To the people in Christchurch..

To the people of Christchurch... come on, rise up.

This is the Christchurch Earthquake video montage to

"My City of Ruins"

(soure: YouTube)

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Christchurch -- My Heart goes to you...

Today is the 5th day after the big quake that hit Christchurch and caused so many damages, casualties and fatalities. Everytime I turned on the news on TV, they were just heart-breaking news, videos and images and tears were always welling in my eyes watching them all.. so sad, I can imagine myself in their shoes..

Below are some images I retrieved from the Yahoo! News online:

As I type this, there have been 145 people who lost their lives in this tragedy (and the number will raise), and over 200 people are still missing. 1/3 of the building in CBD (Central Business District) will be demolished and the CBD is expected to be closed for months! Surely that area is NOT a safe place for public to walk around anymore. I heard from the news this morning visitors of more than 20 countries were affected, they were still missing to this very day. When things like these happen, it doesn't matter who you are, where you from, or even what religion you believe in. We are all ONE. We are all human. I noticed some people were being offensive and insensitive on this tragedy.. oh I wish they could see how tragic the the disaster is! Its the "darkest day" of Christchurch and to the people all over New Zealand..

My family & I have been sleeping at a friend's house since the 2nd day after the big quake because we're just too frightened with the strong & shaky aftershocks that always rattled our roof. I really can't get my mind off of it..even when a big truck passed by jumped me off! Thanks to our dear family friend who let us stay with them for the past nights, we are very pleased with their offer and had a rather calm nights over there. But today we decided to go back to our own home and 'try' to sleep in the house, hoping there would be no violent aftershocks tonight, or the nights after ..

On day 3 after the quake, I was driving out to get some fresh fruits and ice-cream for my 'grouchy' Arman.. And along the Marshlands Road and the nearby streets & roads in Shirley surburb, views were terrible! Liquefaction was everywhere here and there, the roads I had to drive through were wavey & bumpy and I can see some big and small cracks and holes on the road, some deep and some shallow. Road & concrete dusts were still in the air. But one obvious thing that I could see was the 'spirit of the community' and its very amazing and extraordinary. Despite the news saying thousands of people have fled this place after the quake, the people I saw were working together cleaning their homes, streets, helping each other to shovel off the mounting muds everywhere and sweeping the water off their homes, getting their residential area as clean as they could. A lot more houses were damaged by the quake this time compared to the 7.1 quake last September.. I truly feel sorry for those affected, who lost their homes, and those who have lost the lives of their love ones.. Our eyes can see but nothing compared to the burden those shoulders have to bear.. I really thank the almighty Allah for the care and protection given to me and my family. Our house is still standing, the power and water are still running.. No liquefaction in our area. Alhamdulillah..

However, most of the shop building on the Riccarton Road which is just a couple minutes driving from our home, have been 'red-stickered' and a couple of shops have collapsed. Here are the pictures I managed to get on day 2:

Yesterday was day 4, and as we drove home to get some fresh clothes for the night, I managed to get some more pictures of the damages done along the road as we were using a different road than we normally do. However some are blurry coz I took them from our moving car. Here are some of them:

Above: The Merivale Mall.

Above: Merivale area.

Above: Merivale area.

Its really sad to think that about the places that you used to go with your family have now totally 'gone'.. We have had some good times visiting the city on some weekends and took lots of pictures there. Now, they're closed for months, indefinitely... Most of the images I saw on the news were just like the ones I could only imagine to see in movies, but the facts are still the facts that what happened to us and the city where we're living in, are really a 'real nightmare'. When the police officially released the name of the deceased earthquake victims yesterday, I can feel my chest hurt when I found out among the youngest were 5 months & 9 months old baby.... oh what a great test this is to their parents! :( I feel so sad as I have a 3 months old Alynna and I could imagine the hard struggle they have to go through.. I sincerely hope they will be able to move on with lives that have been spared by God..

Most people are now learning to survive without fresh water and electricity.

I will update again soon..

Christchurch Earthquake 6.3 - Deadliest New Zealand natural disaster for 80 years

Just in less than 6 months after Christchurch was hit by the earthquake of 7.1 richter scale, our 'temporary-home' was hit by another massive earthquake again yesterday, magnitude of 6.3 richter scale..

This is my story....

That very afternoon, Arman and I were just finished playing with the flash cards, learning alphabets. And after that I went to give a quick bath my dear daugher Alynna (3 months old) and was putting her clothes on, while Arman my 2nd child was jumping up and down on my bed. Ameer, my first child was at school as it was only Tuesday. Dear Hubby was at work in Lincoln.

