Merdeka

 What does Merdeka mean to you?

My memory of Merdeka goes back to when I was in Primary school. I was part of the school choir and during Merdeka, often we would be asked to perform at Merdeka events. I have so many favourite songs from that era and we dont get to listen to it that often but sometimes, when they play it on the radio or TV during Merdeka, I get flashbacks moments and surprisingly, I can still remember the lyrics. 

Today, our children dont really get to experience that celebration the way we did. Especially this year with the covid-19, there arent any celebration to celebrate our Independence Day. Our children dont really know what Merdeka is all about.

Merdeka is being about free and independent. On a personal level, I want to be free from negativity. It is not easy to achieve but we can always try. As a Malaysian, I am always proud to be one. We are all having a tough year and I am so proud of how we are handling it in Malaysia. I'm so proud that despite this horrible pandemic, I can still go out and still continue my daily life safely. No one is loving the new normal but in Malaysia, I am happy to say that we are OK! Better than so many other much developed countries out there.

There is no where else I'd rather be than here in Malaysia. 

So today, for our Merdeka 2020, I would like to wish all of us Malaysians a very Happy Independence Day. May we continue to be better and stronger together.

My doodle watercolour Art

Thank you Malaysia for being awesome! I love you, Malaysia.

Doodling fun

 I've always loved doodling. If you give me a pen and a paper, even whilst watching TV, I could be doodling away some random thing and sometimes, it will end up becoming something really nice. I started exploring watercolour and doodling and the results was amazing as you can see on this post. 

Dont you just love the colours? The black pen doodles just makes the colour pop even more. This is just A4 size and took me a few hours to complete. I just sat there doodling away while watching a korean drama. 

My friend saw this and wanted to buy it from me. Another friend commissioned me to do one for her. I'm so excited!!!

Donation Drive

Back in March, when the MCO started I spent a lot of time going through the FB Page of Syed Azmi (a social activist) where he posted photos and stories of many families who are affected by the lockdown. Many of these families lost their income due to Covid-19 lockdown and needed help. There were so many of them out there who needed all the help they can get just for food. It is really heartbreaking.

His posts made me feel sad. At the same time, it made me feel so fortunate because I have a comfortable life, roof over my head and food on my table. Sometimes it doesnt seem fair! I have to do something to help. 

I handpicked a few families from there and in the little ways I can, I try to help them by making some donations to these families. It may not be much but like I said, sometimes all they need is just food for that day.

I have never met any of them personally. I try not too form any bond because I dont want to get too emotional. Some are not even in KL but we do send each other text messages every now and then. I ended up being friends with them via whatsapp. Sometimes, it is not even money that they need, it is just a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk to. I always doa for them and that is also another form of sedekah.

Recently one of the families texted me to inform me that they will be homeless soon. My heart sank. They were not able to pay the rent and utility bills for the past few months. The worst part is, both her elderly parents are not mobile and very sick. She's a single mom and her monthly income is only RM600. 

 

I've done my part to help this family but of course it is not enough to help them in the next few months. Their landlord has increased their rental and by 4th September, they will be evicted from their home. With children and elderly parents, she needs all the help she can get.

If you would like to join my donation drive, please email me at dewdropmummy@gmail.com and I will forward you more details of this family. You will deal directly with her from there and all donations will be transferred directly to their account (and not to my bank account). Even RM10 would help them get by. Please share. Let's try to help this family together!

If you dont want to donate money, please pray for them. May Allah reward you abundantly for all your help. Thank you...

UPDATES:

28 AUGUST 2020 - Alhamdulillah, thank you all for your donations. I have received quite a few emails and some have offered to help too. Together we can help this family faster. I was told by the lady that today, they will finally get the keys to their new home. Hopefully they will be happy in their new home. They borrowed some money, some were from our donations and Alhamdulillah, they managed to pool enough money for the first installment of the deposit for the new unit. Thank you so much for your help. May Allah accept our good deeds abundantly. Amin!

7 SEPTEMBER 2020 - Donations drive officially closed. Thank you so much for all your donations. Alhamdulillah they're all settled in in their new home. She thank you all for the help and couldnt have done it without all our help. Alhamdulillah. I am so happy we managed to help this family.

Thank you again!

