Apam balik

This afternoon, the kids and I decided to get into a simple cooking activity. Hubby has been asking me to make apam balik (a type of pancake with crushed peanuts and sweet corn filling) and so, being a first-timer in making apam balik, I decided that the kids should join in the fun as well. They were thrilled at the idea of having to 'play' with flour.

Here, the pictures speak for itself.



Brendan and Eryn being very serious and careful in measuring the flour and sieving flour respectively.

 

Brendan cracking eggs into a bowl while Eryn playing with flour.



From top left to bottom : the batter, apam balik in the making, the kids at the kitchen stove. Right : Brendan pouring water while eryn is stirring. I'm supposed to use milk instead of water but totally forgotten about it when the kitchen got messed up.



The ready to eat apam balik. It's not so fluffy like the ones sold in pasar malam but still, it is very tasty.



Brendan and Eryn enjoying their apam balik very much.

My pretty decent looking apam balik.

Happy Mother's day to all

As I was picking out some pictures on random to make the heart shape card below, I suddenly felt overwhelmed with lots of emotions, in my journey to be a mother.

In a flash, I never realised that motherhood has changed me so much as a person and at the way I look at things in life. For me, to give up great careers opportunity to start fresh into something new was something I didn't knew could happen to me until I made that decision to JUST DO IT. The initial period started with lots doubts on how I was suppose to live a life without a good income and lots of benefits given to me when I was a single woman. I'm glad to have a supportive husband who encourage me to follow my heart.

Looking back, I'm glad I made the right choice. The journey may be tough, but it was one of the greatest decision I've ever made, a treasure so precious that money can't buy. I've gotten quite good in my new found career, with lots of flexibility and to lead a life many would admire. It's a continuing journey but one that I know I'm satisfied with.

My mum will always be in my thoughts but unfortunately, I'm not able to spend it with her this year as it's Brendan's school exam week. As I prepare my card, my thoughts go out to those struggling and single mothers, SAHM mothers who stressed themselves to give the best for their children, WAHM mothers who work to contribute to the household income, and especially so to mothers with special kids. I know of friends who have special kids, and two of them came to mind today. One of them has a son who has superb gift in art and another had struggled for more than 10 years to bring up two disabled kids along with two other normal kids on her own. Her husband left her many years back. Her heart is full of love, but the physical tiredness shown on her face proves that life had been tough for her.

Another special mother just came to mind, she was someone who treated me like her daughther. She said that to me just months before she took her own life many years back. She had been going through a tough time with her health problem. No one knows the internal turmoil in her. She is quite well to-do but was quite lonely at times too. She took in a baby as her own and brought up the child until he was old enough to take care of himself. And that was when she decided to end her life. It didn't came to mind when she had hinted on wanting to meet me to pass me all her clothings, some accessories and children's books. I have delayed meeting her until one day, when I decided to call her. Her only child picked up the phone and said, "I'm sorry to let you know that my mum is not around". I asked where has she gone to and when will she be back, only to realise that she has chosen to end her life just one night before the day I called her. I don't know why she came to thoughts today. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about her....

To my mum and all mothers out there, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY and God bless you.

One two three four five, once I caught 3 fishes alive..

Some friends has called us up yesterday afternoon to go fishing. I really didn't want to go as it has been drizzling the whole of yesterday and it was such a nice day to stay home and rest.

The kids were excited though. It would be Brendan's first fishing trip and Eryn's second. It would be my first time going too (not taken into consideration the "fishing" at the big longkang/drain near by grandma's house when I was young). I had to reluctantly drag myself to go. Afterall, majority wins.

So, off we go to the private fish farm, located somewhere near Broga in Semenyih. Surprisingly, the rain stopped the moment we reached there. We had wanted to stop by the rabbit farm on the way there but it was closed.

