Owl

The time reads 4.56am and I still can't get to sleep after waking up at 2.30am. Gahhhh!

Whirlwind Weekend

We pride ourselves on having the most busy if not outrageous fun-filled weekends.

It was Vesak day on 5th May, last Saturday.  And this meant happiness and a free holiday in-lieu on the Monday of this week.  Which sadly passed, yesterday.  Oh well, good things have to come to an end.

Being career people as we are, it is sad that our lives go by, week in and week out with work in our heads and timetable.  Our little Owl, sadly, bears the brunt of this busy lifestyle of which many other household bears too. Kesian.

So, weekends are all for him.  Last Saturday, we spent the WHOLE day lazing out at home.  Yeah, the whole day! Haha.  We knew that if we did not rest, we would not be able to recover from the busy work week that we had.  Little Owl spent his time wrecking havoc (read:  Playing with his many toys, bicycles, watching movies, colouring, fixing his train set...) at home BUT I did not mind.  For, he deserved to play since he does not have a friend to play with.

Saturday also, marked my first surprising successful attempt at 5km.  I did not know what happened and how the formula changed, but my inpromptu running urge led to the completion of above said distance.  Yay! How I flushed with pride after the run, LOL, well actually I always turn dark red from intense, prolonged running.  The hubby told me that this was good as I actually have only 19 more days to my 10km Sundown, WTH.  Excuse the lang.

I do not know whether this was a chanced success or it was Allah's way of telling me that I WILL make it and that I will not collapse prematurely at the Sundown, 2012.  Hahaha! Either way, my legs look wonderfully taut after Saturday.

Saturday night was spent with my hubby's family at IMM, Jurong East Singapore la.  If you are a tourist, you can drop at Jurong East MRT station, and walk over about 800m or so.  Or take the cab la, no need to tire yourself. :)  Little Owl was top-notch that night.  Bouncing, running, flying here and there.  The ibu looked on in half-attempt, weakened from the run, LOL.   The Ayah took 100% charge of the chaotic personality.  He ate, he rode most of the rides there, he spent time with his grandparents, aunt/uncle and his adorable adik cousin, Kasih.

Mother in-law sat on an amazing full body massage chair.  I wanted to try too but I was a bit shy to have to sit infront of that eatery just to get my body fixed.  Sigh.

Sunday was spent in Orchard.  It HAD been a LONGGGG time that we skipped over just to be window shopping and breathing in the sights and sounds of dear old Orchard Road.  We had wanted to visit Cineleisure for the longest time.  He wanted to get his cap.  I had wanted to get my STICKY candies.  Go figure la.  I ended up getting 2 pairs of shoes.  1 casual loafers and 1 running shoes.

Can you believe my Adidas gave out  two soles.  1 after a lame 2.5km run, the other came out just as I was finishing my 5.02km? Blardy besotted are my soles.  Hope the new one does not give out that soon.  The Adidas was bought in 2008 or 2007 if I'm not wrong la.

Ok so Orchard.  We walked here and there.  Cineleisure changed so much. Long John Silver was enjoyed under the cosy weather.  Music filled the air as there was a flea market going on.  Managed to catch sight of what Scape looked liked.  It was filled with young blood, the trendy, the young still so cute and untainted.  I felt really old, but serene and accepting of being an adult.  The teenagers was not that bad.  They were just driven and focused on catching up with friends, shopping and playing skateboards.  LOL.  It was not filled with Lians and Bengs with tattoos and horrendous bleached hairs no more.  Thank God.  The kids nowadays have BETTER styles.

Pastel clothes.  Checkered shirts.  Skatepants. Sneakers.  Sportswear.  Maxi dresses.  Clutches. Rock chic, monotone wear, tights to cover varicose veins or hair.  Very cool bunch.  :)  They also do not swear, shout or stare at others.  This is a most encouraging trend.  Alhamdulillah.  :)  Singapore teenagers, continue with this trend ok.

We caught the roadshow over at Subaru too, Ngee Ann City.  I was not interested as I already have a car.  LOL.  My hubby was busy snooping around though.  Kata kereta idaman.  Haha.  One day, he ought to buy me a buruk old car, and he can drive the new SubARU.  I don't mind, really.  All I need is a car, not a Mazda, Subaru, Merc, BMW or anything.

