Selamat Hari Raya

Here's wishing all our Muslim friends Selamat Hari Raya, especially to my "feel good" ex-colleagues (you know who you are) and my old classmates whom I've not met for the past 15-22 years, until Facebook came along and connected us all!

Also, drive safely to those who are travelling and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Oh, and these are the two little chinese kids in their indian costumes wishing our Malay friends Selamat Hari Raya!

Milk scandal?

I was just reading a piece of news on babies in China being given formula milk since they were born!!

Oh my, don’t these mothers know that a mother’s milk is the BEST that one can give to their child?! And the ‘first milk’ called the colustrum is probably the super-nutrition food for newborns.

No offence to anyone, but I believe all mothers have the capability to breastfeed their newborns, given the right advise in latching and of course, feeding by demand before a routine and milk supply is established.

I don’t believe in a mother having no milk, no time and worst of all, having the belief that formula milk is better.

It’s au natural, with DHA, vitamins and minerals not found in processed milk. I know of a relative from my in-law side who even insisted on giving goat’s milk to her infant after getting jaundice, with the belief that goat’s milk is more superior than mother’s milk!!

Oh well, I’m a strong supporter of breastmilk. So, I just want to bring this out. Breastmilk is the BEST food for babies. In fact, I believe that it doesn’t cause a baby to fall sick so often and even if the baby did, he/she will not be so badly affected and will recover very fast. I noticed that with my daughter.

In a baby warehouse sale a few months back, I was shopping for some baby products for my pregnant sis and saw a demonstration by a lady selling a breastpump. I stood there watching and was literally pissed off with some of the instructions given by the saleslady. I wanted to tell them to just throw those pumps away.

My mum asked me to ignore them and I just regretted that I did, fuming inside that getting a lousy product that doesn’t do a good job will actually cause less milk to be produced overtime. I’ve tried a few pumps and I will give two thumbs up to the manually operated Avent breastpump - efficient and quiet. I heard Spectra is good as well.

Easier said than done? Well, let me share with you my breastfeeding journey. Those who know me, will know that I'm not busty at all. So, "how come I got milk ar?"

I berastfed Brendan until he was 6 months, but by 4 months, I had to supplement with formula milk. Brendan was staying with my parents in Johor. I pumped every single day, freeze the milk, and every Friday night I will take a bus from KL to Johor, carrying a cooler box FULL of frozen breastmilk. Thus is my determination in wanting to give Brendan the best. Yes, I did that every weekend.

No one imagine the tears in my eyes and the trouble I went through.

So, when no. 2 came, I was more determined than ever to give Eryn 100% breastmilk for at least 6 months. And yes, I did. In fact, Eryn was on 100% breastmilk until she was 1 year old. I gave her solid at 6-7 months to supplement her diet. No formula milk at all. She was still on breastmilk, partially, before she goes to sleep until she turned almost 2 years old.

There was once, when I was using an extremely noisy battery operated pump in the ladies toilet and when I came out of the toilet cubicle, there was this group of ladies going, “coming out already!! Coming out already!!” I turned to look at them and all of us started laughing cos they were feeling scared and thought there was some weird person doing some weird things in the ladies toilet!! Duh!!

Then, there's another time, when I had a letdown at a press conference!! I had to carry a file throughout the press conference and avoid shaking hands with clients so my wet blouse won’t show.

Pumping became easier when I did it in the comfort of my own office room, with the doors closed and I put up a long piece of cloth to cover the windows. Even the guys in my office always knew that it’s ‘milking time’.

I was in the media line, and we have meetings and appointments and proposals to do. Time was a constraint, but I always try to maintain my pumping time and pump 3 times in the office. My colleagues all know about it. I am actually thankful for their understanding.

So, reading about the sick babies in China due to all these stupid milk scandal really got me stirred up. And to even think that newborn babies were not even given breastmilk at all right from the beginning!!

Those poor babies shouldn't even ben affected so much. What a shame..

Made in China again!!

All these made-in-China stuffs just seem to be giving some problems or another right? From toys and food. I wonder what's next.

In a Singapore news yesterday, it was stated that Singapore's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) says its latest laboratory findings show that the "White Rabbit Creamy Candy" from China is also contaminated with melamine.

Oh, my favourite sweets when I was young!! I just loved it! And it's banned? Well, I wonder what else is in danger...

I received an sms this morning which states that the following items have been recalled due to the china's milk situation : M&M's Snickers, Mento's Yoghurt bottle, Dove Choc, Oreo wafer, Monmilk, Dutchlady sterilised milk, Wall's all natural mango, Mini poppers ice cream, Magnum ice cream, Moo sandwich icre cream, mini Cornetto and Youcan ice cream.

Are these made in China? Are these rumours? Should I just ignore it or just follow suit? With so many claims here and there, what should we actually do?

Well, looks like I better just watch my labels more carefully, made in China or not..

Blog Tag

This is really such a sweet tag I got from Martini. I never really thought whether anyone would like my blog at all :-)

I just have to add that Martini is really such a wonderful mummy from Medan whom I find to be a very independent and kind mummy.

Rules:

1.The winner puts logo on her/his blog.

2.Link the person you received your award from.

3.Nominate 7 other blogs.

4.Put links of those blogs on yours.

5.Leave a message on the blogs of those you’ve chosen.

I hop around now and then to a few blogs here and there and would have many to nominate. So, randomly, for today, I'll now present this award to : Jazz, Rina, Wen, Sue, Pek Imm and Louise (I love your 'travellogue' stories time to update ur blog friend :-D).

craving for kueh chap

The first time I tried kueh chap was in Penang, and that also because my dear brother-in-law purposely ordered a bowl for us to try. Before that, we had just had a very satisfying and fulfilling seafood dinner by the beach when we decide to explore more food.

