I didn't mean to go on a long hiatus. God knows what challenging 4 weeks I had.
It was a balance of good and bad but truly challenging. As always, my stories will unfold over time. I was not about to give up blogging for those who thought I already have.

Here was us when on the day we left Singapore for Jeddah.
It was an amazing trip. Something which I can never forget during my entire lifetime.

Here are some pictures from my relatives which uploaded them on Facebook. As it is, i have not even had the time to view all my pictures on the computer.









Thank you Jannah for the pink teddy bear you gave Rania on the day of departure. It was one of her loyal friends throughout the trip!
Thank you to all who came by and sent us off. I feel so loved by all of you.

This is my favourite picture of myself and Rania. Thank you Hakim for capturing this!



And trust me, when I was there, I felt my relationship with my beloved husband sparked off again since my dad's passing.
I told him in the airplane,"B, I feel like we are going for our honeymoon."



Insya Allah, more pictures, more stories to share.
We had a valuable and interesting trip. An eye opener. A spiritual journey which all of us needed.

Till the next post.

Finding love

After a long time, I am burning the midnight oil to write in this entry. Rania slept early and I have completed all the other things I needed to.
Lately, I felt like I had too many things at my hand all at once, that I admit I prioritise somethings more than others.

Firstly, I had my period 5 days late. Nausea, dizziness, refuse to eat and I was confident that I was going through my first trimester.
3 pregnancy sticks and I was still negative. I even resorted to buying the $25 digitial pregnancy kit test but it was still negative. I was frustrated but at the same time scared that there is a health issue that I did not know.

So now I know I am not pregnant, I went to the doctor to discuss on my symptoms which he merely suspected that I was too tired.

Because of that, I rarely spent time with Rania and I swear I hate myself. When I get to, I am drained that all I wish was for her to head to bed early. (how can i not hate myself)
That also explains my quiet Instagram and occasional Facebook activity.

Everything was demanding. Tuition classes were kicking off. Work was demanding because I am really taking on 3 HUGE projects, excluding all the administration work which we can never run away from.
I really did not expect a promotion. From the day I accepted the offer, it was the same day that emails multi folds, internal meetings doubled and external meetings tripled. I am not kidding. I told Alfi that I could not carry my backpack any longer.
It was taking a toll on my back that I could not carry Rania when I came home.

With his bonus, he gifted me a laptop trolley bag which I am so grateful for it.
(We make an effort to present each other with something not too expensive each time we get our yearly bonus.)

I put my photography and home business aside and that of course impacted me. But it was my choice and I had to face the music. I had too but I had to maintain my pace at work and make them know that it was not a mistake to give that new role to me.

It was three weeks ago when mum announced that we were going for Umrah. So many things just run in my head that I got disorientated. I did not know what to do, how to feel, what to expect.

Can you imagine, I did not even know that it was winter and I was rushing before the year-end sale last year to get Rania some warm clothes, socks, stocking up her milk and buying new bottles because now her milk demand increases.

I did not even know what to bring, what to wear, what to wear to the airport, what to standby in the plane. I did not know what the itenary means.
I still need to find the right diaper bag to carry and I finally finalised the things I need to bring to Makkah and Medinah. I needed to dress properly yet practically for the pilgrimage because Rania will be with me. Alfi and I need to strategise on what bags to carry and hand-carry into the cabin because I need to push the pram and take care of Rania.

I feared if I got sick and quickly scheduled appointments with my asthma specialist, allergy specialist, stock up some of my medications for the trip. Then I needed to think of what medications to bring along in case if Rania gets sick there, which I hope not.

Then we had to attend the crash course to make sure we know the basics to do Umrah.
Everyday I worry there is something which I am missing out. Today, I have still yet to put all these in my head into a 'What to bring' list. Alfi is still finalising our travel insurance.

So last weekend, the whole family went for the Umrah briefing and there were chants at the background. As I looked at the screen, I saw the translation in Malay and I teared.

Labbaik Allah humma labbaik
Labbaik la sharika laka labbaik
Innal hamda
Wan-ni'mata
Laka walmulk
Laa sharika lah.

O my Lord, here I am at Your service, here I am.
There is no partner with You,
here I am.
Truly the praise
and the provisions are Yours,
and so is the dominion and sovereignty.

There is no partner with You.

Then I realised what it meant by the calling to go there.



