Superimposition

Just for the fun of it :-D




Eryn and her princess dreams..




Brendan & his various 'poses'

Poh-poh's garden

My mum has interest in all things related to health and herbs and plants with medicinal value. so much so that she's taken to planting some stuffs in the little garden and balcony of my parents double storey house back in my kampung.

My favourite would be her little apple tree and the mulberry tree. The apple is small, but surprisingly sweet and crunchy and doesn't taste like apple at all. My kids love it so much.

The fruit from the mulberry tree has an extremely sweet taste! Brendan didn't like the look of it and didn't want to eat it but Eryn took a bite and kept asking for more. I learnt from my mum that the tree has medicinal values and the leaves can help anemia, dizzy spells, constipation, kidney problem and many other health problems.

My mum has what you call 'green fingers'. Her soil are extremely fertile as she uses only organic fertilising, through decomposition and natural fertiliser. There's corn (yes, the sweet and expensive type of jagung), strawberry, limau purut, to herbs and vegetables like kesum, mint and many more I can't recognise.

I've suddenly developed a love for certain herbs and plants, and wish I have a big garden for all that. I need a bigger house, well... a bigger garden actually.

Chap Goh Meh

It's chap goh meh (the 15th day of the chinese lunar year) and it happens to be a holiday! Wow, another year has passed and I shudder to think that age is actually catching up slowly, but surely.

I'm no longer that energetic person I used to be, going here and there and visiting here and there. I'd rather stay home and just take it easy. Actually, I attended the Selangor open house for the first time in my life at Sunway two days ago, not even knowing what I went there for. I was taken in by my aunt who told me to take my mum and kids to see some lion dance performance. The lion dance troupe were superb but the crowd was madness.

I remember CNY the way it used to be when I was little. My grandparents house were in the middle of some kampung, surrounded by lots and lots of trees and neighbours were far apart. My grandma and aunts would slaughter dozens of chicken and ducks and prepare a grand feast. We were always so excited on the first and second day of CNY, waking up early, shower and dress in our new and beautiful clothes that my mum would make for us.

Most of my 13 aunts and uncles would turn up at my grandparents' place. We kids will have a hell of a time, running around the kampung like we always do. Firecrackers were aplenty. We also observed the traditional CNY stuffs like not sweeping on the first few days of CNY, not washing our hair on the first day, and eating what we call CNY food which actually bore meanings.

Those were the days....

credits here

Full bloom

After coming back from hubby's hometown, we came back to KL for a few hours before we headed back to my hometown on the third day.

The biggest surprise that greeted me was the plant that I almosted wanted to throw away for a long, long time. The flower bloomed and was swaying from side to side, as though, waving its petals to say a little "Hi!" to me!

Oh, this is definitely a good sign of great things to come...

2009 - year of the Golden Ox

I hear the sound of firecrackers from afar. But there's not many of it and it seems pretty quiet this year compared to the past year.

This year, we left for KB on Friday night 9pm, stopped for an hour plus at a petrol station near Gua Musang and proceed back to hubby's hometown. We arrived there at around 6am!! I hate the long journey there. Oh boy... CNY in KB is very different - the mood is not really there, maybe the chinese celebrate it in their own way, the Kelantanese style, and food is basically Kelantanese food. Well, not the typical chinese celebration but more of the Kelantanese style. The migration of chinese from China to this part of the world has definitely changed their mindset and lifestyle, even weddings are different! At least for me.....

We headed back to Kluang on the 3rd day of CNY, i.e. on Wednesday. That's always the most wonderful part of CNY where we get to embrace the full chinese new year atmosphere. Food was aplenty, and my dad will cook up a storm of dishes. Prawns, hainanese chicken, mixed vegs, fish, noodles, sea cucumber, spring roll and more are a must every CNY. All home-cooked and yummy..

It was a great time of get -together once again. We had a gathering in an aunt's house. Out of the 13 aunts and uncles and 41 cousins plus around 20 grand-cousins, only a quarter of us were there, but that was enough to bring up the mood and environment.

The kids had fever in KB caused by viral infection, followed by cough and flu. Brendan even vomitted a few times. There's lack of water there and I suspect that the water there is very unhygienic. Overall, they enjoyed their trip - the eating, the playing, the dancing and more..

I'm just hoping that this Ox year will be one that will wade through the rocky waves and comes out bullish in the coming years...

