It’s such a boring day today, though the ambience around and my feeling today is much better compared to the past few days. Must be the upside down of the hormone cycle I had lately. On the family matter, I have decided not to let anyone inclusive MIL to come during confinement since I already hired a confinement lady to help for 14 days. It is costly but I prefer it that way. I don’t have to put up with all the menjaga hati nonsense, trying to please any old folks etc..plus if everything goes well, I should be up and running after the first 2 weeks. So since I can manage it on my own, why should I need other people breathing down my neck. I am not sure how they will take it, but I just don’t care..huh!

On personal matter, today my lunch and dinner arrived on time and I think the food taste good with the menu of kari daging with rebung, kerabu kacang botor for lunch and nasi goreng kampung, telur mata with sup sayur campur for dinner. Must be a good day for the cook as well since everything taste just right. You see with home meal cooking, mood is a very important factor to ensure the tastiness of the food.

Oh, I bought a few fiction books from MPH online today since those online purchase entitles me for 30-20% discount. I put Hubby’s office address as the shipping address since I am not very fond of waiting for postal service these days. At least at Hubby’s office there will always be someone at the front office accepting the delivery..heh! The delivery date is 27th Nov which is about a week from today. Hopefully those books will arrive safely as this is the first time I try to buy books online from MPH. Oh, they accept Maybank2u for payment mode. Another good reason to spend the money in the account..haha!

As per routine, I love doing laundry on Monday night, while watching the not so favorite sitcoms..actually Hubby is the one who love sitcom series on Monday, I just sit on the sofa babbling my head away disrupting his attention to the silly plots..haha! So since I have to do something to distract my mind from My Wife and Kids overacting and stupid jokes, I tend to do my laundry which usually lasts after Reaper. Once a while I’ll bring the washed piles of clothes upstairs and hang them.

On another note, my lunch and dinner for Monday came promptly so I was a happy person filling up my tummy. Hubby bought tapau food from the nearby restaurant after his game of badminton. The company paid for weekly usage of the badminton court at Cyberjaya Community Club so they, the bunch of health concerned guys in the office decide to make full use of it. Before they used to jog or cycle but since it has been raining almost daily, they opt for some indoor sports activities. Thus my reason to do the laundry on Monday, so that I can quickly wash Hubby’s sports attire, eeiii busuk la if I were to simpan lama-lama in the laundry basket..hehe!

Today is quite hot outside so I decided to bring out all my kaftans to air dry in the sun. It’s been a while since I air dry anything outside because some stupid stray cats decided to poop on my lawn..benci la taik kucing ni..very tempted to pick up those poop with cangkul and throw in the drain, but Hubby said I shouldn’t..taik kucing kan ada kuman not good for pregnant women..plus since it has been raining daily those taik kucing take ages to dry out. Even today can still smell it, just hope not any of the kaftan will fall on the grass ditiup angin..huhu!

Oh my lunch today arrives around 1pm while Hubby is getting ready to go to the bank. My share however came without rice, what the h**l, took me another 50 minutes to cook rice. Nevertheless at least I have something to eat since we are almost out of everything in the fridge to eat. Will have to get groceries on Wednesday.

I am currently finishing up the red bunga telur stokin gantung for the last client for this year, about 35 more to go from the total of 50. It seems that I only have enough materials to make for 30 for the red silver theme so the other 20 I use materials in cream gold red theme. Luckily the client is not too fussy as she understands my situation. After all it’s not easy to get custom made bunga telur these days especially when it’s the wedding season.

So once I’m done with that task, I can relax all I want until the day the baby pops out..heh! I plan to read the What To Expect The First Year book and Harry Potter’s final book. I know I can always finish up the Harry Potter’s book in 1-2 days so that’s why I’m saving it for the best. From what I’ve read based on other readers’ reviews, the ending is a happy one so hopefully I won’t regret putting it off for so long since I bought it. It’s a sad thing for a reader to know that there is no more new installment for a long saga but then again that’s what life is all about (at least in a fiction world..huhu)

Oh, we managed to go to the Curve on Saturday as per plan and took the baby cot home. We even had a great time eating in Marche. It’s good to hang out with SIL and her husband (well, they are as old as a parents should be anyway, so they can be considered as substitute in that sense except that the generation gap is not too wide..) Hopefully we’ll be able to have this kind of makan-makan outing more often.

