Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Rayyan, Uncles & Aunties at Sepang A1 GP

Hahaha.. tengah dok upload all these pics I just realized that all that is already uploaded here were in reverse chronological order... so since banyak sangat gambar and malas nak tukar susunan dia balik... let's do this post Quentin Tarantino style.... hehe

The spaghetti that you see above is the food I ordered for the sleepy Rayyan on our way home from the Sepang circuit.

There he is.. all sleepy from the tortoise-slow traffic from the kelapa sawit parking area to the cafe we had our teanner (tea and dinner)...

See this cafe has a nice pond... very cooling area in Cyberjaya...

Sleepy Rayyan getting ready to be served his Spaghetti Bolognaise...

Oh yeah, the cafe was called Padi House... somewhere near CYberjaya.. why we went to Cyberjaya for meal? First, there was no decent food at the GP circuit. Second, we were supposed to send my cousin (Rayyan's uncle Razza) to his apartment there since he's doing his degree at MMU.

Tu dia lentok habis semuorang kat backseat... Rayyan and his Auntie Eka (Zalikha, Razza's younger sister).

Seksa betul nak keluar from this ladang sawi parking... nak dekat setengah jam kot nak gerak 10 kaki... haha pasal tu la si Rayyan tu lentok habis on the way to the Padi House...

tut-tut-tut-tut-tuuuuuutttt... can everybody please move out cepat sikit!!!! Giler ramai manusia to watch this lowly publicized event.... so nak keluar from that place is giler!!! Not to mention macamanala nak keluar parking lot nanti...

Here is half of the gang who went... all my cousins (Rayyan's uncles and aunties...) plus 3 who brought along their bf's... I think there were 13 of us altogether...

Our view of the circuit... dah lambat sikit datang.. the grand stand facing the pit stop dah penuh.. so we had to settle for the other side... not too bad.. coz we got a view of almost 1/2 of the circuit...
Wah.. tengah tengok apa tu??? Serious giler... ada kereta langgar kot...

This is actually when we were looking for a place to sit.... this side was full.. so we went to the other side....
Bisingnyya!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was when before I devised my own earplug....

Tu dia..... effective giler...

Ferraris and Lotuses parading at the entrance....

Panas giler haritu.. so payung is a definite MUST!!! macam kat London pulak.. haha

Tu dia.. on our way to the Sepang circuit, right after the KLIA toll.... berderet Ferarris tepi jalan.. tengah tunggu member2 seFerrari yang lain... one by one they came... at the end there were about 8-10 altogether... this is the best photo I could take from inside my car... jakunla pulak nak amik dekat2 kan... haha

So why the heck we went to this Sepang A1 GP in the first place? My brother Faleigh got about a hundred free tickets from his friend at Jobstreet who sponsors this event.. so apa lagi.. call segala member, sedara yang patut diajak... and then many tak nak pergi... sebab who watches A1 GP anyway? haha ni pergi pun pasal nak bawak Rayyan je and the fact that I have not been to the Sepang circuit.

Who won? Didn't care. Malaysia who was leading the standings before this race (surprising, eh?) got 10th this time due to technical failure (no surprise there.. hehe)....

There you go... THE END...

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Updates...



Rasa macam lama giler tak update.. hehe.. I have been very busy catching the last few days of the year, planning for next year's projects.

Here are some updates:

1. Me, My brother (Faleigh) and my dad are on the tentative list to go for next year's Bologna Children's Book Fair from March 23 - March 26, 2009. We'll probably be going there for about a week. Ja and the kids won't be following 'coz this time it's strictly business (and some pleasure la.. hehehe biasala dah jalan jauh.. mesti nak jalan2 punya.. haha). Just had a meeting with Majlis Buku Kebangsaan Malaysia who organizes in getting the booths for us there.

2. Just registered Rayyan at Genius Aulad ( http://www.geniusaulad.com.my), bought his uniforms, and all to start his official tadika years there. Monthly fees RM238, for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. The Kelana Jaya center just opened, so we quickly registered Rayyan there. Tu pun kelas pagi semua penuh.. have to make do for afternoon classes, 1.30pm - 4.30pm. I knew about Genius Aulad masa kerja kat area USJ dulu (2-3 years ago) when I saw their HQ there, with kids in uniform, siap ada free transport lagi..

