A marathon of HOPE

The late Terry Fox
July 1958 - June 28 1981

Last sunday, the whole bunch of Party of 5ive entered the Terry Fox run 2011 held at Padang Merbok KL recently. It was the second running event that we brought the kids along. The first was the KFC Walk of Charity Life about 2 weeks ago. The distance this time was a 3km family run which to me kira cam easy peasy lah considering I had done the furthest 10km (sungguh la eksyen) at the Putrajaya Night Marathon about a month ago.

Some facts about the The Terry Fox run. According to Wikipedia, Terrance Stanley Fox, the man who so much inspired the marathon of hope died in 1981 due to bone cancer. He contracted the disease when he was 18 years old. He was a Canadian humanitarian, athlete and also a cancer research activist. Such an impressive achievement  for a young man of 22 years old! Admirable indeed.

When he decided to run to raise money for cancer awareness and research, he was already an amputee (he lost his right leg due to cancer). His aim was simple - to raise a dollar for each of Canada's 24 million population at the time. But he was forced to end the run eventually as cancer had spread to his lungs. He completed it in just 9 months before he succumbed to his illness.

To date, a cool $500 plus million had been collected throughout the marathon of hope yearly event since its inception. Today, The Terry Fox Run is the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research. More information on the late Terry Fox here.

note the kid in the middle looking so forlorn...he was subtly giving a protest look when told that we will be running that morning..

 memasing tengah sibuk buat hal sendiri..

budak tecit yg suka memerap..

tergolek dog..

I need my handyplastttt pronto! 

We managed to complete the run albeit an injured runner (pic above). So drama king lah that kid huhu.

Riang ria Aidil Fitri

Date Night

Ekcelikan cerita ni cerita basi tapi aku tetap nak post kat sini gak. Heck, its my blog kan so suka hati aku la nak tulis apa kan. Muahaha! 

Tanggal 12hb April 2010 iaitu bersamaan hari Isnin dan mengikut kalender Islam iaitu 27hb Rabiulakhir adalah hari ulangtahun perkahwinan aku yang ke 13. Perghh, macam stail Penyimpan Mohor Besar Raja2 nak announce tarikh puasa kat TV tu. Ahaks, terlebih sudah.

Dah 13 tahun kahwin tak pernah sekali pun aku pegi dating ngan suami. Habis2 pun kitorang pi JJCM ngan satu family. Ataupun beli kek sebijik kat Resepi Rahsia. Gitulah.

Jadi pada hari tersebut, aku dan suami pakat nak pi dating berdua aje. Konon nak lain dari yang lain. Anak-anak kitorang pontengkan sekolah dan postkan ke rumah opah dorang tapi sebelum tu sempat lah membodek anak2 dgn bawak dorang makan di Bubba Gump yg femes itu di The Curve. Silalah tengok gambar... *ek eleh eksyennya*

tak hingat lak menu shrimp ni tapi memang sedap la. makan ngan jasmine rice dia yg bau harum tuh. udang ni mmg peberet kitorang...

 pear & bear salad. so shedap!

 Asben & Kak Ngah. Dalam pada tu sempat gak dia berpesbuking...ish3x

 strawberry lemonade yg Kak Long pesan. kalau datang sini dia suka sangat order air ni...

since si Bee tak reti nak ratah udang cam kitorang, so orderkan dia french fries (ni mmg peberet dia pon). the portion is generous...kenyanglah dia makan

Selepas menghantar dorang ke rumah opah, kami pun apalagi terus ke kaunter GSC beli 2 tiket (Gold Class) Clash of the Titans pukul 7.45ptg pehtu beli another tiket cerita Date Night pukul 12.15am. Masa tengok list of movies kat screen list tu adalah ternampak cerita melayu ~ Semerah Cinta Stiletto and a few cerita cina tapi semua cam tak best. Cerita kartun How To Train Your Dragon macam tak sesuai la pulak sebab anak2 takde. Kalau nak ikutkan hati memang nak nonton marathon malam tu tapi 2 cerita tu lah yg dipilih sebab nampak best yang lelain macam hampeh. 

