Friday, June 13, 2008

Balqis

Remember my grand daughter Balqis who was featured in my A Bundle of Joy and later in When Will I See You Again? Well she came back some six months ago as her her mum Azini was enrolled for a Kursus Perguruan Lepasan Ijazah. Her mum who has a degree in Machanical Engineering chose to be a teacher and hence she had to undergo a one year teacher training course at a college in Keningau Sabah. Balqis's father works in Labuan some 5 hours of driving and ferry ride from Keningau.
To solve matter it was agreed that Balqis be taken care of by us in Kelantan for six months untill Azini starts her practical training hopefully in Labuan which should be near to her home. As desired she got the permission to do the practical in Labuan. So now she is back home in Pasir Mas to take Balqis to her home in Labuan. The flight home will be tomorrow morning. I will be going along with them to look after Balqis while her mum attends another two weeks of class in Keningau. Doting grandma will have to stay home as she still has to teach at school.


The doting grandma has to stay back.

The period when she was under our care was such a joy that the six months seem to fly off in no time. Since my wife teaches in the morning till afternoon, Balqis was left completely under my care. Many neighbours were askance on how I manage to take care of such a baby all on my own. With Balqis being the seventh grandchildren, I more or less had six experiences with babies before her.

Balqis started to learn how to crawl and went to every nook and corner of the house to explore the new world.

When the cousins Lis and As came back for her mum's delivery of baby Aqil, they enjoyed the morning walk around the village.

Balqis started early in life on learning to play with the keyboards. Hopefuly she will have a head start in IT.

Riding the bicyle with me was her favourite activity too.


She finishes her six oz of milk in no time.

That bad habit of suckling the toe was stopped by constant reprimand from us.

Of course she enjoyed shopping at the newly opened Tesco store in KB.



She is in a happy mood.

Being pretty heavy I had to use the 'kain batik lepas' to carry her around. The baby carrier bought for her earlier was too small for her. This was the way I saw my father carried my brother around when he was small.


Balqis is comfortable with anybody. Now she is with auntie Farizat who came to visit her auntie Azura who was recuperating from the big C.

For more pictures of Balqis, see them here as seen from the eyes of Akmal via the lens of my Sony Alpha 350. This is one of them.
More of her pictures here.

She has been seperated from her parents for so long, it is now time for her to return to them. I will miss her again soon.

50 comments:

Daphne Ling said...

Hey Pak Zawi,

Awww...She is a cute one...The mata so bulat! Don't worry, I'm sure Balqis will come visiting every now and again, so you won't miss her too much...=)

Anonymous said...

Kalau tak tau, kata anak bongsu pun boleh caya gak tu.

He he...

wan sgmt said...

comel sangat..

Pak Zawi said...

Daphne,
Yes she is cute and adorable. Her cheeks were touched by almost all strangers we met. She will reward them with a smile that elicit a return smile.
Hope she will visit us otherwise we will end up visiting them monthly hahahaha.

Pak Zawi said...

Mazle,
Anak bongsu? Kilang dah tutup lama dah hehehehe. Nyamar boleh la.

Pak Zawi said...

Wanz,
Terima kasih. Terima kasih juga atas kunjungan wanz.

Fauziah Ismail said...

Salam Pak Zawi
The grandma will surely missed having her in the house, yes?
You have another two weeks with her in Labuan.
You're a gem. It is rare to find a grandfather taking care of his grandchild on his own (when you're other half goes to school).

drizzt said...

Cepatnya masa berlalu .. 6 bulan tu sekejap je..

Situasi yg sama berlaku kepada ambo..terpaksa hantar anak no2 balik kampung duduk ngan tokmek dia sementara umi dia habiskan KPLI JQAF .. by July ni dah habis training .. so maybe lepas Raya Puasa dah boleh bawa balik ke Kajang anak ambo tu ..

Boleh bayang betapa gembiranya umi dia sebab bersatu balik ngan anak .. n betapa sedihnya atok n nenek dia nak berpisah ngan cucu kesayangan heheehe ..

Unknown said...

Pak Zawi,
Same situation here in my home. My little rascal nephew is going back to Negeri Sembilan day after tomorrow. Though he has been home for a week or two and and all his acts and gestures put all tornados and tsunamis to shame, I am having this feeling that someone in my house is going to cry.
Mr. and Mrs. Zawawi won't be the only ones missing Balqis; it goes both ways. It won't be the same, but at least you have internet to get connected :)
Kiss her chubby cheek for me, will ya ;)

Unknown said...

wahh..
she's soo cute..adorable baby!
rs nk cubit pipi die la..
cant wait 2 c my neph n niece..
ur grandaughter's pic make me miss them even more..thnk god,im going back to msia next week..yeay..
btw, im impressed with ur skills..
taking care of baby..
tough job for me..not 4 u anymore i guess..haha

Pak Zawi said...