Family gathering - part of my mum's family

Brendan and Eryn with my good friends' kids. Brendan and Keysha are born 2 months apart. Eryn and Chloe are born 2 months apart as well.

Brendan & Eryn playing with some of my cousins' kids

The kids buckled up in their seat belts with their poh-poh behind.

Chinese paper lanterns

Over the weekend, I did some simple paper lanterns and luck fishes to be hanged around the house as CNY decorations.

I took out some old ang pow packets and started doing it just for the fun of it. I use recycled and unused ang pow packets for my DIY decorations.

Here's some simple instructions on the lucky fishes which is easy to make for kids and adults alike. Err.... I hope it's simple to understand here :P

The paper lantern the kids helped to make. looks kinda messy but it's great fun!

School has re-opened

It's been a week since school re-opened. Brendan was happy to go back to the same kindy he attended last year.

I'm not surprised with the many books that he brought back home but I was surprised that one of his book is a standard one book! I'm even more shocked at the content as they are so much more difficult that it was when I first started kindergarten at 6 years old.

The funny thing is, despite having so much textbooks and so much books nowadays, the standard of a lot of teachers are deteriorating and most students can't even speak proper English! I was told by the principal that all these textbooks are preparation for Brendan when he enter Primary one next year! Wow!!

I remember attending tuition the year that I sat for SPM. I've known some parents who has started sending their children to tuition as young as 6 years old. Gosh, am I laid-back or what? I wonder what has gone wrong with our education system, and I do certainly wonder how would my children cope in school - with the tons of homework and carrying that heavy bag behind their bag in the not too distant future.

Here's a pic of Brendan's textbooks. The exercise book has not been taken into consideration.

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a Blessed Christmas....

Tong shui supper

There's this road in Puchong Jaya which has a row of vans all lined up by the side, offering desserts and supper. It offers lots of interesting stuffs for passer-bys and we too decided to stop by for our bowl of tong shui which the kids love so much.

Brendan was more keen in the green jelly actually while Eryn went slurping spoon after spoon of the nicely boiled tong shui, filled with lots if ingredients in it.

Definitely a thirst quencher.

2kg in 2 months?

Gosh, I've put on 2kg in two months!! My pants and skirts are all getting tight. I've been eating a lot and eating late. And now that it's the holiday season, it's all about eating and eating and eating.

I participated in the BNI Treasure Hunt from KL-Penang three Friday agos and went up to Penang again two Fridays ago to visit my newborn baby niece. It was never a moment that we don't talk about food.

From the Ipoh chicken hor fun, to Penang Assam Laksa, to Bukit Tambun's seafood, it was all about eating - breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner, supper. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, and there goes my pants. I brought up two extra short pants two Fridays ago and I couldn't even fit into it!! I ended up wearing the same pants for 3 days! Aarrggh......

Age is catching up. I'm no longer what I used to be - eating and eating and yet not putting much weight, except for the period after school when I came up to KL to study. I was an athlete in school then and was used to afternoon trainings. After coming to KL after that, I put on a lot of weight, probably due to the stop in trainings.

So, am I gonna give up eating? No, cos I can't go on a diet with gastric problems. I'll try my best to eat heathily, which I've always been doing actually. Hmm.... maybe less carbo and more greens and fruits..

Well, it's not all about eating to be exact. We do have our shopping moments, fun moments, jalan-jalan moments (ya, right! but don't know why food still comes top of the list)...

at Queensbaby Mall with kong-kong

and....................... FOOD GALORE!!

We have a new baby!!

Well, no, I'm not having a new baby. It's my little baby sis (well, she's no longer a baby now), who had just delivered her baby girl on 5th December, two Fridays ago.

It was a surprise for everyone as she had planned to travel back to our hometown in Johor from Penang. She had gone for her normal check-up in Penang that Friday morning and the doctor says there's no sign of her delivering at that moment.

She went to work and felt stomach discomfort, thinking that it could be her usual constipation problem. She proceed to go home around 3pm+ and got ready to pack her things home, with her tummy discomfort. She felt a strong pain only at around 4.30pm and called her husband home. Her hubby called the doctor and was asked to rush to the Pantai Hospital in Penang.

By then, she was already 8cm-9cm dilated. She delivered a 2.75kg baby girl within an hour.

Couldn't have imagine her delivering her baby while on the Plus Highway...

We visited her the following day and the day cleaning and mopping the house for her before she came home with the baby.

