Heart's desire (wow!)

It's Saturday. The start of a long holiday for Chinese New Year. What a bliss. Just to sit at home and relax. Fuuuu~~

Wah, beautiful eh. Flowers of Dunedin Botanic Garden, New Zealand. My fiance (ehem) caption this picture as 'Purple purple purple'. Hee, I don't care. Purple is my favourite colour =)

Actually, not much of an idea to write now. But I have been roaming the web like I have no other better things to do and I have been goggling over here

Ooh, I want! I want! I want to go there. Due to open in March. It's Movie World y'all! Right here beside our doorstep. Eh eh, not really lah. It's in Singapore, our neighbour so kind of like next to our doorstep. Hehe. So, no need to go as far as Hollywood or Gold Coast. Yeay! *budget mode on*

I want to meet Shrek. I want to meet Fiona. I want to go to Jurassic Park. I sure want to meet Batman. I want to go to this beautiful castle.

Hmm, it's a good place to travel for honeymoon too.

What say you sweetheart? =)

Childhood

Petang tadi pulang kerja, ternampak layang-layang putih terbang tinggi melayang. Wah, seronoknya. Kemudian ternampak la si pengemudi layang-layang. Alahai, ketot saja. Dua orang budak lelaki lebih kurang umur 6 tahun, terkedek-kedek berlari mengejar bayang si layang-layang. Seorang budak perempuan kecil comel pula duduk di atas basikal 3 roda warna pink seronok memerhatikan mereka. Adik beradik mungkin.

Seronoknya melihat ekspresi muka mereka. Sesungguhnya mereka sedang keseronokan yang amat tanpa perlu risau dengan dunia di sekeliling mereka. Gembiranya mereka ketawa dalam dunia mereka. Riang-ria main layang-layang. Malam nanti nak tidur fikir esok mahu main apa pula. Seronoknya zaman itu!

Ingat lagi masa kecil dulu terutamanya sekolah rendah, saya dan adik beradik boleh tahan nakal. Selalu saya la ketuanya. Masa itu adik saya kecil lagi, ikut je cakap kakaknya ini. Kakak saya pun ikut je idea-idea saya. Kami kena kreatif sebab masa tu mana ada mainan yang canggih-canggih. Patung-patung pun kena kongsi. Ayah bukan orang senang nak pamper kami dengan mainan. Paling ingat patung kertas yang guna kertas keras tu, yang kena koyakkan dari kad saiz A4 sekali dengan baju-baju kertasnya. Baju-baju dengan kasut patung tu kita pasangkan/sangkutkan pada patung dengan lipat sisi-sisi tepinya. Bila jemu dengan baju yang dah ada, pandai pula lukis, warna dan buat baju sendiri. Banyak juga koleksi baju-baju kertas kami. Jimat kos dan merangsang minda kreatif. Masa itu dah tunjuk minat mendalam terhadap fesyen dah. Haha.

Masa itu juga suka sangat main khemah-khemah. Tapi rumah saya mana ada khemah. Bagaimana? Ha, bila mak dengan ayah tiada di rumah kami telangkupkan kerusi sofa rotan lepas itu selubung kerusi itu dengan kain selimut. Jadilah khemah! Hehe. Masing-masing buat khemah sendiri kemudian duduk la dalam tu berangan camping dalam hutan atau baca buku cerita atau main anak patung. Nanti dengar je bunyi kereta ayah dah balik, kelam kabut angkat balik kerusi, lipat selimut bagai. Masa itu umur saya dalam 10 tahun agaknya. Adik saya baru 8 tahun. Bayangkan ketot-ketot ni gigih menelangkup mengangkat kerusi. Tapi selalunya berjaya la kemas ekspres ni. Baiikkk anak ayah. Kalau cerita kat ayah sekarang mesti dia terkejut. Hehe.

Tapi ada juga sekali kami kantoi main permainan tahap kreatif sangat le tu. Ada satu meja rotan yang satu set dengan kerusi rotan 'khemah' tadi. Meja tu atasnya kaca dan kami ada satu bola kecil. Saya dengan adik atau kakak (tak ingat yang mana culprit lagi satu=p) angkat hujung meja itu seorang satu dan golek-golekkan bola kecil itu konon-konon macam konsep snooker la tapi tiada stick. Kalau dapat angkat hujung lagi tinggi dan bola golek ke pihak lawan, kira score la. Punya la excited terjerit-jerit angkat meja tinggi-tinggi golek bola, sekali terlepas pegang. Apa lagi, berkecai seribu kaca meja. Ini macam mana nak kemas ni. Mission impossible! Redha je la kena rotan lepas tu. Hehe. Tapi ayah saya adil. Dia tak rotan ketua saja, semua sekali kena rotan. Zass!

