A Week Has Passed

It’s has been a week now since my mom passed away or 11 days after my previous post about my mom. I believe that Allah has better plans for her..InsyaAllah. Last Tuesday in the afternoon I called my dad just to tell him that daania is having ulser in her mouth, during that call my dad did inform that he was on his way back to his clinic bringing along supplies of platelet from JSH for my mom due to her low level of platelet. My dad was calm and so was i….but suddenly at around 3pm I received a worry call from him saying my mom was critical and he asked me to come back to JB. Straight away I burst to tears because I knew this was not good.. And that was the first day my mom was hospitalized for 4 days till she passed away on Friday,14^th October 2011, just short of 6 days before my parents anniversary.

During her 3^rd day in the hospital, her platelet was dropping and she kept on asking for my little brother, Khaldoun who’s currently studying in India. I guess my Mummy knew she has not much time….my brother managed to arrive at the Hospital around 1130am on Friday, and yes.. my mom got to meet him. Actually she was holding on all that while just to meet Khaldoun…. By noon she asked the dr. to stop all the medication so that she could go home. At home…. My mom cant hardly say a word and she was very weak, all of us just doesn’t stop reciting the Kalimah Syahadah to her ears till her last breath at 4.45pm. She looks so calm.. even I thought that she was just started to sleep.

My mom…she’s such an inspirable person to everyone who knows her. In JB she’s best known with Mak Mah Tukang Mandi Jenazah or some may call her Datin Mayat ( I think because 1 day she went to a wedding with quite a bling bling baju kurung and suddenly she got to go straight to the mortuary :D) She’s not a ‘berkira’ person and has help so many people..some that I know and some aren’t, I know that because a lot of unfamiliar faces came to see her while she was in the hospital and at home, and even during the burial day.

At this very moment, I’m still in JB with my daughter to accompany my dad and my Aunty who took care of my mum. Everyday I visit my mom’s grave with my daania….and she would says “bubbye tokmi” while waving at my mom’s grave. Sometimes she did ask for her tok mi and know she will answers her own question “tok mi sleep”. Even yesterday, after her afternoon nap she cried out loud saying “nak tokmi, nak tokmi”…..and my heart just broke, and I will just carry her to my mom’s room laying on the left side of her bed which was my mom’s. A lot of my relative told me that I was strong for being composed almost all the time… I just have to because I want my mom to be in peace. Sometimes I do shed into tears especially before bed and during reciting the Quran , remembering all the happy moments with my mom

I’ll end my post here with a Doa by Prophet Mohammad (SAW.) ,recited this dua after the death of Abu Salama (R.A.) after closing his eyes

اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِفُلَانِ وَارْفَعْ دَرَجَتَهُ فِي الْمَهْدِيِّينَ وَاخْلُفْهُ فِي عَقِبِهِ فِي الْغَابِرِينَ وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَلَهُ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَأَفْسِحْ لَهُ فِي قَبْرِهِ وَنَوِّرْ لَهُ فِيهِ

"O Allah, forgive (Salamah bt Alwee). Make him among the guided ones, raise his status and be his deputy among the grieving. O Lord of the two worlds, forgive us and him and make his grave wide and full of light".

My Supermummy!!

It's Monday midnight, and still in Tarom. Im still in JB because of my mom and my work. I think this's the first time i'm telling you guys in my blog that my mom is not well due to ovarian cancer which was discovered as i remembered end of 2009. She has underwent numerous treatments at Impian Emas Medical Centre under the care of my dad and his team.. thanks alot to them!!

Through a lot of treatments, i do know that my mom suffers a lot.. she's so skinny today...she cant even walk by herself :( , but at the same time i do understand that her suffering now is the reaction due to her treatment which is good and clinically the results are positive. Only that from her face i knew she's mentally and physically tired, my dad always reminds me for not pity my mom too much... as we should motivate her more, encourage her for having positive mind, cancer does has strong connection with mind! Its really tough for being tough don't you think?! And till now i never cried in front of her or during our phone conversation!! i will cry like a baby once im in the toilet (if im in JB) or after i hang up the phone...huhu

