..and she's 2!

Here's another mental note to self. Well, a few mental notes to self AND husband in case one of us develops amnesia and forgets how tiring the whole affair was:

1) We should organise a party for our child(ren)'s birthday once every decade only.
The next one for Arissa would be when she turns 12. Her coming of age (21st) party can be with cousins/friends to ensure no old boring party-poopers are around including Mummy & Daddy.

2) We should NEVER have any parties at chalets because we end up 2 times more tired- having to lug the whole kitchen there and back (ladles, deep fryer, pots and pans, airpot, teabags, coffee powder, sugar, dishwashing liquid, sponges, mats, paper plates, forks and spoons etc). If we can't do without a chalet, make sure its no more than a 15m ride from our kitchen i.e. the BBQ pit at Sembawang park will do.

3) Get guests to send presents directly to home address to save boot space. Or provide appropriate gift dimension/price guidelines to guests.

4) Hire Amah-on-Wheels to do the cleaning up afterwards!

But, hey, you guessed it.. we were none the wiser this time round and broke all the abovementioned rules for Arissa's 2nd birthday party. To make life more difficult, both Hafidz & Arissa were sick and I was getting there too, having to breathe the air contaminated by these two people in the bedroom.


Me, MIL and Arissa's babysitter/aunt chilling @ Costa Sands Pasir Ris


















Sous chef & Chef de partie
























Lamb chop in black pepper sauce, hot from the stove


















Chicken chop, sauteed prawns and buffalo wings
























Our guestlist:

...but don't things always seem a lot more fun on hindsight.. we had a great party, the Aussie-style Barbie concept by Hafidz & Fendi was a resounding success (minus the Caesar salad which never got made somehow) and birthday girl had so much fun she wasn't able to wind down at night. We ended up driving home at 4am just so she can fall asleep in her own bed (aka my bed), then up again at 8am in order to get back to the chalet in time for the big cleanup & checkout.

The birthday gifts are still unopened because Arissa slept from 6pm on Sun all the way through to 9am on Mon morning, a loooooooooong respite for me & Hafidz to nurse our aching muscles with heat pads and a spot of Simpsons, The Movie (hah, thats how long I've wanted to watch it).



















I plan on giving her one package every morning to open to lengthen the excitement because after all, the next big party is 10 years away.. Gotta milk this one for as long as I can!

My thank you list extends to:
Yani, who secured us the preferred chalet unit (Q1 in case I forget) at a very competitive price,
Joe Peter for purchasing the KungFu Panda party favours from US,
Hafidz & Fendi who worked really hard preparing food for our family & friends,
Sapna & Anil for the very yummy chocolate truffle bday cake,
Sanah for helping prepare the party and sleeping over in spite of being 6 months preggers,
Friends & Family members who came all the way with your gifts, ang pows, potluck deserts and well-wishes.

xxx

Tadaa!!!

:)

PS: It arrived a week later than expected so it missed an unvealing at our Eid Open House. Sappy, I wanted to surprise you but grrr...

Eid 08

My, my... looking at last year's Eid photos, its pretty obvious how Arissa has grown over the course of a year..

.. She looks so prim & proper here! How deceiving pictures are (it took me 5 takes and a lot of persuasion to get a decent solo photo with the hairclip on!)

And oh! the damage done to Mummy and Daddy- a year's worth of extra white hair and added wrinkles..




This year's standard line of questioning is "So when is No 2 coming?" to which my retort is "I'm skinny enough, one more and I'll disappear into thin air!"

Compared to last year where Arissa was a social butterfly and took to everybody instantly, this year she was at the other extreme- clinging onto me and burying her face in my dress until she warms up enough to the strange gathering of hot and sweaty aunties/ uncles/ cousins who make enough ruckus to wake up the dead.

We organised a mini open house the day after Arissa's Muslim birthday, 17 Syawal. Thanks all for popping in and hope you ate enough :)

Taking the bit between the teeth

I grew rather worried that Arissa had become so dependant on her NUK pacifier that we dared not leave home without it. So dependant was she that I had to stash 1 dummy at Mum's, 1 dummy at babysitter's, 1 dummy at home and 1 dummy in the car. I also put 1 in her Eeyore rucksack in case any one of the 4 got lost/misplaced/trashed somehow. And for long holidays, we brought along 2 pacifiers- 1 attached to my carry bag and 1 securely packed in the luggage. In case. Whatever the case may be in my paranoid mind.

