All Kinds Of Everything

Xin Nian Kuai Le

2012-01-27T23:59:00.003+08:00

It's been a week of family gatherings, having people over at our place for meals, meeting up with old friends...basically lots of conversations, exchange of stories and angpows, eating, drinking and much laughter.

My brother and his wife hosted the annual family reunion at their home this year. I brought a mixed-vegetables dish and some konyakku jelly while they prepared the rest of the meal. So we had the reunion dinner on Saturday, the day before Chinese New Year eve, so that my family and I could join my parents and brothers for dinner...something that I have not been able to do for many years now since I had to be at my parents-in-law's home for reunion dinner on New Year's eve every year.

Our first 'lou sang' of the year

My mum-in-law decided that we should have steamboat for our reunion dinner on Chinese New Year eve this year. My duty was to bring extra ladles and buy some salmon and tomyam paste for the soup while she bought the rest of the steamboat ingredients. I went with SweetTeen to the Giant supermarket nearby where I knew they had pretty fresh salmon slices everyday and to my surprise there was a queue of people buying salmon that day! My mum-in-law bought generous portions of everything and we ate until we were really, really full... and yet there was still leftovers!

My son, CoolTeen, stayed over at my parents-in-law's place so that he could watch the football match between his favourite team Arsenal and some other team which-I-can't-remember-the-name-of because we don't have the sports channel on our TV. So it was pretty quiet back home on the first day of Chinese New Year with just one kid in the house. Went over to my parents-in-law's place for dinner and then off to visit hubby's aunt and her family in Puchong.

The next day we visited my parents and went out to lunch with them. Later in the evening, my older brother and his family plus my cousin brother and his family came over for dinner. The 3 of us - my older brother, my cousin brother (who's older than me by a year) and myself were the best of pals when we were children but now we only meet up once a year, so it was a really fun time catching up with the goings-on in each other's lives.

On the 3rd day of Chinese New Year, hubby invited his administrative staff over for lunch, then it was off to visit a friend in Bukit Jalil.

Pavlova, brought by one of hubby's staff
who loves to bake :)

The next day I met up with some of my ex-colleagues and we've known each other since we were single, some 20 odd years ago. These are friends for life...we've been to each other's weddings, celebrated births and attended fullmoon parties, been there to support one through a divorce and now most of our children are teenagers...how time flies!

Our children...how they have grown!

Wishing everyone Xin Nian Kuai Le, may you have good health and prosperity throughout the year!

Bird Nest Update

2012-01-17T23:39:00.007+08:00

Update on the new nest in my garden:

The female bird has been sitting in the nest for the past 2 days after we took the first photo of the new nest!

It never fails to amaze me just how fast I can get information from the internet. I found this website that has photos of various species of birds found in Malaysia and compared the photo that hubby took of the mommy bird sitting in the nest.

At first I thought it was the Oriental Magpie Robin but upon closer inspection of the photo and seeing the bird fly away from the nest today (I must have frightened it when I opened my curtains to peep), I've matched it to the Yellow-vented Bulbul, a pretty black and white bird with a patch of yellow on the underside of its tail.

You can only see the head and tail when
mommy bird sits in her nest

Today, curiosity got the better of me and I managed to sneak up to the nest after making sure that the mommy bird was not anywhere nearby, and took a quick snapshot to check if there are any eggs in it.

The above photo was taken at around 5pm, and it looks like there weren't any eggs yet...but it's probably the angle of my camera because this is what hubby saw through his phone camera when he came back from work at around 6.30pm...before the mommy bird returned to the nest:

2 little eggs!!

I think the Bulbul is going to realise soon that it chose the wrong place to build the nest...how is a bird going to have any privacy to hatch her eggs with these 2 nosey human beings around?! Don't worry, hubby and I will just keep watch from a distance.

Another Nest In Our Garden

2012-01-14T00:16:00.004+08:00

For the past few years around this time of the year, sunbirds have been building nests in our garden, so when I heard the chirping of birds for the past few mornings I thought that the sunbirds were back again to build a new nest.

Then hubby noticed something in one of the hanging flower pots - some pieces of cotton and raffia string plus lots of little twigs.

