Yes we did it! We took Khaira who is one year and four months old to the movies last night. Pergi layan Maleficent okengg. I have to admit, walaupun nampak muka cool dan chill walaupun ada pandangan atas ke bawah kiri ke kanan daripada mereka2 yang melihat kami bak gerabak keretapi ke panggung wayang, tapi dalam hati ada taman yang sedang ditiup angin2 gelisah (gittewwww).

I actually started taking my kids to the movies as they reach three years old. So for Khaira, it is a personal record for us coz she's so young.

Begini caranya untuk buat si kecil tidak meraban dan menjadi punca kalian di halau keluar daripada panggung kerana memekak, menangis dan mengganggu ketenteraman...

1. Prepare food. Bukanlah nasi lemak, nasi ayam bagai. All those jajans yang ada jual kat kiosk wayang tu, buy them! Unfortunately, TGV kiosk only sells popcorns and hotdogs, but we took them.
Bila dia nak nguek jek, offer makanan. That distracted her, sambil memenuhkan perut.

2. Keep her calm, jadi kamu kena tenang. If you start a screaming match with your child, tak kesudahan dan confirm kena halau. And tak perlu garang2 nak suruh dia diam. Distract her, we were lucky Maleficent is a beautiful movie, so banyaklah benda2 pelik you can show her during the show. Kids will appreciate.

3. Jangan masuk panggung too early. When you are 'punctual' you go in a super huge quiet room. And when the screen starts showing those super-loud advertisements, and the lights go off, your kid is going to panic and she will cry. That's what happened to my eldest when she was younger. Being a kiasu mom, memang lah nak sampai awal je kan, macamlah main chup2 seat padahal dah tahu tempat duduk. But I have learnt, kalau nak enjoy the movie, masuk je lambat skit. We were almost half and hour late, coz long que at the jajan counter. Went in, the ads were still blaring. Khaira adjusted her sight and hearing, tadaaaa... she was curious. But ehem, she's a huge fan of advertisements so adjusted well.

4. It's okay to bring a stroller along. Mana nak bawak air, popcorn, hotdogs, twisties etc dengan dukung anak, make sure anak lain pun tak berterabur lari, you atleast need one child contained lah haaaa... And atleast can sangkut whatever is in plastic bags on your stroller. You can leave the stroller at the back of the hall while you're enjoying the movie.

5. You can talk to your child during the show, tapi janganlah bersembang kuat macam kat rumah. Keep your voice low as you whisper in her ears. That will keep her calm.

6. You can let her walk around, but within you kawasan and be careful jangan sampai tersentuh kepala orang depan or menghentak their seat. I get very annoyed if there's a child dok tendang2 the back of my seat so I don't let my kids do it too.

7. Bawa plastik sampah. Kids make mess, that's just how it is. Supaya nampak macam parents yang hebat skit, (haha) bawa plastik sampai to thrash whatever bekas makan yang ada. I always teach my kids to not leave their sampah on their seats when the show is over. Cari tong sampah lepas keluar wayang.

So yes, if enjoy your movie. Have a great time (tak bermakna kena ketawa terbahak2 pun). Praise your child/kids if they behaved well, itu doa supaya dia teruskan dengan perangai baiknya...

Us girls after the movie. Depan ni pun jadilah..!

Selfie babies!

Let's clear your calendar! Macam best jek...

Brrr... Oh sejuknya! The weather outside is really hot and in the office, brrrr... Before lunch hour ends (kena careful skit, MT berkeliaran), here's the update from last weekend. Saturday, took Ulfa and Umar for the Salsa session with our current cover girl, Lisa Surihani. Umaira kena sekolah, ganti cuti for CNY.

Here we are, Lisa asking Umar pasai pa tak tie tali kasut. Kenit tu buat bodoh sebab satu, kasut dia mana ada tali kasut daaaa... and dua, urm. Takleh cakap! Biar "kenapa Mummy kureng skit ngn LS" jadi rahsia Mummy sendiri... Hehehee...

