when it is more precious than a gold..

Kids and soft cuddly toys perhaps like rhythm and song. They are inseparable. Maybe not to all kids but for my son the answer is yes.

It dull yet it precious

This little rabbit I bought at IKEA for Eur 5 when he was in my tummy and fter he was born I introduced this little creature for him to hug and cuddle during sleeping. I never thought he would love this rabbit as much as I could imagine off. Where ever he goes, he brings this rabbit along. Even though in the first day at school until now he still brings the rabbit with him. He even said a few time to me  that the rabbit is his son. He got the idea of son thingy when I always say that he is my son and that is why I love him so much.

Reminiscing the incident that happened when we were on holiday in Paris where this rabbit once dropped on Champs Elysees's road. I realized about the missing after a few minutes and it took me quite a while to find it back after needing me to run back and forth like a mad! Fortunately, I spotted the rabbit sitting nicely on the window sill at one of the shop at the corner of the road. Indeed, I could not thanks enough to the anonymous who put the rabbit on the safe place :-)).

The second time Haris lost his rabbit was when we were on holiday in Austria. The rabbit again fell off somewhere right in the city center of Vienna. I did not realize the missing until one of the stranger patted on my back and handed me the rabbit. Obviously, Thank Allah for that to send me a nice hearted stranger!

The third and last time the rabbit went missing was when we were on the way back to KL from Kelantan by train. That was the last day we were in Kelantan and we supposed to return to Belgium in three days time. When we were waiting for the train, Haris asked for milk and every time he wants to have milk, he will ask for the rabbit. We were looking for the rabbit everywhere and unfortunately, we could not find it, let alone the shadow of it! My day made a phone call to my brother, asking for the rabbit since he was at home at that time. He checked for the rabbit everywhere and finally he found the rabbit at the back seat of his car. I explained to Haris about the rabbit and he tried to keep the emotion out of his voice, but he failed, and in the end, he cried out loud of his healthy lungs because he could not grasp the idea of losing it.

The main problem was, we could not get the rabbit straightaway since our train was due to depart from the station in any minutes away.

After having discussion, my brother came with the idea of sending the rabbit by lorry since one of his mutual friend is a lorry driver and he due to drive the lorry to KL in the following days. What a great suggestion!

I managed to persuade Haris to use the new rabbit ( which I had in my luggage ) for one night only. Though,  all I could say was, Haris petite face under the moon's silvery spell, who supposed to enjoy riding the sleeping cabin train for the first time seemed sadden. Full of sorrow, period!

The next day, when the sunlight peeking through the curtain in our cabin,  he woke up from sleeping and it only took a few seconds for him to ask about the rabbit. Again, I have to tell him in a decent and simple way to understand that the rabbit will be arriving in KL tonight by lorry. Guess what? He was quiet and understood me pretty well. So, no drama for the whole day!

In the night on the next day, my sister went to collect the rabbit from the driver and alhamdulillah, here it is now the rabbit safe and sound with Haris. I hope there is no such incident of dropping the rabbit again in the future. I just could not imagine if this rabbit went missing for good and if this thing happened, I hope he will get used with the idea of living without his best buddy.

Perhaps,  I will write again about the chaos and madness :-p.

All about 2012

I vaguely remember I had written somewhere about the new year, back in the end of 2011 and in a few days away 2012 is going to bid good bye for all of us. 2012, so far brings me good and bad memories all together, though I fond of writing about the best experienced that I have ever had this year. It feels awkward to start writing after stopping for almost half of year but I do know that there are a lot to share with, but I could not help from being such a lazy bone in these past few months.

Talking about the vacation in year 2012

In April , we went to the states for 10 days. The initial planned was accompanying my husband who had conference in Hawaii. Since the 5 stars accommodation was gratis, thus, Haris and I decided to tag along. Honestly, that was the best vacation that I have ever had! I took thousands of pictures and for Haris, he keeps talking and reminiscing about the holiday in Hawaii. Knowing him well, I know he loved the trip so much. (By the way, sometimes I had forgotten how talkative my son could be :-)).)

In June, out of the blue, my husband made a decision to celebrate Eid in Malaysia. He bought the flight tickets two weeks before the departure date and we stayed in Malaysia for almost 3 months to enjoy every single days with our families. We went on holiday all over in Malaysia and enjoyed those holidays as much as we could say in words. We ended our vacation in 2012 by visiting Poland. I booked the flights after Haris kept saying he wanted to play with the big and heavy snow. After thinking for sometimes, I decided to visit Poland instead. I could not be wrong because the first day we stepped our foot in Warsaw, the temperature was around -8 degree celsius. The thick snow was everywhere to be seen. The second and the rest of the visit , the highest temperature was 0 degree celsius. And for the first time, the bitter cold weather resulting in Haris cried out due to his feet and hands were in pain.

