La Kayena in Kuantan!!

Assalamualaikum~
tak jawab dosa, jawab sayang~

=p

those were the days. ahak!

anyway, haritu our little family went to Kuantan to attend the grand opening of Maleeqa Exclusive, a muslimah fashion house, right behind ECM, in Malay Town.
it was the weekend after we got back from Chiang Mai.
masa tu, nadrah dah sihat alhamdulillah.
tapi.. I PULAK YANG SAKIT! wahahaha best kan nadrah kasi tai chi sama itu penyakit kat ummi =p
kulit hidung masa tu dah terkupas kupas sebab asyik buang hingus, pastu telinga pekak sebab macam tersumbat, tekak pun sakit. sakit pun.. banyak gak bercakap. nyehehehe =p

i'm so surprised on how different Kuantan looks now! the last time i went there was in 2005, masa matrix kat gambang. my friends and i would go to kuantan parade by bus, and then if we're rajin, we walk all the way to kuantan megamall. masa matrix mende sangat la nak buat kan. dari gambang ke kuantan tu dah la jauh, so we all make up for it by hanging out at KFC and terminal bas sebab ada cendol pulut tapai yang best gila. entah ada lagi ke tak sekarang.. a few times gak dapat gi Teluk Cempedak dulu. tak swim pun. just lepak tepi pantai and watch people. good times =p

i thought nak revisit my old lepak places but husband macam penat and stuff (dia pun sakit) so kita hold for next time la kita visit kuantan. please share whatever good places to eat and visit! heheeee

back to butik!

tadaaaa~ ramai sangat masa opening tu! sebab kak Fynn Jamal pun datang. hehee..

cantik gilos interior butik ni, serious!

simple & classy. oh and comfy!

at first bila dapat proposal untuk jadi vendor kat butik ni, i was a bit hesitant because i don't know if i could afford it, lagi lagi sebab dah join Modvier. tapi sebab kak Nadia Bayu convinced me, saying that it's a good place, kak Nadia owner Maleeqa ni pun sangat baik, so i agreed in the end. 

and alhamdulillah, kak Nadia hosts usrah classes in the butik as well, so it made me feel so relieved knowing that a beautiful space like that is utilised fully =')

good job kak Nadia!

ni la kak Nadia! kecil molek tapi berjiwa besar dan sangat berdisiplin

alhamdulillah dapat opportunity to meet the super owners of super butiks!

Pija of Minaz and Kak Huda of Hijriahome.

they're both super humble and super hardworking, that's why la kot diorang super. 

nak super gaaaaaaakkkkk =p

kak Huda yang also berjiwa besar and seriously best sangat berborak dengan dia! rasa tak puas nak bersembang kencang. wahahaha!

Nadrah ni pulak dengan kurang sihatnya (hidung sok sek je), ya Allah, memang active sangat! main main with budak lain, and dia baring baring kat carpet ni, where kak Fynn Jamal tengah meet and greet fans dia. ish! talk about trying to steal the limelight! hahaha!

i'm glad i get to meet kak Fynn too. dulu first time jumpa dia, kat hotel kat muo masa raya. tapi kitorang tak borak sembang mende la. just tegur sikit sikit pastu bye!

touch n' go. huhu.

encik spidos suami tersayang, dengan anak muka copy paste bapak dia, dan suami kak Huda, who was husband's senior kat skolah dulu and UTP! 

kata husband, suami kak Huda ni penyabar sangat. cakap kat anak anak pun lembut lembut. patutlah anak dia melekat je kat dia. amazing!

so disebabkan kami se-family travelled long and far that day, kita pun balik awal sikit. tapi balik hotel kat kuantan. kak Nadia book kan hotel untuk kita to stay overnight. thank you kak!! =') moga Allah limpahkan rezeki kepada akak and family, in sha Allah~

dah rest kejap kat bilik hotel, kita pun nak cari tempat makan yang best. husband ada kawan yang nak datang jumpa dia. diorang nak sesi catch up la gitu. so we chose a place that's easy for everyone. we went to Malay Town again and went to eat at this nasi kukus restaurant. forgot the name -_-'

it was ok la. i was hoping the kuah tu pedas lagi. but the chicken was good. and i'm not a fan of chicken, so that's saying something!

