Being Single in Abu Dhabi

I almost completed one week living alone. It is not a great feeling. Especially when you are already married and have one adorable son.

I have been away for meetings before. Sometimes its for a few days and the longest i have been away from home attending meeting was for almost two weeks. But being away for meetings kept me busy with work and hardly have time to feel lonely. Now it is a different ball game altogether.

When you are away for meetings, there is always this anticipation of going home to your family. That kinda make you want to finish up whatever it is in front of you, pack your bags and go home. It is definite.

Wifey was the one who suggested that i should go first and she will join later with Eusoff. Given the predicament we were in at that time, it was the best option that we had. 

For the rest of this week, i have been going back and forth to the office. Then comes weekend. Here the weekend falls on Friday and Saturday. 

I cooked dinner for myself. Eat alone. From time to time just whatsapp with wifey. Whatsapp calls are blocked here. Therefore i have to wait until i get new phone with local number to call home. Just now wifey sent a video of Eusoff. I am going to miss a month of his life. 

Regardless, this one month being alone is the perfect time for me to go out and venture into the city. Surveying and recce for all the things and when they arrive, everything will be in order and it will be easier for them to settle in.

Now i only have my laptop and handphone as my main companion. 

I keep telling myself that it is only temporary. 

At the same time, i keep on praying that April comes faster.

Abahnya Rayyan Eusoff

Abu Dhabi, UAE

Living Abroad

I always wonder how it feels like to live abroad...

Now I have been given the chance...

Let the story begins...

21 February 2016 - ...


Akmal Abu

Ramadan 2015

Wow...dah lama giler aku tak jenguk blog nieh...sejak tahun baru...phewww...memang tahun ni busy nak mampsss...tapi tetap maintain buat masa ni...tak rebah lagi...

Sekarang ni pon Eusoff dah besar...10 bulan dah...phewww...sekejap aje masa berlalu...tup tap tup tap dah puasa pon balik...so tahun ni mengikut cadangan seorang 'pakar kewangan/ motivasi', sila jangan balik kampung kalau nak save duit...errrrrr...well i took up the advice la...tahun ni aku raya kat KL...yeeehooo...NOTTTT...well actually sebab in-laws aku kat KL so raya KL la...

Raya kedua baru berangan nak balik aloq staq...

Okay...apa nak citer...ntah ler...takpe lah nanti aku update balik la pasal review movies aku...dah lama tak review movie nieh...sejak Eusoff lahir memang jarang la tengok wayang...itu pon ada la terlepas 2-3 gak...tak bleh la nak buat dedicated day to tengok wayang cam waktu single...hahaha...

Ok that's all...

Abahnya Rayyan Eusoff

7 Julai 2015

Goodbye 2014. Hello 2015.

I have been neglecting both my blogs for quite a while now. Time seems so limited and i ended up doing lots of things but reaching to no end. 2014 was hectic, that was for sure. In the midst of hectic-ness, lies the underlying shine that burst my life into flames. That was the peak of my happiness in the whole 2014. To become a father.

2014 ended and now 2015 starts. 

The end is the beginning of the end. 

Happy New Year.

Abahnya Rayyan Eusoff

3 January 2015

The Journey of a New Father

It has been 11 days since Rayyan Eusoff was born. After almost a week in the hospital, we were allowed to bring him back. 

Wifey spent the confinement days at our home in Putrajaya. Not going back to her mother's like most new mothers do. Why? well. I do not know. But I am fine with it coz i won't be missing my son so much then. Hahahaha. My mother in law came from time to time to take care of both wifey and Eusoff while i go to work. But when MIL is not around, then i have to prepare everything for them before i go to work.

Nowadays my daily routine starts at 5.30 a.m. in the morning. Boiled the herbal water (for wifey's bath) and cooked rice then take my bath and perform my Subuh prayers. Clean the house (vacuum, mop, etc.) then prepare breakfast for wifey which usually consists of warm water, oatmeal and dates. Bathed Eusoff and changed his diapers and put on his clothes and play around with him while waiting for wifey to finish her bath. Put Eusoff in the baby cot and bring it closer to the window for the morning sun. Then i prepare lunch for wifey (so that she can reheat it in the microwave). The normal cuisine for this week was grilled sliced fish (red snapper, red fish, salmon, tenggiri, etc.) and veggie soup (bitter gourds, carrots, salads, etc.) with brown rice. I am googling more recipes suitable for confinement period. Then i will be back in the afternoon to prepare the lunch and play with Eusoff while wifey had her lunch. Then went back to the office and leave after i could leave the office (i was away for a week so there is a lot of things in my plate) and took care of Eusoff while wifey rest save for breastfeeding the baby which i could not do, not in a million years. Errrrr.

