Selamat Hari Raya

Wednesday, 31st August 2011

http://hariz9511.blogspot.com/2011/08/selamat-hari-raya-aidilfitri.html

Today was another exciting day for our family. After a whole month of fasting, it was time for the moon-sighting for the Eid celebration. After so many years, this year the moon was sighted! Eid thus falls on the 1st of September 2011. This year is a very special her for us because it will be the first time for our Princess Rania to celebrate Eid with us! Can't wait to dress her up in pretty Baju Kurong (traditional dress for Bruneian girls or ladies). Before I go, we would like to wish you Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin.

Sea Treasures

Wednesday, 31st August 2011

Today me and my husband brought Rania to the water village to see her other grandma there. She was very brave today and looked like she enjoyed the bumpy boat ride. It was also a bonus for her to see the various kind of 'sea treasures'! I'm not talking about gold or diamonds, I'm talking about interesting seafood that we can eat! I myself personally love prawns and some types of fish. My father in-law just got back from fishing somewhere in the Brunei sea and brought back a lot of prawns for him to sell. It was a very productive caught too! Before he sell them at the fish market, he would seperate them based on their sizes because the price would be different. Income from selling different kinds of seafood is very good too. When Rania grow up, I hope she will be hardworking like both of Grandpas and able to stand on her own. When you work hard, you'll earn more and live happilly. Just a simple saying but means a lot!

Sleep time

Tuesday, 30th August 2011

Take a look at Rania during her sleeping time! Which one is your favourite? :)

Halal chicken and beef for Rania

Thursday, 25th August 2011

Today was our last day to shop before we go back to Brunei for Eid tonight! Yeay! It was also means our last day to do last minute shopping too! One of our main aim was to get yummy baby foods for princess Rania. We went to Woolworth to look for some and we found some interesting baby food types. We found one which has halal label on their package too. Some of them contains contains mashed chicken cooked with tomato sauce pasta, yummy shepherd pies which has lamb in it! We were so lucky to have found these for Princess Rania to try out. Aparently, you wont be able to find this brand back in Brunei. So we have to stock up lots!

We are trying to give her more meaty food to help her gain more weight. Her last weighing was actually close to 7 kilos. But babies at her age right now, should be weighing about 8 kilos. But her paediatric said there was nothing to worry about because she started small and also she is an Asian baby. Despite that, we still hope that she could gain a little bit more weight so that she looks more chubby and healthier baby.

First Year Confirmation Talk

Monday, 21st August 2011

Today I gave a very important presentation as part of my PhD. It is my confirmation seminar so that I can enter into my 2nd year of PhD. The aim of this presentation was to show that I understand what my research is all about and also know what my plans are for my whole PhD. As part of this, I also have to send in 40 pages literature review of my PhD project. I was very nervous but I think it went fine. I got a lot of feedback on my review on how to improve. The next plan was for me to write up in greater details my actual projects experiments that I need to do and show this to the committee in November. That will be a good practice for me to improve on my writing and literature reading skills too.

Ekka in Brisbane 2011

Saturday, 20 August 2011

Ekka is a yearly event in Brisbane calendar, organized every August. What is it about? Ekka consists of attractions such as rides, games to win stuffed toys, performances by Australian artists, selling well knownmerchandises and chocolates at cheaper price etc. We went last year and had great time. This year we didnt want to miss it for the world! Our main objective was to win a big stuffed toy for Princess Rania.

We managed to win big Elmo for her! My husband did the work, I just cheered and gave him motivation. I think the game was pretty difficult, but my husband knows the technique very well. 

I also bought Rania's Dora the Explorer merchandises too which includes travel bag, bag pack, umbrella etc all for $25.

Science Week at QIMR

Thursday, 16th August 2011

Recently QIMR (my lab where I work) held a science week. Several activities were organized during that week. My colleagues and I recently joined a Science Trivia games, we manage to get 4th out of 8th place. I think we did pretty good. Honestly, the question was quite hard for me! I didnt know any of the answer hehe.. But at least I learn something and general knowledge that night too. We called our team the 'Iron Man' because we are from the iron metabolism research group.

Another activity was Science cake stall. People in the labs were invited to bake anything they want to represent 'Science' theme. They were many creative designs of cake and cupcakes too. I also joined in, I made small ginger bread men in white and blue lab coats. Blue lab coats represents those working  with radioactive. Too photos of the various stuffs baked by the people in the lab. 

Rania with Baby Elmo

Monday, 15th August 2011

This is one of my favourite photo of Rania sent to me from Auntie Sija. She got a new toy just now, a baby elmo! *kiss* *kiss*

First Keyboard

Saturday, 13th August 2011

Guess what?! Rania just received a gift from her Uncle Zul, her first keyboard! Wow! Rania is turning into a young musician. It is mommy's dream to see her able to play an instrument. Hope to be able to send her to music school and learn to play professionally. I hope when she grow up, she will be a piano expert and can play music for Mommy and Daddy. Yeay! She just loves to press the keyboard keys to hear any sort of sound! Take a look at her photo above, looking like a serious musician! I really miss her at this moment.. Wish I can hug and play keyboard with her!

Dinner with some IHS students

Friday, 12th of August 2011

Last night, I managed to catch up with the students that are currently studying at the Queensland medical school ( which is very close to my lab).  There are Andrew, Jeh Wen and Pey Wen. Had a nice italian foods dinner with them at the South Bank of Brisbane City. We had some nice italians pizzas and lasagnas from Amici's restaurant too. They seemed to be coping really well with their study and work attachment too. It was nice being able to talk to them. Hope to see them again in the future.

All the way from Singapore

Friday, 5th August 2011

Uncle Alwis and Auntie Sija recently went to Singapore for a bit. Both of them bought special gifts for Princess Rania. Guess what, Rania got a cute Dora backpack, a water bottle and inflatable bowl. Rania loves Dora the Explorer so much, she can recognize the music from that cartoon and also the characters. These are very useful gifts for Rania indeed for her while on the move. Since, the festive season is also coming up pretty soon. She is now taking breakfast, dinner and lunch like adults do! Thanks Uncle Alwis and Auntie Sija for the wonderful gifts for Rania!

Happy Ramadhan

Tuesday, 2nd August 2011

Today is the first of Ramadhan in Brisbane as well as those in Brunei too. I'm currently in Brisbane. The rest of my family including my parents and Baby Rania are all back in Brunei. I also went back to help her settle there. She seemed to be doing alright. As for me, I'm not so sure.. I think you can guess. Anyway, happy Ramadhan to all those that has been following this blog. My baby daughter is doing just fine. She's all grown up now. Being able to sit on her own. She also able to grab onto furniture trying to stand. She's also a crawling expert now. She is a very brave girl, I must say. Before I came back to Brisbane, I'm so happy that I'm able to catch her doing all this things too. Oh dear, how I miss her sooo much. She is taking her solids food like a pro. Already had a taste of chicken and meat too. Oh yeah, she is currently 10 months corrected age. We stayed in touch almost everyday actually on Worldfon and Facetime too.