'Goodnight, Beautiful'

Umair is sleeping upstairs, and I just finished reading "Goodnight, Beautiful" a novel by Dorothy Koomson. A book I started reading about three days ago. A book that I couldn't put it down. It took me three days to finish it, absorbing every single line that has been written. I think, hers is much better than any Danielle Steel or Jude Devaraux's books that I have ever read. The story line was very engaging, no nonsense, very moving and emotional. It was about how Nova and Mal, who were actually childhood friends, had been deeply in love with each other ever since, ended up marrying other people because of their own dishonesty to their own feelings...,and because of a slight misunderstanding. Mal married Stephanie. They were childless...,but they still wanted to have a child. After going through different options, they decided to ask Nova to be the surrogate mother. Midway through pregnancy, they decided to walk out of the plan and left Nova pregnant all alone. Due to jealousy, Stephanie made Mal severed all ties with Nova and the child. Keith had left Nova then because he can't stand looking at her growing someone else's baby inside her. Instead of going for an abortion, Nova decided to keep the baby...Seven and a half years later, Leo was in a deep coma. He suffered from a brain hemorrhage, a genetically linked disease...and somehow, that brought Mal back into their 'life'...for just a few days before Leo finally died...

Reading that, it was especially sad to know that how two people who were very much in love with each other -when they finally realized that they do-cannot be together in the end because of 'other' commitments that they have..?
I feel like going to MpH again tonight, and get another book of her's. I can't wait for Nizam to come back, maybe we could go to Subang Parade for dinner tonight, and I could have a quick visit to the book shop.
Tomorrow he's off work, and we are planning to take Umair to the Zoo.

Umair is exactly 2years and a half now, and is so crazy about elephants and trains and books and yesterday, jigsaw puzzles. He could do a 12 pieces puzzles on his own now. I was-and still am- very impressed and so proud of him that I only had to show it to him only once and he could do it all on his own! Just last week, Nizam was asking me, since when did Umair grow up~that he knows which Astro channels he wanted to watch, and refuse to let anyone else change it. At times like this, I know that I don't regret 'sitting at home' and be a housewife. Atleast, I get to see my baby grow up before my very eyes. I know what he likes, when his firts to so many things were and I could see the joy that sparkled out from his eyes when he could do something new like perfecting the puzzles! No amount of money could ever pay for that! He could talk in small sentences now too. "Mummy, what's that?", "Mummy, there's elephant train!", "Mummy, look!!!"..,and sometimes, when I accidently knocked his toys down while walking past his playing area, he would look at me and squint his eyes and say "Mummyyy..!!!".. I just love looking at those squinting eyes as though he was really cross with me!
Umair is a very sweet boy, really. Every morning, I'd wake up to him kissing me on my cheek and my mouth...Sometimes, when it feels sooo warm and snug to be under the blanket and I didn't feel like getting up, he'd pull the blanket out and jump on me so i'd wake up!
When we go out driving, he wants me to hold his hands, and that's what he does sometimes at home too when he wants to have a nap..,he wants to hug my hand and kiss them..., and then only he can sleep. Those sweet butterfly kisses! How I love them! So much!

It has been raining a lot lately. I love rain. I love the smell of rain falling on the grass. And how it makes the world becomes so much a life after that. It feels cold, sweet and cozy all in one.
two days ago, when there was a break in the rain, I started a bit of gardening in the backyard. I pulled out the tapioca plant that was growing a little too big that it was leaning out to the neighbour's garden. I pulled out some weeds and planted two Christmas trees. And not because I'm celebrating Xmas, but because I plan to do a low mantainance English garden there. Is that possible??? So far, with those two lonesome trees, it doesn't even look like a garden yet, and far from being an English one!!! I think, I'd probably get a landscaper to help me if my dear darling husband is totally hopeless about it!

Home Sweet Home...finally..!

