding and happening.
We finally met the med officer around 11pm and explained our concern a bit. The first thing that he asked after membelek2 Umar, 'You bagi makan apa?' I was ready to naik angin at this point of time (what..? I tak reti bagi makan anak sendiri ke?). His next question stumped me. 'You bagi makan carrot ka?'. Errrr...yes, with rice porridge, together with pumpkin? The doc bulldozed an explanation, something to do with beta carotene bla..bla..Wellll...we do consistently feed Umar rice porridge+chicken+carrot+pumpkin. For a few seconds, I had trouble taking this in his explanation and I was like, eh really ka? Talk about a jaundice threat being undone by a mere carrot. Again, the MO said to wait  for the blood test results (bilirubin & liver function test) just to be sure and call tomorrow morning for the results. Ok, go home for now. We went home dengan agak terpinga2.
Morning came and I called the hospital. Results...all normal. Lerrr...Oleh kerana masih musykil, I googled yellow skin and carrots and found lots of articles about it. No harm done, except you will be aesthetically challenged by looking a bit yellow :P Penat makcik dok paranoia. Apa2 pun, alhamdulillah..

Riding in Citroen DS5

I don't do cars so it's hard for me to get excited over cars and I usually do not know what's hot in the car markets. Coincidentally today, a bunch of us had to attend a company event elsewhere and a lady colleague offered a ride. Three of my male colleague jumped immediately at the offer (to my surprise...apa halllll la diaorg2 ni). Rupa2nya, nak rasa naik kereta Citroen DS5 which the lady colleague is driving. Lerrrrr....guys... (roll-eye). Makcik pun baru tahu what car she is driving.

Anyways, rasa macam Star Trek gitu in the car. The things that got me excited, were the tele-prompter-like thingy in front of the driver and separate moon roofs (term baru belajo ni..kakaka) for driver, passenger and back seat.

Flipped open the moon roof, enjoying the bright day light. The tele-prompter thingy? Sampai sudah tak nampak apa yang tertulis walaupun dah mengintai2, menjenguk2. For driver's eyes only I guess ;)

Must shine ka?

This is a personal protest against the work demand (boss's demand..more like it..) that requires everybody to shine, be visible, be noticeable, create value, have niche skills/ area of expertise bla...bla..bla..

Outshine the shining stars? Puhleez..and ceramic plaque I found. Hang it on my cubicle wall..

I always feel harassed when the time for performance review and leadership feedback is approaching . And the email with subject 'Are you ready to shine?' makes me feel burdened. I just want to complete my work quietly, boleh tak?

Raya Potluck & Fireworks at Greenlane

I've lost count, but I think this is the 3rd pot luck done in Greenlane. I remembered bringing satay kajang once and fried nugget & drummet in another potluck. Unless I missed some potluck erkk..

On this table - Meehoon in periuk, sandwich, nasi lemak bungkus, rambutan, manggis, buah cucuk2 (mcm satay)

Before potluck was adopted as our main event, we did a proper food catering for our neighbourhood gathering. Sama je meriahnya, except doing the potluck has more merits :
- Everybody can chip in.
- Much more food varieties I tell you! Main dish, side dish, starter, kuih/cookies, deserts, drinks, fruits
- Everybody has the opportunity to flaunt their culinary skills
The last but quite important merit also, no leftover foods. Because everybody will take back their food containers and whatever left of it. Or they can fill their empty container with whichever leftover food that they fancy. Tak payah susah2 pikir nak bungkus extra food, nak bahagi etc2
The committee usually handles the canopy, tables, chairs plus paper plates/ cups/ forks & spoons. Oh yes, make-shift bins. And AV system.

Fireworks display, courtesy of neighbour Zamri. Err...honestly... too noisy for my comfort. But the kids loved it. There's a playground nearby where the kids can play and run around, while the parents were socializing, so the fireworks were a bit too close to the kids. Tapi budak2 tu...tak heran pun...haishhh.
Naturally, each time there's loud noise, I would look out for Hayaa'. Before she was 6yrs, she would freak-out. Lately, she would plug her ears and cry to go home. This time however, she ran into the tent, plugged her ears and watched the fireworks till the end. I guess she's learning to manage her fear of loud noise.
Huda? She ran around the playground like there was no tomorrow. She walked back to the tent barefooted and when I asked about her shoes, she just put on her surprised face, 'It disappear.' Right...So I had to walk all over the padded playground surface and thankfully found it near the slide.
Umar just sat peacefully in the stroller, except he gave a few startled expressions during the fireworks. Put my hand on his chest, it was beating like mad but no crying. Good boy!
What did I bring this time around? Beryl's Almond Dark Chocolate je....eheh..eheh..punya lah kalut sampai tak sempat nak beli, apatah lagi nak prepare. So sauk je la balang coklat yang ada kat rumah tu (courtesy of my mom..tq mom!).

Ucapan Hari Raya - Flood of Raya Family Photos

Got so many of family-photos-in-raya-dress-with-ucapan raya-text this time around, instead of long-winded, poem style wishes. Must be because there's a lot of free user-friendly photo editing apps available out there.
I've compiled some that I got...ermm...not using photo editing apps lah kan, byk sgt kott

Dalam banyak2 gambar, me & my friends sort of voted 1 picture in particular as the Best Raya Family Photo.

Lain dari yang lain and cute pun ya gak :)
Selamat Hari Raya !!

Office so quiet...and peaceful :)

Yep...already masuk kerja. Since Thursday (yesterday) in fact. I had to cut short raya holidays since my annual leave is depleting. My bibik is on raya & yearly leave, she's away for 1 month. So most of my leaves are already allocated to take care of the kids at home.
Anyways, back in the office. Hah...aman tenteram. Work at my own pace....or do other stuff (hehehehe..). The office is so quiet, the only noise is coming from the air-conditioning. Sounds of clicking keyboards are also amplified somehow.

Empty...except Indian office mate, Shini

After the horrible and long hours of balik kampung to Penang (9hours to, 5hours from), the blissfully short and traffic-free journey to/from the office this week has been a godsend.
Still have a couple of hours before I go home today. I shall enjoy the short drive back home, one last time. Next week things will be back to normal...*sigh*