Christmas 2006

A lovely picture of Brendan hugging Eryn on Christmas morning.

Christmas party

Brendan and Eryn had a good time dancing away at a Christmas party in a golf club in mummy's kampung. It was their first time watching Christmas Carollers singing away. While all the other children were playing games and watching for Santa Claus and the adults sitting and chatting among each other, Brendan and Eryn were the only listeners and supporters of the carollers.

Long Deeparaya break

2 weeks before, I was undecided whether to go back to my hometown in good ol' Kluang. I didn't want to take any unnecessary leave when my work is all piling up. And then, the announcement came, that all staffs are required to take compulsary leave. Since we have to take a forced leave, it made my decision more clear-cut.

And so, the exodus began. I drove back with the kids early Saturday morning around 7:40am. Traffic was building up along the North South Expressway but it wasn't jam. I later heard that later in the same afternoon, traffic was so bad under the heat.

It was a good weekend again in Kluang. There's always tons of home-cooked food and tons of shows to watch on Singapore channel. We seldom tune in to Malaysian TV whenever we are in Kluang as we get clear reception of the Singapore tv channels. The kids love playing with kong-kong and their Uncle Kim Leong and Auntie Fannie.

This trip, I missed the breakfast at Kluang railway station again, and missing Kluang's yummy beef noodle and botak curry mee. How to go out an eat when there's abundant of food at my parent's home?

We spent Brendan's 3rd birthday in Kluang as well which fell on Monday. It was a small celebration at home but it's a meaningful one definitely.

On the first day of Raya, we went to a prominent businessman's open house who happened to be my dad's friend. It was a lovely makan love-affair as the food was just simply yummy. I've not been to any raya open house for many many years and attending it for the first time together with my kids reminds me of the lovely racial harmony that we enjoy.

We've never been to the extremely big Zenxin organic farm despite being a Kluangnite and took the opportunity to visit the farm in Kluang. It was really a surprise for us to see that Kluang has a huge farm. I think they specialises in the planting of the red dragon fruit there.

I used to buy the organic brown rice powder from a Zenxin shop in Kluang 2-3 years back and am surprised at the growth of the company.

When the time came for us to come back up to KL, I really dread having to drive up in the jam but it's a decision I made and I have to face the journey. The usual almost-3 hours drive turned into a 4.5 hours drive up to KL.

Whatever it is, I don't regret going back.

Copycats

My mum love sewing pants, batik shirts and pyjamas (doesn’t matter if it’s not matching) for my kids. Even when we were small, my mum always spend her free-time sewing our dresses, School uniforms, pyjamas and shirts for us.

That’s a pic of Brendan & Eryn in matching cotton, checked pyjama tops. Hey, they’ve got matching smiles to go with too!

Siblings Rivalry

Brendan and Eryn have this love-hate sibling relationship. Well, can play and laugh together one moment and then hit at each other at the wink of an eye!

I love it when they play together. Eryn will sometimes go ‘sayang' kor-kor and Brendan will then ‘sayang’ back mei-mei. But when Eryn starts kissing kor-kor with her wet, salivating lips, Brendan will start screaming and hit at Eryn. That’s when the headache starts. Each will take turn hitting at each other and start screaming and shouting for mummy’s attention. Both will come running to mummy at the same time, wanting to be carried and wanting to sit on mummy’s lap at the same time! Yes, at the same time….. They rather not take turns but would rather go at something together……

Here, you can see a pic of Brendan hugging Eryn till she’s almost out of breath! Haha

My brother's wedding

My one and only brother finally got married about 3 months back. So, this is an overdue post.

My sister-in-law is someone who is really down to earth, maintaining a very low profile and is always ever so generous and kind-hearted, never failing to be nice to everyone around her. She's got this lovely glow on her face, being so patient and understanding.

The wedding was quite a big affair for the family, with the dinner guests totalling 50 tables. My mum's side happened to be a big group as my late maternal grandparents had 13 children. It was a fun affair especially for the younger children, which means it's playtime with lots of balloons, running around and abundance of fun with all the grand-cousins to play with.

self-feeding

As Eryn grows older, she likes to "show off" the things that she can independently manage on her own, like having her own meals.

She'll insists on holding her own spoon and eating on her own, sometimes messying herself and everywhere.

Tanglungs

Just a memorable week of the kids having fun with lanterns, doesn't matter if they're lighted up, squashed, torn, burnt, etc... For Eryn, she's even happy just holding the stick without the lantern!

Music please.....

Over the weekend, we took the kids out to Midvalley for a short visit. We had to send my sis to a wedding dinner in Bangsar Seafood Restaurant and thought that we could spend a few hours in Midvalley while waiting for my sis.

The kids seldom get the opportunity to go to shopping malls and they had tons of fun there. There was an 'iceless' skating rink and the kids enjoyed watching the people skating. As the music beats away, the kids danced around the exhibition hall for all to see.... *Mummy had to hide face*

Eryn's little 'acrobat' performance.

Eryn is one little dashyat baby. Turning 16 months old this Sunday, it's a wonder how she can perform her little magic.

Tell her to do tai-chi and she'll put her two hands down on the floor, one leg down and the other leg up in the air, then she'll twist her body a little like a acrobat stunt. When it comes to yoga, there's a more dramatic effect - the same taichi stunt, but with an added 'lifting up her head' effect.

There's this big cute Crayon Shin Chan doll that we have at home where Eryn will just jump on it, squeeze the neck with her knees and start riding it and she'll goes "sit hooss..." (sit horse)

She can climb up the chairs, tables, hide under the sofa set and the stuffs that babies do without any thoughts of danger coming to their minds. Oh, and she loves twirling around the curtain at the sliding door.

Check out the picture on the right. Eryn’s shirt is lifted back and you know what? She did that all by herself!!

Weekend get-away at D'Paradise

I was given a free night stay at D’Paradise farm in Melaka. Since the complimentary stay is valued at RM1,000 I took my mum, sis, maid and the kids for a short weekend get-away there.

We stayed in a nice little “kampong” like house on a hill. The bathrooms were attached to the 2 rooms with an open-air environment, where you can look up and see the sky while bathing. We didn’t dare take the chance to do that at night. Who knows, we might just suddenly see eyes popping out of no where.

We were quite concern of the insects as we were scared that the kids will get bitten. There was a bee flying around us and a black, furry caterpillar that was in the house. So, we had to keep a lookout in case the kids start picking on the insects and putting them into their mouths.

In the daytime, we took the buggy and drove round the farm. It was basically a tropical fruit farm. Brendan and Eryn were especially thrilled at the sight of the deers and ostriches. They were just so tame and came up close to us. I was actually surprised that the deers love nangkas (jackfruits). They came running to one huge nangka that were thrown to them and they happily tore it open and ate everything.

Overall, it was a nice get-away though I wouldn’t purposely pay to spend a night there as I get to see these fruits since I get to see lots of it back in my hometown.