bila nak makan tu, si Nadrah was so active that husband couldn't eat coz she kept wanting to walk around, and it wasn't a closed restaurant. he took the first shift of walking around with nadrah, and in the meantime, i was eating as fast as i could so i could take over the shift.

after his shift was done, i took nadrah back to Maleeqa (it was just down the road) and crashed in while they were busy closing the counter. haha! tak malu betul =p

kak Nadia sibuk. tapi serious cantik la the butik. can't get over it!

this is my lil' space =')

alhamdulillah the clothes were sold successfully! rasa nak nangis tengok. tapi sebab i malu, i didn't even step into my space. it's because i don't want to count my own stocks (i have a tendency to do that). tak manis la kira stock depan orang kan! hehee =p

Nadrah was so happy coz she had friends to play with. not that she knows what's happening. she was just running all over the place. and tripping all over the place!

kak Nadia's boys were so good-mannered, mashaAllah! they played with nadrah, and layan her everywhere she ran off to.

here, they were playing pretend. the adik was pretending to be a gorilla, the abang was the 'savior' while nadrah was the 'damsel in distress' (she was holding someone else's phone. ish nadrah nadrah -__-')

it was so funny watching the kids play! i was laughing and observing them play coz it looks so fun! padahal tak paham pun apa agenda diorang! hehehe 

we went back to kl the next day.

it was tiring because i wasn't feeling so well, but i'm satisfied that i got to meet people i admire and respect. and of course i was so happy that i was able to meet La Kayena supporters! alhamdulillah!

thank you so much kepada awak yang bershopping baju & tudung dari La Kayena, dan even datang untuk jumpa saya yang kulit hidung terkupas, mata sembap, telinga pekak ni =') terharu tau tau tauuuu! pastu thanks sangat sebab sudi buat saya ni macam best friend korang, berborak santai macam kenal lama. heheee =)

sesiapa kat kuantan atau berhampiran dengan kuantan, pergi la shopping atau berusrah kat Maleeqa Exclusive ni!

follow their instagram @maleeqa.exclusive to see their updates k?

in sha Allah, La Kayena pun akan restock barang sana soon! weeee~~

Chiang Mai experience

Assalamualaikum!!

so... we were supposed to be in Bangkok today.
Instead, we're back at home, in Malaysia.

which is really ok. preferable.

ok here's the story: (be prepared for extra long post and loads of pics coz im too lazy to edit them)

ehem!

Husband, Nadrah & I shared a huge bag for our first family holiday.
our holiday trip ni bukan holiday je, it was for my cousin, Ami's wedding reception in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
i guess we can call it a 'family day' then kan? haha!
don't know why there of all places, but oh well. we went there anyways.
our plan was, go to chiang mai, stay from Friday till Monday, then off to Bangkok till Friday.

... i guess it was a good thing we only had one huge bag!!

;p

selfless~~ hahaha!

it was my first time at KLIA 2, and ya Allah!! besar gila!! macam shopping mall!!!
pastu, mak aih, bila dah check in tu, nak jalan ke gate punya lah jauh! boleh tahan semput gak la sebab jalan laju. i don't know why we always feel pressured to reach our gate as quickly as we can.. as if we're gonna miss our flight.. -__-'

at the gate, we sat at the first row nearest to the door since my grandma was in a wheelchair and Nadrah with her stroller. she got restless, and so we let her walk. and Nadrah being Nadrah, she went and tegur people like she's a Menteri.
she went from row to row, and played "Chak!" with aunties and grannies, and even stared at a boy to the point he got embarrassed! i can tell she wanted to play with him, but she doesn't know how to initiate it. hence the staring game. perhaps she was trying to connect her wifi into the boy's mind. hahaha!

i la kena kejar dia and pull her back to the front. but she kept insisting on 'visiting' people by screaming and throwing her upper body out of the stroller (i know it's hard to imagine. haha!). sampai orang pun nak ber-selfie ngan dia. -__- oh em jay nadrah..

i was actually worried about nadrah during plane take-off. it's our first time kan, and i heard many stories and even experienced cranky babies throughout the flight. sampai ada baby kena bagi ubat tido! takut gak nadrah kena camtu kan but alhamdulillah, she was ok!
she even did her rounds in the plane! sempat.

alhamdulillah, we reached chiang mai safely and went straight to the hotel. it was raining and rupanya, it had been raining for a few days. on the day we arrived, it was raining the whole day!
while we were all ok, Nadrah's body felt hot. and i was starting to panic coz i didn't bring any first aid stuff for Nadrah except for her bear-rub (which is like vicks la).

