The lil’ dude and his family…

I know that it has been a month since we’ve gotten back from our trip and I still have yet to finish posting up pictures. Blame it on work. :P Anyway, here are the pictures from our time in London. Too malas to write anythinglah. Kerja berlambak!

We left for Paris on Christmas Eve. Many flights were cancelled due to the snow and the bad weather but thankfully easyjet did not cancel our flight. The Ciampino airport was just madness but we are lucky to be travelling with Irfan because they gave way for families with toddlers everywhere. We didn’t have to queue for more than an hour to check-in and didn’t have to wait for long to board the plane either. :)

The ride was smooth and when we arrived at Orly, we took the train to Gare Du Nord as I chose an apartment near the station since we’d be taking the Eurostar to London. Weather was cold and it took us quite a while to get to Gare Du Nord because we screwed the tickets up somehow and while waiting at the Anthony Metro station, paranoia kicked in. Irwan had to repurchase the tickets to Du Nord so he had to leave me and the luggages and for a moment there it was just me and some queer looking chaps at the station. I was just wary of everyone and when one guy kept staring at me and getting closer and closer to me, I just wanted to cry. Pathetic I know but I was pretty much alone and that incident in Rome kept coming back to me so yeah, when Irwan finally arrived with Irfan, it was a big huge relief for me. And the guy? He went to the other side of the platform after that. Go figure. Heh.

When we arrived at the apartment (about 200sf in size) we immediately fell in love with the place. Oklah, the place is a bit small but the owners have done it up nicely and we were happy to be at a homey place. Metro station is just about 2 mins walk and there is this grocery store that sells halal meat. There were a few Asian stores for me to find my “ingredients” as well so we were very happy with our choice. :)

A lot of places were closed because it was the Christmas Eve but we walked around the area for a bit until we couldn’t tahan the coldness no more.

The next day we took the Metro and headed over towards La Fayette as the bus stop for the hop on hop off bus was near the famous shopping mall. We had our lunch at one of the restaurants along Champs-Élysées and that place was just packed with people! Irfan had fun being able to run around just about everywhere so I just let him be lah although I was kesejukan like mad!! I think the temperature that day was about 0° or 1°. All I wanted to do was stay in a room with the heater on full blast! :P

When we got to Eiffel Tower, the queue to go up was just too crazy! I’ve been all the way up already so it was more of Irwan’s call if he wanted to queue. Since the weather was too cold and he didn’t want to freeze his a** off, we didn’t bother queueinglah. There were a lot of pigeons there and when about 20 of them came near us, Irfan started crying his lungs out! He said he was scared of them. Instead of pacifying him, I took the chance to snap some shots of him wailing. Yes, tak baik I know, but couldn’t help itlah. :P

Irwan did the tour of Le Louvre the next day while Irfan and I hopped from La Fayette to Printemps to H&M. I didn’t see the point in dragging the poor boy to stare at artsy-fartsy stuff so I volunteered to babysit him (and get some shopping done) while Irwan spent some few hours at the museum. We met up with him back towards the later part of the evening and spent some time strolling the area. The next time I’m coming back to Paris will be during bearable weather months because the city is just lovely and when it gets too cold, you miss out on a lot of stuff because you cannot bear being outside and getting frostbites! Heh.

I checked the Eurostar’s website that night to see if our train is still on schedule to depart for London the next day and thankfully, they’ve resumed their services again. But the same cannot be said for the London-Paris service as the weather in London was/is still too cold and I heard that they were cancelling on a lot of them. I pity those people who have had to miss their Christmas gatherings and what not due to the erratic bad weather. :(

Our train ride was good but the train was going slower than it should but I guess they just want to be on the safe side. The couple seated next to us had two kids with them and Irfan was having fun playing with Alex - the 2.5 year old boy and Amelie - the 18 months old chubby girl. Alex had this sticker magazine with him and Irfan made us promise that we’ll get him one when we arrive in London. I can’t find those sticker magazines in KL - has any one of you seen them?