The icing on the top of our visit was, our flight back to Belgium was delayed for about 6 hours and we needed to ride a shuttle bus to go to the another airport which was almost 3 hours ride, to fly back home due to the heavy snow. On the way to the other airport, I could see my window view was like the water dropped turning opaque, too foggy and icy cold. Though, I was delightful at the end of the day because  we managed to fly back to Belgium without needing to spend extra night in Poland.

-Talking about Haris-

As I write this, I could not help staring at him who is lying down by me ,his face is so serene, almost angelic  drifting in his slumber. Deep in me, I was debating whether or not to kiss him good night. Well, I think I might leave him be, allowing his dreams to drift without interruption.

Haris..hmm ( thinking mode) , when we returned to Belgium to continue our routine life I could sense Haris felt pretty bored here. In Malaysia he could play outside anytime he wanted to and he was surrounding by so many people around to consult him whenever he felt sad, happy ,angry etc. This time was his first experienced with the family back home.

Earliest day when we arrived in Malaysia, he scared of everything, you just named it! The cockroaches, the mosquitoes, the ants and even the big fan at the restaurant. It took quite a while for him to adjust with the surroundings. He was not fond of the cold water and even the wet toilet. He wanted to put on the shoes instead of sandals everywhere he went. In the midday, when the temperature was scorching high, he would whining and pleading us to switch on the air-cond. For him, everything was new. Though, I was beaming wide because finally, he loved everything about Malaysia , well except the weather.

Talking about his development pace, Haris is officially 3 years old. He talks so much and he makes his own decision in everything he does. He does not like to be told what to do etc. Sometimes, it is quite ifficult for me to handle in some sort of 'situation' and believe me, we had a lot of arguments and rows. Izham said, Haris and I are meant to be together because we share the same attitudes and habits, , like mother like son :-P.

As for school, he enjoyed being at the school and I could tell, he understands a lot for French language. I hope by the time is right, he will know French by heart. Amin.

Last but not least, about my new year resolution.  Cliche me, I think I do not have any except I want to try to be as good as I can. Trying to be more positive ,InsyaAllah. 

detik waktu

Detik waktu terus berlalu..semua berakhir padamu...

Class photo

This is his class photo for year 2012. The 'accueil' class is the beginner among the other classes.

Oahu , Hawaii-United States

We flew off from San Francisco International Airport, Hawaii on 21st April 2012 by United Airlines. It took 5 hours plus journey from there. When we arrived in Hawaii , the clock showed 9pm in the night. The time difference was 12 hours with Belgium.

From the airport, we took shuttle to go to the hotel at Moana surfin resort hotel in Waikiki Beach and for the return trip was 59 dollar for two adults.

The best thing when we were there was, the hotel itself besides the good weather and exotic location to visit. The hotel was 200 dollar pe night with the conference rate and it located right in the city center of Waikiki. We stayed in Hawaii for 8 days and we joined and enjoyed various types of activities when we were there.

If people asked me how's Hawaii, my answer is  ' it an expensive place to visit but I love it that much because of the surroundings and I still missed the place!'

San Francisco-California, United States

On 20th April 2012 we flew off to San Francisco before heading to Hawaii. The flight from Brussels to San Francisco took around 18 hours including transit in Philadelphia International Airport and I was glad because the journey was smooth sailing and Haris did not cranky at all. We passed by the immigration easily without hassle and thanked God I for the friendly customer services and people  in the states!

We stayed overnight at Holiday Inn Civic Center and the hotel was about USD 140 per night. Not bad I think considering it closed approximity to the Bart train station and the journey to the airport only 30 minutes by train. The fare for round trip was USD 16.20 per pax.

When we arrived at San Francisco it was around 11 pm at night so, straightaway we checked in the hotel to stretch our feet after being in the flight for a long journey and had a good night sleep . The following day, we left the hotel at 8.30 am and continued our day by sightseeeing in the city center.

