#pray4Nepal

Rasa sangat terkesan dengan earthquake yang baru berlaku semalam di Nepal. Masih terngiang2 di telinga how our tour guide said the people of Nepal sangat2 dambakan kemudahan yang lebih baik. Mereka sangat memandang tinggi Tun Dr M kerana mampu majukan Malaysia. Kalau boleh nak Tun jadi PM mereka. And then the earthquake hit them and it will take forever for them to rebuild their lives.When we were there last Feb, banyak jalan sedang dalam proses pembesaran. Now, jalan2 tu dah retak dek gempa bumi. World Heritage sites dah hancur menyembah bumi. Allah lebih mengetahui apa rahmat di sebalik kejadian. Hopefully they will stay strong.

Bunyi Cengkerik dan Perempuan B****

Emosi tak stabil since hubby busy. So... bukan bila outstation yang berpanjangan jer jadi emosi tak stabil ni. Bila busy sangat pun sama rupanya. First time ever since we got married hubby is this busy. Gua sangat tension sama itu GST. Hubby balik lambat, sampai rumah pun masih communicate dengan phone. Tak menyempat2 nak buka laptop sambung kerja. Kadang2 terasa macam cakap denga dinding atau tunggul pun ada gak. I ended up malas nak cakap sebab kalau cakap tak der respon nanti jadi sakit hati. But... ini hanya sementara. Sampai system stabil insyaAllah. Kena tunggu time reporting nanti another round of extreme busy-ness. Sure ada bug nak kena fix. I understand his work. Been there done that.

Allah nak tunjuk sikit jer keadaan macam ni. Bayangkan ada some marriage that this is their norm. Nauzubillah. How empty that must have been. Dugaan yang meminta umatNya meletakkan kebergantungan hanya pada Allah. Bukan manusia. Lucky for us dugaan begini ialah exception. Hati masih berbunga2 bila hubby cuba juga nak gembirakan hati isteri dia ni walaupun kadang2 nampak dah tak berdaya nak buka mata. Cuba nak berbual tapi boleh terlelap. Cuba nak curi masa duduk di taman walaupun sekejap jer dah mula bersuara "ehhh... kerja... kerja... kerja banyak ni!"

Anyway, hubby balik outstation last night. This morning we went to his office for a while and then to nearby Maybank kiosk. He wanted to deposit some cheques while I wanted to register my Tabung Haji account with Maybank via the ATM. Hubby completed his task quicker and was already in the car communicating on his phone about work. I got in and remarked about my experience registering my TH account via the ATM. Krik... krik... krik...  no response. We're still not moving. Hubby's still texting. I saw an interesting looking tree outside. The fruits looked like grapes. I told hubby about the tree and it's fruits. Krik... krik... krik...  no response.

Then in the same tone I talked about my ATM experience and the tree outside, I calmly said "abang, perempuan bogel" and he looked up. Hahahahaha.... terus kena tarik telinga. Wahhh... wahhh... wahhh... tiba2 baru perasan ada orang berkata2 di sebelah rupanya. And that become joke of the day kih kih kih... lepas ni nak get his attention dah tau dah keyword :D Kelakar tau abang. Demi kesinambungan manusia sejagat, men's brain is probably wired that way agaknya hahahaha...

Overnight Oats

Picture Credit to The Yummylife.com (taken from Google Image)

Breakfast has been a breeze since I got to know about overnight oats. Really easy and yummy choice. Truly ever since I started sort of dieting by calorie counting and clean eating, breakfast has been a real pain because admit it... our breakfast choice are mostly unhealthy. My initial apprehension was whether I'd be able to eat them since I have a 1.2 kg packet of oats initially bought thinking I want to eat healthier. But after a few try which includes savory style like chicken soup, I loose interest. Besides, I thought it causes me to sneeze to. Really...

Anyway, since I have a big packet of unused oats which I don't have a heart to throw away and a burning passion to eat better, I decided to give it a try. I saw a frozen mixed berries at pasaraya gergasi nearby. Without much thought, rembat satu. Thus begins my journey of overnight oats for breakfast. Most article mentioned to use the rolled oats or the old fashioned oats... not the instant or quick cook. My big pack is a quick cook but it'll do. Just see how it turned out.

