Friday 31 October 2008

Natural Benefit

It's not easy for me to really fall head over heels with makeup foundation. But today, I did. Some kind-a gorgeous deep! The best part is i dont see the powder on my face.
Went shopping today at KLCC. The plan was to check out the face foundation. All this current & sudden urge was due to the seminar that I attended for the last two days. Corporate Image Seminar! I must say that was the only seminar from so many seminars that I had attended that had me really glued to my chair and to the presenter.
Back to the foundation. I bought it because its a 2-in-1 thing for me.. I need something quick & fast to be applied in the morning. So this foundation fits the bill. And why this brand? My friend has been using it for ages. And with that I give it a try at the makeup counter.
Another reason was that it make me look pretty in a natural way. It didn't hide all my flakey spots . But it did give that natural silky refresh & young look.. !
No wonder it was picked as Elle Top 5 products & 2008 best beauty buys by The M'sian Women's weekly mag!

Friday 24 October 2008

Choosing your dream house

Today's entry is more actually based on the my talk with my sister. At that time, I haven't move in yet to my new house. But we have bought it la..

We were talking about my new house. And I remember her words " I didn't think of that ( reasons) when we choosed this ( her ) house ."

What made her say those words? Well, it was a response to me saying of my ( me & my hubby) reasons on choosing our house.

I told her that that the house was chosen for its location. This new house is near to my late BIL's house, near my eldest BIL's house too, near to my sister's house and not far also to my brother's house too. Infact, it will be easy for us to go back to my hometown which is in Seremban. Plus it will be easy to balik kampung my hubby's kampung too. We would have choosen Bukit Jelutong or Kota Damasara area if our kampung is on the northern states. So the locations of our kampungs & our relatives & siblings' house are some of the main factors we considered when choosing our dream house.

As expected, it's easy to visit our siblings & relatives when all are staying around the same neighbourhood. Previuosly we were staying in Ulu Klang. And it was quite a distant & journey especially when the traffic is heavy.. MRR2's bad traffic is unpredictable at any time of the day.. So, staying at the current neighbourhood is a good move for us .

On top of that, another reasons why we choose this house is because of the surrounding facilities it has. We have the Giant hypermarket where we can do our groceries shopping. Tesco & IOI Mall are just in the same area. And schools for the children.There are a few primary & secondary schools nearby. This will make task of sending off the kids to school easier for us. Imagine having an option of not having to rely too much on the school bus. Plus, the kids can be home from school early too !

And for swimming, there's a golf club nearby. And another main reason too is the mosque. It will be easy to send the children for religious education i.e mengaji and easy for us to do terawih & sembahyang raya.

Yes, I had my sister terpikir balik of her own reasons on why they didn't think of all these important matters.

What about the housing developer? Alhamdulillah, I&P is a well known & reliable house developer. So the chance of the house to be delayed in constructions is minimal la..

So u have me thinking why most people never put on their thinking hat when choosing & buying their dream house. Buying a house is a big investment in term of money and time too. Of course not all of us have loads of cash to put for house deposits. But, doing some homework before buying our dream house can actually save us a in terms of money & time later in the future.

Thursday 23 October 2008

In love with Daisy


At the moment I'm love with daisy. Gerbera Daisy actually. Saw it during my company's raya open house with DPM as our main guest.. I never thought that the real daisy would cost around RM14 per stalk. And the artificial one will be around RM10 per stalk..



Just by looking at it, you can feel your mood being lift up & refresh too.. In fact it brightens up your working cubicle too..

Tuesday 21 October 2008

My weekends

Thesedays my weekends are always full of things to do.. I know that we are still in the Raya month. And there will be one or two raya open houses to go . Not forgetting birthday parties too..

So here I am , together with my hubby and our loyal companion Arissa @ our daughter la roaming around Klang Valley , looking & searching & buying things for our new house.. All for one solid reason to beautify our new house. Which reminds me of Miss Fluffyhead: how's with your new house dear? Fully furnished ?