It turned out to be quite a pleasant trip actually. I caught three fishes - TWO "nim yue / lim yue"  (aka "wallagonia attu" or ikan tapah in BM) and ONE "sang yue" (aka freshwater snakehead fish or ikan haruan in the BM). The first fish I caught was a huge 4 kg "nim yue", but unfortunately, the fish farm owner didn't allows us to take it back and we had to throw both back into the pond. Everyone said that I had the luck today - a beginner's luck. hehehehe...

According to our friend, "nim yue" can grow up to be as heavy as I am! Apparently, this is a type of freshwater catfish species and is known to eat monkeys. It's considered to be one of the biggest freshwater fish and is quite expensive too. Was told that the market rate is more than RM100 per kg! It looks like a wierd looking catfish to me.

We kept the "sang yue" and brought it to a nearby restaurant to have it cooked for dinner and it was so, so, so fresh and yummy!

The 4kg "nim yue" (ikan tapah) I caught. My very first fish in my first fishing trip :-)

Walking around from pond to pond, searching for a good location. The first pond didn't bring us result. My two "nim yue" was caught in the third pond I selected while my "sang yue" was caught in the fourth pond I chose.

Some of the fake fishing bait our friends uses. More for the experts I suppose.

Our friend chose this little frog for my bait. It is a live one. Probably not pro enough to use those colourful plasticky fishes like the previous photo.

The first pond we went to. No fishes at all. Can you see what little Eryn is doing while everyone, including little Brendan, is busy fishing?

Here's a closer look at the princess-in-waiting, sitting down eating her biscuits and apple with her feet up on another stool. She hated the ants that kept coming to her feet.

Lots of "fei chow yue" (ikan talapia in BM)  in some of the ponds. You can easily scoop them out with a net, but they're just not the type that we are looking for. Besides, this is meant for commercial selling, not nice for us to just take it without any effort.

This pond was being emptied and sprayed with water to clean it. If you see closely, there are some holes in the ground. We were told that these are fish nests. When the water is being sucked out to a smaller drain into another pond, the eggs and tiny fishes will be sucked out as well to grow in another pond.

and this was the "sang yue" I caught, with some reeling help from little Brendan. Beginners' luck!

Fresh, yummy "sang yue" cooked in soya sauce and garnished with shredded ginger and corianer leaves.

Eryn's self-entertaining passtime

How does your kids entertain themselves when they're alone?

For my 6 years old Eryn, she plays imaginary house or be an imaginary princess or watches her favourite Barbie stories. At most times, she gets hooked on her drawing, or cutting up pieces of papers and glueing them back again, or do her own "fashion-designing" and colouring. She can go on and on doing these things when her kor-kor doesn't want to play with her or when kor-kor is in school.

Here are some of her latest stuffs...



Eryn's castle made from brown paper, a drawing torn into two and bits of papers. There's an angel in the sky. How sweet. Notice the drawing of the car? Can you see the words on it? It says "Buy This". And as for no. 5, I don't know what she meant by writing the word deb, while no.9 looks like a bra.



Here are the bits of papers and brochures that Eryn cuts up and pasting here and there. The green cardboard box at the bottom right is actually the packaging for a kids' Darlie toothpaste.



Torn papers glued together to look like a notebook. She says this is her menu order for her customers. The bottom piece of paper is folded and glued together and she says this is a secret letter.




Eryn designing some clothes (and a pair of boots!) for her cardboard paper doll. I'm surprised that she draws and colours these by herself! You can read about the DIY cardboard paper doll  here.



Now guess, what's is the scroll about and what is in that Apollo box? Make a guess, before you scroll down for the answer  (^__^)

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*



Tah dah! The content of her scroll. A girl by the name of Arora, with a rainbow and a butterfly. Gotta ask her what are the two rectangular pieces beside the girl.

 

and, in the Apollo box, are the cardboard paper doll and clothes that I made for her a few months back. I didn't know she still keep this in her drawer.

  

And these are some of her "treasures" : her "jewellery-box", two wallets, a little princess pocket notbook, a cute wolly puppy handbag (its nose makes a sound when pressed), one of her McDonald toy which she pretends it to be her face powder in a tiny red bag (came as a door gift in a recent wedding we attended) and a handmade card with her name on it.



