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.

Mummy, I want to pang-sai

Travelling long distance on the road is no joke. What more if there's children with you in the car.


During the CNY trip back to KB, which was a long 8 hours drive, the kids never stop asking what time we will reach our destination. With so many stops every half hour to an hour for pee breaks and food, I can go berserk travelling long distance, especially to KB!!


The trip back from KB to Kluang was better. Better, not because the trip was better but because we are heading back to Kluang and back to yummy yummy home-cooked food. My dad is a wonderful cook and CNYs is when we ate till our tummy almost burst and we can still continue munching on mum's cookies and all. The trip took around 13 hours, inclusive of a 1 hour stop in KL. There wasn't any traffic jam at all, but the journey was quite horrific!


We left early that the morning on the 3rd day of CNY, just before sunrise. Mid-way in the middle of nowhere, somewhere near Gua Musang, surrounded by tall tress and bushes, Eryn wanted to do her 'big business'.


Gosh, there's no stop until the next 40 minutes or so.


"Mummy, I want to pangsai... My tahi want to come out alreadeeeeeeee"


I asked DH to pull over to a safe spot where the road is wider as there were so many passing lorries and cars. We found a spot about 10 minutes later.


We took her little green potty out and there she was, doing her business beside the car in the middle of nowhere!


Luckily we brought wet tissues along. As for the poo, we returned it back to mother nature to fertilise the jungle out there.

Langkawi again

Sometime Jan, just a few days after my birthday, we organised a short family trip to Langkawi again. The stay at Berjaya Langkawi was a complimentary for a photo we submitted that won us a 3 days 2 nights stay in 2 chalets there.


As a member of Berjaya, I used to rent out rooms to friends and they used to tell me it's a nice place for a family break. I've never really looked into Langkawi but I'm glad I went there with my family and am quite happy with the outcome.


The first time we went was with my MIL. This time I took my mum as she has never been to Langkawi before.


As the kids are older now, travelling was made much easier . We rented a car from the airport and drove round the island.


We went back to Beras Terbakar to get batiks as they are so much more cheaper there. Mum loves batik and she got one big bag of batiks to bring back to kampung.


We went to the Hot Spring again too as I had wanted my mum to experience the warm natural water source. We each took a pail of water each and the first dip into the water was actually quite surprising hot to the skin. It took a while before we are able to put our in properly.


The kids didn't missed out on the fun as well as they too took a little dip in their own pail of water. The water can be very hot for children's skin, so it would be appropriate to let it cook down first before letting their little feet into the warm water.


It wouldn't be a surprise if eggs that are put into the water will turn hard-boiled!


It happened to be the week of The Royal Langkawi International Regatta 2008. Brendan was tremendously excited at seeing the yachts sailing away. The weather didn't permit us to stay any longer but the experience had Brendan talking about boats all day long.


We came across a place we missed the last time - Laman Padi, or also known as the Rice Musuem. It didn't look like a place of attraction from the outside until mum asked why we have a mat salleh standing in the middle of the padi field. To curb our curiosity, we made a u-turn and entered the place and were pleasantlyt surprised that the place is quite a nice place after all.

Mum was engrossed in the herbs garden while the kids liked looking at the pond and running around the spacious area. I was particularly attracted to the padi field. I've seen so many of it but have never stepped onto the middle of a padi field!

For this trip, we made sure we spent at least half a day at the beach and the pool cos we missed that the last time as it was raining. We saw two dead jellyfish washed ashore. The kids came across it first and started shouting for us to go and see. the jelly-feel and whitish soft flesh was certainly not something that we expected but it did attract a lot of attention to those nearby.

We didn't go to the waterfall or to the aquarium this time. I was particularly upset that my favourite stall was not open. The last time we came, we ate this nice hot Thai koey teow soup at a small stall and made a pact to come back to this stall should be ever visit Langkawi again, but luck just wasn't on our side for this trip.

Overall, it was a good getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city life. What a good way to start the year with a brand new refreshing feel to the year.

Here, mousey-mousey

There's a little white mouse in my house! Well, it runs so fast I don't really know if it's really white. I thought it was light brown. DH says it is white and I'm beginning to wonder whether they could be 2 mice in the house.

