A lil' appreciation

So, you know the valentine's day is tomorrow. Not that I celebrated it, but it was fun seeing the guys in my office browsing the local delivery florist website for flowers arrangement to their love ones and it was a real fun giving them advice on what to get the girls (you girls have no idea how lucky you guys are, like seriously). When I asked them, "Did your girlfriend forced you to get her this?", their sincere answer was surprising to me. They did it because they want to not that they will be scold at if they don't. "Ala, nehmind la expensive, its nothing to compare to what she always give me". "Its just a small way to show I appreciate her, thats all"

*sigh*

Young love is beautiful. no?

So the key point here is appreciate. Appreciated, appreciation and all related words. Its a little things to do but very difficult to be executed. As simple as thank you is already a gesture of appreciation. You appreciate what the other party did for you be it shutting down the fan, bath your child or even to fold your clothes.

To me, to appreciate requires honesty and sincerity. Well, when you do stuff, you have to be sincere about it. Not because you expect someone else will say thank you to you, or keep quoting the good deeds u do over times.

In love, you need to appreciate too. Its not difficult. As simple as thanking your other half for everything that he/she does to you, to your children and to your extended family. I found this today when I was browsing my normal sites to cheer me up.

“Love is made up of three unconditional properties in equal measure:

1. Acceptance

2. Understanding

3. Appreciation

Remove any one of the three and the triangle falls apart.

Which, by the way, is something highly inadvisable. Think about it — do you really want to live in a world of only two dimensions?

So, for the love of a triangle, please keep love whole.” 

― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Nice. Real nice quote

It has been a while

It has been a while since I...

• went for a hair treatment
• Had one hour Pedicure and manicure
• Eat durian
• Had an uninterrupted sleep 
• Sleep more than 5 hours
• Buy clothes in XS size
• Buy pants in S size
• People compliment me for my fitness level and body figures
• People seek some running advice
• Had an adult conversation without my son's name included in it
• Wear high heels
• Purchase brand new handbag
• Eat and drink without having to worry on the impact of my milk production (seriously, drinking barley = pengsan)
• Rest well at home after work
• Watch movie in the cinema
• went for window shopping
• have fine dining experience
• watch TV with an actual sound 
• had a stress free vacation

#thisistemporaryihope #iamsleepdeprivedcantyoutell? #ilovemysonnomatterwhat #pleasedontjudgemeimjustanormalhumanbeing #ideservebettertreatment

Difficult time

Breast-feeding and being an auditor working mom is one tough job. I was told that it is going to be difficult, but I totally underestimate the process. Juggling between the two exhaust me, sometimes I feel like giving up especially when I heard comments:

 

"Susu tak cukup, pam la lagi" (Not enough milk, pump more)

 

"Ha kalau susah, bagi la formula" (If its so difficult, just give formula milk)

 

"Asek meragam je dia, mesti nak melekat je la tu" (He's always fussy, he just want to latch all the time)

 

If you chose to a bf mom, you are in for a challening times. Not handling your baby but people's perception towards breastfeeding, how to handle people's lack of knowledge on breastfeeding, not to cry when you see your maid wasted 2 oz of your milk, your panic attack when you see your EBM is depleting, sleep deprivation and the most important thing to watch what you eat and drink

 

 

source: Google

 

Eversince I breastfeed my baby, my new breast best friend is milk, milk and milk. Not to forget almond, green vegetable, eggs, barley, oats and all sort of food that are labeled as 'milk booster'

But of course when you constantly eating and eating, you will gain some numbers in the weight department. There you go again, another stress on handling people's comment about your weight. I gave up on my 5th month, I simply dont care anymore what people say about how I look, and how I need to start dieting and bla bla bla

Whenever I feel down, I will look at Adam and remember I am giving him the best of what babies can get. I constantly say to myself, its okay, you can be slimmer later. The most important thing is Adam is healthy and growing up in the best way. You let go of your needs, and you put your son needs first

 

 

But when I read this today, I am crying inside

Drunk Mum Killed 2 month old baby via breastfeeding

How can you possibly do that to your child?

 

Its irresponsible! Period

 

I know that when u breastfeed, you saved a lot. No need of expensive formula milk, you dont need tonnes of bottle set to feed your baby and etc.

