moving out..

Hi,

I am not here anymore, because i have moved here
see you!

old home VS new home

The first picture was of our apartment in Riyadh area, Khartoum. Our house was on the ground floor. There were 9 families in that building, and we had 4 vans ferrying us (schoolchildrens, madams to the souq, childrens to extra-classes, madams to shopping, etc). It was not grand, but it was nice. DOn't be tricked by what you see from the outside. I'd like to think that the inside of our homes were comfortable enough, good enough, and catered to all of our needs.

The second picture, is of course, the new P3tronas Sudan Complx. It houses the office buildings and also the apartments for the staffs and their families. Alaaa..macam kuarters polis la tu..

The inside is a bit modern (note the "bit"), makes you feel like you are in Malaysia.

It has 2 blocks (for the apartments), A & B. Block B was completed first, and we moved in on 26th July 2008. The unit is smaller than our old house, but then, it feels spacious enough for our family. Apart from the book shelves that we brought from Malaysia, everything else was provided.(wardrobes, mattresses, dining table, 2+1 sofas, fridge, plasma TV,etc).

The complex also has a playground (can be seen from our living room), and a field. Things were a bit clumsy at first, but Alhamdulillah, after a few weeks, things havebecome more organized, and we have started calling this new place "our homes"..

i'll have to move

somehow, i think my blog is no longer stable. thanks to my tunjuk-pandai-belek-belek-ubah-sana-sini-mode, this morning. I have got a few warning message saying that there were some errors, and i have also lost some of the links, posts, photos, ect form my original blog template.

though i have not been a good blogger(did not update regularly, did not even check on my blogs for a few months soemtimes- dah tau no updates, kan!), still it means a lot to me. I have poured some of my heart contents (cheh!), to my SIL, what i felt towards her, my little eforts on putting my appreciation onto words. This blog has also been my 'friend'when i need someone to talk to, the foreign -land where i go to, when i felt lonely, and sad, since my husband was away in Sudan, and i was with the kids in Malaysia. I guess, i kind of abandon it, once i stepped my feet in Sudan, once the loveds ones are all together again. I feel there's no need for me to have it (visited, regularly, or even updated), since i'm no longer lonely, and BTW, i 'feel' busy , too!

But i was wrong; for this blog still means a lot to me, and if not, i wouldn't have cared to change the templates, linked it to my facebook, tell people that i have one, think of what to write for my next post, of what picures will look nice in it,or of whether people would care enough to read it, etc, etc..

I just hoped whatever is left will still be there, no more missing stuffs the next time i visit this blog. ( if the next time i opened my blog, and found it empty, gone, crashed- i will definitely go crazy huuhuhuhu..).

okay, enough of that. I'll pen-off, and I'll come back!

salam

In the background is the White Nile River. From L-R: Lutfil didukung,
Hafiz, Umar & Asif ( a neighbour's son)

Salam,

Akhirnya...dapat jugak 1 entry dari Khart0um hehe heh
Kita sampai sini on the 1st Nov 2007(Thursday). It wasn't very hot, just suam-suam gitu. The first few days, kitorang pengsan habis. Lutfil tidur dari pukul 3pm sampai 10am esok harinya.
We went to the souq (Souq markazi) , hunting for meat, veggies and fruits 2 days later.
Okay jugak souq diaorang ni. Until now, the veggies i usually buy from the souq are carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, jirjir (sedap buat ulam ni), cabbage, lettuce, french beans, also onions, garlic and birds' eye chillies. kekadang nampak jugak ocra, tapi tak pernah beli lagi, sebab BERBULU sangat..nanti gatal pulak anak tekak ni..Tanya orang yang dah lama kat sini pun, depa tak pernah try..kecik dan berbulu..
Biasa orang sini guna ocra untuk campur dalam masakan dia. Ocra tu grounded, pastu masuk dalam kuah, so dia jadi pekat, jelly-like gravy. Yang nampak pintu on the right is our house (ground floor)