I was planing to prepare some lunch for my family just as I finished putting up her clothes and held her in my arms. Then I heard a small but ascending rumble and just in the next second, our house started to shake! [We in Canterbury always had aftershocks every now and then after the 7.1 earthquake in September last year, and I thought the shake was just one of the strongest aftershocks.] But this time it felt different & worse, very strong and VERY violent, and after a few seconds knowing that this CAN'T be the aftershock, and HAS to be another earthquake, I stood up on my feet and with my body swaying side to side, I yelled to Arman who was already stopped jumping and was sitting down on my bed, "Okay Arman, let's go now!!". But Arman was just sitting still with his eyes looking up on the shaking ceiling and wall! He must be really startled with the sudden strong shake of our home and his mind must have gone 'blank', didn't know what to do.. At that moment I thought I was gonna die, as our roof was rattling SO loud, and the shaking of the ceiling were terrifying as if they were gonna fall on our head!!

With Alynna crying in my other arm, I tried to reach him with my other hand but I just couldn't as he was away on the other end of the bed. My fear got worsen! I yelled at him again "Come over here Arman, we really have to go now!! NOW!!". Then he seemed to have snapped from his 'blank-mode' and started to lift one leg up, and while the house was still strongly shaking, I managed to reach one of his hand, and just quickly dragged him out of our bedroom, and dived under the dinner table. We hid under there and the house was still shaking.. I can see our door was swaying open & shut along with the shake, I can hear the bottles & cups in the kitchen rattle and fell off the floor and broke, and all the pans and pots hanging on the kitchen ceiling were clanging. It was really the scariest moment in my life! Only God knows how horrified I was, feared so much for the safety of my small children with me and Ameer at school.

As soon as the shaking stopped, we stayed under the table and I grabbed the phone on the table next to us and called dear Hubby on his mobile and luckily he was outside the building of his office when the earthquake hit. He said he'll be on his way home right away. I then realized how shaky my voice, arms, and knees were.. I was so scared I was trembling!! I tried hard to think what should I do next, to stay under the table or to bring my children outside our home? I was afraid to get trapped under the table if the roof ever collapsed, so I thought we should run outside and stay out. A few minutes after the house stopped shaking, thinking that it might be safe now to go out and look for the house keys to unlock our sliding door, it started to shake again, and still a very strong shake!! I ran and hid under the table again, and because the shaking was so strong, Alynna bumped her head on the table leg and cried.. Luckily she's not injured, and the 2nd shake didn't last very long, like the previous one. And after it stopped shaking we spent a few good minutes under the table just to be sure no strong shakes will hit us again. After that I ran to grab our house key, unlocked the door, and tried to get Arman. But he wouldn't leave the table, and said, "I'm too scared, Mommy...there's T-rex out there! I'm scared.." At that moment i did think it was cute&funny but could't laugh (who could?at least not right after experiencing an earthquake!). But he finally came out after convinced that there's no T-rex and its just not safe to stay in the house at that moment... *sigh*.

Outside, I unfolded the pram, put the baby in it and brought both kids to Tina's (our neighbor) house. When I got there they seemed to be very shocked too.. Peter, (Tina's husband) took off with his bike to the Wharenui Primary school to pick up his son Johnny and my dear Ameer too. We can see the traffic went crazy on the road with a serious jam!! Then I know dear Hubby wouldn't be home very soon now.. We stayed outside their house for the rest of day, too frightened to stay inside the house as the aftershocks were still too violent.. all of us weren't sure if our houses will stay strong in going through all these strong aftershocks. When all of our family members were already there, we pulled some chairs out to the front yard, and Peter took out their big TV to just outside the door and all of us spent the rest of the day there, keeping outselves up-to-date with the local news while experiencing all the aftershocks. We watched the news with disbelief... the Christchurch city centre, which is just about 7-8 minutes away driving from our home is now just like the war-zone! Collapsed buildings are everywhere, and sadly the Cathedral square is gone too, although not the whole building is gone but Christchurch has basically lost the old building which is known as the "Heart of Christchurch". The videos and pictured are horrifying.. and I really feel sad for them.. :(

Both Tina & I have small babies so the babies stayed in their prams and slept in there too. Another 3 friends from the neighborhood joined our "little gathering" as they were scared to go back and stay at their home too. We took out some foods to be shared such as crackers, bread & jam, chips, and some tea for drinks. We couldn't be bothered much about the rain sprinkling on us as long as we're safe out there but we made sure the kids stay dry. We watched the news together and felt so sad for those trapped under the rubbles, and some have lost theis lives :-( . We never turned off our wireless broadband at home so we could get online even from out there and update our situation to our friends&family especially to the ones in Malaysia, especially to my Mom and Dad..