Well, I first saw it last Friday when it ran from the kitchen to the toilet and to the backroom. I tried to find but it's nowhere to be found. Is it supposed to bring me luck on this year of the rat or what? It better be!! Otherwise, I'm gonna trap that mouse and throw it for the cats my neighbour keeps. Speaking of cats, those cats are so damn irritating. They climbed on my car and comes to my garden. So far, I've not seen any shitty business otherwise I'll throw them to the 4 noisy barking dogs another neighbour is rearing. And speaking of these 4 dogs, they bark and bark day and night. I'm not really bothered with them UNLESS they start pooing in the garden outside my house!! I wish owners would collect their dogs' poo instead of putting unwanted fertiliser on my little garden. I use my bare hands to do gardening sometimes, pulling weeds and picking little garbage, probably thrown by some little children (or maybe adults?). So, getting up close with those poo can be disasterous to my already horrible ugly looking hands..

I used to walk my auntie's Golden Retriever and my aunt will make me carry a few plastic bags with me to collect the dog's poo, and of course I do it! Imagine the tons of poos on the road if we don't go collecting our own dogs' poo!

Well, back to the little mouse. I'm wondering whether I should trap this little active mouse. I keep my food properly in the shelves with doors and I've avoided leaving food in the open. My garbage can is now closed too.

I overhead Eryn saying this to Brendan last night, "Kor-kor, don't go to the kitchen, afterwards the mouse jump out from there (from under the cabinet which has space only for the ants to go through)".

Brendan replied, "How can the mouse kemek its body to enter down there? Piak!! (with his hands clapping together) Like that meh?"

Anyway, if it's hungry, it would run somewhere else right?

Err.... right?? Please say YES!

Finger-goreng, anyone?

Don't know what went on my mind. I'm working from home today. So, I took the opportunity to prepare some ingredients for cooking later and mana tahu, I cut my finger!!

I was chopping some cabbage finely at a very fast rate and *chop*!! - one tiny part of my fingernail along with some flesh were gone. I can't find the missing part and it's not in the cabbage dish either... eeww.... I didn't feel anything.

I took a closer look and my finger is no longer rounded. One end was straight diagonally and I can see a chunk of flesh missing. Blood starting oozing out and I quickly took some ice out.
Applied some antiseptic lotion and put a bandage on my finger.

Can't believe that happened! Aargh..... Now, my finger is throbbing, like there's a heart in that tiny finger, beating and pounding hard... Haiyo... so lun-cun!

No pictures. It's dinner time, I've gotta go and cook and don't want anyone's appetite to be spoilt.

3D Art

Brendan got this lovely gift from Jeriel - a 3D paper art puppy which he kept asking me to fix for him.

After making a promise that I'll fix it for him, I finally got down to fix it and it was so extremely difficult to do it due to the folding of the lines and glueing some of the parts together.

I was getting quite agitated cos I was supposed to meet a friend but ended cancelling the appointment after spending about 2 hours just to fix this little puppy for him.

Brendan treasures this little paper puppy so much that he insists that I put it high on top of the shelf to avoid spoiling it in case it is left lying around.

Seeing that he was happy with the results, I too was glad that my one-to-one time with him was very much well-spent.

Christmas outing

This Christmas season, we spent most of our time at home. We only took the kids out on Christmas eve to see the lights and decoration in Sunway Pyramid. It was just so tiring for us everyday to think about taking them out until we decided that we should at least give the kids a small treat by taking them out for a little while... :P

Christmas day was basically food, food and more food. We went to one of my childhood friend's open house whom I've not seen for almost ten years in Klang and it was a pleasant visit to her. We went for another open house at night to hubby's ex-colleague's house.

This Christmas, I just wanted a nice quiet time at home with the kids and this year, this meant something special to me cos we are spending time together in our brand new home.

Travelling again...

Gosh, am I tired..... It's been a travelling month these two months.. Two weekends ago, we went down south for my brother's open house. We had to go down earlier to help prepare all the food... well, actually it was my parents who cooked all the food. We started the trip one night before, arriving at 4am in the morning. Our eyes were like Panda and all I wished for was a total quiet peaceful sleep, which of course, I didn't get. Sigh!

With so many guests, especially from Singapore, that weekend was so tiring that we we practically giving up on doing any more travelling.

My brother got his first Christmas tree and the kids simply love playing around the tree! Anyway, with the food, presents and holidays, the kids are just so energetic that I get tired just looking at them! haha

Unfortunately, last weekend, we went down south again and this time, the trip back to KL was extremely bad.... It took us 6 hours instead of the normal 3 1/2 hours to KL. We had a stop for dinner in Seremban though due to the jam and by the time we reached home it's midnight.

I'm glad that this weekend, it's gonna staying at home after those weekly travelling. Aah.... the feeling of 'home sweet home'....

Sis' wedding

My one and only little sister finally got married... and she's no longer a baby to us anymore. Though it seems like yesterday that she was just a little girl, she has now grown up to be an adult and someone else's wife...