Tomorrow, will exactly be 2 months since we came back home for 'good' from Japan! Cepatnyer kan masa berlalu! For the past 2 months, it had been a very, very busy time. First, after mama came to visit us for the second time in Japan, we had 7 other visitors that came for a week...My aunt and her son, and Oee, my brother. Next it was Nizam's 3 best friends that came over. Matad, Wafi and Pakcik. Wafi brought his wife, Suria along, and Pakcik, brought his mother over. So after another week of hosting session, it was time for us to pack, clean and scrub the entire house!

The Toyota Smile Life personnel came to check the house twice...to see if everything was in order before and after we cleaned the house. Apart from Umair's little scribble on the wall, (which we had to pay 1500yen=RM50 for that), lucky there wasn't any other major damage that we had to pay for! Itu pun, it was his first scribble on the wall when he was 10months old!
After that, it was cargo pick up, both for sea and air...pack punyer pack, tengok2 tak cukup ruang...there was a 4 boxes=50kg excess plak tu! Geram i! bukan apa tau, actually they didn't fill in the empty spaces properly..,the drawers in the box was left empty! Itu dah berapa dah! and then when they filled in the cargo van, some of their things were taking our space and then cakap that we didn't have enough room dah! But i really thought that the way they do the packing was like nak cepat2 habis tau, and not like to maximise the space utilisation at all! I remember our upstairs Argentina neighbour said theirs was underestimated as well, and then on the pick up day, they actually had an excess, but they insisted to bring back every thing to Argentina...and Nippon Express didn't charge them anything for that! Anyway, we didn't want to fight over it with them, instead we decided to post them through sea mail. That worked out just fine with us, as the post office was just round the corner from our house.

The next day, we were transferred to Toyota Castle Hotel in Toyota Shi, where we stayed for 3 days before our flight home to Malaysia.
On the evening of 26th June '09, we arrived home safely after 2 years of a very colourfull Japanese experience of which we will never forget..!
As soon as we came out from the arrival hall, Mama and Oee was already waiting for us with their smiling faces! The good news was that they had recieved the keys to our new house just an hour before coming to fetch us! We were really elated of course! Tiba tiba tak rasa penat pun after travelling the whole day! Anyway, as it was already late, we decided to go to the house on the next day...sampai-sampai tu, we just went for dinner and straight to bed!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UMAIR!!!!!

My little darling is 2 years old today! How time flies..! Since it's Friday and Daddy had to work, we are postponing the celebration till tomorrow. We are having BBQ Birthday Party for Umair tomorrow with Daddy's Global purchasing ICT friends.
As for today, I just cooked him some spaghetti, and Aunt Agnes came to join us for tea. She brought with her some popcorn for Umair. Later in the evening, when Daddy came home, we went out again to order some Baskin Robbin's Birthday Ice-Cream cake for tomorrow's party.That's about all that we did for today and now, Umair is fast asleep already!Mummy's thoughts and prayers are always with you Umair dear...,hope you'll grow up, big and strong, and in Allah's love, blessings and guidance all the time...in whatever you do! Mummy and Daddy love you so VERY MUCH!!!
Hugs and Kisses to my little bundle of joy that turned 2 today!!!

For the past 2 months..

It has been a while since I last wrote. So much had happened! To begin with, my father in law passed away on the 8th of April, and we hurried home the next morning. Though travelled on Singapore's Business Class, the excitement was just not there! Yer kan, balik due to mourning...! His death was kinda expected, so when he left, there was somekind of both sadness and relieved in the air. Sad, now that he has gone..,and relieved because he doesn't need to suffer any longer. Sweet Tok Ayah...he really lived up to a 100years old! We spent about 3 weeks in Malaysia, mainly with Mok in Kelantan. Nizam wanted to keep his mother company for the early days that Tok Ayah left her. We only stayed in Shah Alam for the last three days as we had some errands to settle.

Coming back here to Nagoya, Mama was already waiting for us at the airport! I was just relieved to see her...that she managed to get here all by herself! Not that she never travelled before, it was just that this is Japan, and that hardly anyone speaks English around here even to ask for directions! On top of that, she had to transit for 12hours in Tokyo! Mama managed to get the JAL 50th anniversary promotion return tickets for RM1350. Very cheap!