Its totally a recipe for an overbite.

I never had a soother as a baby and neither did hubby so, in spite of my paranoia, I could not understand her need to suckle excessively. In many ways, I blamed myself for introducing her to the dummy during the breast-to-bottle transition and then for allowing her to get hooked. And I wanted so badly to undo the damage before she became a candidate for braces- not an easy task when most think I'm being an wicked witch for refusing a two-year old her beloved soother. Whenever I brought this up, Mum or babysitter would comment "..usually they give it up when they're ready" or "but she doesn't need it all day, only to fall asleep..."

But I wasn't taking any chances with an overbite. Taking the bit between the teeth is a mother's number 1 job, so I picked a 'calm' period- as experts recommend- to unleash my 'evil' plan, first in the cover of darkness then in broad daylight:

At night, I hid the damned soother from her. After the last feed, I simply turned off the lights and played dead. Some nights were easier than others, especially when she is exhausted from the day- she simply snuggled against me and fell asleep without fuss. Other nights, she would start crying and refused to settle down. When this happens, I'd give her a 10 minute grace period and would try to turn her attention to something else, and if that doesn't work, will raise the white flag and offer her the dummy. This I kept up for about 3 weeks and by the end of it, realised she does not even ask for her pacifier anymore at bedtime. Hurrah!

In the day, weaning proved lots harder. Without the cover of darkness (a natural sleep-inducer for her at bedtime), she would point to her lips after a full bottle, wide-eyed and alert, crying "teng teng! teng teng!" (short for puting aka pacifier). Drastic measures had to come into play- I kept her awake longer than usual so she's totally knackered and then manually rocked her to sleep. I also refused to replace any of the dummies when they tore. She hated sucking the sharp edges and eventually never asked for it at naptime. Yippee!

And now, a good month and abit later, she has officially completed the dummy weaning process. Some days she remembers the beloved soothers, and we allow her the occasional regresses but after barely a minute, she finds it a nuisance and pulls it out of her mouth in disgust. Success!!

BEFORE:

















AFTER- dummyless even in sleep:















Now, I'm left with the bottle weaning process and the toilet-training process.... looks like my scheming can't stop anytime soon.

'Tis a season to be jolly

Doting grandfather

deep in conversation too @ Nek Putih's house

The mafia convoy- all black

Arissa & baby Aliya- knackered after 4hours of visiting

Rushaidi, Arissa & Elisha

My fellow road-trippers in Perth- Tok Chu & Tok Brahim. We covered the whole south WA in 4 days and had to rough it out in a caravan- it still brings tears to my eyes talking about the good ole times! (She is at an advanced stage of colon cancer now.)

Blood is thicker than water :)

The things I don't know can fill a warehouse

Fact 1)

Wakaf is such a neat community-building effort. I've only today discovered that any Muslim can contribute to mosque-building if one cares to. The husband wanted to 'wakaf' his late father's assets towards the building of a mosque and right now, MUIS is taking donations for the building of Masjid Muhajirin.

For S$5, one can purchase 1 brick for the mosque, for S$12 one can purchase a square metre of carpet and for S$250, one can purchase a square metre of classroom space (desks and chairs included).

We went away happy to know that Hj Mohd Amir Bin Hj Hassan would be recognised in God's eyes to have contributed to the building of His house. Amin.

Fact 2)

Yes we are all worried about the global crunch and bloody Chinese capitalists putting melamine in baby formulas are not helping to upkeep consumer trust. But before you think I HAVE TO SAVE ALL MY MONEY, think how low the China shares are all now. 'Tis the best time to be buying shares and stocks in China! Ok, forget putting your money in consumer products like toothpaste and baby formulas, those are too risky.. "but how about Telcom shares? Utilities shares? Transportation shares?", my boss whispers to me. Aha, so that's the trick to becoming rich quick. Instead of buying LV Mini Lin handbags, one buys stocks and shares and wait for it to double.

Now, where can I find US$20,000 to invest is another question. :D

On a wing and a prayer

Daniela Prina is a 13 month old baby who will be undergoing surgery today for Hirschprung Disease. I have never met this little angel in person, as she lives far away in Brussels but her mother, Imelda Paulina and I are friends from my early days in IFA.