Kitorang sampai airport tu dalam pukul 6.15pm, and there were 3 vans waiting for us. We reached our new home at around 7pm, dah agak gelap. When I got out of the van, I couldn't figure out what the building in front of me was. I thought it was some old building where we would wait for another van ke, bus ke, limousine ke (hehe..). My husband got inside the building first, i followed and immediately i smelt something yang masyam-masyam. I looked around, banyak nya sofa lama yang berhabuk & i pun macam bingung-bingung sikit..
After a few steps, my husband stopped infront of a door, unlocking it and said "Ni lah rumah kita". Oh! Okay..
I remember a friend who has been here for 3 years said that the first time she saw the building, she cried and felt like going back. I would say that the outside may look a bit 'dull', and masyam-masyam, and dusty (in fact, very!!), but in the inside IS my home, our home. At least I have been here for almost 5 months ,and never ever feel like going back. Alhamdulillah, things are great, and I'm adjusting and loving every minute i spend here with my husband and children.

I would encourage whoever has the chance to come here, whether it's a job offer, or to accompany a husband or a wife, do give yourself (and Suedan) a chance, and InsyaAllah, you'll be glad you did.
The masyam-masyam smell? Alaaa..yang tu dah lama biasa lah. Kita counter attack dengan bau belacan, ikan kering, cencaluk apa semua..should be fine ..hehe..

MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA!

Selamat Hari Kemerdekaan Yg ke 50 Tahun everyone!

How was your merdeka day? We ( myself & the 3 boys) had a quiet morning and we had merdeka-related activity in the afternoon ( not for lutfil, though).

I am glad that I registered Umar and his 2 cousins (nadia & nabila) for the Merdeka-themed cake decoration activity@ UkS centre yesterday. We had great fun. At least I did, HAHAH.

I teamed up with Umar and Nabila with Nadia. There were 2 other teams ( Uks owner's ckids, and one of another Uks member and her little girl. Umar was so excited that he got to play with the icing, and knife, and other 'tools' needed to get the job done. Once in a while ( or was it most of the time?0, he would lick his ingers, wrist, and get some more icing from the container. He even ate the moon and the star (fondant), that were supposed to be placed on top of the cake.

Luckily, they have many more extras of those, phew!

We finished quite early, but the decoration was far from fancy. very simple, teramat sangat. No wonder other people finished theirs about 30 minutes later, rupa-rupanya they were creative enough to put up other sorts of lip-lap, lip lap for the decoration. And we had our plain bendera. 'kwang, kwang, kwang...

Releks Umar, this is our first attempt, remember? We'll do better the next time we do this..

UKS Charity Activity 25TH AUG 2008

This is the first time i joined the Ummiku Sayang (UkS) charity group for their mission,
the location was the Kajang Hospital ( so, that explains my participation, dekat dengan rumah lah!). The targeted group was the Pediatric Ward of the said hospital. It was great fun to see such a crowd, but of course those kids turned-up with all the bandages, IV lines, arm sling, etc. At first, they looked a bit uncomfortable, what with the 'costumes' and maybe the fact that they are not well ( we were in the ward, remember?!). The moment they got the gift packs, the printed paper merdeka-themed cap, and of course, the big beautiful cake of the same theme, they started smiling and being bubbly again. I managed to capture a few smiles, not only from our little patients, but from the parents as well ( oh, some with the whole family in tow!).

There was also a story telling session (Read Aloud), by Mdm Nita with her 2 beautiful daughters on stage, giving the children an excitement of 'A Walk in the Jungle' and 'Nasi Lemak Ibu'. Hmm...this RA session made me wonder, when will I do mine? My audience is usually my 3 boys, of whom I can act silly with, or put up some hillarious actions ( diaorg gelak, apaaa..). But infront of other kids? Other kids, and THEIR PARENTS? Oh..no no..NO! I think the first thing those parents would do, is to ban their kids from further watching this 'over-acting auntie', next is to cautious their kids from befriending my 3 musketeers, and ..OK! I KNOW I'M EXAGGERATING! I KNOW, I KNOW!! STOP!! back to what i wanted to write, people.

