Monday, November 03, 2014

Start of our journey

Episode 1: The Plan
Our original plan to go to London was supposed to be on the 17th October 2014.
Patut nya flight pukul 330 pagi Jumaat tuh.

Tapi 5 hari sebelom flying day, Ibrahim demam.
Memula sikit pehtu demam panas + batuk teruk.
Sampai la lagi sehari nak fly pon tak sihat lagi.
So kitaorg pon tak berani la nak redah jugak bawak dia gi London kan.
Kang kalau apape lagik susah nak carik sepital segala.

So instead of London, the night we're supposed to fly, the 3 of us checked-in at Prince Court Medical Centre. Huhu. Kesian anak Aaim iols.

Mak dia pon kesian jugak. Bukan la pasal hadap sangat nak gi holiday, tapi sebab pening tak sure macam mana nak proceed. This trip was not only London but Europe too. So planning adelah berangkai. Gigil lutut memikirkan damage yg bakal di hadapi. Hahahha.

Tapi of cos la anak lebih penting kan.. And nasib baik jugak Allah tolong. Hari Sabtu tu nampak dia dah better, so we only need to pay the extra charge utk tukar flight tickets + burnt 3 nights accomodation at London. Better than burnt the whole thing kan.

So Ibrahim checked-out from PCMC on Saturday, and we fly on Monday morning pukul 330 am.

 At the start of our journey :)

Episode 2: The Journey
During the entire time, our concern and focus was on Ibrahim, sebab dia baruuuu jek baik demam and kuar sepital. Ubat2an dia adalah satu pharmacy weols bawak. Hehe..

When we planned for this trip many2 months ago, kitaorg mmg dah anticipate travelling with a toddler kan. But 2 months before the journey, we got another good surprise. Our second baby is on the way.. Hehehe..

Mula2 tu aku risau gak, sebab memikirkan boleh ke ni nak travel dengan toddler on top of me being pregnant kan. Tapi leman kata bisa di atur, so that settle that. 2 days before flying, kitaorg pegi jumpa gynae to make sure everything is okay and I'm good to travel.

My doctor give me his green light, dengan satu pesanan saja..
"Go and have a good time"

:)

Saya yg menurut perintah doctor! Hehe

So imagine our horror, when (seconds after) we landed at Hammad International Airport, Doha, for our transit flight to London, I felt a gushed of "something" down there. Mase tu belom turun kapal terbang pon lagi. And it was one of the smoothest airplane journey ever. No air turbulance. No rough landing.

I told Leman, "Sayang, I rasa macam period lah! Tapi takkan la period plak, kan pregnant nih. Ke I terkencing? Huhu"

Bila turun plane, Leman intai kat belakang mmg nampak darah. Huhuhu.
So masuk je dalam airport terus aku pegi check. Memang bleeding (macam period).
Masa tu blank skejap and I try my best not to panic. But it was not an easy task. Ni bukan spotting sikit2, nih betul2 punya bleeding ok. Masa pregnant Ibrahim yg complicated tu pon tak pernah dapat bleeding macam nih.. Huhuhu.

Memula ingat nak gi carik clinic tap connecting flight dah panggil. I called my doctor in Malaysia tapi dia takde clinic plak hari tuh, but the nurse advice kalau fresh blood jgn tunggu2, terus je pegi sepital.

Masa tu hanya mampu bertawakal jek.
And we decided to continue our connecting flight to London, nanti sampai sana baru carik sepital.
So during the Doha-London flight pon still bleeding lagik. Hati cuak gundah gulana Allah je yg tahu. Huhu

 This is baby Ibrahim on arrival at Heathrow. Hehe. He survived his first long-haul flight.. Not 100% without drama, but most of the time, he's been a good boy.. Hehe.. We got the bassinet seats, so memang dia buat macam rumah sendiri guling2 atas lantai kapalterbang bagai.. Hahaha.. Sukati ko la anak. Jgn ko mengamok sudah :P

We already booked a private transfer to our accomodation kat area Westbourne Garden. This is the first time kitaorg try out Airbnb. Not bad, but the good old me still prefers a hotel (with all the service it brings, i.e. 24 hours reception, room service etc)

Sampai je apartment letak luggage bags, terus kitaorg amik cab pegi University College Hospital. 