When she came, Nizam was still on holiday for another week. It was Golden Week. The whole of Japan was on holiday! So we took her to Disneyland, as we've never been there ourselves! Nizam wanted to wait for Umair to grow up...so he can run around Disney as he liked!...and ran around he did! For the whole day, he just refused to sit in the stroller...sampai kan in the end, he fell asleep while driving a speed car...racing against Mummy!!!
After spending the whole day in Disney, the next day, we went to Saitama to see grass sakura.
We took the long route there, about 3hours ride while enjoying the country side. Coming back, it only took us about 40minutes to get back to Tokyo via highway! It was all worth it..,as I had always enjoy seeing mountains and villages. Very calming effect on me!
Mama stayed with us for 2 weeks. When she left, my brother, an aunt and her son came to join us the next day.
This time, i took them to Fujiyama alone as Nizam had to work. Oee drove. So that was easy for me! They were really thrilled upon seeing the mountain! Especially for Hans...,as there was still a bit of snow left in the area, he was jumping up and down in pure excitement! They managed to play snowball fight for a while...!So it was all worth it!
...and then, after a week with them, we had 2 weeks break for a while. Nizam's friends came to visit us next. They arrived on the 24th May and stayed with us for the whole week. The itirinary was:

24/5-ICT BBQ Party
25/5-Fujiyama, Tokyo Tower, Tokyo AquaBay, Yokohama
26/5-Nagashima, Nabana No Sato
27/5-Meiji Museum
28/5-Togari Clean Center, Toyota Kaikan, 100yen Shop,Noritake Garden, Nagoya Mosque
29/5-Recycle Shops, Okazaki Castle
30/5-Anjo Mosque, Kuragaike Park

Very hectic schedule and very exhausting...,but we enjoyed every single minute of it playing hosts and tourist guides and spending time with them! After they left, I was totally lembik...penat sangat jalan2! Hihi! no complain though! It was really wonderful having them around! So glad to see their happy faces!

I took rest for 2 days before I started packing up. Now I'm into my 12th box...slowly crawling but, i'm getting there!
Umair just refused to let me pack, so i had to wait for his sleeping time, and then I'd do it quietly. Even if I don't pack, Nippon Express will do it for us, but I just like to do it myself for some of the things. Our cargo pick up is scheduled on the 22nd of june, and we'll move out from this apartment and stay in Toyota Castle hotel for three days. InsyaAllah our flight home will be on the 26th June...,and that would be the time when we will bid Japan Sayonara!

Whatever!

The weather has been a bit gloomy again lately. Cold, windy and chilly. The Sakura tree in front of our house is in full bloom. Pretty white flowers covering the whole tree. We are going for a walk at Suigen Koen tomorrow to enjoy the season. Nizam had booked us places for a boat ride, so we'll be viewing the blossoms from there. I don't know, I'm not really into 'it' actually...I'm just doing 'it' to pass the time. I've been feeling bored to death lately and I guess, I'm just quite saturated with all these Japanese experience! I'm done with seeing places, shopping and all and now I just can't wait to go home to Malaysia! (GoDDDDDD!!! I can't believe I'm saying this! Before I really can't wait to come here!!!)...
Well, back home, at least I have something to look forward to...To decorate my new home! And I am really excited over that!!! But for now, to wrap things up, we still have a few more places to visit such as Fujiyama Musical Forest Park, Disneyland, Hiroshima, Kobe, Osaka and Kyoto.
Personally, despite all these, I really can't wait to go home. Dah penat giler dah living in this tiny winy Japanese apartment of ours...with so many things crowding the place, I'm just tired even looking at them!~I need space!!!
Before that, we still have guests coming over to stay with us for a holiday though! On the 20th of April, Mama's coming again for 2 weeks to join us to Disneyland and the Fuji trip. On the 23rd May, Nizam's friends are coming over for a week. So I guess, it won't be so boring after all..!At least I'd have something to do~showing them around!

My little corner of the world..