Nadrah tu pun satu.
masuk bilik hotel, terus dia nak masuk bathtub coz it was HUGE and nadrah is a fan of bathtubs. haha!
i pun thought it should be good for her, sebab hujan kan. takut dia kena hujan punya pasal.
after mandikan dia and all, she seemed ok.

...or so we thought.
malam tu, when we went out for dinner, her body was hot and she had no appetite! paniccccc!
alhamdulillah though, i managed to give her a few spoons of nasi and sup.

and ALHAMDULILLAH for Hunny!!
she gave us Eva's first aid kit and good thing they had voltaren suppositories. malam tu jugak kita sumbat bontot nadrah sebab her temp climbed to 39degrees!!

NANES OK, NANES!

i couldn't sleep that night, i kept sponging her and checking her.
nightmare ok. anak sakit kat negara orang. ='o

the next day, she seemed fine and normal. except for her runny nose la.
she was active as usual, and we thought the fever is all gone. sebab macam i ni, fever will only stick for a day. tak pernah demam more than a day. i mean, since i can remember la. mom said i used to have really high fevers that lasted for days.

serious tak ingat. haha!

after breakfast, we went to see the elephants la, apa lagi!

Nadrah look! Elephant!

nadrah knows elephants coz some of her story books have cartoons of 'em. but when she saw them 'Live'...

she got scared and demanded me to carry her away. no! nadrah, you must face your fears! 

=p

ummi.. how can you ber-selfie when that elephant is about to beat me up with its humongous trunk?

sorry nadrah.. we don't have that many family pics, so bear with this!

dah dapat tengok elephants up close and personal, we went to see the elephant show pulak.

it was ok la. nak kata best tu, takde la sangat. 

i felt bad for the elephants je..

Nadrah was amused for a while, after that she was more attracted at the dogs yang tido kat depan the audience stand. haha!

she kept saying

"Doh (dog)! Oh! Oh! (woof! woof!)"

oh well. if it makes you happy and right in your seat, we're good!

after that, my brother and i went on the elephant ride which took us about an hour.

and all the while i was worried of nadrah coz her temp was high again and she looked weak then..

bila naik tu, i was wondering like how come ada bau nasi ayam ni?

rupanya our driver was eating while 'driving'.

pun boleh..

mom and brother also joined the ride. camni la rupa dia.

and here's why i can't enjoy the whole thing - the show, the ride..

it's their 'weapon of choice'.

i know elephant's skin is thick and it's probably the best way to train them, but still.

rasa kesian!!

i felt like kicking the guy when he puts the sharp side on the elephant's head.

i siap marah dia!

"woi! dah la tu!"

"ko pehal!?"

wahahah! macam dia paham je kan. but usually we can tell what the message is from the body language, facial expression and tone of voice. so he kinda did slow a bit on the hitting, but still does it anyway. ish, rasa nak tampar dia sampai pengsan!!

dah la dia boleh buat pit stop untuk kencing! good thing he went behind an office. kalau tak.. ish!

after the elephant tour, we went to Tiger Kingdom pulak.

but because nadrah's body was really hot and she started coughing with phlegm, As and I took her to the clinic while the rest of the family took pictures with the tiger. they said it was docile.. probably drugged so that the tiger won't bite off anyone's hands..

good thing i wasn't there.

kalau tak entah nangis ke apa kang. i kenot la these kinda things...

anyway, nadrah got to see the doctor and she got some meds.

we went straight home after that.

oh wait! ada pit stop kat thai silk factory coz mom and aunt wanted to see it and buy stuff.

i bought some scarves too.. ahahahaa (gelak guilty sebab sepatutnya jaga nadrah)

after that we went straight back to the hotel.

by then memang dah tekad, nadrah needs to rest and we're going back on the same flight as my brothers to Malaysia.

Alhamdulillah dapat tickets! we just had to. burn la tickets to bangkok and hotel. demi nadrah! 

that night was ami's reception, and although we couldn't attend, we heard the fun =)

i do hope they had fun!

we did came all the way for it! hehehee! (minus us of course la)

the day after, tengah tunggu taxi to take us to the airport.