Episode 3: Our 1st London Landmark: The Hospital
We're also lucky that our Airbnb host recommend kawan dia, doctor pakar senior kat A&E (accident & Emergency) hospital tu. Dia dah tolong call kawan dia, and he's expecting us. Baik sangat doctor tu. And banyak sangat tolong/ cuba tolong.

Tapi system diaorang lain sikit daripada kita. Bila pegi A&E, dia akan screen each cases ikut severity. Cases macam aku ni, dia tak consider emergency, tapi ada unit lain yg handle diorang panggil Early Pregnancy Unit (EPU). Masalah nya, masa kitaorg sampai, EPU ni dah tutup.

To cut a long story short, after 3 and a half hour, I still didnt get to see a gynae, let alone have scan to see whether my baby is okay.

T____T

What i had tho was a blood pressure test, urine test, cubaan untuk amik darah sebanyak 3 kali.. and each procedures reequires me to be pass from one system to another. The word stress was understated mase nih.

Lepas tu aku pon give up sebab kesian kat Ibrahim yg tgh tunggu kat luar, plus kitaorg yg dah jetlag bigtime after our 16 hours journey. Huhuhu. So I self-disharged myself. But the doctor yg kawan host aku tu sgt baik, dia tolong buatkan surat utk aku datang balik esok nya, to be speed up to EPU.

Mase nih aku rasa syukur sgt aku dok Malaysia, where medical help are aplenty, not to mentioned good medical coverage by my employer. But one good thing kat sini is hospital ni semua free. Kira macam aku pegi sepital Selayang la kaedah nya. Tapi hospital diorang cantik la, walaupon Government owned kan. 

Ni muka budak yg jetlag. Kol 3 pagi waktu London dia terjaga and tawap satu apartment. Hehe.

 Next day nya, cubaan kedua kitaorg gi sepital.

  To cut a longer story short, after waiting few more hours, we got the see the gynae, and he did a TVS scan for me.

Alhamdulillah, everything looks good. Dia kata maybe sbb flying. But flying cannot cause a miscarriage (if a miscarriage is meant to happen, flying or not, it will happen. Camtu la dia kata, which I also read before)

So doctor jugak bagi green light untuk teruskan travel plan kitaorg ke Europe, next day nya.

Kuar je daripada sepital tu, kitaorg tahan taxi and terus pegi Oxford Street. Hehe.
Let the holiday begins..

PS: We didnt get to explore London at all (except for Oxford Street). Takpe lah, ada rezeki kita datang lagi insyaAllah. Yang penting kitaorg semua sihat alhamdulillah :)

Friday, July 11, 2014

Happy 1st Birthday Ibrahim Aydan

Yesterday marked another important milestone.
My son, whom I gave birth to exactly 1 year ago, is ONE :)

I think I'm wayyyy excited about this event that the tuan punya badan himself. Hehe.
Since it's puasa month, I decided just to let him celebrate at his nursery.
The principal at his nursery sent me a picture of his cake cutting ceremony.

*Ibrahim buat muka tak de perasaan!*

Hahaha. Ceh, penat je mummy prektis nyanyi lagu happy birthday kat umah pagi tu.
Both me and hubs didnt join kat nursery cause we're tied up with work.
Nevertheless, we hope you have fun darling.
Know that mummy lovingly plan and organize your mini party and party favour.
*i expect you to organize mine when you're 20* :p

Actually I havent been blogging for wayyy long.
Just dun have the energy to do that.
Baik aku tido. Hahaha

So banyak la development Aaim yg aku tak track pon satu2.. Janji nampak development sudah.
And people keep reminding me each baby their own.
So lagik la aku lek lek jek. Ok la tipu. Gunghu sikit la tapi. Hehe.