Im and I text and call each other from time to time, usually when she's home-sick and missing good homecooked Indonesian fare but we haven't been in touch for a good 6 months now, as duty call means we're too busy with our bubs to keep in touch as often as before. So her email last week came as a surprise, albeit not a very pleasant update- an appeal for our prayers for the safety of her little girl. I cannot imagine if Arissa had to go through the same deal, I don't think I would be strong enough like Imelda to take it in stride.

So to Imelda and Adamo.. our prayers are with you during this difficult time. Little Daniela, may you get better in record time sweetheart and I hope to see you soon when Mama comes through Singapore for her home trip.

Not a lost cause after all

I have said this time and again- the 10 years I spent learning the piano was a lost cause. But my parents never gave up, which was why they ended up paying for the lessons for 10 years and not 10 months, at the expense of expensive toys I could've far better enjoyed.

And now that I'm a Mother, I am starting to understand why they never lost hope. When I saw Arissa tinkling on the piano, it gave me such a rush (even though half the time I had to grit my teeth as it was all just plain, loud noise she was making) that this offspring of mine is seemingly enjoying the display of her musical prowess. The fact that I clap my hands as though she had just finished a Vivaldi in D-minor piece helped boost her ego too. :D




















That's a Bach, Beethovan and Brahms piece she's trying out- not too shabby eh!

I started playing the piano with her every Mon, Tue and Thu nights at Mum's, as that is where my old piano is still, after all these years. And magically discovered that not only do I find playing de-stressing and enjoyable, I was still able to read those damn notes I had cursed all my childhood..

Forgotten favourites came to life at my fingertips all over again especially Schubert's Lilac Time Serenade.. a lilting, melancholic piece about love lost.

Arissa has a few favourites of her own and she makes a huge effort playing it out. I must say that in my biased opinion, I can very clearly hear Jingle Bells in this solo recital, can you? (many apologies for the horrid singing in the foreground!)




Up next are This Old Man for Arissa and Everything I do (I do it for you) for Mummy.. I can't wait!

4 Hallmark Moments

10 Sep is a special day on our calendar. Not only is it our wedding anniversary, it also marks Sapna's turning a year older. And I'm always elated because between September and December of every year, I can tell her "I'm NOT a year older than you." :D

But 10 Sep in 2008 has more celebratory reasons- the opening of Hafidz's new venture Fish & Chicks @ 991 (sorry guys, he's not in open market YET) and the new home @ Villa Marina (NOT ours- hah!).

Everyone enjoyed the foodtesting, we had a load of laughs and look forward to popping in again after Ramadhan for a Barbie!

Enjoy the clip:

Thank you Anish

Dearest Anish,

I know you're still small and enjoy your sleep a whole lot. Your Mummy is terrible, putting those huge sunnies on you. Never mind, Godma will get you one of those styrofoam sunglasses that Kakak Arissa has from SKP. She ate hers up, so I've warned your Mummy not to let you chew on them.



Godma wants you to drink lots of milk and grow up quickly so we can all go watch LIVE shows together. In the meantime, because your Daddy knows you probably won't enjoy having music blasted in your ears while you try to catch some beauty rest, he has given your tickets to Kakak Arissa and Abang Rifqi who enjoyed the show thoroughly. Kakak will give you a wet-kiss to thank you soon enough.

Godma misses you much and can't wait to cuddle you on Weds! See you soon pumpkin!

xoxo

I want a famous face..

..is the new strand of reality show on MTV. Its aired on prime time and we all know everyone between 4 and 40 watches MTV from time to time, especially if you have cable on.

"By showing how much of a positive impact plastic surgery can have on a person's life, I Want a Famous Face shows how much of a change plastic surgery can have on a person. Besides affecting a patient's appearance in a drastic way, plastic surgery also makes a person more confident and comfortable with themselves", cites www.plastic-surgery.net.

I watched it after a full plate of chicken rice and immediately felt sick to the stomach. Two disillusioned twins from Arizona, Mike and Matt, who in their quest to look like Brad Pitt (laughable!!) underwent the plastic surgeon's knife for rhinoplasty, chin implants, and porcelain veneers. Mike wanted to look like Brad in the "Meet Joe Black" movie; Matt wanted to look like Mr Jolie in the "Legends of the Fall" movie (so sick, its not even funny!)