 

 

 

source: Google

 

 

But you just CANNOT be irresponsible towards what you eat ( I was once trying to puke back something that I ate that had trace of soy lecithin)

 

May Allah give me strength to do this the right way 

Syomir Izwa RTW...

Still remember my wedding dress?

The most famous Syomir Izwa deisgned his own RTW for Eid this year

Being the biggest fan of his work (gah, Im still in love with my wedding dress!!!), and knowing how comfortable his designs are as well as how he is about quality of material.

Ive decided this year I must purchase his RTW

But the timing was not on my side,

After giving birth, I still have some pounds to shed off

Specifically in the tummy area, all mothers should know this

So, with heavy heart, I have to let go 2 designs that I really like...

Inang

The cutting is soooooo pretty and being me I like things that are geometrical. I dont really like things that are flowery. But once I see how short the top is, it is a BIG FAT NO

My tummy has no protection here

No no no

So, I only have these two...

Mayang

Teratai...

Guess which one I bought for Raya?

Confinement

Yes, I would like to talk about the long 44 days that mothers MUST go through.
Confinement

I am not too sure why its 44 days but rest assured its DAMN LONG

Before giving birth, I always thought days will go by without me knowing it
You know like eh dah 44 hari dah ke... (eh, its 44 days already? I cant tell)

But let me tell you,
Days go by pretty slow
Nights especially, it seems longer now
You checked your clock ah its 2am, next thing when your baby wake you up, you checked again hoping its already 6.30am
NOT
Its 3.45am in the morning
Phewwwww

There were days in my confinement period where I was literally a human pacifier. Adam needs to be feed every one hour and it took him 30 minutes to feed and almost 20 minutes to get him to sleep. So thats about 10 minutes window left for eye shut
Huhuhuhu

I have to tell you that it was a real help to hire a confinement lady that stays with you during your confinement. The lady will help taking care of you, taking care of the baby and even stay awake at night to ensure your baby's asleep and such

I hired a confinement lady for 28 days and I cried the day she went home. Seriously guys, dont get calculative and think that forking out RM3k for the 28 days is a waste. It is not. It was a real good investment for me. Unless you have a full time maid to care of your newborn, then I believe you must hire a confinement lady, especially for those first time mom. I am still struggling when I want to bath adam but imagine if I had to do that at day 5 or day 6 of my confinement
The early week (week 1) was crucial to ensure that you get enough rest.
But the thing that really makes confinement is as dull as ever, is the thing that you can eat
I am a real eater
I can really eat and I usually indulge for food
So when the list of food that you can consume is just one page during confinement
I hit my I-cant-take-it-anymore wall during week 4
Its so boring
Its fish, fish and fish all the way
Yesterday I ate steam fish, what to have today? Ah there you go, fish again
Sigh

And it is really not helping when my favourite channel to watch are AFC, Food Network and all those
Whenever I watch Giada at Home, Man vs Food, and Grilled it with Bobby Flay, I had my imaginary eating out scheduled and I whatsapp booTak right away

source: *Google*

Post confinement eating out schedule:

1. Rakuzen (Sashimi, I really miss you)

2. El - toro (Steaks that are yummy)

3. Chillis (I want those burgers)

4. Upstairs cafe - I want those spaghetti

5. Sari Ratu - I want my Gulai Ayam and Sambal Hijau)

6. Thai Thai (I want my Thai Iced Tea with Tom Yam  and mieng Kam)

But above all these restaurant,

Theres one thing that I really really want to eat right now

source: *google*

I really want thissssss....

I think the morning on day 45 I am going to eat this

4 MORE DAYS NOWWWWWWWW
Le sigh

Pressure cooker

No this post is not about cooking stuff,
Its about handling pressure
How you have to 'cook' it in order for good stuff to be served on the table

Ones can only take so much,
Ones can only do so much,
and
Ones can only hope so much

For now, I have nothing

Perseverance

Perseverance:

What is perseverance?

• Perseverance is commitment, hard work, patience, endurance.
• Perseverance is being able to bear difficulties calmly and without complaint.
• Perseverance is trying again and again.

You show perseverance when you ...

• Give up your tv time to spend hours studying
• Try a new sport that is very difficult but you don't give up
• Have a learning disability but keep studying even when discouraged
• Come from a home where there is fighting and unhappiness but you still try your best
• Have missed a week of school but you work hard to catch up
• Are at the end of a difficult race but you cross the finish line
• Save money and make sacrifices to buy something
• Spend hours practicing on your music
• Study and work hard to raise your grade
• Try out for something you weren't successful at the first time

New Phase

I am moving to a new phase now

'No smartphone' phase more like...