All I need is a good, leather bag. LOL.  I know, unnecessary lah.    Oh yah, that reminds me.  Went into TOD'S too on Sunday.  And they have very very beautiful pastel leather bags.  I'm not referring to the ugly embossed ones that remind me of DIOR.  These are the ones with full leather, not embossed, big, slouchy and comes in many many dusty, pastel colours.  I like the blue one.

So after Orchard, and a gnawing headache and ear pain, we went home.  Little Owl had already pengsan-ed by then, so when we got home I had wanted to pengsan too. But, he woke up!

Spent the night watching movies with my family.  My husband, he is the sweetest thing.  :)

Monday was spent avenging our movie urge.  Managed to finally catch the Avengers.  Very awesome only for people who understand the underlying humour in the movie and the various individual traits and capability of each HERO.  Org yg tak suka boleh tolong direct the movie next time.  Cakap senang.  Semua tak bagus, semua tak add up.  Where's your sense of fun people?  This is not lesson planning ok, where your objectives and your reflective columns must be filled.

So now we're back to school.  Oh well, as I said all good things must come to an end, no?  Have a good week people.  I'm gonna sweat out mine as I have an observation coming up.  Gahhhh.

Simple Steps to a Slimmer Body

Disclaimer:   I'm not a fitness expert.  I do not claim that these methods are suitable for everyone.  It worked for me and I would just love to share.  Some physical activities should not be attempted without consulting your general physician. :)

Ladies you would agree with me on this.  All ladies would love to lose weight.  We, women, could never lose enough weight.  Everyone has a different objective when it comes to losing weight.  Some of us wants to achieve a slimmer silhouette, some of us just want to fit into our old clothes once more, some of us are tired of being ridiculed, some of us are sick of being tired all the time, some of us do it in the name of fashion.

So, which category do you fall under or into?

I would say that I fall into the category of achieving a slimmer body and fitting into my old jeans again.

I was born thin.  I have always been slim all my adolescent years.  I put on weight sometime during my higher education and when I just started working full time.  I did not even realised that I was putting on some flab.  Not a lot, but being a person who does not exercise or indulge in sports made my body look lazy and weak.  Lost weight and got lean in my mid to late twenties, thanx to workouts and fitness regimes.  Gained weight again after giving birth.  Then I was a hefty 58kg.  I'm not ashamed of that weight but I did look pudgier than I was comfortable with. :)

So here's what I did.

1)  I ate smaller portions of food.  1 serving of rice became half.  I ate one rice meal a day.  I tried to eat porridge in the mornings.  I tried to eat more chicken and vege at night if I was forced to take a meal with rice.

2)  I cut down on sodas and sweetened beverages.  I drank plain water all the time.

3)  I ate an apple for lunch.  Only 1 apple. :)  Crazy I know.  I know it is important to reenergise and refuel ourselves, but who said that you can't eat a fruit for a meal?  At times I ate an apple and a banana.  (and some crackers hahaha)

4)  I got busy.  I'm a busy person by nature.  I handle my toddler alone most of the times.  (My hubby work OTs on most days.)  That is a good fat burning method if ever there was one.

5)  I'm a PE teacher by chance for 2011 and 2012, and my PE periods kept me on the go.  I would be rushing to classes to fetch and send them.  I demonstrate skills to the pupils.  At times, I workout with them, dance, jog, skip and hula-hoop with them.  This too, helps.

6)  I try to workout every few days.  I actually feel guilty if I do not at least pick up my equipments after a few days of rest.  Being a mother, I cannot deny this is hard.  I wait for my toddler to fall asleep.  After which I get on my stepper for a minimum of 30 minutes or do the resistant tube sets for 15-20 mins.  I do 3 sets of 50 crunches.  When I'm super pissed, I do 100 crunches for each sets.  ;)  I do the hula for 30 minutes when I'm bored with my normal routines.  I do jumping jacks to train my stamina and I heard it is good for toning the legs and body too.  I just started running again, and usually I only run for 30 minutes, once a week.  I hope to do more.  As a result, I have nicer looking arms again, I can see my muscles again. :)

7)  I try to get enough sleep.  As long as I don't feel tired the next day, I know I had enough.  It doesn't have to be 8 hours of solid sleep for me.  5 would be enough on some days.