Now, while in JB... i will accompany my mom watching tv in her room while letting my Daania playing in front of her sambil buat lawak ..... haha. than i can see my mom smiles and that really means alot to us! Sometimes i do feel like shifting back to JB, stay here...or maybe take a month unpaid leave just to take care of her while she's in her treatment... I did express my plan just now while watching tv with her.. but she says..."x payah la Nana, mummy ok...papa and aunty bedah ada.."..she says tak nak ganggu my work.. dear mummy... i dont mind at all, even if i have to stop working...hmm.

ooh my writing getting sedih plak..huhu....no no no! im just wishing everyone who read this doakan my mom getting better, to give her strength physically and emotionally..... and some of you may meet my mom... i do hope u guys dont shed your tears in front of her, be strong... i know its really hard..but please try! InsyaAllah 1 day my mummy will be better... i think i've to make my mom to promise me that she'll be there when my kids getting married 1 day....(konfiden jek kids..plural nampak..huhu) My SUPERMUMMY, you'll be better insyaAllah... you're the strongest person in the world i'd ever known!

Learning to teach your kids Al Quran

Last weekend on the 24th, i attended a course named "Kurus Mengajar Al Quran pada Bayi dan Kanan-Kanak" by Lina Karim from islamic parenting network. As mentioned in my previous blog that i've been following her blog after my jiran sebelah at my ofis, Nor showed it to me several months back. You may read her blog at http://darwishndarwisya.blogspot.com/ and http://www.islamicparentingnetwork.com/blog.html

If you read it thoroughly, you'll have huge respect on her for having the will of educating her child with Al Quran eventhough she's not from any religous education background. So before the course started, i met k.Lina (suka2 hati jek panggil org kakak, perasan diri ini muda.hehe) in person and had a very brief chat because she was so busy welcoming guests and managing the whole course. I do understand most of the participant wish to chat with her, ask a lot of questions..but i just leave it to the course as i believe it will answers everything....

AND IT WAS! ooh i was so blessed for attending it only that how i wish my husband was there with me (Important note to all future participant... please attend with your beloved hubby as your mission will become easier when you understand together and listen to what k.lina presents with your own ears! you'll feel the perasaan menusuk kalbu everytime k.lina previewed her videos... so its best to feel it together right)..huhu. As for me since i attended it alone, i'll have to brief it all over again to my husband (hope he'll understand) ..amin :D

Oww...forgot to tell you the content of the course (too excited i guess :D) I paste here some captions from k.Lina's website regarding the course

"Kursus ini bukanlah kursus Teknikal mengajar Tajwid Al Quran (Kelas Tajwid) atau Bagaimana membaca Al Quran (Kelas Mengaji) tetapi ia adalah kursus yang mengajar Kaedah atau Teknik Mengajar/memasukkan Al Quran pada kanak-kanak daripada bayi. Seperti yang kita tahu, kanak-kanak sangat mudah untuk belajar cuma hanya kita sahaja yang tidak tahu bagaimana mahu mengajar mereka."

"Telah terbukti kanak-kanak boleh mengenal huruf, membaca dan menghafal al Quran pada umur 3 tahun. Ini boleh dicapai jika usaha dari ibubapa sendiri dan bukan menyerahkan anak dan bergantung kepada guru-guru. Rata-rata di Malaysia ini kanak-kanak kebanyakkannya didedahkan dengan permulaan mengenal huruf Al Quran pada umur 5 tahun. Kemudian peringkat membaca dan pengakhirnya mungkin sehingga khatam pada umur 7-9 tahun. Mengikut norma biasa mengajar al Quran menyebabkan anak kita bermula lambat menjadikan mereka lambat menguasai al Quran itu sedangkan Al Quran itulah yang patut dimasukkan kedalam diri anak kita dahulu sebelum perkara-perkara lain"

For me, besides how to teach your kids to learn and memorize Al Quran, its like an Islamic Early Learning Education for parents... i love it! A lot of tips and techniques in educating our child were given... from knowing your kids learning skill ability and potential to what's the best brain food for your kids (or maybe for yourselves).