Zoo again...

Brendan had the opportunity to visit the zoo again on 26th August. Eryn tagged along and it was her first time. Daddy came along as well since he seldom take the kids for outings like this.

I remember the last time I went with Brendan alone, we took our time enjoying watching the animals and leisurely walked at our own pace to let Brendan has his “oohhhhs” and “aahhhhs”. This time, with daddy around, it’s like he’s walking so far ahead of us and we having to catch up with him. By the time we reached where he was standing, he’ll say “ok, come, let’s go….” Eesshh……. How impatiently can he be. Eryn didn’t get much chance to see some of the animals as time seems to be running out for daddy…..

Sigh! Can’t daddy just learn to s.l.o.w. down and enjoy that few hours of fun for the kids?

To think that I’ve never been to Zoo Negara and this year alone, I actually went there twice!

"RRRRRRRR...."

Oh my, Brendan can't really seem to pronounce his "r". Check this out :

Daddy : Brendan, how to you say rrrrrab-bit
Brendan : Brrrrrrr........ Wabbit!
Daddy : What about Brrrrrrrrrrren-dan?
Brendan : Brrrrr..........Band-den!!
Daddy : How about ae-rrrrrro-plane?
Brendan : Brrrrr........ Aewooplane...
Eryn : Brrrrrrr.... Brrrrrrrr.......

On a separate issue, I'm surprised at the no. of syllables that Eryn can input to her list of "Pronouncable" words at one year old. Brendan could only manage sign languages when he was one and a few monosyllables....

Quite recently, Brendan was playing with an empty bottle and making lots of noise with the bottle by banging it on the floor. After a while, Eryn shoke her head and said, "Noooo.....Pe-Cah!"

She's been nodding her head and say "Yes", shaking her head and say "No" or "Can-not" and her latest word to her vocab "Ma..... ma.... ma.... ma...." Problem is, we don't know if she's calling me or calling Ah-Mah (her paternal grandma).

Eryn's birthday party

We celebrated Eryn's first birthday 3 days after her actual birthday. We had a small celebration at a Pizza restaurant in USJ with a room all by ourselves. I think the kids who came had tons of fun especially after the dinner. For Brendan, he was so engrossed into playing instead of eating.

For some of the children, it was a party weekend as the day before, we attended little Qiqi's 2nd birthday.

After our relatives and some of our friends left, the REAL party began. It was more of a balloon party than anything else after the dinner. Spaces were made to cater to the kids to play and run about.

Eryn had her fair share of all the fun despite being only one year old. She couldn't stop running here and there. My gal has grown.....

Eryn turns one!

Eryn turns one today!

For the past few weeks, I've been keeping this in mind - that my gal will be one soon... This morning, she woke me up with smiles and gurgles and with stories to tell. I actually forgot about this special day until I received a phone call from my mum a few minutes later, wishing Eryn Happy Birthday! Gosh..... my memory is failing me.

2 nights ago, she discovered how to climb up the sofa and get down again. I didn't actually noticed it. Eryn was playing beside me while I was reading the newspaper. Suddenly, my maid asked "Eehh?! Macam mana Eryn naik atas sofa?" I was so engrossed in my papers that I didn't even noticed that she has climbed onto the sofa! I looked at her and she was smiling, happy that she's learnt another new found "skill"! She then slowly and carefully got down from the sofa and smiled again. Then, it all began. She climbed up, she came down, she climbed up, she came down, etc... And she's been doing it for the past 2 days.....

We won't be going anything much today as we are having a small celebration this coming Sunday.

Mummy wish you, Eryn, a HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY! *kisses* & *hugs*

Langkawi videos

Before we depart for KL from Langkawi, we spent some time by a beach near the airport. The owner of the restaurant which is located on that beach told us that Dr Mahathir and his family loves prawn-fishing there and they can catch up to 20 kilos of prawns within one hour!

The beach is not as beautiful as the other beaches in Langkawi, but the air is very breezy and the waves quite strong.

As for Brendan and Eryn, they just love running around as seen in the videos here......

Langkawi trip

We had pre-planned to go to Langkawi since January this year. However, I didn't really have the mood to go when Eryn was down with fever and Roseola.

The night before we left, her rashes subsided a lot and we headed to Langkawi on the 24th May. We rented a Wira at RM120 for the whole 3 days and stayed at Berjaya Langkawi Beach & Spa resort. It was a wonderful trip for the children and they loved the whole trip, right from the packing of the bags, the wait at the airport, the buggy rides at Berjaya Resort, seeing aeroplanes, boats, yatchs, monkeys, donkeys and the visit to Underwater World, Telaga Tujuh (Seven Wells), the many beaches, the Hot Spring and many other smaller places. Oh, not forgetting the many places to run about, the jumping on the bed, the shower in the bathtub and many more...

Believe it or not, it was actually my first time to Langkawi (how sad....). I didn't expect much out of it but am surprised at the lovely island. I think it must be due to the presence of my children that made me enjoy my stay more than I expected.

We practically drove around the whole Island, my favourite places being the Telaga Tujuh waterfall and the beaches, esp. Datai Bay and Berjaya beach. Too bad we didn't get to reach Telaga Tujuh at the top due to some light drizzle. For batik lovers, shopping at Beras Terbakar (Field of Burnt Rice) is a must as they batik materials from Java are of good materials and are very cheap.

Eryn's first high fever

I had a scare when Eryn had high fever last week. Went to see the dr and he gave some fever medicine and an anti-inflammation medicine for her throat. Her restlessness made me lose sleep until her fever went down yesterday.

But then, the reddish spots came out. Called my mum last night to seek her opinion and she said that I should go to see the auntie staying on the ground floor of my block. Lan Jie was very helpful and I got some tips from her. In fact, I suspected that it was Roseola (or 'fake measles' in chinese). She confirmed it and gave me some tips.

To put myself at ease, I took Eryn to the dr again after work today and the dr too confirms that it was Roseola. Have to pay another RM45 just to see him the 2nd time, but I take it that I learnt something from the dr today, by differentiating between the normal measles and roseola.

On a separate issue, it's Eryn's chinese birthday today. We have a simple 'birthday game' where you lay some items in front of the birthday child for her to pick her so-called expertise. We don't really believe in it but did it out of fun.

Hectic Weekend

Didn't manage to find time to post this up until now.

I actually drove down to Kluang with my kids last weekend. I was already dead-tired and was initially worried how I was going to cope over that weekend. My MIL was spending the long weekend at her eldest son’s place and my hubby was away in Penang. So, it’s just me alone with the kids plus the maid.

Thursday, 11th May 2006

My sis was due to arrive at 11:15pm at the LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal) on thisThursday day night. I was constantly thinking whether I should leave the kids alone at home with the maid and drive to LCCT alone. I normally directly breastfeed Eryn once I get home from work. The kids usually goes to bed between 10:30pm-11:00pm and Eryn must suckle before she goes to bed, getting up occasionally for more shots in-between bedtime and before I go to work. Then, there’s the worry of Brendan disturbing his mei-mei and I really don’t think my maid can tahan with these 2 kids alone at home. I was thinking of taking Brendan alone with me so the maid can just keep on eye on Eryn, with or without direct breastfeeding.

