Our Sunday today was occupied by our picnic in Sentosa, and yes Aaqil did have his wonderful time at Palawan Beach, just one of the few beaches in Sentosa. Accompanied by Omar's dad and his wife (auntie), the trip was made more fabulous with Auntie bringing her Chicken Curry delicacy, though without coconut milk to make it sound healthier, but it is still rich in mount-watering taste. Healthy to begin with not until I finished up 2 pieces of chicken together with the skins, well that was the unhealthy part? We were supposed to be expecting some guests from Manila to join our picnic but they later called it off due to their insufficient time as they were rushing for their last minute shoppings for they have to fly off the day after. But no food went to waste, all were taken care off biologically.

Aaqil did help...

We got Aaqil a new float for him to rest himself on the waters but it took us quite some time to convince him that this float is safe. After a few planned distractions and some sand plays, he finally agreed with our theory and belief. Soon, there he was, back to his water crazy mood, alternating with his version of sandcastle buildings.

then... he was convinced!

Did you see his sandcastle?

The crowd started building up after Aaqil's short afternoon nap, people of different walks of life lighting up Palawan Beach, bikinis, trunks, naked babies, I mean real babies. Took a walk with Aaqil to the claimed Southernmost Point of Asia Continent. A suspension bridge linked where we were to that small island where at one point Aaqil stood and watched an Indian romantic couple with the woman in her traditional saree in their utmost passionate mood lying and rolling on the sand. Aaqil must have wondered why didn't his parents allow him to roll on the sand too?

when the bridge swings side-to-side, he does too...

136.01km from equator

Well guys (if you have something to comment about babies and their effects on water/sea spirits, please save your breathe or fingers if you are typing), picnic with baby is fun but it could be not if you didn't equip yourselves with picnic essentials, imagine you were there without diapers? Sounds exaggerating? Well it does happen to people around me.

Here are some tips of mine, might not be fool proof if a tsunami heads your way though, God forbids! And one more thing I need to exaggerate before I begin... 'PICNIC' as in the dictionary means 'A meal eaten outdoors, as on an excursion'. But there are still those who always relate picnics to beaches? Wonder why... anyway, here it goes...

My tips :-

Plan your trip simple, so it's easy to make last minute adjustments, remember, you have a baby with you, too much new sights and sounds will over stimulate the baby, and make them sit too long instead of letting them running around at their own energetic place will understimulate them? So balance up...

- Diapers, all depends on the age of your baby, you'll know how much to bring including spares

- Blankets, they are multi-purpose, you may use it for comfort, shade, warmth, for baby to lie down bla bla bla

- Ziplocs, handy for soiled diapers, dirty clothing, shoes bla bla bla

- Baby wipes, handy for fast baby clean up and other clean ups too

- Tissues, if the mess to clean up is too expensive to use the baby wipes

- Extra clothing for the baby, definite!

- Sun hat, if your baby is ok with something on the head

- Food for the baby, babies might not like your picninc food though and they can't wait till you get home to eat...

- Slings or carriers if you use one, great to have both hands free!

- Plan where will your baby sleep on his picnic nap, if he needs a crib, bring one?

- Stroller can be handy too

- Camera, unless you want no pictures, OR so that your baby has something expensive to play with?

- Importantly, the way you pack your bag, separate babies stuff and other picnic stuff, or you'll confuse yourself, and please DON'T carry 6 big bags just for a 1 day picnic...

For more professional tips, pls visit babycentre.com

tired, bye

Three of us had a long day today in JB. Omar purposely took leave to accompany me to do my new IC and run some bank errands. We managed to kill 2 birds with one stone. I met up with Aida's sister as she had some stuffs from Aida for me. Aida, thanks so much for the lovely gifts and souveniers and of course the fish.

Ila and Aaqil got along well...

I have not met Ila, Aida's sister for almost a year. She has been great I supposed. Glad to meet her again and we did have a small chat in her room at Hotel Rasa Sayang which was coincidentally near the building where I did my IC.

Omar was a bit pissed off with a few government officials there. He said all were sour faced when he came across them. Not too sure if he look too Singaporean. Didn't our PM encourage to be "berbudi bahasa" when handling with any people? As for me, I had been trying my very best to converse in my sweetest voice as much as possible with them, but the result, they would look back at me sarcastically. I rather keep my mouth shut then, losing my temper to these people are not worth while at all.

We hang around in JB, had so much 'makan-makan' . From roti prata, nasi lemak, ABC, Japanese tako pochi, pretzels, secret recipe and lots of teh tarik. My khaki pants felt tight on the way back. Felt like puking too. I have to really obey what our prophet said . " Eat when you are hungry and stop before u are full".

We went back with KTMB train. Met one JB woman that seeked my help for her to apply for PR status. She lives in Tanjung Pagar and by making one new friend, I will have another place to recci next time. Tanjung Pagar railway area still belongs to Malaysia. Omar has been pastering me to recci there, but I was so scared with the long grass that had not been maintained there. I am sure there are snakes and crawling animals :). Now I can stop by at my new friend's house and Omar can recci the small forest on his own.

