Simple matters

 I realised that I've spent too much time working, working and working that I failed to look at smaller, simpler matters around me. Haven't got enough time to sit back and observe the nature. Too busy to make a living. The world that is revolving around me comprises of electronic gadgets in airconditioned brick walls, sophisticated office furniture and colleagues in professional suits. 

How nice it feels to be able to sit quietly and listen to the sound of nature again... all praises to the Almighty, the greatest creator of this world.

It's a beautiful morning

Today is the second day of my vacation. I have fully recovered from the tormenting headache I got when my flight from Muscat to Kuala Lumpur was delayed. This morning I woke up to a beautiful day.

I don't actually have anything properly planned today, so my husband suggested that we take a casual drive along the outskirt of our town to appreciate the scenery. Oh yeah! I have not seen the greenery for such a long time.

 We stopped at a roadside foodstall and had a delicious fried noodle for breakfast. Then we continued our short trip to explore some places I didn't even know the names... well, the views are not so extraordinary, but sufficient enough to make me forget about all my hardship at work. 

Looks like it's going to be a very bright morning 💗💗💗

As the sun gradually climbed higher, I can smell the familiar scent of the wet grass from last night.

  

Bananas and sugarcanes.

Mangoes, what's left at the end of the fruit season.

Durian, the king of fruits.

Helloooooooo moooooo...!!!

Told 'ya, the day is bright! So peaceful that it made me feel happy and relaxed.

I wish you have a nice day too 😘

Let's go home!

 Summer vacation is eventually here. The last day at work seemed to be the longest day of all. I tried the best I can to complete all tasks that can be settled immediately, so that more time can be spent with my family later. Perhaps more time too, to write something on this blog. My annual summer resolution still holds the same goal and hope: more socializing and less log-ins. More food and less neck pain. More laughters and less reviews. More of this and less of that...

I heard from my daughter that Mr. Panda has changed the curtains and stocked up the fridge. 

I am coming home....

A 486 days break

Today, exactly 16 months ago, I posted my last excitement.

I really missed my blog..

A week experience in school

2013 has already reached its 24th day.

That means baby porcupine has been to school (I mean real school with serious teachers writing serious stuff on the whiteboard) for 21 days. And since the very beginning of her school episode I have been worried sick on how she will cope with her new environment. It made me feel insecure from within, knowing that she has never been parted far away from me for many hours a day. I should have not worry because I know teachers will look after her. Of course they will, because I am the only mother who went to see every teacher available in school irrespective of whether they teach my girl or not and came up with a long list of do's and don'ts for them to remember.



On the first day of school all first year pupils sat for a simple
reading, writing and counting test. Aida scored 4/70 and was
really happy about it.... *scratch head*

Nevertheless, Aida is calm and happy in school. It is I who made her looks like she's so fragile. That's how my dear hubby assess the situation.

"She is no longer a baby. You'll feel better when you stop calling her baby porcupine" he tossed my head and smiled.

Perhaps I should admit that I have overreacted. But Aida will always be my baby porcupine. Full stop.



During assembly, when the headmistress gave her speech
 to the first year pupils. Can you guess how many of them
 really listen and understand what the headmistress was
trying to convey on stage?

The education systems here in Malaysia is sometimes confusing. There are many different types of schools you can choose for your child(ren). There are Malay-medium national schools, Indian-medium national schools, Chinese-medium national schools, private  schools,  boarding schools,  Islamic religious schools,  excellent cluster schools, sports schools and to a certain extent, home schooling is also made available. I'd rather not explain in detail each of these schools here, just enough to inform that Aida now has quite a tight daily schedule because in the morning she attends the religious school (I refer to this school as the morning session) and right after lunch she goes to the Malay-medium national school (the afternoon session). In other words, she leaves home as early as 7.15 am and comes back only after 6.45pm. In between the two school sessions, she stays at a nursery next to the schools where she'll take a bath, change uniform and eat lunch.

During the first week of school I have been following her to the classroom without her knowing it and kept an eye on her from far away. I watched her when she talked and laughed with her classmates, when she did her work in the exercise book, when she drew a silly-looking elephant and coloured it purple and also when she suddenly fell asleep. I then followed her to the nursery and watched her manage herself quite successfully and prepared herself for school once again. Alhamdulillah. After 21 days, I think she'll do just fine in school. I really need to shed this worries away.



Cried too much that she forgot how to smile beautifully...!

