all in a go

so many things happened around this two weeks.
I had a long break for Aidilfitri and celebrated my raya in Halaman Dhuha, Terengganu.
Had enough time to tour around KT.went to beach with family, went around the kampung with KT Skill Nissan Urvan while ayah driving and the others sitting at the back feel so nausea and try to sleep in the van to avoid headache and vomiting..
had time to try the famous sotong celup tepung. the kedai was located just at the very back to KT airport and it has a nice view of the sea with angin sepoi2 bahasa...


after 8days in KT, I went back to KL and started working. What a boring life again!work is ok. how ok it is, its still a work where all the stresses are there.

Last weekend, i send my brother to Akademi Perladangan SimeDarby in Bukit Asahan, Melaka. He joined the akademi last July and this is my first time visiting his place. the place was nice and neat. all the furniture are made from IKEA! even the lamp!I feels so different now that things changes so rapidly. He used to follow my parents to Seremban to send me to TKC, but now since I'm already married and working, Im the one who send him to his study place.

oh ya, i went for my third scan yesterday. MashaAllah,it is a superb experience can't be described by words when i saw my baby is moving. though he/she is still in his/hers 12weeks/3months, the hands and legs are fully formed (i can see that and i read fact bout baby's development in mommy's womb a lot nowadays)..so the hands and legs were moving when we do the scanning, Alhamdulillah my baby looks healthy and active. Praise to Allah=)

ketupat rendang vs nasi dagang

ok, raya is around the corner. and this year will be a new year for me since i will be celebrating the raya with my husband in his hometown (now my hometown too) in terengganu. true or not, there is a slight feeling of sadness in my heart knowing that my 3younger brothers will not be around me this raya and i can't salam my parents' at raya morning. but out of the sadness, there is another side of exciting feeling that i will ask for forgiveness from my dear husband and also from my parents in-law and sisters in law..some more, i have been celebrating raya overseas for 3years, this year, it will still be in malaysia after all!

this will be new experience to me, i believe. usually every raya morning, my family will eat ketupat and rendang made by my grandmother in kedah..and we'll also have our special lontong apart from Pak Ndak's famous bihun sup in the evening ( thinking of it make my tummy goes growwwllll,,nyummy!) but raya this year, i will try new menu...
according to my husband and sms from my father in law, we'll be having nasi dagang , nasik kunyit with gulai ayam kampung and sate for raya menu. that's sounds new and still delicious to me. i asked my husband either i can get lontong in terengganu but he hardly say yes since its not their traditional food.
oh, now i believe that marriage is a blend of two different culture. but if you blend it well, you will get the best of both!

while im two months pregnant now, i started to feel so lucky for my child (children in the future) since they will experience two different raya session every year...not like me, my parents are both from nothern part, so the food and suasana of the raya celebration is practically the same at both kampung.

first attempt to cook nasi ayam

my first try of nasi ayam...resepi campur-campur from my mum and internet...and also mix and match with whatever available from the fridge

tapi still takde sambal nasi ayam sebab tak confident nak buat, just buat sambal kicap je...but still i think its worth it..boleh dikatakan nyuummy...en hubby suka,so that's enough for me

first trial of daging goreng lada hitam for berbuka today :)


lauk for today : daging goreng lada hitam,telur dadar, sambal belacan, sambal tumis kosong (sebab en hubby request sambal jgak) and sup sayur (specially for me:P )

first trial of nogori masak lemak

yesterday first trial's of masak lemak cili padi.a bit pekat sebab too much santan ...but it taste quite normal to me

It's sad to say no this time

I had a dream last night. the dream was picturing me wearing a regalia with big graduation hat, holding a kid in my arms and my husband's hands around my waist.
this is good if it is real but i know it is not an easy step for me to jump in.
after i have been confirmed pregnant last 3 weeks, my husband and I had a deep thinking regarding me continuing my master/phd in geology (particularly in sedimentation along Kuantan to Kuala Pahang River with the effect of monsoons in East Coast Malaysia)....