Ya, ayah saya garang. Rotan kat rumah kami dulu dari elok bentuknya sampai jadi berbilah-bilah. Bila terpecah-pecah macam itu, lagi la sakit. Selalunya kami kena rotan dekat betis. Memang selalu la kena rotan. Tapi tak serik-serik juga. Nanti-nanti ada lagi kerenah memeningkan kepala ayah saya. Hehe.

Tapi garang-garang ayah saya, dia suka luangkan masa bermain dengan kami. Terutamanya board games macam Sahibba yang fun sungguh itu, Monopoly pun fun tak ingat sebab ada kuasa membeli biarlah duit palsu pun. Snakes and ladders pun ayah main dengan kami. Sweetnya ayah. Permainan favourite ayah ialah carrom. Memang ada carrom board di rumah kami. Tapi saya tak pandai sangat aim dan jentik buah carrom. Selalu kalah dan selalu kena buli dengan ayah sebab dia memang hebat main carrom. Posisi buah carrom tu senget mana pun dia masih boleh jentik masuk lubang. Salah satu bakat yang tidak diwarisi oleh saya. Kecewa ayah. Hehe.

Hai, seronoknya mengenang kisah-kisah childhood ini. Saya nak pergi tanya ayah sekejap, ada tidak memori sofa 'khemah'? =p

'kopi gano'!

In my line of work, I am most excited and happy dealing with paediatric patients. Aside from their cuteness, it's their blatant honest response that's really endearing. They never fail to amuse me.

How do we actually assess kid's vision? Well, for those who already recognize letters and numbers, it wouldn't be so hard. I've actually met a 3 year old kid who already knows ABC and so amaze me! But for those who didn't, there's keycard and picture chart to aid in assessing their visual acuity. It's really easy and fun for cooperative kids. Of course there are some who's very shy and wouldn't speak a word. And some even throw tantrum and cried endlessly. With kids I have to be really patient. Slowly coax them and make them response to the test. If not I'll throw a tantrum myself. Haha. We can assess paediatric's vision from as young as 6 months old. Oh, those gurgling, rosy cheek, dimple smile babies always made up my day.

Yesterday I met a child with down syndrome who was referred because of conjunctivitis (eye infection). He went to a special school so he was really good in recognizing pictures. What's so cute is that he would response to each picture complete with action. When it was the picture of an aeroplane, he would answer 'feichi!(aeroplane in chinese) weeeuuuu....', while his hand mimicking the flying aeroplane. When it was a horse, he would answer by 'galloping' himself and his hands holding an imaginary rein. When it was the picture of a cake, he surprised me by singing 'happy birthday to you! fuhh....', clapping and blowing the 'candles'. Everytime the cake appears (as the picture chart gets smaller), he would never fail singing like that full with enthusiasm. So cute!

Actually it was how he was thought at the special school. These special children will remember quickly when a picture is associated with a certain action. It must have been in the school's syllabus because when I worked in another state before, the way they answer is the same. Once a 6 year old boy jumped suddenly from the examination chair to mimic a duck, quacking and flapping his armpit while squatting on the floor. Everytime I came to the duck picture, I would have to restrain him from jumping down again. Hehe.

Info: Normal working distance for reading or any near work should be ~40cm. However it's really unhealthy to expose very young children to VDU as above.

Did you know that babies were born hyperopic. Meaning that their eyeball is very short (compared with normal adult) that the image of the objects they see falls behind their retina (the most important layer of the eye which converts image to impuls and transmit it to the brain). So babies definitely cannot see clearly for the first few months of their life. They recognize only their mother's voice. So for less than 6 months old, the only way to assess their vision is by moving pentorch or bright colour toys and see if they follow it correctly. By that, roughly we know that they have vision.

It's not about fashion only. Yes, UV is very harmful to your retina and macular.

