My home 'interior'

I don't know if you notice..

Men, they never move on from their childhood. Their interest with toys seems to stay despite of the age, unlike us ladies, we move on. We don't play with dolls anymore as soon as we hit teenage years, am I right? The men, even they don't really play, but they seems to have this strong attachment to their toys that they tend to keep it until the things probably degraded due to nature course. haha. 

My 'A' too is like those men I just described above. The fact that they still got excited over hot wheels and attempting to buy the models he could not afford when he was a kid, really did not bother me. I took it as 'A' is a person who had a great childhood given that everything he does can be associated with that time. For example, the time we need to decide on the car's plate number. He was so adamant to register the car as 87. When I ask what is the significance of that number? We weren't born in 87, or have anything to do with number 87. Apparently, 87 is the car's number that he rode to school when he was a kid -_-". I understand his attachment and envy at the abundant of good memories he had. But, I just could not accept the reason for once. It took him a long time to change his mind though -_-" And nope, our car's plate number isn't 87. Maybe for this one. For next, I'm not really sure -_-"

Anyway, he is also a man with a lot of hobbies and interest. Now that we are living in a four season country, made the situation worse. Ask me why?? Of course he would do different things for different seasons. Didn't I tell you that he's so into sports? He didn't just watch sports, ok? He does it! So far all sports except sumo? haha.

We are currently entering the spring. But, a few months ago, these are what my house's interior looked like...

Next to my kitchen counter.
Binder for snowboards. When I asked, "why you need two?" He answered, "in case one rosak". I know la one can rosak, but can he just bought another one when one actually is rosak?:/

The boards. Yep, he got two boards too..for the same reason he got two binders.  Btw, this is the entrance to the toilet. So mencabar to enter toilet for months -_-"

The entrance to our house. You will be greeted by his recreational road-bike (he has another road-bike for everyday use and that is kept outside at the designated bicycle space). Please find the golf club, his snowboard's boots, and inside the umbrella's holder, there's a portable badminton net in a blue bag. yeah..

Well, although my house looks like that the whole winter, I'm glad that he knows how to enjoy life. I always told him to try as many things as possible while you are at it. But, he actually doing it, unlike me who just knows how to utter the words. I'd say he is the example to what we call 'living life to the fullest'. 

Now that he is about to be a daddy, I said 'ok' to every requests for his boy's time. I said yes to his hundreds of snowboard's trips ( #perksoflivinginHiroshima ), futsal, footballs, time-out with his colleagues until late at night, trips to watch live footballs and baseballs, etc. I said 'yes' even though I already booked him much earlier ( #wifemithali ). Our baby will be in full term (37 weeks) in a few days. Till then, I'd give him as much his-time as possible. After that, he needs to be a dad, and the luxury of time he is enjoying now will come again maybe in 20 years. haha. 

Ika-pea

It's been two days I've been craving ika-pea (squid-flavored peanuts). But, the one that I like is from Daiso. I didn't have time to go or have any encounter with Daiso, so, I told myself to be patient a bit until we can find the opportunity to get some.

Yesterday, a miracle happened.

'A' arrived home much earlier than me. And I didn't even home late. So, imagine how early he was.

So, after I cooked and had our dinner, I asked him to go buy me some ika-pea given that how young they night still is. I didn't think I was too much as I rarely asked him to fulfill my pregnancy cravings.

He said he will go buy me some but he wanted to watch the TV first. 

I was so excited, I could feel crunchiness of the ika-pea in my mouth already.

Then, he fell asleep. The thing with me is, I never would wake him up when I know he was tired from work just to ask him to buy me snacks. I know we are entitled to do so as a wife, pregnant and all. But, I never had the heart. Then I tell myself, "it's ok, the night is still young. He has two hours before the shop close". But, to my disappointment, he slept until late that night that I need to wake him up for Isya'. 

When he wake up, he realized that it's already midnight and his face was filled with guilt. I was controlling myself from crying for not be able to taste the salty and crunchy and addictive ika-pea that I was expecting to finally have it a few hours before. But he's lucky I didn't let my emotion took over my sanity. I know there'll be tomorrow and ika-pea is not worth a fight or emotional disturbance on my part. 

So, I just go to sleep with a plan to stop by Daiso on the way to work tomorrow. 

Because 'A' has already slept for hours, he stayed up that night. But, at 1am I was awaken by pain felt like the period cramp. I thought I was dreaming, but when I open my eyes I realized the pain is real and made me remember the dreadful monthly routine that I had to endure pre-pregnancy. While dealing with the pain, I heard 'A''s movement around the house. Then, at 2, he went out. I think he went out for about 20 minutes. I guessed he might do something with the car or he was fetching his bicycle which he left it at his office that evening. 