I have prepared the research proposal, and I have met my supervisor-to-be. My supervisor-to-be has also give feedback to the proposal I wrote( he said it was ok except for the literature review part that need some improvement and honestly I feel so happy when he sms-ed me telling that my proposal was ok)..
In order for me to pursue my dreams to hold a Dr (Philosophy) title, I would have to sacrifice lots of things:
1) Leave my current job as processing geophysicist ( I have been working for 1 year and 4months now)
2) Move to Kuantan since I will do my research at this area (based in UIA Kuantan)
3) High chances to move back to overseas in order for me to pursue my Phd later on.
4)My husband has to leave his current job as processing geophysicist as well & find a new suitable job that suite his qualification as Msc.in EE. And to be specific, the job has to be in Kuantan so that both of us [+ kid(s)] don't have to be in long distance family relationship.

Thus, having these in my mind, and so many other things to be considered (especially financial and a baby to join my husband and me in less than 8 months to come), I have sadly decided not to take this offer from UIA at this moment. I believe, if I really want (and determined), Allah will lead the best way for me.InsyaAllah I will get the chance again.Maybe not in the near future(2-5yrs). I can wait another 10 years to come if holding a Dr(Philosophy) is already written as my fate by Allah. If not, it's fine. There are greater things to come in my life other than this, InsyaAllah.May the barakah of Ramadhan leads me to the right and best decision. and Thank You Abang for always be there when I really need you. Though there are (of course) ups and down, but I believe we both have take the best decision for our future.
In order to make me feels better, I have look at these pictures several times, saying to myself that I had already make my parents proud once by holding a degree from Australia (im not being riak here), so it's ok if I didn't get the Dr title yet.Not now.


Mak helping me to put on the graduation hat on the morning before my degree convocation(12.02.2009)

Prof Dr Ian Fitzsimons and me at Geology School, Curtin (12.02.2009)

Mak and Me before the caremony (12.02.2009)

Ayah and me before the caremony(12.02.2009)

is it safe to fast while u r pregnant?

Is it safe?

There is no clear answer, even though medical studies have looked at the effects of fasting (Cross 1990, CIA/NHS 2007). At the moment, we don't know if fasting is completely safe for pregnant women and their babies (NHS Choices 2008).

If a pregnant woman feels strong and healthy enough to fast, especially during the early part of pregnancy, she may do so. If she doesn't feel well enough to fast, Islamic law gives a pregnant women clear permission not to fast (NHS Choices 2008).

Some studies seem to show little or no effect on newborn babies if their mothers fasted. Others suggest that people may have more health problems later in life if their mothers fasted during pregnancy.

But it is hard to compare different studies done in different ways. Most of the studies we have on fasting in pregnancy are very small, so it's difficult to know for sure. Much may depend on how healthy the mother is before she gets pregnant. Here’s what the research has told us:

* There is no difference between the birth weights and Apgar scores, which are a way of measuring babies' health at birth, of babies of women who fasted, and the babies of women who did not fast (Arab 2001, Cross 1990, Mirghani 2006).


* Some women who fast during pregnancy may go on to have lower-birth weight babies. However, these results came from a study of women who were more likely to have poor diets or too little food (Sadeghipour 2008).


* Fasting by a pregnant woman does not seem to affect the potential IQ of her baby (Azizi et al 2004, Dikensoy 2008).


* Women do experience changes in the chemical balance of their blood while fasting. But the changes do not appear to be harmful to either the women or their babies, and do not affect the babies' birth weights (Dickensoy 2009).

There have been concerns about whether there is a link between fasting and how well a baby grows in the uterus (womb)and premature labour. Some studies have suggested that more babies are born early during Ramadan, but this depends on which country the mothers live in.

Women whose weight and lifestyle are generally healthy seem to cope better with fasting. Your baby needs nutrients from you. If your body has enough energy stores, then the impact of fasting is likely to be lessened. And it may depend on the many other factors, such as:

* whether Ramadan coincides with hot weather and long days
* what stage you are at in your pregnancy
* your general health before pregnancy
* how long the fast lasts

In places where the fast lasts longer and temperatures are high, dehydration may be more of a concern. Countries nearer the equator tend to have shorter fasting times. Check the accepted fasting hours for your area.

more to read---> http://www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/nutrition/ramadan/pregnant-fasting/

credits to baby center for putting up this issue so nicely discussed:)