Fauziah,
Both of us will miss Balqiss just as much. She had been the jewel of our life the past six month. We have never had the chance to look after a grandchildren this long before. How I wish that my children will rotate their children to be sent to us for a month each. It will be fun especially after so when my wife is retired soon.
Somehow we manage to make them sleep early here, never later than 10.30 PM where as when they are with their parents, 1 AM is quite normal.

Pak Zawi said...

drizzter,
Situasi yang sama la tu. Percayalah bahawa Tokmek akan sentiasa merindui cucunya yang pernah tinggal bersamanya ini. Akan datang nanti keraplah menziarah tokmek di Kampung sebgai balasan dan pengubat rindu.

Pak Zawi said...

Akmal,
Your nephew is that ganas ya? That is because he is big already. Balqiss would have done the same havoc if she could walk and not just crawl. Now she will stand up after getting a hand hold on something and will pull down anything taht is withing her reach.
Lucky thing we have the internet so could take a peek at each other in moments of longings.
I will kiss her for you. Meanwhile feast your eyes on the lovely pictures that you took of her. When she grows up I tell tell her that a certain Dr. Akmal took it.

Pak Zawi said...

wan,
When my wife gave birth to my first daughter, she knows nothing about handling very young baby. I had previous experience from handling my nephew so I had to help her alot.
Azini being the youngest in the family never had any experience with babies too so when she gave birth to Balqis, she needed my help to bathe Balqis when grandma was away in school.
When you have to do it, you will be able to do it. Initially it maybe difficult but you will overcome the difficulty after awhile.

Unknown said...

MashAAllah....comelnya Balqis!!

gambar tolak trolley dalam Tesco tu tak nampak macam atok tolak cucu tu...hehehe

geram tgk pipi Balqis.

Pakpayne

rauhunt said...

Cara PakZawi dukung Balqis dgn kain batik lepas tu sangat klasik. Suko ambo tengok.

Pak Zawi said...

Pakpayne,
She is adorable.
Tak nampak macam atok? Sebabnya atok muda. Macam Gurindam cakap tu la bagi orang yang tak tahu akan kata anak je, dengan ibu muda hehehehe.
Semua orang geram tengok pipi dia. Tak taula bila dah besar besok dah penuh dengan jerawat, berubah la sakit geramnya. Buat masa ini geram paling maksima. Gigi pun dah tumbuh 2 atas dan dua bawah. Sedang asah gigi kat apa sahaj yang boleh masuk dalam mulut.

Pak Zawi said...

Rauhan,
Sekarang ni cuma orang asli sahaja masih guna cara ini. Jarang dah orang kita menggunakannya. Semasa maid anak saya datang sini dia kata di tempat dia di Jawa Timur cara begini juga digunakan. Dengan mengikat begini beban berat berpindah ke bahu dan tangan kita tak kebas dan boleh digunakan untuk membuat tugas lain.
Baby carrier yang gantung kat depan tu dah tak muat sebab dia membesar cepat.

drizzt said...

Baby carrier tu rego puluh2 rial ..
pahtu tak multi purpose

hok ni rego tok sapa 15rial ..pahtu multi purpose lak ... ko guana PakZawi kito hehe ..

Pak Zawi said...

drizzter,
Hok ni rego dia RM5.00 jah so. Kegunaannya terlalu banyak. Tungulah blog saya mengenainya nanti. Banyak doah tok leh nak cerita sini.

ZABS said...

Salam Zawi,
Comelnya cucu. Sudah hampir satu tahun umurnya ye... Tentu anda akan terbayang2kan nya apabila dia sudah ditinggalkan di Labuan nya. Tambang MAS ke Labuan yang ada diskaun untuk warga emas dapat mengubat rindu.

Cucu saya sekarang masih di rumah saya, mungkin untuk sebulan dua lagi. Jika sudah balik ke rumahnya, walau pun 2/3 km je, balik kerja tak boleh terus pangku dia.

zilchy said...

hi there,

of course Balqis will visit both of you again pa. May be next 3 month...heheh

Thank you pa&ma(plus tok & tok nek). Don't know how to repay your kindness...especially her tokpa..hehe

Pak Zawi said...

Zabs,
Wassalam. Dah sepuluh bulan umur dia. 2 bulan di Pasir Mas 2 bulan di Labuan dan 6 bulan lagi di Pasir Mas kembali jadi 8 bulan dari hidupnya disini. No hal la pasal tambang kalau dah rindu pada cucu-cucu boleh terus but round di Labu, Puchong, Shah Alam dan Labuan. Balik pusing sekali lagi.
Macam cucu zabs dekat bila bila masa boleh jumpa.