It was simply yummy.

So, during the Merdeka weekend, I had the chance to eat it for the second time in JB. This particular shop in JB (can't remember the name of the shop cos I don't remember seeing any signboard in front of the shop) has very yummy kueh chap which I've not tried before. I have to say that this is actually better than the one I tried in Penang.

It's like the kueh teow version of bak-kut-teh but the taste is slightly different. We order side dishes to go with it. My kids actually enjoyed it too.

Since then, I've been wondering whether there's any kueh chap stalls in PJ area cos I've been craving for it for the past one week! No, I'm not pregnant. It's one of my occasional crave for yummy food. Any recommendation?

Mid-autumn festival fun

Mooncakes

Mooncake festival is around the corner... Eryn's nanny makes a wonderful cook and baker. She made mooncakes and gave us so many to try. Her mooncakes are biscuits are really yummy, with just the right texture and not too sweet.

We also ordered 3 boxes of mooncakes with some animal-shaped mooncakes.

Brendan's and Eryn's favourite are the animal-shaped mooncakes. I like her yam filling, with a nice and fluffy pastry on the outside.

Nothing beats home-made mooncakes..

A lovely dinner

I'm not really a 'blogaholic' and therefore, haven't been posting a lot of things I've wanted to post. I wish I'm one though, but I've been focusing on other things which require my attention. Here's a delayed post.

Just have to post about a lovely dinner at hubby’s aunt’s place some time last month, with lots of food prepared for the guests. It was a fusion of food and guests. Fusion of food, cos there’s Japanese food and local food and fusion of guests because hubby's aunt had guests from various countries. I thought it was the usual family dinner and I wasn’t well dressed for the occasion and had only turned up in a singlet and short pants. The children were quite well dressed and hubby wore his jeans.

Dinner at Kor Poh Ai and Granduncle Nishida’s (as how the kids address them) place was always superb. It was always a local meal cooked by our aunt’s maid, Yatmi, or by a relative who hails from Kelantan. Our favourites are the Nasi Dagang and the authentic Nasi Kerabu, cooked in plants and vegetables that come all the way from Kelantan.

Anyway, dinner last night was simply superb. Hubby and I started with the sashimis and sushis, before we proceed with steaming white rice with sambal petai and one of my favourite dish from Yatmi called sayur lodeh, cooked with chicken, daun salam, nangka puteh (white young nangka), tempe, long beans and some other stuffs. This is served with the lovely sambal belacan. This was accompanied by the tasty miso soup with bits of tofus and fresh seaweed.

The kids enjoyed their rice with fried chicken cooked by Yatmi.

After the sashimi meal and rice meal, I can only take a small portion of the Kelantan laksa. Cooked in a gravy of coconut milk and other ingredients, it is normally added with a handful of other fresh and raw vegetables, all finely chopped, such as long beans, bunga kantan (lotus flower), cucumber, taugeh (beansprout), and daun kesum.

For dessert, we had smooth and Japanese ice-cream and the best durian cheesecake I’ve ever eaten, made by hubby’s aunt’s friend. A nice cup of freshly brewed jasmine tea gave a good ending to the awesome meal.

The kids and dogs

Brendan and Eryn are not really fans of dogs except for our neighbour’s tiny little dog which doesn’t really bark and one of hubby’s aunt’s golden retriever dog.

The kids called our neighbours dog the “disco dog” as it can dance on its two hind legs, but with the help of its owner.

Hubby’s aunt has two golden retrievers, Murray and Musha. Musha is a very friendly dog and loves children. He will come near you and sniff and lick you, which makes the kids extremely terrified of it. Murray, on the hand, doesn’t really bother anyone, probably of age and loves to lie down for the rest. The kids are more fascinated with Murray as they can go to him up-close without having Murray suddenly giving them a jumpy surprise.

Once a puppy chased after some children at a nearby field. All the children were laughing and running around, and enjoyed having the little puppy running around them but Brendan screamed and yelled at the top of his voice! Gosh, that's how terrified he can be..

Merdeka!

With Merdeka round the corner, I don't know if Merdeka means anything to the kids now since they're still too young to even know about the world. They only know merdeka when they see Malaysia flag.

With the current situation in the company, I reserve my comments on my feelings and thoughts on the current development.

However, over the weekend, I had a good long chat with both my mum and my second eldest cousin. My maternal grandparents, had 15 children, of which 13 survived.

My mum and my second cousin talked about how tough life was during the Japanese occupation. My grandpa came all the way to China and worked his way through to support his family here in Malaysia and his siblings and parents back in China. No subsidies, no outside help. Life was tough. They stayed in the jungle, and had many encounters with the gurkhas, the Japanese soldiers, the British soldiers, and the danger the lurks everywhere around them - poisonous snakes, hornets, bobby traps, etc.

Merdeka truly meant a lot to people like them where they saw the development of the countries and now enjoy life to the fullest.

People nowadays are just spoilt for choices. Talking about human rights and this rights and that rights, but forgetting the reason and the strength that brought us so far.. Hope the unity of one single Malaysian race won't be forgotten...

Still, here's wishing everyone, especially to the older generation who saw through the pre-independence days.... "Selamat Hari Merdeka"

Steamboat at home..

Once in a blue moon, we like to have a steamboat meal at home. Hubby will normally get the ingredients from the morning market consisting of prawns, various types of fishballs, dumplings, vegetables, mushrooms, etc..

