Bulan Ramadhan Al mubarak

Selamat menunaikan Ibadah puasa di bulan Ramadhan Al Mubarak.

Umat Islam sudah berpuasa selama lima hari. Cuaca sangat sangat panas sehingga boleh mengugat kesabaran. Sebagai umat yang inginkan pahala, ini lah bulan untuk kita beribadah serta menerima ujian dari Allah S.W.T. Semoga Allah menerima kebaikan yang kita lakukan dengan iklas.

This Ramadhan, our family somehow managed to work together as a team whether we like it or not. It's another test from God. Maid lari bila masa kami memerlukan pertolongan. However, we have each other, itu yang penting, walaupun adakala the kids berkira kerja among themselves. Everyone has to participate, kalau tak buat, gaduh! Geli hati bila tengok Syafiq menyidai kain, Syazwan, mengelap meja selepas makan, he, he.. And Fifa, is like a matron of the house, bossy dengan abang abangnya.

Only days that I had to sent hubby for physio was a bit tiring. But fortunately my daughter Fifa is on one an half month break. I would start my day cleaning the house apa yang patut...did not want to exert myself. I only cooked simple dishes, not like the past years, penuh meja dengan juadah.

Today, I cooked chicken with fettucine. And left over sup tulang. I wanted to make kueh Badak, so called mum for the recipe. Did it...senang sangat.

The making of Cucur Badak

Wallah! De' Cucur Badak!

Chicken Stragonof with pasta, Fried Rice, Sup Tulang and Cucur Badak

The weekend before puasa, we had guests. My parents in law came and went back the same day,tak sempat ambik gambar..kelam kabut, lunch pun beli luar. Later the same day, hubby's ex schoolmates visited. They were Net Keong, Lam Kee Cheong, Kee Kuang and Prof Dr. Cheng Har. With Dr. Cheng Har around, lots of questions asked. And she would called around Doctors that she knew regarding my hubby's problem.

Ned Keong and Lam Kee Cheong

Dr. Hum Kee Kuang and Dr. Yip Cheng Har

The last guest of the day were my sister Datin Liza with hubby and daughter Dira. Dira had brought hubby and me a birthday present..a coffee maker. Yes, we both are Leos, 9th and 12th. Thanks Dira!!

My sister Dtn. Liza and Dira

Present from Dira.

"Maid of Honor?"

"Argh! I feel like crying out loud!
Nak tau? MAID DAH LARI! Never, never expect this to happen.
We came back from Physio when we saw our gate half opened. But,I thought we were callous before we left. When we came in, I called her name and no replied. She was nowhere to be seen. Her things and clothes were still in her room.
Neighbor's maid told us that she went out to get some air and lastly ended in some Kongsi.
Bull shit!. Her politeness, hard working , caring and that good charisma did not cross my mind she would do this to me. Hypocrite! Ada juga manusia seperti ini.
Maid of honor! Maid yang ku sangka berbudi bahasa tetapi sebaliknya.
It is a bitter lesson to us "Do not judge a book by the first few pages more so a person.
Insyallah, we'll get over it. It's nothing, compared to what we had gone through. May Allah give us strength!

Anniversary!

Our Anniversary!
Today 31st July, my hubby and I celebrated our 27th Anniversary. Like always we either went out or I would cooked in the house. But today, I persuaded the children to tag along. My children gave some options of some eating places. And finally we went to Chili's in Empire Subang which I had wanted earlier on.

Hubby had Beef fajitas with tortillas

Mine, Trio Fajitas also with tortillas

Syafiq, Cajun Ribeye

Syazwan had H.Chicken Crisp

Fifa, Mushroom Burger

Please Ma, stop taking pictures!
Sorry Son, I can't help it!!

Double Celebrations!

"Happy Anniversary to My Sister Teh and Abang Din!" Their anniversary falls on the same date as ours. So, since they were in K.L, they came to my house with their son Taqi and family. Not forgotten, I invited my cousin Megat and wife. Though, the actual date had passed one day, I still wanted to celebrate with my Sis. I took awhile to look for menus and end up with this:

Scones, Upside down Prune Cake and Meehoon

Abang Din helped himself with the food

Can you see the candle lighting? To chase away flies!

My cousin Megat and Wife.

My sister Teh

Increased Energy.

For the last three months, I had been running like a speed racer. Never bother to slow down or put things on pause even for a while. I am known by my family as *gelut* other word *kelam kabut and I think, I got that from my father. He, he, kelam kabut pun, kerja beres! Nak jadi Super women. But, by the end of the day, though things done, knocked out juga!! And without realizing how I had lost my weight. Ya, in order to take care of hubby, firstly, I need to take care of myself.