To make things worst, my sis called to say that her flight was delayed and she would be arriving around midnight!! Gosh!! 10:30pm came and the kids are still very much active. Getting them to sleep was quite impossible that night. So, at 11:15pm, all of us went to LCCT together. While I was driving, I had to constantly raise my voice at the 2 kids at the back, happy at the thought of going kai-kai in the middle of the night. LCCT seems so much more further than the KLIA terminal.

Upon reaching there, my sis was already waiting and the kids had just fallen asleep. We reached home around 1:00am.

Friday, 12th May 2006 (Wesak day)

At 5:00am, I got up, breastfed Eryn and quickly packed some of the things in the car. By the time I finished packing, it was already 6:00am. I then carried Brendan and the maid, Eryn, who were both still sleeping to the car and headed for the early morning 3 hours drive home to Kluang together with the maid and my sis. We reached Kluang around 9:00am with the kids wide awake by then.

Everyone took a quick shower and were rushing for my brother’s ROM (registry of marriage) scheduled at 10:00am!! While we were all busy taking turns to shower, the kids were busy running here and there and playing with their granddad, screaming and laughing away…

By the time we were at the ROM, it was another long wait. This time, the kids were having tons of fun running all over the place while I was getting really dead-tired. The ROM started almost around 12:00noon. After that, we went back home and put the kids to sleep.

7:00pm – Family dinner at Prime City Hotel , Kluang nicest and biggest hotel. Again, the kids were running around the restaurant. I really wonder where they get their energy from.

Saturday, 13th May 2006 (My mum’s birthday)

We spent our day at home. My brother got some new furnitures for his room for preparation for his wedding day. Everything’s in a mess. The air-con people came. The electrician came. It was drilling here, knocking there, cleaning everywhere and the kids!!! – running around the house again! The only time they were quiet was when they’re both asleep. Brendan and Eryn later had a good, long 4 hours nap, giving me my much needed rest. My sis and I took the opportunity to go buy a yummy Tiramisu birthday cake for my mum.

Sunday, 14th May 2006 (Mother’s Day)

Spent a nice and quiet time at home before we drive back to KL at 4:00pm. There was a jam at Seremban. So, it took us longer than usual to reach KL. We went straight to LCCT to fetch my sis there as she had to catch a flight. By the time we all got home, it was around 9:00pm.

Aaahhhh…… relieved….. zzzzzz………

Wearing shoes before turning one

I've bought a nice pair of new shoes for Eryn but old folks are telling me that I shouldn't let Eryn wear shoes before she turns one. Why? I wouldn't know. So, my mum suggested that I celebrate Eryn's chinese birthday in order to let her wear her proper pair of shoes!

I've heard of this old folk's belief, but anyone know what the reason behind this superstitious belief?

Here's more videos of Eryn, trying to grab the camera from mummy!

What's in my handbag??

Kena tagged by Jess again. I have a few handbags but I normally stick to my Bonia or TODS handbag for work due to the bigger size. For shopping, I'll just take out my purse and put it in another different bag.

These are some of the items in my bag at the moment (no photos)

Handbag Bag

• Purse
• handphone
• car keys
• a small card holder (for cards that I seldom use)
• a name card holder
• a small little purse holding my pen (3 pens??), lipstick, some namecards (what are they doing in there?), a Carrefour receipt (haiyo, just threw it away!)
• A Metrojaya voucher
• Some letters
• Thumb drive
• Tissue paper
• More receipts!!
• More bits and pieces of papers!

Purse Bag

• Credit card
• Medical card
• Blood type card
• Cash and coins
• Cards (bonuslink, MPH, Macdonalds, ATM, phone card??)
• Stamps
• pieces of papers and vouchers here and there

Cosmetic Bag - I don't carry a cosmetic bag except when I go travelling :

• Foundation & face powder
• Lipstick
• Lipbalm
• Eyeliner
• Eyeshadow
• Spectacles

You're tagged!!

Beatrice

Vichelle

Rachel

Cha Wei

Gene Ni

Eryn is turning one soon..

My gal is turning one soon! I can't imagine where has all the day-to-day development gone to. It's like a hurricane has come and suddenly turned a little helpless catepillar into a free insect - the butterfly - fluttering here and there. Eryn is just like that. I still remember giving birth to her and how she'd struggle to crawl and turn and stand and.... now, she's walking and running and dancing and having a mind on her own
.

Brendan goes to the zoo

It was Brendan's first trip to the zoo last Saturday. I've never been to Zoo Negara before. In fact, I've only been to a zoo once, and that was when I was in primary school. My dad took us all to the Singapore Zoo and we loved it.

I didn't have a good impression of the zoo all these while. However, the trip 2 days back was indeed an eye-opener and I have to say that I'm very much impressed with our zoo! We were there at 10am and by the time we left, it was already past 5pm! I even told my friends that we should be there for about 2 hours only.

It was a good educational day for Brendan and his friends, Xin-E, QiQi and 2 other bigger jie-jie and kor-kor.

Walking marathon baby

Ever since Eryn discovered her "supernatural" skills in walking, she's been walking here and there and up and down and even tried putting one leg up the sofa to climb onto it. She'll walk to the kitchen, to the bathroom, to the rooms and even under the table!!

Hubby calls her the baby who walks non-stop.

Jumping beanies....

One of the kids favourite past times..... jump! jump! jump!

As Eryn doesn't know how to jump yet, she'll bend her knees and squat halfway and tries to jump with her feet stuck to the ground, wondering how in the world kor-kor jumps so high like that.

So, we'll give her a helping hand and "guide" her in her jump.

Babysmooches in Her World

I've just received a surprise email on BABYSMOOCHES blog being featured in the May 2006 issue of Her World's magazine. Oh, how honoured I feel.... Thanks for the highlight, Her World...

Brendan stays strong

Brendan has always been more matured for his age.

After sending poh-poh to the bus station yesterday, Brendan was very much quiet in the car. He didn't really ask for poh-poh nor did he made any big fuss.

In fact, he didn't even cry for poh-poh upon reaching back home. The whole family spent a very quiet time together in the hall at home last night. We were all watching TV at one point in time when Brendan suddenly took up a big toy watch and put it up his ears.

He went, "Hello? Hello? Poh-poh.... come home. Hello? Hello? blah..blah..blah.."

We were all staring at each other and not wanting to create any confusion as to why poh-poh has left him, I quickly said, "Brendan calling poh-poh is it? Poh-poh now in Kluang. Poh-poh has lots of things to do in Kluang. Poh-poh sayang Brendan very much. Brendan misses poh-poh is it?"