Anyway, let's review some incidents that took place in the first week of school:

Day 1: Cried... cried... and cried... all day long.

Day 2: Lost (or rather, misplaced) her pair of shoes. Lost her chamisole. Teachers frantically searched every inch of the nursery to find them.

Day 3: Lost her pencil case. Came back home wearing another girl's uniform, which has faded in colour and was relatively much smaller than hers.

Day 4: Lost her water tumbler. Found about 4-5 cloth hangers inside her school bag which definitely were not ours.

Day 5: Lost her set of colouring pencils. Lost her exercise books.

Day 6: Gave all her spending money to 'a friend in need' whom she did not even recognise and sufferred from 3rd level hunger till she came home.

Day 7: Lost her panty and survived afternoon session without telling anyone about it.  *faint*

Aida, several seconds before she started to cry again...

My dear child, I leave you under the protection of Allah the Almighty. I pray you'll be safe wherever you go and what ever you do. I believe a mother's prayer is a powerful one and that Allah will always listen to me all the time. May you grow up to become a good-mannered, brilliant and pretty muslimah. Ameen.

The fear factor: Bdellophobia

I have just had a bath and was drying myself in front of a mirror in the bedroom when I saw, through the mirror, a big black spot on my thigh. I took a closer look at the black spot and saw it squirming.

“Aaaaaaaaargh…….!”

As far as I can remember, that was the loudest scream I have ever made in my entire life. I shouted for help while jumping up and down in the room, obviously forgotten that I was only clad in a towel.

Mom came in to rescue me.  When I showed her the black, wriggling thing on my thigh with my eyes tightly shut, to my surprise, she screamed too! Because there was no one else in the house at that time except for my two younger sisters and a baby brother (my father was at work), we did not know what to do.

“Oh mom! I’m gonna die! I am definitely going to die!”

I cried my heart out, still jumping, while mom frantically tried to find a stick to remove the black spot. It was a leech. A huge one!

After about half an hour or so, the leech was finally detached from my skin. Not because mom kept poking it with a skewer (Yeah, that’s right. OMG!) but because it had drained up all my blood and now it felt a bit dizzy with this non-stop jumping activity of the host so it decided to take a leap of faith from high above and landed a splat on the floor. Looks like suicide to me.

That was my first encounter with a leech. I was only ten then. Apparently, the incident left a remarkably scary impression of a ferocious blood-sucking beast in my mind until… yesterday.

We had a family gathering yesterday at my sister-in-law’s house. We ate, talked and laughed merrily.  The whole night was all about food, politics, movie, gadgets, and futsal too. After some while, my SIL brought out a plastic container wrapped nicely in a black plastic bag. When asked what was inside the container, she took it out and showed the content to everyone – LEECHES. Very alive and aggressive too. The sight of the leeches gave me goose bumps. It reminded me my horrible experience with a leech long time ago.

“Anybody wanna have this leeches suck up your dirty blood and perhaps solve some of your health problem?” She offered.

“Such as what?” I asked.

“Sinus, migraine, pimples, pus, delicate backache, gout, in short, anything associated with dirty blood”

 [photo courtesy of Encyclopaedia Brittanica]

I have heard about medicinal leeches used in reconstructive surgery, or for treating abscessess, painful joints, glaucoma, and in some cases, microvascular surgery (more information here).   But honestly, I am not sure if this curing method using leeches to suck impure blood as suggested by my SIL would work. Even if it really works, I have doubts that only doing it once will instantly solve the health problem. I believe it needs to be done repetitiously in order to see results. Just like we repetitiously take antibiotics to cure influenza. As a matter of fact, the main application of medicinal leeches in modern medicine is to help with blood circulation and to prevent blood clot during major surgery. So how does sucking dirty blood from a person’s temple help him/her get rid of his/her migraine problem?  *scratch head*

Anyway, with a different objective in mind, I decided to let these blood-sucking slimy squirmy little creatures with powerful jaw sink their sharp, devilish teeth to do what they do best: suck blood! (credits go to Hugh Laurie from House for giving me a lesson or two on using magical sarcastic words!) Not to cure any illness in me, but to overcome Bdellophobia: the fear of leeches.

So here are the pictures of the medicinal leeches sticking at the back of my hubby (always the best model for a photography session!) and sucking on the so called impure blood of his to cure backache.