Our first stopped was, plaza civic center and union plaza. These two places just a few meters away from our hotel . After taking some pictures we strolled down the road until we reached a station for a cable car. We bought a day passport by munni for USD 14 per pax. By using this passport we could ride any buses, trams, cable car etc unlimited and trust me, it was cheap if you travelled by the public transport frequently on the whole day.  Unfortunately we only rode a bus when we returned from fisherman wharf to the city center. We did not ride a cable car due to the buggy unfriendly design for the car. It was ok though because every trip we go, normally we just went by foot to explore the places :-)

We read a map and off to Fisherman wharf. We took pictures at pier 39, hard rock cafe is here! The pier 41m Hyde street pier, the China town and etc. If you asked me which one is better either Eueope or states for visiting, my answer would be, Europe, though for shopping and the friendly people I choose The states!

V.i.s.a

On February, 9th I called the Embassy of the United States in Brussels to make an appointment for  our (Haris and I)  tourist visas application. I did fill in the online form for the two of us beforehand, well pretty sure I had because it clearly stated in the web about the instructions of the visa application.  When I was on the phone, the officer (guy) who answered the called was briefing me about the documents etc even though all the infos are completed in their web and I really appreciated that and the fees for each visa was Eur 112. Generally, he said, I did not need to bring Haris during the application day, I just came solely to the office on the appointed date. Thus, on February, 15th I went off to Brussels alone and Am was taking care of Haris.

The application was straight forward for me(alhamdulilah), I had to arrive 10 minutes earlier and was in lined with the rest of the others applicants. We had to go through the security checked for our stuffs etc before entering the office. In a few minutes later, they called my number to submit my confirmation pages and the self addressed envelopes. There was a silly incident happened though. I was mistakenly sticking the registered post form on the envelops and basically, the envelopes were ruined but thank Allah, the officer at the counter, helped me out by giving me another envelopes and registered stamps which were costed Euro12 for the two envelopes freely. Initially, she wanted me to go to the nearby post office just to buy the envelopes and I had to redo the appointment, but after asking was there any other option for me instead of redo the appointment bla bla bla, and she came out with the idea that I mentioned above. Then, she scanned all the fingers print and I had to wait again for about 30 minutes before they calling for the interview at the next counter with another officer.

After waiting for awhile, my number popped out on the screen and off I went to the counter. The officer just asked the purposed of my visit, who was going to pay for the visit, my bank statements and basically that's all. He was so friendly and he said I was picking up the best destination ever for my first trip to the states. The interviewed lasted for less than 10 minutes and he said our visa (Haris and I) will be ready in the post in a week time.

I was blurred because the processed went very fast and easy, I thought they were going to ask all the documents that I had prepared in advanced, to be honest two copies of each documents were a lot and they did not bother to ask even one :-P.  After thanking him, I returned to Liege.

The time passed by, and after a week I checked my post box and I found a receipt to collect the visa at the designated post office. The receipt actually had arrived almost a week earlier, but I never checked the letter, pretty careless huh! I tracked online about the visa and I was amazed to know that, the Embassy granted me the visa on the same day when I went for the visa application and they courriered the visas in the following day, what a good service!

Frankly, I did not have problems at all during the application and I really appreciate for their fast and prompt action :-))))

InsyaAllah, we will fly out on 20th April and I hope everything is going very well.

Current mode is -E.X.C.I.T.E.D-

At last he is the proud owner of the dog!

I mentioned about my boy asking me to buy a dog before.

Thus, yesterday when I went out and about with him we passed by one shop, 'zigzag'. This shop sells house deco items  etc.

Suddenly, out of the blue,he said..

Haris-mama, yet's go (his accent of let's) in to the pet's shop.
Mama-pet shop? which one is the pet shop Haris?
Haris-this one mama, the black color shop (zigzag signboard is black)
Mama-This is not the pet shop, this is house deco shop.
Haris-No mama this is the pet shop. yet's go !
Mama-Ok..

So, off we went into the shop and suddenly he said,' that one mama. The white and small and fluffy dog is overthere,' while pointing at one corner where the doqs were sitting nicely on the rack. I was err..'are you sure this one?'. He answered 'yes. I sure (in his accent of course)!.

Now, I know! He saw this dog before at the same shop and that is why he wants a dog.

After paid  EUR5 for this dog, he kept holding the dog and playing with it and his mouth never stopped asking me 'Is it cute mama?'...hahahahha

It is chocolate milk not the cows' milk

Since Haris was a baby, he against any milks from the cows. He rejected formula milk so does the fresh milk until he was two years old, I found a special milk from Nestle that he really fonds of. The milk is about Eur 2.50 per carton which is 1L and it only takes two days for him to finish up the milk, which is quite impressive, at least for me.

Last night, as usual he will ask for the milk, he called the milk as a hot chocolate. So this goes the conversation between Haris and his dad.