He turned and smiled at us and then he walked away to a corner, continuing his "conversation" over his big toy watch which he treated as a phone. He has tears in his eyes, but he stayed strong..... In fact, for the first time, well... 2nd time actually, he slept without his poh-poh beside him and this morning woke up without a fuss.

My boy has grown...... *sob* *sob*

Poh Poh goes back Kluang

My mum went back to Kluang yesterday afternoon.

As we were on our way to Puduraya, there was a terrible jam. It took us one hour just to reach Puduraya. My mum had 5 bags to carry. Her bus was to leave at 2pm and it was already 1:55pm. My hubby left us at the roadside, asking me to take 3 bags first. Brendan was in the car wailing away, wanting to come down as well. My mum carried Eryn and we (my mum, Eryn and myself) all rushed to the bus, to tell the driver to wait for a few minutes while my hubby went into the carpark to find parking. After putting the bags in the bus, I quickly pushd my way through the crowd to wait at the bottom of the staircase leading to the car park. At 2:10pm, my hubby came rushing down with the other 2 bags.

He left Brendan in the car with our maid as there was no parking.. So I quickly grabbed the bag and once again, pushed my way through the mad crowd. The bus was about to leave when I reached it. I said a quick bye to my mum, carried Eryn, and quickly walked back up the stairs, again, pushing through the crazy crowd with Eryn tight in my arms and crying with all the strangers around us pushing here and there. I was hoping to drive out of the place a.s.a.p. to let Brendan catch a glimpse of my mum at the bus station exit.

Upon reaching the exit, the bus was already right in front of us. I was crying away, missing my mum already, but more so because Brendan didn't get to kiss and say his goodbyes to my mum - Brendan's precious poh-poh whom he has slept with for the past 30 months.

Hubby made a crazy rush to chase after the bus. We did caught up with it, but couldn't see inside the bus. We then headed home, with my eyes all red and Brendan blurry about what is happening.

It pains my heart to think of the wonderful times Brendan shared with his poh-poh and the wonderful job my mum did in helping us out with the kids. I couldn't help but felt guilty of not taking Brendan down instead of Eryn.

I think I'll probably take the effort to drive back home in 2 weekend's time to spend mother's day with my mum and the children..

My mum's leaving for home tomorrow.

My mum is leaving for her kampung tomorrow afternoon after staying with us in KL for the past 9 months, after my 2 months maternity leaves.

Brendan has been exceptionally close to his poh-poh (my mum) as he sleeps with my mum for the past 30+months (except during my maternity leave after delivering Brendan and during my weekend trips to my hometown before I delivered Eryn).

My mum did a fabulous job in taking care of Brendan and Eryn and it's really going to be hard for us all, esp. Brendan, not having his darling poh-poh around.

To him, poh-poh was the best cos she takes him out for his morning stroll, takes him to buy newspaper, cared for him, played with him, taking him out to the park downstairs of our apartment almost every evening and made lots of new friends. I've never known any of my neighbours until my mum moved in with us temporary. She made so many friends with children of Brendan's age and automatically, I too made friends with them.

For the past 1-2 weeks, Brendan had been crying wanting to go back to Kluang, saying "poh-poh goes back Kluang, Brendan goes back Kluang!" He'll scream until we changed topic. He even woke up once screaming "Brendan goes back Kluang! BRENDAN goes back KLUANG!". We knew that it's going to be difficult for him to let poh-poh leave for her home.

Brendan's home is with his mummy & daddy but deep down in his heart, his love for his poh-poh (and kong-kong too!) will stay embedded forever....

Fun n Go Tag!

The moment I went into my own blog a few minutes ago, I saw a tag by Jesslyn!! Very pandai some more, tag me via a reply in my latest posting dated 3 weeks back.

Well, oklah, since I've not blogged for quite a while, here goes.

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn on page 18 and find line 4.
flavours and to the enjoyment of chewing (nolah, not x-rated lah, this is from a parenting magazine)

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can.
Ouch! @#*$& My left arm banged against the board beside me.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Top model .... something.... on 8TV

4.Without looking, guess what time it is?
Looks like it's 3pm, but I think it's somewhere 6pm.

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
6:25pm (oh no, almost time to go back home)

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
The air-con and the the typing of the keyboard

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
Around 4pm to a discussion in a client's place.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
Read some replies on my blog, saw Jesslyn's tag and then went to her blog to copy the questions.

9. What are you wearing?
Working clothes (and my bra and panty underneath) plus my watch, make-up and a pair of high-heel shoes.

10. Did you dream last night?
Not last night, slept well except when Eryn wanted to get up for her breastmilk.

11. When did you last laugh?
about one hour ago, after I came back from my client's place.

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
Printed papers of some work related stuffs as well as some photos.

13. Seen anything weird lately?
Can't really recall. Too many things I've been seeing. Oh, well, this morning I saw a Nissan Sentra in front of my with the Sentra spelt as "Sentar".

14. What do you think of this quiz?
Quiz?! You call this a Quiz?! hehehe

15. What is the last film you saw?
Film? What film? No time to watch any films. Let's see, I think the last one I saw a film was on DVD - the one featuring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie - err... forgot the title :P

16. If you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would you buy?
I'd change my car to a TOYOTA WISH! (and settle all my house loans)

17. Tell me something about you that I dunno.
Lots of things you wouldn't know actually, like I am a good pianist (or used to be cos now my fingers all like kayu already).

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
No hatred, no gossips, no colour or race and no hard-up feelings of wanting $$$

20. George Bush.
President of USA.

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
The first letter in her name to be the same as the first letter in my name....

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
My first child is a boy and he's called Brendan, but that was not at the top of the name list.

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
DID. Did consider before I got married, but not anymore.

24.What do you want GOD to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?"
"Welcome, my child!!"

25. Five (5) people who must also do this meme in their journal.

Chanel

Harvynna & mummy (Rina just delivered her 2nd baby)

Vichelle

Chieftat

Onthebeat

Have a good long weekend :-)

No money loh....

With prices of most things shooting up, we try not to spend unnecessarily on unnecessary stuffs to avoid unnecessary wants, such as branded goods, toys (most are hand-me-downs), going to expensive restaurants, etc.

Poh-poh (my mum) is a very thrifty person and every morning, when she takes Brendan out to buy newspaper from the cafetaria, she'll tell Brendan "You need money to buy newspaper. No money, no newspaper". Brendan will grasp the RM1.20 very tightly in his little tiny fist and proceed to pay the auntie at the counter.

When Brendan doesn't finish his milk, poh-poh will say "Finish your milk, afterwards mummy no money buy milk". Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't.

When Brendan doesn't finish his food, poh-poh goes "Finish your food, afterwards no money mum-mum. You see that boy on TV or not? No money, no food to eat loh. Thin Thin Sick Sick" (referring to one news feature of an African boy who was malnourished).

This doesn't happen all the time, unless Brendan is extermely degil (stubborn).