Almost every weekend we are out . Imagine having to juggle our time with family gatherings too. On last Sunday we went to my SIL's niece 1st birthday party. Hubby did ask who else from my family side are coming. I said only us as my sister couldn't make it & so was my parents and my eldest brother who is away in China.. My eldest SIL cooudn't come as it was raining heavily back at her place. But hubby know that it's important that we show our faces there as they are my parents' besan. And when else can we gather again if it's not during birthday party. With that, thanks dear for your willingness to attend the birthday party.

Last weekend too we went to Sungai Buloh to buy pots and plants for our small garden. And we still need to go there one last trip for the water feature dear! Infact we couldn't buy more stuff on our last trip due to limited space in the car.. Mind you, we don't own an MPV yet la...

Of course I had to read this & that gardening magazines & other endless house decor magazines. All to get some ideas on what type of plants suitable for my small garden. I must say that the Laman magazines is quite helpful too. How easy to buy plants when we know how it looks like as printed in the magazines.

How was the garden now? I don't know what others will say. In fact my MIL who is staying with us is away on Raya trip to Jakarta . If she is back, at least we can get the virdicts. Well, all me & hubby can say that our garden looks better than before.

Next mission will be the furnitures!

Monday 20 October 2008

Black Magic , Sihir

For the 1st time in my working life , I have never been so worried & afraid & distraught about my working environment. No doubt I have heard & read about sihir . But I have never thought it can happened in my office.

Yeap, right under my nose! And to the most shocking news that I just can't believe is the person who did it. How would u feel if one of your own collegues resorted to that . Using sihir @ blackmagic to another collegue all in the reason of hatred.

I only get to know what was happening at the office when the victim told me of it.. She was reluctant to tell as not to make others afraid . A few of my collegues including my boss knew of this. Yeah, as usual I seldom get to know most hottest office news . My reason is simple: I hate to be busybody or kepohci about unimportant matters. That's why people dont share office gossips with me . Most of the time, I will be a few of the last one to know..

I can understand her reluctantness as this news can make everyone fear about their safety. The obvious things that will happen in office is that most of us will be extra carefull & cautious about free food . People in my office like to bring or buy food to be shared with others. Food like goreng pisang, cekodok or even fruits ( if it was local fruit season ) are there on the table of the empty workstation.

So how did the victim get to know that she was under evil spell? Well, in one fine night, a religious & pious man @ ustaz came to her house to see her mother. The victim was there when the ustaz suddenly asked her about her health. Was she having such an itchy skin near her ankles that there were now scratch marks on it? So many question that the ustaz asked her that I'm sorry i just can't write it here.. But at the end of the nite, she got to know who did it. When the ustaz describe about one of the villain's peculiar character, i found myself conforming to it.

And the most shocking news is that the victim wasn't the only one kena sihir by that villain. There are others who dah terkena. And so far my boss managed to stay away from it.

At the end of the day, what comes to my mind is that how does the villain's best friends feel about this if they knew of his/her evil act? Wouldn't anyone think that they could be under evil spell too?

Friday 17 October 2008

Cerebral palsy

Below is an article that I found very easy to read about cerebral palsy. I do know that most of the time , it is not easy to come by an article that able to explain certain things in laymen method. So , here's for sharing :

Definition:
Cerebral palsy (CP) is the name given to a collection of movement disorders. Movement disorders are conditions in which a person's muscles do not respond normally. CP is also known as static encephalopathy (pronounced in-seh-fuh-LAH-puh-thee). It is caused by brain damage that occurs before, during, or just after birth. A person with CP is often also affected by other conditions caused by brain damage.

Description:
If a person is affected by CP his or her muscles may become either rigid or very loose. Sometimes an individual may lose control of his or her muscles, resulting in problems with balance and coordination. The condition may affect the legs only, which is called paraplegia (pronounced par-uh-PLEE-jee-uh) or diplegia (pronounced die-PLEE-juh); the arm and leg on one side of the body, which is known as hemiplegia (pronounced hem-i-PLEE-juh); or all four limbs, called quadriplegia (pronounced kwod-ruh-PLEE-jee-uh).

Other problems experienced by someone with CP include visual or hearing problems, mental retardation (see mental retardation entry), learning disabilities (see learning disorders entry), and attention deficit disorder (ADD). Some CP patients experience no problems beyond their movement disorder.