Genius Aulad is an English-medium, Islamic based tadika.. I like it 'coz their materials are good, they also use Peter and Jane books, and they use the computer (2 kids share one PC) to teach all their subjects.

3. Rayhana has started to enjoy "talking".. cooing, smiling, and shreaking happily at times. She enjoys me humming songs to her while dodoi-ing her to sleep where she'll hum together.. cooing to the melody.. haha so cute... and when I stop, she'll continue for me.. haha... nice to see her communication skills develop as early as 2 months..

4. Rayhana just had 2 optional vaccinations that cost me RM500+ for the first dose at D'sara Specialist. One is the oral vaccination for "ROTAVIRUS"... the one that caused Rayyan to be hospitalized for 7-8 days due to diarrhea and dehydration. Another one is for the pneumococcal disease. The next trip to the Paed would cost me another hefty sum as well.. I guess... but Dr Musa charges slightly lower than Dr Azizi. Takpe la.. I spend.. tapi boleh claim from Ja's company.. hehe

5. Loads of things happening yang tak sempat nak update kat sini. Still haven't blogged about Rayhana's first airplane ride, Raya Haji kat KB, the trip to A1 GP at Sepang circuit, Rayyan's visit to the chocolate factory, Rayhana's Aqiqah and cukur jambul in KB, "Christmas shopping".. hehe.. banyak lagi... loads of pictures taken, non uploaded yet...

nantilaa... tunggu ye...

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The Mom Song

I love this! I mean I REALLLY REALLLY LOVE this!


Wednesday, December 10, 2008

A Cow's Birthday Party

This video was shot on our way to the cow owner's place to witness the slaughter of Rayhana's "aqiqah" cow... The journey took us about half an hour through a long, narrow, winding road across paddy fields.

You see, in Ja's heartland, we have to go to the cow owner's place so that we can do the "akad" to buy the 1 out of 7 portions of the cow right from the owner himself (1 portion is between RM250-RM300 or maybe more, depending on the size of the cow.. ours is RM280). The way you do that is to hold the cow's rope handed by the owner and say something like "saya beli satu bahagian daripada 7 bahagian"... or so I thought what the owner asked me to say... hehe

Then, you pass the rope back to the owner and see how the cow is brought down, tied to a tree, handed a log or some kind of wood to serve as its pillow, before the Tok Imam come and massage its neck and later slaughter the cow within seconds.

Will have photos and videos of that later but for now... enjoy the video of our journey to the cow owner's place and how our conversation took place between me and Rayyan towards the end of the video.... see how Rayyan came up with this "cow's birthday party" phrase :)




(my English vocab don't come easy at times.. pasal tulaa.. salah ajar perkataan... and Rayyan sorta make a joke from the choice of word I use hehe...)

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Siti Albab

Rayhana has an obsession with doors. Not just doors, but the door frame or "bendul" pintu tu sekali. Whenever we walk pass through doors, it's as if she feels being warped into another dimension.. haha... constantly looking at the frame. Even while sitting next to a door, her eyes will be focused on the door. Nenek dia kata nak jadi architect kot ni... ke jadi bellboy eh bellgirl kot haha..

At first we thought she likes dark brown color... 'coz she always have her eyes on our chest drawer in the room as well.. but then... lepas tu tak kisah pulak tengok drawer tu.. but with doors... they really got her attention... hehehe

That's my girl this morning before I left for work. Dah pandai smile, dah pandai bersuara... and sometimes tergelak sorang-sorang...

Awwwww.... being held by her auntie Felishia...

Looking cute in one of the dresses given by friends and families.. most of the dresses were for 0-3 months which she had already outgrown now.. dah sendat-sendat. That's why any chance we get to go out, Rayhana always dresses well... haha.. she's now close to 5kg already. This photo was taken just before we went to the dentist last week.

Hello world!! This is Rayhana! :-)

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Rayyan's words of wisdom

I don't know if it's just the TV or is it just the way that we bring him up, Rayyan is always generous with his words of kindness, motivation, etc..