I will boil the stocks using fish bones, chicken or pork bone, garlic, celery stalk and half a handful of tai-tou-choy (big head dried veg) and cook some rice. I’ll make my own chilli dip which I’ve yet to master the right texture and taste.

We always start with the prawns, fishballs and lots of pre-fried shallots and shallot oil to give the soup more oomph! before continuing with the other ingredients. Spring onions, parsley are optional as the kids dislike the taste.

We normally end the meal by adding the cooked rice into the soup with an egg in it to be made into a delicious and sweet porridge. Mmm….. simply refreshing and yummy!

mini Olympic 2008

It's the Olympic now in Beijing. Back at home, we have our own little olympians :-) With the Olympic fever happening everywhere, I took some fun shots of the weekend exercise the kids enjoy having.

Eryn's tooth chipped.

At home, I'm always telling the kids not to jump here and there, not to do this and that, and it's only natural that I do so. Sometimes, it maybe due to my mood, but most of the time, it's a mother's instinct to tell her children not to endanger themselves.

The children tend to listen more to their daddy as daddy will not hesitate to hit them real hard that will send chills to their spine. However, I can be screaming my head off, give a smack and 'nagging' the kids non-stop and yet they can still laugh and continue with their little business of being active little children. (bully mummy eh?)

Most of the time, I'll leave daddy to put the kids to sleep after brushing their teeth cos somehow, they get it done faster with daddy around. However, when hubby is not around, I have to be the one doing it, and I go crazy doing it. The kids tend to take me for granted!

Two nights ago, hubby wasn't back from his outstation trip, and so, I have to get the kids to brush their teeth. As usual, they'll be laughing and jumping and running while I'm calling them and reminding them to do what they are supposed to do. Eryn then fell and started crying hard.

That made me start screaming at them and 'nag' even more. "Very, good! Always don't want to listen to mummy!..... Tell you not to jump you want to jump!.... I've said it many times, and yet you do not want to listen....blah... blahh... blahh..." Then, I dragged Eryn to the bathroom to brush her tooth for her and noticed slight bleeding in her gums.

I then saw that one of her front tooth was chipped! More like broken, to be exact. I tried to find the missing piece, but I guess she could have swallowed it.

Really makes me go crazy sometimes.... Eryn's only 3, which means, her two front teeth won't be dropping out any time soon, until she's 5 or 6. So, she'll have to be in her new look at least for the next 2-3 years.

Sigh! Want to be patient also cannot... Tell me, what are your experiences and incidents you have to face, dear parents? Sigh!

Pea eggplant

My mum is a garden herbs enthusiast. Recently she showed me a cluster of tiny green peas look-alike fruit which she claims is good for anaemia. She's now planting it in her mini-herbs garden.

I did some finding and realised that the round pea -shaped fruit is known as pea eggplant (or Solanum torvum).

Apparently, some people cook this in their curry.

I'm keen to know more about this if anyone can provide some medicinal info and cooking method on this.

The skin seems a little tougher than the normal brinjal, probably due to its size, and the taste is somewhat bitter.

Died of dengue

Yesterday, I received news from a friend that another friend, Jon, whom we've just known recently, had died of dengue last week.

It was a very shocking news to hear. I don't know him that well, but it was so unexpected that it makes my 'mission' even stronger - the mission to explain why it is necessary to get coverage and protect our family and have an income replacement in case something untoward happens to us.

In Wikipedia, the signs and symptoms can be described by "a sudden onset of fever, with severe headache, muscle and joint pains and rashes. The dengue rash is characteristically bright red petechiae and usually appears first on the lower limbs and the chest; in some patients, it spreads to cover most of the body. There may also be gastritis with some combination of associated abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.

Other symptoms include fever, chills, constant headaches, bleeding from nose, mouth or gums, severe dizziness, and loss of appetite.

Some cases develop much milder symptoms which can, when no rash is present, be misdiagnosed as influenza or other viral infection. Thus travelers from tropical areas may inadvertently pass on dengue in their home countries, having not been properly diagnosed at the height of their illness. Patients with dengue can pass on the infection only through mosquitoes or blood products and only while they are still febrile.

The classic dengue fever lasts about six to seven days, with a smaller peak of fever at the trailing end of the disease (the so-called "biphasic pattern"). Clinically, the platelet count will drop until the patient's temperature is normal"

Jon left behind his wife and two very young children, some unpaid debts and funeral expenses. His wife is currently non working due to a minor ailment. His colleague called him a day before he passed away and Jon indicated that he's feeling better. News then broke out that his blood count was dropping and he passed away.

He was admitted to one of the local government hospital and somehow, was not able to make any claims due to the hospital report indicating that he didn't die of dengue. In fact, I was told that the family has to let it go that this unfortunate incident happened. What really happened, I do not know. But it got me thinking, that most people are ignorant on the importance of getting basic protection, not only for themselves, but also for the sake of the living family members, in the even of an unfortuante death.

Being in the wealth accumulation and wealth protection business myself, it sometimes breaks my heart when people are ignorant over this, and when something happens, it will be too late. We can only provide support and grief with the family..

My 'mission' goes on...

Brendan's first sports day

It was Brendan’s school’s sports day last Saturday. The number of students in that preschool is so huge that the sports day have to be held at a nearby primary school field.

The day started with the performance by the 5 year olds and the 6 year olds students who danced to the tuned of Hey, Mickey and Mambo No. 5.

Like all parents, I was pretty proud of Brendan, who played one of the instruments in the Mambo No. 5 performance. Well, not too bad, for a 5 year old.

