Our Little Family, The Travel Tales, Uncategorized

Tokyo Day 3 (Mori Tower)

Right after our Mount Fuji day trip, we reached Tokyo Station at about 6+pm and then switched trains to Roppongi cos it’s only few stations away.

Firstly to have our dinner at Sumiyakiya, another halal place that serves Japanese & Korean BBQ.

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To be honest i only like some of the beef cuts, i can’t even remember which though..Sorry! The fried rice was okay lah.. The marinates for the beef was quite nice but if you ask me, i prefer Gyumon. Also, we got lost searching for this place pasal Google Map main2 kan kita. Padahal it was so so near to Roponggi Hills seh.
We jalan sampai the residential area and all. Penat seh. But thing about walking in Tokyo during winter, you don’t feel rimas cos it’s cooling. Jalan ah jauh2 pun tak rasa like mandi peluh. Rasa kaki nak tercabut je.

Then we head over to Mori Tower cos i wanted to see Tokyo skyline at night.
It was either during sunset or night lah actually tak cerewet. But because we couldn’t squeeze in Mori Tower for sunset, we went up at night instead. DSC03989

The rooftop observation deck is closed at night so we had to make do with the Tokyo City View deck which is also a gallery. Nadya had fun running around, kacau orang buat kerja & all.

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It’s such a pretty sight. Tokyo is so vibrant at night and we got to see the Tokyo Tower all lighted up.

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We headed back to the apartment after that after the long day! Took the taxi home cos the legs cannot take it already. Especially cos i babywore Nadya the entire day.

Will update our next Tokyo adventure soon. Else you can read up all other Tokyo posts here.

 

 

Le Familia, Nadya Raessa, Uncategorized

Nadya’s First

We celebrated Nadya’s 1st Birthday on 16th January and i’ve been meaning to write about it but i’ve been busy clearing up artworks & admin stuff before we leave for our trip next week. So i’m squeezing in whatever i can!

Most of the stuff done for the birthday was DIY-ed by me. Because i’m the over-zealous mum. Think you figured that out already. Lol.

Will probably share in detail in another post what i DIY-ed and how. It’s cost-saving and fulfilling. But tiring!

We started setting up the place the night before, with help from my sisters and Wan.
We packed the favor bags etc, shifted the furnitures around, waited for the tables & chairs to arrive etc.

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DIY-ed by me. So nice to hear when people tell me they love the table set-up! I spent hours on the tutu skirting alone.. It’s at least 2.5 metres long. Phewwww.
Most of the deco & the glassware were bought through Taobao!

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The complete dessert table!

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Pretty pretty cake done by Tini from Ola Lola! This is so pretty, too pretty to cut eh. I gave Tini the freedom to do whatever she wants as long as it’s a Paddlepop Theme cos that’s the Birthday theme!

Ordered Cake Pops from Si Kidal Bakes. Meringue & Cookies from my SIL!
Everything was yummy and potong kaki. I think the kids had the most fun at the dessert table. So guilty for contributing to their sugar-rush. Lol

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Birthday girl making her appearance. I designed a print to go with the Paddlepop Theme and sent it for printing with Label of Love Studio. Tutu skirt from Taobao. So soft gila. I like it and Converse sneakers, so cute i cannot resist buying!

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Somehow, amidst all the mingling with guests and all, we kinda forgot to take a family picture! This is honestly the most decent picture we have together!

We also didn’t manage to take pictures with ALL our guests!! We even forgot to give some of them goodie bags. Hahaha. So tak senonoh seh.

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This playpen gotta be the most fun place ever for the kids. Even though it’s so small, they somehow managed to squeeze themselves in there. It’s so funnty cos most of the time, Nadya refuse to be locked in there and prefer roaming around the house instead but that day, she played with the other kakaks & abangs. Macam real only.

One with the birthday girl! Love her so so much! I know some peole say don’t bother with 1st Birthdays cos they don’t appreciate it but nadya was so happy that day! She was so smiley. No meltdowns and she played with the other kids. I think she felt a lil lonely after everyone left though. She kinda like the company. So kesian my baby, everyday tgk muka mak dia je. Sekali sekala ada friends datang rumah, macam so fun!