We arrived at King’s Cross Station 40 minutes behind schedule and there were just throngs of people there! Anyway, here are some photos of us in Paris and I shall continue the last bit in the next post because work is calling already! :P 

We left KL on 18th of December and arrived in London close to midnight. Weather? Well below freezing point. The plane ride? Quite good. Airport hotel? Mengarut to the max!

Since we were planning to take the first flight out of London to Rome the next day, I didn’t see the point in staying in a posh hotel for 6 hours. So I booked us in a small hotel that only costed us about £39 per night. Not too shabby, right? Wrong! Apparently the hotel couldn’t “claim” the money from my credit card (because I had to send it back to the bank since the CVV couldn’t be seen anymore) and so we got charged £79 instead! Blardy hell, had I known, we’d have just stayed at Hilton for that same amount of moolah. Dahlah kasi bilik kat atas and then berbau rokok. Gah!

Fast forward to the next day, it was our flight to Rome via Ryan Air. The queue at the airport was massive because I guess everyone wants to go home/somewhere for Christmas but we managed to sort our luggages out (1 bag per person and 15kg per bag and it doesn’t matter if you’re travelling on the same itinerary because there is to be no pooling of weight amongst the 3 of us - it was quite hell-ish packing 3 bags and making sure that they’re all 15kg per bag) and waited for the annoucement for our boarding gate. Ryan Air has already a month before the flight sent out an email saying that our flight would be delayed by two hours (and that has made all the necessary arrangements in Rome and Sorrento go haywire) and when we got passed security at Stansted, we were told that the flight would be delayed for another two hours! Guh-reat!

Upon arriving at Ciampino Airport, which is relatively small (and quiet) even by our LCCT’s standards, we had to go pick up the rented car to drive to Sorrento (Southern Italy). With 3 luggages, a stroller and a toddler, you’d wish that the rental car office/desk is in the airport itself, right? But nope, we had to drag everything with us for about 15-20 minutes walk outside with cars going in every direction.

Traffic getting out of Rome was quite bad but getting into Sorrento was even worse! Everyone was out shopping or dining and instead of arriving at our destination 2 hours after we left, I think it took us about 3.5 hours to get to the hotel. By the time we settled in, it was almost 8pm and with the wind from the sea blowing directly at us, I was freezing as h*ll!

The next day, we drove around Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi Coast. Not many restaurants were opened but we managed to find a small and quaint Italian/Mediterranean restaurant that served one of the best stuff I’ve eaten during our trip. :) Irwan had fun negotiating the bends from Sorrento all the way to Amalfi Coast.

We headed back for Rome after spending 2 nights in Sorrento and got to our cute lil’ hotel near the Termini Station after going through more jams in Sorrento and Rome. Sigh. What a waste of time, man!

It rained the next day but we had two umbrellas with us and Irfan was having fun playing in the rain as well. We visited lots of fountains and monuments and churches and by the end of the day I was feeling tired from walking in the rain and suggested to Irwan that we should take the train back instead. What a big horrendous mistake that was. :(

At the Barberini metro station, there was hardly anyone around us when we were waiting for the train. So when the train arrived, we immediately boarded it but to our surprise, someone was sort of blocking Irwan and the stroller and I felt something amiss because never in my entire life of travelling anywhere that such thing has happened before. People would always give way to a parent with stroller.  2 seconds later I could feel that there were at least 5 people behind me trying to push their way in. And we were still trying to get the stroller inside the blasted train. 3 seconds later, I felt someone’s hand inside my handbag (which was zipped) and tugged it immediately! As though on cue, the perpetrator who was “blocking” our way moved in and so Irwan and Irfan who was in the stroller could go in. I related to Irwan in BM about what happened and while talking to him, I looked at my handbag and sigh, the zip was opened and my wallet gone. I wanted to scream, and I wanted to hit all the bitches that were behind me but all I could do was cry. Rome was the start of our journey so I do have quite a substantial amount of cash in my wallet. Yes, I wanted to leave them in the safe deposit box but because we were rushing in the morning, I completely had forgotten all about it. All the what ifs, could haves, should haves came to mind but my RM3,500 will not come back to melah, kan? Next time, just use the blardy credit cards! Even if that means wreaking havoc in the budget but at least the money was spent on me and not some stooooopid gypsies. Urgh! I seriously hope they’ll die a slow painful death. Gah!

