Beautiful...

...Kuala Terengganu.










Just a few shots around Kuala Terengganu.


Enjoy.



...

Maiden Trip...

...to the Double Arches.

"Kechik-kechik dah ke McDonald's"

Maybe that is the right phrase to comment about AKS#3's first trip to the only (so far, heard there is going to be another one near Giant soon) McD in town. In reality, the trip was not about her but more about the first two AKSes who mad redo1 has promised to bring to the fast food joint before the month is out.



Linda was glad to be out of the house, confinement was not strictly observed this time around. Well, it was good to go around once in a while though many elderly folks would frown upon this.



Nina was excited with this trip, but then again any trip for meals is exciting for her.



Berg with her Double Cheeseburger which mad redo1 thinks would not be on her list ten years from now after she has grown into a young woman who has to think about what she eats.



Oh yes, the trip was after mad redo1 has completed the registration process of AKS#3 at the National Registration Department.

So everybody, meet...

...Ainnur Khalisa Shukriah.


...

Of Cakes...

...and More Cakes!

Linda's birthday is on the 19 of February.

For some, she already received the best birthday gift that she could ever wish for, that is the safe arrival of AKS#3.



But a birthday is still a birthday, and usually it means having cake and drinks after a good sit down meal with loved ones. But due to her confinement, all those celebrations had to be put on hold and mad redo1 has promised her room-mate that she will have her sit down dinner together with cakes after the completion of her confinement period.

It is a good thirty three days away.

But still, a birthday is a birthday and usually it means having cake.

Alas mad redo1 got the hint and last night Linda finally has her cake.



Two slices of plain cheesecake and a piece of chocolate cake courtesy of the friendly waitress at the Primula Hotel.

Awak, enjoy your cake and I am looking forward to the dinner that we will be having soon.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!



The best birthday gift a woman could have wished for.


...

The First Days...

...of AKS#3.



It has been a couple of days since the fifth member of mad redo1's section of his family arrives and for the majority of the time she spent sleeping.

The senior AKSes fuss over their new plaything almost non-stop to such an extent that Nina is willing to skip school just to have more time with her younger sister. Of course her willingness was not reciprocate by mad redo1.

The community nurse visits Linda for the first time today and she informs us that AKS#3 has jaundice and needs to be thoroughly checked by a doctor. So it seems there is going to be an early trip to 'Klinik Ibu' tomorrow morning.

Hopefully it will be just a minor case and would not develop into anything more serious than that.

Is anybody going to be in town for the 'aqiqah' which mad redo1 plans to hold within the next week or so.

I will keep anybody who are interested to come posted with further development.


...

Announcing...

...the Arrival of AKS#3!

Linda and I and to a certain extent the AKSes know that today is the big day for us as the fifth member of AKSARA will join the party whether he or she likes it or not. With Linda is already at the Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah, mad redo1 spends the day doing a few chores while waiting for her to notify him of the time she will go to the Labour Room.



After a few kick about with Nina, Linda calls and I set off for the hospital with Mortimer, who still needs to be tweaked here and there after the incident with pakcik in kopiah.

The clock shows a quarter to four when I sat down at the hosptal cafeteria for a quick bite. With Linda is already in the Labour Room, mad redo1 settles down on the bench at the waiting area with his 'hospital look' on his face.

He realises that it is going to be a long wait before AKS#3 finally decides to show up. Thus with the latest copy of the Four-Four-Two magazine he passes away the time.



The number of visitors increases after the Asar prayer and I could not help but feeling a bit choked. How I wish parents would leave their children at home when coming to the hospital. Some manage to control these kids but there are those who just let them loose which will deprive patients of peace and quiet.

mad redo1 has low tolerance level for children despite being a father himself.

Maybe there is something about being at the hospital that people just open up to strangers that they have never met before and exchange stories like thay have known one another for years. Perhaps it is the need to share the grief or just a way to take their mind off matters at hand.