For the past one month, we have been toying with the idea whether or not to buy this house that we fell in love with in Bukit Jelutong. To buy or not to buy...,that was the question!!! Adoiii it was a grand headache tau tak!!! Alhamdullillah, after Istikharah and all, God had answered our prayers last night when we had finally put down the booking money. It was actually a surprise from Nizam. Initially he told me someone else had already put down the booking money. I was dissappointed of course! Then the next day (yesterday), he told me that we managed to get the house somehow! Then, I was confused...,so unsure of what to feel...to be thrilled or not after such an initial dissappointment! Now I'm glad that we did though! So now I don't have to worry about not having a place to stay when we go home for good. Hopefully things will go on smoothly so we can move in right away end June. InsyaAllah!!!

Earlier on, we had decided to rent out our Mahligai apartment since we've got good tenant and return! I guess now it's starting all over again..I have to start thinking and planning about equipping the new house, since we are practically starting from scratch!
I love this place actually..,the neighbourhood, it's quite isolated and quiet in its own way, but not totally cut off from the rest of the world.

As we enter the Greenlane area (that's what the house collection is called) on top of the hill, we could feel a sense of serinity and calmness...That's what I love best. At least traffic would be a bit low. The house is pale mustard in colour and looking at them sitting in a row reminds me of some Spanish houses. The interior? Well, I am sure that when we have visitors coming to this corner of the world of ours, they will be in for a shock!~its deep dark purple in colour (as in Fanta Grape) at the living and dining area... and shocking pink along the staircase!!! What a combination ey???!!! haha! We saw this house the last time we went back for home leave and fell in love with it since! The good vibes and the lingering smell of the 'Lovely Lace' potpourri around convinced me even more. It was beautifully kept and decorated. I'm going to have a gala of a time with colour play! This will definitely test me on my interior decorating skill. For me, this is a nice change from my usual Traditional English decoration that I always opted for! One thing though, lucky that my furnitures that we've been slowly collecting here are mainly off white in colour, so that would off set the deep purple tone that we have on the wall! As for the kitchen, it is overlooking the garden in the backyard, so it's going to make me feel like I'm cooking outside in the garden instead!

I told Nizam that I wanted to stay with that 'happening' colours for a while, just for the fun of it, until we get tired of them, then I want to put on the wall paper. He's okay with it as long as we have a Japanese corner at one side. Okay English combined with Japanese decoration...what a marriage huh! I guess I'm going to have our dining area as our Japanese corner since we already have a Japanese dining table. So I'm going to make that usefull before we get a new one...and the rest is definitely English! ~cantik tak? ala ala Spa Q laa pulak kan colour combination tuh???! Hihi!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAYANG!!!!!

Last Wednesday was Nizam's Birthday (18th March 08), and I threw him a birthday dinner. It was actually a last minute request so i just cooked a simple macaroni/bihun soup again and this time topped up with some French bread (courtesy of Asmah as she couldn't make it to the party~Thank you Kak Sem!). Agnes and Norbert gave him an Ice-cream birthday cake, and Seifhul gave 2 pack full of strawberries...so that was what we had for dessert~yummy!
...and this is what I gave him for his Birthday present..,an Aigner leather watch just like what he had always wanted!~cantik tak?

Strawberry Picking and Irago Tour

After a week long of gloomy weather, it was really nice and sunny today that I did 3 rounds of washing! I have been really good today~putting the house in order! We have been camping in the living room since winter started and now I'm getting a bit tired looking at the house..,that most of the time is messy...with futons, blankets and pillows right in the middle of the house! Nak masuk tidur dalam bilik, it's freezing cold in there, and daytime, Umair will want to have his nap, so I have to keep the futons handy in the living room!-Sigh!- Anyway, today with the house straightened up, and the laundry neatly folded in the closet..,it has been a productive day! So now, I could sit here and update this blog of mine! hihi!