Brendan sometimes has this habit of climbing on my lap while I'm having my dinner. So last night, he took my spoon and ate the rice from my plate. Then he continued pressing the rice and giggling at the rice splattering all over the plate.

"Brendan, mummy is hungry and mummy wants to eat. Please get down", I said to Brendan.

"Clang clang clang...... Brendan cooking", Brendan replied.

Some grains of rice was on the table and the floor and this got me a little worked up.

I told him in a stern voice, "Brendan, see what you did?! Don't play and put the fork and spoon back on the plate! Afterwards mummy no money buy rice, Brendan eat what?!"

Brendan replied in that sweet little childish voice with an innocent look, "Eat tahi lor....!"

Gosh..... I really had to burst out laughing. sigh!

Daddy is back!

Daddy arrived from Frankfurt early this morning when everyone was still asleep. I heard the room door opening and squint my eyes to see Daddy peeping into the room. I continued lying on the bed, watching Eryn who’s still deep in her sleep, like I always do, every morning before I take my shower.

After a while, Eryn tossed and turned and opened her eyelids and saw Daddy. She cried immediately and could have wondered why there was a strange face looking at her. I then carried her and calm ed her down. She then stared at daddy and started to smile and gurgle. Not long after, Brendan woke up and clinged at daddy’s leg, telling daddy tons of stories which sounded like rubbish to us.

The children didn’t really asked for daddy while he was away cos they were preoccupied with their own stuffs. Now that daddy is back, I’m sure they’re gonna bug him, climb over him, kacau and play with him.

*Yes!* Mummy can rest for a while these few nights…

While daddy was in Germany

While daddy was away,
Brendan gave everyone a scare
The spots were red, the sign was there
The fever came, the body bare

While daddy was away,
Eryn too had mild fever
Though not so severe
Mummy still had her fear

While daddy was away,
Eryn’s teeth sprouted out
Giggling in a voice so loud
Baring one gigi in her mouth

While daddy was away,
We all went to a family day party
We saw a clown, he was so funny
We went back home and felt so weary.

While daddy was away,
Mummy took us all to Smart Kids
With just 2 hands she took the lead
Our mummy darling, her advice we heed

While daddy was away,
So much have happened
We played, we learn,
Daddy don’t you miss us darling children?

Missing

I almost had a big heart attack yesterday.

Last night, my maid said that she wanted to buy a RM11++ jeans from Tesco. She saw that in the Tesco brochure and told my mum that yesterday was the last offer day. So, after dinner, I took her, the two kids and my mum to Tesco, doing some grocery shopping at the same time. After almost one hour of shopping, I queued up waiting to pay at the far end of the cashier counter. I then turned to where my mum & the kids were and asked, using our own sign language, “Where is Brendan?”

My mum looked around her & showed the “not here” sign. I thought she was joking until I realized that Brendan was missing! We walked up and down the aisle and I even peeped under a nearby table covered with cloth and Brendan was nowhere to be found. I didn’t dare to venture far from where I was incase Brendan was playing hide-&-seek.

My maid, carrying my little gal, quickly ran to the market and vege section cos Brendan likes seeing the fruits and veggies and fishes. My mum quickly walked around here & there and finally when down the escalator to the car park to find him. Everyone was staring at us. I finally went to ask the Guard at the exit of Tesco if he has seen a little boy of my given description. He said he didn’t see him and request that I made an announcement via the P.A. Reluctantly, I went to the Information counter.

My mind was racing. My heart was beating fast. My pulse irregular. At first, I was pretty calm, but the calmness turned to panic when time passes by.

This is SOOO unlike Brendan. He is not the type who would usually wander away, though he has the habit of slowly taking his own sweet time walking behind us and stopping to see the things around him. He dislikes strangers too and any strangers who carries him will throw him into a fit of tears!

So, I was keeping my ears opened for any crying children and any announcement of a missing boy.

Back at the Information counter, I was hoping to see a little boy crying, but I didn’t.. I called my hubby in Germany to inform him that our son is missing.

THEN….. at the far end corner, totally away from where we were standing, was a little boy who looks like Brendan. It was indeed Brendan! He was squatting near the toys section, near the entrance of Tesco, observing some dunno-what-toys, definitely unaware of what was happening.

“BRENDAN!!” He turned and looked at me. “Why are you here, Brendan?! Why did you walked away from mummy? Don’t do that to mummy anymore ok?” He stared at me with blurry eyes and kept very quiet.

I was crying and laughing simultaneously, oblivious to the stares from those around me.

I proceeded to carry Brendan to where I left my trolley and put him in there while I make the payment. After a while, my maid and mum turned, with faces all pale but was relieved to see my smiling face. My mum gave Brendan a HUGE BIG scolding to the amusement of the cashier and the people queueing up behind us.

THAT one particular incident gave me one big hit in the head.

How's my car?

My hubby is not the type who will buy gifts on special occasions. Nor is he the type who will call every single night to check on us whenever he’s outstation.

He’s now in Germany for a 3 weeks’ training. And he only calls once a week, if not every few days. Sometime last week he called, and the conversation went like this :

Hubby : Hello! How’s everything at home?
Me : Fine. ….. blah blah blah
Hubby ; How’s my car?
Me : What?! Your car?
Hubby : hehehe… I dreamt that my car got stolen last night.
Me : Oooo….. so you’re only calling to ask about your car …. Useless……
Hubby : No lah, but scared my car get stolen mah……
…………………..

See? This kind of chinaman hubby also got wan….

Setting goals

I've set goals in my life... Empty goals, to be exact.

In school, I didn't really set goals to reach a certain no. of As or Credits, or passes.....
Upon graduation, I didn't really set goals to what I want to do in my career life....
When I got married, I didn't set goals as to when I want to start a family until baby came....

BUT, when I became a mother, I set lots of goals. Some met. Some not. One of which is to breastfeed Brendan until he reaches 6 months. I did, but not 100% cos by 4 months I had to supplement with formula. I pumped, travelled every Friday night from KL to Johor by LRT, then by bus, carrying a cooler box FULL of frozen breastmilk just to let my dear son get his breastmilk. I did that every weekend. It takes between 4 hours to 6 hours max. to get home to Brendan who was with my mum at that time. Even after I stopped breastfeeding, my weekly journey continued up to the time I was 8 months pregnant with no. 2.

By the time no. 2 came, I set a goal to breastfeed Eryn 100% until 6 months. I did. Then I set it even further - to breastfeed Eryn until she's1 year old. Eryn is almost 10 months now and she is still 100% on breastmilk and haven't started on formula yet.

That's really funny. Imagine your priority and sacrifice as a mother. To think I wouldn't really care less about setting goals and meeting them. For the first time in my life, I'm proud to say that I set it, despite all the obstacles, and I did it! How? I did it MY WAY...

F.E.V.E.R.

What's with all these fever nowadays? No, it's not the football fever I'm talking about.