Eryn says "the baby is so cute!! Can we take it home?" *pengsan*

Roti kahwin & Madagascar 2

The real Kluang coffee and toast buns definitely originate from the town itself, little Kluang.

Brendan & Eryn love the butter and kaya toast buns in the Kluang RailCoffee shop. In our last trip back, we took them again to their rather newly opened branch for tea, after watching MADAGASCAR 2 and the kids eat it with so much satisfaction and the pure enjoyment on their face shows it all. They will lick on the melting butter at the side of the buns and savour every single bite of it like there's no tomorrow.

Hubby ordered mee jawa while I prefer to stick to my usual kopi and the toasted buns too.

MADAGASCAR 2 was great and it was the kids first visit to the cinema. The thing that made them sit throughout the movie was the popcorn. Brendan enjoyed the experience but Eryn was getting bored after the popcorn ran out.

In the next few days after the movie, the kids went shaking their heads and butts and singing "We wanna MOVE IT! MOVE IT"...

Kong-kong's birthday

It was my dad's 60th birthday last Saturday, and we went back to my hometown to celebrate it.

We organised dinnner and got some family members and dad invited some of his friends. It was a small celebration, but everyone enjoyed the food and company.

We had the dinner in Star Restaurant which was packed. There were 3 other family celebrating birthdays day and the birthday boys and girls were all senior citizens. We thought it was wierd when we hear the birthday song being played on CD twice before we realised that two other tables were celebrating birthdays there. Ours was the third family. After that, another family, sang the birthday song for the fourth time in the restaurant!

I wonder whether my kids and grandkids will be celebrating my 60th birthday in such a warm and cosy dinner in the not too distant nor far future :-)

Credits here

Eryn's tooth problem resolved

Remember Eryn's tooth problem and abcessed gum?


After the numerous phone calls to various dentists and to UH, and 3 visits to 3 different doctors, I decided to go to Pristine Dental in Jalan Gasing. Ms Prema, the clinic nurse was extremely helpful and gave me the trust that their doctors are very child-friendly and professional in their line of work.

I am glad that I stick to my decision of not wanting to extract Eryn's tooth which could give her psychological problems, speech problem and the spacing of her teeth.

Dr Priscilla attended to us and she was just so friendly and helpful. She suggested pulpotomy, which is actually the cleaning on the inside of the tooth and fill the empty space up - pretty much similar to filling except this is for the front tooth.

I was terrified of the idea at first and whether Eryn would face the trauma. I decided to go with my gut feeling and rejected the idea of going to the specialist under general anaesthetic. Hubby and I trusted Eryn to be strong and she was definitely stronger than what we thought.

Eryn sat quietly and didn't squirm or scream. She only cried pain for a while when the doctor injected a long syringe into her gum to numb it. After that, she was extremely cooperative and open her mouth wide for the doctor to see. Eryn was very happy over the whole experience as she felt so appreciated and the fact that everyone praised her for being good.

The whole thing was faster than I thought, probably around 15 minutes or so. The doctor, gave her an injection, drilled the back of her tooth, cleaned it, remove the old pulp, cleaned it again, fill it up and it's then it was all done. Fast, efficient, good job.

All doctors I spoke to or saw recommended extraction and in fact, most parents actually chose the option. I'm glad I defy that option and took all troubles to my own research and checking. Eryn is one brave girl. In fact, she's looking forward to her next treatment in two weeks' time she says she wants to have nice teeth.

It may not be suitable for all kids as Ms Prema told us that one little boy actually kicked one of the dentist real hard and some kids were screaming and crying away. For me, to make this personal decision, took me lots of guts, sleepness nights, phone calls, prayers, and most importantly wanting the best and having the trust in my little girl.

Here's Pristine Dental add : 52, Jalan Gasing, Section 5 (Tel no. : 03-7781 6289). It's located in a very nice bungalow with a beautiful surrounding, near a traffic light.

50th Wedding Anniversary

Yesterday, we attended one of hubby's aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary. It was planned by hubby's cousin (the couple's daughter) and another auntie. It was a very special affair, held in one of his auntie's resident.

It's actually my first time attending a 50th wedding anniversary and this was quite an interesting and fun party, attended by some relatives and close friends. The food was great. The company was superb. The activities were aplenty - singing to oldies and Japanese songs, freestyle dancing, waltz and cha-cha, flowers presentation by grandnieces and nephews and a funny skit that brought stitches to all. Brendan and Eryn changed into their indian costume for the flower presentation. They were delighted to receive angpow by the golden couple, given to all the children in the house.