Today we saw this and marvelled at how little birds could build a cup-like nest that is so perfectly circular without any measuring instruments...

There are no eggs yet
and we don't really know what kind of bird built this,
but we shall soon find out
when the mother bird lays her eggs and hatches them :)

Family Holiday In Langkawi

2012-01-02T21:23:00.010+08:00

Went on a 4-day holiday to Langkawi island with hubby, kids, parents-in-law and sis-in-law last week. We had not gone on any trips last year because of CoolTeen's exams, so this was a long awaited holiday for us.

We have fond memories of our time in Langkawi in 2010 so we decided to go again since hubby managed to book his company's holiday bungalow for a 2 night stay. We booked an extra night at Landcons Hotel at Pantai Cenang because it's really too short to go all the way there for only 2 nights.

On Tuesday morning we left KL around 6.45am after fetching my in-laws. Had a quick bite at Autocity in Seberang Perai and reached the Kuala Kedah jetty at 12.00noon. Caught the 1pm ferry to Langkawi island, and hubby insisted that we got tickets for the large 500-passenger ferry as he doesn't travel well and the smaller ferry would bounce his meal out of his tummy.

This time we rented an MPV and got a Mazda 5 to travel around the island. The kids liked the auto-sliding doors. Checked into Landcons Hotel, situated opposite the Underwater World - nothing fancy but clean, and within our budget of below RM200 per room.

Our ride :)

We had dinner at one of our favourite restaurants, Palm View Seafood Restaurant just a short walk away from the hotel, only to find that they have raised their prices quite a bit since the last time we ate there although the food was still as good. After dinner we did some window shopping at the many souvenir and clothes shops along the street. Hubby was sad that the shop where he bought some clothes in 2010 had burnt down just about a week before our trip.

The next morning as I was brushing my teeth, I noticed that the water supply from the tap was getting less and less. That meant only one thing, so I quickly rinsed my mouth and true enough, a few seconds later, I was standing at the sink with a completely dry tap and wondering how I was going to rinse my toothbrush! There was no water supply to that part of the island on that day but thankfully we could collect water from the drinking water dispenser in the lobby.

Had continental style breakfast at a little place with no name, run by Ann and her husband Andy, because they rent a restaurant premise to serve breakfast in the mornings. The actual restaurant only opens for lunch and dinner.

The breakfast place with no name

Then we noticed that Andy had boats for hire for day tours to the mangrove forest, so we hired an 8-seater boat for 2 hours at RM230. Departed from the Kilim jetty northeast of Langkawi island and cruised (and sometimes sped) down the river in a covered motorboat to visit the dark bat cave (where we saw little bats hanging upside down trying to sleep while excited tourists snapped away at them with their cameras), a fish farm with some interesting species of fish and stingrays (the most interesting was the 'ikan sumpit' which spits water at its prey/food and jumps up to eat it as it falls into the water), saw beautiful eagles swooping down from the sky to catch fish at the river, went through the crocodile cave (which once had crocodiles but not any more) and went out into the open sea right up to the border of Thailand...before running out of petrol on our way back to the jetty! Thankfully our boat carried extra fuel and our driver got us back to dry land safely.

Kilim jetty

mangrove trees

eagle feeding on fish

Pulau Kasut ( shoe island)

Visited the cable car but only hubby and his parents rode the cable car up to the mountain top because the rest of us have already rode in the cable car the year before, so we shopped for souvenirs while waiting.

Hubby finally walked the famous sky bridge

Checked into the company holiday bungalow at Pantai Tengah, about a kilometre from Landcons Hotel. Took a walk on the beach, then had dinner at the Orchid Ria seafood restaurant where customers queue to be seated. Every table seem to have ordered lobster so we decided to try it too. Food was ok but a little pricey, as expected from a tourist area.

Our RM180 lobster

We spent the next day shopping in Kuah town buying duty-free chocolates. The price of chocolates is very competitive in the many chocolate shops all over town so it's best to compare prices before buying any.

