Settling Well

Changing school has always been a tough time for the children. It's a BIG BIG deal in their life. They will have new friends, teachers and surroundings. My children had settling down quite well now. This is their 2nd week at their new school.

On the first day, when Nabila and Hakeem came back from school, they were not happy at all. They were telling about things that they don't like here and kept mentioning about their old school and friends. They even cried and said wanted to go back to Malaysia.

On the second day, Nabila came back with a big smile on her face. She was happily telling me about what she learned and her friends in the class. As for Hakeem, he was still unhappy. He got no friends to play with and felt lonely. Hakeem.. being the youngest and spoiled one in the family always expect people would do everything for him. I know that he was actually expect friends to come to him instead he go to them.

On the third day, both of them came back happily singing their school song in the car. Well.. something is happening here I thought. Hakeem excitedly told me that he got a friend. I was so relieved and happy.

His excitement of getting new friends continued till this week. He even proudly told me that he just have not only one friend but five and six friends. Well done Hakeem and I could see that he is settling down well. As for Nabila, she's doing great.

Both of them are learning to adapt with the new rules and culture here. They learn french which now seems to be their favorite subject. In the school, they also got to buy food at the tuck shop. This is the most thrilled part as they got to spend money and buy on their own which I don't really encourage. I would prefer them to eat their packed lunch.

As for Nurul, she is doing great and settling down well. She is very happy with her new school and friends which is a big relieve to me. She has started having lots of homework and books to read. She's in Year 9 and taking IGCSE next year. I pray that she'll do well.

As for me.. I am happy here. Being here again is just like a refreshing life for me. I have lots of advantages as I've lived here before. I know the place quite well. I am more or less know what to expect, so do what is right and no to what is wrong! No thrill right?.. tak suspen je.. But still I feel everyday when I wake up, it will be a new challenging day for me.

Hakeem's Visit to A Dentist

Hakeem was complaining of having tooth ache since a month ago. At first I thought it was due to him having too much sweets and chocolates as it happened intermittently. I was delaying his visit to the dentist as I thought it was not too critical! Before we came here, I've had Hakeem and Nabila for a teeth checkup. Hakeem's teeth are good and healthy.

A week ago he complained again that I didn't bother to bring him to get his tooth checkup as he told me so many times that he felt hurt when he munched. OK... he made me feel guilty.

Yesterday I brought him to the Child Dental Centre which is located in Qurum. We've never been here before but I got to know this place from the advertisement in newspaper. When we first walked in, I already knew that this is a good modern hi-tech clinic and it's gonna cost me a bomb!

We were welcomed by the friendly receptionist, got Hakeem registered and got his dental card immediately. The card which look just like a credit card - cool right.. Five minutes later, a nurse took us up to meet the doctor. Before that, Hakeem got to choose which cd story that he would like to watch during his session. Cool right? hehehhee... Mak dia yang ciwi lebih...

The dentist that we met - Doctor Shayma Al-Dabbagh which I think probably an Omani or Iranian, was very friendly and nice. Hakeem who at first was shyly smiling later talked and talked eagerly answering every questions the doctor asked.

Hakeem was such an adorable boy. The nurse was so fond at him siap pegang2 pipi and belai2 rambut dia! I could see he was having a good time there. He was willingly and cooperated very well when every time the doctor wanted to check on his tooth. He was at the same time actually busying watching the Sponge Bob cd that he chose.

As the result, his teeth all are good and healthy. The painful that he got is because he is having a sensitive tooth. When asked how did he get his tooth sensitive, the doctor said it is because Hakeem probably has a habit of munching and crunching his teeth while sleeping or get angry. Which it is definitely true!

So nothing much that could be done except the doctor suggested to put a fluoride paste on his teeth to make it less sensitive and it is also to protect his teeth for a long run. At the end of the session, Hakeem got 3 tubes of Sensodyne toothpaste for children and also gifts pack which full with small cars and animal figures. He even got to pick which one that he likes.

