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Some months ago my hubby showed me his college year book when he was in Kolej Tengku Jafaar (college for the snobs I say!) and let’s just say he wasn’t a bag of hunk back then. Till today there’s some bitter tone whenever he describes how the girls he liked there didn’t like him back. I took one look at the photo and told him I don’t blame them really, LOL. Infact I also told him if only I met him looking that way, I would have made a dash on the opposite direction.

Hey, at least I’m being honest okie. Would have been the same case if he saw me then.

But if there’s one thing I do believe in is change. That’s why I’ve always loved the Ugly Duckling story because I think alot of us can relate to it. Someone once told me people tend to look their best in their early 20s or as they call it the peak of your years because that sort of prepares you to find a partner and get that sucker hitched to you for life before everything else goes downhill, physically lol.  Of course no denying everything does go down hill indeed after you hit 30, lol – cannot tell you how many issues we have to deal with sometimes! I dare not even imagine what’s in store for the 40s *shudder* or when 50s approach *gasp*

He started off being a cute baby for sure. As you can see as well, that was the start of that ‘blur’ look which he still has till today. I thank God every day Sairah did not inherit that.

Drooly baby is drooly. Apparently he used to be dressed in pink as well because he resembled a girl with those long fluttery eyelashes (the only one thing I’m glad got passed down to Sairah, heh), haha.

Then throughout the years he ended up wearing glasses (and braces) and I’m not talking about those ultra sleek looking ones but more like those big dorky glasses so popular in the 80s and that must have at least scared most girls in Ipoh away I asked him if he ever went on dates back in his school days and the answer was no. Actually I was curious when I asked him that question coz I was genuinely interested in knowing where the heck do people who live in Ipoh go on dates.

So I guess my question still is unanswered

He claims he was fat as well but from the photos I got to see, he wasn’t all that fat. Infact he was stick thin which definitely earned him the dork title with his greasy hair, hehe. He was actually super studious as well but I guess in some ways that has paid off.

Yup, that was him back then.  WOULD YOU HAVE DATED HIM THEN?!

I rest my case.

Then his ‘transformation’ began when he went to the US. I always believe there will always be a country/place/and time for someone to change for the better. And the US was where he had that ultimate freedom to change for the better.  He started wearing contacts, started working out to pass time, started polishing his skills with the opposite sex too as well and by the time he came back from US….

Wala, a new hunk was born!

Eh sorry wrong photo Mmmmm….John Abraham. I reckon he ‘ll be perfect for Christian Grey’s role, Indian version.

There you go – who you calling a dork now doc?! Infact this was one of the photos that enticed me to meet him when I saw it on his Friendster page.

What can I say, am a sucker for muscles compared to bones. And by the time I got to know him, there were a few other girls also interested in him but he obviously only had his eyes someone better, heh.

For one to become a butterfly, one must first be a caterpillar that gets ignored in school and college  :lol:

Shine bright like a diamond – the best of his 20s

Stud muffin on a beach, move over David!

But one thing’s for sure, despite the physical change for the better, deep down he’s still the same old dorky guy who might be blur most of the time but is grounded where everything else is concerned. And if you ask me, that’s the type of man who makes a good husband Ok la, don’t want to say more lovey dovey stuff that might make others puke. I’m getting nausea myself.

Right now he’s bent on sitting for an exam which will hopefully make our lives better in the future and have been studying religiously for the past month so fingers crossed! See, nerds rock, lol.

Excuse the mask on the face,  it was late last night and I was bored so I thought I’d make him take a breather and relax a bit by slapping on a TT Mask on his face so he can look pretty for his class today Things I do as a wife and the things he does to accommodate this crazy wife

But hey, random (I am so not paid to do this, just sharing) but if you have a husband who you think is a stud muffin in your eyes (but more muffin than stud to others, sorry cannot resist!), why not sign him up for Female’s 50 Most Gorgeous People search for 2013? Of course, if you’d like to sign yourself up, all the better. I’ve secretly signed him up so let’ see if he gets the call, failing which he’s already Gorgeous in my eyes.

You can check out the deets here: http://www.femalemag.com.my/promotion/promotions-months-female-magazine/female-50-gorgeous-people-2013

Going back to Krabi almost felt like we had rewind the clock to 5 years ago. Of course, one look in the mirror made me realize we weren’t coz 5 years ago, a fat body didn’t stare back. And I didn’t have a clingy toddler to remind me of the ‘present’ .