Haris- Papa, I want hot chocolate, please.
Papa-Hot chocolate? It is not hot chocolate Haris, it is a cow milk.
(papa tried to tease him)
Haris-No papa no! It is hot chocolate not the cow milk.
Papa-it is a cow milk not hot chocolate.
Haris-No, it  chocolate milk not the cow milk! ( in screaming tone).
Papa-Ok, where is the chocolate milk comes from then?
Haris-comes from the chocolate papa. milk comes from the chocolate.
Papa-ooo..so you drink milk from chocolate?
Haris-Yes.
Papa-is it yummy?
Haris-it's delicious (while making a hand sign of rubbing the tummy in a cicle movement).

Haris, Haris...he keeps thinking milk from the chocolate because he said cow's milk is dirty and disgusting ( he said this before) and he also thinks bee comes from honey not honey comes from the bee.:p

A week of first time schooling

5 days after he has been to school..

Day 1-He was crying a lot and kept saying 'mama is upstairs n miss mama and papa'..:-))..As my previous entry.

Day 2-When he woke up in the morning he kept saying ' no school mama', thus I twisted the word of 'school' to 'nursery' instead. Because of the word nursery we arrived without drama until he saw the school sign. Then , I dropped him to the teacher, the tears bursted out and I just left. When I went to collect him at the midday, he cried when he saw me but the teacher said, today he was better than yesterday.. Alhamdulillah..improvement!

Day 3- He is getting better and perhaps he could comprehend that nursery is his routine now, though he is still crying but not that much like those past two days...

Day 4- When we arrived at school he cried n when I collected him , the teacher said he only cried for 5 minutes..alhamdulillah, -improved tremendously!

Day 5 -Teary eyed when we arrived at the school in the morning and fortunately, those eyes were twinkling when I collected him today :-)) alhamdulillah!

Leap year 2012

Leap year!

A big step has started..

Yesterday I had meeting with a director from one of the schools which I fancied to enroll Haris. The meeting was around 2pm, after chatting and taking a look of the surrounding, I decided to register Haris straightaway. The school starts at 8.30am or 9 am to 3.30pm but for the first week I opted for half day only and the teachers were fine with my idea, considering that, his age is not compulsory for schooling yet.

Thus, today was the big day for my boy. We brisk walked to the school and arrived 5 minutes to 9 am and headed to the class. After settling putting his belongings and the teacher braced him in her arms, he started showing the sad face but not cried yet though I could see his lips trembled.  After saying good bye and promised to collect him later, we left.

Three hours passed by like a minute. I was busy preparing lunch and tidying up the house and when I finished my tasks, the clock showed quarter to midday. I got myself ready and headed to the school. I had to climb a flight of stairs to reach the classroom and once I arrived , I could hear a familiar voice crying in the melancholic tone.

Seriusly, I felt sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach but I had to be strong. I knocked the door and soon after he seeing my face he was running after me and stopped crying. I had to console him about everything was ok and I did ask him , 'Haris, do you want to go to school tomorrow and why were you crying?'. He answered me in a sad voiced, ' Yes mama. I am sad because I miss u and papa and aunty Ina :-)).

I think, perhaps he thought that we were leaving him for good with a stranger and he might think we are no longer need him in our life, poor baby :-).

Though, I am pleased because he made it for three hours today. So, for tomorrow fingers crossed ! As a mum I have to say and hope for the best..InsyaAllah..

When he asked for a dog...

Haris and I went for grocceries shopping today. When we were out and about he saw a cute, small and white dog on the road .Frankly, he kept eyeing the dog until the dog dissappeared from his sight. Suddenly, out of the blue he popped this question to me,

Haris-mama,I want dog, can we buy dog ? (mama I want a dog, can we buy one?)
Mama-sorry, what are you saying Haris? I could not hear him clearly since the sounds of the bus which passing by was very loud.
Haris-I want dog, a small dog and white colour one.
Mama-Oh you want a small and white dog?
Haris-Yes mama.
Mama- Why do you fancy a dog Haris? Can I buy you a black and big dog instead?
Haris-No, I want white and small dog only.
Mama-but why?
Haris-because I think white and small dog is cute mama.And it soft and fluffy.
Mama-owh cute..Ok, can I buy you a cat instead?
Haris-ok black cat.
Mama-do you have a cat Haris?
Haris-yes, black and dark color cat.
Mama-what is your cat's name Haris?
Haris-It's name is Neo.

 His latest photo for US visa.

Hehehe..seriously, I don't know why he thinks the dog is cute , sorry baby dog is no-no and when you grow up I will tell you why the answer is no.

