Yang Teristimewa

Di kala ku menulis ruangan ini, kandunganku berusia 22 minggu 5 hari. Saban hari, ketika aku memerhati kandunganku semakin membesar, saban hari, ketika insan teristimewa ini menendangku, aku hanya mampu melanjutkan syukurku kepada Yang Maha Esa.

Aku bersyukur kerana aku mampu mengandungkan kandungan ini. Aku bersyukur kerana punyai si dia yang terlalu memahami karenah ibu mengandung. Aku bersyukur kerana dikelilingi oleh mereka yang begitu mengambil berat tentang diri ini.

Aku mengaku insan ini mengubah diriku untuk memberikan yang terbaik dalam apa jua yang ku lakukan. Dia tidak pernah meminta namun naluri ibu mengetahui. Aku pastikan hanya makanan untuk tumbesaran maksimumnya melalui plasenta, diriku and persekitaran bersih agar dia bebas daripada jangkitan kuman, aku bersenam agar di hari kelahirannya segalanya berjalan lancar, aku berbicara dan nyanyi untuk dia serta aku menjalani pemeriksaan pakar untuk memastikan dia membesar dengan sihat di dalam.

Tiap malam sebelum ku lelapkan mata, akan ku tatap imej ultrasoundnya. Pasti senyuman bahagia terukir di bibir ini. Dia begitu istimewa dan berharga buat diri ini dan si dia. Ku berdoa semoga Yang Maha Esa sentiasa di sisinya sehinggalah di hari insan ini melihat dunia.

A dedication : What is my first thing and why...

I presented this during our 7 Habits of Highly Effective People today and everyone thought it was a beautiful piece therefore I decided to publish this.

"When I was single all I thought about was my career. Now that I'm married and am expecting a newborn in Dec'10, the first thing in my life changed almost instantly. The person who is responsible in my life changing enlightenment is none other that my own husband. His selflessness in ensuring that both of our souls are eventually one...his abundant sacrifices that we may have a happy and healthy family till old age...his wishes that we may have grandchildren together and then retire in a lil' cottage by the countryside. I'm truly and genuinely glad that I'm the woman of his sacrifices and dreams.

It may not be possible for me to list down every single sacrifices that he had made because time is definitely not on my side. Perhaps one day when we have the chance to sit down over a cup of coffee I'll narrate them all.

All in all he had been the constant enlightenment in my life since the day we met till now (as I'm speaking now) and God willing he will be till death do us part. That is my first thing and he is the reason why."

That's for you, sayang. May this continue for many, many more days. Love you much.

Chinese New Year, Year 2010

This year, year 2010, we looked forward to Chinese New Year very much as it marked the alpha of opening up our home to family and friends to share our joy in building her and completing her much to our satisfaction.

Hubby's friends started to arrive as early as 9:30a.m. on the 2nd day of New Year. Much of catching up with each other's lives to do as they had not met for several years. I must say it was quite a reunion for these gentlemen. My...it was heart-warming listening to their life experiences as there was so much they had gone thru and experienced and yet I personally believe life has so much more in store for these gentlemen. They then tried to find out if god of prosperity was with any one of them. Yes! The gambling session began! It was indeed a very addictive and full of anticipation session as it ended at 4:00p.m with a simple lunch in between for them. Obviously god of prosperity was not with hubby as he lost 7 bucks...:).

Families of my friends arrived shortly before lunch. Oh how delightful was I seeing the kids leaping up and down our built-in dining bench, arranging the gold-coin chocolates in creative manners only kids can think of before eating all them up while their parents savored in our homemade cookies. And I must say again it was hallmark moments for me to see these parents bonding with their kids. They are all just precious and darlings of their parents.

It was a rest day for us on the 3rd day as we were just too exhausted from playing host yesterday. Hubby has got to work on the 4th day therefore I went back home alone this New Year. I mentioned in my previous blog I would always be comfortable and feel at home the most when I got to see my family back in Sitiawan. Pa & ma were all too happy to have all her children back for the 1 week. Lil' Elvin had grown so much since I last saw him 2 months ago. Ever so mischievous ever so pampered, lil' Elvin is very much adored by all. The rest of my siblings were progressing well in this journey of life.

Hubby received more visitors while I was away. They kept my heart singing for much joy when they complimented on our new home. I must be a proud owner of this new home...:)
It was a hectic yet memorable week for both hubby and I. It was definitely not the end of opening up our home to families & friends. It was just the beginning.

Part-time Income...:)

I'd always been fascinated with the idea of generating some income; regardless of how small the profit margin is; from favorite pastime.

I love the kitchen though never really had the chance to be in it full-time. It's amazing to watch these people in the kitchen turn magically all the raw ingredients into some very delicious, beautiful,attractive dishes. Therefore, one fine day, on Mooncake Festival, I decided to learn to do some mini snowskin mooncakes from my mum-in-law. We made some extras during the stage of our (my husband & I) learning and I managed to sell to a couple of my closest colleagues. Works of mouths did wonders really. Orders kept pouring in non-stop. We had to start making them after work each day from 7pm till 11pm. 5am the next morning we would wake up to deliver them. Those were our routines everyday (inclusive of Sat & Sun) for the whole month of Mooncake Festival. At the end of the day, we managed to pay my mum-in-law some wages and settled our 2 months house installment from the profits we gained...:). What a sale ya folks ?:)

Motivated by this we learned up many more delicacies from my mum-in-law. We made karipap pusing, epok-epok, onde-onde & cupcakes. On & off we would receive orders from friends to cater for their functions. On days when I was exceptionally hardworking I would wake up early to help my mum-in-law to make some for my colleagues; sold to them at a very cheap price for their breakfasts or tea...:).