So then I had to make all the necessary calls to Malaysia to cancel my credit cards and asked from AMEX and VISA for a replacement card since I’ve got no cash whatsoever to survive. :P Next was to walk to the nearest police station to make a report but I was turned away because I did not have any ID (passport was left at the hotel) with me. Habis tu, dah my wallet kena curi? Duh! We had to walk for about 30 minutes (because I just refused to take the train again since they can’t even letak bloody CCTVs in the metro station knowing that this pickpocket business is so rampant there!) and I just wanted to collapse. All my energy was gone and I was furious, upset, disappointed, etc etc and I didn’t have an ounce of energy left to walk to the Termini station to lodge the report. But we did anyway.

Upon arriving, there was an Arab couple who was pickpocketed and just before we left, there was a group of Japanese people who shared the similar experience as well. In a span of 1 hour and in 1 police station, 3 people were making reports that they were pickpocketed. I wonder if the same ratio applies in Kuala Lumpur. Hrmmmmm…

Anyway, I couldn’t really sleep that night but vowed not to let this sh*tty incident affect our holiday. Sh*t happens and there is nothing I can do about it. So the next day we hopped on the “hop-on-hop-off bus” and toured the whole of Rome.

Here are some photos from our journey and I will continue on in the next post. :)

Okay okay, I know I’ve left this blog too long a time, but life has been busy and I’ve been running out of stuff to write on. And yes, the pictures from the trip aren’t ready yet either because there are too many things to settle at work and bloody red tapes to follow to get all my Malaysian documents replaced.

Last Saturday I decided to go to JPN Maju Junction to get my IC done. I was tired carrying my passport all over town and so the three of us went there about 10-ish in the morning. Upon arriving at the place, I was shocked to see that the JPN is actually in a parking lot itself. Like hooooo-kaaaaayyyy! Feeling anxious, I stepped in line and told the lady who was playing Farmville manning the counter that my wallet was stolen in Italy and that I needed to get my IC replaced.

She then asked if I’ve made a Malaysian police report. And I replied whatever hell for (not in the exact words) as I didn’t lose the documents in Malaysia. She said that it’s “procedure” and that they don’t read English (like seriously?!) and also that they need the reference number from the Malaysian police report. By this time I was too tired to argue with a dingbat like her so Irwan asked to see the officer in charge. And so he went and 10 minutes later came out trembling with anger. Apparently the so-called officer in charge kept insisting on the Bahasa Melayu report and said that it’s procedure and that they don’t have any other procedures for those that lost their ICs abroad and had the cheek to even say “bukannya nak menyusahkan orang pun!” Sheaaaaaahhhhh right! Dumbness to the core, I tell ya!

So yeah, we proceeded to the Dang Wangi Police Station and more stupidness was on our way.

Me: Cik, saya nak buat translation police report sebab wallet saya dicuri di Itali dan JPN nakkan report dalam BM.

Police: Hilang kat mana?

Me: Rome, Itali.

Police: Kat mana?

Me: Ni, ada tulis kat report tu - Station Metro Barberini (while pointing to the report that was already in front of her).

Police: Kat mana?

Me: (Looking at Irwan and trying hard to think of the blardy coordinates of the metro station - NOT!) Kat mana apanya Cik?

Police: Yelah, Brickfields ke Sentul ke?

Me: Cikkkkkk, kan saya dah cakap Itali. I-t-a-l-i. Luar Malaysia!

