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February 29, 2016

Makan-Makan: Sweetree Korean Restaurant

My sister-in-law is a huge HUGE K-Pop fan. When we asked where she wants us to treat her for her birthday, Korean food is the natural answer.

This time, we went to Sweetree.

Sweetree is the only JAKIM-certified halal Korean restaurant in Malaysia. It's located in Ampang (i call the area 'Little Korea') so it's very convenient for us to get there from Wangsa Maju. 

The shop is 2-storey and the interior is very quirky, giving a cute-Korean ambiance. We were greeted in Korean by the friendly staff, i feel like i'm in Seoul already. There were not that many people when we arrived but at around 8.15pm, the place is packed with people, mostly Muslims. Wow Korean food really is the in thing right now eh? Even with the restaurant almost full, service was fast. We only had to wait 5-10 minutes for our drinks and foods to arrive.

We were served with a bowl of plain porridge with a little bit of what I assumed as kimchi sauce and various condiments. The porridge is rather plain and bland (which is suitable for babies and kids) but eating it with condiments were yums!

Farah's Jjangmyun was not my cup of tea. It tastes a bit like mee hailam with teochew. I love the Dolsot Bi Bimbap but be careful when adding in the spicy sauce. Pedas! Nasib baik tuang sikit-sikit. I ordered Gal Bi Jim which is short ribs braised in soy sauce (basically rusuk masak kicap versi kering la ni). The ribs are soft and tender. I just wish it's a bit soupy. Takde la kering je makan ngan nasik. The Korean pancake is marvelous, I'd recommend!

If you're not a fan of Korean food, there are also Malaysian dishes in the menu. We ordered Mihoon Goreng for Wan and Mihoon Tomyam for Makngah.


Complimentary Appetizer: plain porridge with condiments

Condiments for the porridge

 Farah's Jjajangmyun
Noodles in black bean sauce with minced chicken and cucumber.
Mangkok tu legend. Besar macam pasu bunga!

 Birthday girl!

 Spring onion pancake with prawn and squid


My Gal Bi Jim
Beef short ribs braised in soy sauce gravy served with rice



Mr. Chenta's Dolsot Bibimbap
Warm rice topped with cooked veges, beef, eggs and served in hot stone bowl. It stays hot til the dish is all finished.

  
 One of the many decoration on the first floor.

Posing with the pretty noona!

All in all, I'd recommend Sweetree if you're looking for an authentic Halal Korean food. Friendly staff, prompt service, delicious food all checked! If only they have a small children play area i'd be ever so happy.. 
#parentsproblem

Nah ni details Sweetree Restaurant:



February 26, 2016

Happy International Cochlear Implant Day!

Yesterday was the International Cochlear Implant day.

At first it seems silly to have a cochlear implant day. 

But a cochlear implant is not just that. It's much MORE than that.
 
To Afif, his cochlear implant is his ear.
 
Though his hearing aid helps, the quality and quantity of words that he speaks increased dramatically since the switching on of his implant.
 
Did I tell you that he speaks to himself now with words that I actually understand? I walked in on him talking to himself "Ane Daddy? Daddy cejeee.." (Mana Daddy? Daddy kerja..). Before this it was always mishmash of jargons and some weird German-Swedish language.
 
He discovers more sound that as much as I hate to admit it, we take for granted.
 
There was this one afternoon, we were outside. Tetiba berkumandang lah azan Asar. It was faint but loud enough. Upon hearing that, Afif's face lit up and said "Ha!" and pointed to his ear. "Allahuakbar!" he said excitedly and ran inside to watch the tv for azan (he loves watching and listening to Azan on TV) only to find that the tv is actually turned off. He looked puzzled. So I explained to him that azan is actually coming from outside, from the surau nearby. I don't think he understand. He probably thinks that Azan mysteriously comes from the sky or something.
 
Mental note: MUST bring him to surau/masjid to show him where Azan comes from and the best place to pray.
 
He can even hear while showering now. His hearing aid is not waterproof so we didn't let him take showers in it. Which is a waste because Afif loves water and there's so many opportunity to teach him through water play. Now with cochlear implant, we're more confident to let him shower and splash around. He wears it during shower, washing car with daddy, and even swimming.. But there was this 2 times his implant didn't work after berendam lama sangat so we were advised not to wear it without the Aqua cover kalau nak berendam.
 
We owe it to the people who invented cochlear implant.
 
So today (and everyday) I would like to wish Happy International Cochlear Implant Day!
 
May the implant continues to let him hear better, speak better and live better!