Pak Zawi said...

zilchy,
No problem la, itu tugas kami.
For other readers, Zilchy is Lokman, Balqis's dad in Labuan.
See you in Labuan at 7.00 PM today.

miss cloudy said...

chomel nyerrr balqis... make me miss my nephew...

Pak Zawi said...

miss cloudy,
Semua babies adalah comel. Cuma bila dia buat perangai jer rasa kurang sikit suka hehehe. Enjoy the company of your nephew more. Thank you for visiting.

LITTLE DEWA said...

salam
owh balqis' so cute & her tok pa is sooo kewlll :)
gosh uncle, u buat i betul miss my dad. the lil one's been pestering me to go balik kg, nak jumpe his atok. & his atok's been wanting to come all the way from jb nak jumpe kami but his poor health's been holding him back. & this unfilial daughter of his is sooo bogged down with work that it's impossible to take leave - balik johor bukan boleh sehari dua, the journey itself takes one whole day - be it by car, bus or train! gosh why hasnt mr tony fernandez come up wit the brilliant idea o kb-jb direct flight??? darn!
btw, have a gud stay in labuan ok uncle... :)
owh poor auntie;s gonna be all by herself... make sure u get her sumthin nice fr labuan nanti ok :)

Pak Zawi said...

little dewa,
Oh you are an early riser too :).
Find time to go back to Johor as soon as possible. As you said he isn't in his best of health to travel means that you must travel down to see him. Don't you the excuse of you have too much work to do as work will never end. You will be depriving your father of this happiness to see the children and grandchildren. You could make your father happy the minute you bring yourself and your family to him. Give him this happiness as often as you can because it is the only desire of an atok at the tail end of his life's journey. No amount of money or gifts can substitute it.
Yes auntie will be alone. She wont even let me spend a day more with my grandchildren in KL on the return trip. Anyway since almost the whole clan (minus Balqis's parents) will be gathered in KL this 16th August and we all will be holidaying on Paradise Island of Redang from 17th to 19th August, we are going to have a splendid time together.How much luckier can we be?

jaflam said...

Salam Zawi,
Simply beautiful photos of Balkis and of coz the Super Datuk that look after her. That shot with you carrying her using "kain batik" is the photo of the year. If you have a painter friend in KB make him paint that photo it will be Monolisa of a Datuk.

Although Labuan is pretty small Island I am sure Balkis will keep you bz. My trip to Labuan will always end up in shopping for lady’s materials. Kadang kadang sampai sedozen kain dibeli.

Pak Zawi said...

D Jaff,
My wife will scoff the idea of making that shot into a painting. Anyway with the idea coming from you I will have to give the idea some serious thought. Maybe change the background abit to make it look like a kampong home.
When I was here with my wife fo the first time some yers ago, we bougt some clothing materials too, the silk were simply beautiful and considerably cheaper than anywhere else. If she were here again I think she will splurge in that too.

Nightwing said...

Helo Pak Zawi,

She is indeed a sweet cutie...:)

A very Happy Father's day to you. May you and your family have a great one.

Pak Zawi said...

Nightwing,
I am so happy you like her too.
Thank you for the father's day greetings.

LITTLE DEWA said...

uncle
u'll stil b blogging eventho u r in labuan, rite?
owh we r going back actually. i'm taking 3 weeks break, cant wait 2 see my men - hubby & daddy :)
bestnye nk pegi redang, family vacation plak tu. i sooo envy u guys :) gone were the days wen we used 2 hav family trips as such. i wish u & auntie good health, insya allah, so that u guys could njoy the company o anak2 & cucu2.
my mom (God bless her soul) left us in 07, aft a fierce 3-year battle wit cancer, it hasnt bn the same. dad's health has steadily gone down the hill eversince.

nway, r we 2 xpect piles & piles o splendid snapshots of redang? cant wait! :)

Pak Zawi said...

Littel Dewa,
Earlier the family get together was supposed to be in Sabah so that the Labuan couple could join us. Later it was changed to Redang due to cost constraint n time.
Mesti ada gambar banyak. Kat Labuan ni pun akan bertimbun gambar. Cadangan awal ni gi shoot kat Bandar Seri Begawan terpaksa di pertimbangkan semula kerana masa.
Alhamdulillah you akan balik menemui hubby and father you. All of you need to reunite.

Anonymous said...

SALAM POK AWI


dalae banyok banyok gambar Balqis , ado satu tu memae mencuit hati pB.

Gambar Balqis dok acu acu nok kekoh ibu jari.

Kalu ikut orghe tuo tuo dulu, itu tando Balqis nok buleh adik kecik ...









hu hu hu

Anonymous said...

Good morning, Pak Zawi.

Hope you are having an enjoybale time in Sabah.