Ni Umar bebuat malu sebab dah jumpa artis. Macam lah dia kenal kan. Hahahaha... Interpretasi gegila Mummy je ni.

Umar went bonkers with our little camera. So terpaksalah Mummy jadi model al-baduts for him (macam tak biasa!). Ulfa: "Have you taken your meds mom?" Hahahahaha.!

This one, he was actually cam-whoring. Ada 5-6 pics like this and I put up this one coz yang ni paling decent. Like seriously!! The rest leh nampak lombong emas dia wahaahaha!

Ni Aunty Zura, dah jadi Ulfa's favourite Aunty sebab dapat pegang her iPhone and main some of the games. When I reminded her that she is also Fiona's mummy, she went "ha'ah laaaaa...kita pernah pergi rumah dia." Apa punya budak!

Gambar wajib. Sebenarnya nak tunjuk kasut Mummy kena "kidnap" oleh selebriti. Wahahaha! Umar dah ready nak chow, tapi selagi LS kena berposing lengkap, gue kena berstokin lah dulu.

Urm... Ni namanya, let's test the zoom in our li'l camera. Saja dia duduk at the other side of the studio, see if I can snap his pictures. Gila gedik punya budak!

Joined by Ulfa. Kalau Umaira ada mesti lagi meriah "drama bisu" tetiga beradik. Eh, silap, dua beradik. Sebab Umar jenis tak tahu malu punya yoboy.

This is what I am currently reviewing. Haaa... Jangan kompius. It is actually a smart phone aka Android phone. Sejak bila Garmin kahwin ngan Asus pun tak tahu. But so far, so good. Wish they had downloaded some games in there, then the kids can review that apps hehe...

My current read. It is actually a Malaysian story. It is very interesting actually, for as long as you don't read it right after your dose of cough meds. Baru dua muka surat dah lalok. Ahaks!

Afternoon snacks, in between lunch, a nap and dinner. Hehehe...Ya, dua kali membuta siang hari semalam. Tapi takpe, suami takde kat rumah so boleh hibernate macam mak beruang. Ginger snaps with neskepe are da bomb!!

Konichiwa!! Ewah, tetiba nak menJepun kan diri, mentang2lah abg misai sudah pulang ke tanah air hehehe... Memang seronoklah bila family members kembali complete. Lega and tak perlulah lagi buat drama menitis air mata sorang2 bila tengok cerita sedih (ntah apa2 Mummy ni). Kalau Daddy ada depan mata asyik nak ajak gaduh je kan, bila separated for a week dah syahdu syahdan mengada2. heheheh...gitulah orang dah kahwin.
Thank you lah Daddy sebab beli macam2 souvenir for me and the kids. Suma pun Mummy suka, termasuklah kain sebelah lain sebelah lain yang orang Jepun buat bungkus barang macam ala2 citer Oshin tu. So cantiks! Benda2 macam tu I love to hoard. I also like the 3 tiered box with cute flower prints that I am using to put my lipsticks and mascaras. Rupa2nya I got plenty of mascaras, takyah tadah tangan kedip2 mata kat Aunty Nana dah. (Saya sedar diri bulu mata tak panjang, so right now, I love mascaras).
Acara Ahad mulia - lepak OU, jalan2 cari pasal. Took the kids to Get Crafty, again kena pujuk amik pakej yang rege RM200 per kid. Memang lebih murah berbanding ala carte for each visit. Macam tadi, each kid and craft for an hour I had to pay RM45, kalau amik pakej dapatla diskaun RM5. Untung kalau rajin pergi lah. Walaupun minah tu kata we all kategori rajin pergi tapi idaklah sebulan sekali. If I take the RM200 pakej per kid, that adds up to RM600. Sebab there's no way I am taking one pakej only, tentu2 kena amik for all three. Rabak poket mak! Plus, validity of the pakej is 6 months only. Bermakna, every month I got to send them to class. Ikkh, malasla plak nak commit eventhough it's cheaper. I'd rather opt for "bila-saya-ada-duit-lebih-saya-pergi".