Huh.... dah mcm gi birthday party lak.. So when it came to paying time, this visit cost me 33OMR which was around RM300. Hmmm... it is actually quite expensive. Nevertheless I am happy with the service, clean modern place and especially Hakeem - he enjoyed his dentist visit and not scared at all.

Colorful Blog With Colorful Life

Hollaaaa... If all of you notice, I’ve been updating all the back dated posts. Honestly my fingers dah gatal nak mengupdate blog but I couldn’t do it coz my voguemom.blogspot has reached the limits of putting pictures. Gosh.. I didn't know that I have limits. I thought semua free je ah..

Well.. I can actually still update my post without having any picture. To me a post without pictures is just like nasi lemak without sambal. It is so colorless and blogless! I must at least have one picture to put on. Hahahhaha.. maybe I am just being and old fashion but besides the rumbles in my blog it would be nice if it has pictures right? As people always say – picture worth thousands of words!

After a week doing research, I found a way where I can still put pictures in my blog without actually change or create a new one. This blog has been part of my soul. When I started it, I was so devoted to it. Though I know takde sape nak baca pun.. I always have to post new posting daily.

It's just a way or a media for me to pour or spill out something without saying it out loudly. It sounds so lame but trust me for those who has a blog, you will understand what I am saying.

So this is it.. my blog is colorful back with pictures!

Kids Back At School

After 7 weeks leisurely holiday, finally my children are back at school. We were here since during their school holiday. They were sometimes complaining of bored and asking when will the school starts.

All this while they were mostly at home either watching tv or attached with their lappy. I sometimes have to ask them to stop. A few days before schools starts, I have trained them to sleep earlier than usual. It was quite tough at first but they managed to do it!

On the first day of school, me and hubby have to split our task. He brought and registered Nurul and I handled Nabila & Hakeem. After a short briefing, I left them hoping that they will cope well.

When I fetched them in the afternoon, they seems not to be happy and kept mentioning about their old school - Nexus. As for Nurul, she was doing fine and happy with her new school.

On their second day, things changed as Nabila happily went back home and told me what she had learned at school. As for Hakeem, he is still missing his old buddies at Nexus.

I hope tomorrow will be better. Better for Hakeem especially.. As for me, I am back on my routine - chauffeur, cook and all in one package mom!!

42

Happy birthday to me! I am 42 today. Huh... dah tua ni.. Yes.. at this age some will say I am old and some will say I am still young.

Whatever it is, I am feel so grateful, blessed and syukur tersangat as I am still healthy and live happily. I have a lovely husband, beautiful children and a happy family. On this special day, my family bought me lunch at Chili's.

They bought me too a lovely presents. Thank you to all my children for the lovely gifts.

And not to forget for the beautiful cards. Those words written on the cards made me cry..

On my day of 42 years old, I pray and wish that Allah will give me a long life, good health and prosperous. I want to live longer to be able to see all my children success in their life. Insyaalah...

Picnic at Wadi Shab

On our second Raya, we excitedly woke up early in the morning for our picnic trip. We choose to go to Wadi Shab as we have never been here before. Wadi Shab is located between the capital Muscat and the town of Sur.

It's easy to reach this Wadi from the new Qurayyat-Sur highway. Well that's what most written in all blogs but for the first timer like us, it will take lots of effort and trial and error before you can actually get to the place. You of course can see the big sign board of WADI SHAB from the highway but that's it.. The sign just stand there without any further direction of how to go there.

We actually found the place after making three rounds U turn back and forth the sign board which at the end we asked the local. We were lucky as this Omani couple was so kind enough to lead us there.

That was actually happening after 3 hours drive from Muscat. I figured out that we can actually reach Wadi Shab probably around 2 hours. The kids were starting to get bored and asking when we will be reaching the place. Along the highway of course there's nothing much to see except the big huge mountain around us.