And of course, we had to stop by the Morac International Go Kart circuit once again, as we did the previous year, something which my kids had been looking forward to. Met a couple from Sweden who were spending part of their 2-month vacation at Langkawi..which, according to them, is paradise :)

All too soon it was time to pack up and head for home. Had a relaxing time at Langkawi - the beach is beautiful, the weather was sunny throughout the 4 days, and there was much fun and laughter as we went sight-seeing and shopping...a perfect end to the year 2011.

'Tis The Season

2011-12-26T12:24:00.002+08:00

It's been a very busy but fun week. I had tons to do - organize a Christmas party, plan for the church caroling, practice with the church musicians for our Christmas Service as well as rehearse with the children for our annual Christmas presentation in church on Christmas Day besides baking cookies, shopping for gifts and wrapping them, sending my daughter for her ballet practices and performances... and the list goes on and on...

Sometimes I wish I didn't have so much to do before Christmas Day, that I could just have a relaxing week but I suppose Christmas would then become like any other ordinary day. It's all the planning and excitement that leads up to December 25th that makes Christmas Day that special time of the year. Seeing the joy on the faces of people whom we give gifts to, spending time with family over a home-cooked dinner and receiving gifts knowing that people took the effort to handpick gifts just for me...makes everything worthwhile.

While all the gift-giving and merry-making is good, we can easily lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas...that God gave the BEST gift of all to mankind - the gift of His only Son as Saviour to a world in darkness. So, Happy Birthday Jesus!

My brother-in-law posted this cute video in Facebook and it reminded me of all the cookies I baked for Christmas (and ate), so I thought I would share it here...see if you find yourself cheering for Ormie...and gasp at the last scene. I sure did :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

Cats Stinking Up My Garden

2011-12-21T01:02:00.002+08:00

My first ever post on this blog 3 years ago was about a pesky cat using my garden as its personal toilet. Back then I didn't think that 3 years later I would be posting about the same topic...only it's a different cat this time.

Every morning for the past 4 weeks a neighbourhood cat has deposited cat poo on my nice carpet grass, and always at the exact same spot.

Sprinkling lime juice all over the grass had worked in the past but not any more, so I tried scattering pepper powder instead...

My neighbours thought it was crazy of me to make them sneeze whenever they stepped out of their house...but it kept the cat away for a few days...until it got immune to the pungent smell.

Then I tried spraying the grass with citrus scented air refreshener, because I read on the internet that cats don't like citrus smell...

It worked for a few days. Then that pesky cat brought a feline friend along and I had to clear TWO piles of poo each day...aaargh!!

That was the last straw, so hubby bought wire mesh to lay on the grass since cat paws are sensitive...

So currently, this is how my garden looks like...not very pretty, but so far so good. No sign of the cats for a few days now. I hope this will keep them away for good and my poo-scooping days will be over...because I'm a nice person and I really do not want to hurt those cats but if they keep coming back there's no telling what I might do to them....

Last Day of Secondary School

2011-12-11T23:04:00.000+08:00

December 8th was the last day of SPM for CoolTeen and when I sent him to school that morning his school shirt was nice and clean, but when I went to fetch him later this was what I saw...

His friends had autographed his shirt
using marker pens!

This marks the end of his secondary schooling and he has decided not to study Form 6 but go to college instead. Yesterday we brought him to the Facon Education Fair at PWTC. There is so much choice of colleges and universities nowadays compared to the time when I completed my Form 5. No wonder the teenagers nowadays get confused...every university seems to try to outdo the other with the programs and facilities they offer as well as the fees they charge.

This next step in our son's life is going to cause a big hole in our pockets...in the realm of 5 digits, so thankfully he's not too keen on going overseas to study!

Some of the brochures we brought back from
the education fair.

25 More Days To Christmas!

2011-11-30T00:09:00.007+08:00

The countdown to Christmas has begun and the pretty Christmas displays (which I love) are up at the shopping malls in the city.

This year hubby and I have decided not to put up our 5-foot Christmas tree but for a change we would decorate our home with mini trees and figurines. We told our kids that their presents must fit under the little trees and they took one look at the trees and went, "Yeah, right!" with just the right amount of sarcasm and scepticism in their voices.