First try, I use Wildan Goat Milk as the liquid base. Just 1 spoon instead of the 3 spoons recommended serving size because I want to reduce the calories. 1 cup of oats using the rice cup normally found when you buy a rice cooker. I have one extra. About similar portion of liquid i.e. the goat milk I used. Then few frozen mixed berries and honey. It was yummylicios. The picture taken wouldn't do it justice because once taken out from the fridge the glass used would be frosty looking and the content didn't look as nice as those seen in pictures. But looks can be deceiving.

When the frozen mixed berries ran out, gergasi tu tak restock pun. Tinggal frozen rasberries jer. That'll do lah. Then no more frozen berries. Haiyaaa... have to find alternative. Since when we went to Krabi I went crazy with their banana chocolate pancake, so I decided to try on overnight oats. Banana, Hershey's chocolate syrup and the base oats and liquid of choice. Hmmm.... sedap. But problem with banana is it didn't keep well. Beli banyak pun tak tahan lama. Asyik kena pergi cari banana... then I try strawberries. At least the strawberries can last few days in the fridge if you buy those that's not really bright red. That will last longer. Strawberry and chocolate... heavenly taste.

I also bought nutella and peanut butter, as well as sunflower seeds, almond, cashew nuts and walnut which can be added as pleased (calories in mind). I have one glass in the fridge right now with a spoonful of nutella. Baru nak try using nutella. I use glass jar with lid bought at pasaraya gergasi. Looks like in the pic below. I have successfully finished the big packet of oats that has been around for months which I don't know what to do with initially. Now I'm on to second pack. This time I bought rolled oats. Tastes just as yummy. Thank you to whoever thought of this recipe in the first place.

Angan2 Anak Buah

This was few weeks ago lepas bawak anak buah balik rumah after kenduri.

From SIL -->
Harini raihanah buat statement...
Best la rumah cik su...nanti nak beli rumah mcmtu la...tapi nk buat besar sikit...
Bila tanya kenapa....dia ckp pintu pagar dia bole bukak sendiri...pastu nk beli kete mcm pakcik...bole bukak bumbung dia...nak buat rumah besar sikit nanti nk buat kolam untuk ibu berenang....😅😅😅

Sweetness and cuteness overload... 💖

When I was much younger, rasanya pergi rumah biasa2 jer. Rumah2 besar bertingkat2 memang tak pernah masuk. Even if there was a few, I can't remember. I don't have a wish of how my dream home would be. TV hitam putih, rumah dalam drama TV pun tak nampak grand mana. Majalah2 deko mana ada. Masa dah ada TV warna, TV3 goyang2 tak boleh nak tengok sangat. Tengok cerita Thundercats pun nampak samar2 jer.

My angan2 was more on exploring the mysterious looking bukit botak yang boleh nampak dari rumah. Sebelahnya hutan. Apa lah agaknya ada dalam hutan tu. Suka sangat baca buku Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and Famous Five. Rasa macam mesti ada misteri yang menarik dalam hutan tu. Tapi memang takder pun pergi air terjun ke sungai ke... cuti sekolah memang duduk rumah. Escapism was through books. Badan pun sensitif sangat... salah2 tempat terus demam meracau2. Jangan harap lah nak pergi masuk hutan. Lagi satu angan2 ialah nak jadi saintis. Jam tangan rosak atau apa2 benda mekanikal yang kecik2 kalau dah tak pakai memang akan masuk dalam laci ditempat special. Nanti nak cipta sesuatu. Ada jugak bedak banyak2 dicampur air dengan watercolor dan dijemur sampai keras sebab nak jadikan eye shadow hahaha... memang minat sangat mekap2 masa kecik2 dulu.

Kalau ada pun angan2 berkaitan rumah ialah nak bilik sendiri. Tak nak adik2 kacau 😊

Memang dari kecik rupanya ciksue suka hutan 😆 Semalam dapat hiking di Bukit Gasing. Tapi tak ambik gambar. Just follow the relentless pace set by my partner Kak AJ. Gambar lama ada lah when I went with Sarimah. 