Brendan and Eryn just loved the dancing but was terrified of the two lovely golden retrievers in the house. It's a memorable time for all. With the love, support and understanding that brought this couple this far, it was an emotional time for hubby's aunt who was pleasantly touched by this great surprise party.


Brendan and Eryn at the koi pond

The kids joining the adults in the energetic dances

More dances by Brendan & Eryn in their indian costumes

Sushi and sashimi from Sushi King and local delights

Tempura in the making, plus the yummy soft-shell crabs

The cute cupcakes I ordered from Mama Min

Other random shots

More on Eryn's tooth

I thought about Eryn a lot today. It makes me wonder whether she's tolerating the pain or has the pain really gone away. She used to cry and complain of pain, but now, she doesn't feel any pain at all.

I am quite worried over the big bump on top of her gum. Though she feels fine, I can't help feeling the pain myself. Gosh, my mind is running wild.

I called many dentists today and through the phone conversations, most of them would either recommend that I keep it as it is (which is fine, if there's no complication), extract it (if it's infected) or go to see a specialist. My main purpose now would be my search for a child-friendly doctor and one who can give good advice - not one that gives me scary thoughts. Some of them don't seem child-friendly to me.

Dr Shirley Lim in PJ, Chanel's hubby's aunt, gave me some good and friendly advice over the phone. She shares my negative thoughts of root canalling (as suggested by another dentist) which can be traumatic. She suggested that extraction might be a better option if the tooth is badly infected, which may affect the growth of the new tooth in the near future. But extraction might also cause the closing of the gap, which may hinder the growth of a nice, straight set of front teeth. I'm considering letting her see Eryn's tooth and gum before deciding the next course of action.

On the other hand, I'm also considering visiting Pristine Dental. My experience with Dr Raja of Pristine branch in Hartamas is a very pleasant one when I had my two, top wisdom tooth extracted some time last year. It was basically almost stress-free and pain-free.

Rina recommended Dr Suresh at Pristine Gasing. I called them when they're about to close and the nurse, Ms Prima, was kind enough to speak to me. She did some fact-finding and was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. She mentioned that root canalling is not the option. She gave a common option done at their centre in similar cases, which is to undergo pulpotomy, under local anaesthetic, to lessen the trauma and the ordeal which might be frightening. Apparently, one of their dentists is also a specialist at U.M. Thus my confidence in them.

I'm monitoring Eryn's tooth every single day, hoping that the pain wouldn't come back and at least hope that her tooth can stay as it is for as long as possible. Well, still have to do something about that bump, which I believe is abcess in it. Yikes!

Eryn's visit to the dentist

Approximately two months ago, Eryn was jumping on the bed and and chipped off a small part of her tooth. I wrote about it here.


About one month ago, she had been complaining that her tooth is pain, each time she tries to bite on something hard. It frustrates her a lot when she can't bite into a a biscuit or a piece of hard chocolate, or a chicken drumstick.


Later, we noticed that the chipped tooth was slowly turning a darker colour. We decided to bring her to the dentist for the first time. She was very brave about it cos she says that she wants to look like a princess with nice teeth.


We took her to our family dentist which I've been going to as a little child. Dr Chin told us that her tooth is quite 'dead', thus the change in colour. He also told us that it shouldn't pose any problem. The pain was probably caused by biting on a hard food or probably the fact that infection could have set in.


Today, we took her to another dentist here as we notice that the gum above that tooth is bulging. The doctor told us the same thing - that the tooth is dead. He doesn't advise us to remove it as this may cause problem for the new tooth to grow when it comes out in about 3-4 years' time. As other teeth are growing, this may affect the gap in-between and provide limited space to the new tooth.



About two weeks back, she accidently bit on something hard with her chipped tooth and the next morning, the gum above the tooth was so swollen that her whole lips swell as well. She didn't feel any pain on her tooth and even had the cheek to joke with us, saying "My lips got a lot of meat". We all laughed at her remark as she didn't know the reason for the swelling. By night, the swelling was totally gone.

Lately, she's not been complaining of any pain. I can only pray that we do not have to bring her to a paediatric dentist for root canalling to maintain her tooth till it reaches maturity in 3-4 years' time.