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She received lotsa presents! Be it toys, vouchers & cash. She was overwhelmed by all the gifts but we have no intention to open everything at once. Maybe 1 toy a month. So she gets to play everything and funny thing is, we received a lot of musical instrument toys for her. Hahahahaa. I must have told everybody i know, i want her to play music. Lolololol

It was tiring planning a party on your own, especially a DIY one but i figure this is a good time to celebrate her birthday and me surviving motherhood. So why not! We had fun and that’s all that matters!

But would we do another party for the next birthday? I don’t know mannnn..
Maybe we’ll wait till she start requesting for one.

 

 

 

Uncategorized

A letter to my daughter

Dear Nadya,

It seems like it was only yesterday when the nurses placed you in my arms and i could remember saying to myself “she’s gorgeous and how come she’s so hairy. That must’ve been Rusly’s genes.”

But i couldn’t stop looking at you, baby. We finally met. Our blind date. ❤
The girl who’s been kicking my ribs from inside.. I can still remember those tiny little kicks. I’m so thankful to be able to carry you in my arms. So thankful that Allah chose me to nurture you, and hopefully be a good muslimah, Insha Allah.

Nadya, all this time, when i hear people talk about unconditional love, i don’t know how it feels like. What is this unconditional love that everyone’s talking about and then you came into my life and somehow i can’t put it into words. It’s indescribable. But that’s how i feel for you, baby. I’m that screwed up mum who kept saying I Love You so many times a day. The one who’ll miss you when you’re sleeping and at the end of the day, before i sleep, i’ll watch videos i took of you earlier in the day. But even that couldn’t describe just how much i love you.

I had a hard time conceiving, baby. We waited 3 years before i had you.
Mummy went through a laparoscopy surgery to remove bad stuff in my body. Someday, i’ll show you the scars. It was the best decision i made. At that time, i was so scared, baby. Scared if i’ll make the wrong decision. What if it does not work out? What if after doing the surgery, i still won’t be able to conceive a baby. What do i do next?

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Just so you know, you were an IVF baby. You were that fighter little embryo who burrowed your way through because Allah wants you to be part of our family. Because He knows one day, you’ll complete our lives and bring joy to our very mundane routine. I remembered taking lotsa blood tests, did self injections (because i do not trust Papa with the needles. Honestly, you shouldn’t too.) I ate really healthy food and made sure to surround myself with positive energy. I was very sure that i’ll fall pregnant. I went through a crazy 2 weeks wait, wondering everyday if one of the embryos i’ve transferred will make it to the finishing line. All i ask for is for one embryo to fight for a chance to live in this world. With me & Papa. That fighter is you, baby.

Few days shy of my blood test, you don’t know how nervous i was. I was initially determined not to test myself and just wait for the blood test. But oh well, your mummy is impatient because i had a strong feeling i was pregnant. I was very sure but i didn’t know what to expect. But i’ll be lying if i tell you that i didn’t have high expectations.

For the first time, the pregnancy test showed positive. I was so happy, i took so many tests! I’ve never had a positive before, baby. This was the first. Finally i don’t have the word “NOT PREGNANT” staring back at me. You don’t know the many times it made me cry looking at that horrible word. Not forgetting just how expensive those digital tests were! But yaaaaayyy i was pregnant, for real. The 1st time i heard your heartbeat, i had to control my tears. It was so surreal when the doctor said that your heartbeat is strong and everything else looks normal. Ya Allah, syukur sangat-sangat.

6 Weeks

That’s you, when you were a tiny little foetus. That was the 1st time i kind of saw you from far. I love you already, baby. It was indeed love at 1st sight.

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My 1st bump shot with you when i was 16 weeks. I didn’t even realised i had a bump. I thought i was… fat.

And then i went on taking lotsa other baby bump picture because you made me feel good and look good! Hahaha

My last bump-shot with you! I was preparing the nursery cos it’s one week away to your arrival and i was silently hoping you won’t show up earlier than you should cos your nursery wasn’t complete. (Your papa told me i look like a pregnant vietnamese maid in that pyjamas. He’s rude.)