February 19, 2016

My Eczema

I have this bad eczema. Very bad eczema.
 
It's on the palm of my right hand.

I can't pinpoint exactly when it started but I guess some time after Dhani was born. At first it was very mild. Tu yang tak perasan. i had this red patch in right my middle finger. Maybe it was because a particular gold ring that i wore is quite thick so residue of water and soap were trapped underneath.

Over time i notice the skin in my palm gets dried quite easily. Pakai losyen ok lah dia. Lama-lama it turns red and gets very itchy. This happened on off.. So I didn't think too much about it. I just stopped wearing that particular ring.

But even ring-less, it gotten worse in October-November. Red, itchy skin with dots of tiny blister-like 'bubbles' underneath my skin filled with clear fluid or sometimes, pus.

October 2015
Sikit je dekat jari hantu. Gatal, kulit kering but after 4-5 days okay balik.

 
Starting in middle October, it gets worse and worse. Aku tak bother pon nak jumnpa doctor sebab ingatkan biasa lah ni. Aku cuti dah 6 bulan time tu, so being a SAHM, kerja memang tak habis lah. Basuh baju, basuh pinggan, botol anak, toilet.. Macam-macam detergent kene kulit so sebab tu la kot. Pelik la jugak sebab takde pon tukar sabun ke ape. segala sabun kat rumah memang brand yang biasa pakai bertahun lama. Maybe pas bersalin Dhani hormone aku dah jadi haywire so wujud alergi baru? I don't know.

November 2015
I think this is the second time my palm got red and itchy. Note that it has spread to my ring index finger.

January 31, 2016
The eczema has spred widely to my ring, middle and index finger and my palm. Red skin, itchy dan sangat pedih. Note the tiny red dots of 'bubbles' filled with clear fluid and sometimes pus.
 
 
Bila tangan aku dah jadi gini, baru lah aku sedar diri and stop all water-related chores. Botol anak, alat breastpump sume Mr. Chenta uruskan. Cuci pinggan aku minimumkan.. Kalo terpaksa basuh, aku pakai glove. Cuma kalo memasak tu harung je la tp minimize usage of hand soap/dish soap.
 
Aku tukar sabun mandi aku. Pakai Moogoo Milk Bath. Kalo aku mandikan bebudak tu pon aku pakaikan Moogo. Ointments jangan citer la. Banyak dah aku cuba. Memula pakai krim Beprosil tapi yang ni ada steroid. Bila tau dia ada steroid terus aku stop pakai. Try jugak VCO, Moogoo Skin Balm, and ade lg satu ape ntah brand skin spray ni. Makan pon aku pantang. I stopped eating seafood.

Sakit, gatal pedih dia toksah nak cerita. Bila nak start flare up tu, rasa denyut-denyut tangan. Gatal. Pastu jari-jari aku ni bengkak. Timbul bintik-bintik ada air tu. After 2-4 days like this, dia start kering. Pastu mengelupas. Kering sekering-keringnya. Pedih. Kadang berdarah. Kasar sangat kulit. I can't do anything.
 
It sucks big time sebab kat TAPAK TANGAN KANAN. Tangan yang buat segala benda. It hurts to write, to hold stuff, to hold my baby, mandikan diorang pon sakit, nak bukak botol/jar (sebab kene genggam and pulas penutup kan?), apatah lagi nak drive.

Tak dapat baying perasaan baby yang penuh eczema kat badan atau muka.

2 February 2016. Siang.
Bila dah kering, kulit mengelupas camni. Rasa sangat kering, pedih and tegang.


2 February 2016. Malam.
Horror kan?


17 February 2016.
It got better tapi certain area kulit rasa nipis sgt and pedih. Certain area kulit kering. Pedih jugak.

Today.


Tapi entah la hoi. Dah tukar sabun, stop buat chores pon same je eczema aku. Tak makan seafood, makan ikan pon flare up jugak eczema. On off. I miss my old skin. As kata dulu tangan aku la paling lembut. Skang toksah la cakap. Kalau tak dry up pon, dia nipis and rasa kering bagaikan tak pernah jmpe losyen.
 
Alhamdulillah semalam and harini rasa ok sket tangan aku. But I know it will flare up again.
 
Maybe I have to try those gluten-free, MSG-free diet. Maybe I have to really jot down what I eat to identify what food triggers. Maybe I have to spend more on ointments. But in between working and minding my children, I can't afford to really be picky of what I eat. Kat rumah Wan & Mak Ngah memang masak everyday. Tak sampai hati aku nak order makan itu ini or tak makan ape yg dah tersedia. Hati orang tua kan.. Kene jaga.
 