CP affects about 500,000 children and adults in the United States. About 6,000 new cases are diagnosed in newborns and young children each year. CP is not a genetic disorder, and there is currently no way of predicting which children will develop it. CP is not a disease and is not communicable, which means it cannot be passed from one person to another.
CP is a nonprogressive disorder. That is, it does not become better or worse over time. However, some conditions may appear to become worse. For example, when muscles are rigid for a long period, arms and legs may become deformed. In such cases, additional treatments may be necessary.

Causes:
  1. is caused by damage to brain cells that control the movement of muscles. When those cells die, signals can no longer be sent to muscle cells. This loss of muscle control results in the symptoms of CP.

Factors can cause brain cell damage:

  1. lack of oxygen (asphyxia, pronounced az-FIK-see-uh),
  2. infection example: rubella ,toxoplasmosis (a blood infection), toxoplasmosis (a blood infection)
  3. trauma (shock),
  4. malnutrition (poor diet),
  5. drugs or other chemicals, or
  6. hemorrhage (bursting of blood vessels).
  7. In most cases, it is impossible to discover the exact cause for any one person's CP.
  8. Premature birth is regarded as one important and common factor.

Most researchers now believe that brain cell damage occurs before birth. This damage is also responsible for other conditions that tend to occur along with CP.

Symptoms : usually not noticeable at birth. Instead, they begin to show up during the first eighteen months of a child's life.

Normal children pass through a series of developmental stages. At each stage, they learn how to perform one or more common tasks. Infants with CP have difficulty performing these tasks. Such difficulties may indicate that an infant has CP.

The tasks considered to be milestones in normal development include the following:

  1. Babbles (6 to 8 months)
  2. Sits well with support (8 to 10 months)
  3. Crawls (9 to 12 months)
  4. Walks alone (12 to 15 months)
  5. Uses one or two words other than dada and mama (12 to 15 months)
  6. Eats with fingers; holds bottle (12 to 18 months)
  7. Turns pages in books; removes shoes and socks (24 to 30 months)
  8. Walks up and down steps (24 to 36 months)

Because children develop at different rates, using these milestones to diagnose cerebral palsy (or any other disorder) must be used with great caution. The fact that an otherwise healthy child does not reach one of these milestones at the suggested age is not necessarily a sign that the child has CP. He or she may just be developing at a slower rate. In addition, problems with vision or hearing may cause such delays.


Five forms of cerebral palsy are recognized. They are defined according to the kind of muscle damage and the location of that damage:

  1. Spastic: Muscles are rigid (tight), posture may be abnormal, and the ability to do delicate work is impaired.
  2. Athetoid: Muscular movements are slow, twisting, and involuntary (beyond the person's control).
  3. Hypotonic: Muscles are floppy, without firmness.
  4. Ataxic: Balance and coordination are impaired.
  5. Dystonic: Any combination of the above symptoms.
  6. Cerebral palsy is also described according to the parts of the body affected:
  7. Hemiplegia: One arm and one leg on the same side of the body are involved.
  8. Diplegia: Both legs are involved; in addition, one or both arms may also be involved.
  9. Quadriplegia: Both arms and both legs are involved.

Treatment:

Cerebral palsy cannot be cured. However, the physical and other problems it causes can usually be managed through planning and timely care. Treatment plans depend on the type of impairment as well as associated problems the child may have, such as learning disabilities. Many CP patients require the help of physical and occupational therapists only. These professionals help the child learn to deal with loss of muscle control. Other specialists, such as speech-language therapists, special education teachers, nutritionists, and neurosurgeons (nerve specialists) may be needed to help with problems related to CP.

The above article is taken from this site.

Thursday 16 October 2008

Baby's IQ : can be boost before conception.

I know all the special & unique abilities that we have is given by Allah. But at the same time, I always wonder whether we parents, women especially , can contribute more to boost our children's IQ right before they are born . Meaning is it possible that we boost our children's IQ before conception?

Answer to that question , Yes! And there are more things we women can do actually for the benefit of our children. Infact we should be doing it before we get ourselves pregnant. No wonder the doctors advise us to get our body in better shape for pregnancy 3 months before conception of the feotus. It's all about the food that we eat, the lifestyle we have to change ( both us & our partner too ) , our surrounding/environment , everything!