I'm 100% positive that I don't use these words at least through the first 20 years of my life..

"Don't worry Papa, you can do it!" - whenever I sigh while playing the wii

"Nevermind, it's ok." - him saying when sometimes we just don't let him do certain things.

"Don't worry, I'm ok." - whenever he falls down and we're afraid he may hurt himself

"I have to practice, practice, practice... 'coz practice makes perfect." - that's him saying when he's playing with his yo-yo... or doing something challenging.

"Mama, you look nice!"

"See.. Rayyan dah mandi, Rayhana dah mandi, Papa and Mama tak mandi so Papa and Mama have to listen to what Rayyan and Rayhana say!"

:-)

Friday, November 28, 2008

Went to the dentist yesterday

Me and Ja had to go to the dentist 'coz our teeth needed attention. One of my lower molars that I had it filled twice already before this broke. What's left is half of it and both its roots still in tact. That caused pain to the side of my tongue. So, memang kena cabut! 'Coz that's the cheapest way out. Lagipun dah bernanah kat dalam gum tu.

Ja pulak.. sah-sah kena cabut one of her tooth.

Rayyan pulak.. initially we wanted to check his teeth 'coz one of his molars dah berlubang... turned out he has 8 teeth that need filling! One tooth RM90.. kalau 8???

Our appointment at Smileshop was at 12.00pm. Ja went first, while me and Rayyan go and get some lunch. Oh ya, we brought Rayhana along.. and left her at the dentist... sleeping.

Kitorang balik je, Ja was almost done. Scaling, polishing and extraction of one of her teeth cost RM190. Rayyan's turn next.... as usual, I had to pangku him on the chair, he requested for the cool shades again, and was a GREAT SPORT!!! Tak nangis, and he braved thru the nganga-ing, checking, drilling, filling for about 1/2 hour until his tooth was filled. He's braver than I thought!

Hahaha.. maybe all these while I've been saying that Rayhana braved thru her injections and sunat (oh haven't blogged about that yet! hehe..) without crying! So maybe subconsciously dia pun taknakler be a softie.. hehehe

Habis je dia punya turn, he ran to the hall (of the clinic) and watch TV, running around there playing God knows what... selamba gila tak sakit whatsoever...

Next, my turn. So, cabut! But before that I did scaling and polishing.. masa cabut ya Allah... the condition of my tooth made it difficult for the doctor to pull it out. Siap kena cucuk extra bius in the middle of the process 'coz it hurt so bad (haha me exaggerating). Masa cabut, the top part patah... leaving the 2 roots in the gum. So had to cut the gum and pull the roots one by one. Dekat sejam jugak nak cabut gigi yang satu ni... man.. haven't had such pain in a looong time. My gum was bleeding till late night yesterday... nak makan pun susah.

Now okaylaa.. pening ada sikit.. selsema pun ada sikit.. rasa nak demam pun ada... Ja pun rasa macam nak demam.. siap Rayyan pun kata... "Rayyan strong.. Papa and Mama tak strong!"

He's even willing to go to the dentist to the same thing to 7 other gigi anytime. I think the environment in Smileshop makes it so welcoming and trauma-less for kids.. that's a good thing. I was so afraid of going to the dentist that I only went to them only 3-4 times all my life before knowing about Smileshop.

So that's that. Still feel the sore in my gum... Ja dah okay.. Rayyan pun of course la okay... Rayhana.. slept the whole time at the dentist.

Friday, November 21, 2008

eToys.com.my

I didn't know I had signed up with this website. They notified me of their current promotions and they're not too bad!

I bought these 2 VCDs online yesterday through eToys.com.my:


When I was a kid, I was so hooked on to the Mr Men and Little Miss series... love them to bits... now the Mr Men company have expanded their range of products to include more educational stuff... math, science, etc and are available at MPH bookstores etc...

The other VCD.. the nursery rhymes.. I had to buy that 'coz I feel that not being enrolled in a kindy, Rayyan is lacked of exposure to nursery rhymes... hopefully he'll learn the songs thru this VCD and sing it to Rayhana...