SOLD my first painting

 I have been exploring and doing a lot of Art lately. I dont know why I havent done this before but it all started during the lockdown and I havent stopped since. I've done quite a few pieces that I am so proud of. Unfortunately, I am still exploring. I cant call myself an artist yet. Someday!

I've spent quite a bit on my art supplies. The paints arent cheap I tell you. Some can cost up to almost RM200 for just a few ml. I am also a self taught painter, I have no clue what I'm doing most of the time and relying on Youtube for tutorials and what supplies to buy. 

My art corner at home is getting crowded. I have so many paintings and running out of places to store them. I had to keep them in suitcases for now. 

 My friend suggested for me to sell my paintings. To be honest, I wasnt sure but a few of my friends told me to start selling them. Not for profit but more for space. Ah well, I have nothing to lose.

 

I started uploading it and finally, last week, I sold my first painting!! I was over the moon. It wasnt for that much money but still, it made me so happy that someone actually bought it. YAY!!!!!

This week, I wanted to do something different so I started exploring and playing with watercolours again. I love it. It is so cool. 

Do you like it?? How much would you pay for this? (I'm not selling this!)

Football season

My son really enjoys football. He loves his football so much that on the day of our flight to Mekah, he made us take him to the field for him to participate in a football game that morning. Reluctant, we obliged because he was begging to let him play. Luckily he won the game and the tournament that morning. It was all worthwhile in the end.

Lockdown and covid-19 has taken a toll on his interest in football. Due to the lockdown, he was unable to go outside to play football. His football sessions were done online. How do you play football online?? He didnt enjoy it at all. After 3-5 months of being away from the field, he completely lost interest in it. I was devastated. He was so passionate about it. Damn you Covid-19!!!

He won the Airasia Junior League last season with his U8 team. This year, the tournament was put on hold due to this pandemic. They couldnt play for a long time but finally, the Airasia Junior League for this year is back on. 

I had to force him a little bit to join the team. He wasnt really interested as he would rather be home and be on his device. I had to drag him but whenever he is on the field, I see that spirit and excitement creeping back out. I just need to motivate and push him a bit more and soon I think it will come back.

We've been going for training for a little over a month now.So far so good. I can see he loves being on the field but getting him to go is a bit of a challenge sometimes. Once he is on the field....he doesnt want to come home.

Yesterday we had our first game at the Ardence Arena in Setia Alam. It was raining heavily that morning. He was worried he wouldnt be able to play. But as soon as we got there, the rain stopped. It was nice!

Due to this pandemic, the organisers have a new SOP in place. Parents and spectators are not allowed inside the venue. Match time has also been reduced slightly. No handshakes after the game and of course, temperature checks is a must. Everything looks good. We just got to make good of what we have.

I found a nice spot outside their training area. Thank God I managed to watch the game pretty comfortably. Our opponents are quite a good team. In fact, they're ranked number 4 (and we are currently ranked at number 5). Within the first 10 minutes, we managed to score a goal! YAY!!!!!

I forgot what it was like to cheer and watch my son play. That adrenaline rush. Gosh. Almost gave me a heart attack. They were fighting to win and we were fighting to keep up. 

In the end, the best team won. We DID!!! YAY!!! The score was 3-2. It was a tough match but we did it. I cant believe it. We won!!! I was so happy.

To celebrate, we went to Uptown Damansara for Nasi Lemak. It was a glorious day!

8 year ago

8 years ago, I was eagerly waiting for the birth of my son. My first labour experience was quite traumatic and I was nervous with my second. At that time, the fear of things repeating itself was haunting me. I chose a different doctor and a different hospital the second time around. The doctor knew my fears and assured me that things will be different this time. For the birth of my son, I chose the happydural. It was life changing!!! I highly recommend it. (Beating myself why I didnt opt for it the first time!)

Labour experience for my son was smooth and went as planned. It was pretty chilled and I dont know if it was my luck but labour was really good. Alhamdulillah.

 

Fast forward 8 years later, on the 13 August 2020, my son celebrated his 8th birthday. His birthday always falls on school holiday. We are normally overseas for his birthdays but because of this pandemic, we are in Malaysia this year.I told the kids they can invite 1 friend over for us to have a small celebration at home.

