~ Trip to Kelantan~

Last Saturday, me and a couple of friends went for a trip to Kelantan. Our journey began as early as 3.30 in the morning up until 11 ish towards midnight. The reason for our trip was to attend a wedding of our good friends which were held somewhere in the area of Machang, Kelantan. Upon arrival, we went straight to get the car which was booked in advance. Immediately after getting into our Hyundai Accent which was supposed to be Hyundai Matrix, we were off to Pasar Siti Khadijah. we were excited to be here before it gets busy. the first place that we went to was the textiles area we were got a few good bargains. i've bought some kaftan for my mother, my in-laws and our little one. i was spoilt with a selection of batik collection that was displayed before my eyes. However, i was not really indulged in the shopping spree as i was saving for our family trip to Langkawi which is somewhere in Mac. As such, i was not really spending during my visit to Pasar Siti Khadijah though my desire is there. it was really tempting and desirous for me to get one of those batik collection on display which was indeed so much cheaper than the one that you can get in KL. Here in KB, the starting price for the cheapest batik begin at RM380 and after a few rounds of negotiation, the price can be negotiated to RM230 per piece. I really enjoyed doing the bargaining eventhough i didn't manage to get myself one. But I think, I would come again and get myself one of the batik with glittering stones as a collection in wardrobe ;D (ok, Mr. Husband take note of that).

After we are done with the textiles, off we went to the food area we were got ourselves some keropok,sambal daging a.k.a serunding daging and keropok lekor. However, Mr. Husband had an additional request. He wanted some mini ketupat that can only be found in Kelantan. I managed to get him the ketupat and the ketupats were sweet compared to the ones that i usually made during our Hari Raya. It was made from glutinous rice, added with some sugar, red beans and wrapped in daun palas. Indeed, the taste was superb and I definitely will get it again in my next trip to KB. Apart from the good bargains that we had in the market, I had a valuable experience which I think worth to share with everyone else. Through my observation, I see that females are the backbone of this market place. From the batik to the perishable items on sale, women filled every angle of the marketplace. I feel proud to see these women surviving and trying to make their ends meet in this not so spacious and comfortable market place. But, that is how lives is leading us, right?

By the time we were leaving the Pasar, it was almost 11 a.m. We quickly rushed to our friend's house in KB and get dressed before going to the wedding. The journey to Machang took about two hours we arrived there slightly almost to 2 p.m. we went straight to the Masjid where the akad nikah were about to begin. Everything went well and our friends had finally become the Mrs. to Mr. SK. I'll share the experience during the wedding in my next entry. But for now, I think I better put an end to my long winded story, as I have breakfast to make. Till then peeps, buhbye ~~ 

~Yaya Goes to School~

Semenjak dua minggu yang lalu, YaYa telah dihantar untuk menghadiri sesi Playgroup bersama AL** Kids. Minggu pertama di sesi itu, YaYa kelihatan keliru dengan keadaan. Ada kawan-kawan sebaya yang menangis, melompat dan ada pula yang tekun mendengar Teacher berbicara. Sememangnya agak sukar untuk anak sekecil YaYa menumpukan perhatian dengan keadaan sekeliling apatah lagi rakan-rakan yang melompat dan menangis dalam kumpulan itu adalah sebaya. Hanya apabila Teacher memberikan paint brush dan watercolor dia memberikan perhatian.Kagum dengan semangatnya untuk mewarna lukisan yang diberikan Teacher walaupun hasilnya tidak seberapa. Bagi kanak-kanak sekecil ini, hasil yang ditunjukkan sudah cukup membuatkan hati mamanya berbunga :D. Walau pun di minggu pertama ini minatnya terhadap apa yang diajar masih kurang namun, minat yang ditunjukkan dalam sesi art & craft dapat sedikit sebanyak menyelami minat anak kecil ini.

Dalam sesi seterusnya minat anak kecil ini terus dicungkil, sekali lagi sesi arts & craft berjaya mencuri hati dan minatnya. Ketekunan dapat dilihat dari cara YaYa mewarna ibu jari Mamanya untuk dicap di atas kertas untuk membentuk seekor caterpillar. Memang anak ku suka menconteng rupanya. Bile Teacher collect balik sume watercolour dia marah because Yaya belum puas main with all the colours. Takpe nanti Mama belikan watercolour dan paintbrush. Jangan diconteng dinding rumah sudah. Habis je kelas, excited dia nak show to Papa her artwork.

Jadi, apa yang nak dikatakan di sini adalah, kewujudan kumpulan kecil seperti ini seharusnya dikembangkan lagi. Bukan hanya terhad kepada sesi akademik sahaja. Kewujudan sesi seperti ini bukan sahaja membentuk generasi yang bukan sahaja pandai tetapi juga kreatif. Kaedah pembelajaran masa kini banyak memberi fokus kepada penggunaan otak kanan berbanding otak kiri yang menjadi pencetus kepada minda yang kreatif. Jika dilihat kepada negara-negara maju, mereka banyak menggalakan penggunaan otak kiri bagi meyeimbangkan otak kanan manusia. Mungkin cara ini boleh diadaptasi dalam sistem pembelajaran supaya dapat melahirkan lebih ramai cendiakawan yang bukan sahaja bijak akademik tetapi kreatif dan juga inovatif di masa akan datang.

Melihatkan ini Mama Meera aka YaYa menyimpan cita-cita untuk menubuhkan kumpulan kecil seperti ini untuk melahirkan anak-anak yang bukan sahaja bijak pandai, tetapi dalam masa yang sama kreatif. Doakan hajat Mama Meera aka YaYa termakbul :D

~Entry Papa~

Setelah seminggu berad di hospital kami kembali semula ke rumah. Seperti hari-hari bekerja biasa our pumpkin akan dihantar ke rumah babysitter. Apa yang mengejutkan our pumpkin yang selama ini tidak pernah menangis apabila dihantar ke rumah baby sitter, akhirnya menangis kerana kami menghantarnya. Hati mana la tak sedih melihatkan anak menangis apabila dihantar ke rumah baby sitter. Tapi apakan daya, nak tak nak anak perlu dibiasakan dengan keadaan sebegitu. Tetapi yang peliknya apabilla kami mengambilnya sebaik pualng dari kerja, our pumpkin tak mau pulak balik. dah terbalik. Hampir setiap hari perkara sama berlaku dan ianya sudah jadi kebiasaan.  Apa pon anak-anak tak boleh di pampered sgt. sekali sekala kena diajar berdikari walau masih kecil. Salah satu kebaikan menghantar anak ke rumah baby sitter adalah dia akan belajar berkawan dan menyesuaikan diri dengan org selain keluarga sendiri. Selain dapat pengaruh-pengaruh positif seperti sayang kepada binatang contohnya dan minat terhadap buku-buku. Walau bagaimanapun di antara perkara yang tidak dapat dielak apabila menghantar anak ke rumah org adalah penyakit berjangkit yang mungkin mengjangkiti anak kita. itu antara risiko yang perlu diambil kira oleh ibu bapa dalam membuat keputusan untuk sama ada menghantar anak ke nurseri, baby sitter atau mengambil org gaji. Keputusan adalah di tangan anda. Kita berhak memilih dan setiap pilihan mempunyai risiko yang sendiri.

~ A New Beginning ~

First of all, thank you to my dearest sister for sharing her expertise to create a blog for us :D if not for her, this blog would not be here. The blog will become an avenue to share our ups and downs, lows and highs in our journey to parenthood kingdom. We have been blessed with a bundle of joy who just turn one last March after two years of marriage. it is our hope that this blog will expand our network of friends and beyond our existing circle.Till then I will write again soon.