Krabi will always be special in a way because that was our honeymoon destination where we first went as husband and wife and boy did we have an adventure where we lived to tell! Not much as changed in Krabi and I can still remember the roads and little nooks and crane that we explored 5 years ago, sans a toddler in tow that is And till today, I can still remember the tsunami fiasco while having a massage which prompted everyone to pack up and just run fearing for their lives. I tried however to look for that same massage place but couldn’t find it. And if that’s not enough, there was a plane crash in Phuket by a local carrier that killed everyone on board – that sort of sent relatives in a frenzy coz they assumed we were in Phuket and might have taken that flight. Like I said – our honeymoon was one of a kind!

SO why Krabi as a honeymoon destination? Well simply because it was the only place the husband could afford.

True story.

When we first talked about picking our honeymoon destination, Maldives came to both our minds. Of course with that also came a heavy price tag which the husband was okay taking on considering he assumed he had a few more months to save up before the big day.

But then our wedding date got brought MUCH earlier, and with his recent splurge and renovation on his apartment, he broke the news of not being able to afford going on an extravagant honeymoon and asked if we could go someplace cheaper lighter on his wallet.

I do believe that was my first test/challenge as his wife, hahaha having to put up with cheapness and bad times, lol.

Our budget for our honeymoon must have been under RM2k or less I think for about 8 days. So yes in that sense I do cringe whenever I hear brides talk about their extravagant and exotic honeymoon that cost over RM20k coz that’s like 10 times more than what we spent! *bitter mode*, lol.

But surprisingly I wasn’t upset at all when he told me. I should have been – it was our honeymoon for God’s sake. But I was cool as a cucumber – mainly because I’ve always been fond of Thailand and would use ANY excuse to go there. And besides, I didn’t want to be that woman who makes a big deal about their honeymoon and demand to be taken to crazy exotic places just coz my vagina is made of gold because there’s no point blowing such money and having to suffer in the first year of marriage esp when that money would be of good use to start off of a new home.

I can be wise when I want to

SO we initially booked flights to Bangkok (of all places!) to spend our first week as husband and wife. And I actually booked us into budget hotel to stay and it was heart breaking to later find out as we stepped into the hotel that our bookings weren’t confirmed due to some glitch and we were officially left without a hotel room since the hotel was already full! 20 minutes later after some arguing with the owner, a Thai Indian guy, told us to go over to his friend’s hotel where we were given a ‘suite’ at a special rate and mind you, it was a walk up 3 star hotel perhaps that totally remind me of all things Punjab!! To top it off, it was located upstairs a tailor shop owned by that Punjabi guy!!

Charming really.

But at least it’s near a train station we told ourselves being the typical optimistic newly weds we were, hahaha.  Now that I think about that place, I miss it. I can’t for the life of me recall the name of the hotel though.

Was I upset? Initially, a little coz aren’t honeymoons suppose to be perfect? I guess it will be if you’re not on a stinky budget! But sooner,  that place grew on me. Like what better way to embrace a lil bit of Punjabi-ness while in Thailand! It was a sign = Punjabi + Thai = part of ME!  Sure at one time we could even hear some couple banging in the next room due to the thin walls (I took a bet with a hubby it was probably some prostitute or worst still a she-male) but like I said, by day 2, we were loving the hotel – thin walls and all  I swear I told myself one day I’ll have an outlet to tell the awesome story of our honeymoon and here it is

But I digress. Somewhere after booking our Bangkok flight, I came across Air Asia’s Krabi promotion and excitedly the husband booked our flight from Bangkok to Krabi and  YES we booked it and decided we would fly to KL-Bangkok-Krabi for the first few days of our honeymoon, like a bunch of idiots not knowing that Kl-Krabi would have only cost us a 1.5 hours flight compared to the 2.5 hours flight to Bangkok only to sprint across Bangkok airport like a bunch of lunatic to catch the flight that we almost missed and which would back track and take us to Krabi!!

Brilliant much? Yup it literally took us half a day to get to Krabi

See, there’s proof that we weren’t smart travelers then. BUT we’ve become so much wiser ever since our first trip as husband and wife and that is what you call practice and getting smarter over the years, lol. I know research research research like a crazy bitch before going anywhere.