Insya Allah I will be there soon. I am still nervous about it as much as I am looking forward to this trip. With no expectations, I only wish my family and I are in good health to perform our ibadahs and that we raise to the tests there.

It's my opportunity to be close to God. I have always tried to be close to Him but I let myself go and let Him guide me when I lost my father. I let Him control my path and be humble to fate. For someone who is a strong character, it took me to lose my dad to understand that.

One year after dad's passing, the whole family will be there. I will pray for my dearest dad all the time. I will pray for calmness in my soul. I will pray for the health of my family. For those who have kept me in their prayers, I will repay you with my doas for you there.

Losing my dad changed me, totally. He taught me a lot in life, more in his death.
I miss you dad. I just know you are proud of me then and now because that is what you always conveyed to me.

I wish we could have you during this journey. But I will keep you in my doa's I promise. I know you will never be far.

They say, visiting Makkah and Medina is where we meet our Prophet Muhammad SAW and they always say that love God and the Prophet before anything else. I want to find that love and keep it with me.

May my niat & hajat be fulfilled, Insya Allah.

More or less of a mom

Being a mom in the current technology trendy world means that you can do more things with less. I do not need to bring a stack of toys to keep her entertained. I just need my tablet in the diaper bag and distract her whenever she gets listless.

But it also means that I fail to manage technology with motherhood sometimes.



This was captured by my husband and when I saw this, it struck me that I do let technology have the best of me and miss out the best things in motherhood.
Trust me sweetie, it is only your enchanting smile and best hugs that makes me feel like an awesome mother.

You and your dad are just priceless to me.
Thank you to the both of you that I know what I get to enjoy being a mom.

Here is to 13 months being with you. I love you more and more everyday and pray that you will always be in the pink of health and enjoying your childhood.

xoxo

Singaporeans never got sick of KL

It is true.
Singaporeans never got sick of KL. Any chance of a long weekend, most of us will head up to KL compared to places like Bangkok, Bali, Jakarta, Hanoi, etc etc.

I am guilty of such.
Unlike the other countries in Asia, I think I visited KL too often that I am very comfortable to go there again and again. Always my choice.

So this trip is no different than many others that I have been to.
Except that I did not binge so much.
Still trying to lose the excess weight from the pregnancy.

Get in shape to get pregnant again!

One thing for sure, I did not know that Rania was like both her parents when they were younger.
So excited to see a big hotel bed. I think it will get more obvious as she gets older.

p.s: I am still amazed seeing my daughter everyday.

So here was the breakdown of the trip.
Hubby drove and it made me recall so much of the times when my dad drove the whole family to KL. Good memories and in times like those, I realised I miss him a lot.






Takbir was playing on the Malaysian radio and everytime I hear it, I will feel that hole emerged again in my heart.
Then that was when I updated my FB page that I realised I no longer mourn for my dad who passed away. I mourned for my life which I had.
Though it was far from perfect, it felt complete.

Life goes on. I am moving on.
I feel better today than I am yesterday.
I am staying away from all the negative energy and getting back on my feet.

Good news is that though my asthma is often, though not as often (I used to rate a good day when I have no attacks), it is manageable.
My fear during this KL trip was that I had asthma and I needed to rush to the hospital.

Yes, I did have an attack but I took my Salbutamol, antihistermines and steroids and I was much better after 30 mins.
Say Yay! to progress.

May I see more beautiful days ahead.
My Friday and Saturday was a fully-stay-at-home-and-rest-in-bed days.
It was only Sunday that the three of us managed to chill.

Still, Rania is still having some thick yellow mucus which I am suspecting a sinus infection and so, tonight will be another trip to KKH again.
Your prayers for my little girl please.

xoxo

The Maiden Road Trip

It was a trip to KL which I will never forget.
First I accidentally book 2 nights of the hotel when we intended to use only one.
Which means we forgo the second night.

Wasted.

Then I rock climbed the night before and my body was aching.
After 12 years not climbing, I think I did quite alright climbing 3/4 up the wall.
Awesome!

We had a meeting in KL at 3pm on Saturday but the husband and wife woke up at 10am.
Did final packing, showered the little girl and off we went.
Knowing the husband, he packed the car with a lot of food before we went on the road trip.
Honestly, we were anxious parents.
It was our first road trip with Rania and it was just the 3 of us.