Has Balqis acquainted with her new surroundings already? she is such an adorable baby. reminded me of my daughter when she was a baby.. :)

Please send my regards to your family.

Take care, all the best.

mrs.lim

Pak Zawi said...

Mrs. Lim,
Coming back home seems to be an easy thing for Balqiss to adapt. Anyway with her mum back in college I will have to fill in the void with her dad.
Went round the island of Labuan yesterday and saw prospective places to shoot photograph. Hope to cover as much of Labuan and do a blog about it. There seems to be more than meets the eye about this island. Hope to capture the essence of the place and produce something different from the ones in the tourism brochures of Labuan.
Thanks for the wishes.

Pak Zawi said...

pB,
Maaf deh terjawab hak Mrs Lim dulu.
Pok Zawi buboh gambar dok kekoh ibu jari tu pun nok suruh ore komen gitu la cuma pb jah komen. Spot on la tu. Tapi tak mungkin dia kan dapat adik cepat bab ibu dia lu habis training. 6 bln lagi baru habis.
pB tengok doh ko gambar hok lain dalam flickr? cuba click atas link hok Pok kasi tu.

NaNa said...

Pak Zawi,

The way you hold Balqis, tak nampak kekok langsung. And of course as somebody mentioned, gendong with kain batik lepas tu is really classic.

Nice pics.

Unknown said...

Salam Pak Zawi...

She's so adorable and so chubby...I love to look at all her photos...bet she's gonna be one photogenic toddler soon...

I used to have that baby carrier too...when I was small, it's my duty to look after the baby brothers and sisters... that year no pram, no stroller so 'kain batik lepas' was the only choice...both my boys loved to be carried in that...sampai tidur2...

Pak Zawi said...

nana,
Wassalam. Macam mana nak kekok, dah biasa. Cuma Balqis ni extra heavy sikit. Datok Jaflam suruh buat painting tu. Nanti la pegi kampung kraftangan tanya berapa kena satu keping painting. Kalau tak parah OK la kalau tidak kena buat sendiri je la.

Pak Zawi said...

D,
With more hairs she will look even better. Unlike her cousin Syakirah or Muhamad Aqil, her hair took such a long time to grow.
Oh you had the chance to use kain batik lepas too? Kain batik lepas has a few other uses. I will be blogging about it in due course.

louis said...

Hi Zawi,

Your granddaughter is absolutely charming.

One of your photos had this caption:
"That bad habit of suckling the toe was stopped by constant reprimand from us"

Would you enlighten this Westerner as to whether it is a cultural taboo in Malaysia for an infant to do so?

In the West there is the expression to "put one's foot in one's mouth" that is an expression for saying something that one shouldn't. But in infants, it is usually considered cute that he/she can physically accomplish this feat that adults couldn't dream of doing :)

Please let me know your perspective.

Pak Zawi said...

louis,
Actually for a child that is harmless if the foot is clean but since we let her roam everywhere in the house, we prefer her not to do it. Some believe that a child does that as an indication that the mother is going to conceive again.
Among adults only contortionists can do that hehehe.
I put in that pic cos I find it cute too.

cakapaje said...

Salam Pak Zawi,

Oooh! She's adorable! Hmm...my kisses to Balqis, if you don't mind :)

Pak Zawi said...

Shah,
Wassalam. I will kiss her for you.
How is Elviza's Luqman and Dalilah?
Any news?

izzahismail said...

Pak Zawi,(i prefer to call you this since it seems like this is your nick)

aaahh,i remember when my niece was staying with us since she's still in a womb until she's 8 months old. my mother miss her so much that she went to klang( where the niece live before} every week. seriously.and the father was so in trouble that time,haha. and now, she's 6 years old already and still the apple of the eyes.

i link you.
have a good day pak zawi.

Pak Zawi said...

Izzah,
Everybody calls me Pak Zawi especially if they are of your age.
It was because she was with us for 8 months that made us feel so fond of her. Furthermore she is so adorable n fun. Tak banyak kerenah except for her being extremely active.
As grandparents, we will of course show our love to the grandchildren as the children themselves are all grown up.
Thank you for linking

soleil m said...

salam pak zawi,
Balqis is surely a lucky lil child for having wonderful grandparents who have taken such a great care of her

seeing the picts of u & her, esp the one with kain batik lepas baby carrier has reminded me to my grandpas. never had any chance of meeting them, unfortunately..

i bet, it's not that easy to forget her ayte? 8 months, lame tu :(

Pak Zawi said...

.cookie suria m.,
Please allow me to welcome you to my blogsite since this is the first time you are making a comment though you may have visited my place before.
All children with living grand parents are lucky. I am sorry to hear that you didn't manage to meet your grandparents as you have missed a wonderful portion of your young life.
Memang susah nak lupakan semuacucu-cucu. Cuma gambar dan video pengubat rindu.