When we werevreaching towards Qurriyat we could see the beautiful beaches along the road. It's so beautiful. We just couldn't resist not to stop. We stopped for a while to take photos. It's quite hot but windy.

The stop made all of happy and excitedly continued our journey. This was where we were lost finding the Wadi Shab. It took us another hour. Nevertheless once we reached at the entrance of the Wadi, we were relieved and astonished with the beauty.

We took a boat to cross to the side of the river. River? Well.. it looked like a river to me as this long river-look-like is actually the long pool of water from the nearby sea. We got the boat for the whole family and it costs OMR1. Once we reached to the other side, we have to walk to find the spot.

Trust me.. none of us were complaining of walking as the view and scenery were so beautiful. We could see the shimmering emerald green water and beautiful rocks and mountain around us. We passed by one small wadi but decided to walked further to find another one. From the researched that I made, there are seven pools of wadi.

That was what we planned to do, walk and find all the pools of wadi. Unfortunately after we passed by the first pool, we could see the next wadi was dry. Kering kontang. We still didn't give up and walked further up. There were couple of Omani's boy told us to walk further as there is another pool.

At this point, my kids semua dah melepek. They were hungry and the weather was getting hotter. We walked and at last found the pool. It was beautiful. It was down under the mountain and you can jump and splash in the wadi. This is fun for the grown ups but definitely not for my kids.

We then decided to turned back and it took us another half an hour. We finally found a spot under pokok kurma. We laid out our mat and had our lunch. The kids had started playing and swim.

They spent about two hours under the sun. Eat, swim, play and catch a fish. Yes! Hakeem found one small fish. He was happy and non stop talking about the fish.

We were lucky to be here quite early as by the time we were ready to pack more people were coming. We got a good spot, kids enjoyed their swim, perut kenyang and all of us were ready to go back home!

Though there were no wadis or pools as we expected it to be, we still enjoyed our picnic. The place is so beautiful and is a must place to visit.

On our back home, we stopped by at the famous "Sink Hole" at Dibab Lake Park. We parked a car and walked on the short path which lead us to this sinkhole. I've never seen one like this and this amazed me. The water was vibrant green. This sinkhole is about 500 meters inland and 40 meters wide and 20 meters deep. It is said that the sinkhole is connected all the way to the ocean.

Memang menakjubkan. I still couldn't relate how suddenly a big hole of pool can exist in the middle of no where with mountains and rocks around it. The water never dry and it just remain like this even during hot summer.

We can actually go down there and swim. Tapi semua dah melepek tak larat, Furthermore there were many people already down there! Tak sanggup nak join all those 'expat'. We continued our journey and reached home at 4pm.

Everybody was tired but relieved to be back home. This definitely not our last wadi as I definitely will plan for another wadi trip in a near time!

Eid Mubarak 2011

Eid Mubarak to everyone. We here in Oman celebrate Eid on 31st August which is a day later from some of the country in the world including Malaysia. If you ask me, any preparation? Well.. nothing much actually. Just a simple celebration.

We woke up in the morning excitedly as today is Raya. Made a few phone calls back to Malaysia. We put on our nice best clothes, gathered around to salam raya. Taking photos and talking about what are we going to do after this? Hehehhehe..

The kids especially are excited most because of duit raya. So bersemangat to salam raya..

I've started cooking from the night time. Rebus ketupat, rendang daging, acar buah and making sambal kacang. In the morning of Eid, I woke up early made nasi briyani ayam. I also made kek lapis and couple of biscuits.

We had our first guest after solat raya. A couple of bachelor guys who happened didn't go back for Raya. Meriah ah sikit rumah.. So good to see them here to share the joy with us.

Later on one Malaysian family came for Raya too. In the evening we went to the Malaysian Embassy for the Raya gathering. There were many actually who didn't go back for Raya especially non-muslim who work here. It's good to see and be with the crowd.

Well.. that's it our Eid. Though we don't do like we normally do back in Malaysia, but we still enjoy our Raya.

Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Dzahir Batin to everyone.