I was surprised that she was quite an easy child during the trip.
She napped and woke up and looked out of the window and drank her milk.
Played with her toys and watched Hippa Hippa Hey on the iPad.
Not forgetting her Twinkle Twinkle Little Star because I came out of the car deafened by the song.

We did not have enough time to check and off we went to our meeting.
Then it was dinner at Tony Romas at Damansara.

Then guess where we headed next.

Gleneagles Intan Hospital.
Yes, I know...
My allergy flares are always during the wrong times.

What breaks my heart was that Rania was in the outpatient ward with me.
The moment she sees me wearing the mask, her face was so frightened and she cried.
I felt I failed as a mom.

I told Alfi to bring her out while I battled my asthma alone with a male nurse.
It was scary. I was never alone in times like that.
But alhamdulillah, I pulled through.

I was high on meds and yet I managed to find the strength to clean Rania up and give her her night feed while the husband settle everything else in the hotel room.
I showered and slept.

I sleep in fear everytime I have asthma.

The next day, we skipped breakfast, left the hotel at 3pm, headed to Pavillion for our Pepper Lunch and walked the mall a bit before heading back to Singapore.
I wished we could extend the other night but work calls.

Insya Allah, we will have another road trip again.
But the husband is paranoid. He said no more travels till we know exactly what is causing my allergy attacks.

And we suspected Krispy Kreme was the cause.

But thanks to Halim & Family who happened to be there with us. He drove around the area looking for us a hospital, while Alfi was in the car taking care of Rania.

Yes, imagine the horror.

Here are some of the pictures I managed to take.

















My very own picture in Black and White, only because the husband appreciates it!



And if you have guessed.. yes! I am on the move with my Canon.
My good ol' Canon 1000D

Nothing fantastic but I hope you like the shots!



And yes, more pictures to come!

That night, after a long journey from KL, Rania was all washed up and ready for bed.
At 6 months 3 weeks now, she plays well with her friends in the playpen.
Once in a while, she will look up and cry a bit looking for me.
Other than that, she is pretty much my good little girl, and of course her daddy's favourite!



It is really true that seeing her, carves me a smile and make me forget how tired I was!
xoxo

Hello Instagram!!

One of the greatest satisfaction I have from this HTC is the fact that I can enjoy my Instagram.
I set up an account from my iPad a few months back but the camera resolution was not good and therefore I abandoned the whole app.

When I kickstart this, I was obsessed. A good camera phone and Instagram, I became a devil.
I am happy to pass Rania to someone so that I can upload the picture!

Hahaha.. crazy mom.

Best thing was that, when I re-started using the Instagram app, I had close to 100 followers.
So really a lot of time was spent following them back, so that they know I'm not deluded thinking I'm some kinda social network celebrity.

Today, because of Rania, I can't finish adding the follow button!!!
Still uploading the instagram was a priority.

Seeing how many of them liking pictures of Rania and my food craze just drives me to capture as many as I can! Hehehe.

There are many bloggers who posts an Instagram a day or a grid of Instagrams at the end of every week.

I'm not a copycat and I wanted to post up an Instagram a day about Rania. But sometimes work can really get the best of me.

So I'll think of something soon hopefully.

Anyway remember how she was looking at her baba's food on the plate.
Here was how she looked when she saw her baba drinking from the bottle.

*lol*

Anyway, for those who would like to follow me on Instagram, the username is nuramima
Everything goes with my name. Try googling it and you will see a list of whatever-nots!

xoxo

KL 3-in-1

This trip was a budgeted trip.
Ok, I am not shy to say that because the husband and I have spent a bomb on furnishing my house (maybe just my bed) and they are not many things actually. Plus, the baby is coming and a lot of finances need to be kept in check.
Not forgetting my own medical fees which have amounted to $2k.

Truth is, I went cold turkey buying myself another Prada or Fendi for the past 2 years though my mom got an LV clutch for her birthday.
Husband calls it financial discipline.

*roll eyes*

Anyway, I had a good deal on Groupon. At $147 per pax, me and the husband could head down to Kuala Lumpur.
Coach and 4-star hotel included.

And we made this a 3-in-1 celebration.
Firstly is for us to have private moments together celebrating his birthday. We always enjoy time with each other.
It is just so serene and not hectic and truly he is the best fit puzzle in my life.
There is no compromisation with him. We are just alike that even when we travel, there are no two opinions to anything.
Amazing!!