8)  I allow myself to indulge in the occasional chocolate bar, cupcakes and 2-a-day coffee fix.  I'm not kidding.

9)  I do squats, 2 sets of 15/20 - good ones, if I feel my butt is getting pudgy or droopy.  LOL.

10)  I walk very fast and I walk a lot.  I walk around the school to get my PE pupils.  I rush to meetings or classes.  I rush to school after running errands.  I run to my car to fetch my kid in time from the childcare.  I carry my kid from the carpark to my house.

11)  I do housework every night.  Sweeping.  Laundry.  Folding.  Cleaning.  Marking.

12)  I love fruits so I eat a lot of fruits.

After doing these for 5-6 months, I was pleasantly surprised that I was looking leaner and I was feeling stronger and more agile.  Despite my C-Section birth, I was able to exercise and live healthily, providing independantly for my child.  And I do not breastfeed.  I only did that for awhile.

I'm a 51 sometimes 52kg personality.  Ecstatic, yes I am.  I still feel that I should be toning my arms and legs more though.

My friends say that I'm too thin now.  I do not agree.  I define thin as being flailing-armed and bony.  My arms are bigger than my heavier friends.  I have biceps, what to do.  My legs are not skinny, I have muscles in my thighs, some la.  I still have a pouch although it looks flat when I dress.  I'm not slouchy, I'm quite straight-backed.  So which part is thin? :)

Perhaps this is due to the fact that I'm a tall lady.  1.7m.  So yes, I do look thin, but I still have reasonable flesh. :)

So did my entry help you?  My secrets revealed. :)  Good luck!

What Irks Me the most

There are a couple of things that irk me most.  And I'm not joking about this at all.

#1  People who criticise the way others don the hijab when they themselves are not hijab wearers.

Don't y'all know that this privilege only comes with those who actually don one?  I opened my facebook account today and read a status entry by an online friend.

Stating that an old person, an auntie, wore a translucent scarf that reveals the silhoutte of her neck.  And that isn't it better for the auntie not to be wearing a hijab at all.
She claimed that as a reminder to herself and that she was not criticising her at all.

Hello, your tone conveys that you are, dear.  By writing that to the whole world, what do you intend with that?

You say that it is better not to cover if not covered properly?  Mazhab mana kamu ni?  So it is better not to cover at all even if the wearer made a bad call/judgement and that only on that day the hijab happened to be  translucent and not opaque?  Eh apa ni?

Who are you to judge when you don't even wear the hijab?  When your ample chest is being exposed everyday?  When your butts are paraded for the whole world to see?  And you are not exactly slim-built which makes that fact even much more worse?

Who are you to criticise man?

It irks me that people would always pick on hijab wearer when they themselves don't feel a need or don't feel that it is time to don one.  Really utterly disgusting.  I had reasonable respect for this friend, but seriously now I am disgusted and appalled.

It is said that a hijab wearer, be it imperfect or otherwise, has made a noble move to better themselves.  Improvements can come later, when they have delved deeper into the meaning of hijab.  That means physical and metaphorically.

If wearing hijab to you is a hassle and that it is not meant for you, then zip that lips and stop attacking other hijab wearers for falling short of being perfect.  At least they have one good deed over you.

Some hijab wearers sincerely do not know how to look into the finer details.  As in clothes.  That when you wear lycra and other materials, it clings to their body.  And if their body is a little endowed, it would look vulgar.  That could be improved a step at a time.

Some hijab wearers follow the fashion and at times forget the purpose of hijab.  Meaning to say their clothes are body-clinging, body-skimming and their pants are tight and follows their shapely legs.  That too could be improved, with time and knowledge.

If you would like to remind yourself, do remind yourself that it is compulsory to wear the hijab to cover your hair and your chest.  No matter how you do it, it is absolutely "wajib" to don one.  Takkan nak tunggu sampai rambut da gugur, kulit da berkedut baru nak pakai tudung?

You would say that you pray and you ngaji and you attend various Islamic classes.  That you are trying to learn Islam deeper and that you have done everything to be a better Muslim.

Hello, iman has to be reflected even outwardly.  Pakai skirt nampak knees.  Tak pakai tudung.  Is that being a better Muslim to you?  Where is the kesan to which follows your Islamic knowledge?

Senang aje memperingankan ugama.  It starts with covering up, dear.  Janganlah cakap sesuka hati.  Thank you very much.