He already pass his first smile, laugh, turn, crawl.
He got 6 teeths now. Dah start menyusur meja and bertatih tapi belom berdiri sendiri or berjalan.
Lazy bum this one (err, like mummy? hehe)

Like i said before, yang penting sihat and happy.
Yang lain2 tu kita boleh kawtim ok.

After Hong Kong, I've successfully dragged him to Langkawi and Bandung for a holiday.
Another holiday coming soon. This time it's gonna be long-haul. Mintak2 this little male diva behave especially dlm kapalterbang :p

Happy 1st birthday my son.
I love you to the moon and back and to the moon and back again.

Ps: On 7 july, we also celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary utk cinta hatiku. <3 p="">

Monday, February 03, 2014

Hong Kong with a Baby

By the time we settle down into our role as new parents, mula lah membuak2 perasaan iols nak pegi bercuti.
At first I got the green light from Bos Besar (aka Leman) for Singapore.
But bila search hotel, semua pon mahal2 nak mampos.. Huhuh..
So being the ever helpful wife that I am, I ajak dia pegi jauh sikit..

Wife: “Husband, mahal lah hotel kat Singapore nih. Baik kita pegi Hong Kong jek nak? Tambah sikit jek pon”
Husband yg tengah kusyuk main “War of what-ever” kat iphone terus jek cakap “Okay” tanpa angkat muka dari phone..
But it is still a valid “Okay” okay.

So dgn segera dah gigih terus bini dia booking tiket malam tu jugak (takut in case he changed his mind later. Hahahah)

At first we wanna go when Ibrahim was only about 3.5 months..
Tiket dah beli. Hotel dah book.
Then Ibrahim got admitted for a total of 21 days due to Bronciolitis..
So kitaorg pon postpone la tiket ni ke end December jek.

Mase dekat ngan tarikh nak gerak tu..
Leman was having second thot about bringing Ibrahim..
But no way I can leave my son and have a good time in HK..
I’m still trying to overcome my “clingy-mummy” mode.. hahahha..

So since he has recover nice and well berkat duduk di bawah jagaan tok abah nya selama 2 minggu..
Iols insist nak bawak Ibrahim sekali.
So here goes our first holiday as a family (just the 3 of us).. actually, this is even the first holiday in 2013 for me and Leman..
On top of being Ibrahim’s first plane ride..
 
 
#1: The (first) plane ride
Dari umah ke LCCT kitaorg bawak keta and parking kat sana subuh2 sepi..
Ibrahim pon aku tukar pampaers and angkat je terus takde nak tukar2 baju ke hape. Mandi jauh sekali.. Mau gigil lutut dia dari KD ke LCCT kalau aku mandikan pepagi.. hahaha..
 Elok jek dak kecik nih tido sementara mummy daddy settle kan check in semua.

Bila dah setel check in baru la boleh bernafas sikit. By that time dak kecik ni pon dah bangun. So lepas kitaorg breakfast, kitaorg pon gi la tukar kan baju dia kasik hensem2. Tak rock la gi HK pakai baju tido kan.. Hehe.. 

 Mase ni tgh queue untuk masuk gate.. Ibrahim dah start boring and kepanasan..

Sebab mak dia dah siap pakai kan baju utk cuaca Hong Kong.. Bukan cuaca tak cukup aircon kat LCCT tu.. hahaha.. memang nampak la dia dah rimas..
Macam nak patah la jugak tangan kitaorg gilir2 dukung dia so that dia tak menangis.. 

By the time nak boarding, memang dia dah runsing sesangat dah..
Rupa2 nya sebab nak tido..

So half way to smooth sailing la.. Sebab Ibrahim tido.. or mamai..
Mase take-off iols sumbat tets plus also standby susu botol..
During the journey pon dia banyak tido.
Tapi bila nak dekat landing terbau bau2an yg kurang enak.
Salah timing betul lah budak Ibrahim nih. Huhu..