My phone was stolen last 2 week

and I take it as 'tiada rezeki'

So, no whatsapp, no FB Mobile, no Instagram, no Twitter for now

Until further notice

But on another related note,

To the New Phase note that is...

I am now in my second trimester as they call it,

21 weeks to be exact

We've been blessed with this beautiful gift entrusted to us by Allah S.W.T

Pregnancy has been beautiful so far,

No morning sickness, no weird cravings

Only 100 visits to the loo add up to the list and tonnes of crankiness symptoms for booTak to adapt to

But I am not complaining, as this is considered normal

I hope all of you can share some doa for our health and everything to be okay and smooth

InsyaAllah...

Much love,

Nana

Detox Strawberry Smoothies

Okay,

In order to reach a healthy body you need to detox

Dont be fooled by all those detox supplements sold on-the-shelf

They are adding more chemicals in your body, something unnecessary

Why not go the original way,

By picking fruits and combining it with other source of nutrient in your drinks

I now swear by this recipe that I ciplak took from Barefoot Contessa show

Strawberry - Orange smoothies

Recipe:

9 whole strawberries (cut into half)

2 oranges (squeeze to get the juice)

1 fresh lime (squeeze to get the juice)

1 banana

Mix all of these ingredients and wallahhh

Ur detox smoothies is now ready

Dont add any sugar, the natural sugar in th fruits is already enough

Happy Trying

Salam Aidilfitri

Ramadhan is near ending and Syawal is around the corner

It is definitely not the same feeling anymore

I wish all of you Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Maaf Zahir dan Batin

Love,

Nana

Back to reality

Im back

Gosh, I have yet to finish writing about bali and I have these in line waiting...

Will blog about it soon...

Yah right *yawn*

Travel Talk: 3 weeks more

3 weeksssssss to go...

eurostar: checked, accomodation: checked, easyjet: checked, itinerary: ntah bila la

For now, i'm swamped with work

sigh

I wish Im a tai tai...

source: google

Just try, another time

Life is all about trying...
You try to be the perfect person, regardless perfect son, perfect daughter, perfect husband, perfect wife...
But you often fail to try to be a better you,
Just because you think by being perfect to the other eyes makes you a perfect person.

By being a perfect you means you are perfect according to you. I understand some of you might think that sounded a lil selfish but who are we to judge. You can be a perfect staff to your boss by following everything that your boss need, but inside you are dying and cant help it but feeling miserable and empty.

Hence the reason why I think perfect 'you' is imperative and top others.

Because at the end of the day, there is no point you bring smile to someone else but inside you are crying your heart out.

Here are some inspirational quotes that I find it soothing to help me going through difficult times.

"All that is gold does not glitter
not all those who wander are lost
the old that is strong does not wither
deep roots are not reached by the frost
From the ashes a fire shall be woken
a light from the shadows shall spring
renewed shall be blade that was broken
the crown less again shall be king."
- J.R.R. Tolkien

"Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow -
You may succeed with another blow."
- Anonymous

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." - Thomas Edison

"Tough times never last, but tough people do." - Robert Schuller

I'll try...just one more time.

Ending

So my inai dah nak habis.
Hehehehe
That marks the end of my bride moment...
Sigh
I have to admit
I miss being a bride
I dont miss the prep time, I certainly miss the wedding day itself
Its so nice when people attended to your needs by any means...eventhough sometimes it did sound unreasonable
Hahahahha

But now,
Back to reality...
*slaps forehead*

p/s: I just realised I have yet to write about my wedding day. hhahahaha....

Life, Marriage and challenges...

"Finding the right man for marriage is the second challenge. The first challenge is to be the right woman that a right man wants to marry."

(Taken from A Girl's Say)

15 days to go...

and yah I am not going to talk about my wedding preparation here. Instead it feels right to talk about the preparation to enter marriage.

booTak asked me a question yesterday, "are you ready to get married?"

You might wonder what was my reaction towards that? Some might think that I might throw a fighting scream

"hey, apa soalan ni?

u ingat I tak ready ke?

Kenapa awak fikir macam ni?

This is just not fair to ask me this now"

Nah,

I didnt...

