Parking Woes

PreTeen has gone to Form 1 and is now in the afternoon session. I fetch her to school and back, and in the evenings it's quite difficult to find parking near her school unless I reach there about half an hour before the school bell rings, as there are lots of other moms like me waiting for their kids.

Sometimes I get rather annoyed when I go extra early just to get a  parking space and these kiasu moms come just about 5 minutes before school is over and double park along the road leading to the school!



See the cars on the right side double parking beside those of us who had to come early and get a proper park?

 Anyway, no point getting all worked up over them...here's a funny video about how a girl got creative in getting a parking space for her car in the city...

Attempted Broga Hill

Our church Youth Fellowship organised a hike up Broga Hill on Thursday morning. My kids could not understand why we had to go climb a hill in the dark just to watch the sun rise. CoolTeen says he watches the sun rise everyday at school during assembly, but hubby and I convinced them that this was going to be a great experience. 

At first I wasn't too interested in going either because I am not usually keen on outdoor activities, and besides, I had the perfect excuse for not taking part in any strenous activities for 3 months - doctor's orders.

But hey, I always enjoy a challenge.

So I find myself waking up at 4.45am and dragging my groggy hubby and kids out of bed. Left the house at 5.00 to fetch a friend's teenage sons and off we went for our little adventure.

Reached the foot of Broga Hill at 6.00 and discovered that lots of people have already arrived before us...cars were parked by the side of the road stretching to about a kilometer away. Started our climb at around 6.30am. It was pitch dark and I had to rely on my little torch to see only about a meter ahead of me.

The beginning stretch wasn't too bad, there is a pathway but it gets more and more challenging as we ascend higher and higher. By about 20 minutes, panting and dripping with sweat, I was starting to think that this wasn't such a good idea after all, but I couldn't turn back because there were just lots of people ahead and behind me, and everyone was single-mindedly trudging upwards.

Reached the base of the first steep incline at around 7.00 am...decided that I am going to follow doctor's orders and just rest there while the rest carried on...I could probably climb up but would not be able to come down after that. Most people were sliding down on their behinds if they couldn't find a foothold while descending. Hubby, PreTeen and a few others found a spot for us to have a seat while the rest continued up the slope. CoolTeen made it all the way to the 3rd peak and watched the sun rise and had a fun time sliding down the slopes...and I don't think he regretted waking up so early after all.

People queueing to climb up to the top

Made our way down at 8.00 am. Going downhill was quite taxing on my knees, a sign that I am not getting any younger! Went for breakfast at Semenyih town.

Curry hor-fun...yum!

Not sure if I will go climb Broga Hill again, but if I do I might just climb all the way up to the top..or maybe that's just wishful thinking! :D

 

New Year, New Appliance

My trusty microwave oven stopped functioning a few days before Christmas last year. Called up Panasonic and they promptly sent a technician, who took the oven back to the service centre for repairs. Received a call from the centre and was told that the repairs would amount to RM319...! I decided not to repair it and went scouting for a new microwave oven instead.

Saw this new Panasonic model NN-SF559W at Jusco, which does not have a turntable, costs RM599, liked it very much...but it was out of stock. I tried other outlets and hubby even tried looking for it at SenHeng and other electrical shops but it was also out of stock at each place...!

Finally found it at Best Denki in MidValley Megamall...




See...no turntable!


Hubby read somewhere that we can test and see whether a microwave oven is properly sealed and leak-proof by placing a mobile phone in the oven, closing the door and then try calling the phone. If you get a "this number is not in service" message, then the oven is sealed and airtight....just remember not to turn the oven on when you shut the door or things might get a little messy inside! (tested it with Miss PreTeen's phone, much to her horror!)

Poor Toe

Miss PreTeen came home after ballet class and was searching for some white masking tape. I asked her why and she told me she was using pointe shoes in ballet class and she showed me her toe which had turned red and was on the verge of developing blisters.

She said the tape will lessen the pain when she walks or wears shoes and this is how she taped her toe...can you make out a tall house with a purple window? (in her own words)

Things I Saw In Langkawi

Some amusing signages at the Wildlife Centre...



The words at the bottom:
ONLY THOSE WHO STRONGLY BELIEVE IN
REBIRTH SHOULD RISK GOING NEAR



What I saw when I lifted up the toilet seat cover in our motel bathroom...

little flowers to decorate the toilet bowl!

CoolTeen loves chocolate chip cookies, so this must be his favourite undersea creature...



chocolate chip starfish...no kidding, that's its name!