I was extremely surprised to see the youngest child to be around the age of 2, or probably even less, judging from the way the cute little boy walked in his little toddler’s shoes. It’s simply amazing that children are being sent to preschools and daycares as young as 2! (or probably even younger). He had the opportunity to participate in the sports events as well, with the help of a teacher who held him by the hands.

Brendan’s participation in the sack race actually caused an embarrassment to his group due to his slowness and moody look. He started the day full of enthusiast and mid-way, he was already getting pretty moody. Oh boy!

I actually felt really disappointed cos I was a school athlete myself, having won numerous medals and trophies during my school days. I was a sprinter, a netball achiever, a superb long-jumper and a hurdler. But my dear son somehow didn’t inherit this little sports genes from his mummy.

Anyway, I shouldn’t expect too much from him, as I know all child are different. I’m still proud that he went through with all the hassle to be part of the mini orchestra and the gunny sack race. I felt bad for his team mates who were cheering him on.

But he’s my little boy, my champion, regardless of what happened. He did his best, and that’s all that matters.

The fun part of the whole sports day was when the D.J. announced for the volunteers of 15 parents to take part in a game against the teachers. He even hinted to get at least 3 fathers to participate which will guarantee a win. More than 15 parents volunteered. And the game….? Well, it was the tug-of war between the 15 female teachers and 2 male supporters against the more than 15 parents who won within seconds! Oh gosh, it was a funny sight.

jams and cracks and @*$&~#...

I had full day trainings this week and had to leave early to reach my destination which normally takes 40 minutes. Yesterday, of all days, I chose to leave extra early because I wanted to reach earlier to have my nasi lemak breakfast as I didn't have a proper dinner the night before and my tummy was growling.

Mana tau, the stupid jam caused havoc from my place all the way through LDP and to Kepong. It took me 1 hours 40 minutes to reach my destination. That's an extra one hour!! I didn't exactly know what happened until I heard over the radio on the various road blocks in Klang Valley. It was later in the day, that I was told that it could be due to Anwar's court case. Haiya..... I don't read much papers nowadays, how to know about the case?

Well, as if that is not enough, I have to face the fear of that MRR2 flyover as I went under it to go to Kepong. Some stupid cracks and problems. This one makes me lagi geram... RM70 million spent for repairs also not enough (RM70 million wei, not RM700 thousand or RM7 million). I need money to repair the hairline crack in my house leh, that also apparently caused by some development taking place near my place.

As I come closer to the flyover, I have to try to drive faster to past the place as quickly as possible. You never know what can happened. Accidents happened all the time. Nobody expected a bus that plunged down the ravine near Genting a few months back and killed a few people. Nobody expected the horror accident recently at the Cheras-Kajang road. Nobody expected another horrific accident at Puchong where one person was killed. Then, there's the incident of the monorail accident where some metal stuff dropped on one person's car and injured that person. Haiya!!

And then, reading about Halcrow not advising on the usage of some materials and blah blah blah... really bo-lat already....

As I was already late, I quickly tapao one cha-siew pao and ate hurriedly while walking up 3 flights of stairs to the training hall. As I was waiting for my pao, I saw and kept thinking of one old lady with a bad limp that went around begging for money at the hawker stalls. If only 0.01% of that RM70 million was allocated for a person like her. That money, could have help feed her basic meal for one full year..

Exercise

Though I was a sports girl in school, I've somehow succumbed to my laziness, and yet I complain of not having any energy and gaining weight on my butts!

Early Sunday mornings are the days where the kids will go jogging with their daddy while I choose to take my own sweet time to get up, sweep and mop the floor while waiting for the kids and daddy to be back for breakfast.

They wake up really early at around 7am+ and will go, "Daddy! Daddy! Where are you? We want to go jogging!" and then, followed by, "Wake up, lazy bug mummy. Let's go jogging!"

Below here are some snapshots of some stretching exercise they are doing at home.

Congrats to Chanel!

After lunch earlier today, we headed to visit Chanel who had an amazing fast and stress-free delivery!

After getting an sms from her, followed by a phonecall from her hubby, Othniel, some of us mummies were all getting very excited for her.

I managed to speak to her after speaking to her husband but she had to put down the phone, and it was a surprise to know that she delivered in less than an hour after checking-in to the hospital!

I'll leave the beautiful birth story to her. Upon arrival at the hospital, I was greeted by Chanel and her family members. She looks very happy and was tucking away in her lunch. There wasn't a single thing about her that shows that she has just undergone a delivery.


Congratulations to Chanel and your family on the arrival of your little girl, baby ARIEL.

Assam laksa lunch

I had been looking forward to the assam laksa lunch for the past 2 weeks and was extremely glad to have a nice, homely, warm hospitality from Vichelle and her family and her home-made assam laksa!

Pek Imm cooked a creamy maraconi with sausage for the kids. It was a pleasant and lovely mini get-together. They practically had fun in Rachelle's playroom and seeing so many of Vichelle's husband's Marvel characters on display in the house.

Brendan and Eryn couldn't stop talking about the jie-jie, kor-kor, mei-mei, the games, the toys, Chanel's baby, etc..

Chanel was supposed to join us but I received an sms from Chanel at 12pm+ followed by a phone call from her husband, saying that Chanel was admitted to the hospital after being instructed by the doctor despite only having mild stomach cramps. Upon admission, it was found that she was already 6 cm dilated.

I jokingly told her that her much desired assam laksa meal could have cause the labour! The story and picture to be continued after this post..

Well, thanks for the lunch Vichelle! It was really nice..

"Jelly-good"

Eryn's nanny is one superb cook. She bakes cookies and mooncake to sell and she loves experimenting with all sort of food.

