On being 38

I recently turned 38. Fine, it was YESTERDAY. Hari Polis. I took a half day off in the morning - sent my kid to school, lepak at mamak with my youngest (where Emre actually behaved because we sat next to cops), went home, got miserable and fell asleep, woke up just in time to shower and picked up my kid from school and went back to work. I couldn't risk taking a full day off when a department meeting was looming the next day (displaced loyalty bahhhh!). Got home, my husband bought me A&W (the nuggets for the kids were raw though) and a tiny cake. Then we all went to bed.

What a birthday.

But it was fine by me. I don't get this wave of misery I feel whenever it's my birthday. It's nothing to do with getting a year older, I promise. Because I am fine with being 2 years shy of turning 40 because hey look at me I still dress and act like I'm 28. I'm okay with whatever my husband said in the morning because I'm an adult, I can take it. I'm okay if my bestfriends took so late to wish me happy birthday. Or the fact that none of my family members called because whatsapp group has taken over everyone's lives and if they feel this is the way to strengthen silaturrahim then so be it. 

It's okay. I'm 38 now I can handle this.

By the end of the day I should be grateful with what God has given me (preach it Nate!).

My kids will never judge me.

I have a great husband who works hard for his money.

My family and friends accept me for the way I am.

I don't have high blood pressure.

I still love food (reword this to I HAVE GREAT APPRECIATION OF FOOD) as much as I love the next Korean idol with the thickest BB cream.

I am funny as hell, maybe not as funny as Mat Luthfi-funny, but I can make people laugh with my bad puns and passing remarks.

And one of my good friends wrote on my (semi-fake FB): "You are so blessed and loved Nate. Alhamdulillah." (she is so spot on)

But as I type this I am missing my parents dearly. 

I hope they are well and I hope that they are proud of me. 

It's good to be 38. Just need a little refining to do.

IE turns 4

Excuse the spelling error on his cake but my baby turned 4 yesterday. How time flies! Love you!

We took him to see some dinosaurs at Discoveria @ Avenue K. Will write a review on tripadvisor about the place later.

health.

Long day at work - well half the day was spent at an event worrying about how my press release will be reported tomorrow. I've always been a calm person when it comes to work but when there are 1001 deadlines on your plate, I do feel sorry for myself for worrying too much.

When did I start forgetting that 

work 

is work

is work?

*cries into hands*

Supposed to get my BP checked today but it slipped my mind, all I could think about was hugging my boys when I get home. Better luck tomorrow.

Going for a proper medical check-up on my birthday. A long overdue gift to myself that I should have done years ago. If I get a clean bill of health, I'll start making plans for Bali.

If not... I'll cry a little and start working on thinking positive. 

12/53

A portrait of my sons, once a week, every week in 2015.

Emre: This is the face of budak kena marah.

Rumi: School break is here! Main agenda: Swimming pool, gaming and wrestling with adik.

of needs and wants

Madam Kwan's Nasi Bujari

I think it's been more than 5 years since I last had nasi bujari/bokhari. Always thought that Madam Kwan's food is a bit too steep for my liking. Anyways, my colleague Rai wanted to have this so we did. Still yum as before. While scoffing our lunch we were discussing what to eat, what to avoid, what's good for our colon, what's the right food for your blood type etc. Oh the irony! 

Oh hello you.

Hampir terjebak. Rai bought a watch for her bf (tsk tsk tsk pre-bonus shopping ni) and I found a gorgeous baby for myself. Always wanted a watch with an orange strap! But I didn't buy it (phew) because on the same day, this news came in:

Bali Marathon 2015 date is up baby!

So many things to consider but I need to do this.

InsyaAllah.

11/53

A portrait of my sons, once a week, every week in 2015.

Emre: Took the boys to watch Spongebob over the weekend. He kept hugging me and kept saying "teng choo Ibuuuuuu". So much love in this boy.

Rumi: Public school registration done! Already depressed thinking about sacrificing his hair. :(

Word.

La Bodega

Went back to my favorite joint last Friday. S ordered this cold omelette dressed in olive oil. Slab it on warm bread, and it's perfect.

This used to be my favorite comfort food. Well, still is. I call this the 'no poor man's tandoori' hehe. This version is the one at BSC. But if you go to LB Bangsar, they will crush the papadom and sprinkle them on the chicken. Heaven.

Say hello to my colleague S. She's kinda bored with work at the mo' so she is planning my early-birthday dinner and it's book themed! :)

Blood.

Can't remember the last time I follow a Korean drama. Currently on KBS, Blood is about a vampire (!) who is a surgeon (!!) at a local hospital. Yeah. Missed the first episode but I managed to catch the second epi this week. 

Currently the drama is suffering bad ratings due to bad acting but who cares!

My favorite Korean model Ahn Jae Hyun is the leading actor (fine maybe he should stick to his day job) but yum, so fine.

Annnnnd there're also Ji Jin Hee. Win! 