One patient of mine is a young girl around 4 years old. When I showed her the picture of a drinking cup, she confidently yelled 'kopi gano!'. I was stunned, so was her mother. But then immediately we couldn't help laughing loudly. Damn cute. Haha.

::Cute pictures from weheartit::

:: Babies tear duct are fully developed only at age 2 months old, so that's why newborn cries but without any tears.

:: Kids usually never complain when they cannot see clearly because they thought it was what other people see too. They especially didn't notice when the problem is in one eye only because of the other good eye. So it's best to have eye screening done as a baby or toddler and again prior to entering school usually at 7 years old. No child is too young for a complete eye exam.

Flowers really do intoxicate me.

~ Vita Sackville-West

Last Saturday, for the first time in my life I got a bouquet of roses from someone special. Hehe. From the start of our relationship, he has never given me any flowers though he knows how much I love them. When I asked him why, he said that it's because giving flowers for him is such a special gesture that he wants to save it for a special time only. Hmm..ok, I thought.

So, what's the special occasion last week? Well, it's the one week anniversary of our engagement. Hehe. Since he's working so far away, I never thought I had the chance to meet him again that fast. Thankfully he has to come home again for a meeting at HKL. The roses are lovely, in our favourite colour. Thank you dear. Now I'm intoxicated. Ngee~

Yes, I'm now engaged. The ceremony was simple, attended by families. I tried to keep everything simple too. Yet, it was a very lovely affair. A special day to be kept in our heart forever. Big thanks to my family for everything.

Hmm, being engaged means that now I have to prepare myself with the coming responsibilities. I have to learn more and improve myself especially on 'hukum hakam' either syariatullah or sunnatullah. Hopefully I'll be able to do that. It's a lifelong learning after all.

InsyaAllah the wedding will be held in this year. Do pray for us too. May we all lead a blissful life under His guidance. Amin rabbal alamin..

Perkara wajib buat

Tiba-tiba terasa ingin mensenaraikan beberapa perkara yang wajib anda buat sekiranya berpeluang ke luar negara. Bagi pendapat sayalah. Hehe. Baik, mulakan!

i. Makan buah-buahan tempatan

Yang ini memang sangat wajib. I mean bila lagi? Saya sangat percaya local fruit is best eaten locally. Tentu saja kerana faktor cuaca dan kesegaran, maka anggur, kiwi, strawberi, blueberi, raspberi, ceri dan segala jenis beri lagi bagi saya sangat sedap sekali. We made a point to buy each fruit everytime we went to the grocery store or everytime we had the chance to went to the fruit's farm. Our favourite is cherry! Buah ceri sangat sedap rupanya. Sangat fresh rasanya. Kalau buah ceri yang selalu jadi hiasan atas kek itu saya cukup tak suka sebab sangat manis dan pelik rasanya. Sudah preserve kan. Tapi buah ceri yang asli memang sangat sedap. Percayalah. Hehe.

Enjoying cherries at Oamaru

ii. Drive yourself

Kalau boleh, cuba mengembara secara roadtrip. Seronok weh drive sendiri. Senang nak berhenti tiba-tiba bila jumpa tempat (atau kedai ;p) yang best. Senang nak menikmati pemandangan. Seronok juga sebab kita sendiri boleh tentukan destinasi yang kita nak pergi. Memang la perlu usaha lebih sedikit, buat kajian mana tempat-tempat menarik, rancang aktiviti sendiri sebelum pergi tetapi lebih seronok bila tidak terikat dengan tourist agent sebab bukan semua yang mereka rancang menarik bagi kita.

Encik tunang makan kebab ;)

iii. Makan kebab..haha

Ok, mungkin macam lawak tetapi bukan senang nak jumpa kebab sedap di Malaysia. Hehe. Kebab salah satu pilihan popular apabila susah untuk jumpa makanan halal yang lain. Biasa dijual di restoran turki. Selalu di Malaysia makan kebab ayam atau daging pasar malam rm2.50 yang dalam roti pita bentuk macam sampul tapi di sana, kebabnya lagi besar dan isinya banyak. Dalam roti pita gulung macam twister kfc dan ada banyak pilihan. Pernah dengar kebab kacang dal? Hehe. Yang paling best bagi saya ialah lamb kebab. Fuh, terasa kekambingannya. Lazat!