That is basically my routine for the first week after both wifey and Eusoff came back from the hospital. It is tiring but was not stressful. I think i will get used to it after a while. I wanted to hire a confinement lady, but it is way out of my budget and furthermore i could use that cash for the baby. It is a matter of preferences. For those who can afford it, well by all means go ahead because it can ease up your life depending of how many days you wanted the confinement lady to be around. The price nowadays are roughly RM1,000 per week. That could be translated into RM115 per day. Good pay.

But whatever it is. I am still new at this and there are more things that i need to learn about being a father. And i am enjoying every second of it. 

AW

Rayyan Eusoff Muhamad Akmal

It felt weird reading your name in the end of another name. But it is an awesome-kind of weirdness. Rayyan Eusoff. That is the name that wifey and i had chosen for our first born son.

He was born on 25 August 2014, just two months shy from our anniversary. He was born earlier than expected. 1 week earlier. The original due date is on 3 September 2014. I guess he just cannot wait to meet his parents. Hehehe. Weighted 3.26 kg, wifey gave birth through Caesarian. There was no choice given we were advised by the doctors that the baby was already in distress and the opening was not enough to accommodate normal birth.

Alhamdulillah. Everything went fine. Eventhough Rayyan Eusoff had to spent 3 nites in Nursery Intensive Care Unit (NICU), i am not worried as he will be under supervision of experienced nurses. Now he is at our home and officially my duty as a father starts. 

I still cannot believe that i am a father. Time flies to fast that the next thing you know, you are 10 years older and your son is already in school (and perhaps that time there will be another 2-3 additional son or daughter insya Allah). I am looking forward for the adventure that awaits me as a father. I would not trade it for the world.

Amin.

AW

 

Diary Ramadan Akmal - Reminiscing Jalan TAR

Memories are hard to forget. Especially the good ones. Friends come and go and the new memory could never replace the old ones.

I am talking about going for Aidilfitri shopping in Jalan TAR. When i joined the service in 2007, i made some fast friends that remains as my friends (alhamdulillah) until now. The only thing that changed were our title from being single to being married, for some. 

We started it all back then in 2007. The first time i ever been to the infamous Jalan TAR for raya shopping. Accompanied by Zaimee, Arep, Niha, Cherrie and Emmy Jo.

In 2008, i just completed my 6 months course. Went to Jalan TAR with Zaimee, Arep and Niha.

Comes 2009, the permanent member Zaimee and Arep was there. Non-permanent members were Niha, Cherrie, Leen, Zetty, Emmy Jo, Pija and Tina.

In 2010 we park the car at Zetty's house. The group members were Zaimee, Zetty and new addition, Jepp.

The year 2011. Jepp joined again. Accompanied by permanent member Arep and Zaimee. Last but not least Jac.

2012. Zaimee as usual. Then there were Aida Misran from Malaysia, Pa'an, Hafez, Mimie and Amry.

Last year. It was only Zaimee, myself and my lil sis.

And this year. Amymie (my lil bro Fahmi and my sis in law Amy name combination), Jaja and Kartini.

Not to be forgotten. Wifey and baby Eusoff (8 months in tummy).

Years change. People change. But activities remains the same. I doubt this one will pass.

AW

Diary Ramadan Akmal 2014 : Reminiscing The Old Days

Wow. We are entering the final days of Ramadan. It felt as if it was just yesterday i was blabbering to wifey not to pack too many stuffs to go back to Alor Star for our first day of Ramadan. Owh yeah. I am married. This year marks my first Ramadan as someone's husband. And excitedly waiting for our first baby due in September. A lot of good things happened over the year until now. Eventhough some of it are not so good, but knowing that you will have your own miracle does some funny trick to your mind believing that everything is just fine. 

Suddenly all of the sudden, i flashback myself to few years ago. One of nice memories of Ramadan. I wrote it in this very blog. Now i do think that having a blog is not such a bad idea. Some memories are forgotten at the back of our mind but it need that small trigger to refresh it all back as if it just happened. It was my entry on Wednesday, 9 September 2009. Gosh it was 5 years ago. We were not yet 5 years older. We were in our 20s. Hahaha. And this pic. It was the good old days.