Also here is the picture of my SIL’s husband who threw a ceremonial feast for the spineless creatures all night long to cure his sinus. LOL.

Just look at the fantastic incision made by a medicinal leech. It has a strong tripartite jaw and hundreds of tiny teeth that cut into the skin in a sawing motion and leave behind an incision mark in the form of inverted Y within a circle. Neat!  

[photo courtesy of Carsten Morkel]

At the end of the session, I figured out that the word ‘fear’ is not so suitable for me because it’s not the feeling of fear of leeches that I felt inside me. It’s more of the disgusting feelings of ‘ewh’ and ‘yucky’ that overwhelm me when I encounter these creepy-crawlies and that include maggots and caterpillars too.

 And oh! By the way, the picture below is the bag of dirty blood from 7 people in the family sucked by about 20 leeches altogether. Can you see the mouth of the leech [enlarge the pic] within the plastic bag?  Yucks!

In conclusion, I am brave enough to say that I am not afraid of leeches after all. But one thing I am totally sure, I am afraid of my creator, Allah The Almighty.

Wordless Wednesday: Muhammad Aiman, now 19 months old

Rain, rain, go away...

"It is Allah Who hath created the heavens and the earth and sendeth down rain from the skies, and with it bringeth out fruits wherewith to feed you; it is He Who hath made the ships subject to you, that they may sail through the sea by His command; and the rivers (also) hath He made subject to you".

Surah Ibrahim: ayah 32

The northeast monsoon is here again. It brings a lot of rains day and night, especially to the east coast states such as Terengganu, Kelantan and Pahang. The usual expectation is to see severe floods that emerge overnight that would force thousands of families to evacuate their homes and end up stranded either at relief centres or the community halls for days, even weeks. In the past 50 years a lot have been sacrificed by the flood victims: personal belongings, homes, livestock, and to some extent their own lives. Children could not go to school. Clean drinking water become scarce. Diseases easily spread. Theft. Sorrow. Depression. Uncertainty.

A flood victim fleeing with his cat and goose.  Picture courtesy of theage.com.au

The flood relief centre.  Picture courtesy of malaysiabreakingnews.blogspot.com

Flood scene in Kelantan.  Picture courtesy of all-about-malaysia.blogspot.com

Where I live at present, heavy downpour is no exception. But we here in the west coast are more fortunate.  I have never experienced severe flood yet in my life [of which I am so thankful]. There were of course several incidents of flash floods due to clogged drain somewhere in the city but often there were no needs of home evacuation.  Still, life could suddenly become so complicated when it rains. One drop of water falling from the sky would result in massive traffic jam everywhere in Klang Valley.

It is so bad that sometimes to reach a place so near would take a good hour when you'll only spend under 10 minutes if you walk. Recently in the middle of this madness I passed by a car static on the road with its engine still running and the driver fast asleep, obviously he did not hear the noises of other motorists honking him. Perhaps he is too tired being stuck in the jam. Poor guy!

Rain could be problematic to some people, but it is actually a rahmah (blessing) from Allah to all His subjects.

Only if we knew it...

"The seven heavens and the earth, and all beings therein, declare His glory: there is not a thing but celebrates His praise; And yet ye understand not how they declare His glory! Verily He is Oft-Forbear, Most Forgiving!"  

Surah Al-Isra: ayah 44 

I just wish everyone is safe.

Idle capacity

It feels as if I have just waked up from a long, long sleep.

About a month ago my ordeal finally ended (‘ordeal’ is a terrible word to use here… am I exaggerating things?). I have submitted my thesis for examination. Yay! Alhamdulillah, all praises to Allah the Almighty!  After a 5-year struggle to complete the thesis, I am now only an inch away from being conferred with a doctoral degree. InsyaAllah.

Since submission, I did not do much. I was supposed to produce at least two research articles and send them to journal editors for publication. I didn’t do it. I have a follow-up appointment with the dentist. I didn’t turn up that day. I promised a close friend to have lunch together. That did not materialise as well. I told another friend I am going to arrange some flowers to liven up her new room at the faculty. I disappeared just like that. She may still be looking for me this very day. My ‘To Do’ list was untouched, even though it is quite a long list of things I wanted settled once I’ve completed study. Change the curtains, bake a cake, buy new clothes, update blog, read the newly bought novel, visit my sister, plant something in the garden, etc. etc. etc.