Last Saturday, all of us the Malaysian ICTs made a day trip to a strawberry park somewhere near Toyohashi and made a tour around Irago Peninsula after that. Kak Mimi and family jumped in the ride with us in our Estima (don't mind the rim please...I knowww it's ugly! We are in the process of changing it by the way!)and Asmah and family went in Zura's car. We left home around 9 a.m and after 80 km of travelling, we arrived at the Atsumi Seaside Floral Strawberry Farm approximately 2 hours later. I was definitely excited off-course! Been waiting for this trip for ages! This is us upon arrival at the farm~posing with the car first! Hihi!The strawberries were really huge and sweet!!! Puas hati sangat-sangat coming here!We forgot to take along Hershey's Chocolate Dip with us, so we just had to make do with the condensed milk supplied at the farm. Not that it wasn't sweet enough actually...,it was just for the fun of it! It was weird for me actually... I never knew that you eat strawberry that way here in this country! Normally in England, we used to eat it with whipped cream...that too, supplied by the farm! We spent about an hour eating and snapping pictures at the farm...sampai sakit perut! Tried to eat as much as we could so that it would be worth it after paying 1500 yen (RM60) for the entrance fee. After eating about 10 strawberries, i was already full...dah ler buah besar2, ...macam mana nak sampai 45 nie? (that was our target actually!), tapi memang tak boleh! After eating the 11th piece, I memang rasa cam nak muntah dah! maybe because we dipped them with condensed milk kot! I forced myself anyhow eating the smaller ones to make it 15, so at least it came up to 100 yen sebijik! Okay laa kan! hahha! This is us at the vegetable patch (cabbage, broccoli, spring onion mostly)..Along the way to the Irago Crystal Porte, we stopped for a picnic lunch near a Colza field, (we brought some packed lunch~left overs from last night's soto dinner actually!)~while snapping pictures around the brilliant yellow meadow. Spring is definitely here! Some local tourists stopped by for some pictures as well...probably amused looking at us having a picnic there!~Dorang datang for snapping pictures jer, kitaorang siap picnic lagi kat situ!

At the Crystal Porte..,we just took a stroll along the beach to the light house. What began as a pleasant stroll turned out to be quite an 'adventurous' one actually!
As we went around the cliff, the wind suddenly became stronger and we felt like we were pushed by the wind to fly! We couldn't even walk straight! I had to hold on to my scarf (otherwise, memang terbang ker laut laa jawabnyer!), and everyone's hair was going in every directions! It was just lucky that there was no big waves coming to us~otherwise we would have been miserably wet and cold!
After the windy excitement, we continued with our journey to a small mountain nearby...to see a kincir angin that stood alone on that hill! (There were so many of them in that town, but there was only one up the hill).
On the way home, we stopped by for dinner at a Japanese restaurant before calling it a day!

Estima Doa Selamat Celebration cum Mummy's 2nd round Birthday Party

Well, after almost 2 weeks of waiting, we finally got our much anticipated Estima last Tuesday (3rd March '09). Nizam decided to hold another makan-makan gathering on Friday night together with Hamidi for Doa Selamat. Since we still have so many places to visit...long and short journeys..,might as well we 'officiate' the car awal2. This time, we had it at their place because at the same time they wanted to make a belated birthday celabration for Humayraa as well. We had soto for dinner that night. Something simple for a change. I made minced beef begedil and shredded chicken, and Zura did the rest.
It was really sweet of them to include me on Humayraa's cake actually...and it was really cute as well!~Thank You Zura!!!