Potato craze

There was once we had fried fish fillet with crumbs and lots of potatoes. And I do mean lots and lots of potatoes.

My dad made french fries from fresh potatos, from scratch, and Brendan loves it. He has been asking for kong-kong's homemade french fries, so I bought potatoes.

Then, the whole plans changed cos I made mash potatoes and grilled potatoes with cheese and butter toppings instead.  Dessert was sweet potato soup.

A day full of potatoes! But it was a great change and the kids love it! But we have to forgo potatoes for a long time after that after the potato day. haha!

How babies come out?

Last night, I heard a very funny and wierd conversation between my 6 y.o. gal and 8 y.o. boy. They saw a news  highlight on Channel News Asia about a Japanese lady giving birth to a baby.

Brendan : Mei-mei, you see the baby looks so funny.
Eryn        : Last time when we were babies, we looked like that too.
Brendan : Why they didn't show where the baby come out from? Baby doesn't
                   come out from the 'du-chi' (navel). Actually, the doctor cut open the
                   stomach to take the baby out.
Eryn        : No lah, baby come out from 'petpet'.
Brendan : *silent, and thinking seriously about something*
Brendan : Hmm..... how to come out? the 'petpet' so small lah.
Mummy : *burst out laughing* (both Brendan and Eryn turned quickly to look
                   at mummy)
Eryn      : Mummy, why you laugh? (both their face were very serious and thinking
                hard about the baby issue)
Mummy : Some women deliver baby by cutting up the stomach. We call that
                 caesarean, or c-sect. Some women deliver baby naturally, like how I
                 delivered you two, which is through the vagina (had to explain that it's
                 not the 'petpet'). God created mothers to have a womb where the baby 
                 is kept and fed (another long explanation), and grow safely. The womb
                 can expand according to the baby's growth and when it is time for the
                 baby to come out, the vagina will prepare itself and expand for the baby's
                 head to come out as well.
Eryn      : If the baby get stuck then how?
Mummy : then the dr will help to cut open a little, or maybe use forceps (again,
                  have to explain) or vacuum.
Brendan : hahahaha... BRRRRRRRRRRR .. take the vacuum cleaner and suck
                   the baby out meh??
Eryn       : hahahaha..... (pretend to hold vacuum cleaner and pulling action).
Mummy : sigh! No, this is a special type of machine ONNNLYYYYY meant to
                  deliver babies.
Brendan : Girl so poor thing hor. Have to pain-pain to give birth. Boy no need.
Eryn      : But your tummy so big leh, kor-kor. Like got baby like that...

Brendan and Eryn started laughing and continued doing their normal drawing activities.

Ngaku chips

I bought about 3.5kg of ngakus (arrowroot head) today to have something to munch on.

I expected it to be such a tedious job - the cleaning, washing, drying, peeling, washing again, drying again, slicing, frying, etc... I started the cleaning just before I cook dinner around 6pm, and by the time the whole process is done, it was already 12:30am!! And that is only half of the ngakus I bought.

Because of the rush to clean up after dinner, slicing and all, I actually sliced off a teeny weeny bit of my thumb nail. With blood oozing out non-stop, hubby came to the rescue to help me dry those ngakus, while I search high and low for my missing handiplast and munch on some ngakus. *yummy*

For those who have the time and are keen to try, here's my recipe :

1) Clean and wash the ngakus and let it air dry.
2) Peel off the skin, wash and let it air dry again to remove traces of water.
    (One of my cousin leaves the skin intact for a 'crispier edge' while an
     aunty suggested putting it in the fridge to dry faster)
3) Slice thinly.
      (be careful not to slice your nail or fingers in the process. Would be good
      to leave the long 'tip' on the ngakus to make slicing easier)
4) Heat up oil. Add salt in oil. Fry till golden brown and drip the oil away.
      (it will be absorbed into the chips and you won't have traces of salt on
        your fingers).
     Control the fire so that it won't be too big (might overburn) or too small
       (might leave traces of oil on the chips).
5) Cool it and tah dah!!! Feast on it or pack in into air tight containers.

ngaku chips and raw ngakus

Mathematics

People always say that chinese school students' maths is the best! I always thought that it was based on lots o f memorising of certain formulas.