She once made 'gui ling gao' jelly with a few pieces of longans in it and gave us four cups to take home. It actually helps to reduce body heat. It has a slight bitterness to it, but when boiled with rock sugar, the taste is quite nice and refreshing.

Brendan didn't really like the taste of it but Eryn finished the whole cup. She actually asked for more!

Reaching for the stars

This was taken in our recent outing with our overseas guests. The pictures were courtesy of Andreas Dejok, engineer from Germany, who is also into photography, sports and also is a kite enthusiast who even flew his kites in the dessert of Egypt, near the Pyramid.

Hubby once air-mailed a huge wau bulan from Kelantan which was one of it's kind in the world. This particular wau won an award from one of the wau bulan flying competition. It's now in display in his shop.

Passion fruit

I've always loved passion fruit, especially when it's made into a glass of iced passion juice fruit.

My neighbour planted the passion fruit tree which bore so much fruit in her backyard. She gave us some of her home-planted passion fruit and they were surprisingly very sweet.

Eryn simply loves it as well as started digging into it, enjoying every single bite of it including the seeds.

Outing with friends from overseas

Sometime last week, daddy took out a friend from Netherlands out for dinner at a Chinatown cafe in KL together with the kids and mummy. Uncle Robert, as the kids call him, was here for a working assignment with daddy's company.

We were later joined by the kids' favourite Uncle Dejok, an engineer from Frammersbach, Germany and Uncle Kwan, daddy's colleague.

It was the kids' first outing in a very long time and so, they enjoy the sights and sounds in Petaling Street and KLCC.

Uncle Dejok, fostered a close friendship with the kids, making them paper planes in various types and even tried performed some magic tricks. Uncle Dejok is also known as Magic Andy in Frammersbach as he sometimes performs magic shows in children's party and in schools.

It was a short but fun night for the kids who enjoyed going out instead of staying at home most of the time.

Garbage Enzyme

This morning, a friend told me of a garbage enzyme workshop workshop which contributes to a better earth friendly environment.

I was my first time hearing of such thing. With the changes in the climate and the many waste thrown into garbage, I was listening attentively to her, when I found out that we can contribute to the climate change through a simple DIY formula using kitchen waste (fruits' skin and unwanted vegetables).

This not only helps in protecting our ozone layer and lower global temperature, but actually provides a natural and environment friendly way to use the enzyme liquid as a household cleaner, air purifier, laundry and floor detergent, shampoo (yes, shampoo!!), body care, car care and or course as an organic fertiliser.

It removes odor, molds and grime, it's antibacterial and anti-viral.

It's all natural, and in fact, it doesn't even smell and actually acts as an insecticide as well!

The dilution ratio for usage is approximately 1:1000 to use enzyme as insecticide, 1:100 for pesticide, diluting it 200X to be used as air-refreshener and 500x as hormones for plants to get more fruits or flowers.

1 Tbp of enzymes for 1 litre of detergent water/dish washing liquid/shampoo (or 1tsp for 500cc) will help reduce the side effects in chemicals and enhance the nutrients.

The ratio of making this would be mixing 3 parts of the unwanted fruits and vegetables to 1 part of brown sugar (not sure whether this is gula melaka or that special brown sugar for making desserts) with 10 parts of water.

Keep these in an airtight container and leave it unopened for 3 months. After that, you can pour them into individual containers for your daily household usage and personal care.

Chin Nee's beautiful twins

I received an sms from Chanel who forwarded me Chin Nee's sms that she has delivered her twin baby boys via c-sect. We were communicating via sms asking when to visit her and where about is she before I decided to contact a few other mummies to see if anyone is keen to join me to visit her.

So, Chanel and Liz finally confirmed to meet at my house in within the next one hour and I drove us all to visit her. She's got a gorgeous set of twins and they're so sweet. They look a little different from each other and yet so alike at certain angles. I'll leave the birth story of the babies to the mummy.

See you soon, Chin Nee and meanwhile, take good care of yourself and remember to eat and "bou" yourself!

Never-ending homework

There seems to be quite a number of homework to do for Brendan. There was one time, when he came back with 5 homeworks - English writing, BM writing, numbers writing, coloring and chinese!

Before Brendan started his daycare, he used to dread doing his homework at night. I tend to lose my cool when I wanted to do my own things and he was getting tired of his homework.

Eversince he started daycare after school, he finished his homework in school with the personal guide of his teacher.

After daycare, he can actually asks for more colouring homework to do! He enjoys doing homework now though I only limit him to basic reading and colouring. I wonder what got into him. Maybe my teaching method is wrong, or maybe I'm just plain lazy and impatient to go through this homework.

Brendan is bad in spelling and reading, but loves painting. He took after both daddy and mummy in the arts department cos' I love drawing and painting when I was young. Daddy is also a good artist as well. Well, afterall, I took after my dad who is a superb artist.

Eryn, on the other hand, also took after me in the music and sports department. Eryn can really run, and run, and run, so unlike Brendan who is always complaining of getting tired.

Oil price increase again!!

I pumped RM30 petrol at around 5pm and before I headed back home today. My phone battery was dead and by the time I got home, I recharged my phone and received 5 missed calls from one friend.

When I called her back, she was telling me that the price of petrol will increase tomorrow! I didn't have trouble pumping petrol earlier on as there was no queue. After cooking, I fetched Brendan from daycare and took him for a drive to the nearest Shell petrol station and was I extremely surprised at the tons of cars queueing up to pump petrol!!

Brendan had the urge to pee and so I stopped at the road side for him to do his 'business' and overheard a man telling one driver that the queue has not been moving for more than half and hour as there was a deadlock at the petrol station.