The first 4 awkward seconds I was just there, keeping it silent and trying to find the right answer only to realise there is no right answer to this question. Your answer wasnt supposed to please your other half, instead the answer should please you and makes you feel comfortable with it.

My answer "Yes, I am ready"

I know in my heart that I am ready for this.

Often we notice nowadays couples who wants to get married are focusing their energy to get the perfect wedding. What we should be focusing actually is to the journey afterwards, the marriage itself. We have to set a goal, an objective so we know the hurdle that we have to go through in the preparation is actually nothing. Greater things awaits us the moment he finally say his lafaz, accepting his responsibility to be the husband and for you to be his wife.

Ive seen one lavish and super cool wedding, and the couple divorced 6 months later. My first reaction was "aiyak, wasted only money spent on the wedding". I wasnt on the right track as well, that moment I should be thinking how frustrating that such a holly ikatan can be broken after only 6 months.

I realise marriage takes even greater effort and challenges than the wedding itself...and I am ready for that. I've found the right man (insyaAllah), now I just have to be the right woman to be with my right man....

Salam Aidilfitri

After 29 days embracing Ramadhan, tomorrow will be the first day Aidilfitri. This year Aidilfitri is going to be different for me. Im engaged, going through preparation for our wedding and at the same time missing Abah.

I intend to keep it short this year, my post that is. From the bottom of we gour heart, we seek forgiveness for any wrong doings or words that hurt or caused harm to you. May we receive Barakah from Allah SWT from this Ramadhan and we wish you Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin

Love,

Rizhan Razif + Nana Ali

New Phase :)

In the arithmetic of love, one plus one equals everything

~ Mignon McLaughlinn

Alhamdulillah...

I am now one step closer to complete my love equations

Hugs,

Nana Ali

More update soon...

Master Chef Malaysia

One thing I've learned during these 7-8 years staying on my own is, in order to survive you have to know how to cook. Some of you may ask, "eh can eat outside whattttt"

Nahhhh

My mama taught me one thing, that is homecook meal is the best way to live a healthy life. Ahahahha so not if you keep cooking Masak Lemak cili padi, Kari kepala ikan and what not.

*drooling with lazy eyes*

*slaps back to reality*

Anyway, to my good friends, they know that I can cook. Maybe not as good as Gordon Ramsay or Nigella Lawson, but things that I cooked usually end up in people's belly instead of their bin.

While trying to get my gold weight again, I think the best way to keep in shape is to dine-in. Not at any restaurant but my own restaurant. Hehehe. So, last months Ive been trying to eat healthy and cook healthy stuff too. Some of you may think that healthy stuff is boring. Hell no. They are fun, interesting to cook as well theres a lot flavour that you can twist and turn to nice dish

I feel charitable today. So I think why not I share with you my own recipe for healthy living

My favourite dish!

Shrimpy Aglio Olio Spaghetti

Ingredients:

200g shrimp

1 pieces salami (cut into small pieces)

6-7 pieces of asparagus

Sliced mushroom (you can get the ready made at stores)

1 -2 chilli (you can use those big pepper aswell, god I forgot what does it call)

300g spaghetti

1-2 garlic

a pinch of salt

a pinch of thyme

a pinch of italian herbs

a pinch of black pepper

a pinch of chili flakes

Olive oil

Making it! Duh!

Boil spaghetti according to instruction. Make sure to put a pinch of salt in the boiling water. Drain your pasta with a little bit of butter or a small spoon of olive oil

Put a little bit of olive oil in the frying pan, sautee the chopped garlic until almost yellow and put in the salami. Until almost brown, put in the shrimp

Sautee for 1-2 minutes and put in the asparagus and sliced mushroom

Flavour in with salt, pepper, thyme and italian herbs.

Tossed in your spaghetti and mix it with the ingredient

Sprinkle some chili flakes on top and serve

Next one: Grilled chicken with couscous/grilled vegetable

Okay I am a bit lazy to type now. Maybe I will continue later

zzzZzzzZzzzzzzzz

Its saturday maaaaaa.....

PBIM: Here we come...

Okay, how do I begin...
5 more days to PBIM,
Ermm not enough miles yet,
Lack of preparation and bla bla bla...
Yah some of you may have read the almost similar post written last year...
Hahaha...I guess that would pretty much sum up my kind of preparation when it comes to running the race..in particular Penang Bridge Marathon....