 Bila dah selamat landing, satu masalah lagik.. Jejak kasih stroller.. Since this is our first time flying with infant, kitaorg bole lupa nak tagging stroller.. Kira mmg gamble abes la stroller tak bertag.. Pehtu tanya kat org kapalterbang dia kata tak tempat bag.. Sampai last bag dah pusing 3 kali pon stroller tak nampak bayang..

Weols dah stress.. Tapi iols mmh dah pikir dalam hati.. Mintak2 masih ade rezeki.. Tapi kalau hilang pon mungkin ade hikmah boleh tukar stroller baru.. hahhaha..

Akhirnya setelah Leman tawaf airport and tanya orang dua tiga kali.. Leman pon berjaya jejak kasih ngan Quinny.. Panjang lagi jodoh kita Quinny.. Alhamdulillah :)


Mase ni letih ngantuk semua ade.. Nak je aku join Ibrahim tido kalau ade org yg sanggup nak selempang aku kat badan.. (macam aku selempang Ibrahim nih).. hhahahah.. Matiklah gemoks mau kena pakai crane nak angkat T_______T
So lepas settle semua kitaorg pon amik cab pegi hotel kat area Tsim Tsa Tsui..
Hotel Empire..
Memang smack in the middle..
Bilik kecik nak mampos punya kecik..
Tapi kalah harga Sheraton KL..
Sob sob sob..
So untuk hari first nih.. Sampai ke petang the only Hong Kong yg kitaorg jelajah is Airport - Hotel.. Hahahahha..
Penat dia mengalah kan penat aku travel 13 jam pegi Amsterdam dulu.. Ini journey baru tak sampai 4 jam, tapi penat mengalah kan journey 14 jam.. Welcome to travelling with a baby :)
 
#2: TAXI is our best friend
Sepanjang kat Hong Kong ni.. Memang kitaorg dah budget and spent quite a lot on taxi fares..
Menyeberang Kowloon - HK Island yg satu mrt station tu pon kitaorg bantai naik taxi.. hahahha..
Memang mudah dan efficient.. Cuma tidak budget friendly.. Total 4 hari ni saja bajet taxi dlm RM500 lebih.. (including return journey to and from HK airport). Sapa bawak anak kecik travel, i highly recommend the use of taxi.. Sebab bila bawak baby, nak menapak turun naik mrt station semua, 500 meter leh rase cam 5 kilometer bila di tambah berat baby.. Hahahahha..

#3: "Jangan lupa amik gambar banyak2" katanya
Gambar? Gambar ape?
Hhahhahahha..

First time berjalan ngan baby nih.. paling banyak amik gambar pon dalam bilik hotel lepas dah siapkan Ibrahim lawa.. Hahahaha..
Kadang2.. tak sempat kuar pintu hotel dia dah muntah dulu.. So kena la tukar baju backup yg plak.. Or kadang2.. Belum sempat lift sampai lobby Ibrahim berak plak.. Kahkahkah..

Biasa nya aku ngan Leman gelak2 jek.. Bawak baby mmg kena byk give and take.. Whatever it is.. nothing is more important than your baby's safety/ comfort/ anything..

And cuba lah jangan stress sangat.. and try to enjoy the quality family time..
Kali ni jalan mmg aku tak prepare detail itenery pon..
Just rough itenery untuk route sket (tu pon for backup only sebab mmg dah plan nak naik taxi sebanyak mungkin).. tempat makan sket.. places of interest sikit..

Most of the time kamera mmg langsung tak kuar dari beg.. Mana nak pegang Ibrahim lagik.. Nak handle stroller lagik.. nak handle beg memasing lagik.. Hahahhaha.. 4 hari kat HongKong, ade la tak sampai 14 keping gambar agaknya.. Aku pon tak check pon kat kamera tuh.. Gambar2 yg aku upload ni semua dari cameraphone jek..