This coming CNY we're all gear-up once again to deliver our specialties to all friends who enjoy our home-made. Kuih kapit (an almost forgotten traditional Chinese delicacy especially on the making episode) and kuih bangkit are in our to do lists. So folks if you're new to Celine's Delights (our newly set-up home business) do give both of these delicacies a try. You'll come asking for more...:). Guaranteed!

Now folks...while the intention is to generate some income out of hobbies, when the money is good, we tend to be carried away. We start to focus on profit margins, on lower cost of raw material, on optimizing the whole process that we may gain more, etc. Along the way the quality of our food may deteriorate despite the same old recipe which we used that brought us to where we are today. While I do not deny that those steps are important in any business, when it comes to food, they must be prepared with full of passion. Believe you me; when your customers eat them they eat your passion. Which is why they keep coming back for more...:). Seem ridiculous ya folks...but try doing something out of a lot of passion and see what is the outcome. You'd be glad...truly glad.

Today (23/01/2010) we started to do kuih kapit. It was a tedious process but we enjoyed every single second of it. And after we finished we ate. They are all the more delicious. As expected...:).

Home! Oh Home!

33, Jalan TBC 32, Taman Bukit Cheng, Melaka will be our residence for the next decades to come. I had been shifting from house to house for the past 10 years since my college years and at long last we set our eyes on this double-storey terrace house : 20 minutes drive to the town, 15 minutes drive to work, 10 minutes drive to hypermarkets & 5 minutes drive to shops around and schools.

Despite it being on a hill slope and faces a playground with much wind throughout the day, we weren't very much in favor of its interior. This is when God sent my dear sister in Christ, Sis. Kim Lee, to help us in re-designing the whole interior of the house. I must say she is definitely a professional and skillful freelance interior designer. She managed to transform the relatively small and simple house to a spacious, modern yet simple and comfortable house. From plaster ceilings up to finding the right sofa for the house she is the mastermind behind.

Walls were knocked down to provide additional space, pipings were all concealed to produce a clean finishing, conventional lights were replaced with down lights for a comfortable atmosphere, tiles were changed for a modern outlook, kitchen cabinets and leading-edge kitchen appliances are to be installed. Sis. Kim Lee even suggested that we build-in the dining table, master bedroom bedframe + headboard and walk-in wardrobe. We bought her ideas at the very moment itself as we love them all. The exterior and interior of the house are to be painted with the colors of our taste. For those house buyers please do ensure termite treatment is done during house renovation to avoid future headaches.

She is expected to be finished end of this month and we are expected to celebrate Chinese New Year 2010 there...:).

While we eagerly anticipate for her to be completed, Gary & I definitely did and are enjoying every moment together in getting her to be completed. It is never a boring juncture doing anything with him. Never...:).

Indulgence!

It's year-end!Time really do fly,don't they? It's time for some quiet time with family and loved ones.I'm always looking forward to this time of the year. Aren't we all the same?:)

My parents were in KL to look after my 4-month-old-nephew-but-weigh-as-an-8-month-old so by default we would be spending some time in KL.

The first week saw us sending my lil' brother off to Miri, Sarawak (East Malaysia) to work for only God knows how long. Finally the lil' one left his comfort zone of 23 years to experience for himself what life has in store for him. Ma couldn't come to terms with him leaving her side after all these years. Pa was quite calm outwardly but all of us know he hurt the most because he loves the lil' one dearly. Well pa & ma, rest assured. Your lil' one will make both of you proud one day. Just like now.

The second week saw us spending our Christmas break with both of my family and in-laws. My dear hubby surprised me on Christmas afternoon by treating me to a well-known Japanese buffet restaurant in Star Hill. Time spent alone with him was indeed well spent. It had been quite a while since we last really chatted about everything under the sun while enjoying the higher end Japanese cuisine. He especially like the fresh coconut drinks and chicken herbal soup while I love to bits the well-done shishamos and smoked salmons. Not forgetting the raw oysters, the perfectly baked Philadelphia cheese tarts, the wide variety of sushis, Japanese orange yoghurt - a must try. Despite its expertise in Japanese cuisine other local cuisines served were equally good. We ended the wonderful lunch with Haagen Daaz ice-creams. I wanted some New Zealand Natural's too but wasn't allowed by my own stomach...:). The rest of the afternoon was spent at my mum-in-law's sister's home where we watched a very heart-warming Hallmark movie : A boyfriend for Christmas...:). The coming days I spent with my own parents and siblings. Each time when I got to see them in persons I'd be very comfortable and joyful. Perhaps it's the fact that blood always run thicker than water. Pa and ma were still like before : argued over every little thing but it's their own way to be bonded even more to each other.

He's holding onto my shishamo...:(

Greedy

Lil' Elvin with our Christmas present from Su Li

The third week saw us spending our New Year break in KL for the last time, this year. We celebrated in advance the 57th birthday of my mum-in-law in one of the steamboat restaurant in Seri Kembangan. We ate all we could for a good 4 hours until all of us were blotted. The next day was truly a big family gathering; such a shame another sis of mine couldn't had her day off. My parents, my mum-in-law, my sis with her hubby and son, my lil' sis with her boyfriend, my lil' bro who flew back from East Malaysia went for a Japanese buffet AGAIN in Shogun Sunway Pyramid. Each and everyone of us had the most wonderful and memorable time together; chatting and eating all the way...:)

My dear sayang and my mum-in-law...:)

All good things must come to an end. So is this year-end break. A lot had been done thus a lot can be remembered. Which is why I wrote this blog : that all the memories will never fade away as time passes. I love every moment spent and I will cherish each and every moment. God willing our paths will cross again and we shall meet again. Adios!