We stayed in the same hotel we did – which was Krabi La Playa Resort and its nice to see that even after 5 years nothing much has changed with the hotel. Hmm, not sure if that’s a good thing or bad

One of the things that brightened our day then was seeing this elephant shaped towel and it was good to see Sairah being all happy about it too. It’s the simple things people.

Morning view from the balcony.

The sunset view from the balcony.

Elephants sunbathing. Oops I mean tourist sunbathing. I could never be one of those fat people who would be more than happy to dangle my big belly in public and worst still just frolic in a bikini. Just saying.

Aonang Area

The beach just 10 minutes walk from the hotel.

The best part about this hotel I feel is the little street food stalls located just a 2 minute walk. It was constantly packed because not only was food CHEAP it tasted GOOD too.

One of my favorites when in Thailand is to hunt for these pancakes.

Banana-Nutella Pancake biatch or as I call it Thai-style crepes Had it every day we were there.

Did I already mention Krabi was stinking hot this time?

No? How sexy is this photo?

Good thing the poor baby wasn’t too arsed about sweating all over her head.

Nothing like teaching the little one to sit on a road side stall waiting for dinner. That is until the damn rain greeted us and we ran halter skelter like as though rain was acid.

A random Indian restaurant that we visited coz Sairah wanted her chapati. No matter how mixed one can be, sometimes just cannot take the bhai blood out  ya know.

Of course typically every Thai trip has one photo of the husband hogging beer bottles its cheap and I give him the freedom to knock himself out Not quite literally, but you get the jist.

Baby girl somehow very keen to help her father out, hmm..

More sand sea and ocean view.

Ah clingy baby wants mommy to carry her.

And of course like I said before, I have a soft spot for Black Canyon! They do serve the BEST coffee in Thailand. Even the food isn’t too bad and a whole lot better than the ones served in KL. But I do drop by their KL outlets for their drinks whenever I can.

Can’t drink coffee yet so I’ll just help stir-stir-stir

And if you ever go to Krabi, you MUST visit Kodam Kitchen located near our hotel. It’s one of those rare gem of a restaurant that cooks authentic Thai food that cost half the price of what the other mat sallehs/tourist were paying on the other end.

Suckers! Food so good we went three times!

Sign of good food – when all plates are empty and you see the husband still fighting for whatever’s left of it.

Scene around Krabi town taken from our tuk tuk.

@ Krabi Town

A good trip always makes this little one sleep throughout the night. Heart this photo of her – so much innocence in it. It’s a different story when she’s awake of course.

And that was our lil trip to Krabi with the little one in tow with bits of memories from our honeymoon 5 years ago. And now we can add on more since we went back there with our child.  It was indeed good to be back there just for a few days.

And as for my honeymoon story, we did have a good time then and of course there’s a happy ending to it esp when the husband suprised me three years later with a trip Maldives after I gave birth to his dream daughter  You can read about our adventure here so it’s true when they say good things do happen to people who wait.

So now I’m waiting for a trip to Santorini or New York which are also my two dream desination Just saying!

Last week my husband surprised me with a very sweet unexpected gesture by dropping by to my office unexpectedly. And yes it was UNEXPECTED coz he has never done his before EVER! He texted me around lunch time with this:

Honestly don’t know why but I panicked, and sent him the dumbest message to anyone attempting to do something sweet.

EH?

EH?? WTF is that??! Sound like an absolutely retard, shame on me. Coz see la hubby hardly surprises me like this until I didn’t know how to react. Blame him, not me

I quickly dashed down to the lobby and there he was waiting like a knight in shining armour and presented me with a bag, not before asking for a kiss. And then, the knight in shining armour drove away coz I turned down his lunch idea (coz I already had an early lunch) and he had to go back to work in Cyberjaya!!

He apparently had gone to Gardens Mall in the morning, got the gift and drove 20 mins to my office, only to drive another 40 mins to his office for a meeting!

My heart was honestly racing the entire time as I took the lift back to my office. What the heck is inside this I wondered, careful not to come to a conclusion there was anything related to Burberry inside coz hey it’s just a shopping bag that could be laced with divorced papers for all I know!! Shit happens and men do have a sick sense of humor too, admit it.