 Day 2: OOTD. Mummy tak stailo takpe jaji anak stailo.. Hahahha.. Mummy boleh nyuruk belakang anak mase amek gambar.. :P

 Ni Day 3.. Walaupon HongKong ni deem sejuk mase kitaorg pegi nih.. But it's not cold enough for us.. Ibrahim mmg suka sejuk so even dia pon last2 tak pakai baju2 sejuk dia.. Buat penat jek beli 3-4 helai.. Konon2 takut anak sejuk kan.. Hahahaha.. Last2 aku pakaikan dia baju lengan panjang and suar panjang dah cukup.. 

Baju rimau tu pon sempat pakai sampai kedai brekfes jek.. Pehtu idia dah runsing kepanasan. So kitaorg bukak tinggalkan baju onesies dia yg mmg dah standby kat dalam tu.. Ape la anak rimau mummy nih.. :P

 #4: Stanley Market
Second day kitaorg pegi sini.. Aku suka tempat nih dia tepi laut and lek lek aje.. Kira macam pasar malam high class la kaedah nye.. Tapi yg tak best nya, baru mummy nak kirai2 duit, si kecik Ibrahim tu dah mengamok.. Takmo duduk stroller.. dok dalam baby carrier pon takmo.. nak berdukung manual.. Huhuhu.. Sudah nya memang tak selera la mummy nak shopping sambil mendukung budak 6.5 kilo ni.. Save duit mummy.. Huhuhu..

 Milk pit-stop.. Wherever and whenever possible i would BF him.. Tapi kalau tak convenient mmg sumbat ngan botol jek la.. Hehe.. 

 This is our only gambar bertiga.. Sedih kan.. Huhu..

 Kenyang perut suka hati!

  #5: Masjid Osman Ramju Saddick near WanChai
Dalam internet rata2 kata food especially dimsum sedap.. So we took a cab from Stanley to here.. By the time sampai dah nak dekat kol 2pm.. Dimsum yg tinggal pon dah nyawa2 ikan saje.. Sob sob.. Sedih.. Okla.. Kalau sampai awal and tak bawak baby maybe la recommended.. sejajar dgr hassle nak menyampaikan ke sini.. Tapi kalau bawak baby i would personally give this place a miss next time.. Ade je dimsum sedap macam tu kat KL nih..
Yang lagi naya.. Nak balik daripada tempat ni dah sesat larat.. Stresssss oooooo...
memula ingat nak pegi The Peak lepas ni.. Tapi sebab dah sesat and stress.. Terus je tahan taxi balik Tsim Tsa Tsui..
   
#7: CityGate Outlet
Next day nya plak kitaorg nak menjinak2 kan diri naik MRT.. Dari Tsim Tsa Tsui ke CityGate Outlet.. Sebab baca review kata murah2..
Mase pegi Ibrahim banyak tido.. So memang takde masalah langsung..
Tapi baru jek mummy nak membelek2 barang2 dalam Ralph Laurent.. Ibrahim start buat hal dah..
Iols rase dia ade pakatan dengan daddy.. Mengamok bila nampak mummy nak start shopping.. Huhuhuhu..
Sudahnya mummy shopping sambil berlari2.. Itu pon sempat shopping untuk Zara jek.. After nearly 2 hours Ibrahim mmg dah cranky sangat,.. So kitaorg pon gerak balik..
and my worst nightmare began..
 