1utama selepas pukul 2 pagi! wow...so sunyi sepi...kalau jalan sensorang ni mau seram gamaknyer!

balik ke hotel sebelah 1utama selepas wayang selesai. itu bukan jelmaan yek hanya bayang2 ku sendiri...*nak sedapkan hati sendiri masa post gambar nih*

TAMAT!

Scooba do be doo

The girls were ecstatic when told that they were going for some fun splash last weekend. Little do they know that it wasn't the usual splash in wading pools in theme park. It was more than that. Since they love the water so much, daddyness had decided to enrol them in scuba kids discovery lesson held in Bangi. And boy, were they having fun alright.  

And as they say, a picture tells a thousand words.   

coach Dollah explaining the girls about the basic equipments for scuba diving... teaching them how to use the regulator when under waterall ready and set to go...getting ready to descend into waterslowly submerging like a submarine...the pool may look shallow but its actually an 8 metre deep...happy look on Kak Ngah's face...

After an exhausting activity in the pool, all 3 of them tergolek dok in the car! Little Bee didn't participate in the scuba lessons (too young) but I guess he was pretty tired just by watching his sisters and of course running here and there.

Since coach Dollah said that the girls were doing fine with the introductory lessons and didn't encounter any problems, we guess the next big step is to go for the ranger level before they can qualify for open water (international) level.

Hopefully they can make it through.

bonding time

sedang khusyuk berkebun..

a landscape artist at work? not. a penyibuk is more like it...

I think he enjoys digging the soil rather than trimming the leaves..

It was a rare occasion to see the husband tending the garden (tee hee hee) but seeing Little Bee helping his dad was indeed a kodak moment.

January girls

The girls celebrated their birthdays recently with La Manila cake (Tiramisu cheesecake) at their grandma's house.

Since they shared the same month but only a week apart, we thought a single cake would suffice. And look who keeps menyibuk at the cake-cutting ceremony if not Little Bee. Ish ish ish!

keeping up with the KardaCians

Little Bee's first day at school went without a glitch. On the first day itself, the husband suggested that Little Bee should take the school van instead of us sending him. Of course, I was a bit apprehensive, knowing how distractive Little Bee can be but when the husband said that we will follow behind to check on him (or rather his behaviour), I agreed.

When we arrive at the school, there were not many parents around. I saw one mother sitting on the floor next to her daughter with her face slumped on her mother's lap at the corner of the classroom and judging by the look on her face, she must have been exasperated.

I scanned the room and saw Little Bee sitting comfortably on the floor doing brick puzzles and he looked somewhat at ease. He looked quite happy and seems not bothered with the alien surroundings. Ah, the very characteristic of an ADD child, it must be.

I'm so glad that Little Bee has managed to adapt himself so well in kindy and I must say, I am grateful that his kindy had accepted someone like him. I wish for all kindies to have special class for special kids. They deserved to be educated and not ignored and we are very far behind in understanding special needs children ie the difficulty learning kids, the hyper-active ADD/ADHD kids, dyslexia kids, autistic kids. These are kids who look normal physically but with disorders and I assume these are the very reason our government didn't take them seriously.

Why would I say that? Because our Prime Minister's wife is making great effort channeling money to build special school for the geniuses instead! I wonder if she's aware that there are special needs kids like my son for instance who also need the same kind of school for special needs? I consider my son fortunate because his parents could afford to send him to private kindy and rather expensive one at that (not trying to brag here) but what about those kids from hard-core poor and lower-income families who can't afford to send their kids to private kindy?

Meanwhile, Kak Ngah is in Year 3 and Kak Long is in Year 6. Gosh, can't believe how grown up they are especially Kak Long. She is about 2 inches shorter than me and still grows like a giraffe. Pretty soon, it would be me looking up at her instead of the opposite. Sigh. She had been telling me that some of her girlfriends had been experiencing some form of haemorrhage every month and she kept on asking when will her turn be. I jokingly told her that she should be enjoying her period-less before BFF (best friend forever) crosses her path and turn her life upside down for the next 40 years!