Today, after sending hubby to Physio, *I normally had one hour and a half to roam around* I went to Plaza Masalam. I decided to buy vitamins for hubby and me. Hubby, especially needed to be boosted, to gain some strength. It's one of the alternatives besides cooking him good food. So, I got him Pharmaton. Without knowing what is good for me, I asked the pharmasist for assistance. And was recommended 'Centrum Silver.

Well, guess what? I headed my way to *Laksa Shack*, ordered myself a bowl of soto and Teh tarik. Later, swallowed Centrum silver. I felt better for a moment! *sigh* I am helping myself to boost up my energy. The least, I could do. Eeyahh!! dah rasa nak melompat.
Fetched hubby and rushed home, made him steamed fish with lots of vegetables liked asfaragus, carrots, brocolli and mushroom. Gave him his medicine, and...Pharmaton. *sigh again* Hmm, belum boleh melompat lagi!!

The booster

A visit from big brother
Received a message from my son Syafiq that my eldest brother Nordin is on the way to visit hubby, I cooked Tomato Mee. I know Noodle is his favourite. My brother arrived almost on time I finished cooking. Well, this is why I needed to get myself boosted..forever kelam kabut. My brother came with his son Imran. Glad that I cooked noodle. He was hungry and had second helping. It was a short visit for he had other appointment to attend. Anyway, thanks for coming Bro!

My bro, Nordin

Tomato Mee

Last week's happenings...

My cousin Intan and family from Doha visited last week.

My daughter fifa served muffins.

This is Scone's dough.

Baked Scones

Woh! It's all mine!

Syafiq, Syafiq, don't be a glutton!!

Having a break with fifa while hubby at Physio.

Sunday agenda

We started the day by going to our 'Green day' *recycle* organized by our committee members of Permaira from Kemuning Utama. As the President of the housing area my hubby supported whatever good work, for the harmony of our place. I participated by keeping used mineral bottles and old papers and deliver it on the 3rd Sunday of every month. Interesting, macam zaman sekolah dulu. It also, in a way teaches us to be organized in our daily life... classifying things in order. But sometimes, I can't wait for the day to come, bundles of plastic bags behind my backyard. By selling those things the association earns some extra money besides monthly maintenance fees from the residents. Some of our neighbours are friendly and there are some who did not bother what actually happen around them. Selfish, patut duduk jauh nun di hutan!



"Arab Restaurant"
Late that morning my hubby, my son syazwan and I went to hubby's office to get some documents and later to UOB in PJ to settle some bills. For lunch, we decided to have Arab's food. So we headed to Ampang behind the old Yow chuan, in jln Damai. The restaurant was among the Bungalows and a little isolated. It's called Arrawsha. My hubby seemed to be crazy over Arab food lately, pantang dengar kedai Arab. We had been to a few in Shah Alam and as far as Cyberjaya.

Here comes the food served by an Arab waiter

Kabsa rice with chicken and Mandi rice with lamb

*Burp* Dah kenyang, duduk tersandar!

Happenings and New Maid.

Yeah! the new maid has finally arrived!! No more hanging clothes and lipat baju...*yg paling ku benci* Her name is Sri Wahyuni and she is 43 yrs old. Since she is elderly, my kids called her Bibik*aunty* She worked non stop..*hoping that she stays that way* She is loud, friendly and a fast learner. And has a strong heavily body. I'd never expected at that age she can worked vigorously. But it's too early to tell. Well, anyway let's pray to god, she can maintain what she is now and could stay longer with us.


Almost every weekends, since hubby is sick, we had guests came to the house. I was prepared to snap photos of some of our visitors, with my new camera *redeemed from Maybank credit card*

My huggy bear cousin, Megat.

Friday morning, instead of sending hubby to physio, hubby insisted that we go to Midvalley to 'Maybank Treats fair' I suggested to push him on wheel chair. We are lucky that Malaysian now are disable friendly. So parking was not a problem. We parked exactly in front of the entrance. And we took the elavator to the convention hall where the fair was on. We hurriedly looked for what to redeem before the crowds start to arrive at 12am *Friday break*

My daughter having lunch at La Manilla.

At the parking lot.

We got ourselves a stand fan and a Cannon Ixus. Gee! new camera for me and it's free.
We had lunch at La Manilla on the same floor. Looking at hubby's progressed, we shall have to do a lot of outing in the future.

'Staying Alive without Maid!'