I need to get to sleep now as I need to wake up a bit early to wait for Poslaju tomorrow. I bought 3 new easy-to-wear tudung in case I will need them during confinement and in the hospital. Who will have time to iron tudung bawal to wear during such hectic time, right?

A few days ago when I called SIL, I told her if it’s possible the ask her husband to go with Hubby to the Curve this weekend to take the baby cot since they have Naza Ria. She was definitely OK with it, in fact she told me that if Hubby wants to drive the car, he can come to the house and take it anytime since BIL is not using (he was in Kemaman for work for the past 2 days). But since Hubby is not comfortable driving the big Naza Ria so I told her that we will confirm the plan by Saturday morning. After all we know that Hubby’s BIL is a morning person and we don’t want to interrupt his afternoon rest.

At 11:20pm tonight, SIL sms that they are coming after Zohor tomorrow, knowing that we are not the morning people..hehe! Since SIL will be home alone anyway, (her children are not home tomorrow - one is working on Saturday and the other one is back to campus) so she feels like going with Hubby and his BIL to the Curve. After all she has never been to the Curve. Last time I only brought her to IKEA. Actually, I don’t feel like going out tomorrow but since SIL is going, I might as well go.

It’s not really me for not wanting to go out but then in my current condition, I just feel like one big whale stranded on the beach, not wanting to move too far. Luckily I have bought all that we need for the baby otherwise Hubby has to do all the shopping on his own. Oh, I still need the baby bedding..huhu..anyone knows any Aussino branch in KL/Selangor with stock for the bedding, do tell me!

Have you ever noticed that sometimes when you have everything well planned, it somehow does not work the way you want it to be..huhu..well, call it the law of attraction or what but honestly in my life, I hardly try to attract the negative vibes but somehow it got way beyond the expectation.

Since I have no power to fight the fate of nature, I just give in and try to change it to the better. The food by MangkukTingkat.com was sent late today (for both lunch and dinner) and even then the taste was like yikes…why can’t people cook nicely these days..why can’t they taste the food that they cook before they pack it for sale, at least to check whether it has the taste that it should be despite the cheap ingredients used to save the overall cost.

Luckily I cooked nasi lemak with sambal sotong kering for dinner tonight. Hubby is working late again since there’s a meeting with US and Prague team at 10pm so I rather he has something decent to eat afterwards. Of course I too want to have something nice to eat as well since I am not a big eater for lunch. Even the baby inside is not happy with the food I bought..huhu..nak jugak suruh mak dia masak boyot2 ni pon…heh!

After cooking the dinner, I showered and got ready for the 9pm show on Astro and yet it turned out instead of In Plain Sight, Star World decided to replay Reaper..laa..apa ni..not sure whether they will have The Unit at 11pm. Checked the Astroview guide and confirmed no changes there. Benci la..if there is any other choice than Astro for cable TV, I will for sure sign up for that.

Now should I watch DVD instead? Maybe I will just spend some times on the Net, googling whatever that comes to mind..

We managed to go to Damansara Cineleisure to watch Bond yesterday, courtesy of Hubby’s company. Funny translation of James Bond - Quantum of Solace (Bond 22- Ketenangan Dalam Kesengsaraan) Does quantum really means kesengsaraan? huhu..never heard that when I studied Quantum of Physics..keh keh..nevertheless OK la Bond this time..what do you expect, right!

After that we walked to Ikano with the main intention to buy baby bedding set at Aussino. In case they have stock and better choices there, but alas, not even one set is available. They do have discount for Kids and Bath Fair but that’s not what we need at the moment. Thought of buying cot and mattress in IKEA but since I was like snail walking in agony, plus we parked the car in the Curve so it will be a hassle to bring all the stuffs to the car, we walked back to the Curve (after dinner at Kluang Station) and checked out few baby stuff stores there.

In the end, we bought the package from The First Few Years, around RM800 for the 3-in-1 convertible cot and fibre mattress, and free fitted sheet for the mattress. I like their designer bumper cot and bedding set but too expensive, almost the same price as the cot itself. We brought home the fibre mattress and the fitted sheet and Hubby has to go (alone) again this weekend to take the cot as our car is too small to accommodate all. They do have delivery service for the charge of RM50 but I rather we take it on our own. Malas nak tunggu org deliver ni, mcm tunggu buah tak gugur je, bila kurun nak sampai barangnya..huhu!