We have wonderful neigbours who are about the same age as my kids. Every celebration at home, we will have all the kids and neighbours around. They would swim together, play games, dance and do whatever together whilst the moms sit at one corner to chit chat. I love my neigbours. They're the best!!! I'm so lucky to have wonderful neighbours!

My son's best friend came over too this time. He was so excited because they havent seen each other in a while. It was so nice to see them play together.

It was a nice birthday. I think all of us enjoyed ourselves that day.

To my son, the apple of my eye, I wish and pray that Allah will always guide and protect you. I pray for you to grow up to be a wonderful person inside and out. He is the one who always makes me laugh and the cheekiest of the lot. I know he is 8 but he will forever be my baby. Mama's boy forever!

New Normal Holiday

We have about 2 weeks before we start the next academic year (in a new school) and desperately need some vitamin sea. We are lucky that we live in Malaysia. Beach holidays are not too far away. Off to Penang we go! 

We are back!!

 

We went with the family favourite Shangri La at the Golden Sands by Bukit Ferringhi. We come here almost every year we really should get better discount! Checking in was not like usual. It was a long queue and long wait. I was getting frustrated because I felt a bit car sick (which I don’t normally get). Due to this pandemic, their SOP for checking in is slightly different. Registrations took longer and queue was long. Our rooms weren’t ready too, which frustrated me even more. We were also quite hungry and to make matters worse, the coffee house next to the reception is only operating for breakfast. We had to walk all the way down to the other restaurant. Thankfully, lunch was good and my mood got better. 

Night view from our room

Our rooms had a nice view of the beach, which was what I requested. We spent the rest of the day just chilling in the room. Dinner time, we decided to explore Batu Ferringhi like we always do. I particularly like this seafood restaurant nearby and wanted that for dinner but it looks like it is no longer in business. Such a bummer because it was my favourite each time we come to Batu Ferringhi. 

All the shops around the area seems to be out of business or closed that day. Sad but Ferringhi seems really dead. A new sight for us. No more pasar Malams like before. They must be making loses during the lockdown and now struggling to make it. Most are shut.

Breakfast buffet is also different. It was more systematic I must say, but we need some time to get used to this new norm. To be honest, we miss the good old time when we could do whatever we wanted and didn’t have to bother about taking temperatures, wearing masks and social distancing! Argh those were the days 

All in all, it was still a nice relaxing break that we all needed. 

 

Vitamin sea? Got it! 

 

Nasi Kandar beratur? Sorted!!! 

 

Traditional bedak sejuk? Found it! What else do we need? I think we got it all. Missing the good old days but we are grateful to be here and grateful to be alive to enjoy whatever we have. Alhamdulillah

End of an era

Today is officially my kid's last day of school at their current school. I have mixed feelings about it.

We've been in this school for 5 years now. I chose this school simply because I wanted my kids to go to a school that has Malaysian / Asian values but with an international syllabus. I believe I chose the right school for them for this 5 years but it is time to move on.

In this 5 years, we had our ups and down with the school. Fortunately for most of the time, we had wonderful dedicated teachers. We built really good friendships over the years too. Overall, it was mostly good for us. Most importantly, my kids are happy. They love their school and they're thriving, more than I expected. If it was up to my kids, we would be in the same school forever. But as a mother, you always want more for your kids. As parents, we try our best to provide them the best and with this move, I pray and hope, InsyaAllah they will gain new experiences.

There's no such thing as a perfect school. There will always be teachers that arent good enough or not suitable to teach your kids, there will be friends who will be bad influence, there will be facilities not up to your standard, there will be hiccups here and there in every school. I just pray and hope that my children will continue to thrive in this new environment.

I am so sad we are leaving. In a way, I wish we didnt but we made that decision before this pandemic happened and now we just have to continue with it. We leave behind few good dedicated teachers that we've gotten to know over the years and have been wonderful to both my children. I am forever grateful for that. We leave behind wonderful wonderful amazing friends that we've grown up a lot with. I leave behind amazing mummy friends that have been there for me since day 1 with the school. I made wonderful friendships with them. So it is very sad to leave. I'll make sure we all keep in touch as they're no longer just our friends, they're our family.

We prepared some gifts for close friends and teachers. We also gave out cards with my kid's contact details for them to keep in touch. It has been wonderful experience but we need to close this chapter and move on.

I am going to miss the school and friends a lot. Wish us luck in our new school!!! We are excited to start our new adventure!