2 little Christmas trees and one snowman
on a side table next to the TV

A mini tree on each side of the salt lamp

Our first Christmas wreath on the front door.
The Shalom (which means 'peace') plaque
underneath was a gift from my sis-in-law
many years ago and I love
how perfectly all the colours match.

We were shopping at Berjaya Times Square yesterday
when a group of Santas walked past.

It turned out that they were part of a larger group of Santas
who put up a dance performance a few minutes later.

These few weeks will be a fun time of shopping and picking out gifts for family and friends.

This year the youths in our church have embarked on a project to collect a Christmas wish-list from the children in an orphanage and grant their wishes. It's quite humbling when I saw the things that the children asked for...simple necessities like clothes, and perhaps a Ben 10 or Angry Bird watch. Not a single child asked for toys or expensive items.

Let's do our part in showing kindness and doing good in this season of goodwill and joy.

Peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind. Amen.

Brain, Hand and Foot

2011-11-25T00:13:00.000+08:00

A friend posted this picture in Facebook and when I showed it to CoolTeen, he said he could identify with what it says because he said he had 'brain-freeze' when he sat for his Bahasa Malaysia exam the other day.

There's also a fun fact that I learned about the human brain, try this for yourself and see whether you can outsmart your foot:

1. While sitting at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles with it.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number 6 in the air using your right hand.

Your foot will automatically change direction!

Fan of Gardenia Chocolate Twiggies

2011-11-18T00:29:00.005+08:00

My son, CoolTeen, has never liked sweet food. When he was a baby he would refuse to drink his milk to the point where I would keep changing milk powder brands until I found one that he would drink without making a big fuss...all because baby formula tastes sweet. At that time I didn't know why he would always try to push away his milk bottle whenever I tried to feed him, unless he was very hungry of course. It was only when he was a little older that I realised he liked savoury food and had a great dislike for anything sweet - jelly, cakes, candy, ice cream....all except chocolates and chocolate flavoured food or drink.

When he was in Year 1 in primary school, his breakfast would consist of a Gardenia Twiggies chocolate sponge bar and a cup of Milo. Now he is 17 and nothing much has changed - his breakfast still consists of a Gardenia Twiggies bar and a cup of Milo but now I add 2 half-boiled eggs as well so that he wouldn't get hungry too soon before lunch time.

We were chatting during lunch yesterday and somehow the topic went to Gardenia Twiggies. CoolTeen said that he must have eaten thousands of them over the years, so we did a quick calculation.

He only eats them during weekdays. On the weekends we would sometimes go out for breakfast at the mamak shop nearby and he would have roti canai. My maths is not too good so I might have gone about it the long way, but this is what we figured out:

There are 52 weeks in a year, minus 11 weeks of term school holidays = 41 weeks

There are 205 weekdays in 41 weeks. Multiply that by the number of years he has been schooling : 205 X 11 years = 2255

My son has eaten approximately 2255 pieces of Gardenia Twiggies in his lifetime! (on some public holidays he may have decided not to eat Twiggies, so this figure is just an estimate). I sure hope Gardenia Malaysia will not stop producing the chocolate Twiggies anytime soon!

Hmm...I wonder if he would qualify to be in the Malaysian Guinness Book of Records for this...?

Huh?

2011-11-06T23:41:00.002+08:00

It says "Taukeh sudah gila! Cincai cincai jual!"

I saw this rather funny banner announcing a clearance sale at a shop selling lamps and lighting fixtures for the home- it's a mix of Malay and Chinese words.
Although I understand the meaning of it (as only a Malaysian could!), I am at a loss for words as to how to translate it into proper English.

Anyone has any ideas?

SweetTeen's Ballet Concert

2011-10-31T15:37:00.004+08:00

SweetTeen's ballet school, Tippy Toes Dance & Art Academy, held their ballet concert on Saturday 29th October at the Theatre in Palace of The Golden Horses.

She had been pretty excited about it for the past few months, going for practices and rehearsals 3 times a week. On Saturday morning she woke up early, telling me that she couldn't sleep well...probably because of the excitement.