Hopefully Aussino Alamanda will call me soon to inform the availability of the baby cot set. I would like to settle everything within this month so that if I were to deliver early, Hubby won’t have to rush everywhere to handle all the necessary matters.

I hate it when I’m in pain and yet I am not sure what to do to remedy the situation. I think I have these combination of Symphysis Pubic Dysfunction and Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP). (Read them up if you are interested in details)

This paragraph from the website best describes what it feels like to have the pain:

The pain is usually made worse by lying on your back, turning over in bed, walking and standing from a sitting position. It is often worse at night and the degree of night pain you may experience will probably be related to how active you are during the day. Separating your legs, especially when sitting in a slumped position or lying down can be painful.

It is an agony when I have to move from one position to another especially on bed, to wake to pee, or get up from bed in the afternoon. Even walking from one distance to another is like total disaster with me have to jalan like siput to endure the pain. It’s really a pain in the ass, I tell you, and not only on the ass as it spreads around the groin area, hips, pelvis. I hope it will be over soon..huhu..I’m counting the days and weeks to go!

Of course certain things that you need, like medication, food, clothing and even eyeglasses for those who need them to stay focus and see the world clearly, you can’t compromise but you can still save by looking for cheaper alternatives.

Buying stuffs online rather than go out to the mall could help reduce the usage of fuel, save your toll expense, cut back on parking rate and even reduce the possibility of buying more items that you don’t really need. I like this part in the book that says don’t touch the merchandise. Research shows that people are more likely to buy an item if they can touch it and envision it as their own.

So if you are planning on buying items for seasonal festive like the coming Christmas, you should start planning your budget earlier as it is proven that last minute buying could lead to massive overspending and unwise decision.

OK, it was a disappointment on the second day when the dinner was supposed to be delivered. Really disappointed because I called the hotline at 9pm and was told they have problem with delivery. I waited till 11pm but no food. Fortunately I cooked dinner for Hubby so at least I have something to eat. The thing is the management didn’t even bother to call back and ask whether I get my food or not..so my conclusion is that their management sucks big time.

I called them again the next day informing that I didn’t get my dinner and she didn’t even bother to apologize. She did say that they will replace the meal next month..duhh..as if I will continue the service with them. I don’t blame the delivery or the cooking part because so far they have done good job. Even if the delivery boy has problem, it’s the management who should be responsible, either to find replacement or contact clients to inform of any late delivery. In this kind of business, customer service is very important and they fail to acknowledge that.

I got my lunch and dinner just fine yesterday. Even when I didn’t open the door for lunch, (it was 11:45am and I was still asleep upstairs) the guy put the food on the tembok at the front gate..hehe..and the dinner was sent around 5:30pm. As the delivery guy told me, he will deliver as soon as the cooks are ready with the packed food.

I hope as time goes by, the customer service and management of MangkukTingkat.com will improve. They do provide great convenient for people who need to eat but once they overlook the service level standard, it will ruin the perception and good impression of the company.

Today is the second day I got my lunch from MangkukTingkat.com. Yesterday the delivery guy mistakenly switched my food with another new customer who didn’t order lunch set with rice. But it’s OK since I still have to cook something for Hubby. The dinner yesterday was good since I didn’t expect their sup tulang to have a real tulang in it..heh! Even the portion was considered ample for me since I can eat the nasi goreng kampung for supper. Maybe for those who eat a lot, it won’t be enough but then if you are that kind of person definitely you should cook on your own rather than buy ready cooked meal. So when Hubby reached home after work, he had rice with my lunch leftover and singgang which I cooked the day before.

Oh, the taste of the food was OK, not really superb but at least it’s home cooked. Today for lunch, the menu is ayam kerutub with kobis goreng biji sawi. But I got acar buah as well, just like yesterday when I gladly found a slice of orange in my set..heh! For dinner today, I am supposed to get nasi berlauk Terengganu with keropok ikan. I will upload some pictures of the food later.

On another matter, during last weekend we went to Alamanda for some errand and we stopped by at Aussino. However they are still waiting for the stock to arrive for the baby cot bedding. I left my contact number and asked the sales girl to call me once any of the designs arrive. Even the Disney set on display was nice. Hopefully we would be able to buy at least one set for the baby. Hubby said we should buy two sets in case we need to change the bedding later..heh!