Oh, by the way.. these stuff I bought online only yesterday and I received them this morning!! How much? RM35 for all inclusive of delivery by GDex.

Payment can be done by credit card or Maybank2u, etc...

Check out the website: eToys.com.my

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

She smiled back!

A nice start for the day. I was busy doing my daily routine... waking up, go to toilet while reading the papers, set up Rayhana's bath tub, waking up Ja to bathe her, pick up Rayhana's clothes to wash, and checking my mails... then Ja calls me to help her give Rayhana the final rinse.. then go back to checking my mails, etc... then... today...

While I was checking the mails, Ja brought Rayhana to me smelling all nice and fresh. I held her in my arms.... talked to her... gugugaga and all when suddenly SHE SMILED!!!

Before this you can of course see her smiling to whatever reason old folks can imagine... but this time she responded to what I was doing to her! (Well Ja mentioned that Rayhana did the same thing to her yesterday..).. well.. it's a first for me!!

Tried to snap a photo of her smiling but I think she got confused to what was going on... haha

Now I'm at work... smiling...

Monday, November 17, 2008

Our own Nyamuk-Buster

My parents have been using this for almost 1 year already. Sometimes kitorang pinjam when the situation gets too irritating. I'm not a fan of the usual ubat nyamuk smell.. be it electric.. or the lingkar... yg lingkar tu lagi laa... dengan asap lagi... so this nyamuk-buster is a Godsend.

Now, since Rayhana was born, we have our very own unit! Thanks to Rayhana's nenek for giving us a brand new nyamuk buster as a gift for our baby... to be used in our room... hehe

Tadaaaa...

It uses UV light to attract mosquitoes and has a fan at the bottom to pull them in and make sure they stay there till they die.. hahahaha... well actually they will be dehydrated to death...

Nak buang nyamuk senang je... you can take out the nyamuk "deathbed" compartment by sliding it out from the main body....

Then, slide the actual deathbed out...

You can see how many mosquites have been bustered...

... all the nyamuks semua keras-keras... kalau nak simpan dalam galeri pun ok.. all dehydrated... because of the fan...

If you look closely, the net also traps habuk from the air.... which is a good thing for you asthma people...

On a good week (I clean the compartment every week) there will be 20 dead mosquitoes in there. And you can say almost 99.99% of them perut diorang still takde darah lagi... that means this Nyamuk-buster attracts the nyamuks even before they can get to suck our precious blood!

How much does it cost? RM300+. Available at selected pharmacies.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Rayyan and Linguistic Intelligence



Linguistic intelligence is all about how smart your kids are with words and language. How well they communicate with others, how well they express themselves, articulate their ideas and relaying one's message to others.

Kids are smart. They can communicate in however ways they are comfortable with. If they don't know how to read, it doesn't mean they do not have linguistic intelligence.

Kids grow up with their surroundings. Whatever they see and hear, they will imitate. If you swear and curse, don't be angry at them if they do too. I'm sure you guys are aware that every time you scold your kids you tend to sound like either one of your parents... or maybe both!

I owe Rayyan's ability to communicate in English to Astro's Disney Channel 613. I always say to Ja that I want Rayyan to be able to speak Malay first and have a somewhat strong basic in it before starting to converse with him in English.

Of course TV took control, and I'm glad it did! hahaha Rayyan started to communicate with us in English. We were surprised and gladly play along so that he won't feel awkward speaking the language at home. So now he knows both language rather well.. although his Malay pronunciation is somewhat Matsalleh celup sikit... haha

And the stuff he learns from TV.. absolutely wonderful! Thank God people have started to make good programs for kids! He was just telling me about Spring, Winter, Summer, and Autumn. He knows all these things.. and he knows what a planet is, Mars - being the red planet etc, outer space, etc... I asked him where did he learn all these.... Little Einstein! There you go, the ability to explain what he knows about all these, and the ability to answer questions posed to them.. another sign of linguistic intelligence.