Brendan actually helped saved my time by not engaging in that stupid struggle to get into the petrol station. Since I was already out, I decided to head to BHP nearby but it was the same predicament. Deadlocked. I decided to try for the third time to Petronas not too far away and somehow manage to squeeze my way through the many, many oil pumps available there.

I've never joined in the crowd when it comes to petrol price increase, but now that I'm no longer in the full-time workforce and budget is a constraint, and inflation chocking us up, I have to be kiasu today and join in the crowd. Well, there's always a first time! It won't be the last time as well. Luckily I had Brendan to talk to or else I will be cursing my lungs out.

Unfortunately, I didn't take my handphone out or else I will have started snapping pictures of all petrol stations all over the place! hahaha

Real-life situation

Over the weekend, we made a trip up to Penang and stayed overnight at my sister's place. It was basically eating and eating and eating.

The kids were spoilt by my sis and my brother-in-law who bought Brendan a battery-operated racing car and Eryn a little cooking set!

We had to travel from Penang to Kota Bahru the following evening and gosh, I do dislike travelling all the way there, especially when the journey is so looooooooong. I simply dread going to KB!!

We were there for two nights and on Tuesday, we left after lunch about 1pm+ and arrived home just before midnight! We were stuck for a very long time at Karak Highway.

There were around 7-8 ambulances that came from the direction of KL driving fast to make a u-turn far behind us to go to a stop by the ravine which we later found out in the papers today, that a bus has plunged deep 10 metres below. 2 people died in that freak accident and knowing that we were stucked in a jam due to that accident brought shivers down my spine.

It saddens me to think of the victims stucked in the bus, deep down the ravine, under the rain, while lots of rescuers were frantically trying to save the victims.

I read of these news everyday, and it's just simply that - news.. These people just never imagined how one single move can just change their lives forever.

Ask yourself this question : Are you prepared to go through the road ahead when your life turns 360 degrees? Be it for the better or for the worst?

Turning 3

Eryn is officially 3 years old. Born on 1st June 2005, she displays such a warm outburst that never fails to impress all at home with her antics and her very talkative stories - on the whys, the hows, the whos, the wheres and a whole bunch of wierd stuffs. Oh my, she can really talk and talk and talk...

Her sudden display of emotions always catch me by surprise.

One moment, she'll come squeezing me by the neck and hugging me, saying "I love you, mummy" and continue hugging and patting my back and another moment, she'll throw a tantrum and says "You don't be like that ar!! I don't like you!"

She's so full of grace and so cute with her baby-like voice and yet so tomboyish and behave like a boy.

She definitely develops fast, having learning to stand at 9 months and walking at almost 11 months, I think. Babbling at around one year old, and speaks in sentence by one and a half year old. She went off her diapers much later than Brendan. Brendan voted off the diapers at less than two years old while Eryn got slept without her diapers at around age 2.

We happened to be in Penang on her birthday this year and we didn't celebrate it much due to the travelling and eating and visiting.

Eryn wasn't a planned pregnancy, but she has brought me joy and tons of challenges in motherhood, in coping with 2 children with a close age gap of one and a half years old.

This post is specifically dedicated to Eryn, wishing you a life full of joy and laughter as it has always been for you. Your unique personality and expressions are a beauty to behold. While you can be naughty and 'stubborn', you certainly gives the aura, so cherub-like in times of darkness in mummy's life...

Wishing you lots of love and kisses unlimited, just like the one you so warmly display to mummy out of the blue, just when mummy needs it.

Eryn and her yoga poses

I've noticed Eryn doing some exercises and poses which looks like some yoga pose. She'll be showing off her stretching and posing in front of us whenever we sit down and watch TV.

I believe it's the "influence" or should I say, copy-catting her nanny at the nanny's place. Eryn does it so well, having no problem bending backwards, in a u-shape with her hands and legs behind her, or stretching her body out to touch her toes! I tried doing that and almost hurt my back! haha..

I took the opportunity to take some pics of her when she tried showing it off again.

"Lei, on de lei, on de lei...."

When the kids and I went back to my parents' place recently, my dad taught Brendan to sing a verse from "The Lonely Goatherd", a well-known song sung by Julie Andrews in the movie, The Sound of Music.

If you know the first two lines of the song, it goes like this :

High on a hill was a lonely goatherd
Lay-ee odle lay-ee odle lay hee hoo

The first time I heard him sing it I couldn't stop laughing...

I tried correcting Brendan but he keeps insisting to sing it his way! Boy, oh boy!! so stubborn, but it's so funny..

Mother's Day weekend

My sis and I decided to make a last minute trip back to our hometown last weekend. My sis took a flight to KL and from there I fetched her from the airport and proceeded to drive back to my parents' place with the two kids.

It was a weekend of catching up and lots of chatting and eating!

It was also the same day as my sis-in-law's birthday and also my mum's birthday 2 days later. So, my brother made us all a tray of original authentic Italian home-made tiramisu. My brother can bake very well - chocolate cake, blueberry cake, bread, etc...

He was sent to Italy to work for a year before and from there, he got to know an Italian colleague who taught him to make tiramisu. He made it without any rum or alcohol since the kids are eating as well. Brendan simply loved it, calling it an ice-cream cake!

Unfortunately, my brother last made in 10 years ago, and didn't fold the ingredients properly, causing it to collapse a little. It still taste nice though. It is advisable that the original Italian marcapone be used to have a better texture and flavour.

Then, my dad made 4 dishes of homemade otak-otak, using fresh ikan merah with all-natural ingredients and spices. It was simply yummy. Mum cooked us 3 different type of soups over the weekend and made us her special yam cake which we all ate to our hearts' fulfilment! She bought back some papayas which my sis said were "super-sweet". The tree was only as high as Brendan but the papayas were abundant and very, very sweet.