Talking about everything

From the buggy, mama

I taught Haris about normal stuffs to improve his thinking and vocaboulary since at this age he easily absorbs the information.

Mama-Haris, where is the feather comes from?

Haris-It's from the hugggggggge bird.( Can you imagine he said huge while showing the hands language of huge so cute !)

Mama-Ok, what else Haris?

Haris- From chicken mama.

Mama-Yes, well done Haris! Next, where is the egg comes from?

Haris-Egg from chicken mama.

Mama-Well done! and egg comes from a bird and a duck too! Do you understand that Haris?

Haris-Yes, mama.

Mama-Haris, where is the honey comes from?

Haris- From the bzzz bee ( he wanted to say the busy bee but he only managed to say bzzz as a buzy hehehee).

Haris- He asked me back about the honey but his question was like this, 'mama, where honey fom?'

Mama-Honey comes from the bee.

Haris- No mama, listen! bee comes from honey.

Mama-No Haris, honey comes from the bee.

Haris-Listen, bee from honey ( while screaming because wanted to say his right hahaha).

Mama- Ok ok. Haris! Hmmm one more time ok, where is Haris comes from?

Haris- From the buggy mama. Baby from the buggy, baby crying no good bla bla bla..He kept telling me a story about the baby.

Mama- Haris, so you come from the buggy?not from papa and mama then?

Haris-Yes mama..

Hahahaa, I think he must think he really comes from the buggy hahahah!

Inappropriate, oh dear!

Nurturing our kids need us to say more positive things in hoping they will build their self esteem and confidence . The kids will grow up and become a person in a way we teach them how to be. As for me, I admit I am not a perfect mum, yet to be a supermom, is out of my reach. When I have so much in my plate, I could not control my anger towards Haris and the innocent toddler becomes one of the reason for me to let go my 'grumpiness'.

I realized my mistakes but sometimes, it did happen beyond my control. As per example, when Haris kept demanding things when I was busy rolling up my sleeves in the kitchen, I easily felt annoying when he asked for my attention by dropping stuffs , asking so many questions etc.

Thus, this happened today,

Haris-mama, where is the rabbit?mama, what sound does the cow make? mama nak hot chocolate,..mama this and mama that..!

Mama-( Making the sighing sound likes this) 'uhhhh, what else do you want Haris?I am busy plsssss!' My intonation just about losing patience.

Haris- copying me by saying 'uuuhuhh'.. and he copied my intonation too!

I was breathing in and out while watching at the small face and thinking, oh dear, what have I taught to my kid?

Soon after that, I asked myself, 'Is this what I want? My kid to reply me like this when I old?'

Seriously, I felt sorry for him and for myself. InsyaAllah, I will try to control my grumpiness better in the future. Err, do I need a session for anger management counseling? Hehehe ok just kiding!

Mama was sorry Haris, I know that was the inappropriate manners of me as a mum..To be honest, I did say sorry to Haris and he replied me by saying 'it's okay mama'  ;-)))

About making choices..

As for today, Haris knows how to used a sentence about making choices. When I was with him in the train off to Brussels in an early morning, he kept talking, non stop. Asking me about this and that, suddenly, he said..

Haris- which way mama? (he asked me about the toilet in the train).

Mama- that way haris, while pointing to the door.

Haris- okay! that way..yet's go mama (let's go mama).

Then, he continued...

Haris- Mama, which want do you want?

Mama-Err..I want both ( he asked me to choose the jackets, hehehe).

Haris-want both?okay!

I am pleased, with his achievement. I t might be nothing but it is something for me.

Pre loved Fossil handbag anyone..?

If anyone interested in this pre loved fossil handbag do let me know at niniey78@gmail.com. Tq. All I can say this bag is rarely used, perhaps not more that thrice time. The asking price is RM 399 but negotiable ( with relevant price only!)

Happy New Year 2012

I was meant to write this last night, a few minutes away before the clock strucked 00.00 in the midnight. Unfortunately,  I was busy having  keoy teow tomyam and then went off straightaway to the bridge to watch the fireworks.

Last night was Haris first experienced of watching the beautiful and amazing fireworks under the drizzled. Well, it could be romantic if Haris was not there but with his presence the surroundings more on like FAQ session between a toddler and the parents.

Trust me, everytime he hears the bang sounds on the air he will ask 'what is that sound?', non stopped! And, he kept saying' the beautiful fireworks bla bla bla' .Luckily he did not cranky or whatsoever. He just enjoyed the joyful night and staring in the sky without blinking, amazing perhaps!

Anyway, before it is too late, Happy New Year 2012..Bonne Annee...