BEFORE:



AFTER:








The surgery was gory enough, you actually get to see their flesh cut open and bloody, getting pumped and skinned and stitched like the dead spring chicken in my sink every Saturday morning. But what made me more sick was how the pair went from down-to-earth regular people to boastful, pompous twats:

"We're going to be the next biggest twins. Watch out Hollywood" *wink*

*barf*

And they don't even look like Brad Pitt yet! Faaaaaaaaaaaar from it. So far, in fact, that they look more like the Bros brothers if we primed them for the 21st century.

No one's new to MTV's take on idol worship- its how they, as a channel, survive the times. The more sensational the series, the better the viewership and subscriber base. Sorry MTV, I've always been a fan of reality- I like Run's House and all the other crap you guys churn out but this one just propels idol worshipping to a new, disturbing, almost pathological level.

The bare facts

In case I forget, this is how much I need to 'payback' in terms of fasting days:

During pregnancy
31 - 2 days = 29 days

During breastfeeding
7 days

Yesteryears
est 7 days

Total 43 days

Paid in 2008 5 days

Balance 38 days

OMG!

Maybe Baby part deux

...and whilst we're still on the topic of baby-making, my period has gone MIA again since 5 June. GASP!!! I do a mental check every morning because I think I know my pregnancy symptoms pretty well by now:

1) Fever - no

2) Woozy head - no

3) Pukey feeling when brushing teeth - no

4) Lethargy - yes
**but could be because I have inherited Arissa's tiny bed??

5) Sudden hunger pangs, followed by weakness - a little

So on Friday, I took the day off and popped unannounced into Lawrence Ang's office. He remembers my ongoing battle with PCO and asked if I've taken any urine test yet. Answer: No. He tells me he will do a short scan to see if I'm pregnant. Answer: Yes please. 2 short minutes later, I've got my confirmation.

No growth i.e. fibroids. No cysts. No foetus. Just my hormones acting up again.

A round of dydrogesterone and the period would show up within a week of course completion. IF I'm not pregnant.

"Next time you guys are trying, let me know and we will put you on the fertility programme", he advises and a sudden feeling of deja vu embraced me (different gynae, same line, 4 years ago. God willing, we conceived within 8 months of our marriage- we should be so lucky). He continues "Then your husband don't have to keep trying all over the shop". I told him we're not trying for No 2. Yet. Heee....

I left his office, paid S$110 for that and texted hubby who is in Malaysia:

"I'm not pregnant, doc says. Are you disappointed?"

He texts back:

"A little."

Please don't tell me he is buying into the whole Parenthood Package deal!! Argh..

Maybe Baby

It seems I'm not the only one who finds the Baby Bonus Package more of a bogus sham to get us to go along with the government's propoganda. We're mothers, not production houses!

http://forum.channelnewsasia.com/viewtopic.php?p=2193186&highlight=#2193186


That pathetic package barely scratches the surface at finding a solution for our low fertility rate. Get those dunces at policy-making department off their high chairs and start working ground up!

Sheesh.

PS: I do like how elements50 have spelled out his financial situation. I totally empathise, can PM Lee (who earns gezillion times more than elements50)?

Baby Bogus Package

And after all that anticipation about the new Parenthood Package! Its nowhere NEAR what those Swedish families enjoy (read their policies here!) nor their Dutch counterparts (read their policies here!). Did they ever speak to the likes of those on the 11th floor of Shaw Towers of child-bearing age and understand where our actual difficulties lie?

For yours truly, these policies below would give me more motivation to jump between the sheets with Mr Daddy:

1) Medical

As 1st time parents, the thing that caught us offguard was the cost of immunisations and medical. There are 20 mandatory jabs a child has to go through from birth to age 12, as reflected in the Healthbook. Each costs about S$50 on average, total it up and there goes a large chunk of your Baby Bonus. Give free vaccines!!

The other thing is infants and toddlers get sick a great deal from the sniffles due to haze to fever bouts due to wonky climate change. Every month I take my girl to see a doctor, and each time a trip to KK costs me S$75. Provide free medical (until they're 6 years of age at least)!!

2) ERP

One of the reason I stay in office until after 8pm is not because my work can't wait til tomorrow to complete (well, sometimes it warrants that). Its to avoid having to pay S$1 extra at the 2nd ERP gantry along CTE on my way home from work. (On that note, why are there TWO ERP gantries on ECP for the good citizens going from town to Bishan/AMK/Yishun/Woodlands? The jam is same as ever with or without the gantry). We're talking being able to avoid funnelling S$260 of my hard earned annual income back to the government. Where is the motivation to get home early to spend time with my girl? Banish ERP gantries from 7pm onwards!!