The above video was taken long ago when Ja was still pregnant with Rayhana. I prepared the Malay syllables according to the Bacalah Sayang books we published. Pasted the A4 papers on the wall in our room. Lantaklaa anak punya pasal bilik tak kemas pun lantaklaaa.. at least that's the last thing he sees at night and the first thing he sees in the morning.... the ideal set-up for absorption of knowledge.. hehe

Although linguistic intelligence is not so much about the ability to read, but it is that skill that would take that intelligence level further up. If you don't know how to read, camna nak belajar? haha.. but sometimes parents do get carried away cakap anak dia bodoh lagi sebab tak pandai baca... no such thing as bodoh... "stupid is as stupid does".. hehehe you don't need to know how to read to be able to communicate well.... Nabi Muhammad was intelligent.. and he didn't know how to read!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

The 4 of us out shopping

For the first time!


On November 10th, Rayhana had to get her 1-mth Hepatitis shot. At the same time Ja had to do her papsmear, while me and Rayyan had to eat sardine roll and chocolate cupcake from the D'sara Specialist cafe.

Rayhana was born 3.09kg. After 1 week, her weight was 3.10kg.. now after 4 weeks, her weight jumped to 4.4kg! And we thought she didn't have enough breastfeeding... haha unlike Rayyan, where Ja's breasts were never enough, Rayhana's diet is strictly breast milk.

So, after the hospital trip, we all went to Ikano. Initially we planned to go to One Utama, but then malas la pulak...


We had lunch at Dome. Me and Ja had Spicy Olio Spaghetti and Caesar Salad, Rayyan had mushroom soup and nuggets & chips, while Rayhana had some sleep.

So, after makan, Rayhana nak susu pulak. So we went to the tempat salin/menyusu budak kat Ikano tu.. all four of us went in.... until suddenly Rayyan pulak nak terberak.

Brought him into that father and son stall in the toilet. Cleaned the toilet seat, and had him sit there. Dah lama duduk, tak keluar-keluar jugak.. sempat lagi ambik gambar...


hehehe last-last memang tak berak pun... so we went back to see Rayhana minum susu... dah habis pun.. Ja had already even changed Rayhana's diaper.

Lepas tu we went to Cold Storage. Got some stuff for everyone... including Rayan's own BEN 10 t-shirt! Saja beli besar... give some room for the dryer to shrink it.


Then balik rumah, malam tu... saja-saja jer snap gambar the four of us.. although not altogether in 1 frame.. hehe

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Multiple Intelligence

I'm always fascinated by how the brain works, especially what actually happens when we're learning something and how one person's brain activity differs from another person's while learning the same thing.

Being a writer/publisher of kids' learning materials, how I wish I have the right formula that would suit every kid's brain! I believe kids learn at different pace, depending on lots of factors: family culture, their surroundings, and to a certain extent, genetic... etc.

I just read an article on the theory of multiple intelligence by a Harvard Professor, Howard Gardner. He lists 8 different types of intelligence, which to me is an opportunity for us parents to see if our kids have enough exposure to all of them...

1. Linguistic intelligence
2. Logical-mathematical intelligence
3. Musical intelligence
4. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence
5. Spatial intelligence
6. Interpersonal intelligence
7. Intrapersonal intelligence
8. Naturalist intelligence

I just wanna list them down now so I won't forget.

I have Rayyan and Rayhana as my "guinea pigs" in experimenting on stuff that I need to do for work and the above list of intelligences sure does help in shaping our kids to be a more complete person, as well as becoming a framework for all my publications in years to come. Previously, everything was centered around the various learning theories and not so much on multiple intelligence theories, which I feel are essential to make learning theories applicable. Lets face it, if the kids aren't ready to learn, how can you make learning work?

I want my children to understand the world, but not just because the world is fascinating and the human mind is curious. I want them to understand it so that they will be positioned to make it a better place. Knowledge is not the same as morality, but we need to understand if we are to avoid past mistakes and move in productive directions. An important part of that understanding is knowing who we are and what we can do... Ultimately, we must synthesize our understandings for ourselves. The performance of understanding that try matters are the ones we carry out as human beings in an imperfect world which we can affect for good or for ill. (Howard Gardner 1999: 180-181)


For more, click here.