Gosh, I feel like going back again for more home-cooked food! Didn't even get to eat the botak curry me and the beef noodle. sigh!

Tag : Of the 2

I got a tag, from Sue. Just like her, I haven't been doing tags for a while, so will start doing this again. This one is way, way over due by 6 months! *grin*

Two names I go by :
1. Sharon
2. Mei Lin

Two things I am wearing now :
1. Clothings-lah
2. Hair clip

Two things I want (or have) in a relationship :
1. Appreciation - thanks for appreciating me, but I think I can make do with more, dear..
2. Romance - more it if as well :-D

Two things I like to do :
1. Lepak?
2. Shopping?

Two things I did last night :
1. Met up with Anthony Mitchell from Australia.
2. Had dinner at 9:30pm with one mummy, Liz Wong.

Two things I ate today :
1. Bread with butter and jam for breakfast
2. Butted fish with garlic rice and coleslow for lunch

Two people I last talked to :
1. Shereen Wong, over the phone, asking for help on a previous project I did
2. Hubby

Two things I am doing tomorrow :
1. Attend my weekly BNI meet at 7am
2. Making some phone calls to set appointments for next week.

Two favourite days of the week :
1. Saturday
2. Sunday

Two favourite holidays :
1. Chinese New Year
2. Christmas season

Two favourite beverages :
1. Coffee. I'm a die-hard coffee fan
2. Fruit juice

Two things about ME, things you may never have known :
1. I play the piano extremely well
2. I enjoy being alone sometimes, despite giving the impression that I always around people.

Two jobs I have had in my life :
1. Assistant Manager in a broadcasting TV station for 8 years
2. Head of Airtime sales.

Two movies I would watch over and over :
> Why would I want to watch a movie over and over?

Two places I have lived:
1. My hometown somewhere in Johor
2. Bandar Sunway

Two of my favourite foods :
1. Thai -tomyam, kerabu,
2. Japanese - sushi, sashimi, shabu-shabu

Two places I would rather be right now :
1. in my hometown, eating and eating and eating
2. in a spa, having a good massage

Since this is an overdue post, I'm not tagging anyone :-)

Grocery shopping??

Imagine this - it's raining, you have lots of groceries to buy, the kids are cranky, the queue is long and it's running late. What do you do?

We were on a recent trip to a hypermarket when the kids started to whine and throw a tantrum. We decided to just get only a little bit of what we wanted on the long list of things to buy, and proceeded to queue up with whatever little things we have in our trolley.

"Zzzzzzz", the kids were sleeping already, what can we do but to move out quickly to get home and when we are home, their eyes were opened wide!

Happy Mother's Day

Wishing all mummies out there a Happy Mother's Day...

Heaven?

A few days ago, while we were having dinner at home, Brendan suddenly blurted out about his friend's daddy who has just "gone to heaven".

Brendan : My friend, ................. (name protected)'s daddy just gone to heaven.
(daddy and mummy was shocked stared at each other)
Mummy : Heaven? Why do you say that Brendan?
Brendan : Because my friend's daddy died and that's why after he dies, he goes to heaven?
Daddy : Why did your friend's daddy die?
Brendan : I dunno (his favourite sentence). He just died and cannot wake up anymore, so he went to heaven.

Hmm....... food for thought....

Professions

One day, when I took Brendan back from school, the teacher told me something really amusing.

The topic for that day was "Occupation". The teacher asked Brendan whether he would like to be a doctor when he grows up, so that she could go and visit Brendan and she is old and sick. Brendan immediately answered, that he doesn't want to be a doctor. "Why?" his teacher asked.

"I want to be an engineer like Uncle Kim Leong", says Brendan.

Now, daddy is also an engineer, but he'd rather be an engineer like Uncle Kim Leong (my brother) than like his daddy! How comforting that is to daddy! haha.

Brendan's teacher then asked him, "What is your mummy's occupation?"

Brendan replied, "My mummy is a boss".

Gosh, he was the talk among the teachers with that innocent reply.

Seriously, I do not know where he get that from. Hmm.....

Harvynna's birthday

The kids went to a birthday a Gymboree about 2-3 weeks back. It's their first birthday party at Gymboree and also their first time at Gymboree.

It was something out of the norm as all the chidlren had so much fun playing and laughing away. Harvynna was a really pretty girl. She is really tall for her age. With lovely locks and a sweet face, she'll definitely attract lots of attention when she grows up some day.


Our kids have grown up so fast. As I look back at a photo when Brendan and Harvynna were together, they were just tiny little tots - Brendan in his napkin and Harvynna in her diapers, playing alongside together, but no words of communication at all. Eryn was just a little baby then.

Time flies...

ang mo slang.

The other day, Brendan's teacher told me something which really made me laughed.

She said that Brendan's chinese pronounciation got an ang mo slang. There are times when she wants to laugh in class but has to control it so as not to embarass Brendan and also the fact that she's teaching in the class.

Brendan's speak Mandarin quite fluently though we rarely speak Mandarin at home. Eryn hasn't start preschool yet, but she and Brendan can communicate with each other in Mandarin pretty well.

It's pretty wierd where Brendan gets his ang mo slang from cos my side of the family speaks Mandarin without the slang.

Anyway, the teacher has long controlled her laughter and when she relayed the story to me, we both exploded into laughter.