Don't know if it's just me being emo or people memang dah makin kurang beradab sekarang ni. Begini... today we had iftar with Tok Mama n Baba at Bangi, with my uncles and aunties. It was very short and sweet sbb one thing pasal iftar di luar ni, u just need to rush off for Maghrib. So we did our prayers at a nearby masjid. A big masjid actually. Because it is Sunday, ramailah jugak jemaahnya. I thought nak perform Maghrib and leave. But by the time dah siap nak chow, azan Isyak berkumandang, so not nice la leave without kaw-timing it kan.
My kids were with me, I dont expect hubby to be able to handle Umar. My sisters and cousins were with us so takpelah, gilir2 tengokkan. Masa nak tunggu Isyak, masjid mula penuh sbb orang datang nak Terawih. Tetiba datang sorang wanita lanjut usia, muka bersih dan cerah, and she said to me "Tolong suruh anak2 u duduk luar ya...ramai lagi jemaah lain nak masuk solat." Gulp, sentap gila! Zasss darah naik kepala. But I kept quiet.
EXCUSE ME, my kids duduk kat saf paling belakang like to dinding and memang tak lojik pun ada sesiapa nak solat kat that part sebab there were so many bags there. And another thing, adatlah sementara tunggu nak solat jemaah, everyone duduk dulu. And kebiasaannya, once imam announces the beginning of prayer, suma akan bangun and there will be plenty, I repeat, PLENTY of space. And this is the first time I took my kids to the mosque, bukan sengaja nak bawak sebab I tau tak sesuai pun, tapi sebab I was "separa musafir". Kalau I leave them outside, what or who is going to jamin they will be safe? If Umar lari2 n jatuh, are they going to help? Maybe they would but I want to avoid it altogether, thank u very much!
At the same time, I saw Umar eyeing this toy car on the rack. I asked around sapa punya, tapi takde sapa jawab so I told my boy he can borrow them. Lepas main, kena letak balik. So he played with it quietly. Siap baring lagik. Tup2, ada this granny datang and grabbed the toy car from Umar's hands. She didn't even say or ask anything. I was super shocked! Umar dah bergenang air mata. My poor baby... Kalau betullah itu cucu dia punya, takleh ke minta elok2. I would gladly apologize sebab tak sengaja amik. I never teach my kids to take things that aren't theirs pun. We were planning to return it pun lepas I finish with prayers. So yes, memang tak khusyuk solat Mummy hari ni. Sukar nak percaya ada jugak orang perangai macam tu, and they're older people. And yes, memang segelintir jek tu tapi kesannya memang awan yang terpilu especially seeing ur only son ketar bibir tahan nangis.
Moralnya: must teach my kids to behave better, and ingatkan diri sendiri agar tak jadi macam manusia macam tu.... Amin!!

On Sunday, we launched a really important mission - to buy Daddy's and Umar's baju melayu utk Raya. Targeted location: Jln TAR. Targeted time of arrival: 10am. The plan: Sampai terus beli dan terus cabut. And we did just that. Itupun I saw a huge crowd waiting to get into Sogo at 9.58am, boleh? Guess I'm not the only kiasu mom kan? Haha.
We parked at Semua House (my fav place to park, walaupun parkingnya agak mahal). Sebelum jelajah TAR, Daddy said something really funny. "Let's enjoy the FEEL of Ramadhan di Jalan TAR." WTH? Nevertheless, the kids memang terbeliak mata, sebab it's their first time there. I'm more worried about pickpockets and the likes. My warning to the kids "pegang tangan Mummy/Daddy, ramai orang jahat." I know it's not nice/right/good to scare children but I am more afraid of losing them in KL.
Initial plan to get the bajus in Wisma Yakin. But on the way tengok ada gerai dah buka so we went to the most pleasant and welcoming gerailah. We were there for 15 -20 minutes je rasanya. Umar tried his baju, good size. Daddy picked his. And our "damage" was only RM150. Not bad kan? Itupun Daddy used his first-customer-you-must-give-me-the-price-that-I-want tactic we always apply kat Pasar Payang. Tak sangka it works the same in KL. Hehe...so yes.. It was definitely a fruitful Sunday. And we arrived home at 11.30am. Coolness!