Secondly, it is a babymoon for us.
Again, to spend some time together before my little girl takes up a lot of her parents time. Part of me is afraid that the husband will forget his wife existed.
He loves kids more than I do. Period. Truth is, I fear that a lot of my relaxed and free time is taken up by the little girl.
Another part of me am afraid if I am unable to cope.
I am unlike my mom or most moms - I think.

So when my mom and sis are so excited about taking care of the little girl, you can imagine the glee on my face!

Hmmm....
Not a good sign isn't it?

But anyway (brushing all thoughts aside), the final reason was that I needed to comfort myself and gorge all the food I can before I head into confinement and having the need to loose weight.. blah blah blah.. you know those sorts of thing.

So here we were waiting for our rooms upon arrival.



Furama Hotel is newly opened and it is really clean.
They have awesome breakfast and I am so sorry I did not take the pictures of the food. I was too intimidated by the food and on the second day, we overslept!
*lol*





The husband had a good nap in the hotel before we head off for linner (lunch + dinner)
Apparently he could not sleep well in a coach. As for me, i sleep anywhere!
One of the perks I still enjoy being pregnant. Sleep has yet to be a problem.

Maybe I take good pictures of food that I have you salivating all the time. But really, I will say it is a perfect compact I have.
My Canon Powershot S95.

We had a list of places which we wanted to go and eat.
First stop.
Pepper Lunch.

Still, the husband felt that he needed to get some Bread Talk as appetizers prior to his upsize meal!



Beef Pepper Lunch for him





And Chicken Pepper Lunch for me.
I am not a fan of beef.





Really the sauces are magical!!!!



We had a lot of other junkies.
The Loaf and Bread Talk (again) and headed to the supermarket to buy our fuel supplies in the room.
And I bought for my Lil' Sis worms.. *lol* my favourite but I did not touch any food with colouring because I am so afraid that it will trigger my asthma.



I try not to fall sick in KL.
The last time I did, I went to Intan Gleneagles A&E and guess what happened?
The traffic was bad and i was like a fish gasping for air.
Secondly the nurses in A&E can giggle and gossip and tell me to wait for 20 mins when there were no patients.
I was so mad, despite no voice and breath and told them,"I cannot breathe and I need a doctor now. I cannot wait."
Still it took them another 10 mins.

*grrrrr*

As much as I heart Malaysia, it is horrid in terms of security and maybe becoming like Joburg where you cannot see much humanity and consciousness in the community.

Ok let's move on.
Apparently the pregancy hormones always get the better of me.

Day 2 lunch or should I say Linner again we digged into Tony Romas

I love the fact that they serve us Garlic Baguette when we arrived there.



The husband having a tough time deciding what to eat.


So I decided to decide for him.

Appetizer which was a half loaf onion bread




And of course the ribs. That is a no brainer!!!
Ok, this beef i eat :)




Happy faces!



Shamelessly, I am telling you that the moment I came out of Tony Romas, i looked for this



It is so sedap ok!

That night was a game of Liverpool vs Manchester Uniter and the husband would not want to miss it for a thing.
He is always afraid that he will bore me in times like this but the truth is, I am always finding him darn cute which his own football commenting and his antics. How he jumps up when the goal is scored.

So we booked a place at TGIF and got a seat nicely facing the telly.
Since we have Linner 2 hours ago, we settled for hot tea and some appetisers.





See how tensed the husband's face is!
*lol*



The next morning, we overslept and missed breakfast.
So sad!!!

So I rushed him to get up and planned out the remaining iternary for him.
We had to be at the lobby by 2pm. In the meantime, we managed to squeeze in some time to look for one way ticket flights back.
We just felt we did not have enough.
The cheapest we got quoted was RM$485 for 2 pax.

Forget it.

So we rushed back to Pavillion.
Subway!!!




Me and the husband ordered ourself a foot long each
:D

Then we had our must have porridge and tau-weh with you tiao.






I think the waiter gave me a bit more tau-weh seeing I was pregnant
*gleams*

We rushed back, prayed and washed up and we were in our coach in time to head back to Singapore.
The moment we sat down...




We pulled out our Subway!!

*lol*

Anyway, I think my family was envious of our makan trip that they are now planning a trip to go as a family.
Round 2?

I am always up for it!
Are you salivating already?

*chuckles*

xoxo,