HERSHEY: The Sweetest Place On Earth!

Alhamdulillah end of September 2010, I went to Hershey, PA to attend a 4-days conference. OK let’s not touch about work & business part. The original plan (Plan A) was to bring Abang, Afnan & Ayman together. But as the air fares were way too expensive beyond our affordable limit (approaching total of RM20k; huh), we omitted Plan A and moved on to Plan B: Mama goes to PA alone, while Papa will take care of the kids in Penang. It was a tough decision, but we keep on praying to Allah hoping that this was the BEST AVAILABLE OPTION for us.

Well, the route to PA was not easy though:

BTU –KUL (Kuala Lumpur) 2 hrs (MAS)

KUL-LAX (Los Angeles) ~17 hrs (MAS)

LAX-IAD (Dulles, Washington) ~5 hrs (UA)

IAD-MDT (Harrisburg, PA) ~1 hr (UA)

I enjoyed the trip, but it was very tiring and adventurous (as Abang was not around with me). In fact, if Abang is around, he will ensure everything is well-prepared and information is available in-hand: ticket, boarding pass, passpost, money exchange-rate, kiblat’s direction, prayers time, where to shop, internet connection, luggage etc...Abang, as much as I could, I’ve proven that I can be independent too ;p

Probably it’ll be more meaningful if Abang, Afnan and Ayman could join the trip. But, Allah Knows The Best. I really really missed them and my families throughout the trip. I really optmised the free time there; went to the Factory Outlets, Hershey Chocolate Factory, Tour To: Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Walk of Fame, Santa Monica Beach etc..etc.. Among all, shopping at Factory Outlets was the most ‘stressful’ activities..the items sold there are way too cheap to be resisted; hehe..Luckily there’s limit for luggage allocation for the flight.

As a compulsary routine, we communicated via Skype every single day! 9 pm PA time, 9 am Malaysia time. It was a relief to see both Afnan and Ayman dah siap mandi and pakai smart-smart each time we Skyped. Good Job Papa!

However, no matter how sweet or how nice Hershey Town meant to me, “Hujan Emas di Negeri Orang, Hujan Batu di Negeri Sendiri, Baik Lagi di Negeri Sendiri”...sounds like anti-climax, but that’s the reality. I missed my homes...bak kata Afnan ‘1Malaysia untuk Semua’..haha

p/s: looking forward for family vacation next yearJ; which is purely non-work-related

SELAMAT HARI RAYA 2010

Saya mewakili keluarga saya (noradnin hafeeza, afnan nu'man & ayman nawfal) mengucapkan selamat hari raya aidilfitri. Mohon maaf atas segala kesilapan and kesalahan kami. Semoga kita semua dapat meraikan hari kemenangan ini dgn ria.

notakaki: saya beraya di Kota Bharu sehingga raya ketiga and insyaAllah akan pulang ke Pulau Pinang tengahari raya ketiga.

ayman's first birthday!

Last Sunday(27th June 2010)was ayman's first birthday..
Happy birthday, adik! we love you......

the three boys..