3) Parking

Grandparents time- wat dat? I am not motivated to sleep over at tot's grandparents' house on Saturday nights for a bonding session because I keep having to buy parking coupons. Hello! As it is, I'm already paying S$90 for season pass for my MSC, S$140 for season pass at office... I still need to buy parking coupon for day parking and night parking? Why can't we all just buy 1 season parking per month.. its still only 1 car parked at 1 spot irregardless that the spot on Saturday night is in AMK and not Woodlands. Provide free parking on Sat and Sun at all HDB/HUDC carparks!!

Sorry? Did I just hear someone say- if you're whinging so much about owning a car, give it up then!

Ahah... that takes me to my next point:

4) Public transport

So we are poor people who can only afford to own one car. We make way to accommodate each other's schedule but there are times when I would like to get home early rather than wait around for hubby to come pick me up. So I trot off to the nearest MRT station at 7pm, hoping to get home within the hour. And I wait, and I wait. In my heels. For a full 5 minutes. Watching crappy TVCs on the plasma (oops, we made some of those TVCs). And ooh what's that... the train is finally here! Except the cabins are so chokeful of people they're all sandwiched in there like tunas in a can. I breathe my last breath of fresh air and squash myself in with the other pleibeians. Because waiting another 5 minutes for the next train is out of the question. Taxis? I now pay double of what I used to pay before the price hike. The wait is just as long, the taxi still stinks of pandan leaves and the driver is still rude and drives like a maniac on speed, at the same time making anti-government comments which I do not condone. :}

And yet they DARE to increase fares public transport??? How about giving us a more comfortable ride FIRST, or some reason to justify paying more for the same shite deal. MAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORT MORE AFFORDABLE (and quicker)!!

5) Baby bonus

Its now paid in 4 instalments but adds up to nothing in this day and (inflationary) time. The problem firstly is you get such a small portion each time that it doesn't mean much and secondly it would have stopped before you realise how expensive children can really get (usually after their 2nd birthday when they start school).

Each Swedish child gets a support of 950SEK/month (S$210/mth) up until age 16. That's approximately S$40K per child in allowance. Now compare that to the new exciting S$4K for 1st child... what do you get? p-e-a-n-u-t-s. In the Netherlands, each child receives a minimum of 60 euros/month (S$125/mth) and this rate is incremental which means the older the child, the bigger the expenses, he more he/she receives. GIVE MORE BABY BONUS!!

Oh and while I'm ranting, thank you for upping the maternity leave by a month (we're now on par with Sweden and Netherlands on this point- hurrah!) and the childcare leave by 4 days and the baby bonus by $1000 (which will go to paying medical refer pt 1). But whats that about 1 week unpaid infantcare... I can take that of my own accord, thank you much. Was that meant to be the fake cherry on top of the bitter icing on a stale cake? You decide while I wallow in disappointment at our policy-makers. As someone said wisely "Want to give, give properly laaaa!"

:[

Winging it

We have looked and looked and can only find them in those big expensive furniture stores (I'm talking S$5000 and up for ONE wing chair). Thank you Sappy darling for telling me about your little nook! I'm so excited, I can barely work!!

I dream!


I want!!


I have died and gone to heaven!!!



And I call the husband and he now says "See how la".. Dammit!

Happy Birthday Singapore!

...even though I am not patriotic as such! :S

For the 4 of us.. it was an excuse to get together and stuff our faces at Newton. Arissa was so well-behaved (apparent from the greased elbows riiiiiiiight) and totally loving the sunkissed, newlyweds Aunty Nana & Uncle Ogy:




Then the question of WHERE to catch the fireworks because everywhere would be packed. The answer was MY OFFICE ROOFTOP:

with Sidik who had lugged his family there and Apple who was editing on the CNY project (her excuse: I'm Thai so ND doesn't apply to me na ka)

The fireworks were so-so, the credit crunch and inflation a sign of the times to come... *heh*



Oh well, nothing beats the mother of all fireworks at the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, wish I was there (but lucky I'm not!).

For those who missed it on telly, watch it on youtube here!

Tinkle Tinkle Little Star

21 months:
Arissa has been humming all sorts of nursery rhymes for a some time now. She can't sing the words yet but her relative pitch has been fairly accurate.