The wedding dinner in our hometown was on the first weekend in November. She was simply stunning in her gown and it brought back memories of the days when we were still young.. We share bedtime stories, clothes and were the best of friends until we both moved on to study and work in two different places - me in KL and my sis in Penang.

Her actual church wedding took place one week after that, in Sitiawan where her husband's hometown is. It was a simple and lovely wedding - a love so pure, so powerful and most importantly, filled with so much joy and happiness and I feel so touched by their relationship.

The food was unusual and simply delicious. There were ready plastic bags for us to tapao. Each table cost less than RM300 but the serving was like for 2 tables. We estimated that should the food be served in KL, the table would not cost anything less than RM600.

Brendan and Eryn could only admire their auntie and kept asking why Auntie Mei Chin looks so pretty. Eryn could only say.. Auntie Mei Chin is a princess...

My mum took the effort to cut out the hem from her nicely kept lacy wedding gown and converted it into a nice beautiful long sleeved gown for Eryn who just wouldn't want to remove the dress after wearing it. She also cut out the hems from another lacy blouse and converted it into a nice pretty dress for Eryn.

Disney Live! in KL

On Deepavali day, hubby & I took the kids and my mum to see the Disney Live! Show at Bukit Jalil. I was given 3 free Category A tickets and bought another RM158 Category A ticket for my mum so we can take her along.

It was one entertaining show and brought me back to my childhood days where I used to love watching Mickey Mouse and reading the stories of Cinderella, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, etc...

The incorporation of the superb magical skills was simply awesome and it was certainly a wholesome family outing.

With Broomsticks flying in the air, Minnie Mouse and the princess from Aladdin floating in the air and the many beautiful dances and glittering and shimmering costumes and stage designs, I felt like a little child again. Until now, I am still wondering how the magicians "cut up" two of the ladies, split up their bodies into two and exchange the bottom halves between the two. Just simply amazing.

The kids were simply fascinated with the whole performances. Brendan was glued to his seat with his mouth opened at times. Eryn started dancing by the isle with the many beautiful performances. I personally loved the Cinderella show.

It was an enchanting experience for the whole daily. Hubby who isn't really into cartoons and don't know much about the character was equally impressed.

"Cute hor"

From most than a week, Eryn's nanny was away to visit her grown up daughter. So, I was at home with Eryn for 2 days, and took her around with me for the other days.

Last Monday, there was a Raya makan in my freelance workplace. Eryn came along and had fun mingling with some of the aunties at mummy's workplace. She ate lots and lots of chocolates, cakes and sweets and that's all she ate for lunch.

Everyone commented that she looks like a boy and said that she looks so cute. Eryn will then give her widest smile and with a twinkle in her eyes, she'll say "Cute hor..." Everyone around her laughed at her cuteness.

Then, a few days later, mummy took Eryn to her other workplace and one uncle commented, "Wah... you're such a smart boy!", not realising what he had just said. When someone said, "You're so cute...", Eryn will again give her sweetest smile and say, "Cute hor..."

On a separate occasiona, Eryn followed mummy & daddy to a friend's wedding dinner in Eastin Hotel. A photographer spotted her and started snapping away... Eryn started posing for the camera and here are some of the outcome :

Tag : Autograph book

Got a new tag and is from a new blogger : Martini . I've met Martini once and we had communicated a few times in a mother's group. I find her to be quite a strong and determined mother and a wonderful person.


Here's the tag :


#1 What is your favourite movie?
can't think of any specific movie now, but it ranges from action packed, sci-fi, horror to romantic movies :)

#2 Who is your favourite singer?
No specific person but I kinda like the Justin Timberlake, Boyz II Men group, Whitney Houston, Elton John, Ronan Keating, Reshmonu, Don Moen, etc..

#3 Which song gets you grooving in the morning?
Light Instrumental, Jazz, Ballads..... definitely no rock or hard core metal.

#4 What is your favourite fruit?
Freshly plucked cherries from the tree and mangoes.

#5 Who is your best friend (excluding your family)?
I have a few..... but I'd mention my kampung-mate who stays in the same area with me, go to the same school with me, we played for the school netball team, she married her high school sweetheart, has 2 kids of her own, and is now working in Singapore.........you know who you are :)

#6 Name one activity you would like to indulge in, in your free time.
I have a few too - reading, TV, painting, playing the piano, etc.

#7 When was the last time you laughed so hard till your sides hurt?
The kids always makes me laugh. So, the last time I laughed was this morning when Eryn rolled over me and pulled at my face.

#8 Do you recall your last dream?
Can't recall.

#9 What is your all-time favourite hobby?
Playing the piano.