How Do You Dream?

Much like this picture with a more pale colors around me

How do you dream? Do you watch yourself doing things or you see in the dream as if you're wearing a 3D glasses in a cinema? I think most of the time I dreamt like an observer eventhough I might feel all the sensation of jumping, fear, happiness, etc.

Dream is quite common for me. Some I forget immediately upon waking up. Some may stay in the memory for a while longer. I'm also susceptible to nightmares. Often hubby has to wake me up as I either scream on top of my lung or grumbled loudly. I remember screaming Allahuakbar loudly few times. I even read 3 Qul in my sleep loudly with great effort as normally it is very difficult to pronounce words in a nightmare. In the morning, sometimes I have vague recollections of screaming at night but didn't wake up since hubby's not at home to wake me up. Hubby and I even went to Darul Syifa' Bangi after I had bad dreams almost every night for a while.

I have a very sweet dream a few nights ago (over a week now that I almost forgot about it but don't want to). I can feel there's some kind of chaos in the background which I can't pinpoint exactly and can't even see, but I was sitting peacefully on the beach with mirrorlike water around me and feeling very content and very close to Allah. The observer me realize the seated me was doing a prayer... talking to Allah. I didn't know and remember what I talked about but I can still recall the peacefulness felt at that moment. I can feel how close I am to Allah at that time. Subhanallah,  MasyaAllah. Now I'll constantly  try to recall that moment and felt almost at peace just like how I felt in the dream. Alhamdulillah.

What Change?

For a while, I realize my blog has less things that I used to enjoy. Only recently I felt like zaman dulu2. Weekend jer nak cari hutan ker, holiday ker or do something different. Ada kawan2 yang considered as 'baru' kenal remarked sekarang dah start minat naik gunung lah... jungle trekking lah. I told them those were nothing new. I used to enjoy doing all those activities.

So what change?

Being a wife with a full time job causes me to change my lifestyle. So many things to do on weekend which involves urusan rumah tangga and also work. Then bila dah freelance, mula2 sibuk jugak sediakan training2 baru and adapt to new lifestyle. In between, ada masalah2 kesihatan. Difficult pregnancy, miscarriage and confinement. Then Masters class begins.

Sekarang...

1. No more Masters classes and Masters thesis at the back of my mind that enjoying myself on weekend feel like neglecting the thesis work even if I actually ended up not doing anything anyway. Terasa freee.... sangat2 :D Ada hati jugak nak sambung permanent head damage tapi bila bayangkan betapa free nyer rasa sekarang, hmmm.... nak ke ni back to previous routine?

2. There has not been weekdays that were so full with training that I'm new to. If there is, time would be most likely spent on preparation. There has not been much outstation training early this year too. Local training terasa macam day job biasa jer.

3. We do not have Astro now, just HyppTV. I used to enjoy CSI or NCIS or whatever similar program they have on weekend. I grow out of it. For a while, Travel Channel on HyppTV was OK. It's getting repetitious now. I grow out of them too. Ternyata sekarang semua tu membuang masa kan. Lagha hehehe... no more TV, or at least minimal TV.

4. We used to enjoy doing things as a big family. Then the big boys grow up and got busy with school things. Getting everyone to be around has started to become a challenge. Not school holiday lagi lah payah. Kalau mak sue nak tunggu masa semua free, that will not happen often. I might not have the chance to do things I want if I waited for the right circumstances. I might not be healthy later, I may have to curb my activities for whatever reason, there are so many maybes. I can't afford to wait.

5. Semangat untuk healthy lifestyle masih berterusan. Rasanya ini lah pendorong paling kuat. Running, jogging, memang not my style. So perlu buat aktiviti2 yang sendiri suka buat. I cannot wait for people to do things. Kalau dulu bila hubby takder, buat apa pun rasa tak best. Sekarang semangat lain... husband juga yang galakkan supaya kurus :) Besides, hubby ada activity2 dia like badminton or futsal or swimming. Not my preferred activities.

So hopefully sementara masih diizinkan untuk beriadah begini, I'll grab the chance.