So what did I actually do at home? Nothing. I spent whole day either staring blankly at the TV or at a later stage, the TV took turn to stare back at me. The first week after thesis submission was the worst moment when my brain was not capturing properly what I’ve heard or saw or felt. When I walked, my feet did not touch the ground. I felt lightheaded I could float (wish I could fly). I forgot to brush my teeth in the morning. I wore my clothes inside out. I felt so lonely…empty….

A month before submission my life was upside down. There were reports to produce, data to re-test, tables and figures to insert in the appendices, list of references to check and confirm. Simultaneously, the children needed attention. Baby porcupine has somehow been accustomed to being left at home with her father, but baby koala was new in this game, therefore could not understand how it worked. He demonstrated his feelings by falling sick. Really sick. He needed his mother the most, but I was not there for him. My soulmate has forbidden me from coming home. He sent me away and prescribed me some orders: eat thesis, drink thesis, sleep thesis.

“By hook or by crook, finish the last sentence of your thesis and submit. Otherwise do not come home.”

I found a new friend. The whiteboard. I talked to the whiteboard at least once a day. Sometimes I saw a reflection in the whiteboard grinning at me. We had a serious fight one day when I warned it to stop gimmicking me but it refused. I threw a marker pen at it but the pen hit me back on the forehead.

I have been sleeping in the office for many days that once it ended I have forgotten my way back home. By the time I stepped inside the house, I saw a stranger in the kitchen, trying to retrieve tiny pieces of egg shells from the firing frying pan while the egg turned into dark, bitter cracker.  I hardly recognise him with those Osama bin Laden’s beard and Tom Selleck’s moustache and Bob Marley’s hair…Gosh!

When did your wife die?

Today, a month later, I have regained consciousness, memories, energy, love and hugs from each member of the family. Alhamdulillah, ya Allah. I am back on my feet again. Now my main task is to update the blog. Write again. This time as often as I can. As much as I’ve always wanted to. New day, new spirit.

 “Mummy, I am confused”

 Aliya, my 10-year old daughter came and shoved her school homework on my lap.

“What is it about?”

“This English language subject I learn in school. It’s confusing”

“Why?”

“Why do we call it a toothbrush or toothpaste when we know the brush or the paste is meant for more than one tooth? I mean, we don’t use it to clean only one tooth, right? Then why don’t we refer it as teethbrush or teethpaste? I think that makes more sense.”

**struck dumbfounded**

Serious businesses coming 2012

I've gone through trials and hardships in 2011. Be it at home with the family or at the office with colleagues, I've been tested one too many times. Alhamdulillah, I've chewed heartily most of the big chunks and now is the time I can sit back, sip my favourite guava flavoured tea and relax. Don't get me wrong. My study is far from end yet. But I've done my part, now I am waiting for feedback from my supervisors. In the mean time, I get to spend some precious moments with the little ones: baby porcupine and the new baby koala. They are the joy of my life, the reason why I continue struggling even when I stumble down and bleed.

Come new year, I see brighter prospects waiting for me. Here are the things I want to see realised this year, InsyaAllah...

1 - To initiate some effort on losing weight and look fabulous again. I've ignored myself these past four years on other more important things in life, now I'd like to have some time for me and me only;

2 - To attend this year's convocation, climb up the stage and receive my scroll. MasyaAllah! After all these years, receiving the scroll with my name on it would be the sweetest moment to cherish;

3 - To concentrate on the paper works and other necesssary documents to establish a business I've put on hold for too long. I hope this is going to be a good year to start the business, InsyaAllah.

4 - To go travelling and see the world as much as I can. As a mattter of fact, my husband has made an arrangement for a family vacation during the first term school holiday. This will be the starting point for more adventurous travels in the future, insyaAllah.

5 - To take care and cater for the needs of my mother, for as long as she lives. I love her so much. Unfortunately I have neglected her for so long. I pray I'll be given a chance to be with her and make her happy.

Allah knows what is best for me. Alhamdulillah, life has been good. InsyaAllah, life will be better this year. Same goes to all my moslem brothers and sisters out there. May we all be successful, in this world and the world hereafter. Ameen.

The "Whoa!" factor in me

A glance at the mirror yesterday, I saw the reflection of a stressed up hippopotamus wearing a horrible oversized wig and clamped in a tight leather suit, obviously surprised to see me staring at it with my mouth open wide...