#8: MRT ride
For our return journey nak balik hotel, Ibrahim start mengamok since the first few station.. Seb baik aku dapat duduk.. Memula tu dia jerit main2.. Bunyi macam wistle.. After a few minutes.. Walaupon setelah aku loncat2 kan dia.. Dia dah restless big time.. and dah start melalak.. Makin lama makin kuat.. takkan aku nak sumbat teteks tengah2 khalayak ramai tu kan.. ade kang masuk utube plak.. Huhuhu.. So ade la dekat 8 station dia meraung2..
Muka aku yg tebal nih dah jadik makin tebal.. Orang kiri kanan dok asek cakap cina ngan aku.. bagi nasihat maybe.. I dun freaking understand people.. Ishkk.. makin stress akak tau.. Orang kiri kanan aku terus bangun tak tahan nak dengar Ibrahim melalak.. hahahahah...
last2 aku tak tahan, aku bangun pegi mendapatkan Leman.. pass Ibrahim pada bapak dia.. Let's share the shame.. Mana aci tadik orang dok tengok2 aku tapi dia selamat jek kat penjuru tu kan.. Hahahha..
So Kitaorg pon kuar awal satu station sebab tak tahan nak dengar dia melalak.. Pon dia sambung melalak.. Iols dah rasa nak cubit jek budak kecik tu tau..
Mummy: "Sayang. You amik anak you ni sebelom i cubit dia"
Daddy: Eh..apsal you nak cubit dia.. dia budak kecik mana tau apepe..
Lepas dah balik hotel and Ibrahim dah tersenyum2 happy..
Leman pon cakap kat dia.. "ade ke tadik mummy nak cubit anak daddy ni.. Kesian anak daddy kan"
:P
Worst experience ever.. Make all the money i spent on taxi seems so worth it.. So kalau kkorang nak travel first time with 6 months and below babies, maximize la amik taxi sebanyak mungkin.. It's super worth it i gerenti you.. Hehehe..

#9: Baby carrier is our savior!
Before this trip, aku mmg takde la kisah sgt nak pakai baby carrier.. Kalau naik kereta or kuar jenjalan kat Malaysia mmg Ibrahim selesa jek dok dalam carseat/ stroller.. Tapi untuk HK trip nih, aku baca blog orang kata better bawak baby carrier..

So we brought the Boba Air.. (memula nak bawak sekali mothercare merah tuh tapi last2 tinggal kan jek sebab kitaorg rasa lecey byk sgt tali.. Huhuhu).. Boba air sangat mudah and ringan.. Tapi it's not for optimum comfort samada utk baby or untuk mummy.. Sebab dia kain nylon jek.. Ape padding pon takde.. Cuma untuk travel dia sgt best sbb bole lipat2 jadik beg kecik jek..

Kat HK nih, tak tau la ape masalahnya, Ibrahim langsung takmo dok dalam stroller..
T__________T
Padahal kat Malaysia tu elok jek dia dok stroller.. Sob sob sob...
Takpe lah. mungkin dia nak manja2 extra ngan mummy daddy kan..

So mmg baby carrier ni la penyelamat..
Itupon datang mood tak bagus dia, dalam baby carrier pon takmo duduk.. Mau berdukung berpelok jek,. Hish,.. Manja sungguh anak sapa la nih :P

#10: Bercuti bersama baby is...
After this first holiday, I have to admit..
Bercuti with a baby is DIFFERENT..
Sebelom ni aku selalu dengar orang cakap..
"Susah travel ngan anak kecik nih!"

I'm not judging..But in my case, I insist to try it myself rather than mendengar cakap2 orang..
Kadang2 lain orang lain experience kan..
Admittedly, memang letih sikit la as compare to kalau pergi honeymoon berdua..

Need to make sure baby kenyang.. cukup rehat.. selesa..
Kalau dia meragam ngan mood2 kau sekali kelaut.. Hahahaha..

But for me, I wouldn't have dun it differently..
His smile every morning is enough to make me forget all the kepenatan..
Nak kata serik pon tak jugak.. Next month (January) we have another family holiday coming..
Cuma after this, kena pilih betul2 la holiday destination..

One thing i can conclude is.. Hong Kong in December memang sangat tak sesuai untuk bawak baby bawah 6 bulan (i think applies to bawah setahun gak kot).. Sangat sangat sesak and serabut..

I'll end this post with a picture of Ibrahim that makes travelling with a baby seems worth it :)


PS: After balik from HK, 3 hari kemudian we checked in into Sheraton KL for 2 nights.. I need a holiday after my HK holiday kaedah nya. Hahaha.. And I have to say, I enjoy this mini getaway more than our HK trip.. Mummy + Daddy + Little Ibrahim + Mr Mickey!

 Ibrahim with Mr Mickey yg dibeli kat HK Airport.. Kat airport jek la mummy sempat shopping pon.. Huhuhu..