As the evening got darker, the wind also got much chiller, and the rain became heavier. We decided to open up our dome tent in our backyard, as that's where we're all going to sleep that night. All 5 of us squeezed inside the small tent! Each of us had to snuggled inside our own sleeping bag (including Alynna!) to make it through the cold & rainy night. No matter how difficult it may sound, I believe its better being outside than inside when it comes to night-sleep, coz if we were to sleep inside and when the strong aftershock hit us, we would have to drag all the sleeping kids and run outside. But not if we were already outside.. Our dinner that night: rice and a canned sardine which we enjoyed so much coz we've didn't have luch at all and I was very hungry! Ameer mentioned with a big smile on his face, "This is the best day of my life!" Hmmmm...he's been wanting to go camping and sleep in a tent for so long, and that night his wish has finally came true. Kids... let aside the earthquake matter, let only mom and dad worry about it..thats okay, we wouldn't want the kids to feel stressful too.

And indeed, that very night there were some strong aftershocks at almost every hour, and we kept on hearing the growling and rumbling, and felt them right on the ground. I can see our tent swayed everytime that happened! Some of the stronger ones woke Ameer up too and made him alert for a few minutes before he went back to sleep again. Hubby & I was having a hard time to sleep as there were just too much going on in my mind..I'm just glad the kids were able to sleep quite well..

Alhamdulillah I managed to get some sleep around dawn, and woke up with a sore back but to a shiny day.. As I'm typing this out, I'm still shocked and horrified of what happened to us. Although we don't know what we're about to find out from the news this morning, I'm sure they'll be devastating, and I could only hope for the best for the Christchurch people and pray that all of us who survived this terror will stay safe...AMIN.

P.S. we managed to get some photos after the earthquake, of the scene of around our house and nearby our residency area..will upload them soon.

Here's the REAL DOOMSDAY !

I've received this forward email in my emailbox this afternoon. A VERY DISTURBING email , INDEED!! Come to think of that, wouldn't it be to everybody else?? Go ahead and read this email through... give yourself a moment of thought.. and think again, is it worth having a 'war' in this short life (doesn't matter wether its a family / domestic / global war) such as arguments within the family members themselves. There ARE bigger PROBLEMS out there in this world that we ALL need to take note of, or at least do something about it! Be grateful of what you already have now, which is given by God. To forgive & forget. To live today like there's no tomorrow..(in the good ways, of course!)

And now my friends, here's the story....

"Heard you mention of the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico this morning, and you (and most everyone else except maybe George Noory) are totally missing the boat on how big and bad of a disaster this is.

First fact, the original estimate was about 5,000 gallons of oil a day spilling into the ocean. Now they're saying 200,000 gallons a day. That's over a million gallons of crude oil a week!

I'm an engineer with 25 years of experience. I've worked on some big projects with big machines. Maybe that's why this mess is so clear to me.

First, the BP platform was drilling for what they call deep oil. They go out where the ocean is about 5,000 feet deep and drill another 30,000 feet into the crust of the earth. This it right on the edge of what human technology can do. Well, this time they hit a pocket of oil at such high pressure that it burst all of their safety valves all the way up to the drilling rig and then caused the rig to explode and sink. Take a moment to grasp the import of that.

The pressure behind this oil is so high that it destroyed the maximum effort of human science to contain it. When the rig sank it flipped over and landed on top of the drill hole some 5,000 feet under the ocean.

Now they've got a hole in the ocean floor, 5,000 feet down with a wrecked oil drilling rig sitting on top of is spewing 200,000 barrels of oil a day into the ocean. Take a moment and consider that, will you!

First they have to get the oil rig off the hole to get at it in order to try to cap it. Do you know the level of effort it will take to move that wrecked oil rig, sitting under 5,000 feet of water? That operation alone would take years and hundreds of millions to accomplish. Then, how do you cap that hole in the muddy ocean floor? There just is no way. No way.

The only piece of human technology that might address this is a nuclear bomb. I'm not kidding. If they put a nuke down there in the right spot it might seal up the hole. Nothing short of that will work.

If we can't cap that hole that oil is going to destroy the oceans of the world. It only takes one quart of motor oil to make 250,000 gallons of ocean water toxic to wildlife. Are you starting to get the magnitude of this?

We're so used to our politicians creating false crises to forward their criminal agendas that we aren't recognizing that we're staring straight into the possibly of the GREATEST disaster mankind will ever see. Imagine what happens if that oil keeps flowing until it destroys all life in the oceans of this planet. Who knows how big of a reservoir of oil is down there.