Kak Long had also been sternly reminded that this year she isn't going to be on honeymoon mode. She has to eat, sleep, talk and shit books all day! And Sergeant Mom had been entrusted by General Dad to keep Kak Long under close watch, in case she tries to flee from the drill. LOL!

As for me, life goes on as usual and I have Facebook to thank for.

These days, when I'm not watching the kids as often as before, I'm always there.

Almost everyday.

direct translation

Kak Ngah: Ibu, kita boring sungguh hari ni. Citer kat tv pun tak best la. Boleh tak kita tengok dvd?

Ibu: Ok, citer apa Kak Ngah nak tengok?

Kak Ngah terus membelek kotak toyogo yg dipenuhi dvd itu. Ada yang original dan ada juga yang cetak rompak. Tapi banyak yang cetak rompak dari yang original. Hehehe.

Kak Ngah: Haa, kita nak tengok cerita TOLAK

Ibu: Hah?

Seingat-ingat aku yang pelupa ini, memang tak ada beli cerita tajuk TOLAK terutama cerita melayu yang aku rasa tersangatlah rugi beli dvd (ori ke cetak rompak) sebab Hari Raya nanti gerenti masuk tv.

Ibu: Citer apa tu?

Kak Ngah: Citer omputeh. Ala cepat la pasang buuuu...

Ibu: Ok ok laa...bak la sini dvd tu (sambil Kak Ngah menghulurkan dvd ke ibu yang blur-blur sotong tu).

Laa, citer ni ke? Ish ish...

ben 10 poser

ready for action...

Ben 10 t-shirt and bermuda short bought at pasar malam  - RM11.00.

Ben 10 Omnitrix (watch-like device that transforms him into various alien forms) bought at convenience store  - RM14.90. 

Total price -RM25.90. 

The look on his face (after donning Ben 10 attire) - PRICELESS!  

Loud and Clear

I hate pap-smears. Not only are they giving me huge discomfort (I still feel sore from last check-up about 5 days ago), they are also invasive at the same time. Your gynae will ask you to spread your legs wide open and then start to insert your va-jay-jay with that scary looking shark-teeth piece of plastic while telling you to relax a bit and shove it further down until they found the right position to swab something out and it took like less than a minute to do that. I felt violated. Worse still, they bill you for that and they don't come cheap as well.

All this while, I've had my pap-smear done without the kids tagging along. I never like the idea of having my kids around when I go for this kind of check-up because I know they will ask lots of question and I don't feel like answering them. Its just too complicated.

But last Saturday, I had no choice but to bring them along together with the husband as he had to do some errands on the same day.

So while waiting for my turn, I took out a magazine and started to read to kill time when Kak Ngah decided to get chatty.

Kak Ngah: Ibu nak check apa ni?

Ibu: Ibu nak buat pap-smear.

Kak Ngah: Pap-smear? Apa tu? Lama ke nak buat?

Ibu: Err pap smear tu check perut jer. Kejap je check perut ni...tak sampai 5 minit siap la...

Kak Ngah: Ok la...kita nak keluar main kejap

And then she ran outside the room and joined her sister. I was relieved that Kak Ngah didn't ask so many questions and finally left me alone. As I sat there waiting, I realized there were 5 to 6 couples already wating for their appointments and looking at their wives' bellies, I presume they were all there for ante-natal check-ups.

After like an eternity or so of waiting, it was my turn to go in. After the procedure was done, I was ready to collect the bill when Kak Ngah ran towards me and hollered in a voice loud enough for everyone else to hear and said, "Ibu, dah siap ke pap smear ibu?!". The answer was a barely audible yes.

I swear I heard someone giggled on our way out of the room. Sheesh.

Sex education 101

My eldest daughter came back from school yesterday with a slumdog millionaire question. I was in the kitchen preparing dinner. Her question was something like this.