Days had gone by..Time flew, leaving the past behind us. What matters now is the future. Life has to go on. My maid of two years had to leave. And a new one will be replaced soon. *Phew!* letihnya without a maid! Housework never ends. I wondered now, where did maids got the energy to work and work from dawn to night? Silap, kena marah pulak. Saya buat kerja sikit dah letih dan mengamuk. Though I enjoy the housework but I can only tolerate one month, the most. My legs, my hands and everything started to ache. Well, I'm not young anymore. I'm stress, tension and under pressure if chores is not finish. Love to see the house clean.

I looked scary! Don't you dare come near me!! He, he, That''s the warning from my son! It's just a matter of time to get adjusted.
When is the new maid coming??



Believe it or not what I cooked for lunch on last Sunday *without a maid*. Sweet sour crab, Prawns Thai style, Fried chicken, Fried french beans and eggs beaten with some condiments fried on crab skin. And some ulam to go with cincalok. Emm, Yummy!
Langkah Kanan!! my sister Teh and her hubby suddenly turned up. Love having them around. Hubby too looked cheerful. We all had our lunched at the family dining area. Good news! hubby now can eat on his own..syukur alhamdullillah. After lunch, I served them Carrot cake and coffee. I baked the cake a day before my maid left.

The world cup fever is back! Tv programme is none other than football. Boring! anyway, no time to relax actually. Hubby watched every game, except for games played at 2am in the morning. As for his condition now, hubby is not allowed to go out to the tv area alone. And I did not volunteer to accompany him either. But he watched it the next day.

Got to go now, I want to marinate the chicken breast which I had put aside. I'm making Roast chicken tonight. Simple, tasty and it's the kid's favourite.

Throwing tantrums

I was feeling a little emotional lately, and luckily I have some things that I can throw it to. Kids? No, yes.*sometime*..; it's my paintings and cooking. For paintings, I still maintained the soft colors not the bright angry or complicated colors like my life now. I painted some for customers and some as a gift to friends. My way of saying thank you!

For customer

My big canister

For Fairuz

For Kak Faridah

For Datin Faizah

And as for my cooking, anything that I could think of.. I made Quiche, chicken pie, chocolate cake, kebabs,layered sandwiches, tortillas and bread of course. How would I not be in my kitchen, I was at the Hospital with hubby for one month and a week. I was ever ready to cook for him. But I guess, the crazy crave will be over soon once my maid leave us for good.* sob*

Slices of chocolate cake

Quiche Lorraine

American chicken pie

A slice of chicken pie

Many a time I asked myself, why, we had to go through this test? What did we do to deserve this? Why can't we be normal, like we used to be? Argh!! I have to be positive and innovative to carry on life. But sometimes I was just not strong enough. I am a normal human after all. I guess it's normal for anyone in my situation to have sad feelings or have plenty of questions in our mind. And it's up to individual how they tackle it.

I do have sleepless nights or feeling awfully upset on what is happening.. Ya, maybe one of those bad days I went through with my kids. Or I simply picked on them to throw my tantrum. Every tiny winy things I got upset. I have wonderful kids, yes I do.. They contributed in their own different ways. But they are normal human too, they do make mistakes. It's just that, they got carried away with their own things...

My beloved kids, we need to be together! We are family and I need you guys.
In any case, family ties is important. A strong bonding between us will soon solve whatever we are facing, no matter what. I believe strongly that we will go through all this. Only time will tell us when.

This is life! When things happened, it stricken you awhile..until you get complacent with it, for life is not like a bed of roses.

A New Chapter

It's more than three weeks in the house back from the Hospital. Hubby was doing well, improving everyday. Though, slow but I was pleased of his progress. He was walking with walker instead of being on wheel chair. I would rather say, he was highly spirited at the beginning but slowly, he became sensitive and lacking.. Not easy, neither for him, nor for us. But we have to make him belief what's reality.

And me, a little extra work than before *not complaining* but a lot of time spent with him. I bathed, cooked, and feed him. And drove him to Hospital Damansara every three times a week for physio,and another three times for acupuncture. I guessed it's the physio that made him stronger and the right way to carry himself. Thanks to Aina *physiotherapist* actually, who had been very patient and giving him more confident.

Alhamdullilah, we had been blessed with people around us. I realized what had happened to us was a blessing. I came to understand the meaning of giving, sharing, and patience... in friendship especially. I could never forget the people who had been so supportive all the time in the ward. Megat, fairus, maziah, kak faridah and Abang Fauzi, and not to mention my other friends who had been visiting and bringing food for us each time they came. How I wished, I could name them one by one. To Steff, thank you for lending me the reclining chair that we used in Hospital Shah Alam. And Mala, who came all the way late night to lend me her wheel chair. Kak Non and Zaiton thank you, who never missed sending sms to comfort me. And many more thanks a million.