Last Sunday, Brendan was feeling extremely lethargic and was lying on the mat the whole day. His body was a little hot when he woke up. He didn't have the appetite to eat. In the afternoon, his fever shot up real high. We gave him the fever medicine and the next day, his fever has gone down a little. I then noticed lots of little ulcers on his mouth and scary thoughts ran through my mind. HFM disease first came to my mind and I asked some friends who had gone through the HFM experience with their children and nieces and nephews on what to do and stuffs like that.

Brendan's symptoms were a little different. Prior to the fever, he had lots of rough red spots on his body for more than a week. We knew it was heatiness, cos he's gotten that before. The spots spreaded to his neck and by the time it reached his forehead on Sunday, he immediately had a fever and the spots almost disappeared by itself. To make things worst, I too had small ulcer on my mouth. Then my maid had it too. Gila kah?! What kind of an endemic is this, I wondered.

On Tuesday, Eryn pulak had mild fever. But she was very much ok the next day. Then, I hear of many children around my area having fever and ulcers and body aches. I mean, many.... not one, not two or three... but many! Last night I heard that my cousin in Johor is also having fever and body aches. This morning, my sis called to say she had fever yesterday.

So, this fever here fever there is really making me wonder what kind of virus is this? It's not HFM.... It's not bird flu.... It's not football fever.... What then? Scary......

Blog Sweet Blog

Home Sweet Home.... Work Sweet Work...... Blog Sweet Blog..... Yup, that's right! You know what I meant.

"Hey, what happen to your blog? Died a natural death ar?"
"Why haven't you update your blog?"
"Long time no see, no hear, no touch your blog..."

I know... I've been away for quite a while. I've lost touch with the blogging world. In fact, I miss updating my blog. I've just started work in a new place quite recently. Into my first week at work, I've already gotten busy working. Really! And got my first sales within the first week too! Really!

Lots have happened since I left my old workplace... sob! sob! Life has to carry on and I have to take the step to move forward instead of keeping my mind stagnant. It's like you're a river and this river leads out to the big ocean. If the river is filled with dirty water caused by blocked rubbish, you get nowhere. In order to be out in the ocean, someone gotta rid those rubbish to the ocean out there. So, this river got cleared and is now flowing into the ocean. Mind you, it's not still and clear waters out there... There's the bigger picture you have to look at when you're out at the ocean. It's quite scary and exciting at the same time.

Look at it this way - It's hard to be a radarless boat seeking direction. So, you have to have the instinct, some form knowledge as where to head and some guidance from circumstances around you.... guidance from the wind, from the sunrise and sunset, the compass, and most importantly, from above...

My last day at work

I have just came back from a good farewell lunch with some of my soon to-be-ex-colleagues.

People say that I've been having quite a cheerful outlook these past 2 weeks. And why not? I certainly have a light load lifted off my back. No more thinking about the dog-eat-dog world, at least for a while.... I've even managed to spend some good quality time at home with my kids as well.

My last day was supposed to be one week ago, but I have a few things to clear and till today, I have some good ol' clients calling me to ask for help and preferring me to stay on to service them.

I said that I'll still continue servicing them in my next job and that we should give the younger personnel a chance to learn. Most of my close colleagues know that I'm going while some newer ones either come and wish you the best and all those stuffs and some just wouldn't give a damn. Well, it sort of opened my eyes to see who are the ones who really wants me to go, I think.

Since the vss more than 2 months back, I actually forged closer friendships with some colleagues who actually got the vss. During the REAL working world, we didn't really have a chance to sit down and get to know each other personally. Some have become good friends.

We have always been one BIG happy family during our working times together until the "split". Unfortunately (haha, ya, that's unfortunately), I am one of those many who didn't get the vss. The company is good, but people are giving me an opportunity outside of this world. Despite the bosses urging me to stay, I thought over it and am taking the risk to go for another job.

I have mixed feelings. I haven't been sleeping well since I threw in my resignation letter. I've turned down many offers as well, wondering if I have made the right choice. Day in, day out, I listed down the pros and cons, the whys, when, what, etc.....

Then.........This may sound funny. I asked for two signs last week - signs to show whether I should go or stay. Believe it or not, on that day itself, I saw not two signs, but THREE! So, how wierd and eerie can that be?!

To my ex-colleagues (you know who you are)... thanks for the guide and wonderful years we've spent together as colleagues. The tons of laughters and sorrows we had, the ups and downs, the beautiful 'stress' and most of all your treasured friendships.

To my newer ex-colleagues (you know who you are too).. thanks for your new friendships. I've told some of you that you have BIG potential. So, go for it. You are the few ones who made a point to open your hearts out to me :-)

Someone said I should make sure I should not cry. Well, I didn't. In fact, I walked out with great confidence and a big smile on my face...

Like I said, our path will definitely cross again. Keep in touch.

It's true how people say that baby girls develop faster than baby boys.

Eryn turned over faster than Brendan. She sits, stand, crawls and 'talk' faster than Brendan.

She has been moving around from one place to another using her backside. No kidding! She sits and drags her butt on the floor. That was when she was around 6 months old. Now, at 8 months, she's trying to crawl by stretching her legs out, put her butts up, sometimes shaking it a little and then sit back and crawl. It's so funny seeing her. Speaking of butt-shaking, she even knows how to shake her butt from left to right while standing up to the lion dance drum beat during the CNY period.

Last night, I thought I should capture her "early crawling moments" so I can look back at the videos when I'm old one day. Mana tahu, of all days, she actually fell flat on her face and started howling loudly!

Poor girl......

Brendan's first visit to the funfair

My boy has always been a shy and timid boy in front of people. At home, we can be naughty and manja.

I took him to the funfair last week and was expecting the same clingy litthe boy, quiet and shy once we're there. He was quite daring and could tell me stories in the car like "mummy and brendan go to funfair"; "got big wheel that go wownd and wownd (round and round)"; got big big cars...... Well, I don't know how he knows all that - must be the influence of the TV.

I bought the tickets and asked if he would like to try this or that and he nodded his head. He first tried the car ride which he really enjoyed. He sat in one of the car all alone, together with another bigger kor-kor at the front of the car. I was expecting him to cry and was prepared to carry him out anytime. The ride was quite a long one and he sat happily throughout. No bad, I thought. So, I proceeded to buy another ticket for him to ride in one of those kiddy rides.

Feeling much confident that he won't be crying or screaming, I carried him to one UFO plane and took a photo of him with him happily smiling away. He suddenly stood up and the whole thing jerk, starting to move! Brendan had a shock and started crying. Gosh! I was panic and was wondering how to stop the thing cos he was desperately trying to get down.

The guy in-charge of it was very rude and immediately grabbed Brendan out and put him down hard!! Overall, he loved watching and seeing the bright lights and rides, otherwise, he's still the quiet, timid boy he'll be outside of home.