We later heard Brendan saying good bye to his teacher, "Lao3 shi1, Zhai4 Zhuan4" (if you understand han yi pin yin, notice the pronounciation for zhai4 zhuan4). Gosh, why does he has to roll his tongue to make it more complicating... hahaha

Little mousey gone

Further to my earlier mouse story, I do wonder where the mouse has gone to. The last I saw it, it was hiding behind one of the pails in the downstairs bathroom. I quickly locked the bathroom doors and didn't open the doors for 2 days, waiting for DH to come back to catch it as he was outstation.

When DH came back and opened the door, the mouse is nowhere to be found! One of my friend mentioned that it could have climbed out of the window, which was actually locked. He also said that it could have the tendency to swim through sewerage, so I'm wondering whether it took a swim down the toilet bowl into the world of shits out there.

I noticed that the mouse could have gnawed at the rubber piece at the bottom of one of the door. Still, I wouldn't think that it's possible for it to squeeze through the very tiny hole, which again, my friend mentioned that it could actually flatten its body to go through tiny holes. Eeww....

It's totally gone.

I found out that burnt sotong makes good bait to catch mice. Something I learnt while experiencing the little mousey situation at home.

Single Daddy

I had dinner today with one of my ex-colleague, Sam (name has been changed to protect his privacy).

I've known Sam for about 8 years now I think. We used to work together and were quite happy in the old environment where everyone truly work hand-in-hand as one feel good family.

I didn't know that Sam is already in his mid 40s as he looks like he is only in his mid 30s. He is a very nice and humble malay guy, ever so patient and always so accomodating. He is also a single father.

Now, this is a very unique case cos I've never come across anyone such as Sam cos he is not married, neither is he the real father of the 2 children that he's caring and staying with in his apartment. Sam adopted 2 son, age 3.5 years old and age 10 months.

The eldest son came from a family in extreme proverty and was thus given up for adoption since he was a baby. He even looks very much like Sam. His friends and relatives have commented that the close bond between them has somehow have created that psychological perception that they are biological father and son.

His second son came about when a young uni. student from UITM got herself pregnant. The girl's boyfriend dumped her when her tummy started to show at 3 months. One month later, she missed classes and eventually dropped out of class. Her friend is a relative of Sam and told Sam about her case. Sam took the interest to adopt the unwanted baby and even took the young girl in to stay with an aunt during her pregnancy until she delivered. In her 3rd week, she went back to her kampung and began life anew, lying to her family that she decided not to continue with her studies. None of her family members know about her delivery at all.

Sam made arrangement for adoption and took in this very beautiful and charming baby boy as his own son. He has large round eyes, a sharp chin and a very beautiful smile. Apparently, the baby's mother has the look of an actress model and the baby has inherited her beautiful looks.

Sam is unlike most fathers and even mothers that I know. He personally care for them, feed them, change them, and does everything single thing a mother does. He single-handedly manage both children after work and juggle between work and home like a supermom, literally leaving his bachelorhood overnight. Come to think of it, I don't think I can be as good as Sam.

His devotion and unconditional love for his 2 adopted sons should win him the award for the father of the year and no doubt passing the mark as the superdaddy-mummy hero.

As I drove back home after the dinner, I am reminded how fortunate I am to be put in circumstances which test my patience, love and devotion to my own children.

Today, I am glad I actually made the right move to move out of my comfort zone, leaving a wonderful job to focus on other priorities in life, to build a new business for a future that I desire, to move on with life despite having other people asking why do I leave a career for something that is not so stable.

I may look back and cherish my past career but I have no regrets choosing the unknown path. The journey may not be easy, the road may not be tarred, but as I walk further down the dusty road, I see little flowers starting to bloom and a rainbow at the end of the road...

I cried hearing Sam's struggle as a single parent, his struggle with work stress that had recently taken a toll on his life, his feelings and emotions and I believe, deep down, a wholesome family life that only time can tell.

Sam, you showed me little things in motherhood which I've sometimes taken for granted and I'm glad that you gave me the motivation and inspiration during dinner last night.

Thank you, Sam!

Smelly Ant

The kids have always been fascinated with the little ants in our house.

Brendan has his scientific term for the different kind of ants - Red Ants bite people. Black ants are nice ants cos they don't bite. Flying ants can fly but you don't hit it because it may be a bee. Smelly ants you don't touch because afterwards your hand chao-chao.

I personally hate those 'smelly ants' cos they really smell when I try to take the cloth to wipe them away. If Brendan is nearby, he'll go "Aaahhhh!!! Smelly ant! Chao-Chao!!"

hahaha..... I'd better go get ant bait before we all faint with the terrific smell!

Made in China

There's so many complaints about China goods and tainted food products that makes people shy away from them.

One of my friend, Veron, experienced this with one Made In China soft toy that her kids were playing with. One day, she noticed her two primary school going daughters were having some sort of sore on their heads. She wasn't sure what was the cause of it. She cleaned her daughters room, washed the bedsheets, sun their mattresses and toys and all but the sore just wouldn't go away.

Out of the blue, she kept the soft toy away and started noticing that the sores were no longer there. It didn't occur then that the sores were due to the sensitivity of the chemical reaction from the soft toy's fur.

The soft toy was out again and this time, it slept with her youngest child, a 2 years old boy. Her son developed bad sores and reaction on his nose and some part of his face. Again, my friend did some checking and found that the cute cuddly soft toy was the cause of it.

Imagine, the many children out there who would have developed these symptoms and their parents might not even know that the itchiness and sores come from the harmless looking cuddly soft toys that they children are holding.

It's so scary to think that there could be unknown cases which can't be detected.

My kids' toys are so far so good. Some of them are Made In China too. I guess we'll just have to be careful and keep our eyes open for any reaction to our children's skin and health.