Sesapa ada experience in managing eczema tolong la share eh?

February 12, 2016

Potty Training Afif

We didn't really have a plan for the last 4-day weekend. Mr. Chenta has to work which sucks big time, so i thought i might as well do something useful with the boys at home.

And what could be more useful than potty training Afif? 

He is 3 years 4 months already, he would tell us that he's peeing and pooping when he's in the middle of doing those and he seems to know that toilet is for pooping, peeing and showering.

So he's ready right?

Or so I thought.

Preparation

Portable potty - checked!
Brief/training pants - checked! (I got him the ones with Lightning McQueen on it)
Endless energy for me - Somewhat checked
Patience. Lots of it - Err..

Day 1

We began by me explaining to him that he's gonna wear this Lightning McQueen 'spender', so he needs to tell me when he feels like shishi-ing or pooping.

"Afif tak pakai pampers tau, pampers takde.." I continued to say.

He looked at me, then at his pack of diaper by the bed, and slowly smiled "Tuu.. pa-pesh!" and pointing at his diapers. The kid is too smart for me. "Tu pampers adik.. Afif pakai spender je okay.." He just cheerfully nod like whatever, mama.

Every 15 minutes, I'd ask him if he wants to pee. He would excitedly say "shishi!" and off we go to the loo. Kene tunggu dalam 5-10 minit baru la shishi. Ada kadang tu tak shishi langsung. Lelama aku increase interval to every 20 minutes.

On that first day, 2 kali terbabas sebab aku ignore bunyi timer kat phone sebab leka buat something. Tapi terbabas dia tak la full blown pee. Dia cam dah terkucil sket, pastu dia kata, "shishi!" followed by me madly carrying him and running off to the toilet pastu dia dengan leganya kencing habis. Haha.

Lepas mandi petang aku pakaikan dia pampers. Tak larat dah nak bawak dia every 20 minutes.

Day 2

He got better in the morning. No accident whatsoever sebab every 20 minutes bawak gi toilet. I thought ok la he got the hang of it already. So aku pon tak la duduk je ngan dia. Confident tinggalkan dia and gi masak kat dapur.

Tengah masak tu tengok dia sembunyi tepi dinding sengih-sengih. Aku ingat dia ajak main hide and seek so layan la sambil masak tu. Pastu after 10 minutes tengok dia kat tepi dinding lagi. Aku dah pelik. Tetiba dia kata "Amaa... O'ok!" Tengok-tengok dia dah terberak kat situ ade poopoo dua ketul atas lantai. Haahaha. Kau tak rasa aku menjerit?

Jerit pastu gelak sebab tak sampai hati marah dia. I just emphasize again and again "Afif, nak o'ok shishi bagitau mama.. Kene pegi toilet. Kesian mama penattttt mop lantai"

In total 2 accidents on second day.

Malam aku pakaikan je pampers. Too tired to care.

Taken just before a shishi incident

Day 3

I'm proud to say that he stayed dry the whole day today yay! I still have to bring him to the toilet every 30 minutes. He still needs a few minutes to properly rasa nak kencing. We found out that singing and dancing while waiting to shishi (lagu If You're Happy and You Know it) helps to speed up the process. so bayangkan la everytime gi toilet kitorg nyanyi joget baru dia cepat kencing. haha.

Untuk mengelakkan accident, aku set timer every 30 minutes. So bila dia dengar bunyi phone, automatic dia kata shishi! dan bukak seluar gi toilet.

Malam pakai pampers jugak.

Day 4

I decided I've had enough these past 3 days potty training Afif sorang. Penat kot!! Tunggu next weekend la Mr. Chenta ade boleh la gilir-gilir bawak gi toilet.

Aku pakaikan je dia pampers dari pagi. He looks confused la jugak. Even with diaper on, dia akan announce shishi and ajak gi toilet tapi aku ckp takpe shishi je dalam pampers. The moment I knew I sorta nailed it when he said o'ok and refuse to poo with the diaper on. Mr. Chenta bawak dia gi potty, berak dalam tu.

Like jyeah!

So there you have it. My not-so-successful potty training experience. Nasib baik bila start haritu aku memang didn't have any expectation. Aku tak harap pon after 4 days dia terus pandai gi jamban sendiri takde accident bagai. So aku tak la hampa or stress ke ape. In fact aku rasa dia nak guna potty utk berak tu pon cukup bagus. So will continue this coming weekend dengan harapan aku bertenaga lah nak layan. Haha.

We'll go slow.