Hours before you arrived! You gave me an easy pregnancy. I don’t think i even threw up. I had normal headaches but that’s it. No insane cravings either. You also gave me a quite drama-free labour. Everything went quite smoothly, Alhamdulillah.

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And then you finally arrived on 14 January 2015 at 8.27pm. After 8 hours of labour. It was painful but no regrets at all. You came out at 3.215 kg and 53cm. So tiny and cute.

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I miss those peesh-ball cheeks.

Today, you’re 1 year old. I love you more than ever.
Everyday i look forward to doing new things with you. I smile when i see you give me that cheeky smile. It’s been a great 1 year, baby.

The best 1 year i’ve had. True, it’s challenging. At times, i get so frustrated with my new job as a mummy. It’s not you baby. It’s me.

But you taught me patience. Many times, you tested my patience too. Lol.
Each day i pray that Allah keep you safe from harm and hope that he’ll  never take you away from me and keep you close to me all the time.

I’m not the best mummy around but i promise i’ll try my best. Someday, i would want to hear you telling your friends “my mummy is the best mummy in the world.”

Someday, baby.

Here’s to 1 year of us being together.
1 year worth of cuddles & kisses.
1 year of achieving milestones.
1 year of me surviving motherhood.

When you cry, please know i’ll always be there to wipe your tears.
It brightens my day when you’re happy and i always look forward to see you smile.

Happy Birthday, Nadya Raessa.
I love you. So, so much.

 

 

 

Uncategorized

11 months

Just 1 day before her 1st birthday. I better pen down her 11 mths milestones before i can’t catch up with everything.

I think the most exciting thing to happen at 11 months, Nadya took her 1st few steps few days after turning 11 mths. Yaaaaaay.
The funny thing was we bought her a pushwalker a day before that, thinking that she can learn how to balance herself etc. End up being a white elephant seh.

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So yeah, sometimes she prefers not to be carried and will arch her back till you let her go. Baaaahhhh. So hard to take pictures now!
Few minutes after we took these candid shots, she fell flat on her face and hurt her lip. So kesian but also padan muka. Hahahaha. Kidding.
Tu lah tak nak dengar cakap mak. I say i carry you, so u just ikut je k next time? :p

Sidetrack a bit, that baju kurung was made for her when she was 6mths old. Now it’s so sendat and pendek. Still so cute though. .

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The Robocop walk. #NadyaRaessa #11mths

A post shared by Dyan Razali (@deardyan) on

We call this the Robocop Walk because that’s just how it is! Hahaha.
it’s really funny cos she’s still finding her balance but now she’s slightly better and she can walk even faster and when she knows you’re coming after her, she’ll walk even faster! Hahaha confident abis ah this one.

She talks a lot too and sometimes, she’ll repeat after me. When i sing Twinkle Twinkle, she’ll finish up with the ending words like “starrrr.” “areee”
and then today she said Banana. Her favourite fruit evaaah.

She knows how to say Papa as well. Totally ignoring how to say Mummy though. I so sad. Dah lah muka photocopy Papa dia. Then now this.
Life is so unfair.

and you know what? She finaaaaaalllly know how to do that Goodbye wave. I was wondering what took her so long and realized that she’ll never learn cos we don’t say Goodbye to her. She’ll still sleep when Rusly is off to work and she clings on to me like Koala Bear. We go everywhere together. Bila masanya nak bid goodbye? So i tried and wave goodbye to het and she picked that up after few times. So it made me realize again just how much they can absorb and how they’ll emulate us so i’m realllly careful with the things i do or say.

Notice something? God, it’s so embarrassing when she does this, especially in public places. hahaha. Eh mana datang ni perangai tak senonoh ni? Lol

She’s also turning out to be quite the scream-o. Will scream if you don’t give her things she wants / if she can’t reach for the things she wants. I know this is not a testament to how she’ll be when she grows up but i hope she’ll mellow down a bit when she’s older. Else, i’ll have second thoughts about having the 2nd one. Lolololololol.

I’m already scared for her terrible two phase. And she’s not even 1 yet.