It’s been a while since I last shared my craft work here. Well, consider this as my last work for this 2008.
The client finally decided to tie the knot this December so I have to finish up her bunga daun getah. This is supposed to be made in 100 stalks but since I am no longer fit to work the extra hours..hehe..I turn them into 50 pieces.

The picture shown above includes about 25 batang bunga telur. The design takes space so I rather not put the whole 50 stalks on one pahar. In a way the client can save some budget as she will only need to put 25 stalks on each side of her pelamin.

I have a lot to catch up this November - complete bunga telur for the last client for this year, attend antenatal class, wrap up all the craft classes for this year, clean up the house, hopefully clear up the room upstairs in case anyone need to sleep in that room during my confinement..huhu..

But on the other hand, I might not be doing much cooking this November since I already paid mangkuktingkat.com for their service. I wanted to try their lunch and dinner menu and if it’s good perhaps we will continue during my confinement, easier for Hubby to eat at home while attending me and the baby..heh!

Oh, the M&S nursing bra that I bought has arrived, little that I realized that the size conversion between US, European and UK are quite different. Now the nursing bra is like 2 cup bigger..huhu..I’m thinking of buying the Goddess nursing bra and I think I can figure the correct size. Just hope it will fit nicely this time. I might need to buy bra extenders as well since most of my newly bought bras are a little too small across the back.

This weekend I have a few students coming over for bunga dip class. Will have to clear up the already messy living hall by Saturday. Hopefully next week we will be able to go out and watch Quantum of Solace.

After I came home from the open house on Monday I felt not too well. Hubby bought some food, I ate and took the fever and flu medicine from my earlier visit to the panel clinic this month. Went to sleep but woke up around 3am feeling hungry. Ate 2 pieces of toasted bread and continue sleeping.

Today I feel much better and hopefully tonight I won’t have any fever or flu. I have been browsing this website - twinsbaby.net and I think I have a few designs of baby cots that I would like to go and check. Hubby’s colleague did mention about Safe n Sound in One Utama but I think I will go and survey this shop first.

I am not sure whether to buy a baby cot with 2 or 3 adjustable base. Does it make any difference anyway? I do like this particular type of baby cot with additional small door at the bottom for storage purpose. There is another design that could be converted to playpen and toddler bed on offer at the shop. But I don’t want to keep my hope too high as it might be sold out by the time I go to the shop.

Oh, I just found out that Aussino has bedding line for babies. Will have to check the choices they have as well.

We went to see our almost completed house last week after attending a friend’s Hari Raya open house. It seems that the sliding doors are up, the gate has been painted and even the windows were installed. So the plan to move in by next year is like 90% on track. Usually for a newly developed housing area, it takes around 2 years for the house to be completed. But in our case, the developer is using the build and sell plan so it will minimize the risk of non completion and other finance related problem to the house buyers.

We went to another friend’s house yesterday, attending his first Raya open house and house warming party. We even took the house tour since he has been sharing his home improvement ideas like the plaster ceiling fixtures, the wood laminated floor and kitchen cabinet.

I am yet to see any friend’s house with extravagant bathroom lighting fixtures. I have this dream one day to have my own bathroom the same standard of one in a hotel suite, at least with a separate shower, a bath tub, a large mirror for dressing and makeup area. Thanks to vanity lighting in hotel’s bathroom, my face always look flawless and more beautiful..haha!

Do you know why? When you have lighting like sconces at the side of the bathroom mirror and a row of vanity light at the top of the mirror, it’s not only give your bathroom a coordinated look but provides even lighting for both sides of your face. So when you look at yourself, you’ll see yourself as the stars do in their dressing room.

There are many choices when it comes to contemporary, modern bathroom lighting nowadays. Searching and reading on bathroom lighting tips online certainly help to give clear ideas on what I should invest into. I hope once my house is completed I will have enough budget to make sure at least I could turn the bathroom in the master bedroom to be as close as what I dream to have. I know it will take a lot of effort but in the end I’m sure it will be worth it to turn a house into a sanctuary to call my home.

After more than a year, I managed to get more than USD3k from PPP. Check out this screen shot.

I’m not sure for those who join PPP this year that you might be able to make as much as that, but you can always try to look out for the opps.

But of course in order to qualify for the opps, you need to get your blog qualified first. I have a long list of unsuccessful referees. The reason that their blogs are not approved could be varied but I suspect that a few basic requirements are not met, thus the non-approval. First of all your blog must be written in English, at least 20 posts in 3 months. You can’t expect to write one day and not update your blog for weeks. I know that this blog has many non English entries, but once I started to blog for money, I make sure that at least the 3 months entries were written in English.