Then, morning came. On the dining table I saw packs and packs of variety of nuts from 7-Eleven. Then I know where he went to at 2am that morning :) There's no ika-pea

among the loots though. Coz 7E does not sell ika-pea. But, I still touched by his gesture :) 

Thank you, sayang :') 

Maternity photoshoot

I don't really have photos of my pregnant self by months or weeks like many others do especially when it's their first pregnancy. I don't know if I will ever regret that, I don't really know. But, I don't really have those. I took photos occasionally like days I wasn't pregnant. Like, when I meet people, on special occasion, etc. for the purpose of not recording my pregnant self. You know what I mean?

Family and friends, they did asked for the photos of me, pregnant. Maybe this is my first time and everyone is curious how this so-petite body can carry a child. hehe. So, I tried to selfie myself in front of the mirror, but I failed most of the time. After some training with my friend who is so good at taking pregnancy selfie, I managed to snap one or two but not suitable to share as I was wearing pyjama. lol xp. 

Then suddenly I'm at my third trimester and realized we have no proper photos or memorabilia of our pregnancy. I would probably don't think it as a big matter now, but I'm afraid I might regret it later. Who knows I wouldn't be given another (nauzubillah minzalik). I told my friend here that I don't have a single nice photo of me pregnant and she thinks I should take a few. She even went to the studio for it. 

I told 'A' about my concern of us lacking pregnancy memorabilia. He's a guy, so of course he doesn't really know that it's a thing. But, he's fond of the idea and strongly think that we need that. Despite of my concern, I was so lazy to drag myself into doing this photoshoot. haha. I don't know why. 

This one Saturday, suddenly the weather was so nice that we can ditch those heavy winter coat and roam happily in the Japanese garden which happened to exist only 2 minutes away from our home. After much contemplation, 'A' finally succeeded to take me out of the house and finally getting our decent shoots as the first time parents :) 

We often just pass by the garden, but this time we finally had the reason to stop by and enjoy every inch of the garden. So, from here you know that we didn't use any professional photographer. All tripod-assisted shoots. So jimat!

#walrus

Aiskrim Biru

Before I got married and move to Japan, I can swear to you I maybe eat ice cream in a frequency of em..3 times a year. The most I think. When I feel like eating ice-cream, I'll look for the high-end ones la because I rarely had them, right? 

Call it fate, I got married to 'A' who eats ice cream like they are staple food. OMG! Really!

The first few days being married to him, I was shocked how he can eat ice cream so much at a time. Despite of witnessing this bizarre (to me) talent of him, my likes towards ice cream still did not improved. So, this is one thing about married couple completing each other. One is an extreme ice cream consumer, and another is just so repulsive. It's good that we are now living in Japan. I think their sweets; i.e. ice cream, chocolates, are less sugary than ours in Malaysia. However, this opinion of mine still needs some back ups as I don't know whether that really is caused by the content itself or  it's actually the palate given that the weathers are different. 

Selection of supermarket ice creams in Japan is so banyak! Banyak sangat! haha. Really. 

From the simplest ones like matcha and red beans on stick to some complicated ones which consist of layers of fruits and chocolates. Among them, 'A''s favorite is this one simple stick ice cream which consisted of vanilla ice cream coated with blue soda, which I always call 'eskem biru'. 

I remember I told him, "Among so many ice creams I see you eat, I hate this eskem biru. It's like so boring!Like tak ada makna." followed by me ranting about how he should choose ice cream (coming from some one who doesn't eat ice cream, I know).

It's funny how the universe works some times. Now that I'm carrying his baby, my appetite has completely transformed to 'A''s! Currently, I'm the one who stock up 'eskem biru'. Sometimes he doesn't even know that we have it in the house. A few times I was woken up by dreaming of eating eskem biru. So, I will go to the fridge and eat one. Yeah, that's how my addiction with eskem biru was, up until a few days ago that I got busted eating too much ice cream. The nurse who took care of my well being asked me to stop eating ice cream, snacks and cut my fruit intake *cries a river*. I think I was in my worst mood for two days due to withdrawal. I really suffered a lot for one, there are still plenty of eskem biru in the freezer and two, 'A''s chomping sound while eating the eskem biru is the new sound of nail screeching on the chalkboard to me. Suddenly the sounds of he's licking and sucking the ice cream is amplified for 100x. I really am going crazy that time, which was just a few days ago. 

By the way, due to rapid weight gain I'm having for these few weeks (only), I was strictly advised to stop taking all kinds of snacks, sweets or salty. I was so depressed leaving the hospital on that particular day thinking about my 'eskem biru' that I just stocked up that morning. I could imagine the smell and the joy it brought when I had them while watching Pawn Stars. sigh... Goodbye 'eskem biru' for now (3 months at least >,<).