Last week I took her to Sungei Wang to buy false eyelashes for her and her ballet classmates. There's this stall at the 2nd floor that sells them at between RM10 - RM30 for a box of 10 pairs.

She also needed white hairclips for the headpiece that she would be wearing, and since white hairclips are difficult to find, we bought black hairclips and SweetTeen used the liquid correction pen to turn them white!

On the day of the concert she had to be at the hall by 11.30am for make-up and final rehearsal. I only put foundation, face powder, a little blusher and lipgloss on her face but by the time I reached the Palace of The Golden Horses at 7.20pm I couldn't recognise my own daughter even though she was standing right in front of me! She had been transformed by dramatic stage make up: loads of blue eyeshadow, blusher, lipstick and of course, those very long false eyelashes!

SweetTeen with those dramatic long lashes

Grandpa, grandma, auntie and CoolTeen came along for the concert. I think everyone enjoyed themselves watching the ballet except CoolTeen, who had an eyeful with these scantily-clad ladies...

belly-dancing!

Being Thankful

2011-10-26T16:30:00.007+08:00

I check my email inbox everyday and once in a while I am pleasantly surprised by the funny jokes and inspirational stories that my friends send me.

I found this in my inbox one day and finding it very encouraging I thought I would share it here:

Be Thankful

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire. If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don't know something, for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times. During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations, because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge, because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you're tired and weary, because it means you've made a difference.

It's easy to be thankful for the good things. A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks. Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive. Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings.

Oh...there's also one thing which I am thankful for since I am a BIG fan of Angry Birds...something which I bought in Sungei Wang today while shopping with hubby and SweetTeen:

There is so much choice of phone casing for the iPhone
and nothing for the Samsung Galaxy Ace,
until I found this today (big grin)!

As much as I treasured my little Sony Ericsson Experia X10 mini, age is catching up and my eyes were straining to read the words on the tiny screen, so I had to part with it and get myself a phone with a bigger screen and bigger fonts...sigh!

A Rather Eventful Week

2011-10-18T23:43:00.004+08:00

Last Saturday my kids went to visit the floating bookstore, Logos Hope, at Port Klang with the youngsters from our church. I didn't go along because it was an outing for the youths, and sad to admit, I do not qualify as a youth any more.

SweetTeen got herself a bracelet and found a cookbook for me to add to my collection of cookbooks :)

My treasured collection of cookbooks and recipes

One evening a few days later, hubby and I were downstairs when we were startled by a LOUD crashing sound. Both of us ran upstairs to find our kids looking quite shocked and standing very still. It seems that they were playfully pushing each other around when CoolTeen knocked into the display cabinet. Thank God for His protection, no one got hurt...not even a tiny little cut or scratch!

The glass piece on the door of the display cabinet had broken into large sharp pieces (should have fitted it with tempered glass instead) and it was quite a task cleaning up. Hubby had to place the large pieces between sheets of newspaper and shatter them with a hammer so that they could be wrapped in more newspaper and fit into the plastic garbage bag for disposal. The neighbours must be wondering what we were up to, smashing glass so late at night!

Large pieces of glass that fell from the cabinet door

Shattered pieces

We didn't have many glass cabinets or glass tables in our home when the children were younger, but now that they are older we thought that it would be allright, but who knew....

Rainy Days, Laundry Blues

2011-10-14T12:05:00.000+08:00

It had been rainy the whole of last week and the clothes that I washed on Monday still hadn't dried by Thursday. By then my laundry basket was almost bursting at the seams with dirty clothes (it's amazing how quickly it fills up!) but there was no more room to hang any newly washed clothes at my little wash area beside the kitchen.

So I took down all the half-dried clothes and transported them over to the living room and loaded up my washing machine with dirty clothes.

And this is the scene that greeted hubby when he came home from work one day...

Clothes draped all over the sofa and the fan turned on full blast!

Light Sleeper Heavy Sleeper

2011-10-07T23:32:00.005+08:00

I find it quite fascinating that my 2 children are so opposite in their character, habits and preferences.