Nadrah in her stroller with a wet cloth on her forehead. kesiannnnn!!! huuuuuu...

and that's me writing in my travel journal. buehehe =p

Nadrah, as usual, doing her rounds when we were at the airport.

seriously this girl. 

i think she just doesn't know how to be sick!

alhamdulillah =')

i've seen some babies, even kids yang lemah longlai when they get sick. they won't even bother to walk around or just attempt on being active. i'm so grateful that nadrah is still able to walk and laugh while her body is weak and feverish.

in the plane, she studied with her dad and slept a lot.

we reached KL safely yesterday, alhamdulillah.

sampai sampai je terus gi hospital to see the doc and get second opinion on her meds and stuff.

when we saw the doc in chiang mai, we couldn't really understand what he was saying coz the accent was kinda complicated and he wasn't really good in english.

we just nodded as if we understood anyway.

i don't know why we do that, like we just dont want them to waste their time to make us understand coz we need something urgently, so we just nod and pretend to understand. this applies to anything, really.

so the doc said Nadrah's ok, and he suggested the meds that Nadrah should continue from the ones that the doc in chiang mai prescribed. imagine, that doc prescribed 5 bottles!! nak bagi satu ubat pun punya la wrestling, ni 5!

so the malaysian doc said only 2 can be continued, the rest are redundant.

fiuh!

still have to wrestle with her to give her the meds, but at least it's just 2. not so tiring la. hahaha!

and so, that's all la our Chiang Mai adventure!

not so much of tourist-y stuff, but definitely a real good lesson for me and hubster.

for you first timers, make sure you bring first aid kit for your child k!

get:

1. nasal spray - in case stuffy nose

2. voltaren - in case demam panas. note that this is just a pain killer, so it's not meant to cure their fever, but just lower their temp for a while. this can give you time to see a doc.

3. plasters

4. thermometer

5. bear-rub (sort of like vicks) 

6. diaper rash ointment

7. insect repellent - we all don't want our child to get dengue in a foreign country kan...

8. minyak gamat

this is just the basic stuff. please, do bring whatever ointments or meds you have for your child. lagi lagi yang ada allergy or asthma! extra precaution is better than lacking them!!!

this trip was an experience, and honestly, i felt really bad..

felt like a bad mother for taking her for granted..

i really really don't want any of you to go through the same experience!! SO TAKE NOTE OK?!

husband and i couldn't enjoy ourselves even coz we're always so worried and panicking. ahaha!

padan muka =p

k la, tu je!

night all!

what happened last year?

Assalamualaikum!


Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!

dah 2015?!

and Nadrah will turn 2 this year?!

and me??

wahahahhahahaha!!

"A new year, a new you" - biasa kita dengar quote camni kan.
before we look forward, we must look into the past that consist of lessons, learn and take note, so that we can be more careful in the future.

2014 was an amazing year.
i, for the first time, really went all the way with studying, parenting, business-ing, and wife-ing.
i've never had so much roles to play in my life!

and i never thought i could do it!

there were plenty times when i wanted to quit.
sometimes i drop random annoying questions to my husband:
"boleh tak i nak resign jadi isteri?"
sometimes, nak resign jadi ibu. and so forth and so forth. wahaha!

of course, i never meant to resign pun. if i could, of course i would though.WAHAHA!
but because i know i can't and this is what i've signed up for when i agreed to marry encik mohdasfirdaus.
"padan muka. sape suruh kawen?" - BAHAHAHA! =p

we're married for 2 years already.
so what have i learnt for the past 2 years of being a wife?
tolerate.
patience.
and honesty.

the first year of marriage, when i was pregnant, i've held back so much of my feelings because i wanted to be 'the perfect wife'.
i was macam hyper la before being a wife, pastu bila dah kawen, subdued gila sebab ecehcehhh! nak tunjuk macam ayu la konon.
haha!

this year, hmph! memang tak la. bila Nadrah grew and became more challenging for me to cope alone, i memang tak hold back dah my feelings. i went back to being myself.

i became brutally honest and more annoying. hahaha! it definitely feels so much more comfortable this way. i learnt that ugliness in oneself isn't because of the looks or characteristics, but because of the heart.
so, my honesty and annoying-ness weren't problems (which i thought were), but rather, it's the heart that needs more attention. basically, i had it all wrong la last year. heheeee =p
takpe, dah tau ada masalah hati, kita cuba tackle! (ye, saya pun ada heart problem wuwuwuu)


anyway, i've witnessed a baby's growth! subhanallah. it's amazing.
it's truly something so.. i can't find the best term for it.. it's so magical!