Jibusaka Revisited

Last Friday, Nizam came back early from work and we headed straight to Jibusaka Highlands Toyota owned Log Cabin Resort for an overnight stay. We went together with Hamidi and family, and Norbert & Agnes (our Philipino neighbour). After 2 hours journey from Toyota Shi, it was already dark and really chilly (0 degree Celcius) when we got there. At the first glimpse of snow, we were already clapping our hands and got really excited...(somehow this year, kat Toyota Shi snow tak turun as much as it did last year! Sekarang sakura dah bud out dah pun...and it is still February!). By the time we got to the resort gate it was snowing heavily when we were fixing the tire chain. We were even more elated! The girls came out from the car, jumping up and down in the snow while snapping some pictures while the guys were freezing cold fixing the tire chain for us to climb up to the cabin!
We checked into a different cabin this time but the interior of the house is exactly the same as what we had the first time we came here last winter. I was really happy off course! Both the house and the interior was really beautiful!
It was really nice and warm inside the house but the view outside, though it was miserably cold and chilly, it was breathtaking...even at night time! I was just so overwhelmed! Looking through the windows, I kept wishing that if only we could have stayed longer and I could enjoy the house and the view nicely. Somehow, log cabins and snow makes me feel melancholy like you know..?! i don't think I could ever get enough of it. Reminded me so much of my first taste of log cabin and snow in Canada when I went on an exchange programme before...
It was just a wish off-course! itu pun nasib baik that we got the booking handed over to us by Kak Mimi. Thank You Kak! (She changed her mind about going there as she was going to Hakuba). Bookings can only be done 2 months in advance, so you could imagine how difficult it was to get the reservations! Any cancellations would totally be so sayang!!!
After having a macaroni soup dinner, we had some cheesy popcorn (courtesy of Agnes) before it was time for bed. Norbert and Agnes had the room upstairs and the rest of us occupied the room downstairs. The guys had fun camping in the living room. All nice and cozy, sampai Zura and I boleh jealous jer tengok!
The next morning, we had tuna sandwich for breakfast and some macaroni soup left over for breakfast. After some picture taking sessions again around the house, (this is Umair enjoying the fresh winter air by the way!), we checked out at 10a.m and headed next door to the ski park. We only had fun playing with the sled though. It was especially nice to us looking at how much Umair was enjoying himself sledding with his Daddy... sampai menangis nangis tak nak balik! After a couple of hours at the park, we headed home. It was at 3pm when we arrived home in Ekaku and called it a day..

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Another year had gone and I turned 32 years old today!!! What a huge number but i still feel the same! I've been counting my blessings, and i thank God for everything He had given me in my life.
I truly feel blessed. Though half of my life has gone by without Papa around, with such a wonderfully sweet, loving and caring husband in Nizam and Umair in my life, I am really really gratefull..!!! Thank You So Very Much Dear Allah!!!
We didn't do anything much today though. Just spent a quiet day at home...(we don't have a car yet, anyway!) We slept most of the day, snuggling in our blankets and hibernate!
In the evening, Agnes and Norbert came around to give me my strawberry ice-cream birthday cake. Nizam made tea and we had the ice cream together.Thank You guys...,it was really really sweet of you to pop in!

As for my birthday present, next to another brand new COACH of which I'm getting next weekend InsyaAllah (nak pegi Nagashima sekarang takder kete), Nizam got us an Estima like I requested and ever wanted! We sold our WISH as I feel that it's a bit crampy in there. Especially when we always go on a long journey to balik kampung, I thought that it would be nicer and better to have more leg room and to have my pinggang friendly seat in the car...as I do sometimes get severe back ache, a higher seat is a great help to alleviate that!
It was really sudden when we actually found what we both wanted for our Estima...that we sold our WISH right away!
Nizam had always wanted a pearl white car with AERAS skirting, and I wanted 7 seater crew seats and beige colour interior with accesorries off course! Finding the perfect car that meets with both of our certain criteria was quite a daunting task. We both wanted it to be a high grade (G grade) 2004 Estima so that we'd be eligible for the 70% tax discount back home in Malaysia. (Lawa nak jugak, poket pun nak tebal jugak...so we have to make do with this one! hihihi!) Nizam described it like as though 'nak gi meminang Puteri Gunung Ledang!' Hihihi! Thank goodness though, that we bumped into it in the end. Before that, it was always a one side kinda thing...interior cantik, luar tak lawa, and vice versa, making it so very difficult for us to decide! Anyhow, with God's Graces, (Honestly!!!), we came across this really really really nice car in the internet...of which initially I thought that we won't be able to get it as it is soooooo pretty like what we BOTH wanted and the price is exactly within our budget! Like, it was a too good to be true kinda thing, you know? Anyway, after some negotiation, through our friend Hamidi, Alhamdullillah, the car is now ours! We are waiting for it to arrive from Osaka on Tuesday, and we should be able to drive it, God Willing, latest by Friday, after all the paper work and plate number has been done! We are just too excited to see our new car! I am just elated! Somehow, today, I just feel like so brand new!!! It's one of those magical things that Birthdays do to us i guess...huh?!