SweetTeen is a very light sleeper (like her mom) and every little sound during the night would wake her from her sleep. For the past 2 nights, clicking sounds from the ceiling fan in her bedroom have been keeping her awake. So it's dad the handyman to the rescue, and after a bit of cleaning the fan is now silent once again, much to SweetTeen's relief.

CoolTeen, on the other hand, would be dead to the world once he falls asleep. Whenever the house alarm goes off in the middle of the night triggered by lizards in the attic, he would be the only one sleeping through all the noise.

So when a friend posted this video on Facebook, it seems like a very familiar scene in CoolTeen's room in the mornings, especially the part where he tugs at the blanket to cover his head. I have always been the only one in the family who can wake him up (usually with a few smacks on the rear) and I wonder how he will manage to wake up in time for his classes when he goes away to university in the not-too-distant future....

The older generation thought nothing of getting up at five every morning, and the younger generation doesn't think much of it either - John J. Welsh

Sara Frankl aka Gitzen Girl

2011-09-29T12:39:00.005+08:00

I have been thinking for the past few days of what to write as a tribute to someone who, for the past year that I have been following her blog, has been such an inspiration and encouragement to me in my Christian faith. I stumbled upon her blog by chance when I was reading some articles at (in)courage, a page where women share their stories of faith to encourage one another.

This person, Sara Frankl a.k.a Gitzen Girl (see the big orange button in the sidebar on the right of my blog? That's the link to her blog), passed away on Saturday night after many years of living with a painful progressive degenerative illness. She had to give up a job that she loved, and because of very severe allergies she could not venture out from her home or even open a window, and those who visited her had to be in the pink of health because even the slightest germ or virus was life-threatening to Sara.

Being confined to her little apartment with just a cute little dog for company, she started a blog and reached out to many people around the world through her computer, allowing herself to be used by God to love, encourage and lift up others instead of wallowing in self-pity. Her motto was simple yet powerful:

She had this wonderful gift of words and a wisdom far beyond her years, and as she shared her life story through her blog, many times I felt as if God spoke to me through her. I'd like to share something that she wrote 2 months back:

Life is meant to be shared. The good, the bad and the ugly... which I think is really just the good and the beautiful to Him, you know. Things are hard for us, bad for us, ugly to us, but to Him it’s all just the pattern of life that brings us closer to Him. And there is beauty in that.
The good, the bad and the ugly... God can see ahead to the beauty that comes from the ugly. He's knows the beauty in the ugly pain that we can’t yet see. Our perspective shifts when we trust that He will bring beauty from our pain. That He will carry us as we carry our burdens.
And we can be Christ to each other as we help each other carry those burdens.

When Sara was too ill to update her blog, one of her friends did it on her behalf and that was when we were all informed about her passing. I read with a heavy heart, yet at the same time I was glad that Sara had gone home to heaven and is now able to dance and sing like she used to...free from pain. Hundreds of people came for the funeral. Thousands more couldn't because of distance. That shows how much her life has made a difference.

Thank you, Sara. Yes, I too will CHOOSE JOY.

Here's a newspaper article about her and if you would like, go to her blog and read through what she has written. I'm sure you too will be encouraged and blessed.

Things Seen Around The House

2011-09-22T01:00:00.154+08:00

Every home has a story to tell. The way it is decorated and the things lying around the house reveal the personality and characteristics of the people who live there. A home with toddlers would have toys strewn all over the floor, as was the case in my home when my children were little. I would always have to step very carefully around the living room in case I knocked down some carefully stacked Lego bricks or stepped on a little toy car.

A neat and tidy home might mean that the kids have grown up and moved the mess into their bedrooms...as is the case at the present moment in my home. I can't stand the mess in their rooms and am always reminding them to tidy up, but sometimes a mom just needs to 'close one eye' and let them live in the mess they create...or... when they've gone to school, just throw away junk and find space in their cupboard to keep everything out of sight, and wait for the: "MOM!! Where are my stuff??!!" the moment they come home from school and discover what I had done (muahahaha).

Over the last few days I noticed some things around the house that seem to have a story of its own to tell:

The step-pedal on our dustbin is no longer functioning...