7th Anniversary Celebration in Krabi

Our 7th anniversary was on 13th March. I chose Krabi for our anniversary celebration destination because I received MAS cheap flight offer in my email. It costs RM504 for the two of us. I've read in some blog they can get cheaper flight with AA but it comes up to about the same amount during my chosen time. Our flight was in the morning and we reached Ao Nang area about 9am Thai time. We still couldn't check in but we can left our bags at the hotel. Next is to look for breakfast and surveyed the tourist package.

Kalau sampai Krabi mesti cuba pancake nya yang pelbagai perisa ada dijual merata2. Hubby pilih banana and honey while I chose banana and chocolate. Memang habis diet. Lepak2 kat pantai and tanya2 pakej, we decided to do the 7 island trip that day and the elephant ride, emerald pool and hotspring on the next day. Yang menarik naik long tail boat engine nyer lain dari yang lain. Tapi pulau2 nya setakat OK jer lah pada kami. Warna air cantik tapi tak banyak ikan dan coral macam di Tioman atau Redang. Ada sunset dinner dan lepas tu swim with plankton yang bercahaya diwaktu malam. Time ni dah letih dah. Hubby jer yang turun. Terasa sejuk. Tak nak basahkan badan walaupun hubby kata the water is warm. Lepas naik dari air tu yang sejuk nanti. Before balik ada fire show. Tour guide kena multi skill. Boleh bawak boat, boleh jadi tour guide dan boleh buat fire show.

Next day ke hotspring dulu. Tak besar mana pun tapi memang cantik dan air nya suam yang best buat rasa macam tak nak keluar jer. Lepas tu ke emerald pool. Kat sini takder teruja mana sangat. Besar tu jer pool nyer? Yang konon istimewa ialah warna airnya. Yang best lepas tu ialah naik gajah. Hehehe... hubby tak gemar sangat masa dia kena kemudi gajah tu but I love it very much. Felt like queen of the jungle.

To us Krabi was so overrated. We have high expectation dengan testimoni orang2 yang seronok sangat pergi Krabi. Malaysia lagi banyak tempat cantik2. Cuma respect dengan hospitality diorang and how they treat tourist. Ambil pakej, elok jer komunikasi dari ejen dengan van dengan hotel dan dengan company yang handle the tour package. On 2nd day, kami diaturkan supaya duduk semeja dengan muslim couple orang Malaysia. Jadi tak perlu risau kalau ada non muslim yang nak order beer or makan ntah apa2 dalam pinggan diorang. Muslims disana sangat excited bila jumpa Muslim tourists. Beria2 mereka bagi salam sebab kalau lelaki muslim memang kita tak kenal. Kalau perempuan dapat kenal sebab bertudung.

The couple tu dah pergi Phi Phi island. Kami tak sempat pergi tapi based on conversation dengan diorang lebih kurang sama jer dengan pulau2 lain. View cantik tapi underwater takder apa sangat. Hubby snorkeling jumpa 3 ekor ikan jer. So tak lah rasa terkilan sangat tak dapat ke pulau tu. Sebab on 2nd day kami ada pilihan nak ke pulau2 lagi or jungle. We chose jungle sebab day 1 dah ke pulau. Sebab 3 hari jer holiday dan 3rd day walaupun flight kul 5, lepas lunch memang dah elok2 jer ke airport. Kalau ikut pakej, tak sempat. Paling awal pun balik around 3.

Yang best kat sana of course massage nyer yang murah. Masa lepak2 kat beach, tukang2 urut datang bawak pineapple free utk promosi kan tempat urut diorang. Kitorang dah dapat pineapple masa day 1 morning lepak kat beach tapi tak pergi massage kat diorang pun sebab jauh. Nak sampai ke tempat dia jer dah jumpa banyak kedai urut. 3 kali massage. Oil massage, reflexology dan back and shoulder massage. Yang last tu memang best. The 1st two, style massage santai2 untuk pelancong. Bukan untuk orang yang betul2 sakit badan. Try tempat2 yang berbeza.