Lucky no one was around so I quickly opened to look see what’s inside.

First saw the card of course (lie, I went straight for the goodie la what else)

Yup a bonus treat for me coz someone had his bonus recently.

Well no surprises he attempted to do this on Friday and got caught in traffic – he’s just very bad at ‘planning’ and anticipating things out in advance. Infact I told him he was lucky I was in the office and didn’t choose to go out for lunch coz I did consider dropping by to Pavilion to redeem vouchers, lol.

After opening the bag, I realized it was really something from Burberry. Why Burberry I have no idea too coz I’m not big on this brand.

After opening the box, it revealed a very pretty wallet, which I have to admit, took some time to like it coz in my mind I couldn’t believe my husband paid RETAIL for this!!

I was smiling yes, but that came with some mixed reaction too.

First off, I already have my trusty 3 year old Coach wallet that is still in pristine condition mind you. Secondly, if I’m being honest, I would have preferred a bag, not a wallet.  Thirdly, the red wasn’t initially to my liking – I actually called the store to see if they have it in pink and apparently it’s sold out. So after showing it to my mom and sis, they concluded the red is a nice striking color and mom said it will bring more ONG (luck) so here’s hoping more money magically skips into my wallet. By the end of the day, I was indeed loving the wallet. Plus there’s also a one year warranty on this wallet and this is technically my most expensive wallet to date which I”m taking time to adjust.  And yes fourthly (or is this the fifth?!) I was wondering why would he pay so much for just a wallet that would be sitting in my bag most of the time!

Mom, if you don’t want this, I’ll gladly take it!

MINE!

Then I sat my husband down later that evening and asked him why did he pay retail price for it coz if you read my other post, I’m TOTALLY against retail shopping in stores. I did a quick google and couldn’t find this current model on sale cheaper but either way, I told him next time better if he gives me the cash and I’ll source for something CHEAPER and pow the extra cash by buying something else

But he said, where’s the surprise in that. Oh so very cooly. Could this be a mid 30s change in the husband? And a very good one at that perhaps?? Hmm….

But fark, this just goes to show you how a mind of a woman can be boggling, hahaha. Maybe it’s just me. While I was ecstatic over  his sweet gesture and gift, I was also thinking of all those things. I guess end of the day, as they say it, women can do it better and cheaper

I’m happy with the gift though, I really am. The execution was flawless and it totally made my day. And it goes to show sometimes that even when you’re with someone for 8 years, sometimes, just sometimes they can suprise you, unexpectedly

Recently my frugal husband made a decision to do our grocery shopping in Hypermarkets on Friday mornings all by himself when work is more lax.  Coz he believes their prices are hell of a lot cheaper esp when it comes to meat and vegetables. Which I don’t necessarily agree coz hello, have you not noticed how little RM50 can really stretch in grocery buying these days? I keep telling him sometimes buying group discount voucher proves to be CHEAPER than buying ingredients to cook. Screw you crappy currency and inflation that doesn’t go on par with salary…screw you. Wanna bake also proves to be an expensive affair too! So that’s why I”m unable to expand my baking skills to greater heights coz I wanna keep the cost of my baking low which means I have to make do with simple recipes and ingredients, lol.

I digress

Anyhos, he’s usually off in the mornings like a  good house-wife husband to load up for the weekend. I usually give my list of things to buy by Thursday which means I have to plan out weekend cooking/baking in advance. No problems there really. Coz quite frankly grocery shopping is made easier as well without having a toddler in tow.

Usually I’m the person who buys groceries  in Mid Valley, zooming in and out of the aisle as fast as I can while he runs after Sairah who in turn is running off with a lemon in hand. True story. And once that baby stole a small potato and dumped it into our shopping cart, right on top of her diaper bag. Also true story. After paying for everything, we finally realize there was  a decent size FREE potato in the cart, so we took it home and I made mashed potato out of it and FED her, lol. Pls baby girl, wanna accidently dump anything, let’s make it a bigger value like rissota cheese or Australian brocolli coz those are some expensive vegs! I should also add sometimes we have to watch our basket coz she’ll sneakily dump biscuits or chocolates into it, LOL.

Digress again.

Of course there are certain set-backs in allowing a man to take charge over grocery shopping. While I am thankful that half my headache is solved by having him do all the grocery shopping, the other headache lies in his constant calling to check over everything.