This is the legendary 'eskem biru' that is now haunting me..I almost put a box in my shopping basket just now. Amazed at my own self-control which honestly, barely exist.

Second Trimester

It's over already. 

And the sad thing about it is, I forgot most of the things I went through already. 

I finally open my blog (while waiting for 'A' to pick me up because it's too cold outside for me to walk home). I clicked on the previous posts and..I like the feeling. Memories that I'll surely take for granted if I haven't written it down.

Anyway, this post will be written much slowly, as I'm trying to recall all the small, big things I went through when I was in my second trimester.

1. The saying that second trimester is the time for us to enjoy is very true. For yours truly, I felt like myself again on my 12 weeks, 1 day of pregnancy. Yes, the first day of the second trimester, I instantly felt like myself again. I regain my health and energy that I almost forgot how it feels like. I was so grateful. It's exactly like when you wake up, you became someone else. tsk..the power of hormone. But, unfortunately, not all mommies get to enjoy their second trimester well. Many around me were still experiencing pregnancy sickness such as nausea, lethargic, excess vomiting, etc. 

2. First kick was felt when I was at 18 weeks. I was praying, and when I perform rukuk, I felt a strong kick to my diaphragm. It was very strong that I moved a bit. haha..I remember I was waiting for the kick because everyone around me was asking if I could feel it. I was so relieved to finally feel it. 

3. At 18 weeks, the doctor could see the face of my baby and said to me (without hesitation) that the baby will look like the father. And I said (in my mind), that it is still too early. Maybe it will change. 

It does not, people. The baby still is looking like daddy till date :/ Oh, and the gender was discovered at week-18 also. And it doesn't change until today. haha xp. 

4. Apparently, baby will not just looking like daddy, he/she has appetite like daddy also. I've been eating like 'A'. Symptoms of transforming to 'A' started off at the second trimester and getting more pronounced now that I am at my third trimester. For example, ice creams and chips. I don't eat these two. Ice cream? I hardly eat them. When I got married with 'ice-cream ghost' (direct translation for hantu aiskrim), only I familiarize myself with ice-cream. But usually I could only eat one or two spoons, the most. But, this pregnancy changes me. I'm the one who is stocking up ice cream and we had a hard time with sharing. There can't be two 'ice-cream ghost' in a house I guess. But, 'A' might as well prepare for that in a few years!

5. Weight gain wasn't an issue during this time. I hardly gain any. Maybe because I became myself again. My 'original-self' is someone who doesn't eat in a large portion. Instead, I used to eat many times, but in small quantity. I can't say if it is self-taught, but that's who I am. I gained a lot during my first trimester and now that I'm at my third trimester. During the first trimester, the hunger I felt was so out of control. So, I ate a lot of times of nasi berlauk and snacks. I carried so many kinds of snacks in my bags but baby doesn't like snacks. He/she only wants fine dining T_T Now at third trimester, I still feels like myself but the weight gain is so rapid that I have no idea where they came from. can anybody explain this >,<

6. One of the thing I was worried when I got pregnant abroad is food cravings. But, so far, alhamdulillah..I didn't experience any food cravings that are impossible to get. Among the food that I craved for were lychees and fruit cake. I freaked out when suddenly I really wanted lychees. Because lychee is not a common fruits in here. But, luckily canned lychees are usually as good as the fresh ones and my baby (and myself) seems to tolerate it well. So, I think I ate about 10 canned lychees until my cravings satisfied. There's one can left at home and it's been months there. I didn't attract me anymore as the craving isn't there anymore.

7. Wardrobe malfunction started and it was no joke. I can't remember when was the last time I had to shop for attired because of needs. Usually, I shop for attire because of wants or because I like it. But this time, I shop because I had to. For comfort. Especially all the undies and all. Many of my friend survived with their pre-pregnancy undies, which I find it awesome. I looked for maternity undies and pants when I was in my 6th months I think. During that time, my belly wasn't that big that I need maternity pants. But, when I tried them on (despite of how ugly they are when hanged), I felt so relieved at the belly part. So, I just grab a few and practically live inside it till today. Only at 30weeks plus the maternity pants really fits me well though. Before that they were slightly loose but it's okay. As for the top, not much problem except if they have very precise cutting on your body. But, at the second trimester, I don't think you'll have any problem fitting in. Now at 36 weeks, I finally found myself needing to put a lot of effort to fit in into my tops except the loose ones. So, I guess saber jela for a few more weeks wearing the same loose tops I have in my wardrobe. And of course, juba and abayas would be the best to save the day. Unfortunately, it is cold now, thus pants and tops.

8. Pregnancy brain. I think I experienced pregnancy brain at the slightest maybe. I think this progesterone made me lost for words so many times. The frequency is too much even I noticed it. Well, it's maybe just me getting old though.