Kak Long; Ibu, tadi kita nampak ada kucing belang hitam naik kat atas belakang kucing Achik W** pastu dia gigit tengkuk kucing tu. Kenapa ye?

Oh boy!

This is the part where I would pass the baton to the husband. Since he wasn't around when this question was posed to me I had to be cautious in explaining it to her. There was no way escaping it this time.

Ibu (straight face); Oh, sebenarnya kucing-kucing tu tengah mengawan. Depa nak buat baby. Tu sebab depa buat macam tu. *binawe punya kucing takde tempat lain ke nak beromen..*

Kak Long: Ohh *long pause*. Tapi kenapa kucing tu gigit tengkuk . Dia tak rasa sakit ke?

Ibu; Err, entah la ibu pun tak tahu dia sakit ke tak? Mungkin dia gigit tengkuk kucing tu supaya kucing tu tak lari jauh kut? *apa punya jawapan daa*

Kak Long; Ohh *another long pause*.... Masa ibu nak dapat baby dulu ibu ada buat macam itu tak?

Ibu; Err, kak long dah mandi ke belum?

Kak Long; Belum.

Ibu; Hah, apa kata Kak Long pegi mandi dah nak dekat maghrib ni nanti ayah balik tengok Kak Long tak mandi lagi mesti dia bising...kejap lagi nak masuk azan dah...blah blah blah....

Kak Long dissappeared from the kitchen almost immediately when I mentioned the magic word Ayah.

Phew! *wipe off sweat on forehead*

Twister

It lasted only a few seconds. The impact it made was totally massive. That's Hurricane Bee for you.

*seb baik anak sendiri kalau anak orang lain dah lama kena debik. :P*

The singing comedian

His real name is Nick Mitchell but for some strange reason he prefers to be called as Norman Gentle. Its probably his stage name I guess. I don't know what to make of him but he surely stood out in last night's performance for Group 2.

Does he have a chance? Judging from the crowd's response, he could make it to the top 12. Or not.

If he didn't make it, there's always Saturday Night Live. Heck, TinaFey got her first break there before rocking the world in 30Rocks.

A day at the hospital

Late November last year, we went to DSH for Little B's medical check-up. It wasn't a routine check-up but an assessment merely to determine Little B's physical development particularly his lack of communication skill.

As he reached the age of 3 and still couldn't make up any recognisable words (he still blabbers in baby-talk), we think it was time to undergo the check-up his pediatrician had recommended, the BAER test and MRI scan. I wrote about this sometime last year.

Both test were conducted to check on any abnormality on Little B's condition. Thankfully, both test came out negative. Dr Musa was kind enough not to charge consultation fee but we were terkedu when we receive the bill. Terketar-ketar tangan tengok jumlah $$$$ yang tertera kat the bill. And since the test weren't included in the medical insurance cover, maka rabak lah poket kitorang for that month. Adoi!

Anyways, Dr Musa has been our kids' pediatrician since they were babies. He was like our family doctor. A good doctor he is.

mak budak tengah dok menunggu sambil memerhati Little B masuk gua. the pic was a bit blurry coz cameras weren't allowed in MRI room. boleh rosak gitu so bapak budak took pics from outside. Little B was sedated before going in and his ears were covered with headphone, takut terjaga coz the MRI is one noisy machine. radiologist tu kata bukan budak kecik je kena sedated, orang dewasa pun ada yang kena sebab claustrophobic...ish ish

the MRI scan in progress...

DJ Lil' B in action, spinning some funky songs, not! after the MRI scan was completed, we were asked to go for the BAER test. he was still sleeping soundly during the BAER test. Took almost an hour to complete it. mak budak pun sempat tidor kat sebelah katil. sabor jek lah...



the BAER graph in progress...

Since the results were negative, Dr Musa recommends speech delay therapy for Little B. We went home in late evening after spending one whole day there. Fuh, sungguh lah penat. End of story part 1.