Not to mention that the oceans are critical to maintaining the proper oxygen level in the almosphere for human life.

We're humped. Unless God steps in and fixes this. No human can. You can be sure of that!"

There you go, the whole story that I received in my email.. the engineer is an anonymous, for obvious reason. Go on and dig for more infos regarding this matter, easiest is by googling them. Tons and tons of stories are out there, giving out the same point .. the 'harmful oil-spill' but people wouldn't know how TERRIFYING the 'harmful' is unless you really know what's going on, and what to expect to happen. Let's just hope for the Best for our World..

A stay-at-home Mom, are also called the not-working-mom ?

This was just a shoutout or post from a dear friend of mine, Kelly, that I read this morning, and I quoted,

"Over the past few months I have heard SO many people say: It must be nice to sit at home and not have to go to work. To this I say WOW! Just because stay at home moms don't "go" to work doesn't mean they don't work. Truth is that we do more before 10am than some people do all day! There are children to prepare for school, good hot breakfasts to be made. Book bags to be packed.. kitchens to clean, rooms to tidy, laundry to do, clothes to mend, homework to help with, school projects to complete, meals to prepare, bedding to change, parties to arrange, pets to feed, groom and care for, lost items to find, budgets to make (and adhere to), grocery shopping, bills to pay, errands to run, cuts and bruises to mend, not to mention.. you are the counselor, the doctor, the judge and the peacemaker, the wife, the lover, and the friend. You put out more fires than a little and people always call you because they think "you're just Sitting at home doing nothing"! I salute all of you stay at home moms (Myself included) for doing the thankless job that is highly underestimate and seldom respected!"

This spikes a little fire in me to write what I have been feeling about this thing. I agree with my friend :) I am a stay-at-home mom myself, and I ALWAYS received the same saying from many people around me, such us "Oh you're lucky you don't have to go to work and just stay home". Oh yeah? I am lucky alright, I do consider I am lucky as I get to watch my children grow right in front of my eyes, I get to be involved as much as I could in their activities as they want me to, and lots of other things which is just too many to list down. But one big word here is the word "WORK". B

eing at home doesn't mean there's no work to do. In fact, I could define the 'house WORK' I have to do is 'endless'. The work that we, the stay-at-home mothers do, were never the 9-5 job, its the 24-7 jobs indeed. I find myself having a hard time to sit down and watch any programs on TV as the errands are always there to run. Mornings have always been the busiest time of the day (with breakfast preparation, laundry to do, kids going to school, etc.), my afternoons have always been the time to prepare lunch, picking up the children from school, make sure their lunch are ready when they get home, etc. Even for this 'job', someone i know still said, "Oh its good that you're the one to pick up your children, at least you got a job to do." oh and "You've got a master degree, and you're still a stay-at-home mom". (this is just the TWO examples of the many others I received). Evenings were never a TV-time for me either.

And I was thinking like, "what is she thinking by saying that 'at least i got A JOB to do?' ?" Perhaps she simply can't understand the 'many jobs' that I ALWAYS have to do at home (I'm not complaining about what I have to do--just getting to a point here). As she only has to do the 8-6pm job. I do respect this friend here (and also other working moms out there) who has to work 9-5 or 8-6 and then come home to their family and kids, being tired and only have just an hour or two with their kids before bedtime. They have to sacrifice some part of their lives to spend time at work whilst they could spend the time with their family as they wanted to. But they have their own reasons why they chose to work, and so do we, why we chose to stay-at-home. But whatever the reason is, I'm sure its just what is thought the best option. I will not complain whether its best to be a stay-home mom or be the working 9-5 mom, for I believe every mother knows what's best for their own family :)

But, the stay-at-home mothers don't normally get the respect they (we) deserve. We are usually underestimated, not being understood & appreciated, considered as 'she's not working and just staying home'. I'm not saying EVERYone says that, as some people do realize the important roles we do & play as the stay-at-home moms, and understand & appreciate us. I really THANK YOU for those people :) :) It always feel like such a 'blessing' to be felt appreciated.. :) :)

If people asked me, 'What do you do?' when they're referring to a job, my first answer would be "I'm a Mother", and i would say what am I working as, as my next answer. But that was before I had my own family, and YES, i was a working Mom as well before up until just before I had my 2nd son. I had a career, which I gave up when I decided to be a full-time Mother & wife at home. I came to the point where I realize how IMPORTANT it is for me to be with my son (I haven't had my 2nd son yet) at home, and how much the little one needs me to be with him. And Family Financial wise, I have faith that there will always be others things I could do to help out the family funds. What has always been important for me is whats important for my family, and Alhamdulillah, we're given the wealth of LOVE around us.. :)