Oh, my poor little girl.

'Health attack'

What? Melamine in 17 biscuit products in Malaysia?! What's next?

Oh well, no wonder health problems are growing at an alarming rate. With pollution, processed food, unhealthy lifestyles, work stress, superficial diets, chemicals in our bodies and all, how can a person not face with health problems?

I know of many women who have problem conceiving due to the food they eat and their lifestyle. I know of a young woman who contracted lung cancer even though she doesn't smoke. I know kids with health problems. I believe all of us know of someone who has serious health problem in one way or another.

Based on some information I gathered sometime last year, I found the following :

• medical inflation is rising at 15% per annum
• the 3 giant killers are - cancer, heart attack and stroke
• 1 in 3 Malaysians age 30 and above suffer from hypertension!
• Only 6 out of 100 peple have their blood pressure under control
• 10,000 deaths a year linked to stroke, heart attack and kidney failure
• 6,000 deaths a year due to heart disease
• 3 million have high cholesterol, which lead to the above stroke, heart problem, etc.
• 25% of malaysian are overweight, and for obesity, we're no. 1 in Asia.

The numbers might vary, but the truth is that most people are pretyt much ignorant about all these. We know the importance, but do we really take heed?

Yikes! .... and I'm going for a Raya open house tonight, makan session tomorrow, Deepavali open house on Monday and dinner on Monday night... Time to exercise...... zzzzzz

Brendan is 5!

Brendan is 5 day! I brought a small cake and some sweets, chocs and jelly to the principal to celebrate it during his morning tea break together with his classmates and teachers.

Brendan is quite cool about it and didn't even ask me for a present. We intend to give him a small surprise family celebration on Sunday. I am actually quite glad that he's really quite humble not to ask for anything at all. He was more than happy to have the tons of birthday wishes from his kong-kong, poh-poh, his favourite uncle and auntie (my siblings) and of course the 2 birthday cakes he had today - one in school and a special one made by the nanny.

I almost bought another one just now, but decided that he would be feeling very 'jelak' after all those cakes.

My boy is five. It just seems like yesterday when I carried him as a little baby in my arms.....

Credits here

Kluang food galore

Each time I go back to my parents' place, my dad will cook lots of food for us. Mum will make kaya for us and boil us soup and dessert, while dad takes care of the meals for lunch and dinner which is always so yummy and fulfilling. There's always different sort of dishes each time we go back home - from something simple like chicken porridge which taste really yummy or mee hoon soup with lots of 'liao' (ingredients), to food with more requires more preperation and effort like curry fish, home-made otak-otak, mixed vegs with all sort of 'liao' and others. Home-cooked food always taste yummy.

In our recent visit back to Kluang, hubby and I, with the kids tagging along, went for more by going on a makan spree! Before lunch and in-between meals, we'll be eating in Kluang's yummy favourites. Lots of Singaporeans make a trip down to various towns in Johor, such as little Kluang, just to do some grocery shopping as well as to makan and makan and makan. Hubby is just like that - makan, makan, makan...

Hubby's favourite place would be a stall in an old hawker area, called the Botak Curry, an old-time favourite. Served with spicy home-made chilli, cooked till perfect, hubby will never fail to visit this place each time he goes back to my kampung. So, off we went to our favourite Botak Curry stall.

Dad also introduced us to another curry mee stall somewhere towards the Nyior town which also serves very nice curry mee! So, it was 2 different yummy curry mee for me over one weekend visit.

Well, there's more... We also had beef noodle at the Tong Jiat Beef Noodle shop, which is also one of my favourite, and Beef Noodle at this place in Kluang Baru which we call Beef Ball Lai. There's another beef noodle in Kluang which served it dry and with peanuts in it, but nothing beats the Tong Jiat beef ball noodle which is filled with lots of 'liao'.

The kids have developed a liking for the beef noodle and can actually finish a bowl each, though nothing beats the kong-kong and poh-poh's cooking and their all time butter and kaya bun at the Kluang Rail Coffee located at Kluang's railway station.

When dad doesn't cook, we'll head to a restaurant which serves really nice food with extremely reasonable price. Can't remember the place though but it's located somewhere in Kluang Baru.

Gosh, now I'm craving for the Botak curry mee and the 'gu-bak' mee (beef noodle).

Kluang Botak curry noodles



Tong Jiat famous beef noodles from Tangkak.