"Mommy, cakap Kekesh mimpi yang indah-indah,"...

That's what Marrakesh insisted I tell him before he went to bed finally last night... :)

And so I did. I repeated the whole "Nite nite baby, sleep tight, sweet dreams, I love you..." and I added, "mimpi yang indah-indah...mimpi Handy Manny, Bob The Builder, Dibo, Elmo, semua datang and sing all their funs songs with you darling...no bad dreams, just sweet, sweet dreams." And he adds, "and mimpi bear bear...". Bear bear is his favourite soft toy, white teady bear with a graduation hat, which his older brothers always hide from him, until he cries and whines for it, and the abang-abang will laugh and tease before they give it back to him. Then he tucked himself into bed again and fell asleep.

It's been difficult to make him remain in his own bed till sunrise; somehow he would find his way to my room in the wee morning and tucks himself right smack between mommy and ayah, saying, "Kekesh pegi pee pee pas tu nak tido ngan mommy sebab katil Kekesh rasa tak sedap la...". He's been doing it for a while, until after we saw "Magika". Thank you "Magika"!

Now I tell him that if he sleeps with mommy and ayah, the "Orang Minyak" will find him because "Orang Minyak" looks for children who sleep with their parents. And if he (Marrakesh) cries, then "Nenek Kebayan" will find him and keep him because she'd want to collect his tears...

Some folks may find this a bit drastic and traumatic, but so far it's worked well with Marrakesh. All because the whole thing about "Magika" was actually very funny and cute, not scary and dark; all 3 boys took a liking to the movie. And of course when I tell all this to Marrakesh, I do it in a sing song way, like story telling, not in a threatening manner. And both mommy and ayah would tell him that if he sleeps well in his bed till morning, he'll grow up stronger and braver and will be the champion of many things... :)

So, on top of mommy's regular goodnight hugs, kisses and mantra, I add that special "mimpi yang indah-indah...." especially for my little buncit Kekesh :) Ayah would just say "Hey, bedtime boys, upstairs now, no more nonsense!" Hehe, the macho ayah. But then in his own manja way, he'd let the boys choose the book of the night and read to them, and say Bismillah before finally saying goodnight, sometimes he would let each boy choose his own book... :)

But only mommy can promise "mimpi yang indah-indah..." :)

Stars on the Red Carpet

Celebrities always look fabulous.

Whether appearing in television or films or sashaying down the red carpet during movie premiers and awards, they never cease to fascinate us with their larger than life presence.

The truth is, it takes a lot of effort to look the way they do, and since the fans are their paycheck, they cannot afford to slack off when it comes to taking care of their physical appearances. Their livelihood largely depends on how they look. Aside from the designer clothes, the hair and the makeup, celebrities have to take good care of their bodies.

Madonna, Gywneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts, are just some of the celebrities who still look as gorgeous as before they became mothers.

Their health agenda can range from extreme workouts, regular visits to beauty salons to well-planned meals. Who doesn't want to stay beautiful forever? The bottom line is: it takes discipline and hard work.

Daily Workout

Every January, "fitness" will be one of my "new year resolutions". Well, this year is no exception EXCEPT that my workout started twelve days late. Long story about the children going to three different schools for the first time. Thankfully, next year it will be back to only two school runs when the youngest join the middle one.

Anyway, glad to report that I managed to get back on track this morning. Did my cardio workout on the treadmill followed by an hour of Les Mills BodyPump Class. Looking forward to get back to my daily workout for this year.

Marguerita, Marguerita, Marguerita!

I SO love my Marguerita session at CandiSoo! It is so liberating to be able to just dance and move to those hot salsa and latino beats, just dance, dance, dance! And more importantly, at the end of that 1 hour, I'd have lost loads of calories and would be one step closer to moving like Shakira! Hehe, well, CandiSoo's Marguerita workout is not a dance lesson, it is a fitness regime like all the other programs, so it won't help you qualify for the National Ballroom Dancing Championship, but it lets you dance your heart out while effectively working your body, which is what I love.

As for my goal to lose kilograms, yes, I have lost kilograms, not much, but enough to make me feel happy with my effort. I have just 1 more acupuncture session to go, but after the last 9, and after 9 CandiSoo sessions, I have lost about 10cm at my waist, which has brought my bodysuit undergarment size down from XXL to XL/L, depending on the brand and cut, and I'll surely need to add 2 more notches on my belt. Fortunately my bra size/cup didn't change, phewh! Hehe, but I use the shortest hooks now with ease and comfort and without any embarrassing bulges.

Most importantly, I feel good! I eat better, I dress better, and I now have the energy to go thread my brows and powder my nose whenever I go out!

The acupuncture really helped to improve my eating habit. As advised by Dr Wang Rui, "Yes, you can eat, less fatty and oily foods of course, you can eat rice and have your dessert (I told her I LOVE dessert!). And you must eat during proper meals, so your dessert must come after a meal, not as a snack. If you want to snack, you can have fruits, but not too much banana." And that is what I've done. Of course, during khenduris and weekends, my meals are happily stretched to indulge my palette, but otherwise I am quite diligent with eating properly. I do make the effort to know my food, so that I know what I'm eating, what I should be eating, how I should be eating and that I'm maintaining a balanced diet, eg proteins, carbs, minerals, etc.; you can google this, all the info is out there for you. You can also google acupuncture, to understand how it really works.

One may think that it is expensive to do all these things. Well, they are not cheap, but they are not unreasonably expensive either. I did my acupuncture at Tung Shin Hospital in KL, and everyone knows that the hospital operates on a non-profit basis, so the charges are really very reasonable and fair. And I enrol to CandiSoo's fitness program during their promotion, so I get a very good deal. I'm not Paris Hilton, I don't have much to spend, so I spend accordingly. Handbags? Yes, I indulge, but I buy mine off season, when they're slashed down by 50-70% :); I need my handbags to keep me sane! Else, health and education are top priority for me and my family.

Some things in life you just need to do, so that your life is worth living. Exercising and eating right, these things you must do. My husband used to mock me when I nagged him about what he should and shouldn't eat, and about exercising more. Now, he thanks me for nagging.

Another thing that I prioritise is my facial skincare. There's not much I can do for all the stretch marks and excess skin I now have after 3 boys, except use moisturiser and good underware! But for my face, I am very particular; growing up, my parents were very particular about this, especially my father, he was the one who'd freak out if any of us had a breakout! Good professional facials are expensive and I cannot afford them, so I continually find ways to maintain a healthy complexion within the confines of my very petite budget. Maybe I'll talk about this next time la ha? No, I'm not vain enough to think I'm Heidi Klum or Tyra Banks that you'd itch to know my beauty secrets, hehe. It's just that I think it would be something nice to talk about :)

Till then, here's a pix of me, post acupuncture and fitness program, with my riding buddy, Yus, a fab mommy of 3 boys too...



~ Thanks Doc for the pix :) ~