After attending the course, i felt more determine in nurturing my child with Al-Quran... the only challenge is MYSELF and my husband!both of us have to be self discipline and be a better person. InsyaAllah.. AMIN.

photo during the course (taken from Islamic Parenting Network fb page) notice me in the middle of the class.....kyusuk sekali!..huhu

p.s: to Kak Lina , thanx a lot for sharing everything with us... it was so inspiring for what you have done. May Allah bless you and your family

Daania's Yummy Milksss

When i type Milksss....i do mean it alottt. Besides breastfeeding when she were born (now no more.. as daania says.... ABESSS..haha), daania has been on soya milk as her main source of milk. She's not lactose intolerant, it's just my persoal choice as adviced by my dad... I remembered my dad smsed me a long text regarding the benefit of soya based milk for kids but i didn't save it. But the most important part that i remembered was due to its prebiotic content that's good for digestion and immune system.

Started with Enfalac A+ prosobee, now it has been mixed of several brand of milk since she's 2 years old already..huhu. Alhamdulillah she's not fussy with it. My dad who suggested it originally. The reason is for daania to have wider range of nutrition in her milk besides suppliments and meals. So here are her current milks

her original milk till now during the day at her daycare centre.

This one is while daania's at home. An organic soya drink with DHA from the source of seaweed

As for this one, the latest in the family..hehe. Its a cow based milk with al-quran therapy and the goodness of almond nuts, dates and raisins. This one is acceptional and rather differ from daania's previous milk which is soya based, but i just could't resist it and my dad agreed. You may view the full benefit and content here http://ilham4u.com/v1/ . The first milk i ever discovered! It started when i followed a blog of a mum with 2 brilliant tahfiz kids and she sells it in her website http://www.islamicparentingnetwork.com/ and Alhamdulillah daania loves it

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And now im trying to add another milk in daania's diet which is organic oatmilk for kids. I just gave her once because i received a little amount of sample from the organic shop for me to experiment on my daughter. Alhamdulillah... she's ok with it in other words...telan ajek. So insyaAllah will buy it later..huhu :)

oatmilk for kids from biogreen

And lastly on top of all that, just to share it with u guys, i add up just a little splash of virgin coconut oil in her milk for best result! Currently we've shifted to ItWorks , More convenient because i can buy it at my dad's clinic.. orda saja as i may say.hehe. I did share with you guys the benefit of VCO in my previous entry. But if you wish to know more, or even wish to purchase it from the manufacturer... i would strongly suggest to visit their website at http://www.itworks.com.my/

love the packaging..looks like bodyshop perfume bottle dont you think :D

Better Seasoning

Hello readers (if i have any) n of course i do syok sendiri..as always when i blog (thats what a blog for... right? :D heeee) Just to update what i've been doing to for the past few months....ermm... nothing fun just work overloaded! ooh i do really need a break right after my project take off this early august. Today..dear mothers out there, i would like to share something that i've been using for cooking as a more healthier choice rather than using normal salt, commercial chicken cube, commercial ikan bilis cube which we're not sure of the content and some may contains MSG.

a little bit blur (copied it from its website)

It's called Seaweed Mushroom Broth Cube from 1960'ss. It has HALAL, GMP & VEGAN VEGETERAIAN certified. My mom introduced it many months back since she's on vegetarian diet and it has been my most important ingredient in cooking... because it tastes so great & healthy tooo, whether for your baby porridge, chicken stew, vegetable soup, fried vege, fried rice.. anything! :D At this moment i usually bought it at my usual organic shop in JB, so i would buy it in bulk everytime i went back there. So for those who wish to have it probably i could help to buy it for u guys... no extra charges i ensure..hehe :D

Daania's 2nd Birthday

OMG..it has been 'decades' since my last post. Pejam celik pejam celik, its my lil daania's 2nd birthday on the 4th of August, oh...time flies really fast. As for this year we didnt celebrate actually, sian daania... ibu n baba too busy this time of year my dear, we'll make it up k. But daania did celebrate with her frens and teachers at daycare. So i did order 2 boxes of cupcakes with elmo theme, since that its her latest favourite character...hehe. The first time she saw the cupcake...she was totatlly excited..saying EMOO...CHANTEKK.. EMOO :)

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY SYG... MAY YOU'LL BE BLESSED BY ALLAH

Our MAMA

Photo of us celebrating birthday together in 2007. (from left: me, mummy, khaldoun, mama & aunty bedah)

Mama is my grandma (my mother's side) For me she's the coolest grandma ever....love to smile, watch chinese opera, not a much talker n loves to cook. I remembered during my boarding school years , and it was holiday... Mama will prepare for me snacks, peeling apples or mangoes and sliced it into a bowl. She will come to me and say......"Nana...makan" :D Mama was not so fluent in Malay, she generally speaks chinese with my mom and her kids, but to her grandchildrens (who degil not to learn chinese) she'll speaks simple Malay.