Its daunting...
everytime when I started my weekend run (either with booTak or Tottie), it would be the same
The first 15minutes would be breathing chaos drama,
The next 30minutes would be cramp
and the next 15 minutes would be sakit perut pulak...

I guess I will never be ready for any race
Its always be excuses one after another..
I have to put a stop on it

So....
Im going to PBIM with an open heart,
Im going with the thought to actually try and finish it
with good timing I really hope
Eventhough my one and only motivator will not be joining, (*sigh*)
But I guess life goes on...

So to all my friends, readers or whoever will be going to Penang for the PBIM, hope to see you guys around. To Kak Julin, REALLY HOPE to see you...

Good luck guys.

Well, before we go some good articles for us to read...

*****************************************************************************************
This is amazing, he died of pancreatic cancer in 2008, but wrote a book ‘The last lecture” before then, one of the bestsellers in 2007. What a legacy to leave behind …
In a letter to his wife Jai and his children, Dylan, Logan , and Chloe, he wrote this beautiful "guide to a better life" for his wife and children to follow.
May you be blessed by his insight.


POINTS ON HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE
by Randy Pausch

Personality:
1. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
2. Don't have negative thoughts of things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment
3. Don't over do; keep your limits
4. Don't take yourself so seriously; no one else does
5. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip
6. Dream more while you are awake
7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
8. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner of his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
10. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present
11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you
12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.
Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
13. Smile and laugh more
14. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community:
15. Call your family often
16. Each day give something good to others
17. Forgive everyone for everything
18. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
19. Try to make at least three people smile each day
20. What other people think of you is none of your business
21. Your job will not take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
22. Put GOD first in anything and everything that you think, say and do.
23. GOD heals everything
24. Do the right things
25. However good or bad a situation is, it will change
26. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
27. The best is yet to come
28. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful
29. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it
30. If you know GOD you will always be happy. So, be happy.

While you practice all of the above, share this knowledge with the people you love, people you school with,
people you play with, people you work with and people you live with.
Not only will it enrich YOUR life, but also that of those around you.

well, think about it guys....

Salam Aidilfitri

Aidilfitri is like 2 days away now.
That means Ramadhan is about to end :(

*sigh*
I am going to miss the feelings of performing terawih,
I am going to miss the feelings of walking back from terawih (I dont know maybe it is just me, I feel Muslims are stronger and united during terawih),
I am going to miss the 'kemerduan' of Masjid Wilayah's imams' voice,
I am going to miss the iftar session with friends and family,
and whole lots of other things.

By all these, not saying that I am not excited for Raya. I still do but maybe as you grow older the feelings are not that great anymore.
Besides, I have this feeling of I still have unaccomplished mission. Perhaps what we did during this Holy month are still not perfect yet (at least to me)

Speaking of raya, I still remember those time, those good old days when girls in my school were in this competition of whose getting the most kad raya.
Yah, that competition does exist. I am not sure about the status now as people are moving towards technology driven communication now
To me, kad raya still give one sort of sentimental feelings.
It does because people go extra miles for it. Getting the kad raya, buying the stamps, writing greetings on it. It has some sentimental touch to it that no sms or e-mail can give. Well, new addition, BBM that is.

Whenever I received kad raya those time with greetings "Pecah kaca pecah gelas, sudah baca harap balas", it gave a reaction to my face; means i have to burnt a hole in my thiny pocket to get more kad raya. You see, when you are still kids and teenagers, RM2 did give an impact. Yah. Well actually it still does up until now.

I love it even more when I received the kad raya with songs attached to it, and what gave you the bragging rights that time was when you received a gigantic fancy cards from super special someone (ye, saya sudah ada boyfriend masa darjah 5)

I am smiling still when I write this.

Well this year, I only received few card raya. Mostly from bankers (yah, they are sort of like obliged to send to us to maintain good repo. Hehehe. poor thing)
And when I see the pile of my unwritten card raya, it proves something that nowadays people just dont go extra miles anymore. (well maybe not for some avid runners like runningmom and doc.)

and to me this is another factor why I feel raya is not that great anymore. not the kad raya, but the sentimental value of it.

Nonetheless, I wish all of you Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir dan Batin
and yah I did not run at all during Ramadhan. Saya tidak layak digelar runner