Inverse Effect

On a train trip to Uetliberg -
the highest top of Zurich, Switzerland

The bigger the workload, the draggier I am. The closer I reach to the deadline, the lazier I become. If only the effect was exponential for me.

But this happened many times in my uni days; I remember feeling sooooooo sleepy every night before an exam is due on the very next day.

When the majority were staying up late for last minute studying, I could seldom keep my eyes open and slept way before everyone else. Ha lepas tu, baru nak menyesal esok nya, sampai nak terkencing2 bukak buku luar exam hall, hehe.

Like now, when I should be finishing my outstanding reports, instead I'm either in the mood to blog, to shop, chit chat or just sleep away somehow hoping that all the pending stuff for the upcoming meeting next week will magically complete on its own.

I find myself daydreaming about past vacations; how I wish I was in any of those places right this instant....

Either ride on the famous gondola
along the canals of Venice, Italy

Or be on top of the cool mountains of Mt. Titlis, Switzerland

Or breathe the cool fresh air in a garden full of flowers
as far as the eyes can see in Korea

Or para gliding in Bali, Indonesia
(yes, that's me)

Or snorkel in the clear waters of Perhentian Island, Terengganu
(yes, that's me again)

Or even read an uninformative entertainment magazine
on board a Eurostar train to Rome, Italy

Or best of all, ride on a Mini (top-down) along
the harbours of Sydney, Australia 

Big sigh...

The Past - Part I

DECEMBER was the most significant month of all throughout 2011, and yet the number of posts I managed to squeeze was... just ONE. Teruk betul. 

A cousin got married and most importantly, MY BEST FRIEND also got married! How could I have left that out from this almost-forgotten blog? Sorry Do, you know my excuses are never lame, right?

And you know what, I'm soooooo glad I went through the endless traffic jam on that Friday rush-hour along with an empty tank just to reach to you and witness your glow on your most special day. I love you so much! You looked beeeeeeeautiful!

I pray for every happiness, every loyalness, and every greatness for you and sweet Adil. Not only he's an extremely good cook, he's also such a gentleman; InshaALlah he will take good care of you. At least you won't have to worry about handling a typical Malay man's general characters. ;-) Thanks to Aisyah too, sebab sudi temankan aku sampai aku balik. Bila lagi nak jumpa ni? Nak tunggu next wedding pun, semua dah kawin dah. :-D

16 December 2011, Bandar Baru Bangi
Adil and Dora - just after their nikah

Among her uni and school friends 

18 December 2011, Dewan Gemilang UKM, Bangi
Beautiful couple, beautiful setup, beautiful cake, beautiful day!

My family with the newly weds

The same wish goes to my cousin Aqeel and his sweet wife Nadia. Aqeel and I are not that close, our age gap is huge, but nevertheless, nasihat kak huda, jaga lah nama keluarga arwah Mok Kg Sireh ya... Be a loving husband, be a good leader, play a major role in your new family, try your very best to follow the ways of Rasulullah, only then can you expect your wife to be equally good to you. I'm not a feminist but I think it's a fair advice. To be married young is not a bad thing, it's even encouraged in Islam, but in any marriage, you can be sure that you'll be tested with all sorts of challenges ahead. Semoga tabah dan bahagia sentiasa. Amin. 

4 December 2011, Masjid Kg Melayu Ampang
Penyerahan hantaran, sarung cincin

The pretty little princess-wannabes

4 December 2011, Bora Ombak
The beaming couple arrived for their wedding reception

Dini also turned 4 years old on 27 December! We sort of had a mini bash at home two days before that, on a Saturday afternoon, together with her cousins Alya and Damya as well as Wafa and Fatin. There were less than 15 of us, including the toddlers, but it was enough to drain my energy for the day hahaha. Yet somehow, the whole thing made me happy and whole, seeing the happy children's faces, their squeals and laughter. Thank you An, for your wonderful plan. 

The setup

The birthday cakes

The birthday girls
Damya (7 years old) and Dini (4 years old)

The twin busy-boys;
who were only excited of the colourful balloons and goodie bags

Spraying party strings and foams - sponsored by An

Alya, Wafa and Faatin

Not easy to get kids jump up at the same time

Hoooooooray!!! Think they had a good time.

Oh and in between the heavictic (heavy + hectic) schedule of this particular mama-blogger, she still managed to meet up with her school frenzies for a brief get-together, supposed to be an hour brunch but ended up to be a 3-hour eatery and chit chat! It felt soooooooo good to be able to do that sometimes. Thanks to our spouses for being such a sport and allowing us to do so.

At Delicious, Bangsar Village

Thanks to Aiza's five-ringgit-mini-tripod for this pic!

These three kids are so cute and adorable. Wait, I mean two. Hehe.

TheyPad

Kids as young as 1 year olds these days already know the existence of an iPad, and most other electronic gadgets and gizmos such as the iPhone, PS2, etc. And some can even make a proper pronunciation. Ikhwan and Irfan however would normally say "Ayoh, Mama... nak main aPek" :-D 

Families going to restaurants bring their iPads to distract their kids as well as to keep them seated and well-behaved is such a normal scene lately. Yet somehow I'm not impressed. Unarguably, it shows the public that you can afford an expensive toy for your kid, when in actuality it is not a toy, but don't you think we should verbally communicate with our children more, rather than let them do it with a device? 

Rick Williams has recently reported that according to a psychology professor from Wake University, interacting with such devices cannot replace the one-on-one, face-to-face interaction with people and in fact, she says it could discourage young children from being conversational.

So, are they really good or bad? I just know it's both. Read more here. Unless, of course, the applications allowed for them are only of those educational ones.