I didn't know what to buy as souvenirs. T-shirt I love Krabi tu common sangat. Belikan souvenir untuk anak2 jer. Hubby pun ada beli tshirt and seluar style bermuda untuk ke beach tu. I ended up beli fridge magnet dengan tikar jer. Ambience di Ao Nang tu dah macam style Langkawi sekarang. Macam2 kedai ada. Tapi exchange rate tgh teruk. RM1000 bley dpt dlm THB8000++ jer. Masa shopping ada harga untuk orang2 Malaysia dengan mat salleh. Tikar dapat 100 Baht. Tapi kalau mat salleh terus dia mention 200 Baht.

Masa kat sana, boleh lupa semua urusan kat sini. Tak lah terfikir pasal kerja yang bertimbun tu. Hubby mungkin ada teringat gst project dia tapi not all the time. Just enjoy our time there.

So alhamdulillah awal2 tahun ni ada mention kat hubby nak jadikan 2015 tahun travel oversea. Setakat ni dapat ke Kathmandu dan Krabi. Masa ke Kathmandu tu ada beberapa pertandingan organized by organizer. And I won accommodation package in Koh Samui. Wahhh... bila pulak nak organize trip tu. Alang2 dah holiday destination semua begins with K, kalau dapat nak gi Korea gak hehehe... Istanbul pun ada package year end. Hmmm... dah tamak holiday dah ni :D

Weight Range 65kg

Since Nov last year dah start cam nak jaga makan aka diet dan bersenam.

Masa tu my weight is hovering around 69-70kg. Masa pregnant dulu berat around 67kg. Pre-pregnancy weight around 65kg. Logiknya lepas berpantang tu patut turun balik. Memang berjaya turun tapi macam cepat jer naik ke 67kg semula. Lepas tu makin bertambah ada lah. Habis pantang around March, sampai November lebih kurang 10 bulan untuk naik 4-5kg tu.

Kain2 baju kurung dah mula sempit as in kain lipat, tindihnya kembang dan nampak terbukak. Sama juga dengan kain susun kipas. Blouse2 pun banyak yang dah tak cantik bila pakai. Sendat semacam jer.

Ada 2 pilihan i.e. beli baju baru atau turunkan berat. Pilihan yang dibuat ialah turunkan berat. Lagipun nak jaga kesihatan. Tak nak lah dah tua2 nanti kena ambil ubat berbeg2 mcm yang boleh nampak kat farmasi hospital.

So jaga makan. Nasi sekali sehari. Portion pun kurang. Tapi masa ni masih berdiet tanpa ilmu. Then start pakai Noom Coach, boleh kira kalori. Target dalam app tu 1200 kalori sehari. Kdg2 terbabas. Kdg2 OK. Also target to have more green food.

Around December baru start walking sbb nak pergi Kathmandu. Bukan senang nak turun berat. Berapa minggu bila timbang around 69-68 kg. Then few weeks lagi weight range bertukar ke 67-68kg pulak. Kena tunggu berminggu2 jugak lagi baru turun ke 66-67kg range. Alhamdulillah dah masuk 5 bulan ni sekarang weight range dah 65kg. Sekarang dah jarang walking. Mentang2 lah dah balik dari Kathmandu. Setakat aktiviti hiking masa weekend tu dan kerja2 rumah.

Masih jaga makan dan masih kira kalori. Kadang2 terpaksa consider cheat day tapi alhamdulillah tidak lah berat naik mencanak kalau setakat cheat 1-2 hari masa holiday atau balik kampung atau training. Lepas tu teruskan balik makan secara sihat. By now dah tambah ilmu lagi. Dah tau DCR dan BMR. Dah adjust keperluan kalori sehari jadi around 1400. Lebih realistic untuk tahap berat dan keperluan seharian. Tak lah asyik stress terlebih kalori jer.

I choose to reduce weight over longer term so tak perlu cut keperluan kalori drastik sangat. Nak naik pun amik masa lama. So sabar lah masa nak turun kan tu. Yang penting I'm aware of what food goes into my body. Masih nak turun kan berat to lower number of the normal BMI range. Kalau at higher range nanti senang jer termasuk ker overweight BMI. Waist-hip ratio pun still need improvement. Banyak point lagi kena turunkan tu. So diet and exercise continues ...