I was shocked to read that smokes could reduce fertility of baby boys! Yikes! Imagine they blaming us mothers on this thing later in life!Also when mothers smoke during one pregnancy and not the other, the baby exposed to maternal smoking has a lower IQ than the one not exposed. Smoking not only lowers the IQ but mothers who smoke during pregnancy have a 50% greater chance of having a child with mental retardation. OMG! Scary isn't it?

Second-hand smoker? I dont think we want a lower birth weight for our unborn children, do we?Low birth weight and being small for gestational age are two leading risk factors for cerebral palsy which means a collection of movement disorders. ;(

And we have to be stress free! Doesn't matter if we are working women or not. The main point is that no stress for pregnant women. A bit of stress is no good for our baby's IQ. And when our baby's IQ is lower, so is our children's language development. Even moving to a new house is not a good idea at all for pregnant women. We may say that we have engaged the housemovers to do all the necessary packing & transfering our stuffs. But we still be thinking this & that of the whole process of moving into a new house. There will always be reasons to worry about ...

What about caffeinated drinks? Like what this website said :

When you're pregnant or trying for a baby, experts recommend that you cut down on the amount of caffeine you consume. This is because studies have shown that having more than 300mg per day appears to be linked to an increased risk of having a miscarriage, a low birthweight baby or an infant with birth defects.

I know it's hard to be caffeine-free as its in our tea, coffee, chocolate, cola, energy drinks and even cold remedies and painkillers. But it wont be that hard to avoid when we put our children future language development close to our hearts. It's better to act now then feeling regret later .

Fish and seafood? Eat oily fish like salmon, sardines, trout and mackerel, ideally at least 2-3 times a week during pregnancy. Avoid eating shark, swordfish, tilefish and Spanish mackerel and you’ll be fine. And try to limit our seafood intake during pregnancy so as to avoid trace contaminants of toxins like mercury. Research did show that the risk is negligible, but avoiding seafood risks your child having a lower IQ and problems with social development.

I guess the key here is moderation .We either stay away from these food or lower the intake..

Wednesday 15 October 2008

Sweep it under the carpet

Apart from being busy with account closing for last month financial period, I'm in no mood to post up a new entry actually. It's hard to gather oneself when the feeling is down and gloomy. Macam hari nak hujan aje. :(

But then again, life have to go on.. And we can't just sit there feeling down all the time. So I'll see myself sweeping under the carpet all the unhappy thoughts that I have on my mind. Yeah, it's unhealthy & not a positive thing to do when one should sort out all the messy stuffs. Not that I dont talk about it with my hubby . I do . But sometimes , that act of sweeping seems the best thing to do after talking.

So how was my Raya 2008?

I must say it was one joyous & happy & much look forward raya for me. Why? Because I had not been able to eat freshly made lemang & rendang on the eve on raya for two consecutive year. I like to eat my lemang & rendang on the eve on raya. Why? Because that is the day when the flavour is at it's best to eat.

My mom will always make rendang ayam, daging , limpa & hati. And the sweetness of the meat juice are gone by the next day. No doubt we will have it to be reheat. But the sweetness is not there anymore. My dad & me always told my mom about this as she can't understand why we prefer to eat it on the day the rendang is cooked and not on the next day which is 1st day of raya la... And lemang... Alhamdulillah, we wiill still get to eat the delicious & berlemak lemang so long as my mom's cousin is cooking it. The lemang is still prepared in using the traditional recipe & methods. Infact, I don't think Lemang Pak Ali ( famous in Ulu Kelang) can beat my mom's cousin's lemang..

Thesedays, lemang are 1stly precooked using the rice cooker. The cooked glutenious rice will only be transfered into the buluh lemang to bake it so that the lemang can have the original round shape. Actually this method is the fastest way but not the best & original way to cook lemang.

So there I was happily eating my lemang & rendang... I ate alot. Every day. Do I feel guilty about it? Nope.. Makan lemang sampai terlupa nak makan nasi impit kuah kacang ..
And me & hubby was craving for coke. yeah...we had coke from the eve of raya till the 4th of raya.. Free flowing... That was something we never done it before..
Unhealthy as a matter of fact..