I have to testify that Brendan's maths amazes me!

Sometime in December last year, we took the kids to a sushi place and halfway eating, Brendan told us how much we've eaten in RM (ringgit currency) based on all the different colour plates that we ate. The coloured plates show difference prices for each colour and the prices are not rounded up, with prices like RM4.90, RM5.90, RM6.90 and something like that.

Hubby and I stared at each other in disbelief and we too started calculating but at a rather slow pace. We didn't expect that to come from Brendan who was only in standard one last year! I only remember doing basic calculations when I was in standard one the last time.

We tested Brendan before by asking him questions like "how old would he, mei-mei and mummy be if Poh-Poh turns 70 years old" or "how old would his baby cousin and kong-kong be if his favourite Uncle K.Leong is 40 years old", etc..  He answered everything correctly, and that was last year. He showed me his formula but I just don't seem to understand his way of calculating cos it just doesn't seem to gel with my formula! But the answers are always correct!

I'm impressed!!

fresh nutmeg juice

I love the fresh nutmeg juice in Penang. The locals call it 'lao hao'. I manage to pluck a few nutmeg during my recent trip there and boil them. I don't know how they prepare it, so I just simply boil them in a slow cooker, cool it later and add honey and 'assam' into it. Mmmm... I love it! In fact, I love the dried sugar coated nutmeg rind and the pickled nutmeg too, but find that the pickled one makes me cough if I eat too much of it.

However, my sis told me that the nutmeg juice is actually quite good for cough. Oh! I miss my 'lao hao peng'.

Here's what freshly plucked nutmegs look like. They taste quite bitter if eaten raw. The little red fruit there is actually a little promegrate freshly plucked from my tiny little garden and  it taste quite ok and not sour at all :-)


Freshly plucked nutmeg and a little promegrate from my little garden.



School reopens

School reopens 2 days back ago without any hiccups on our end. But I dread to think about the school books that Brendan has to carry everyday. I do wonder whether it's really compulsary to bring all the BM and Chinese text book, workbook, activity book, writing book, grammar book and exercise books every single day. I'm quite surprised that there's only about one hour of English per week. How to speak proper 'engrish' like that?

I've just bought a 'chiro-bag' which is meant to protect a child's back due to heavy luggage. Apparently, I was told by my friend who manufactured the bag that the chiropractor recommends that a school bag should not be more than 10% of a child's age! That would mean that Brendan have to take his Bakprotek bag and another smaller bag to school everyday.

Eryn on the other hand is happy to be back in school and everything seems quite ok for her. However, after her 3 Barbie shows a day throughout the school holiday, she still haven't really gotten over her Barbie fever yet.

Brendan seems quite excited to go to school after the long holiday. He says that the teacher started teaching on the second day and he even brough back homework on the second day itself. I see some other schools have yet to distribute books and some have yet to settle down, but here, my son, is already doing his writing and colouring on the second day itself.

Oh well, I can only pray that he copes well in school this year and most importantly, to enjoy school and be happy!



Brendan's books for today and Brendan doing his homework last night.



Yakkety yakkety yak.

Eryn has been following me everywhere during this school holidays. She goes with me for my meetings, appointments, library, grocery shopping and everywhere else.

Eryn can talk and talk and talk. Her conversation ranges from the things she does, the show she watches, what she's learnt, what she likes, and the list goes on and on.

Recently, I was driving DH's car with Eryn when DH was out of town and one of our conversation goes like this :

Eryn   : Mummy, I think daddy is very lazy.
Mummy : Why do you say that?
Eryn   : You look at daddy's car. You just push this button and the door will open
              (she was referring to a small little pocket compartment where
               the little cover will open at the push of a button. It's not automatic,
               but it's designed to slowly open on its own due to a mechanism).
Mummy : haha... This car is created that way, Eryn.
Eryn   : But your car is not like that. So, that means you're not lazy. Your car must lift up the door to open it. Daddy's one you just use one finger to push it. That's why daddy is a lazy man.

