Raya Vacation

During this 2022 Raya, we did something unusual from our previous routine, just for the experience. We went for a vacation! Before this I really can’t digest why does people went for vacation during Raya? I mean Raya is a celebration, not a holiday. But of boy, I speak too soon. Our last Raya was in 2019 before Covid-19 hits and Atuk passed away. It.changes.everything. LITERALLY. After Atuk passed away, Nenek been staying at Pak Busu at most and rotating to other houses; well mine & Pak Busu’s mostly where she at her most comfort. After 2 years can’t do interstate travel, for sure my sisters will go back to their in-laws, so left only me to Raya at my parents’. Luckily, my in-laws are in Puchong, used to be in USJ4, if they’re still staying there, most probably we’ll be back and forth riding a bicycle haha.

The decision to go vacation is quite random actually, been wanting to go to one since my confinement is over but my husband can’t even slot a day of leave then. If he can, that’s for the baby check-ups and that’s it. So, he already applied for a week stretch this Raya. Bukan pergi mana pun, Port Dickson je haha. Ok lah, for a quick non tiring journey. Beggars can’t choose what..  

Surprisingly the hotel was fully booked, we wanted to do 2 nights initially, but not available. We booked on 2nd of Raya but because Raya was early, it falls on 3rd Raya which is a blessing because we can take our time to rest and pack properly from our Raya terkejut earlier. See.. Allah’s plan always the best. Plus, we’ve been promising Hanif to return to the beach last year with his sister. He is the most excited going to the beach but refused to take a dip lol, he just wanted to play with the sand (-__-) 

As usual, we stayed at Avillion, this is our fourth time there.. yeah, we’d like to stay in our comfort zone, thank you. I beginning to think it’s going to be our preferred hotel everytime and forever, heard my husband is applying for the membership as well. As expected, there’s tonnes of people and we have to wait for our room, but luckily we got a room upgraded wohoo! We booked for the hotel facing the beach but we got the Garden view which is bigger. Last 3 stays, we took the water chalet, but since the nearer beach there is closed, (for safety reason, last time we went it seems not too safe - water is deep even at the shore) we chose the other end of the hotel, so it’s closer to the beach. I think from now onwards, we’re going to choose Garden view as it is nearer to the public beach, hotel main lobby, coffee house and swimming pool, all the major places you’ll go when you have kids. If you’re on honeymoon, the water chalet is much more privacy, and the design is sexier? There are many people at the hotel and the beach, well equally distributed among the races. Malays taking a break from Raya, or maybe on their Raya visiting relatives nearby, and others taking opportunity of the long holiday. 

As usual, for not so adventurous people like us, we just took up room service and Grab food to eat. Since the lobby is nearer, easier for us to take our food, and in fact the room service is faster compared the water chalet since coffee house is just next building to ours 😂  The wifi/internet connection here is even better, and the TV has Netflix! We could die without the internet really…. We should’ve chose this room before. But of course, the downside is, this area is quite loud as we face directly to the swimming pool and main path to the lobby/coffee house. 

Hanif is at his happiest, despite his complaints when he had to help babysit his baby sister. Well at least we didn’t ask you to pay.. duhh *rolls eyes*. In fact he requested to be sent to my MIL’s house as he said he’s tired of helping us babysit his sister and he needed a rest (-___-) Well son, a holiday is a teamwork, you ain't going to see another beach if you not helping out. Ohh, Maryam is the happiest too! The look on her face when her tiny feet touches the sand is priceless! She giggled and jumped in excitement all the time. My heart is so full seeing these two. 

After fourth time coming here, I would say the food is good especially for the room service, the buffet is quite so-so, but please go for their Nasi Lemak, sedap! It’s good to have a day off routine and taking care of our kids in another city lol. Until the next time Avillion! Thanks husband for taking us here, again. Well, we like it of course :P 

Raya 2022

Assalammualaikum and Selamat Hari Raya! It has been a week since Raya and I must say this is the most chaotic raya ever in my life, bet to all Malaysians as well! After 2 years of lockdown Raya (2021 was the worst where you can’t go anywhere at all), this year’s Raya is the most awaited one because the SOPs are slowly lifted, also we can even travel out and about freely now. It’s time to visit all the relatives and balik kampung since it has been 2 years we aren’t allowed to do that. As per calendar, Raya were scheduled on Tuesday, 3rd May. 