Few days back my husband nonchalantly whatssapped me saying that he bumped in Nicholas Saputra. NICHOLAS SAPUTRA?!!! I nearly died at work. He's currently in Cyberjaya/Putrajaya for a film shoot. I think. Not too sure how I'll react when I see him. If I see him. 

Decals my love

Pinched from Pinterest. Some of my favorite wall decals. 

I'm the pagan of the good times

(Photo sekadar hiasan) 

Bumped into an ex colleague at the gym. She said to me you've always been a good person. Good things will happen to you. 

Question is, what's stopping me now?

*kiss*

Rumi gave me a kiss for the pasta I made for him. My number one fan. Heheh.

Malasnya nak kerja esok. Ugh.

8/53

A portrait of my sons, once a week, every week in 2015.

Emre: H&M is the worst place for us I can never find Emre in this place!

Rumi: Not cutting his hair. Yet. Never.

bucketlist resurrected

So last night for CNY, my girlfriends and I went to see 'Somewhere Only We Know', a mandarin movie. For the love of our ex-EXO member Wu Yifan (the guy on the left down here) we persevered for 2 hours. The movie's style of going back and forth to past and present was pretty draggy, and I swear the script is written by some grade D cheesy love story. There were some sad moments but you can't really cry when everyone in the movie hall (read: 8 pax) are all fangirls and we they just couldn't stop squee-ing whenever WYF appears on the silver screen. God.

Yawn-fest

The entire movie was set in Prague and it got me thinking - hey, isn't Prague in my bucket list of places to visit? But these days, Prague is placed in the back-burner because NYC, Tokyo, Bali and South Korea are main priorities. Then a friend spoke about Santorini being in her bucket list and OH HELL I WANT TO GO THERE TOO LET'S GO TOGETHER. I am so easily influenced, I tell ya.

Santorini - Prague8 hours flight, bishes.

But of course I had to google how we can make Prague-Santorini work. :)

Oh well. It doesn't hurt to dream. Keeping my fingers crossed for this one.

Brooklyn B

I keep forgetting how close our home is to SS15. Sepelaung sahaja, just after you pass Sunway Pyramid (which I love) and ta-dah! This means we should check more cafes here. Including Gold Chilli and their infamous butter chicken. Coffee Coffea is here too. Parking will probably make you scream bloody murder but then again that happens everywhere.

Hello Rumi. Time to work on your spelling ne~

I've succumbed to another YA book. Hey does my new NB kicks make my feet look dompot?

Interesting big breakfast. Bagel is a bit too hard for my liking and I like the ones at San Fran Coffee better. Sausages (I earlier typed wieners lol) and scrambled eggs were well-seasoned though.

Coffee was nice!

Hipster mural. A must in hipster cafes.

Include hipster poets and writers to the mix then boom!

:)

By the way, Coliseum just opened at Sunway Pyramid (just below Johnny Rocket). 
Who needs KL now eh?

7/53

 A portrait of my sons, once a week, every week in 2015.

Rumi: Not gaining weight. At least he's still growing in height.

Emre: "Tenk you Ibuuuuuuuuu..." Favorite thing to say at the moment. :)

Eat.

It was delicious but I wouldn't put quinoa on top of my list ifyaknowwhatimean. 

From Ben's. 

Short break

Went to PD for a short break. Anything that is booked before one month prior is considered unplanned, and this is one of those. I was feeling extremely burn-out with work and the 4 days break was the perfect opportunity for s us to relax and unwind.

Stayed at Thistle because this is our favorite and the boys never stopped talking about the pool (we were here 2 years ago for my birthday) and it's good to be back! 2013 review here

On to photos in random order! 

My colleague said it's not as good as Room but I bought it anyway. She is right but the book is not as bad as I thought.

Homework jangan lupa, bro.

Gonna miss this place! Maybe be we'll come back again next year, or two years later...

muji my love

Not sure when is our next trip to Japan (since I'm booked for Seoul with my friends end April and predicting the future is not as easy as planning a picnic) so I'll just stick to whatever they have here for now. 

Was happy to find out that Muji is now at Sunway Pyramid and wow it's like stepping into Uniqlo now (well almost). I remember the one in Pavilion was a bit dull but now I feel like buying everything! Some of the items are on sale, like the color block top which was on sale at 70% discount. So I bought pens, post-it notes, some notebooks, an album and the best part is that they have a stamping station! After buying your books you can head over to station to personalize your items to your heart's content. 

One of the cashiers forgot to include my pens in my bag and he took all the trouble to dash out to look for us (we were actually at the stamping station lol) but yay for great CX. 

Short holiday with my little fam tomorrow. Can't wait.

4/53

 A portrait of my sons, once a week, every week in 2015.

Emre: He said he is a whale. Which made me sad. You're a cat, a huggable lovable cat, baby. 

Rumi: Took my phone and made a video of himself beat-boxing. I was impressed.