Everyone in the pic was still single (with exception of Fatly whois now happily living in New York). I am trying to remember who my gf was during that time. Owh yeah now i remember. I bet my bff Fara remembers her too. For all the wrong reason. Hahaha. This was the hang out group. The gals and the boys. It was one of those memory. All we have left of the memory was a pic to remind us of how we used to be. 

With the exception of Zetty (now my officemate) and Fara (my personal confidante in the times of need) i hardly meet the others any more. The last time i met Meran was before he went on for his honey moon early this year. Zul Azri was during his wedding day earlier this year. Accidentally bumped into Cherrie few months back in Ayer @ 8. Adrian is now happily married and continuing his studies in the states and i was his best man during his important day with Ainul Maria. They are blessed with one cute boy. I never seen Leen since 2011 but we do keep in touch over the social media. Totally lost contact with Andy. Still very much very close to Zaimee as we hang out from time to time (in fact i just got back from iftar with him and his wife Tina). Arep has been a great host to me during my honeymoon to The Hague end of last year and insya Allah i will meet him again perhaps this year end or next year. Everyone are scattered around the globe. Zetty will be starting her new role in Jakarta after Aidilfitri and perhaps i will also be assuming a new role after the baby is born in yet to be decided location. Wow. What a comparison to 5 years ago. Ramadan this year is totally different than Ramadan 5 years ago. 

Ramadan. It is and always be the great month. When the gates of heaven is opened widely to bless us. Needless to say, I am blessed with everything that has been bestowed upon me by the almighty and looks forward for the many incredible days to come. Especially next Ramadan when i will celebrate it as a father if god wills it. I pray that we all will have more Ramadan in our life and one day in the future we all will group once again and take pic with the exact same pose but with crinkles added. Hahaha.

AW

His First Flight

I am thinking of where am i bringing my son for his first travel. That will be in either November or December. 

Many argued that he will be too small. But either way i am more determined to do this than thinking about which pre-school i have to send him. Hahaha.

I guess each people has different priority. I have mine.

So it is either going to be to Tokyo or Perth.

Still thinking.

AW

32 Weeks - What is his name?

Wow. It has been a while since i last updated the blog. I guess there is no interesting thing to write about. Or perhaps i just caught up with work and have no time to even take a look at my blog. Now i am thinking of actively blog again as i do need to practice my writings from time to time. Excuse my atrocious grammar as it is where my weakness in writings lies. But what da heck. Just go with it.

Now it has been 32 weeks. Alhamdulillah. Do not know what i am talking about? Well. I am going to be a father. Yeayyyyy. Superexcited i am. Miracle seems to be lurking around the corner and creeping up with life as we go along with it. 

Comes down to the serious matter. The NAME. 

Errrr.

Still have not settle this issue with wifey. My plan is. To have one name only. Maximum three syllable as i plan to call my son (owh yeah its going to be male) his full name throughout his life. No nickname such as abang/ adik/ along or whatever not. My reason is simple. By calling him with his full name is me praying for him to live up to his name. For sure Muhamad will be his first name. I won't call it as a tradition but it is by far is the greatest name that a man could have. To be named after our beloved prophet. Then comes the second name. Wifey and i still having an argument about it. I won't call it an argument as we hardly argue. Just the matter of difference of opinion. 

Some has said that the name is not necessarily an arabic name. It could derived from any language as long as it has a good meaning behind it. Well. I am a lil bit conventional. Old-fashioned. So i just stick to arabic. There is no use of googling up a Maui name (for instance) whilst on the other hand it could have an entirely different meaning in other language. But that will be hard. As there are thousands of languages in the world. 

Arabic name. Hmmmm. I am quite fond of the name Eusoff (phonetically Yu-Sof). Its just the matter of spelling but it sounds all the same. At this juncture, uncertainty did make my mind a mess. Rafique (phonetically Ra-Fik) also has a nice ring to it. Same does Mikhail (the name of one of the angels) or Tareef (rare, uncommon, curious - phonetically Ta-rif) or Rafq (patience, tolerance, endurance - phonetically Raf).

Whatever it is. Wifey and i still have time to go through all the names that befitting our baby boy. 

It is not an easy task. Now i know.

A.W