Call no 1:

Him: The cauliflower you want is really BIG.

Me: So? You got something against anything BIG?

Him: *ignores my humour* Shall I get broccoli instead? It’s smaller.

Me: Ok whatever. If you like it small. And green. Muahaha.

2 minutes later – call no 2:

Him: They don’t have Sairah’s usual vegetable juice. But there’s Ceres kiddie juice that you got her the last time.

Me: Can’t you get that for her then?

Him: okay okay.

*Hangs up phone*.

5 Minutes later: -call no 3:

Him: Eh, they don’t carry dark chocolate. But I see Hershey’s chocolate, which is RM9 btw (totally emphasizes on the price) and milk chocolate but I don’t see cooking chocolate written on it.

Me:  You sure that’s  the only ones around?

Him: No, there’s Nona cooking chocolate too. And hey it’s much cheaper too.

Me: Yes pls, get that and why don’t you cook and let me do the grocery shopipng instead *smacks phone on forehead*

Call no 4 – after he’s back from Tesco

Him: I couldn’t find your pipping bag that you wanted. Damn this hypermarket, only have basic stuff.  Proper imported cheese also don’t have.

Me: WTF?  Then why make so much noise when I want to shop in Cold Storage then? 

And this was a conversation when he went grocery shopping a few weeks back:

Him: OMG the chicken here is so much cheaper than the ones we usually buy in MV . Bastards charge so much. Here so cheap. Now I know why housewives like to come here to shop to buy chicken, so many of them crowding it. But you know, these old aunties all too much, they were choosing the vegetables and taking their own sweet time!

Me: So good la, now you’re like a housewife too, you already starting to blend so well.

I’ll tell you, there’s just something very unsexy when a man goes on about grocery shopping and cheap deals, haha. 

 So ladies and gent, for one lousy trip to the hypermarket, I got 4 calls that day! And he’s starting to remind me of those old aunties who gather round and talk about which hypermarket sells the cheapest stuff

But never mind, I shall toughen it up coz hey first off I am grateful that he takes time off to buy groceries (then again not really coz if he doesn’t buy then he doesn’t get home cooked meal, heh) since grocery shopping is no fun with a hyper toddler around.

And I believe all creatures can be trained. And that includes men….that’s why I”m keeping the faith that one day he will be an experienced grocery shopper having memorized the items we usually buy and heck even know the aisles in the supermarket/hypermarkets by heart and then, yes and then he can bag the most awesome hubby award

P.s: Dr Cafe cash voucher is back! Grab yours NOW. You can nicely have lunch and coffee for two and it’s still cheaper than buying groceries, promise

P.s.s: I”m in the midst of choosing a winner, so please do check back either tomorrow or wed!

Back when we were dating, my ex-boyfriend (now husband) used to surprise me with lil gifts every now and then as a romantic gesture. They weren’t really big in value but I still appreciated his lil (pun coz they were really little and cheap, muahaha) gestures. He has come a LONG way however because I did ask him a while ago how come the value of my presents have significantly gone up more after getting married and you know what he said? ‘Oh I wasn’t sure if we were gonna be married then so I kept it ’affordable’ but now that you’re my wife and mother of my child, I don’t mind splurging more’!!

Of course I told him he should consider himself lucky that I still said yes to marrying him despite his cheapo presents :D  And come to think of it, my gifts to him when we were dating were much more expensive than what he gave me and all that despite being a poor person who just started working!

But hey, who’s keeping tabs anyway!

Fast forward a few years after the honeymoon period has gone, my ‘surprise’ gifts have become non-existent. There’s cobwebs collecting dust in that department! I no longer get ‘just because’ gifts……effort on his part is zero. And I admit, effort on my part is also zero *shifty eyes* Seriously cannot remember the last time I gifted him something just because! Wait, does giving birth to Sairah count? She is afterall my bestest best gift from me to him

Truth is, I’ve become such a matured woman now, ahem, that I no longer care much for these surprise gifts anymore. BUT what I’m NOT ready to let go are the yearly birthday gifts! Guess I’m not so matured after all coz miss that one and hell will freaking freeze over! Because as it is, 364 days of the year he doesn’t really gift me with anything or pamper me – miss that one day, that one lousy stinky day dedicated to thanking God (and my parents of course, haha) for creating ME, that one stinking day where he should PAMPER and celebrate ME and I will be beyond mad!!