The UkS children were kind enough to hand out a big Get Well Soon card for our little darlings. I am no stranger to wards, nut gov3rm3nt hospital wards? Taking care of sick kids in the hospital wards like I have seen last Saturday, is something else. When I say , that my children checked-in and checked-out from hospitals, i have already made that sound like spending a few nights and days in a good hotel. In fact Umar thought that if not for the IV lines and the process to insert the IV lines, it was a good hotel, no doubt! What with a dedicated doctors, and kind nurses who always check on you.."fever?, no fever?, here's your lunch!, here's your medicine', ooh..no wonder he thinks of hospital wards so positively!

As much as I want to say to the mothers I met that :" I understand how you feel", or 'I've been through this', or "Anak saya pun baru keluar hospital Isnin lepas", I can't. I just can't.

While I always had a spacious room only for my son and me, with a bathroom, mirror, cupboard/wardrobe, a sofa, a chair, a cable TV , lights here and there, newspaper, air-conditioned room, sometimes request for a baby cot, so that I could sleepmon the bed, or ask for another bed if the need arises, good food for the mother and son, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

The mothers or whoever were taking care of the children in the ward, do not have all this.

I'm not sure of those in first class wards, though? Any such thing as first class wards?

They can't just sleep in private, the children who obviously need lots of rests may not have the proper nap they needed, what with the neighbours crying out loud, they are oblivious to the passers-by, etc,etc,etc. It would have been a good lesson for Umar, too! Plus, it was his 4th birthday on that Saturday, 25th Aug. But I didn't bring him along. Maybe I should, the next time I join this kind of activity.

All in all, i would say that it was a success and I'm glad that I made the effort to be there. Bravos to UkS members who were there, (physically or in spirit), who made great effort to give the children of the Kajang Hospital's Pediatric Ward, a day to remember. Clap, clap, clap..

For more picture of the events, please go to my flickr. Wait, not yet uploaded, soon, InsyaAllah..

Oh yes, Umar was warded again, on the 17th Aug, this time of asthma. He was breathing very heavily started Thursday evening, and I heard a funny sound everytime he exhaled. I brought him to Az-zahrah medical centre, Bangi at 12.00am, and he was giving the gas once and some medication. I plan to bring him to GMC, since they have his records of croup, bronchiolitis, etc, but early Friday morning he had difficulty in breathing, even telling me that "Ibu, Umar penat". He looked vey pale when we were in the car, and looking at my watch , it was 7am on Friday, knowing the traffic, I was just scared that we might not make it on time, since he looked very pale and breathing very slowly, as if he was so tired of taking deep breaths. So, I made my move to Az-Zahrah, about 20 minutes from the house, and he was admitted. We spent 2 nights in the hospital, and since it was near, we took a home leave on Saturday morning to see the 2 little brothers. They were at home with Bibik. My DH was always at the other end of the telephone line, and knowing that i can always call him, however,whenever I wanted to, helped a lot too!

Last Sunday, we had a makan-makan for Umar's birthday. Oh, did I tell you about the Creative Music & Movement class i attended last weeks, with teacher Farra? OOhhoo.. I had a good time. I was the only mother/non-teacher in the class, out of 12 participants. The rests are pricipals/teachers from various kindergarten & enrichment centers. Alamak, berderau darah belajar dengan cikgu-cikgu nih! heheh..

InsyaAllah, will post about them later...

art attack..the beginning

demam-demam pun masih berkarya..

What do you make of a pen and a paper!
This is what Umar made!
I should have taken photos of his other creations, like fish from newspapers, stingrays, eumbrella, all from paper/newspaper.
He was doing his own 'work' when he put this on his head and announced "Tutup kepala, salji turn"
(sorry, obviously, he had never seen snow before..hehe)