Believe it or not one of our favourite hang out place in Singapore is Chinatown. Yes, typically Chinatown in all over the world is associated with gangsterism, dirty place, crowded and 'no halal food to be found maaa'. I have been to several Chinatown in States, Europe, Australia and NZ and comparing to these, Chinatown Singapore can give you lots of surprise.

I have several reasons why I like Chinatown.

1. I can get the herbal ginseng there for my chicken soup which superbly delicious. Just put the herbs and whole chicken. It is healthy and yummy and my family loves it.
2. There are several halal food restaurants/stalls and frankly, they are not just halal, they are incredibly delicious and they maintain the cleanliness of their places.
3. A place to run away from 'Malays' , and I mean racist Malays who think chinese is a bad race.
4. A place where I can buy cheap stuffs for my house. I can spend 3-4 dollars and bring back one big bag full with household items.
5. Omar and I were born to love Chinese food.
6. There are some historic mosques and temples around as well as religious events.
7. Auction street everywhere.

Having said that, I remember one saying, "To be a perfect person in this world, you must married a Japanese woman ( because they will obey you ), live in France ( one of the beautiful country) and eat Chinese food (because it is damn delicious and healthy) . Oh No, I only eat chinese food but that is good enough!!!

Ain't nobody perfect in this world.

Today we went there again to be a "kay-poh" family for their 15th day Chinese New year Celebration. No, don't get us wrong, we are not celebrating with them, we just want to see the fireworks and the crowds.

Aaqil loves indian food too but this 'luxury food' only can be eaten once a month...

We had a great early dinner at one of the halal indian restaurant called "Taj Indian Food". We ordered Tandoori chicken, fish beriyani, fried brinjals and the indian style potato vegies. It was very fulfilling and we definately will come back. I did not get anything today as most shops were closed for their celebration but yes, I had a great time this weekend, again in Chinatown.

I have been following Tagalog telenovela 'Sanay Wala Nang Wakas' since 3 months ago. The drama is good for me to kill my time as I really admire Jericho's look. It is typical love drama about a rich guy who fell for a poor gal and they both had twists and turns before they became together. Yes, I know that watching drama is not good so I am taking the opportunity to learn Tagalog language so that I can converse with my FIL's wife. Although she can speak English fluently, I make her laugh whenever i try to utter some simple phrases in Tagalog. Laughter is a good medicine especially for a cancer patient like her. Now we both have more to talk about....... about the prediction of the ending of this telenovela though I already knew the ending which I got from the internet.

'Kuya Bernard had a wrestling session with Aaqil'

Today we had a visitor. Auntie Aida (my FIL wife) nephew from Philippines. A 21 year old boy but very street smart. He is here to work as a Management Trainee in Royal Sporting House. He speaks with an American accent and to my surprise he was telling me about the history of Philippines government until Gloria Arroya made public recently to abolish presidency. I was really impressed with his knowledge about politics and everything. Wish Aaqil can grow up being street smart and not paper smart alone.

After fulfilling dinner..

Omar bought some popiah from 'Qi Ji' for tea time snacks. Auntie Aida and Bernard enjoyed it very much. We had so much to talk until they decided to stay for dinner. We bought mutton soup, mee goreng and fried rice mamak style for dinner. Again this health concious boy enjoyed it.

All of us plan to meet again at Sentosa Island this coming 26th for a picnic. Was wondering, what will I cook?

Fat and happy!!!

I just weigh myself...I gained 2 kg. I guess the reason being is that I have been eating outside for the whole week since Najwa is around. Although most of the time, she is hooked in front of my notebook chatting with friends, her presence really made me feel less lonely. I have been too obsessed with nurturing aaqil and some of my freelance jobs and with her around, things are getting less stressful than usual.

Anyway, Najwa has been experiencing toilet phobia in Singapore...just like some of my friends that visited me before. Hardly we can find a toilet with water pipe in public toilets here, just like any other countries which muslims are minority as far as I am concern. But our religion has made it simple and convenient for everyone to clean themselves and maintain our hygiene. Using a tissue as a rough object is not wrong. Well, here I will lay down some of the solutions to use the dry toilet.

1. Use wet tissues or baby wipes which we can find everywhere. It also comes in a small packet thus convenient to put in a small handbag
2. Wet the normal tissue you find in the toilet. Wet as much as you can from the sink outside.
3. Use the handicapped toilet. There are sink inside. (The handicaps will hate you for this?)
4. Do your business at home and drink less (and get dehydrated and die under the hot sun?)

I am glad that after some advises, my sister finds my techniques for dry toilets are acceptable to her.

Last but not least : You can't be fussy when you use public toilet and we have to understand the toilet cleaner's predicaments if the toilet is not clean. Just imagine if you are a house owner and your guest made your toilet dirty...How will you feel? So it is our responsibility too to help our public toilet clean be it in Malaysia or anywhere else. And do thank the cleaner if you ever bump to them.

After using a toilet in Chinatown....