On Sunday, we had our last kopek buka puasa at my sister’s new renovated house in Sg Buloh. My parents already cooked their rendang minang earlier that day, it’s normal for us to cook rendang 2 days before Raya because well, it takes longer hours to cook, but can last long (up to a week outside). I was supposed to help them that day, but my fridge went loco, and the handyman only came at 3pm. Felt like canceling, but this is a fridge, kinda important and our schedule during Raya will be packed. The handyman only took like literally 10 minutes only to check….. Solution is to just leave the fridge of for two days which can be done without him being here anyway… Syurga rewards for my parents for cooking the 16kg rendang all by themselves. My sisters weren’t around too as Aida is working whereby Ecah already gone to her in-laws hometown. 

After berbuka, we were discussing Raya plan and the possibility that it will probably be Raya on the next day since most countries; Arabs, Europe will celebrate Raya tomorrow, Monday. There’s even some forwarded WhatsApp on that, at first I thought it was a joke, but no guys.. it really is happening tomorrow!! When it was announced on TV, yeap, it’s happening, that night already Raya eve. I’ve read some places has already in the midst of Terawih.. haha. Luckily the hardest part; rendang is already done. Left with other menus; Nasi Minyak, Acar & Ayam Masak Merah. By the way, my husband and Hanif weren’t with me at that time because he’s at MIL’s helping out cleaning the house. After the shocking announcement, I went back Mak’s house to wait for my husband to fetch us home to pack our clothes. I already folded and put them aside, only left putting them into the luggage. 

We return to Mak’s house the same night, and at the same time I started to prep for tomorrow’s menu. I couldn’t sleep well that night, well I think most Malaysians were, I heard loud sounds coming from everyone’s kitchen. Memes and jokes were flooding through social media, what a Raya to remember indeed. Alhamdulillah, all are done according to plan on the raya, I cooked Acar, Ayam Masak Merah, and Nasi Minyak. While mak prepared kuah kacang, rendang and ketupat. 

Of course, there’s consequences of this, I only bathed and put on my baju raya at 2pm! Haha. The day starts quite late because I guess everyone overslept, and put on extra makeup to cover the panda eyes. Aida and her family came in later, of course her plans get haywired too, she supposed to have her first raya at her husband’s side in Kuala Lipis. After that, we went to Ibu’s house in Puchong, she also were tired for this sudden Raya, and only started to cook the night before. This is Eve Maryam’s first raya and she behaved like an angel like she always been. That night Mak Yong’s family and my grandmother came over, it was so good to see everybody after 2 years! Had a good time chatted with my cousins and meeting their little ones until late that night.

Overall, this is definitely bittersweet Raya to all of us, this is my first experience of shocking Raya, but Abah told us, it happened before in the 70s. That definitely a good reminder to us that we human can always plan, but afterall, we go back to the fundamental, that is checking the anak bulan. One lesson for sure, cook your Rendang early! 

Welcome to world girl!

As per my pregnancy post earlier, I was schedule to have my c-sect on 29 January, and I already applied my maternity leave a week earlier for last minute preparation. Most of the items I bought from Shopee as I couldn’t bring myself to walk too much at shopping mall, yeah, I am that heavy .. and let’s face it, old.

On Monday 24th, I went to the bank, my old office at Taipan to do some withdrawal for Hanif Aiden’s 2022 school fees because I was too busy preparing for little one that I missed to do it earlier for Abang .. hehe. Ohh, I shall write about Hanif’s school as well, he’s in Standard 2 now, can’t you believe?! My old office is in level 2, so there’s a bit of climb as well, and it felt good catching up with old friends laughing and chatting. Guess the stairs climbing and excitement triggered my labor, I started to feel stomach discomfort at about 10pm. 

At first I thought it just a normal stomachache as I had pulut and rendang ayam for dinner earlier and was prepared for a return trip to the loo. I told my husband to just pack his clothes, well just in case. But as the pain came frequently, I started to jot it down, this definitely it I thought. The contraction weren’t as bad compared to Hanif’s but I probably think it’s because I am at the comfort of home and a husband by my side. At about 2am, we were off to hospital as I couldn’t bring myself to sleep, and the contraction intervals are closer. We dropped Hanif off at my parents first before proceeding to hospital. 

We were put in the waiting room first to take the RTK and PCR so we’re cleared to proceed with the operation later on. The nurse in waiting told us that my operation is scheduled at 7-8am later in the morning and our gynae Dr Siti Aishah has been informed as well, and she will come after Subuh at about 7am. I changed into the hospital attire and the nurse even helped me to shave the south area… well, I can do it myself but the baby has decided to come 4 days earlier. Plus, we aren’t playing with that area right since I am scheduled for the operation? later when we check the bill, it costed us RM27, what a way to make money, guess my husband is willingly do the honor. 

The contractions were wild and more frequent but as I expected my opening still stuck at 1cm.. just like Hanif last time.. Because I have discussed with my doctor, although I have opted for caesarean, should there is opportunity for normal vagina birth, we may proceed with that as well, but baby still decided to come out from the tummy instead of down under.. The waiting game is brutal with the intense contraction, but thank God I was calmer because my husband is next to me. I’m hungry but I wasn’t allowed to eat anything prior to the operation because I might vomit should I react weirdly with the anaesthetic later on. Even the nurses and doctor were surprised seeing my CTG chart on heavy contractions but no progress with the opening, well well, the history repeat itself :’)  After hours of waiting and praying, the doctor arrived and I was pushed to the operation theatre. Too bad, due to Covid policy restriction, my husband wasn’t allowed to be in. 

I was so nervous and scared in the operation theatre, the contraction still heavy and I have to wait in between to be injected with anaesthetic as I need to sit still. The long waiting making me even more nervous that I almost cried.. Then, the operation begin, although I was under anaesthesia, I can still feel my stomach were cut open, slicing layers after layers, even the thought of it today stings.. Why is it different than the last time.. I really wish my husband were here to calm me down. Just can’t wait to be over. After finally like forever, I felt a heavy push on my stomach, and heard the doctor said “Assalammualaikum baby..”. The girl is here, my sweet daughter. I teared abit when the doctor brought my baby close to my face and kissed her. So so beautiful. Then, the stitched me up, and I was brought to the observation room. 

Being in labor means you have no control over your body, especially for c-sect, and put aside your shame too. As I was under anaesthesia, I can’t even lift a finger, so the staff did everything for me, spread my leg open so they can insert a tube for me to pee, dress and undress me buck naked, well just no secret left, they’ve seen the worst and ugliest of you, so just be nice to them. I was monitored for about 1 hour, then were brought back to the temporary ward. I was so drowsy and hungry too. My husband did feed me drinks and I heavily vomited right after, due to the anaesthesia effects. We waited few hours at the temporary ward as our room isn’t ready and I haven’t meet my baby yet at this point. 

After that, I was brought to the proper ward, took a single room this time so my husband can accompanied me (one thing I longed to do and unable to get during Hanif’s). They brought in my baby for me to see and nurse. She is so beautiful I almost cried. My new angel.. aww peacefully sleep. But I was too drowsy to hold her long, and I get the nursery to take her back. I spent the whole day after operation sleeping, surely from the side effect of the anaesthesia. What I definitely missed my time in the hospital is that they will send the baby to me anytime to nurse or whatever, and I can always send them back to nursery if the baby cried or poop hahahaha. Wish I have the very same service at home… teehehe. We spent another 3 days more at the hospital and were discharged on Friday, 28th January. The doctor offered to extend our stay but longer stay means additional bill, so thank you hahahaha. During our stay at the hospital, Hanif was at my MIL’s, he’s enjoying himself because we absent him from school obviously.. duh. 

Yes, we self pay the bill, neither my insurance or husband covered maternity..pfft (well another reason why the delayed pregnancy :p). The total bill was around RM11k, but husband already paid the deposit bit during our check ups. During the post-delivery stays, we were visited by my gynae, Dr Siti to check on my healing progress, Dr Sufiah (Hanif’s previous paediatrician) for the baby, and breastfeeding consultant. This time, I weren’t keen or stressing myself out into breastfeeding because oh boy, it was so difficult last time and to be honest, it doesn’t get any easier too this time. Hanif were bottle fed, and he grew up just well too. Well, sorry for the unpopular opinion, but best is the baby is fed regardless bottle or breastmilk. No.competition.here.seriously. 

We went straight to our home in Shah Alam, because this time I determined to have my confinement at the comfort of my own house. I informed my confinement service on this, and they only be able to come the next day. Can’t wait to start a new journey with our latest addition, and to be honest I’m pretty scared. Will the baby be easy? Will the baby be fussy? Is the colic going to be bad? Lots and lots of possibilities.. 

Will share about my confinement days in different post InsyaAllah.