Big boy's toys

The first thing I hear when I stepped into the house after coming back from my long CNY hol was this :

"Eh, I have just bought a remote controlled car" my hubby said with a wide... big.... smile on his face.....

Well, oh well..... I know he's been eyeing at those remote control cars and how he went to to say that they cost so much more cheaper than Malaysia. During one of his recent business trip to Hong Kong, he saw one interesting one which costs 4 times less than what they're selling over here in Malaysia.

Brendan has a second hand remote control car which was given by daddy's friend. It all started when my friend's hubby had a good chat with him on those remote control toys. We took Brendan to see remote control airplanes in one empty field once. Then those two men went on to talk about self-assembling, management of the machines, blah blah blah.....

In that BIG empty field of men and tons and tons of petrol-filled airplanes, those MEN were brought back to childhood. It's kinda funny to see a bunch men playing toys like a bunch of small boys.

Anyway, back to the remote control car. I asked hubby how much it was. "RM1,700 ONLY".

"What?!" Deep down in my heart, this kiamsiap hubby of mine actually spent RM1,700 on that toy?! I don't know whether to laugh, smile or cry.......

I says it's for Brendan but I think it's more for him than for anyone else.... sigh!

Prey

For the first time up close, I manage to stand for a long time to watch a teeny weeny spider eating its meal. The victim - the unfortunate housefly.

A grasshopper's meal

Gosh! Can't believe the numbers of grasshoppers at my parent's place! Our lovely kaffir lime tree has lots of new visitors this CNY. They can be seen sun-bathing in the sun, eating those yummy leaves and they're an awesome sight actually.

The kaffir lime on the tree is really big and beautiful. Lots of people tried to get the 'anak' from us but theirs don't seem to go that nice actually. Hmm... must be those grasshoppers I think.

Round orange balls?

When you're 8 months old and have tons of mandarin oranges around you, what would you do?

For Eryn, she was sooo amazed at all the round round orangy balls that she picked them up one by one, examining them head and tail, upside down and even tried throwing it into the air!

While her brother is crazy over mandarin oranges, smiling cutely whenever someone in the house is eating it, Eryn stare and try to grab it just to play with it.....

Back to work after CNY

There's always a feeling of being lazy to go to work after such a long break. Coming back to work reminds me that THIS is the real world! I'm already looking forward to another long holiday......

This year's happiness during the CNY break is doubled cos I share the added happiness which comes from my two lovely kids. I don't think Eryn knows what all the visiting, noises, eating and fireworks are all about but she sure enjoys herself everywhere we go! Brendan, on the other hand, loves those mandarin oranges and soft drink which we rarely give to him.

The smiles.... the warmth..... the joy....... I'm blessed with so much wealth this year.... Intangible wealth only a mother can understand and experience....

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Here's wishing everyone a very blessed Gong Hee Fatt Choy!

I've been so tied up at work that I've no time for myself anymore, whatmore checking personal emails, catching up with e-friends and doing one of my favourite stuffs - blogging. Seems like a looong time that I've been away from here.

I'm back home in my homey hometown with my two kids at my parents place. Well, we didn't go back to my hubby's hometown this year as I was down with a bad case of flu and the long journey would wear me and the kids down. So, it's a real refresher for me here, away form work, away from the jam, away from the daily routine......

Gosh, I'm really wondering how the jam would be like once I travel back to KL. To come back to my hometown, we had to travel in two cars! No joke! Never know we have so much things to bring here and there. With two kids, you can never expect how full your car can be.

I've been eating and eating and munching and munching. Brendan too has been eating all day long. Oh boy, am feeling a little lazy nowadays after all the feasting and merry-making.

Anyway, back to some work now. Gotta feed my little gal....

Here's wishing everyone a good doggy year ahead...

Playtime with Shin Chan

Both Brendan and Eryn likes their cute, short, chubby and huggable Crayon Shin Chan soft toy.

They'll both literally fight over this soft toy.

Here's one pic of a very happy Eryn having a good time with Shin Chan and one of her older friend.

Mandi time

Babies love water. You just can't deny that. Like Brendan, Eryn just loves splashing in her little bath tub each time she takes a bath.

Cuckoo Cuckoo

Just want to share the pening-pening cuckoos in a shop I visted many, many years ago in Rothernburg, Germany which specialized in cuckoo clocks!

The clocks were carefully and beautifully hand-crafted. There were lots of designs and you can just be in that shop for an hour, staring at each cuckoo clocks!

Imagine having all the clocks stike at once! Cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo…..

Toddler language

Eversince I deliver Eryn, Brendan started talking and talking and talking, and most of the time at home. Outside, he’ll be as quiet as a mouse. Like all toddlers, his pronounciation wasn’t matured yet, but it’s improving by the day. To understand toddler talks, you have to be a parent to a toddler to understand the “foreign” language.

Some of his earlier pronounciation of some words were as follows :

Motorcycle – Moto-Ah-Geh
Crocodile – Koh-koh-die
This one - Jee Jahn
Don’t want - Duu when (we initially thought he said durian)
Shoe - Chooo
Socks - Chocks
Firecrackers - Far-yea-kah-kek

Now, this is Brendan’s favourite “rhyme”. You guess what it is:

“Chooo maa ker kah daddy coe.
Daddy chit ay pane go mea chee koe”

Kids say the darnest things!

Situation 1 – Brendan & mummy playing with a set of wild animals toys (given by a friend) for the first time.

Mummy : What’s this? (holding a tiger)
Brendan : tah-geh
Mummy : What about this? (holding a giraffe)
Brendan : jee-ghap
Mummy : What’s this? (holding a lion)
Brendan : nai-yen
Mummy : What’s this? (holding a hippopotamus)
Brendan : cow
Mummy : What?!! Cow? Hahahahahaha. No, this is a hippo!!
Brendan : hahahahahaha. Hippo! Hippo!


Situation 2 – Brendan and mummy going for a walk downstairs around the apartment.

Brendan : Mummy! Mummy!
Mummy : Yes, Brendan?
Brendan : Old man. Got one eye.
Mummy : One eye? Where?
Brendan : There (pointing to a four-wheel drive)
Mummy : Huh? Where?
Brendan : There….. Uncle drive car.
Mummy : Oh, the uncle who drives this car has only one eye is it?
Brendan : (nods head). Car accident. Bom! Eye gone.

Brendan takes mummy hand and walks towards the four-wheel drive.
Brendan points at the picture by the car door which is actually the face of a pirate with one eye covered. Hahaha.


Situation 3 – Brendan and mummy shopping in Tesco on Hari Raya Haji eve. There was a huge piece of meat hanging from a pole, with some blood on the plastic mat below it

Brendan : Mummy, mummy. See….. got blood. (pointing to the blood on the floor)
Mummy : eeeee…… don’t go near there Brendan. It’s dirty.
Brendan : Mummy, mummy. Blood! Accident. Cow die.

Haiyo….. the things this fella says! Don’t know where he learns from.