Just the other day, I caught her humming "Are you sleeping" and we don't have that tune on our audio CDs/Barney CDs. When I asked Mum, she said "Yer, mama selalu nyanyikan dia" (Yes, I sing it to her often). On another occasion, she was humming "Satu satu... aku sayang ibu", to my amazement, and Mum's the culprit yet again.

This is her singing a lullaby to her "beeebeee":




I really should send this girl to group music class... I just hope she likes it better than I did tinkling on the piano for 10 years and as hubby puts it "a total waste of your parents money"- heh. That's why I'm a firm believer in making sure you send your kids to activity classes that you KNOW he/she will enjoy, and not for the heck of it or because the neighbours/friends/cousins/colleagues are sending their offspring to one.

Long after the enjoyment of group lessons wore off, my parents forced me to continue with solo piano lessons for another 7 years. I had to worm my way out of Saturday classes at Yamaha and Kawai but how many excuses can a 10 year old come up with in a month? After a while, they realised that I only came down with some distinct virus on Saturday mornings, which went away by nightfall.

I was never destined to become a Bach or a Beethovan... they should've sent me to typing classes instead.

:D

A busy whizzend

It was a hot sunday and the 3 of us seeked refuge in the air-conditioned bedroom, Arissa is impersonating 'Eeyore' by grunting until she's hoarse. :p

I just realised that all my videos are of Arissa either lounging at home or in bed. Yes, we are lazy parents but that does not mean I coop her up at home on weekends- heh.

Last Sat, *I* (as hubby still on project- argh!!!), as part of the Mummy gang, went to Kak Rani's condo to let loose the overactive kiddos- 5 in all. They swam, they ate, they shat, they dripped syrup water all over Kak Rani's marble floor, they vomitted, they peed (not in any order) and at the end of it, Arissa slept fitfully from 8pm to 10am... *zzzz*

On Sun, we took her to a wedding held at The HortPark, first time there for me! She ran around in the big hall and the garden outside with Nana and Shabanah whilst I enjoyed the Putri Catering delicacies. By 6pm, she's snoozing in the car all the way home *yeay*. Then up again at 8pm for a little walk to the pasar malam nearby.

I am pooped... my weekend seemed to whizz on by. So see, we're not THAT lazy... we just love our bed that much.

:)

Serious stuff

Your priorities change when you arrive at the big 30. Before, I lived a day at a time... maybe a month at a time at most but since having a child, I've become more concerned with the future, our future as a family.

It doesn't help when both sides of my family- maternal and paternal- have cancer cases from colorectal to breast to cervical, mostly aggresive too. My maternal grandfather died from colorectal cancer and I saw how he suffered at the end, bedridden and in pain every day. I shudder to think the defective gene has been passed on to the next generation.

Syifaa, thanks for the cancer article from John Hopkins. I'm adding it here in case I lose the email:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc. are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bra gg's aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice e, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Florescence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, unforgiving veness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

1. No plastic containers in micro, use microwavable glass or ceramic.
2. No water bottles in freezer, glass containers are a better option.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave, use towels to cover food instead.

Dad has been taking this power juice, Xango, for sometime now- its a puree of purple fruits like berries etc but the main ingredient is the mangosteen fruit blended with skin and all and apparently chockablock with anti-oxidants.

I've always been rather hesitant with meds/supplements that lay claim to being 'miraculous' but Xango seems to work for the 2 people I know who've tried it- Dad and the babysitter's husband. On top of that, it tastes like bittery berry juice- not a total put off, Arissa loves her daily sip of it. The difference between this juice and the PeelFresh mangosteen juice is its consistency- the PeelFresh version is OMG-so-watery!

Barely an hour after his brain surgery to remove a 'blood clot of significant size' (as his Doctor diplomatically puts it), Dad was acting normal- cheerful and coherant. His path to recovery is nothing short of 'miraculous', the wound healed in record time and he didn't seem to be much bothered by it. In many ways, it was as if he went to get a tooth extraction. Literally. He was in pain, went to doc, had the teeth/clot removed and everything went back to normal. Everyone was stunned when they saw how a-ok he was in the hospital post-surgery and at home. Amongst others, an aunt exclaimed "Deni biar betul pegi operation, tak macam orang sakit pun!" and my BIL echoled her thoughts the next day with "Has the op been done? He seems fine.."