And for hubby's friends, and school mates, thank you, for accompanying him when he needed someone.

We were in crisis!

The date was 1oth April, Saturday night. My hubby and I attended Usrah at our surau when it happened! My hubby had an attacked, symptoms of stroke and heart. I was shocked!! I saw him refraining from the agony of severe pain, I wanted to faint. Friends from the surau sent him to the nearest hospital KPJ Specialist centre in Shah Alam. I was sent later. He was already in the emergency ward when I arrived and later to ICU. The CT scan showed negative of stroke neither problem of the heart. But the blood pressure rises. He could not move his hands and legs. My heart broke into pieces...could no longer hide my tears. I called my Sister Teh. I needed a shoulder to cry on..

It was a long night for me and the kids. I waited at the waiting room the whole night. It was creepy and... aah! for the sake of my love one I rather be there with him.

The next morning he did the MRI, three times..brain, spine and neck. He looked fragile,helpless but still smilling at me. Waiting for the results was like forever. My sister Teh and brother in law arrived from Ipoh. At least, I was stronger when the result came. The Neurologist told us that he had inflammation due to virus on his upper spine and the only way to treat is to inject him with steriod. He responded the steriod. He could moved his hands and legs but not in full action. But Alhamdullah! thanks to the Almighty. Three nights and four days in ICU. And I was going through hell!

Then, hubby was warded to the normal ward at fifth floor. He was back to his normal self, jovial and with high spirit to get better. Family and friends came visited and sending messages. We were deeply touched with the support they gave us.

I thought the worst had passed. They did the lumbar, taking the fluid from the spine but blood instead was seen. Again, I shivered with fear. He was then referred to Dr. Zurin from Damansara Specialist. Dr Zurin is a Neuro Surgeon and Spine. Hubby had to do another MRI in Damansara since it was not accurate in Shah Alam..horrible, he had to go through all that again.
I went with him in an ambulance to Damansara specialist centre. My cousin Megat and wife Fairus came later to be with me. Only god knew how thankful I was having such people who cared. But the result came the next day..

My hubby was diagnosed a very very rare sickness. It's called A.V.M of the spine.

What is A.V.M?
An abnormal communication between an artery and vein that may be present at birth or may from result from injury or infection. Blood may flow directly from artery to the vein, by passing the small vessels where oxygen and tissue nutrients are exchanged. These unusual malformations are often found in the brain and spinal cord, but may occur anywhere in the body...

Well, this information was printed by my hubby's friend professor Yip Cheng Har. Friends from old school got together at the hospital and giving opinion on how to treat him.

On the 20th of May, hubby was transferred to Hospital Damansara Specialist centre. Dr. Zurin suggested that he will undergo Embolization through Engiogram in two weeks time. Physio in Damansara was good under the care of Aina. Hubby exercised everday, but overworked. A few days later he had fever that never seemed to come down. It was the catheter, that course urine infection. He complaint blurr at one side of his eyes. Next day, C.T scan was taken and the result.. he had mild stroke. Ya, Allah, please give me strenght! I have to be strong for him...the procedure has to be done the next few days. He has to be fit.
It's all God's willing, hubby was fit to do the Embolization on Thursday night. Dr. Sabri from HUKM, a Radiologist who did Engio and Embolization. It was supposed to be five hours surgery and quite risky according to Dr. Sabri. My kids, Megat, Fairus, and my dear friend Maziah prayed hard for my hubby. We recited the Quran together. I called mum and dad to pray as well and some close family.

Three hours later, Dr. sabri and Dr Zurin came out of the O.T to break the news. It was a successful surgery. Alhamdullilah! Allah telah mendengar doa ku.

Twenty four days in Hospital Damansara specialist and nine days in selangor specialist centre. We went through difficult times and you know who your real friends are who listened and responded to your problem. Many would say 'be patient' ' we know how you feel' Honestly they have no idea what we 're going through. The emotion which is so difficult to describe. But real friends cared, they were always there for you to support and giving faith. Only Allah be able to repay their kindness and concerned.

Now, we are back home. Hubby is recuperating. All he need now is to boost his spirit to get better and with the support from us! Everything will be different now. From food, livestyle and more love. It has to be meaningful this time. Insyallah, may Allah give me strenght and patience to be able to help hubby back to normal.