At another time, one conversation goes like this :

Eryn   : Mummy, poh-poh says you cannot sms or talk or sing when you are driving.
Mummy : Ya, so we must concentrate on the road right?
Eryn   : Look! That car no manners one. Never slow down when the traffic light is amber.  Why some people don't know how to stop or signal when they overtake other cars?
Mummy : Maybe because they are impatient and don't know the rules
Eryn   : Then they must go back to school because their brains are old. They cannot remember things.

On missing Brendan,

Mummy : Do you like Brendan to be here or in Kluang?
Eryn      : In Kluang
Mummy : Huh?! Why? You don't like kor-kor is it?
Eryn     : I like. But Kor-kor says he wants to go to Kluang to stay with poh-poh for a while, that's why I said that I like Brendan to be in Kluang.
Mummy : I see. At least you don't have to fight with kor-kor when kor-kor is not here
Eryn    : Ya, lor, no need to fight. But I also miss Brendan. We are children, so it is normal for us to play and fight together. Children sure fight one lah..
Mummy : 0 - <

Oh boy! She can yak from the time she wakes up in the morning to the time she goes to bed, and without her kor-kor around, I'll just have to entertain my little girl with all her funny conversations during this school holidays, when I'm driving, cooking, sleeping, even when I'm in the toilet!

Missing Brendan and pole dancing.

It's the school holidays and Brendan took the bus home together with my mum approximately yesterday afternoon. And now, I'm beginning to miss him. He will be there for about a month for this school holiday while Eryn will be with me at home.

It's a funny feeling not having around this time though I don't really feel anything while he is at daycare and at school. He seldoms get to see grandma now since he's started primary school and grandma is his number one favourite person in the whole wide world! He was feeling extremely happy and was jumping and singing and twirling and wriggling last night and this morning, going, "Yeah yeah, I'm going back to Kluang, I'm going back to Kluang!!"....

Well, I'll be going back as well soon but just for a few days before Eryn and I come back home without Brendan. We'll have him back before school start and life would be back to normal - noisy, nerve-wrecking, nagging and all, but I kinda miss that now actually. 

Quite recently, Brendan overheard the word "pole-dancing" on tv and asked me what is pole-dancing. I explained to him what it meant and how some people does it, using their thighs and legs to swing around the pole and using their body to hang upside down. He found that amusing.

Not long after that, we were at a hypermarket and Brendan suddenly ran to the pole and showed me his pose, asking me whether what he does is something like pole-dancing. I quickly took my hp camera out and snapped a pic of him. This will set as a memory in the many years to come as I reflect back on the things he said and do. haha... My funny boy!

Happy holidays everyone, and have a safe journey for those travelling for your hols.

Fireman BBQ Steamboat

As mentioned in my previous post, we had a lovely dinner at the Fireman BBQ Steamboat buffet restaurant in Bandar Puteri Puchong last night. We were there with some friends and all together, there were 5 adults, 2 teenage kids and my two little kids. They calculated that as 7 adults and 2 "babies" (for billing purposes).

I have to say that we really enjoy the food and the company of friends there for 2.5 hours. The offerings are not that much compared to the steamboat buffets in Sunway, but last night's meal was so worth it. The charcoal grilled lamb shoulder steak and cockles ("sea hum") grilled by their staffs were very nice. We ordered plates after plates of the grilled lamb and cockles. We found the grilled beef steak to be a little too dry though.

One of our favourite have to be the freshly sliced beef that we have. It taste good after dipping it in the soup. And our favourite drink has to be their famous Fireman herbal drink which taste like sugarcane with bits of lotus root and water chessnut. It was so good we ordered three jugs of it after our initial rounds of fruit juices.