Whoa! Congratulations, Ati! You are now a 200lbs heavyweight champion! OMG!

picture source: brainstock.com

Welcome to Gigapedia

A visiting professor from Indonesia gives us a web address where we can download e-books at no cost at all. He understands that books for higher learning are very expensive to buy, what more if we student need not only one but perhaps two or more books for our reference.

The e-book website, http://www.gigapedia.org/ contains various type of books that covers on almost everything you would ever imagine in your mind. Politics, social sciences, business management, engineering, information technology, history, movies, religions, hobbies and crafts, home improvements, gardening, automobile, fashion or even a simple novel for you to read.... you name it, you got it. If you asked my opinion, I would say this is the best virtual library I've ever found so far.


 If compared to other e-books website, Gigapedia is still the best because downloading  is free of charge.



It's even better than the biggest bookshop in Kuala Lumpur, the Kinokuniya KLCC.
Kinokuniya might have complete title of everything, but the books there are way
tooooooo expensive!


I am eager to try to get hold of a book that specifically discusses on the application of SPSS (a statistics textbook) for my data analysis. The book costs around MYR128.00 (about USD39.00) and need to be ordered from the University Bookshop and will take about a month to wait before it is available for collection. I try search Gigapedia for the first time and to my surprise, it's there!!! Yabedabedoo!

Since then, I download more e-books from Gigapedia. All I have to do is become a member by registering my details (once only), then I am free to search for the books I need whenever I wanted. As a member, apart from downloading some reading materials from the site, I am also encouraged to contribute by either posting (uploading) new reading materials to the site or by donating some amount of money (as small as 10 Euro) to keep it running. Of course, I am bound to some rules and regulation. 10 simple rules, to be exact. The rules are the normal ones you would usually come across as an online member of a site: some stuff on privacy of members, spam, respect, accuracy of information, sensitivity, but the last one that really interest me is on LEECHING!

Rule no 10 says:

"No leeching! If you are one of the heaviest users and show no intent of helping out by posting/reporting etc. and just leech then your account maybe removed, we expect users to help out and get involved"

Owh! Everytime I read this last rule, I feel like someone is slapping my face. So far I have downloaded  dozens of e-books from the site but never contribute anything in return. My book collection at home are dusty and outdated. And 10 Euro equals USD1,000 to me....(Oh! what a bad reasoning!!)

Another thing that attracts me so much is 'the staff' that run this website.  Even though I do not know who they are and where they come from, I do sense that they are hard working people who try to satisfy the needs of every member: members with 1001 behaviour! Well, if not, then can you tell me why they put up this message on site?

"This site only has 10 short rules. Read them, understand and follow them, or else...."

and when you click on the 10 short rules,  the last paragraph indicates that they are really serious in their business:

"if you have an issue with any of the rules, contact us (contact link at bottom of all pages)



Staff might contact you from time to time and/or leave feedback, you are expected to listen to staff and follow any advice/warnings given. Ignoring staff is not a good idea and will lead to a voodoo doll being created in your image and poked with needles."

So, out of curiosity I check my account, in case 'the staff' left a message for me. There's this general  message that says:

"staff have left no feedback on your account, you have been a good boy/girl."

Phew!  That's a relief!!!

And so I happily read the newly downloaded statistics e-book, until I come to this paragraph at page two of the book where the author writes this...

"You're probably wondering why you have bought this book. Maybe you liked the pictures, maybe you fancied doing some weight training (it is heavy), or perhaps you need to reach something in a high place (it is thick). The chances are, though, that given the choice of spending your hard-earned cash on a statistics book or something  more entertaining (a nice novel, a trip to the cinema, etc.) you'd choose the latter. So why have you bought the book (or downloaded an illegal pdf of it from someone who has way too much time on their hands if they can scan an 800-page textbook)?"

Ahak! That statement choked me!!! Does this means the author knows that I am reading from the downloaded version of his book? Is he aware of Gigapedia existence? Is he actually referring to Gigapedia when he writes this? And he is labelling it ILLEGAL? If Gigapedia IS illegal, then how does it obtain consent to continue operation till this very day? These questions puzzle me. Anyway, eventually, I still buy the statistics book from the University Bookshop. Whether the action of buying it has anything to do with the statement by the author, wallahu'alam. I dont know.

I still visit Gigapedia once in a while when there's some information I need to get hold of really fast and there's not enough time to spend on a journey to the bookstore and searching for the real book to refer to. But the best I can, I will always make sure there's no doll being made that replicate myself and poked with needles... Ouch!