#10 When was your last holiday without the children?
To Cherating, sometimes in 2004 I think, with hubby's company's trip.

Not passing to anyone this time.

What the "F"?

No, that's not the four-letter word I'm trying to input here.


Lately, Eryn has the tendency to add an "F" in front of some words. She will go around saying the words "Funtie" (as in auntie) and "Funcle" (as in uncle). I'm not sure how fun this is cos I do worried whether her speech has changed to be more complicated. And then there's the "Fupstairs (for upstairs), "Fouuside" (for outside) and "Fie" (for I).


And she will also drag the "F" a little longer like "Fffffuntie" or "Fffffuncle".


For a girl her age, her communication skills is quite advance. So, I do wonder whether she's getting too advance until her words are now all jumbled up. When I correct her, she will say them correctly, but there are times, those "F" just can't seem to get away...


When we ask her what her what is her name? She used to say, "Jing Jong Jing" but now she knows how to say it correctly, i,.e. Lim Shu Jynn. When she thinks it's funny, she'll go back and say "Jing Jong Jing" again and starts laughing. I thought that was cheeky... but not the "Funtie" and "Funcle"..

Brendan turns 4

Brendan turns 4 yesterday and he treated his friends to some snacks at his preschool. My boy has grown and I know he'll grow up very fast.

There wasn't a birthday party for him this year, nor were there many presents for him. He seems quite contented with it and didn't ask for more, esp. for a little question to his aunt, "Where's my present, Auntie Mei Chin?"

I've been thinking of him alot lately, esp. when he has this disturbing cough that has been going on for 3 months. He's been to the doctor twice and the next 2-3 weeks, if he doesn't improve, the doctor indicated that it could be due to some sinus problem.



I slept late thinking about this and now, I'm still up - thinking about him. I've also been noticing that his lips turn a little blue when he exerts himself. The doctor says that his lungs are ok and that we should keep a look out on the discoloration when he tires himself out. I spent time reading about such symptoms on the internet and the more I think about it, the more I can't sleep!



Brendan is 4 and he's no longer a baby. I pray for good health and lots of happiness, peace and love in your life, my dear son. Blessed birthday to you, Brendan...

*Ring Ring*

When I read Jess' stating that Lyon has been calling me, I realise that this has been happening to me as well.

Sometimes, I get missed calls from home and sometimes, Brendan will just call to say "hello" and "bye" and he'll repeat the process again and again until I have to scold him! Imagine that you are in a meeting and he keeps calling and calling just for the fun of it.

I am happy that Brendan knows how to call mummy, but the timing can just be not so right! I do wonder whether he really knows how to dial my number or maybe he just press the redial number. Initially, I knew that he dialled the redial number, but recently, I noticed that there were no calls from home prior that.

I tried to test him to dial the number in front of me and he says he doesn't know. So, how did he dial my number?

Rasa Sayang

With this issue of the "Rasa Sayang" song belonging to Indonesia, I find it amusing that Eryn is singing this song very loud in some of the gatherings I've been having with friends.


She'll go like this :


"Rasa Sayang, Neh...Rasa Sayang Sayang Neh" (she prefers saying Neh than Hey)
"Neh.... Nananana Rasa Sayang Sayang Neh..."


Everyone thinks she's so cute.. and then, the talk about this song belonging to Indonesia will be brought up and makes everyone talk and laugh over it. Actually, I personally do not really know what the real issue here is.


I think mummy here is worst. When I was a little girl, I always thought this was a Singaporean song cos I always see this group of children singing and dancinc to this song on a Singapore channel when I was small. hahaha

Tagged : 5 things

I seem to have done this before, but anyway, I got tag from Leoni and here are my stuffs :

5 things found in my room:-
* Queen-sized bed with pillows, big and small..
* Wardrobe
* 14-inch TV
* Some books
* a black and white wedding photo of hubby and me hanging on the wall

5 things I’ve always wanted to do:-
* Continue with my Latin Dancing classes
* Having a quiet and peaceful time to compose songs on my piano
* Painting pictures
* Knowing how to bake cookies and cakes and cook complicated dishes
* Travel around the world.

5 things found in my bag:-
* Purse
* Keys
* Handphone
* Notepad
* Thumbdrive

* 5 things found in my wallet:-
* Cash
* Credit Card
* IC
* Driving License
* Blood Group Card

5 things I’m currently into:-
* Freelancing for ntv7 on an golf event
* Looking at decos and furnitures for our new home.
* Reading books now that I have more time on my own
* Adapting to working on my own and managing my personal time
* Facebook.com!

5 beautiful mummies/women to tag:-
* Don't think I'll be tagging anyone this time :-)