Situation 4 – Mummy came back from work.

Brendan : Mummy, poh-poh cut pandan leep.
Mummy : Oh! Brendan follow poh-poh to cut pandan leaves ar?
Poh-Poh : Brendan, poh-poh use pandan leaves to cook what?
Brendan : Barley…… Chweet potato choop (as in sweet potato soup)…….Kaya......Kitchin lice (as in chicken rice)…… Jen-nee (as in jelly)….. Boh-Boh-Cha-Cha……


Situation 5 - Brendan and his poh-poh (grandma) were having a conversation.

Poh-poh : What’s mei-mei’s name?
Brendan : Aye-Reen (as in Eryn)
Poh-poh : What’s daddy’s name?
Brendan : (says his daddy’s name correctly)
Poh-Poh : What’s mummy’s name?
Brendan : (says his mummy’s name correctly)
Poh-Poh : What’s poh-poh’s name?
Brendan : (says poh-poh’s name correctly)
Poh-poh : What’s kong kong’s (grandpa) name?
Brendan : Ah-na Ah-na Ah-na Ah-na(grandpa likes to go “ah-na ah-na ah-na” whenever Brendan makes lots of noise)

Cheesy Situation

Cheese – either you love it, or hate it.

My hubby has always been a cheese lover. He once took back a small pack of cheese given to him by a friend during one of his visit to Germany. I don’t know what kind of cheese that was but the whole house smelt strongly of that cheese once the pack was opened. In fact, he was asked by his friend to pack it nicely cos the cheese will cause a lingering smell which will take some time to go away.

I normally stick to my usual sliced cheedar cheese for my bread or the cheedar block where I cut a small piece for my pasta. Lately, Brendan has a liking for cheese as well after daddy came back from Mexico last month with some small tubs of French cheese spread.. Brendan likes it on his bread with a little butter or sometimes, just the cheese spread on its own.

During his first outing with us to a Christmas buffet dinner, he happily tried the various types of cheese there and happily chewed on it!! Boy, was I extremely surprise by his liking for cheese. I’ve put a temporary stop to the cheesy breakfast meal and it’s been 5 days since he last had cheese. He hasn’t asked for it since and it was a relieve to me that he isn’t a cheese-addict after all.

I remember one trip to Karlstadt, a small town in Germany. I came across huge pies of cheese in one of their local market. Some of the cheese can be as big as the tyre of a tractor, if not bigger! I suddenly felt all cheesy all over. I’ve never come across such big blocks of cheese in Malaysia anyway. In fact, everything else was big.

In one particularly dinner meal, I ordered a bowl of salad, soup and main course. Our German friends stared at me in awe when I made my order. I didn’t know what the surprises were all about until the food arrived. The single serving of salad was as big as a big bowl of salad for about 3-4 persons in Malaysia. And the delicious creamy mushroom soup alone looks like a maindish by itself, with a generous serving of bread. By the time the main dish came, I almost died! It could feed a family of 4! The main dish has it’s own serving of salad. Gosh, I was simply embarrassed by my order and didn’t want to look like a terrible guest. I later seeked permission to ta-paoed the unfinished food. It was one of the main joke of the night.

Lion dance performer

Brendan trying to do his lion dance performance for all at home. One 'stiff' performer :-)

Toys!

Daddy and mummy seldom buy toys for Brendan and Eryn. Most of their toys are hand-me-downs or are bought at a local church garage sale. One of daddy’s close friend gave daddy lots and lots of toys today. Daddy’s friends children are now in primary school and their interest has now swing to computer games, board games and card games.

There were plastic bags and one big big basket full of toys. Dozens and dozens of them – action figurine toys, McD’s and KFC toys, play-doh sets, cooking set, a set of wild animals toys, soft toys – big and small and some with sound, cars, aeroplanes, helicopters, a set of old drums, an electrical keyboard, a remote control car, two battery operated dancing dolls, alphabet mats, a bowling set and a writing table.

We are planning to wash everything tomorrow and keep more than half of the toys for future playing. We gave a few away to one of their poor give year old friend.

Anyway, it’s a good post-Christmas gift for the kids.

Brendan & Eryn engrossed with their “new” toys.

We took Brendan to his friend’s birthday party at MacDonald’s Sunway Pyramid last night. It was one of my very good childhood friend’s eldest son early 2nd birthday celebration. It was Brendan’s second time eating at a fastfood restaurant. He doesn’t seem to like fastfood except for French fries which I find to be a little salty for children. Well, he liked the hot milo too. So, that was his dinner. Well, he had “dessert” later – his usual nen-nen.

Brendan giving Dennis a big birthday hug!

New Year 2006

It’s a brand new year and I wish for a brand new me. Things at work have been quite uncertain for me and I do wonder where this year will head on. I’m starting work officially at a new environment in 2 days time. Same company, different situation, different environment, different location, different experience. I’ve no resolutions to set this year. I’ve no time to sit and think carefully about any resolutions actually.

There are so many things on my mind, and I’m trying to reorganize myself at this point of time.

Currently, I’m pretty much contented with the time I’m spending with my kids and contented that my mum is still so kind to help us out with the kids while we work, The kids alone are a blessing to me and it over-rules all other worries I always have.

Here’s taking the opportunity share with you one of my favourite sms greetings of all time :

“GOD will be ABOVE you – to BLESS you,
BELOW you – to SUPPORT you,
BEFORE you to GUIDE you,
BEHIND you, to PROTECT you,
BESIDE you – to COMFORT you,
And INSIDE you – to SUSTAIN you.

HAVE A BLESSED YEAR AHEAD EVERYONE!

New Year's Eve

Instead of going out for a night’s fun, the whole family decided to stay in to watch Lord Of The Ring on tv and wait for the clock to strike midnight. The kids had been out too much before Christmas and in one 3-days-in-a-row outing where we’d been back late, Eryn had been sleeping at midnight since that outing until now. So, we are trying to “retune” her sleeping schedule.

Our apartment is situated on a hill and we had the lucky opportunity to view various fireworks going on at the padang near our house, at another nearby hill situated not far from where we are as well as fireworks at Sunway, Bukit Jalil and some unknown location. Brendan and Eryn had already fallen asleep when it was almost midnight.

Suddenly, there were sounds of firecrackers and while watching tv, we saw fireworks at around midnight. Brendan loves looking at fireworks and we tried to wake Brendan up. As he was so sleepy, we had to carry him out of bed. After swinging his head from side to side, up and down for few good minutes, he finally fluttered his eyes to see what the loud voices and fusses were all about. At the sight of the beautiful fireworks, he immediately opened his eye big-big and started pointed here and there up in the sky, going “wah!..... wah!......cantik-cantik…..”

With the loud noises and the “wahs” and “ooooos” and “cantik-cantik”, Eryn too woke up from her sleep. We too carried her to the balcony to join in the family fun of fireworks-watching. After more than half hour, they both dozed off to sleep happily.