I heart this girl a lot. We spend a lot of time together. Yet i miss her when she sleeps. I’m a clingy mother.

Baby is turning 1 tomorrow. Baaaah so fast, i know.
We’re doing a small party for her and i can’t believe i’m saying this but i can’t wait for the partyyyy!

Uncategorized

That time of the year

I’m too lazy to do a recap of this year. I’m beyond exhausted and i think you know why.

But the cause of my exhaustion is also the best thing to ever happen in 2015.

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The one who taught me the meaning of unconditional love. Very cliche eh?
But when you’re a mom, u’ll know what it means to love someone so much, it’s immeasurable. Who knew, this little girl, barely 1 yr old could teach me so many things in life. She’s the best thing to happen in 2015.

Bittersweet 2015. We welcomed Nadya and said goodbye to my late mother-in-law. Each day i think of her. Of how things would be so much different if she’s still here. 😦

I don’t know what 2016 has in store for us. But we’ll brave through it together.

Motherhood, Nadya Raessa, Uncategorized

Pancake & Play

So we tried Paddington House of Pancakes for the 1st time.
Currently, the only branch in Singapore is at City Square Mall and to be honest, i wasn’t really keen in trying it but since we had to go City Square Mall anyway, i thought why not?

We also thought a Pancake place would be quite good for lunch cos i can let Nadya have it as well. Nadya lovessss Pancake!

I ordered Oslo which is the Smoked Salmon one and Rusly ordered Monaco which is the one with the lamb shoulder. We ordered Blueberry Pancake Shortstack for Nadya. We ate the ice cream though. Lol

They were nice but we tasted nicer savory pancakes elsewhere but it’s still nice & worth the money! The portion is huge. The smoked salmon, i suspect they gave me half a pack of it. Lol There were too many! I got jelak after a while. The place is also kid-friendly. Ample space for a high seat. Not stuffy at all.

Would go back there again if i’m around the area but won’t specifically go to City Square Mall just to have this.

Paddington House Of Pancakes
180 Kitchener Road, City Square Mall
#02-35/36
Tel: 6612 9029

So anyway, the reason we went to City Square Mall was to let Nadya have her 1st Indoor Playground experience.

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I chanced upon The Petite Park while googling on Indoor playgrounds for infants. As we all know, most indoor playgrounds mostly target the toddlers / older kids with all those big slides etc. Nadya is mostly a crawler so i don’t wanna overwhelm her with those kind of indoor playground, just in case she gets stepped all over.

According to the website, The Petite Park is designed for children under 130 cm or (in most cases) children under 7 years of age. In fact most of the toys featured are quite Petite! Nadya was the youngest and the shortest. And of course the cutest but that’s just me being biased and shameless. Hahahaha.

She loves this station the most, spending the longest time here. I had to take her away cos eh eh baby, i pay so much, u play wooden blocks only? lol

I notice she likes the pretend play area. Like this masak-masak corner also and she has this liking for taking things out from a basket. She’ll take out the content one by one and then leave the scene and you’ll see me at the back putting back all the things in the basket. Hahahaha.
I kasi chance tau baby.Nanti dah besar u do like this, u kemas sendiri ok.

I brought her to the Bouncy Castle and she end up loving that too. Or maybe she likes it cos got friends. She loves company, this one!

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Hates the ball pit though. She cried bloody murder when i tried putting her in. I wanted to go into the ball pit so bad. But aiyah Nadya spoiler ah.
Hahahaha.

You know what’s surprising? She wasn’t that tired but we left before the 2 hours were up because Rusly & I got really tired running after her and all. Age is catching up seh.

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We then went to Toys R Us which is really a tempat puaka cos i wanna buy everything there. Really, mak dia yg melebih. But we got her.. surprise, surprise… wooden blocks! hahahaha

Ok we also got her a push-walker and then she end up walking on her own days after without the help of the walker! Thanks ah baby.
But now she pushes that walker macam nak gi racing kereta. Living the dangerous life, this one!

I love The Petite Park cos it’s targeted to the younger ones but the location is too far from us and i’ve recently found out that an indoor playground just opened very near home so maybe we’ll try that one soon!