They're having a promotion until the end of this month at buy one free one. So, for a total of 7 adults, we were charged for only 4 adults. Another friend couldn't make it, and that's just too bad. Would have been more worth it if we had another adult in our group. Our two "babies" ate for free. The food came up to RM119.60 only for 7 adults and 2 children. The normal price per pax is priced at RM29.90++ (unlimited orders for the grilled lamb shoulder steak, beef steak, grilled cockels, sliced raw beef and everything else except drinks). And for the amount of lamb, yummy beef (the raw one for the soup and not the ready-grilled one) and food that we had, it was definitely well worth it.. The company of friends certainly made it more fun. The drinks we ordered came up to RM70!! That's a whooping figure.

Our little kids didn't eat much - just a few bites here and there and they're full. However, they managed to wallop 4 scoops of ice-creams each. sigh!

Here's some photos taken to whet your appetite :-) Photos are not that clear cos it was taken with my handphone.

Their location : No 28, Jln Puteri 1/4, Bandar Puteri . Call for reservations : 03-80510889.

Our first round. We had numerous rounds, probably a dozen or more? hehe..

grilled beef pepper stick. Nice, but a tad too dry. The grilled lamb was delicious though, but forgot to take the picture (too busy eating). We ordered a dozen plates of the lamb steak I think.



Grilled "sea hum" (cockles), with accompanying peanut and chilly sauce. I've not had my full hepatitis jab, so I didn't dare to eat too much of this. But the first 2-3 rounds of plates we ordered had big cockles. The next few batches had smaller cockles.



 

Now, this is good! The Fireman famous own concocted herbal drink, which taste like sugarcane with bits of lotus root and water chessnut. Refreshing and nice.



The freshly sliced beef which we loved. Taste really nice after "cooking" it in soup. The soup taste very sweet and nice after that.

Just some of the unlimited supply of food available. Shown above here is some fresh prawns.

What I like about this place here is that their chicken wing never seem to run out, unlike most steamboat buffet restaurants that we've visited.

Brendan turns 7 today.

When I gave Brendan his birthday present last night, I saw my last 7 years flashed by just like that. It  will never fail to amaze me each time I look back to the day I first become a mother.

Brendan had wanted a Wii but we are still quite reluctant to get it. Well, at least not for his birthday present. I told Brendan that we'll get the Wii one day but not for his birthday. Then he said, "Mummy, if you can't afford to get me the Wii, just get me some stationaries will do and oh, take me out kai-kai too. You can save the money first."

Awww.... Brendan is always so considerate when it comes to buying things, especially expensive stuffs. So, I got him some Ben 10 stationaries and a new Super Yoyo to replace the spoilt one I bought for him two months back.

I also ordered a cake from the kids' ex-nanny, who stays nearby. I wasn't particular on any design or taste and gave her the free hand to do a simple one for Brendan. She is a good cook and a good baker (she bakes lovely cookies and home-made mooncake to sell as well). We were surprised when she baked Brendan a cute cake instead. It has three little teddies on it. She has recently taken interest in fondant decoration and she said that this was her first time making a 3D cake. She actually gave us the cake for free as a gift for Brendan. That was so sweet of her..

We celebrated the night at the newly opened Fireman BBQ steamboat buffet restaurant in Bandar Puteri with some of hubby's close friends. Will blog about this place later.

Happy 7th Birthday, Brendan!

A cute cake given by a friend. Brendan's name was wrongly spelt with an "E" instead of an "A"  but it didn't really matter for the special effort taken to make the cake and the fun and love that came with it.

Tons and tons of homework

Lately, Brendan has been having a lot of homework and I noticed that this normally happens a few weeks before any school exam were to start. His last semester exam will be starting next week. Thus, I'm not surprised at the many homework he brought back home..

He normally tries to finish his homework in school in-between classes while waiting for the teacher, but there are times, the workload is extremely heavy! I really wonder why kind of education system is the government instilling into the kids. I mean, he's only in standard one! Hmm.. maybe I'm too laid back cos I remember not doing much homework in my primary school days.