At around 5.35pm I decide to enquire about Linda's status. It turns out the nurse has called for me earlier but she neither use the P.A. system nor call out loudly to grab the attention of those who are at waiting area. Believe me, I never leave the area at all.

After donning the required blue robe mad redo1 is brought to the cubicle where Linda is already strapped with the 'thingy' that observes the heart rate of the baby. The volume has been turned down a bit so what he could hear is just faint heart beats of AKS#3.

Linda looks so pale and with the contractions coming in a more frequent manner she is writhing in pain.

Ten minutes before six the first cry from a baby is heard from another cubicle. Both mother and her baby are well and we pray that it will be the same case for us in the next few hours.

At quarter past six the midwife carries out another check on Linda and finds tha opening is still at 5cm which means we have to wait a bit longer.

Then ten minutes later another woman in another cubicle begins pushing. Unfortunately after nearly fifteen minutes the doctor after consulting the specialist, reaches a decision that a C-Section procedure is needed on the woman due to a number of reasons.

This certainly causes a bit of anxiety to mad redo1 and he prays even harder for the safety of Linda and AKS#3.

At a quarter past seven (around the same time Shin Chan is aired over NTV7) the opening has increased to 8cm which means there are only two more to go before the ideal opening is reached. Linda's grip on mad redo1's hand is certainly getting stronger which reflects the pain that she is going through her whole body.

As the 'bilal's call for Maghrib prayer is heard from the nearby Ladang Mosque, Linda is also calling for HIS name as the pain becoming more intense.

Moments after the call for prayer is finished, Linda feels she is ready to push. With His will the passage is smooth and not long after Linda begin pushing mad redo1 could see a head full of hair coming out from the opening.

AKS#3 is on its way out into the world!

At this moment the midwife asks Linda to stop pushing as the umbilical cords seem to be tangling around the baby's neck. After a while the midwife gets the cords out of the way and Linda begins her final push.

At 7.35pm AKS#3 announces its arrival to the world with loud cries that reverbrate through the labour room.

It is a she.

Many friends and family members have been saying that it is going to be a boy this time but for mad redo1 as long as the baby is healthy it is good enough for him. He feels grateful to HIM for the wonderful gift that has been placed under his responsibility.

It does not matter that this is my third time (fourth if you count a favour to someone) but the moment I recite the Azan and the Iqamah, I could not help myself from choking as I try holding back the tears of joy.



At the hospital's musolla mad redo1 performs the Maghrib prayer and does the 'Sujud Shukur' for the smooth delivery process and for being blessed with another gem in his life.

mad redo1's status is now 'a daddy to three daughters...'

Welcome to the world, AKS#3!

NOTE: To all doctors and staff at the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital, Kuala Terengganu, Kelinik Rohana Seripah and the dedicated nurses at the Klinik Desa and also Klinik Ibu Mengandung, mad redo1 says thank you for all the attention and care that have been given to us during the course of this pregnancy.

...

Announcing...

...the Delay.

The due date was the fourth day of February but until today, it seems that AKS#3 is still content in staying put in Linda's womb. But we are not taking any chance and yesterday saw mad redo1's other half being admitted into the pre-natal ward at the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital.



The sisters are also anxiously waiting for their latest 'plaything' to come out.

For mad redo1 it is a bit of everything really. I am hoping that AKS#3 will come out naturally and he or she does not have to be induced to come out into this world. So it has to be either today or tomorrow.

With Linda's birthday is just around the corner, the safe arrival of AKS#3 will be the best gift of all gifts one can ever hope for. Furthermore it will uplift the spirit of mad redo1 who seems to be suffering from one mishap to another over the last few weeks.



What more can you say.

What more can you do.

For mad redo1 it is to pray for the safety of his loved ones and leave everything to Him.

Your prayers are much appreciated.

...

Tragic Week...

...for mad redo1

What is it with road users out there? Is there a conspiracy to get mad redo1 off the road?

Would you believe it, that just a few days after the crash that involved Che Mat, mad redo1 was involved in another mishap on the road, this time with Mortimer?