You can Google Howard Gardner and get more details of his theories...

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Rayhana is 1 month old today...

Glitter Words

Thursday, November 06, 2008

What I did to my son before Raya

I balded his head. 2 weeks before Raya. It was Saturday morning. My dad was unhappy. My mom was sort of mad. Ja who came home from work in the afternoon thought there's another kid in the house. Lagi 2 minggu nak Raya and Rayyan looked so not him hahaha. He never looked good with short hair, let alone bald!

Rayyan's hair was in dire need of a cut. Panjang sampai masuk2 mata. Rimas orang tengok. Usually I would use the scissors. Ntah macamana I couldn't find one that day. So I used the trimmer and set at No.4 (that would leave about at least an inch of hair). All was well when it was 90% completed.

Then it came the trimmings of the side burn. I took out the No.4, and trimmed the sides. Suddenly tertrim lebih la pulak. Terbotak area sebelah atas telinga dia. Then I tried to make it even on the other side. Jadi gonjeng pulak. So had no choice but to teruskanlah proses pembotakan rambut si Rayyan ni. But then tak even la pulak. I never had the experience botakkan kepala sesapa.

So Atok came to the rescue. He finished it off for me. Pity the boy. As I brought him to wash up, he looked himself in the mirror and slowly said... "I need my hair..." :( sambil dia usap-usap kepala dia yang botak tu.

But he's a good sport. Untuk menyedapkan hati dia.. tiba-tiba je dia kata.. "Papa, my hair is stylish!" chewah budak ni.. ntah mana dia belajar perkataan tu pun I don't know...

We actually had an invitation to buka puasa at Dewan Perdana Felda by Felishia's bf's family. So dengan botak-botak tu la si Rayyan pergi berbuka puasa with all of us.

The food was great! Literally 101 types of food, including 2 racks of lamb.

Bila dah almost habis time berbuka.. about 11pm, orang pun dah takde, we were the last ones there, Rayyan actually helped the waiters kumpul botol-botol mineral water kosong and buang dalam plastik sampah diorang... hahaha and he was happy doing it!

At one time he actually had 7 bottles with him. Yang lawaknya bila dia lari tergedek-gedek pi cari botol and kumpul, panjat meja and give to the waiters, and then lari tergedek-gedek lagi dengan kepala botak dia... haha lawak gila...

Now, occasionally, he would say.. "Papa, see my hair is growing!!"

When I ask if he wants to cut his hair again... he said.. NO!

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Rayyan and his Seashell

These photos were taken months ago, before Rayhana was born (and Rayyan still got hair!! hehe). Saja nak upload gambar lama-lama daripada tersimpan kat laptop ni hehe.


That's Rayyan and Seashell the Ikan Laga...

One good thing about this ikan laga is that it's VERY low maintenance. A friend of mine Shazmin who bought fish about the same time we did accidentally left it 4 whole weeks without food and it's still alive!! Talk about low maintenance, huh?!!

Well this fish of ours eats at least 2 times a day. Initially we bought 2 small bottles of palletes but somehow I misplaced one of them. So bila pallete dia dah habis, I was too lazy to go to pet shop to get a similar one, so I just went to Giant and bough the generic tropical fish pallette. Slightly bigger, but small enough to fit Seashell's mouth.


Seashell ni satu hal... mengada-ngada. She (or he?) will only eat fresh palletes.. which are still crunchy within seconds they touch the water. Yang dah lembap2 after 5 seconds tu dia tak layan dah... so tu yang buat air dia cepat berkeladak.


So now, I only splash in very little amount of palletes so that dia boleh habiskan within seconds and stop feeding him. I know this fella is always hungry 'coz this fishy would jump for food at the next feeding time. Hahaha.. didn't know this fishy could jump... haha

Some of you guys may know about my "geliness" with any animal that moves... haha well.. same with the fishes, when it's time to tukar air.. haha

Ja used to do that. But ever since dia tengah sarat nak beranak, I took over... TERPAKSA. So I scooped Seashell out of her bowl every 4-5 days... hahaha I faced my geliness, and now dah tak geli dah.