So hubby attached a string to the lid of the dustbin
and secures the string to the wall.
Now we only need to pull the string to open the dustbin lid.
Innovative?

CoolTeen drumming facts into his head.
This is something I can't quite understand but is a typical teen trait...
how he insists that loud music helps him study better.

SweetTeen and her choice of location to air her ballet slippers
before storing them in the shoe cupboard...
in the living room just as you step in the front door (sigh).
.

I found this interesting quote on the internet about family:
"The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together - Erma Bombeck"

To Blog Or Not To Blog

2011-09-16T00:36:00.004+08:00

Seems like quite a number of people on my blog list has updated their blogs this week except me. I was having problems viewing my blog last week and had to upgrade to Google Chrome, so all is well now and I have no more excuses not to update.

I notice that with so many available social networking sites nowadays, it's getting harder to think of things to post on my blog. Let's say I left my cake in the oven for too long and it got burnt, I could just grab my phone and post on Facebook:

Burnt my cake! Forgot to watch the clock

...and to show how I feel I would add :(

And I could also take a photo of the cake with my phone and upload it immediately...and all my friends would know what had happened in just a few minutes after I have removed my blackened cake from the oven...wow!

That would be so much easier than sitting down to type a new post in my blog, checking my grammar and punctuation, and then having to upload photos from my phone to the PC and from my PC to the blog.

Despite all this, the satisfaction of creating a well-written blog post complete with pretty pictures is...great. Sometimes I'm just amazed at the number of people dropping by my blog each day.

So while I use social networking websites, I will still discipline myself to update my blog at least once a week (yes, for me it does take discipline to sit down and type because as all moms would agree, there's so many other things to do daily). As I share bits and pieces of my life here I hope that I have brightened your day somewhat :)

CoolTeen's New Best Friend

2011-09-05T00:04:00.005+08:00

My son, CoolTeen is always complaining about being bitten by mosquitoes. It's strange how we could all be watching TV together in our living room and he would be the only one bitten by mosquitoes, while the rest of us would not even notice that there were any mosquitoes around.

A few days ago, I was at shop selling electrical appliances when I saw this gadget...and bought it:

A rechargeable electronic mosquito bat
(that's what it says on the packaging)

Since bringing it home, CoolTeen keeps it by his side to zap annoying mosquitoes that keep buzzing around him. He's quite pleased that it's very effective and was describing to me how he has been 'toasting' mosquitoes in the last few days and even making one explode...ewww!

Too Pretty To Eat

2011-08-28T22:25:00.004+08:00

It's been a week of baking fun. Made a batch of mooncakes and they turned out pretty well this time compared to the ones I made last year...forgot to take photos of them before giving them away to my parents-in-law and relatives, though.

Hubby's colleague also gave these pretty little biscuits...can't imagine how she finds time to bake so many types of cookies, being a working mom with 3 young children!

The outside of the package

And the inside...yummy!

On that very same day before hubby came back with that box of lovely Raya cookies, I had decided to try out something I had seen on the internet...cupcakes wrapped with fondant to resemble little flower pots, and then topped with butter icing 'grass' and little fondant flowers.

my little 'flower pots'

'flower pots' complete with 'grass' and 'flowers'

Couldn't resist taking close-up photos of them since I had spent so much time moulding the fondant and turning my fingers into various colours because of the food colouring I used...

The last colour I used was pink, for the flowers. It will take 1 or 2 days before my fingers look normal again.

Don't Play With Pepper Spray

2011-08-22T00:50:00.001+08:00

I usually carry a pepper spray in my handbag for personal safety, and since SweetTeen is growing up and she now carries a handbag whenever she goes out, hubby said that we should buy one for her as well.

There are various brands of pepper sprays at Ace Hardware and we bought this:

When we reached home I decided to test it to make sure that the aerosol pump was working, so I aimed it into the kitchen sink and pressed once....

BIG mistake....

Notice the word POWERFUL on the little cannister? That's what it is.

Immediately there was a burning sensation in my throat and a terrible tickle up my nose and I started sneezing non-stop. Thankfully I had the presence of mind to shut my eyes and run out of the kitchen so that the vapour wouldn't affect my eyes.