Me myself and Mama shared our birthday 26th November. Probably that's why my mom said if something bad happens to me, she'll have the instinct of it. There was one time when i was involved in an accident, and at the exact precise time Mama fell down at my home while walking... such a coincident....

At the age of 95, 9th march 2011 our beloved Mama passed away peacefully in the arms of my aunty bedah and my mom. I was back in KL at that time but we did have some time together because we were in jb during the weekend before she passed away and she looks just normal n healthy. Daania was happily playing with her only the difference was Daania did play with her quite some time compared to any other time when we were in jb. Today has been 7 days she passed away..... she was laid to rest on the 9th afternoon at the Muslim burial grounds in Mahmoodiah, JB -AL-FATIHAH to Mama (Rathiah bt. Abdullah),

'Food Revolution'

Have you ever heard of Food Revolution by Jamie Oliver. I've read it in the web few months back about Jamie was pushed away in US school cafeterias for invading their so call 'standard USDA meal'. I was moved by it but not TOTALLY moved until last night when me and my hubby watched Oprah

The episode was featuring Ryan Seacrast (i think he's so humble & superbb..mcm lah pernah jumpe kan.haha) and at the last session Ryan told the audience on his latest project with Jamie Oliver which is FOOD REVOLUTION USA. Im not gonna to discuss on the details, but actually its related to my dad's continously complaints on our hostel meals when i was in the boarding schools. My dad slalu bebel "camner la budak2 melayu nak sihat, pandai..makan mee goreng for breakfast, nasi goreng n ayam goreng.." i was like at that time, wutever papa... yg penting sodapp..haha, dah tu jek menu yg ada right". But now, especially when having our own child and reading a lot of articles and listen to alot of ceramahss by my dad (hehe) it really knock us (as you know my dad started having the consiousness of being healthy after his heart surgery when i was 11). Healthy eating should start since we were small, and shall be continously nourished during our preschool and so on. I remembered during my kindergarten day during snack time we were given mee goreng, candies and air sirap & it was heaven for us at tht time.. geees.

We've been strictly control what our child been eating or drink since they were a baby hoping he or she will have a better healthy lifestyle than us and shall we sacrifice what we have done when they entering schools? i guess not!

Im not sure what are the standard meals in schools nowdays here in Malaysia. Jamie in Food Revolution manage to reveal the standard meal in schools approved by USDA was simply french fries, nuggets, processed foods n etc (most of it are processed foods) . If it is Malaysia i would totally pissed off with the government for approving that type of menu.. huhu! And its proven that the present generation will live 10-14years shorter than their parent because of the mistakes done by generations before them.. erk!The initiative of Jamie going through all the challenges, rejections were purely basically to improve our healthy lifestyle. Eventhough he's an international celebrity, i think he should be fren with my dad..haha (iklan jap) . I like his msg in his blog

This food revolution is about saving America's health by changing the way you eat. It's not just a TV show, it's a movement for you, your family and your community. If you care about your kids and their future take this revolution and make it your own. Educate yourself about food and cooking. Find out what your child is eating at school. Make only a few small changes and
magical things will happen. Switching from processed to fresh food will not only make you feel better but it will add years to your life. You can... (http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution)

As wut i have done for my daania, some (especially the older people around me) would say that im fussy by limiting daania's meal. which is actually not limited at all, we just have to know which food is right for them (my daughter is a good eater you know) . She's slim but healthy and active, thts the most important. As for ourself, me and my hubby is struggling to eat healthy due to our hectic schedule & limited resources, but we tried.. even one of his new year resolutions is to eat healthily(by the way did you guys noticed to keep fit and healthy in Malaysia is costly..huhu) The best is cook your own meal healthily.. lesser tumis2 and deep frying ... probably not as tastely as usual but its good for you & jimat mase too :D, have to get used to it i guess.

So thats my bebeling for today since my last post, just noticed its my first of 2011, huah!. Im just hoping that there should be a FOOD REVOLUTION here in Malaysia too... and i leave you with one of the episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution