Hand Foot Mouth Disease

Assalammualaikum wbt,

Remember my last post about Hanif Aiden's high fever? Apparently it is a Hand Foot Mouth Disease (hfmd)! I don't know much about this disease, but this is actually a viral disease and contagious. He may caught it while we were went outing last week at Empire Gallery, Mommy is so sorry my dear boy..

This disease will start off with high fever but it eventually will come and go. There were few events he showed a very high temperature and the next day, it drops again. Remember my last post about his high fever? But I thought it just a normal fever. Until last Saturday, when we went to husband's cousin wedding. It was freaking hot despite it was held in a building (come on N'dah, so many airconds but you didn't turn them on? Pfft). With so many people and hot weather my baby just became extra cranky. Luckily there is a room with air conditioning and while I sat there with my husband's cousin's wife, Syikin alerted me about the rashes on his feet. I did not realize them before, maybe it was develop  during the hot weather that day. That's it, I called my husband and we immediately rushed back. We didn't even meet the bride and groom. So sorry, but my son's condition is a freaking emergency! On our way back, I took the picture of the feet and WhatsApp to my doctor sister and she claimed, it might be a hand foot mouth disease.

                                     

                             

We straight went to Columbia Asia's hospital but there was so many procedures and paperworks before we were able to be checked by doctors. They even claimed that they don't have enough doctors! That is absolutely effing ridiculous!! My husband gets mad of these and he just left and we straight went to the nearby clinic instead. The doctor confirmed us it is hmdf and told us my baby might develop ulser soon. However she assured us as long as my baby doesn't refuse meal or taking enough fluid/milk, he will recover very soon. She also told us to monitor our baby and keep him active. Yes, tell ya, he's one active baby! 

                               

Then at home, we monitor his temperature, give him milk, make his food cold a bit (because he has tiny ulcer) and pampering him (read: dukung and tepuk-tepuk all time). I also updated a status on my Facebook about his fever (because some weird people claimed we making excuses escape from the event..pfft). Then, my very dear concern friend WhatsApp me on her experience of her own daughter who had this very same disease last time. She claimed, it's a type of disease that we always thought a traditional fever and we, parents tend to force our children to swallow their food/drink with little that we knew it was hurtful for them due to the ulcer. She insisted for me to go the hospital as it is better to seek from professional second medical advises rather than depending on one clinic doctor. 

Of course, being a Mommy, I AM FREAKING OUT! I rushed my husband to be home quick (he was doing laundry outside) and packing for hospitalization (just in case). We arrived at SJMC (because we detested Columbia Asia already) around 11pm. My baby undergo a blood test to check should there is any dengue (just in case). Alhamdulillah, everything went well. To my surprised, my baby did not cry at all when doctor took his blood. He cringed at first when the needle poked him but remain calm afterwards. Whoaaaa. Such a strong soul! *not bragging, but all parents are proud with their child right?*

The doctor claimed my son's condition is ok as long as he doesn't refuse his milk/food and keep active. She also said that Hanif Aiden is on recovering stage whereby the rashes will appear more soon and they'll gone by anyway. SJMC gave us a fever syrup, multi-vitamin, ulcer drops and an fever medicine (to be inserted to baby's butt should the temperature spike). 

                                  

                    

This disease is apparently contagious and should any of the kids caught it, they should be quarantined.  We adults also are potential to get it too but our immune system are stronger. The main point that making this disease crucial is the ulcer whereby kids cannot eat and drink which cause them to be dehydrated. You also have to watch your kids daily activity, if you noticed he/she weak and just lie down, bring to the hospital immediately! And please, even he/she appears healthy, it is better to stay at home a little longer, don't be selfish parents and unfair to other kids outside there if you ever going out public.

That is all for now, hope all are well especially in time like this where the haze is back!! Drink a lot of water and please stay indoor as much as possible ok. Bye! 

Fever go away

As I am typing this, I actually on my second day of holiday...hmmm...what a nice feeling. Pang, wake up to reality. No, I am not really on holiday but instead I am on my second day of emergency leave. Yes, you heard me. Hanif Aiden is down with fever these past few days, so I had to put away my jobs and focus on him. He started off with a flu last weekend but on Sunday night, his temperature started to hike. He couldn't sleep well and wake up between hours because of his blocked nose. Poor boy :( I think my baby got a fever probably because of teething. Yes...he has 3 teeth now!! One tooth already showing half way up and another two teeth just started showing its surface. He's growing up so fast!! Soon we know, he will be in school and Mommy starts to count wrinkles on her face. Hmmphh.

He is such a happy baby, always smile when we make jokes/faces and hey, he'd even smile back if you're smiling to him. But on his fever, he just frown and even we gave him toys, he just look at it blankly. Hmmphh..Mommy is sad :( he is so crancky and wanted to be carried all time. It breaks my heart to see him in such condition. If we adults feel uncomfortable during fever, let alone babies...huuaaaa. 

Despite the cool air cond, wet cloths on his forehead, his temperature doesn't seem to go down. That's it, we went to Klinik Perdana in Taman Puncak Jalil yesterday for the check up. I've been going there from my pregnancy check-ups and we just love the lady doctors there. Oh my, there are so many people at the clinic! After only like an hour or so then only it's our turn. 

                                   

                                   

                                   

                                       

Doctor prescribed us medicine for his flu (the one that you insert on the nostrils) and a fever syrup. We tried not to give him the syrup best possible and tried to lower his temperature in traditional ways. You know, like soak him longer during bath time, keep the air cond on, wiped with wet cloth and stuff. We'd even put on children's cool fever on his forehead and back head. Oh yeah, noted, you can't put cool fever on children's forehead for long time as it may lead all the heat to be collected there and it may damaging the brain. All of these were lead to no avail and that's it, we had to give him the syrup. My baby swallowed it ok and his temperature seemed to lower down a bit last night. We still continuously checking the temperature hoping that it will not rise and Alhamdulillah, he slept soundly last night.

                         

                         

As for today, he seems quite ok but still cranky because of his runny nose and a little cough. Oh boy, that doesn't stop him from being active. He is now practicing to stand on his own! Numbers of falling drama and head bumps to the floor but he did not give up. As I write this, an hour ago he just fell off his baby cot!! Luckily the floor is carpeted it somehow minimize the impact but still! Haih lah this boy. It happened right in front of my eyes. He cried a bit but stop when I picked him up. Such a brave boy! I don't think he will ever giving up from doing that again, so, my husband took off the upper part of the cot making it like a playpen now.  

For runny nose, I'd usually use traditional medicine that is to use fresh tumeric on his forehead as turmeric will help to dry up the mucus. You doing it by taking a fresh turmeric and peel the skin off and then draw (yes draw, imagine you're using a chalk) vertically from the bridge of the nose up to the forehead until it forms a line. Not like a tiny dot like the Indians wear. 

We might want to do steam percussion as it is effective to clear the blockage. We did quite a few times before this and it works! The flames will either coming out through vomit, nose or even from his poop. The one thing I hate about doing this is to listen to his crying when the hot steam covered his face although that is actually the point. Sometimes, I just did the percussion on his right and left of baby's backside minus the hot steam. It seems to work too although not immediately, but few hours after that, you can actually see his green cendol-like slimy mucus flowing out from his nose. You can YouTube how to do it correctly without hurting the baby. I learned this from my doctor sister. Do not do it direct to your baby's back because baby's backbone is still soft and you might injured it. If you go to hospital, apart from nebuliser, the doctors will actually do this percussion thing to clear the lung. Because nebuliser actually only clear the upper part of the flame not entirely suck them all out. So, by doing this percussion it actually enhance the process  by making the mucus/flame lighter/thinner so it could be easily out. 

           

Hopefully Hanif Aiden will get well soon so Mommy can go back to work without worries. Yes, as much as I love the idea of staying at home taking care of him, I still has to work, gotta earn to give the best for Hanif Aiden. Amin. 

                       

Events, events and more events

Assalammualaikum wbt,

Hari Raya Aidilfitri is almost coming to an end now, how is everyone celebrates it so far? For mine, not so much. For this year's Raya, well in the month of August specifically, I got so many wedding invitations! Do not know why, I guess it's a way for the host to combine wedding cum open house together? Hahaha. Well, there are a lot of open houses invitation too but not all I could make it because it usually clash with other invitations as well.

The earlier week of Raya we went for my relative's wedding at Teluk Panglima Garang. She is the youngest in family tying the knot and coming from my father's side. My parents couldn't make it, so as a responsible daughter (ehemm ehemm), I must attend. Met everyone from my father's side there, but as usual, I couldn't stay that long because Hanif Aiden started to get restless since the weather is freaking hot! Especially when I arrived at the peak hour. My second sister came too but I didn't meet her as I left earlier. No pictures with the bride though. 

                             

He's so cranky he avoided my kiss

         

A week after, I also attended my company's Maybank Corporate Open House in KLCC. It's more like working actually, not attending as a guest, no. Jangan perasan yeee. Oh gosh, the journey to go there is killing because they are temporarily closing down some routes due to F1 Grand Prix. Why on earth would you do it in the middle of KL! The journey from Subang Jaya to KLCC took us more than 1 hour including trying to find favorable parking spots. Ramai gila dekat event ni! We ended up parked im front of Mandarin Oriental as the KLCC parking were full. Funny thing happen though, when we arrived and waiting for a lift, Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir coincidencely arrived too and heck, we were in the same lift! I really wanted to take a picture with her but I was so shy and waiting for my friend to make a move first but she didn't! She was also as shy as me...hahaha. Since when Kak Sharly?! So I just smiled and nod instead.

Well, apparently, we still managed to get a photo with her, in the hall where the event took place, ermm...a selfie to be exact. But, with the lighting the picture quality don't turn out so good. Jadilah kannn. Bila lah lagi nak jumpa, it's not like everyday you have the likeliness to bump into her. I admired her so much and meeting her leaving me in such an awe that I unable to speak...hahaha. It always happen to me though when meeting someone famous. I think I will probably pass out if I ever met Adam Levine one day hahaha. 

                                         

                                         

                                

                                           

                                            

I decided to dressing down on that day and it was a good choice because we had to walk quite a distance by the roadside from our parking in front of Mandarin Oriental to KL Convention Centre. Luckily, my old baju kurung modern is made from cotton, so it could absorb sweats from the walking particularly from ermm the armpit area..hahaha. Phew, luckily, it didn't leave a spot there, or it did but i just didn't care then hahaha. Oh boy, this baju kurung is so tight!! Tailored this in 2012 and yes, I had quite a drama to button up the skirt. Hmmmph. Perut buncit, you should take all the blame!  

As for the recent weekend, I attended my cousin's Malam Berinai which was held at my relative's house in PJ. She even hired a henna decorator for any one who wanted to do henna on the hands, feet wherever you feel like to. No, I didn't do any. Even on my own wedding I only wore a very light henna on the tips of my fingers, let alone to do a decoration on my hands. No, thank you. The theme was to wear Kebaya and Batik but I cheated on the batik part and wear my Dorothy Perkins skirt instead. Simply because it is strecthable..more food for tummy, wohoooo! Unfortunately, the celebration event didn't turn out how it supposed to be due to unforeseen caused. To respect the family, I shall not reveal it here. 

                                   

                                   

             

   

On the next following day, I attended my tuition friend's wedding at Dewan Seri Endon, Puspanitasari in Putrajaya. I haven't met her for almost 10 years! Ok, I lied a bit on that part, she actually did came to my wedding but that was it, then we met again at her wedding. Guess whose wedding after this that we are going to meet each other again? *hinting at another my tuition friend, Suhana*. She was a brilliant student in our tuition class and because of her I took a front-est seat next to her. She is so smart and I always copied her work hahaha. But hey, although I did that, I still got an A for my Add Math ok *flip hair*. I love everything about her wedding. Such an elegant set up and dreamy decoration from the dais, entrance, photo booth, door gift, candy bar, everything is made to perfection. I should've take picture for her candy/dessert bar, they have frosted icing cookies and assorted cakes and all are yumms. Unlike most candy bar at the wedding been to, well even my own, hers are nicely decorated, beautiful arrangement with in white theme. I always love white/winter theme wedding. I wanted the same theme for my own last time but the planner didn't quite get it *sigh*. 

                             

Us...crashing adibah's photobooth

      

pipi je penuh frame gambar....hmmph

    

                                   

Later that evening, I went to my client's, CP (Cik Puan) Azrinaz Mazhar open house with my colleague, Kak Sharly. Everyone knows who she is right? If you don't, Google her up! To have been invited to her exclusive open house is such an honour for us. Everything about her and her open house was so perfect, from the food spread, the beautiful house and of course, the host herself. CP, the grilled salmon steak is a bomb! So does your kek lapis and rojak buah and kambing golek, wait...ummm everything is goooooood lahh. Wearing a loose blouse is defnitely a good idea. By the way, my modern kurung or I'd like to call it Baju Superman (the cape, obviously) is from Adrianna Yariqa. CP Azrinaz Mazhar is so beautiful and full of grace. Again, I am starstruck when I met her. Had a great time. It was indeed the best open house I've ever been to, obviously lah kan untuk rakyat marhaen macam I ni. Hahaha. Of course, we just can't help ourselves to take countless pictures while we were there. CP, if you ever read this, sorry for our..ermm me specifically excitedness. Oh yes, if you are a fan of her, you should follow her Instagram account @azrinazmazharhakim. 

      

                                         

                                         

Sophia and I with the cool rides

                           

                  Graceful host                           

This month, there are another 3 weddings to attend to. Looking forward for them, oh wait, more wedding gift shopping to do! Gifting somebody is always a fun time. For above mentioned, thank you so much for having me to your grand events. Semoga dimurahkan rezeki selalu :) 

Managing your Financial

Assalammualaikum.

Jeeeeeez. Such a cheesy title, ey? And it sounded irony too for coming from a person like me. Tell you,  I am such a shopaholic and I my mantra is always forever buy first, think later. Before I worked as a banker (yes, irony!), I knew little about savings let alone financial management. I practiced the traditional way that is to put everything into a savings account and that is it. Lame right?

But I'm pretty sure there are a lot of people who are in my shoes anyway. Jangan tak mengaku! It is okey to admit, nothing to be shame about it. There are actually many ways how you can save your money and also diversifying your investments depends on your risk appetite. 

I ain't no expert in this but I can share a little of what I am doing and practicing. Not that I have millions in accounts or have someone donates me lump sum of money (how I wish) *eyes rolls* but I hope I could benefit you in some ways. 

1) ASB Loan

This is particularly focus on those with Bumiputera status *obviously*. Do not be skeptical with the word 'loan'. It is not you borrowing money and have to pay monthly, no. For most people with less exposure, they would go with traditional way of ASB savings that is to just keep your funds in ASB account, leave it there forever and earning the dividends every year. It works if you have a savings of RM200k in your account. But, I bet majority of us do not have such amount thus we opt for a lesser payment/deposit but with at the same time we still enjoying the dividend of RM200k. How interesting right? 

That is when ASB Loan come into the picture. Do not look ASB Loan as a commitment or liabililty that you have to commit every month but rather a savings that will benefit you in a short period of time with minimal capital. Let me share you what I have learned from the workshop and seminars I have attended on ASB financing. Maximum amount that you can take the loan is RM200k for maximum 25 years with monthly commitment of roughly RM1k+ Too high? Worry not. All you have to do is to fork up cash of RM14k+ as upfront payment for 1 year's worth if installment. For easy reference, you can refer the graph below: 

     

Then, on the next following year, when the dividend is declared (I shall take the most minimum dividend here that is 7%, so 7%xRM200,000 = RM14,000) you have to be discipline here by not taking the dividend for your own use but use to pay another upfront installment for that year instead and here again, no monthly commitment at all! Then, after 5 years (or more) for instance, you can sell off your ASB certificate and use the money for house downpayment or anything. Roughly you will get is : RM1193x60months = RM71,580! And that amount is not including the bonuses (if any) and it just a rough, direct calculation because you actually earn more than that! How interesting huh? With only a little capital, you will get so much return. That is only one example, there are plenty of others.

One more thing, you might want to follow Khairul Ezuan on Facebook. He is an ASB Guru like seriously. He gives you ideas and methods ad how ASB Loan can help you to maximize your money and open your eyes about ASB on a new perspective. Like seriously. I attended his talk before and he is a genius. Now I am smarter in managing my ASB Loan *I hope so*. If I'm not mistaken he also publishes few books on ASB. 

                              

2) Tabung Haji

The second best options is Tabung Haji, but again, provided if you have cash in hands. The dividend paid is even higher than ASB last year. However, for youngsters like us (ehem ehem), this falls as second options when you have existing ASB loan. If you have existing ASB Loan with maximum loan amount and has done above mentioned method to pay off the installment, then you are encourage to have Tabung Haji as your savings. Unlike ASB, despite the higher dividend, they don't offer you a loan, only normal savings and your yearly dividend will be calculated from your balance. Thanks to our local banks' effort especially Maybank (hello boss! Tehee) you can now transfer your funds from your Maybank account to Tabung Haji account via Maybank2u. How cool is that huh? Maybank is the best right?? No need to go to Tabung Haji nor Bank Islam anymore to deposit money. However, for opening of account, you still need to go to Tabung Haji or Bank Islam to do so. Besides transferring money between your Maybank accounts and Tabung Haji account, you can also withdraw your Tabung Haji from Maybank ATM machine using your ATM card. Coooool huh? Such a convenience. Well, it just a bit dangerous for a person like me where SALE is treated as emergency...

  

3) Guaranteed Investment

There are many types of investment. Investments itself is a general term. It could be your Unit Trust, MoneyMarket, Bonds and stuffs. Besides ASB, another recommended fund is Amanah Hartanah Bumiputra (AHB). It is also catered solely for Bumiputra and giving you the return of 6.5% p.a not including bonus (if any). You might remember the AHB TV advertisement where there's one mak cik entered an office building and checking out the wall, vase and stuffs and claiming they were all hers? Same like ASB, AHB also has maximum deposit limit that is RM400,000 per person. Unlike ASB, the dividend cannot be accumulated in your account and it will be payout straight to your account or paid by cheque instead. 

Another example of guaranteed payout is investment-linked which usually comes together with the coverage of life insurance. I would recommend those from Etiqa simply because I work for Maybank. Yeap, that is it. Hahaha. Well, Etiqa has been there for years and it's proven by their yearly performance, that is why my trust is with them. They have quite a number of products that comes with guaranteed payout to cater for your needs like retirement fund, education fund, health, medical card and stuffs. You may want to visit any Etiqa branch or Maybank branch or specifically my branch and specifically me to know further on the available products hahaha *nervous laugh*.

4) Non-Guaranteed Investment (Unit Trust)

I specifically focus more on unit trust. If I were to list them all down here, gosh know how long this entry could be. Might as well I published a text book hahaha. There are various fund houses in Malaysia. Public Mutual, CIMB CWA, Hwang, Amanah Mutual Berhad, Eastspring...eh macam-macam lah. These are all focusing on Unit Trust. UT is quite risky to take because the principal is not guaranteed and it depends on the uncertainty of market performance. These UT might be invested in various field like equity, finance, government bodies and stuffs. Always refer to their fund fact sheet to know further and check the past 10 years of market performance before you investing. If you have extra time and enjoy reading boring stuff, you might want to read the product prospectus too. For Muslims, please be extra careful and look into the area of which the fund invest into. Some may invest in for gambling or alcohol beverages companies so, be extra careful to make sure our investment is obeying the Shariah law. Kalau korang nak juga, dosa tanggung sendiri nohh...because I already informed beforehand. For the time being, market not may be good (if you wanted to sell off) because the fall of Ringgit, political effect and stuffs but to look at the bright side, it's actually a good time to buy because most of market price are down and you can get extra units with cheaper price. Do not worry about the economic condition so much because it is normal to face an economy downturn for averagely every 5 years. InsyaAllah soon we will be back picking up the pace. 

5) Credit Card

It may sound funny to you but if you are smart enough to choose the right credit card for yourself, it actually can be a great aid in times of emergency (you may or may not want to include SALE here). Determine your priority in using credit card. If you having it for petrol, then be it. Choose a card that has  a good points program so you can use that points in exchange of rebates, vouchers, annual fee waiver or anything! For example, Maybank Islamic Petronas Credit Card, (I choose Maybank because I work with them and I am biased like that haha), for RM1 you swiped on your card, you can get 5 points and on weekend you'll get 8 points wohooo! I secretly hope my boss read this. Eh, what, do I hear an increment, no? Haha. Good thing is, this card has no annual fee like everrrr. Another point is, since this is an Islamic card, thus, there would be no compounding charges. One thing to bear in mind, please please be discipline in using credit card. It is vital guys, or else it will kill you. I am serious. 

There are actually money other ways to manage your financial. I am not an expert and what I suggest is actually just a guidelines and what I am currently practicing. So far, it do good to me but it may not be suitable for you. I ain't born on a silver tray so money doesn't come easy on me. Heck, even my son doesn't born on a silver tray, so I gotta start planning for him as well like education investment, insurance and stuffs. All the fees and bills now scares me let alone what future might cost (welcome to adulthood, sorry there is no exit door). I just share what I know and I hope it will benefit you in some way. Afterall, you may want to refer other experts or any financial advisor near you for futher details. Whatever that is, tolonglah jangan join MLM or any Skim Cepat Kaya whatsoever. You may join but please choose a good one and wisely ok? Till then, be smart, be rich. Chewaaah.