I’ve signed her up for a trial class at My Gym. We’re waiting for them to get back to us when we can go for the trial! If she likes it, then we’ll get the package for her.

I personally think indoor playgrounds are quite fun for them. I’m all about keeping Nadya occupied and minimize the usage of gadgets as much as i can. Nadya is quite hyper  and really there’s just so much she can do at this age. But i’m not gonna be going indoor playground hopping all weekend though! I’m fine even if she’s just out socializing with people her age. Until the next play session!

The Petite Park
180 Kitchener Road, City Square Mall
#B2-51/52
Tel: 6636 7267

Don’t forget to bring socks for baby & for yourself!

Le Familia, Makan Chronicles, Motherhood, Nadya Raessa, Uncategorized

Star Lights, Star Bright

I love weekends especially cos Rusly work office hours so once it’s friday, kita hooray2!

Our friday ritual is to go my mom’s place and i always dress Nadya up even though my mom’s place is only 10mins  drive away. lol

Too cute, i cannot! She’s at the stage where she can’t keep still so taking ootd is reaaallly hard work! But check out that side profile. lol

Continue reading “Star Lights, Star Bright”

Uncategorized

9 months: #NadyaNomNomNom

1

Mashed Potato with Beef Bolognese: 
Mash boiled potatoes and mix with a little bit of unsalted butter.
Stir Fry minced beef with VCO, Garlic, Cherry tomatoes, baby spinach. You can sprinkle in dried oregano as well. Serve!

2

Vegetable Risotto: 
Mince Baby spinach, Carrots and Garlic.
Heat up your non-stick pan with VCO, fry mince garlic for a while, then put in the Arborio rice. Coat the rice with the minced garlic and VCO before pouring in the chicken stock. You can put in the minced carrot and let it simmer. Once the rice is cooked, add in baby spinach, a little bit of butter and cheese. Mix well & serve.

3

Butternut Squash Risotto: 
Same cooking method as above.  I replace it with butternut squash and cherry tomatoes.

4

Cheesy Salmon Baked Rice 
Stirfry the following with VCO;
Salmon, Butternut Squash, Baby spinach, Garlic.
Once done, mix with steamed rice and top it off with cheese. Bake it for 10mins at 180 degs.

5

Tomato Chicken Rice 
Stirfry the following with VCO;
Dried oregano, cherry tomatoes, chicken & garlic. Serve with steamed rice.

6

Steamed Egg Custard + Stir Fry Beef & Spinach Soup 
For the Steamed egg, i followed the recipe here
Spinach soup, i just add in onion and ikan bilis stock i’ve made earlier.

7

Homemade Pasta Sauce: 

• Onion & Garlic
• Butternut Squash
• Carrots
• Tomatoes
• A sprig of rosemary
• A handful of basil leave

Cook everything together and then freeze batch for future use.

 

Nadya Raessa, Uncategorized

10 months

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This post was stuck in my draft for the longest time cos i was too busy the past few weeks. But yay to Nadya turning 10 months! We’re inching closer to her 1st year. Mummy is not ready!

Physically, she’s definitely bigger and taller now. I carry her everyday and i noticed that too. It’s almost like she grew a lot overnight.

And her developments are on super-turbo these days. Like she wanna achieve everything before she turns 1! They really grow up reallly fast.

Continue reading “10 months”

Nadya Raessa, Uncategorized

Young Parents

I know i was supposed to update on Nadya’s photoshoot with Young Parents magazine. That shoot happened when she’s 6mths and now she’s 10mths. Lol

Not my fault though cos i asked for permission to share the photos through my social media and we had to go through many approvals before they give permission to. I take this seriously because it’s a copyright material after all. SO really wanted to make sure i get the all clear before i share.

So here are the pictures that came out in the September issue and this is the soft copy given to me by them.

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MY BABY!!!! ❤ ❤ ❤

You don’t know how proud i was when i flipped open the magazine and see her flashing her bright smile.

The day this issue was out, i went ahead and bought 4 copies to be given to my family, my FIL and for us to keep. Heehee.

Definitely will blow up this picture and frame it up for her.
We’ll definitely do this again if another opportunity arise!