Ulfa: I am a cute little supermodel pose. Umaira: Me good girl. Umar: Don't mess with me or my sisters ya!

No, this is not my 15th outfit!

And the biggest surprise I got was THIS! This bangunan! This is now IPD Dang Wangi!! Mind you, I used to be a crime journalist. I always had to go to Balai Campbell, which housed a small office. I reported my missing purse when I was in uni there (I hated the officers then, so kerek!). But now, that little office the called a balai has a tall condominium-like quarters with its own masjid. Sungguh cantik!

Memang lama nak bergebang kat sini, but tak sempat sebab biasalah, after a "long" holiday, had to settle whatever's pending in the office. So here I am, nak cerita balik mana yang tak tercerita. I took leave from 16-18 June sebab Daddy nak sesangat balik ziarah his siblings in Tganu. Berangan nak balik sesubuh buta tapi sebab Mummy ada event the night before (I was emceeing for Cosmo's Hot Date event) that ended quite late, and once settled packing it was already almost 2am, we were only on our way at almost 9.30am, after breakfast.
Thankfully, the journey was wonderful I am still thankful! Mendung jek, Daddy pun tak rasa letih drive sebab it wasnt too hot. By the time we reached Serada, it was already raining, and it rained all night, memang nyaman jek tidur. Letih punya pasal, and sebab heavy dinner made by SILs, kol 10pm semua dah tak larat buka mata, boleh?
Esok pepagi, kanak2 riang tu dah bangun sebab semua excited nak pi pantai, promised them some good action kite-flying session. By 10am we were at PPayang, must go early in the morning to avoid crazy shoppers and heavy traffic by noon. (Tip: if jadi first customer at a shop, you can tawar harga and the owner has to follow ur price, if dont want to rugi whole day. This is only applicable during non-school holiday ya. if cuti sekolah means, bo layan!)
Also, you must try the mee sup at the food court. super sedap man! Makan sampai lupa amik gambar, sorry ya. Umaira plak balik sana, sedap makan nasi - nasi ayam, nasi with ikan singgang, then nasi ayam...
After brunch, we got out of Payang and terus ke Pantai Batu Buruk. Memang keje gila duduk situ tengahari buta, but thinking it may rain in the evening like the day before, redah saja lah! It was worth the trip coz the pantai looks super nice and clean, the weather wasn't too hot because of the breeze. We bought ice cream from A&W, sat on the pavement (under the trees ofcourse), and let the kids enjoy kite flying and main pasir. Layan je lah, sekali sekala balik kampung. Another good thing about the "spot" we picked was the free wifi from A&W itself heheheh...Ada one group of sekolah menengah kids, campur girls and boys siap beli KFC tapau and lepak belakang kitorang. Selamba!
Petang sampai rumah (SIL still at work, BIL yg keje malam keluar plak), terus pengsan anak beranak kat the hall. Can't sleep in the room, too hot because of the zinc roof. Senja tu, tengok my other SIL buat kuih karas, memang me and Umar dok belasah panas2. Gila sedap. We even bought RM10 from her to sell at Daddy's office, and dua pack utk Mummy belasah. All those tepung, lantaklah hehehehe...Then off to rumah BIL which was three minutes away, sambung makan keropok keping pulak with sweet tea. Ingat nak suruh my nephew tolong potongkan rambut Umar, tapi melihatkan Zul was tired sebab baru balik keje, so tak jadilah. And I dont think Umar is going to be friendly to him for touching his front hair.
Malamnya, lepak makan. But not all was there, Umaira was pretty upset coz she enjoyed having everybody at Tok's place for dinner. But later, Ayah Long came with Niki, the cute little furball of Izatul. Bila usik kata nak bawak Niki to KL, Izatul buat aksi drama air mata gegila. The poor girl. Maksu pun tak laratlah bela kucing, rumah kecik and tak tahan bau busuk ittew! (Like I didn't use to have three persians before I had Umaira, sheesh!).
On our way back to KL on Friday (also mendung all the way, syukur) we stopped at this super-fabulous tpt lepak called Mesra Mall in Kerteh. I was so surprised to see the shops kat situ - ada Toys r Us, supermarket TMC (Giant's own), Big Apple Donut, UBowl (bowling centre), Starbucks, Tanamera Spa, and soon...TGV Movies!!! Gilalah!!
All in all, it was a superb 3D2N in Terengganu, and I know my kids loved it best. Pictures to roll...