In that sense, I think he’s done pretty well in the past years. But I will complain that most of the times, these gifts weren’t really a surprise coz he actually would ask what I would like to have and while I try to push the buttons like demand for a Chanel Bag or a trip to Santorini……. Or ask for the moon and for him to move earth, we’ll eventually negotiate further and I’ll bring it down by several notches, lol. And the executions of these gifts are usually done badly because it’s a known fact that women do take more trouble when gifting compared to men! Just like how they pee so quickly, that’s how long (or more like the lack of) they’ll think about your gift. I guess this might be applicable to married men coz men who are single and ‘trying’ will go for that extra mile…I know that for a fact coz my husband was once upon a time that man!  Married men tend to get to comfy sometimes that they forget on the things they once were good at. ….now I just get a ‘okay what do you want’ or ‘nah- here’s your gift’! OR he’ll propose buying me something that’s completely not me or to my liking. Geeez, men can drive you to the grave early sometimes, no?

While on my part, my birthday gifts to him usually have a month or more worth of time and effort put together (let’s not forget the HOURS of research and thought put into it if he’ll really love it) while his gift shopping and decision on what to get me is usually done a DAY before my birthday and on a few occasions, he literally ran out to get it on my b’day itself. Last year he dragged me to the camera store on my birthday to ask which one I wanted and then proceeded to gift wrap it and presented it to me that night, lol.

Still, end of the day I do get a gift so I cannot complain despite the flawed execution.  I have years ahead I suppose to teach him to be better at it I reckon

This year he said he would get my gift in Amsterdam when he went for his workshop a few weeks ago.

Fast forward a week after his trip, he came home with lots of chocolate and biscuits:

And of course some H&M clothes for Sairah which btw I had to maneuver a DUTCH website on my own and give him the links on what to get. So Sairah, when you’re older and can read this – whatever gifts you get from dad is mom’s effort!! And nagging

I am soooooooo digging the leopard print leggings.

And then he slowly presented me these gifts which I already knew what was in it since I asked him to check the prices for me at the airport! He claims the lady at the counter wanted to wrap it anyway….and that it’s not really my b’day gift yet because he didn’t have time to go shopping, go figure! My birthday gift is 2 months late now And I’m suprised at how I’m still cool as a cucumber about it I suspect it has to do with receiving these in-between filler gifts, heh.

As usual baby girl wanna call dibs on my presents!

Already a pro at opening gifts.

M I N E !

I wanna spray!

Yup, thanks to BoxCulture, I was able to fall in love with this perfume. There’s just something absolutely classy and sensual about this scent. My usual perfume supplier told me even he finds it difficult to restock this as it’s such a popular scent now! My husband got this at a bargain in Schipol airport, it was only 72 Euros for a 100ml perfume with an additional 10ml perfume with body lotion! Here the 50ml alone retails at RM278! If you’re looking for an awesome perfume, consider this!

He also got me my favorite Gucci Rush 2! Such a fresh scent which I”ve been wearing off and on for years.

Not finding anything interesting in there, she opted to take the ribbon, hah.

That’s not all, I guess December really puts people into a generous mode coz we walked into Crabtree & Evelyn during their sale and saw something that I wanted and nudged him while saying ‘buy for me, puhleezeeee’ – the puhlezee is something I learnt from Sairah coz that’s how she usually gets what she wants. So it’s been toddler and adult-female tested to work! Use it wisely ladies and you will be gifted , lol

Lo and behold: I LOVE the scent on both the shower gel and body lotion. But I don’t like the price. Coz it’s rather pricey even after discount!

And then last week he wanted to get me new sunglasses coz the current one I have is OLD! So now I am a new owner of my shades which still isn’t my birthday gift

How it looks like on my mini-model

And on the owner of the new shades. I”m just hanging out with my sista dawg! 

Guess who’s the proud owner of my older sunglasses now? Sup?! I gots a scratched worn out sunglasses from mommy – SCOREEE!

Gotta say, sometimes it’s nice to receive several gifts on different ocassions coz it makes you feel special and pampered And with his Birthday around the corner, yours truly have already figured out what to get! But maybe just maybeee I’ll pull a last minute stunt with his gift to teach him a lesson!