I have a referee who blogs on free platform like blogspot, and now she’s earning enough to buy items on eBay. So when you sign up your blog to PayPerPost, make sure that you already have 20 English entries and your blog is more than 3 months old. Once your blog has been approved, do look out for the opps from time to time. Once the first opps that you write get approved and you get your pay 30 days later, I will get the referral fee. Until then, you will stay in my pending list of referees…heh!

It’s been raining daily and somehow it dampens the mood to do anything. I have been planning to update this blog for days but nothing interesting seems to emerge from my mind. We went groceries and maternity shopping during last weekend after attending all the open house invitations but unfortunately I couldn’t find the nursing bra that I need..huhu!

So in the end I decided to buy online brand Marks & Spencer from eBay. Once the first pair arrives and if it fits nicely, I will buy some more. Of course there are many more choices like Goddess, Medela, Anita and Bravado but gosh they are expensive..ranging from 20-60 dollar USD mind you…

Oh, I have another thing related to baby to buy - it’s the My Brest Friend Nursing Travel Pillow. Not sure whether it is really essential for new mom to breast feed but of course in my case I know my limitation. Having this pillow to hold my newborn baby while I’m trying to handle the breastfeeding process will surely help. Even with the postage to Malaysia, the conversion price is still cheaper. Thanks to my effort in making money online, I still have enough in my PayPal to pay all these stuffs..heh!

Oh, I bought the Bebe disposable breast pads, disposable panties and some other maternity and baby stuffs as recommended by friends. Now I just need to sort out what to pack in the bag in case anything emergency comes up..huhu!

So if you would like to blog for money but have no idea where to start, reading this webhosting blog could help. Articles like web hosting mistakes to avoid, what kind of web hosting you might consider to invest in and what parameters to consider in buying hosting package will definitely give you some clear ideas.

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Why? You would want your website or business blog to be fully functional and your domains accessible at all times. Quoting from the article, reliable web hosting is known to provide dependable uptime so that you can make changes on your website and upload it for customers to view in minimal time.

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I have no idea what goes on in this head of mine, but lately I don’t have the urge to spend or shop (well, except for the weekly groceries and the monthly magazines). The only thing that I need to buy now is the baby crib and all the necessary items to fill up the crib, and that’s it.

And perhaps for me - nursing bra, maternity pad and nursing attire. But don’t get me wrong, I still love window shopping, checking out stuffs on the Internet like tudung, household appliances, Corelle set, Tupperware but just for the sake of feeding the curiosity of what’s in the market, any good offer or discount.

Maybe I’m getting old and more prudent when it comes to money these days. Or maybe with this pregnancy I just not being myself.

Oh, the only entertaining stuffs that I am willing to spend my money on will be movie DVDs. That’s because it is more comfortable watching movie at home nowadays than going out to cinema. At least I can pause and go for toilet break every now and then..haha!

I’ve been meaning to update this blog since last weekend, but I don’t know why it seems so hard to do so. Maybe because of a few unhappy things I heard and received..what a life these days, the up and down, happy and sad, annoying and heart broken news seems to be all mixed up.

But I know this phase will pass and things will get back to normal happy days onwards. I’m going to the clinic for the glucose test most probably tomorrow (hubby got time off from his boss in US) since the result takes time and I can only see the gynae for check up after that. Well, that leaves next week since the gynae will be on leave this Friday and Saturday.

I have 2 invitations for open house this Sunday and another one end of this month. I’m sorry to all friends who are waiting for my own open house invitation, I won’t be able to do one this year. Even the routine daily chores seems to be very taxing for me these days. I have to stop, lie down and sit for a while every time I need to finish cleaning up the dishes and cook the normal easy dinner.

Can’t wait for the baby to pop out and get back my energetic self..heh! BTW, I cook nasi ayam today since we had Johnny’s last night. I didn’t get my meal of rice yesterday so I have to get a good one today. I’m still waiting for Hubby to come home after his usual weekly meeting with the US and Prague team so that we can have dinner together.

Oh, I finally found the recipe for baked kek lapis masam manis..yeay! Hopefully I can get all the ingredients by this weekend so that I can bake one next week..heh!

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