I have never felt such satisfaction in my life, when I know I get to be around my family especially to my two little kids whenever they need me. I feel blessed indeed! Two wonderful children that I get to see growing everyday, learn new things everyday and have them shared with me, keep the house running and in order, and I'm always there when dear Hubby gets home too :) Thank God for such blessings in this life. And to the working Moms, please don't get it wrong as I'm not comparing my life with anybody, I am just sharing my story with other mothers, and hopefully we'll be more appreciated by the other people one day. I always remember how this man, a family's friend saw me taking care of my two small kids, told dear Hubby, "Wow.. staying home and taking care of these small children must be even harder than taking a PhD." and said how impressed he was with a mom like me having to face all the challenges raising up the kids myself, with dear Hubby have to go to study/work and only have the evening with us. There, I feel 'appreciated' :) He is right, actually.

'Exhausted' is always there with me, and I can never push it away from me. Its simply part of being a Mom. And I would never complaint to ever 'quit my job' as a mom :) Its the way mothers accept many things for being a mother. And being a Mother, I tell ya, is the most wonderful thing that's ever happened to me. From the moment you gave birth to your first child, the joy that can't be expressed by words, the tears you shed when you're happy/sad raising your family during the ups and downs.. oh so many things! I feel lucky to have my dear Hubby who understands & help me a lot around the house as well as raising the kids..I know he's doing the BEST he could when he get the chance to :)

Before I forgot to mention this, the case if different if you have a lending extra hand at home, such as helpers like housemaids who help you clean your house, watch your kids from morning-evening, and make your house work so much lighter (having housemaids are very common in Malaysia, my hometown). This applies whether you're a working mom or not, they still make your house work much lighter. But my whole story up there is all about a stay-at-home mom who doesn't get to have any extra lending hands from anybody, and that's my case. We live in our own privacy, own story. And that's just our story. :-)

Please forgive me if i've offended anybody as I have no intention to offend anyone, not even in particular! :) That'd be all for today.. God Bless.

BEWARE!! KILLER HOUSE PLANT!! please read, everyone..

Hi everyone,

I received a very disturbing contents of a forwarded email from a friend of mine this morning, I believe its really important to share this one with EVERYONE especially to the ones staying in Malaysia as this said plant is known to be very commonly planted at the homes/offices in Malaysia. So, LET'S PLAY SAFE & DON'T TAKE THE RISKS!

Here's the email contents & I've attached a few pictures of the plant as your reference. (and if you're not very satisfied with the information, you can easily google for more accurate details and safety information).

[All the sender names will remain anonymous to protect their privacy]

*****************************************************************

Information about this plant:

The name of this plant is Dumb Cane.

Botanical Name: Dieffenbachia

Family: Araceaae

Malay Name: Pisang Tanah

Dumb cane is a common potted plant in Malaysia. It has a thick, green stems and is less than a meter high. The leaves are oblong, 25 to 30 cm long and spotted with white and light green. This plant originates from central and south America. Several species are found in malaysia, growing wild, and as potted plants in homes and gardens.

All parts of the plant contain an extremely irritating juice. Its active toxic principle is protoanemonine. Dumb can cause severe irritation and inflammation of the oral cavity when any part of the plant is chewed. It may cause fatal poisoning through suffocation, as a result of the swelling of the pharynx and larynx.

Dumb cane is a cause of child injury, particularly to the eyes when its sap squirts onto the eyes while plucking this plant. It will result in intense pain, diffused oedema of the eyelids as well as large abrasions of the corneal surface.

*** [Below is the email sent before receiving the plant information above.]

Please read below. The message is true. I almost lost my daughter who put a piece of the leaf of this plant in her mouth and her tongue swelled to the point of suffocation. This is one plant but there are others with the same characteristics of coloring. Those are also poisonous and we should get rid of them. Please watch out for our children. As we all leave our children home in the hands of the helpers, we should give them a safe environment where they can play.

This plant that we have in our homes and offices is extremely dangerous!

This plant is common in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda in plant nurseries, many offices and homes. It is a deadly poison, mainly for the children. It can kill a kid in less than a minute and an adult in 15 minutes. It should be uprooted from gardens and taken out of offices. If touched, one should never touch ones eyes; it can cause partial or permanent blindness. Please alert your buddies.

<<< END OF EMAIL >>>

Women as Explained by the Men Engineers =)