Do I have a choice? Unfortunately, I don't really have one as private school is not within my means, and this is the only school I feel is more suitable for Brendan. Besides, he's coping quite well and doing quite well in his studies as well. In fact, he even enjoy doing his homework! sigh!

He used to have difficulty doing his homework when he first started primary school. Now, he doesn't need any guidance as he's used to it and would normally finish his homework before he reaches home. If he can't finish them in school, he will proceed to take out all his homework books the moment he reaches home and will want to finish them as fast as possible way before dinner and showering.

I have to always remind him that dinner and shower should come first before homework, but he's so engrossed in his homework until I have to start nagging at him to leave his homework and do it later. I'll tell him that it is ok to continue it the next morning if he can't finish.

What about your kids? Are they heavily laden with homework too?



Brendan does enjoy doing his homework. Wierd..



Playing dress-up with cardboard doll

When I was younger, my main entertainment at home would be playing the piano, painting, drawing, playing board games and cycling whenever my mum permits. I seldom watch television and or listen to the radio. So, I'll find ways to entertain myself during the school holidays or the weekends.

One of my favourite game would be to draw my own cardboard dolls, and create various outfits for my little cardboard doll. I would then play dress-up with my sister using the cut-out cardboard dresses, bags and even hats.

I made one set for Eryn almost 2 years back but the doll and dresses very quickly torn up as she was only 2+ old at that time. So, recently, I got some old recycled cardboard boxes to draw a doll with accompanying clothes for her to play. Cheap, entertaining and she loves it! Now, she's asking for more dresses to mix and match.

Cardboard doll and dresses for Eryn

Just some of the samples

Eryn playing with with her cardboard doll set.

tummy pipe??

Kids always say the darnest things. They say it sincerely. They ask you serious stuffs. They sit and think about what you say. And all these without them knowing that it sometimes get hilarious just hearing the things they say.

Here's what happened recently.

Eryn was staring at mummy using a pencil eyeliner to draw on mummy's eye lids.

Eryn :    Mummy, this one draw on people one ar?
Mummy : draw what on people?
Eryn :    Neeehhh.... why you use pencil to draw on yourself? Pencil is for drawing
               on paper lah.

Brendan about to take his bath yesterday morning.

Brendan : Mummy, must wash my pyjama or not?
Mummy : Yes, must wash your pyjama
Brendan : Which one? Shirt or pants?
Mummy : both lah...
Brendan : then you must put "s"
Mummy : What ass?
Brendan : You must say Pyjamasssssssss and not pyjama. Must got "s".

It's so hard getting the kids to sit down and eat properly and at times, they take such a loooong time to finish their food! One particular night, we were talking about the importance of finishing their meals.

Mummy : You have to learn how to eat yourself and finish all your food.
                  Mummy have to spend time to cook for you all. Not many
                  people are lucky to have nutritious home cooked food you know.
Eryn :    Ya, I know, but mummy, my mouth so small. Your mouth bigger that's
                 why can finish faster mah. So you feed me can?
Mummy : Are you still a baby? No, right? When you were a baby, I fed you cos
                   you didn't know how to eat on your own yet.
Brendan : Mei-mei, you know baby got tummy pipe.
Eryn :    What tummy pipe?
Brendan : We all got 'du-chi' (navel). Why baby one is tummy pipe?
Mummy : I don't know what tummy pipe you are talking about.
Brendan : neh.... the baby inside tummy got one long, long pipe.
Mummy : Oh! That is called the umbilical cord. It's for the food to be transfered
                   from the mummy to the baby.
Eryn : Why? Baby got no mouth meh?
Brendan : How the food go through the ambicolor cord?
Mummy : It's UM-BER-LEE-CAL-CORRRRD
Brendan : So difficult to say. Tummy pipe easier.

And so, the conversation continues into the night. And both asking me tons of questions at the same time and then started arguing, insisting on me answering their questions first!! And I almost lose my patience trying to explain.