Police: Oh ye ke?

Me: (Feeling like I was about to faint and vomit blood and everything else lah!)

So, after she has typed out the report in the language that is so required by the stooooopid JPN people, she had to dispatch the report to Pantai Police Station because my address on the IC is in Bangsar. After calling them up to get some ID or reference number or whatever it was that was needed, she was told by the officer in Pantai that she should amend my report and say that I only realised that my documents were missing when I got back to Malaysia. Why she even considered that is beyond me but seriously, my wallet was stolen in Rome and I realised that they were stolen 5 seconds after the stupid b*tch-who-shall-die-a-slow-painful-death took them out of my handbag (another story for another day) and I even have an Italian police report (written in English!) for that. So why on earth should I accept a report that says I’ve only realised that my things were missing 2 weeks after they were stolen? I told the (blur) officer in front of me that I shall refuse to accept that report and her colleague overheard my case and she called back the officer at Pantai and told her that what she suggested is totally unacceptable because I already have a police report made on the 22nd of December while I was in Rome.

By this time I think if I have a weak heart I may have had a heart attack or something. Is our police force that bad? I mean I know they’re not the greatest or anything but my case isn’t rocket science or anything, you know? It is a pretty straight forward thing that needed to be done. Everything was in front of her in black and white.

Sigh. Damn sadlah I tell u.

No wonder some people think we still live on trees! :|

I know that I’ve left this blog for the spider to build its web, but I really do not know what to write anymore these days. :( It did occur to me to close the blog altogether but we’ll see howlah.

Anyway, Irfan’s body started to feel rather warm on Saturday afternoon. By the time it was dark, it felt a little too hot for comfort so I gave him some medicines. He slept from about 8pm (and we were at BSC for dinner) in his stroller til about 10am the next morning. I wasn’t really sleeping as I was monitoring his temperature so I was really glad that we stayed in (almost) the whole day on Sunday. He was okay by this time but didn’t have that big of an appetite. Fair enough.

He was fine on Monday but started to get all phlegmy and chesty. So I brought him to SJMC that evening to see the paed but unfortunately she had some emergency so we had to wait to see an M.O instead. Gah. Had I known I’d have just gone to Prince Court. We waited from 7.45pm til about 10pm and I was really tired and Irfan was getting a bit cranky. (Like duh?!). I asked for him to be nebulized as the phlegm was really bad so my lil hero sat on the chair like a pro throughout the whole thing. Champion betul! His temperature was recorded earlier on and it was 36.8° and his weight was 17.0kg.

Yesterday night, his body started to feel warm balik. I gave him some paracetamol and took his temperature - it was 39.5°!!! Off we went to Prince Court to ask for the suppositories because there was no way in hell I’d let him go to bed like that!

We were at the hospital til slightly after midnight but Irfan’s temperature dropped to 37.3°. Phew. Doctor said that he probably caught a virus somewhere and we are to monitor his temperature for the next three days. If he doesn’t get better by Friday, I’d have to bring him in again for a blood test.

Hope he gets better soon as he’s really looking forward to go for his first school trip on the bus this Friday. And there’s also the trip to The Andaman Langkawi this weekend. Half of me wants to cancel the trip but everything has been paid for. We’ll see how it goes…

Here are some shots taken during the recent trip to KL’s Bird Park. That place is so much better than the Zoo Negara. Irfan was afraid of the peacock though. Don’t ask me why because when I asked him why he’s afraid, his answer was “Because I’m afraidlaaaaaa“. Hrmph.