Breakfast at Mark's Laksa in OU on Father's Day. Before we went for Toy Story 3.

Those red spots on his face? Bekas gigitan nyamuk Terengganu hehehe...

Ulfa with Niki. She will be a great mom!

At the beach, Umar tak tahan angin laut!

Ulfa's kite-flying!

Umaira too!

Mummy tumpang sekaki.

Lovely Umaira enjoying the breeze.

Why there is a Father's Day, sebab Daddy pandai layan anak2.

Silhouette of my children.

Boleh jadi baby nombor empat ni. geram!!!

Ni memang manja Mummy!

Umar is trying to terrorize the poor kitten hehehehe....

Next movie: Toy Story!!

Daddy helped feed the bird.

Mummy and Umar at the noisiest cage.

Me and my children. Umar is actually half of me!

After a long time terperap di rumah dek penangan HFM, we finally took the kids out. Tak tahan tengok Umaira dah muncung mulut sebab she was the one who recovered first, so I can so understand how bored she must be at home. We wanted to watch Shrek at Cineleisure, but apparently it was out of that cinema since two weeks back, boleh? Not to waste our prescious trip out, we bought Nanny McPhee and The Big Bang tics instead.
While waiting for the movie to start, like another 2.5hours lagi, had lunch and jalan2 tengok Bird Park in Ikano, which is nothing compared to the real KL Bird Park, but it was cooling so I shoudln't be complaining at all. And we realize, Umar sejak baik demam ni, TIDAK MAHU BERJALAN SENDIRI ya. He will insist that either me or Daddy kena dukung dia. Imagine carrying a 16 kg kid for many many minutes. I gave me three minutes top!! Cannotlah, carrying badan sendiri pun dah satu cabaran, what more another 16kg?? Haha! Unless I dont mind leaving him at the spot that he insist to stop till someone else, selain me or Daddy, to amik dia, there's no way we can escape his I-want-to-be-carried tantrums. I should check if I manage to lose weight, kan?
Back to the movie, Umaira didnt like it, Ulfa slept almost towards the end, Umar was good at first, because we had food to stuff his mouthg. When we ran out, he started babbling for the cinema to hear. Sabar je lah! But me, I loved it! I cried twice lagik! Over, kan? Kalau setakat nak layan movie ringan2 with lots of good lessons, silalah tengok. Banyak jugak part yang kelakar. Maybe my kids didnt enjoy it as much, coz they're so used to watching TV in American accent. But it was great seeing Maggie Gyllenhaal in rags. Hehe...

Umar doing his "move it, move it" routine. Hehe!

Our usual grocery night is on Monday instead of the weekend. The stock is fresher, less people on the que, the kids can enjoy the kids' trolleys, Daddy is usually on leave on Mondays so he can send Mummy to work and later fetch me before going to Tesco (our usual grocerer).

I heart these hairbands, bought it for the girls when we visited Old Blossom Box by Jezmine (jezmineblossom.blogspot.com or oldblossombox.blogspot.com) last Sunday. Love at first sight for just RM18 each. And Mummy pun dapatlah angkut jaket "pengganti" for a much much much cheaper price. I like!