Ingatkanlah diri sendiri.  Jangan sahaja pinpoint others.

Trials

Often times as a mother, your patience would be continually tested.

As I stood at the kitchen window doing my laundry, I overheard a mother shouting at her son in the unit under my own.  The mother was counting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.... in warning to the son who had apparently touched and took something that he was not meant too.  The tone was harsh and full of electricity.  It was loud too.

The thing about toddlers that I had come to realise in this quarter of a year too was that they actually do not fully understand what they can or cannot do.  We often take their unwillingness to follow "orders" as a sign of disobedience.

This is not true, mommies.  Our toddlers are still full of awe and they love exploration.  Do not take their refusal to abide by our rules as a sign of disobedience.  They are merely curious and they express their "wants" for something point-blank.  They do not as yet know that there are times that it is really inappropriate to say, grab a shampoo or use a broom to chase after a cat.

They live in a cartoon world where everything is possible.  Afterall, they grow up watching the cartoons that you let the watch on TV.

I actually stood in embarrassment and reflected at my own technique of  scolding Little Owl (my son of 2 years old) whenever he touches anything and refuses to put it down.  He has also taken to frowning at me to express his unhappiness at being asked to put something down.

3 SIMPLE WAYS TO DEAL WITH ANGER (when our toddler does something out of line)

1)  Remember to breathe in and out (many times) and remember that if they have as yet to understand simple sentences on paper, remember too that they are very unused to "RULES".

2)  Always reprimand with a firm tone and model correct behaviour.  Repeat and try to remove items from toddlers hands.  Praise them if they finally yield towards your instructions.  Avoid beating them and shouting at them full of anger.

3)  Never react in anger and beat them in anger.  This shows them that the love you have for them is being compromised and this makes them feel insecure.  It could lead to trauma.  It leads to fear and not a good lesson learnt.

************************************************************************************

I realise that these methods are not full-proof especially when the situation calls for proper reprimanding.  However, do it with a level-head and do not scold "brutally"...  After all, they are just 1- 4 years old.  What do they know?  They are young and they are still trying to express their individuality by the things that they encounter.

It is not easy being a mother, enough said.  But take this as a motivation to deal with anger positively.  They ONLY have you to protect them.  How can the 'protector' turn 'predator'?  Something to think about?

:)  More tips about Maintaining Health after Childbirth soon.

10 ways to beat your Inner Demons

First and foremost, I would like to say that I don't deem myself to be the expert in this subject. However I would like to share my tried and tested ways to decrease or kill that inner green eyed monster or stress bug. 1) Do not be anal about getting things just right. Give yourself a break. If your house is topsy turvy and not exactly magazine-cover condition, say "so what????" 2) Do not despair or take it out on yourself if you fail to meet a deadline or fail to remember something. You are ONLY human. 3) Do not unleash that green monster upon hearing success stories of others or seeing other people with more than what you could ever achieve or own. This is not healthy. You know what happened to them but you do NOT know what they've been through. 4) Do not adopt a Holier than thou attitude. Lead by example. People do not wish to hear that you are always right. They prefer your empathy of their situation. 5) For everyone you envy, there are 10 other people who wished they had what you already own. It is hard to say how our feelings go. It could go positive on good days, nasty on other hormonal days. That is no reason to be an evil personality. Unloading your cruel remarks and opinions hurt others even when you think it is what they need to her. :)

Hijab

This girl is beautiful. Her beauty further enhanced with very good makeup skills. I don't deny. :)

Her name is YaztheSpaz. She actually takes the trouble to introduce many many varieties of hijab styles.

Mostly though, I feel not really appropriate because it falls short of the chest area. We do know that our chest needs to be covered right?

Being a voluptous girl, I think that it looks a little indecent and provocative on her. Now if we were skinny like say, Hana Tajima or ermmmm myself (not that I'm that skinny, but I am very very under-ly endowed, if u know what I mean, hehehehe)... This style would be passable, with the help of stiff clothes or puffy clothes that does not betray our "cup" size. Or menjolok mata.

It is very good effort from her. To empower people with the knowledge of putting on hijab which to most of us are pretty mandatory already by now. :)

However, perhaps when she has delved deeper into the Islamic knowledge she will be "fully" covered.