So we were all in town for Raya this year. Irwan’s parents left for Kuantan on eve of Raya so it was just us and my parents for Raya. On Saturday, I went over to my parents’ in the evening to help my mom cook as my parents invited their friends over for makan-makan on the first day and so did Irwan and I. My mom made nasi tomato, rendang ayam, kurma ayam, ketupat, roti jala, kuah kacang and errr I think a few more that I have forgotten. We’re big on my mom’s cooking so all of us (Irwan and my younger adik included) helped her in the kitchen. Irfan was either 1) busy watching cartoon with my dad or 2) bugging everyone in the kitchen. :P

By the time we were done helping my mom cook, it was close to 11pm (and she had started cooking from 5.30 in the morning!!!) and the boys went upstairs to play wii while I helped to arrange the kuih raya. We left way past midnight and I was so ready to just sleep for the entire week!

I managed to get some shots of Irfan in his baju melayu, sampin and songkok before we left for my parents’ but he really wouldn’t sit still! Ah well, at least I got some pictures. :)

My parents’ friends arrived first and had their makan-makan session while the sky looked a tad gloomy. I was a bit worried in case it’d pour Garfields and Odies as our friends were arriving around 2 plus. The Koks and the Huans arrived first and a couple of minutes later the Chans arrived and I thought that I’d finally get a chance to have lunch (and breakfast!) with them. But unfortunately, more of my parents’ friends arrived so of course must let the guests makan dulu, right? :P

Anyway, didn’t get a chance to take pictures or anything like that as I was busy going up and down replenishing food etc etc for the guests but I think Irfan had the most fun!

The Gontiers arrived just as Aaron and family, Shannon and family, Danny and Kathey were on their way out. My parents’ friends were still continuously pouring in lah. I tak larat mau entertain already so I left them to mingle with the others. I finally had a moment to breathe and sit down to look at Alia and Johan’s wedding photos in Champagne. We couldn’t make the trip as it was held during Ramadhan and I don’t think I larat to travel up and down the whole of France while fasting. Heh.

I had my makan-makan session with the newlyweds and my Nani and the rest of the family from my dad’s side. Irfan was busy playing with Johan and he didn’t seem to mind so that left Alia and me some time to catch up. :)

The day ended around 8 p.m and the house was back to its normal self, except for Irfan who was still jumping up and down in his baju melayu and sampin. I fed him some nasi tomato and beef for dinner and showered him and gave him 8 oz of milk and he slept almost immediately.

Irwan, my brother and I played a game of Monopoly on wii after we have freshened up and around midnight Irwan said that he was hungry and was craving for some indomee. So after ending the game, we all went to Damansara Uptown for supper. I finally got my kerang rebus and we were eating noodles like there was no tomorrow while Irfan was still asleep on Irwan’s lap. By the time we sent my brother home and reached Andalucia, it was already past 2 a.m.  Penat betul!

We went for a friend’s open house on the second day of Raya for lunch and Irfan was having fun with the abangs and kakaks there and didn’t even notice that Irwan and I weren’t next to him. He basically mingled with the older kids and entertained himself and only after everyone started going home that he felt alone again. He came to us and said “Jom balik!”. Yes, sir! Heh.

We had a BBQ session with the Chans and the Koks at Andalucia that evening and I let the kids play with the remaining bunga api we had. Irfan was having fun with his bicycle and it was on that night that he finally got the right way of cycling! Yay! And again, the night ended way past midnight. Haha! Basically by this time, Irfan’s bedtime schedule was all screwed up! Takpe, Raya setahun sekali. :P

We visited the in-laws on the third day of Raya and had lunch with them. Spent most of the day at SS3 and Irfan and his grandma went out to visit a friend who came over from Jakarta. We left SS3 in the evening to get ready as we had a (simpler) makan-makan session at my parents’ with the in-laws and a few of my parents’ friends. My mom made prawn noodles that night and it was yummylicious! Yes yes, I should get all the recipes already and start practicing like s.o.o.n! :P

That was basically how the first three days of Raya went for us. Irwan and I both started working on the fourth day and we’re looking forward to more ketupats and lemangs in the weeks to come. Heh.

Maaf zahir dan batin. :)

Below are photos taken after my brother’s graduation together with his girlfriend’s family. It’s been a while since the pictures were taken but I’ve been awfully busy! Pft.