mama + the boys

ayman otw to paed for MMR injection

IF I HAVE MY OWN JET PLANE

If I have my own jet plane...
•I can come back to my home town anytime to meet my family & my in-laws
•I can attend my friend’s wedding at M'sia
•I can go to anywhere at anytime and don’t have to wait for departure, no more delay and so on..
•I can go to meeting or course and come back within one day trip without worrying about my kids...
But..it’s all just a dream..
Actually what trigger me to have my own jet plane was the final point which is I can go without worrying about my kids..
Last Wednesday, I was requested to attend a meeting in KL. It was a last-minute-decision that I only bought the flight ticket at 10 am while my flight departs at 2.30 pm on the same day!
PACKING
I reached home at 12.15 pm and have only 45 minutes for packing (i normally took days to pack; huhu)..in the rush, i managed to call hubby to come back, at least we can meet for a while before i left the him (and also to take care of the kids for 2 nights , huhu)..before leaving the house i left a short note on the fridge:
“papa, afnan, ayman;
Mama gi KL jap je, 2 mlm,
Take Care!
Loves; Mama”
Taxi arrived at 1 pm sharp. I asked Uncle to wait, at least i want to see my hubby before i leave. 10 mins later hubby arrived and we met for less than 4 mins; huhu..Inside the taxi going to airport, i took a deep breath, saying to myself “Be Strong, the kids would be fine with Papa”
KL
Reached KLIA, took ERL, went straight to KL Sentral checked in at Hilton. Went out to KL Sentral to buy dinner. The next day, woke up early, took bath, solat, packing, checked out, went to LRT station -> Pasar Seni ->Dayabumi ..had the meeting which finished by lunch time, apparently the invitation mentioned that the meeting will last at 5 pm! I tried to call Travel Agent to change my ticket to get an earlier flight back to BTU, however, it’s all does not work out..it’s either too complicated or I won’t be in time to catch the flight..really test my patience~
LUNCHEON
To calm down, I went out lunch with my close friends; emy, azra and joely (as promised)...and as all the four of us are mothers, the topics are the kids, breastfeeding, husband, family, kindergarten, baby sitter, maid! huhu..we chose to eat at air-cond indoor restaurant just underneath the building at least the conversation won’t be interrupted by the surrounding, hehe..i managed to overcome my sadness of not be able to come back after ‘borak-borak’ing with my friends. Thank you, friends!!!
AFTERNOON
Don’t know where to go, while my next flight would only be at 8.50 pm..azra offered to stay at her place for a while..at least I won’t be bored to go to KLIA straight away. So here comes, another round of cerita-ceriti, this time more detailed; hehe..emy & joely for sure were jealous as they cannot join; hehe (topics were: kids, first child, second child, family, college, cikgu, family planning, stress, fatigue, penyakit2, who’s gained weight, who’s lost weight, work, vitamins, marriage, friends, tantrums, third child? hehe) In short, we’ve covered so many topics..i think we can even write & sell books ;p..time passed so fast that I left for KL Sental around 3.30 pm.
KLIA
In the ERL to KLIA, I met with Berg Arif (hubby’s friend since high school). He's going back to Png. Then reached KLIA, I tried to catch earlier flight to Kuching, somehow I was the 13th stand-by person..What can I expect? Very low probability to get the 7 pm flight..felt so tired..I met a lady, she has waited at the airport since noon trying to get earlier flight but couldn’t and apparently her flight is at 10.45 pm! Dlm susah2 kita, actually ada lagi org lain yg lebih diuji..I should be thankful on what I’ve got..upon entering the departure, I met with Kak An (my former UTP’s senior), she was just arrived and waiting for her sis. I reached Sheraton at 11 pm. Very-very tired. I remember weighing myself on the weighing scale at the Hotel, and I've gained 2 kgs! hukhuk (tu laa mengata org lagi)
FRIDAY
I reached BTU at 8.25 am. I was happy as my hubby flight was on Saturday instead of Friday afternoon (at least we had a ‘better & proper handover’ o f the kids rather than just like ‘passing a baton’). From office, we took afnan from Nursery, he was happy to see me..took ayman from Mak Mah’s..Ayman looked at me, his forehead were frowning, then turn back to Mak Mah..Ya Allah, this was the first time I experienced my child refused me..I took him, he seemed wondering who’s holding him. Alhamdulillah it was not long that he quickly familiarised himself with me as I offered him ‘BF milk’...That night, we (hubby, the boys & i) went out for dinner together with Cicah (hubby’s sister) and we had Choco-Lava session; YUMM~~ This is as my appreciation to hubby of taking good care of afnan & ayman! To my kids, as much as I could, mama will try to avoid leaving you...I wish I can have my own Jet Plane, hehehe
Anyhow, here’s the journey for Ayman’s EBM. It was moved from one fridge to another:
Hilton’s – Dayabumi (MISC)’s- Dayabumi (level 8)’s- Asian (KLIA)’s- Sheraton’s – my home’s
BTW, papa is now in KL for Rugby Games..Go Papa Go! We’ll support you! Go Gas Go!

personal opinion-less goverment staff less expenditure

Assalamualaikum and hi everyone.
It has been almost 4 months since my last entry here. Somehow,after moved to new section,my workload become more and more. But now i am at my in law's and i really make use of this holiday to spent time with my family and also myself.
Recently i went thru presentation slide by PEMANDU. the slides show where is our country now with current subsidization program and what we are going to face if we maintain the program.
I agree with Tun Mahathir when he said before government remove the subsidy, they need to think how to increase people's monthly income.
As layman, i would like to suggest what government need to do is re-look to their own expenditure. I believe there is major excessive manpower in government. from higher management to lower junior staff. What for you need 2-3 deputy director then provide them with perdana V6+driver.
Other suggestion is to:
1) restructure the salary scheme for government staff.
2) Restructure the organization
3) Remove the provision of car V6 and driver instead give them amount of money and car grant
4) Less meeting and oversea trip. One of my friend frequent traveling just to company group of student. come on??!!..what for..most of the student is 18 years old. they know how to handle themselves.

i believe there is more we could suggest..what say you??

*just my 2 cents*

When Afnan meets Athirah

We are the Waterfall

To my dear friend..Aswad

We played rugby together since form 1 until form 4...unfortunately due to your injury, you had to retire early.

We seated next to each other from form 2 until form 5..and in the same class since form 1.

We lived in the same room during 5 years in UTP...this period i remember when you start ur move on your late wife thru frenster.

We are working in the same company...and for the last few months we are in the same section.

We always being referred as twin brother...although we don't look alike people still get confuse.

and..for your recent bereavement..

I will help you as much as i can...

i will support by all means...

and not to forget..i will pray for you and your princess; Athirah to be strong, have a good health and better future ahead..


after all..
WE ARE THE WATERFALL