Our babysitter's husband, Cik Nasir, has just been diagnosed with total kidney failure and is undergoing regular dialysis. Dad told me to bring a bottle of Xango to him with instructions to drink half a miniature cup of it daily because Cik Nasir has a daily water intake limit, as part of his renal diet. When I checked back with him a week later, he said his strength has somehow returned and if need to, thinks he "can even run", a far cry from a man who always looked lethargic. Their next door neighbour, who coincidentally takes Xango as a supplement, has sung high praises about the product.

Granted this Xango juice is sold under the MLM umbrella but neither Dad nor I are part of it. Am merely spreading the word here and we can help order for anyone who wants to try it. Its $60 a bottle that can last you 3 weeks or so. Feel free to email me at rina_harman@yahoo.com.au if anyone's interested or you can order direct at their website.

PS: I read that Mariah Carey was once on a Purple Diet (no, she wasn't eating like Barney), her dietitian recommended she ate food that was purple including brinjals and berries because of their high antoxidant loading. Purple skittles were NOT part of her diet yar! (you could've fooled me).

Look who's talking..

SugaBaby

For a whole year, a CD created at home by a guy called Francis Smith (aka my Bangkok boss- pfft) is a permanent fixture in our car audio system. Its creatively labelled NURSERY RHYMES and includes all the chart-topping stuff like Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and London Bridge (NOT the one by Fergie- hah).

Arissa insists on listening only to this CD whilst she is in the car and for a whole year, we have endured sniggers by the BIL/friends/colleagues and its toughened up our ear wax.

But last week I found an old CD stuck in our glove compartment and was listening to an old favourite track. Its a feel-good-post-breakup number whose lyrics I lapped up during those stupid 12h breakups with the then-boyfriend, now-husband (ey...bound to happen once in awhile if you've been in the same courtship for 9 years) and, wonder of wonders, my daughter absolutely LOVED it- head banging and thumping her hand on her thigh in approval. Its hilarious!



...and Mummy sure as hell miss her Nursery Rhymes CD like a hole in my head.

Piss (off)

OK...can't say I didn't try.. It came out sounding like "piss.." rather than p-l-e-a-s-e. :S

Everything but the girl

Before the big thing happened, we had a quiet weekend at home where I pulled down a big box of Arissa's baby clothes, ready to hand them down to a 1-month old bub named Aliya Atiqa.


Finally- we have a baby girl in the family..!! And Mummy is so ready to give those baby clothes away to make room for more toddler clothes that Arissa is growing out of at lightning speed.

The Ikea box is simply bursting at its seams with cute baby dresses,


...colourful rompers,


...little pants and mini skirts, (Sorry Sanah about the army skirt- you should have booked earlier lah! But here’s a picture of it *heh*)


...all manner of accessories like head-bands and delicate shoes,


...all waiting to see the light of day once again.

I had such fun dressing Arissa up, who was the ONLY girl born between 2005 and 2007 amongst relatives/friends. It’s strange how when I was pregnant I had convinced myself that I was carrying a boy. For some unknown reason, I’ve always believed that boy firstborns just seemed more ‘natural’. Maybe because everyone around me seemed to be conceiving boys?!

It took a while to come to terms emotionally when Dr Ang told us that Astronaut (which is what we used to call her when she was a weeny little foetus due to her big head and small body) might be a *girl* actually.

As I divided her clothes into piles of Grade A, Grade B and strictly-for-home stashes for Aliya, I offhandedly asked the hubby who was playing 'masak-masak' with the little one "Dear, when should we plan to have our 2nd one?"

His face showed he was calculating how much it takes to raise a child halfway decently in this day and age (daycare $300, piano lessons $190, taekwondo $100, Kumon $120...), whilst I can only remember how tired I am most of the time with just ONE kid to keep in check.

He finally answered “Let’s wait til she’s 4?”

And I said “At least 4!”

*pffft*

That makes me all of 33 in the next pregnancy... I seriously don’t know if I can physically cope with the demands of a pregnant body at such an age- the lethargy, the morning sickness, the emotional roller-coaster, the list goes on... *sigh* On days like this, I kick myself for getting married so late.

And as Hafidz and I reminisced about Arissa's infanthood (“Remember how cute she looked in this pink dress for her cukur rambut?! / “Hey... she wore this ballerina shoes to Sapna’s wedding!” / “Why did you buy so many headbands...she hated them didn’t she?”), she was more interested in parading around in my high heels.


Like my MIL says “Kalau dah pompan, pompan jugak!”