Sweet roses at Lady Norwood Rose Garden

iv. Visit each garden or park

Ini pun sangat rugi kalau tak buat. Sebab segala bunga-bunga yang gorgeous yang kebanyakkannya tiada atau sangat mahal di Malaysia sudah berkumpul di sini. Orang-orang mat saleh biasanya really appreciate flowers maka dalam satu bandar pun boleh ada banyak taman. Wahh, best sangat duduk lepak-lepak dikelilingi bunga. Kami sempat pergi ke beberapa botanic park dan rose garden. Oh my, I would never forget the sight and smell of hundreds of roses of every colour at the Lady Norwood Rose Garden. Absolute heaven! Yang bestnya taman-taman ini dijaga dengan sangat rapi hingga binatang peliharaan seperti anjing atau kucing tidak dibenarkan dibawa masuk. So, sangat bersih dan rumputnya clean and clear untuk duduk dan berbaring-baring. A great picnic spot.

the Shire! Hobbiton village!

v. Take your time and enjoy the places. Not the souvenir shop!

Fret not, boleh shopping. Hehe. Tapi janganlah sampai setiap souvenir shop pun nak masuk. Bagi saya lebih baik allocate satu masa untuk shopping puas-puas. Kemudian berjalan-jalan tengok tempat puas-puas. Lagipun kebanyakkan barang-barang souvenir adalah made in china. Ceh ;p

Apa lagi? Bila ingat akan sambung senarai boleh? Till then ;p

Salam 1 Malaysia!

Hehe. Tajuk poyo. Alhamdulillah, telah selamat kembali ke Malaysia hari khamis lepas. Tak sangka sangat rindu pada Malaysia, terutamanya makanan. Ahaha.

Saya pergi ke New Zealand atas ajakan seseorang dari tahun lepas lagi untuk sama-sama bercuti sambil menghadiri konvokesyen adiknya di Universiti of Otago. Kembara 2 minggu kami di New Zealand dan kemudiannya transit di Melbourne, Australia adalah sangat seronok dan suka untuk saya kongsi di sini. Sepanjang perjalanan juga saya menulis travel log untuk membantu memori. InsyaAllah bila berkesempatan akan dikongsi, banyak juga pengalaman menarik berjalan di negara yang majoriti bukan muslim. Apatah lagi kembara kami secara 'roadtrip' iaitu kami memandu kereta sewa dari satu hujung NZ ke satu hujung lagi. Cara paling mudah untuk truly absorb the places and scenery=)

Tapi mula-mula saya nak kongsi penemuan terbaru saya di sana. Adik encik boyfriend telah berkongsi sebuah album nasyid yang sungguh indah. Penyanyinya Maher Zain, berasal dari Lubnan tetapi menetap di Sweden dari kecil. Saya jatuh cinta dengan musik beliau. Nasyid moden dengan irama segar tetapi mesejnya sampai terus di hati. Sepanjang roadtrip kami, cd itulah yang dipasang berulang kali tetapi tak jemu mendengar beliau memuji Allah, berselawat ke atas Rasulullah S.A.W serta menyampaikan mesej-mesej Islam yang lain. Suara beliau memang lazat lah.

Ini yang paling saya suka. Selawat ke atas Rasul kita, Nabi Muhammad S.A.W. Subhanallah, sayu mendengarnya.

Yang ini juga sangat indah. Mendengarnya sambil mata menatap keindahan bumi NZ dalam perjalanan panjang melalui gunung ganang, tasik dan pokok-pokok hijau yang sememangnya sangat indah Subhanallah menerbitkan rasa syukur dan keinsafan pada kebesaran Allah. Alhamdulillah.

Saya berusaha mencari di YouTube kerana rugi rasanya kalau tidak berkongsi dengan muslim yang lain. Oleh itu, anda boleh la meneruskan mendengar lagu-lagu beliau yang lain. Semuanya ada di YouTube dan semuanya sangat indah dengan makna yang baik dan memberi keinsafan.

InsyaAllah =)

::Wellington:: In front of the parliament building

Haere Mai Aotearoa

* Almost 1 week in NZ
* Beautiful country
* Fun! Fun! Fun!
* Done with the North Island
* Am catching a flight to South Island this evening
* See ya!

=)

::Wellington:: School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Otago

Photo Credit: Mr Aryuel