Leaving him on the 44th day

23 - 24 May, 2011

It was a sad decision, knowing that he is still too small and fragile to be left in the care of his father. I have no other options in my hands. The conference is important to me, and so is he. But I am determined to finish my study as soon as possible so that I'll be able to spend more time with him in the future. Hence the complicated schedule of what to do and when, carefully prepared and explained to the confused-looking man of the house.

A week before I leave him for Singapore, I've made some preparations so that he will be fine with his father. I'll be absent only for two days, but then... well... you know... *sigh*

 I have to 'import' my MIL to stay at our house with him, not because I don't trust my husband, but I know he has a lot of other things to worry about rather than the changing diaper and feeding routine.  Let him take charge of the house chores, he is always flexible to run here and there. Meantime, the baby is in safe hands of his mother.






So you see, I've prepared the milk supply, more than enough for two days. I kissed Aiman a thousand times before leaving, only stopped when my husband scolded me.

 The moment the plane departed, I started to miss my baby. My handphone went out of battery when I arrived at the hotel. To make things worse, I left the charger on top of my dressing table at home, forgotten to pack it in the bag. I can't call home. so I  cried myself to sleep....

Remembering the moment when....

I presume everybody knows I am a busy busy busy person. Regardless of my condition of being terribly heavy at the end of my trimester, carrying this huge belly everywhere I go, I still have a lot of things to do that refrained me from relaxing on the sofa with a cup of tea in my hand and watch my favourite movie. Oh no, no, no. Can't do that. If I did, then I would easily trigger the WW3. Have I not told you that C is my middlename? C for Chaos?

Well, a day before I unexpectedly gave birth to my tiny baby Muhammad Aiman, I was still climbing the stairs a the Business faculty, chasing several people that have influence on my future, trying to get their consent on a couple of things that need to be settled immediately. Come evening when most of the items in my Things To Do Today list have been attended to  (alhamdulillah!), I headed back to my room, planning to perform the Asr prayer there before I go home. That was the time I discovered my panties was covered with blood.  Oh! Panic! Panic! Panic! Must inform hubby. No, go to the hospital first. Oi! What about the children? Gosh, I've not prepared the baby's bag yet. Hey! There's a chewing gum under my shoes! @#*&%!!!!.........

If I could run, I would. If I could fly, that would be even better! 

At 7pm my husband took me to the hospital. After registration we were instructed to wait at the lobby while the staff allocate a room for me. While waiting, one by one, more pregnant ladies registered and waited with us. One of them already broke her water bag,  her sarong was all wet. Another lady was shaking at a corner for whatever reason I did not know. The lady who came in last was given priority, nurses saw baby's head already emerging. The situation at the waiting room was horrible to me. I say it was horrible because amidst the tense in the air, there I was sitting gaily like there was nothing to worry about!    

Why?

Because I did not feel any pain. I have no contractions. Masya-Allah! And I still believe the bloody panties was normal when a pregnant lady counted the number of stairs many times in a day. What more when the due date is still a long way to come. With confidence I told my husband that I am not going to give birth in the next 24 hours. I even persuaded him to take me home immediately. The blood was just a false alarm.

"No, you can't go home!" The doctor scolded me.  I turned sulky.

So I spent the night at the ward. It felt exactly like going on a vacation somewhere and staying in a hotel.  I ate, watched TV, read magazines and played with the air-conditioner remote control till I got bored and fell asleep.

Next morning when I woke up and wanted to perform Suboh prayer, I discovered more blood on the bed sheet. Called the nurse. She inspected me, went out and came back ten minutes later with three other nurses and prepared me for the labour room.

"You must be kidding me! I am not ready yet!" I grabbed the nurse's hand in surprise.

"Ready or not, here you go!" She smiled. 

An hour later, Muhammad Aiman was born......Alhamdulillah.

Here are the pics that my husband took when the baby came to the world.

He spent two days in the incubator because his lungs have not fully developed yet, which means he can't breathe on his own without support. Another five days in the infant nursery because he had prolonged jaundice due to his premature condition. He went home when he was a week old, greeted and welcomed by all the family members and relatives. Oh, so grand...!


p/s: I discovered later that the hospital admin had to call the wireman to repair the air-conditioner in the room that I stayed. It had not been working properly since I left the room.  *scratch head*