from being so dependent; have to teach them how to latch for breastfeeding, teach them how to hold things, teach how to crawl, etc, and i get to see tali pusat jatuh, i witnessed nadrah mengensot from point A to point B, i taught her how to turn. ahahahaha!!

kelakarnya bila ingat balik!
now, she's walking so much till she falls, and she talks german almost fluently.
but one thing remains the same dari infant sampai dah one year old ni: melalak je keje.
haha!

takpe. badan kuat.

anyway, i've taken my last paper already, alhamdulillah!
so with "student" out of my 'roles to play', i feel so free!
i just finished reading a novel, WHILE SIPPING ON MY HORLICKS!
rasa cam lama gila tak rasa nikmat camni. whahaha!!

alhamdulillah, my business pun dari jual sikit sikit, dah expanded and grew right under my nose. rasa nak nangis tau sebab tak sangka.
i've invested a lot on my business. my energy and time especially. so to see it grow to how it is now, i'm just glad.
what initially was meant to be a business for my own gain, became something completely different.
it's not for my sake anymore.
it's a medium for the syrians, whom i never thought i'd come to know, and mashaAllah, they're so nice and such strong people!
everytime, seriously, everytime when i visit them to send or pick up materials and stocks, i always feel like crying because i feel like i havent done enough for them.
and they've done so much for me!
they give me food and treat me so lavishly, buat i faham, the feeling of barakah.
and i hope what i've learnt from them, i've implemented in my own self and family: to greet visitors like kings and queens.
in sha Allah.

oh, and pasal wife-lihood, i can't believe i can cook now!
before i got married, i can't even cook a telur mata kerbau. my telur mata will become telur dadar or scrambled eggs. suddenly je.
but now, i can cook! benda simple simple je la. takde la hebat macam chef terus nak masuk masterchef kan, but boleh la pass.
i've learnt to moderate the groceries too so that we don't buy too much and end up wasting. HAHAHA! i never thought i could do such thing!! i mean, because before this, you know. i was abysmal in the kitchen.
i started by asking my mom's helper to prepare the ingredients and cook in front of me. recipe books never teach how to kopek bawang or how to chop garlics.

i was that bad. serious.

now alhamdulillah. with time and effort, and of course, Allah's permission, i got several thumbs up from husband.
sometimes i hold my breath and watch him eat first coz it's nerve-wrecking-ball. i don't know if my cooking's good enough or not.
sometimes, when i think i made a good dish, but he doesn't react to it, rasa cam nak masuk bilik and nangis je. hahaha!
that's why my husband hates me watching malay dramas. he hates the way the dramas giving me dramatic ideas on how to react to negative impressions or whatever. hehehehehee =p

so, to you non-cooking girls, chill. belajar je masak. practise makes perfect. kalau takut sangat nak disappoint your hubby, then practise with your mom or whoever la. memang la kena beli groceries lebih sebab nak practise kan... but think of it as an investment. for your husband's happiness. for your marriage.
a way to a man's heart is through his stomach kan?
heeee =p

you can do this!

i guess that sums up what 2014 had been for me.
i don't do "azam" coz i don't like to stress myself. haha!
i just look forward to more opportunities, more inspiration, knowledge, people and places that can bring me closer to Him.
in sha Allah.
umur kita meningkat, kubur makin dekat. takut gak ek...

ok la! tu je!
good nightttt!


oh ya, lupa. padahal it was my intention. ceht.

2014 we all have witnessed so many sadness too.
we all went crazy with boycotting israelis products, we all grieved for the passengers of MH370, MH17 and QZ8501, and we faced kekeringan and banjir.
i pun tak tau how many times we need our wake up calls.
as a person who only sees all this through the tv, i can only emphatise, but i can't truly imagine what it feels like to be a 'victim'.
i'm scared thinking about it.. berat mata memandang, berat lagi bila dipikul.
i hope Allah gives you strength and patience and the ability to keep faith in Him and His Qadr.
to the palestines, the syrians, the rohingyas, the africans..
may your jihad brings you to the highest level of Jannah.
i'm a scaredy-cat, but i hope i have the courage when faced with the enemy.
in sha Allah.