Man, I just could not believe what happened.



I was on my way to buy lunch for Linda. Upon arriving at the junction as usual mad redo1 will indicate he was turning into the side-road. I already noticed the beige car coming from the side-road but because of I had the right of the way, I simply turned.

To my horror the driver did not stop and mad redo1 sufferred another...

CRASH! BOOM! BANG!



This was the driver of the car. I had a heated argument with him. Apparently in his 'world' he has the right of way on not the other way around.

I wish I had called him a bastard with a 'kopiah'.

I wish I could say that he is called a 'Haji' for nothing.

I wish I could make him realise that he is an embarrassment to Islam for not having the gut to admit his error.

I wish I could swear the hell in front of him.

But none of those happened.

Why?

Because he was an elderly man who should be respected by the younger ones.

But I was really pissed off with him.

Really, really pissed off.

Despite the fact that he was in the wrong, and that was not just me but everybody who came over to the scene telling him so; he just would not admit it.

For mad redo1, a simple apology would have sufficed.

Instead he was not even concerned about what happened to the person he crashed into (by the way, it was me if you care to remember...) and accused me of wanting his money when I felt the case was too minor to report to the police.

So, to the pakcik (that I wish I could call a bastard with a 'kopiah' but did not), you may get to drive away without having to pay anything but He works in his way and I really believe the day that that you have to pay will come.

That I am sure.

Very, very sure.

...

Hospitalisation...

...for Poor Che Mat.

mad redo1 was involved in an accident after picking up the AKSes from their school this afternoon.



The three of us were on our way to pick up Linda from work. Ironically, she was supposed to give birth to AKS#3 today but so far there were only minor signs of that happening.



The driver of the white Suzuki Swift lost control of the vehicle coming into a sharp bend just before the Taman Seri Gelugor in Pengadang Baru.



Upon seeing the car zig-zagging all over the place mad redo1 took evasive measures and prayed that it would not veer into his lane. Unfortunately, it did.

It was CRASH! BOOM! BANG!

The Swift also took out this unfortunate motorcyclist who was thrown into a drain upon impact. mad redo1 remembered him passing him just before the incident.



It must be a hell of an impact and luckily he missed hitting the brick wall of one of the houses lining up the road. He suffered a broken leg.



This was the batard who caused all this pain.

Eyewitnesses told mad redo1 that he was overtaking three cars in one go at the bend thus resulting in him losing control of the vehicle.

How I wish that I could just pick up a vase and smash it on his face, instead I just letting off steam verbally which was not that satisfying.



Both Berg and Nina were traumatised over the whole incident, which could be worse if mad redo1 did not insist on them wearing the rear seat-belts.

So remember people, wear the rear seat belts.



And of course the deployment of Che mat's airbags certainly reduced the injury to mad redo1, so much so that he was able to walk out and got the AKSes into safety and asked the residents of the house to bring a bit of anti-septic to was the motorcyclist's wound, in order to prevent from it becoming septic from the sewage.



It seemed that we have to rest Che Mat for a while and hopefully he will make a speedy recovery.

Be safe people.

...

Pit Stop...

...for Minor Assessment.

The month of February is here which means that a month already gone from 2009. For some maybe it is a good time to just stop just for a while and assess the things we set out to do during this year.



Are we on the right track?

As for mad redo1, he did not really have a set of plan for 2009 except to be better at what he has been doing during the previous year while praying for a few more opportunities to open up in the future.



So far the prospects look good but to translate them into reality is something that will need hard work and dedication and perhaps a huge slice of luck too.



Of course if it happens, mad redo1 will need to re-evaluate things again and perhaps he will need to make a major decision that could affect people around him.



The other day travelling down the beach road certainly opened up a number of possibilities which right now need to be properly documented and then present them in an attractive manner in order to get the attention of the parties concerned.



Hopefully it will see me doing something in a field that I love and at the same time having fun doing it.

Pray for me, peeps!


Photos are merely fillers, it is not much fun posting without them, but do enjoy them all the same.

...