So to those who are driving back to their hometown or going for a holiday - please drive safe. And to those of you who are like me and tak balik kampung - enjoy the jam-free road!! Wheeee… :)

Irfan had his 3-week break early August but I sent him for  the “Summer Programme” for one week and the week after that he was with me as my parents were abroad. Life with Irfan is getting a bit simpler on one hand, but on the other hand, it’s getting a tad complicated. As he is very much independent these days, he tends to have his own mind and ways regarding certain things. Clothes that I’ve laid out for him for the past 3 years plus or so may not be as “happening” as he wants them to be. So he’d spend an additional 10 minutes staring at his clothes and choosing what he wants to wear. Nevermind that sometimes he looks like a clown. :P Weekday mornings prove to be even crazier than before because on top of choosing what he wants to wear, he chooses what he wants to eat as well and it just drives me nuts at times because it delays our schedule even more!

His diet is also starting to change. Things that he used to like, he just doesn’t want them anymore these days. However, rice is still his main staple. He tends to eat lesser during dinner and although it used to worry (and stress!) me, I just let him eat whatever he wants. Don’t get me wrong - he still eats. Just that it’s not that big of a portion like how it used to be. But he still eats plenty during lunch. Probably because he works hard in school? Heh.

Speaking of his school, as of last week he has been promoted to the upper class with the older boys and girls. And so far, he has been ok in that class but he tells me that he misses his teacher from his previous class as he was very attached to her. And ever since being in the class with the older kids, he told his teacher that he doesn’t want to drink milk in school anymore as he’s a big boy now and will only drink his milk at home. Malu ka? Hahahahaha!

His latest craze is the iPod touch where he learns how to spell simple words and writes ABC and 123 on the screen but I was told by Dr. Sharmila (his paed at Prince Court) that when it comes to these things, one should always go back to basics. Well, he gets his basics from school (he holds the pencil real well anyway) so he gets to use all the techy stuff with uslah. At least it keeps him still while we’re out dining and such. :)

Got him his flu jab last Saturday as we’ll be in Europe in December and with the H1N1 and everything else around, I didn’t want to take any chances. He needs to get the second jab next month and I think we’ll get ours too. A family friend of the inlaws who was in Frankfurt got the H1N1 and slipped into a coma for 39 days and passed on. Sigh. Quite scary, innit? Hopefully we’ll be okay then. Dahlah winter. Ish! One can only pray and doa. InsyaAllah.

p/s: No pictures of Irfan as I haven’t touched my camera in more than a month! Eeeeep!

So, the lil’ gadget boy has finally turned ONE! How fast does time fly, ey? Tsk. It was a small affair at Bianco but everyone had loads of fun! :) It has been 3 weeks in a row that I’m at Bianco and this weekend we’ll be there again for another birthday party and Irwan is amused that the people there know me by my first name. Hahahahahaha!

Anyways, Aaron and the kids dropped by on Sunday and they all had some fun time in the pool. And after that I had the yummiest fried chicken at BBQ Chicken as the chicken there are fried in olive oil! Yummy! And now I am craving for moreeeee..! :P

Knows:

• How to spell his full name
• How to spell my full name
• How to spell Irwan’s full name
• How to spell his friend’s name
• How to get to my parents’ home from his school

Memorizes:

• My handphone number
• Irwan’s handphone number
• My car plate number
• Irwan’s car plate number
• My parents’ car plate numbers
• My inlaws’ car plate numbers
• Our home address

He’s been such a joy to us since April 2006 - albeit some dr-jekyll-and-miss-hyde moments with him - that I cannot imagine life without him. I am not even sure how I am going to cope if and when #2 or #3 comes along. Can I love his adik(s) as much as I love him? Can I give his adik(s) the same attention I have been giving him? Can I be fair to all my children? And if I feel that I can’t - should we still proceed to get pregnant? Dilemma dilemma.. Or should we just eff it and just do it? Pft.