As the pungent smell spread around the kitchen and into the living room where hubby and the kids were watching tv, everyone started coughing and sneezing. We had to open the doors and turn on the fans full blast to clear the air in the house, and I pretty much ruined their tv time that evening...oops.

Dad The Dentist

2011-08-08T23:36:00.001+08:00

SweetTeen has been wearing dental braces since May last year and she was given instructions on how to clean her teeth properly as well as a list of foodstuff that she shouldn't eat in case the food damages the braces.

Being the risk-taker that she is, she still tries to eat them anyway...chocolate, hard fruit like apples, popcorn and even chewing gum!

So there were many emergency trips to the dentist whenever a piece of food that she bit into dislodged the wire that spans from left to right, held in place by the little silver brackets glued to her teeth...and the end of the wire pokes the inside of her cheek and gives her an ulcer...

Until the dentist realised that this girl would NOT stop eating all the 'forbidden' food, which were also her favourite, and decided to teach her (and me) how to slide the wire back into place to save us the hassle of travelling to his clinic every so often.

Since I am not very good with wires and pliers, I taught hubby how to do it instead...using my eyebrow tweezers...! All he needed to do was to grip the wire with the tweezer and slide the exposed end of the wire back into the bracket on her tooth and all would be well again.

So this would be the scene at "Dr. Dad's makeshift clinic in our bedroom"...

SweetTeen shining the torch into her mouth as daddy fixes her braces

It's amazing how many extra skills we have picked up since becoming parents!

Mom, Daughter & David Archuleta

2011-07-27T12:42:00.003+08:00

SweetTeen is a true blue David Archuleta fan ever since she watched him sing on American Idol Season 7. We watched him perform at the Sunway Lagoon Amphitheatre 2 years ago when I won 2 free passes from the Hitz.fm radio station.

So when an article about his upcoming concert in Malaysia was published in The Star newspapers together with a contest to win 2 tickets, I quickly sat down at the PC to send in my entry. Had to put on my thinking cap and come up with a catchy slogan... and about 4 days later I saw this in my email inbox:

SweetTeen was sqealing with excitement when she saw it. We collected the tickets on Monday and yesterday I decided not to drive so we took the LRT to the Hang Tuah station which is about 10 minutes' walk from Stadium Negara.

The concert was at 8pm but we arrived about 5.30pm to queue since it was free seating for the tickets we had. There were about 10 people already waiting at the gate when we arrived. Brought some sandwiches and had a mini picnic while waiting since food and drinks were not allowed into the hall. Decided to join the queue at 6.30 when more and more people started streaming in, and waited for about an hour before the gate finally opened.

I think we Malaysians are quite civilised even when it comes to free seating as everyone queued patiently and nobody rushed, and we managed to get seats with a good view of the stage. There were people of all ages, not just screaming teenage girls.

After the opening act by local artiste Hao Ren, the organisers allowed everyone to upgrade to better seats to fill up the middle portion of the hall as it was not a sold out concert, which was such a pity because David Archuleta can REALLY sing, and he does it so effortlessly! This young boy even writes good songs. No fancy dance moves or stage effects...just his soaring voice and sunny personality that made the concert such an unforgettable event. And he had a really good band backing him up.

SweetTeen was on cloud nine the whole time and long after the last note ended for the night. The sound system was cranked to maximum volume and my ears are still ringing a little. Here is one of my favourite songs that he sang:

19 Years on 11-7-11

2011-07-17T00:44:00.002+08:00

On the 11th of July, this is what was displayed in the sidebar on my blog...

Yup, it's been 19 years and I've known some friends and cousins whose marriages have crumbled so I'm really blessed to have a wonderful loving husband.

We had our celebration on Wednesday the 13th instead because SweetTeen had to go to school early (she's in the afternoon session and CoolTeen is in the morning session) and CoolTeen was staying back after school, so we could go 'pak-tor' until late evening :)

Usually we would go for a buffet lunch or dinner at some fancy restaurant but as age catches up with us, we find that we can't eat large meals anymore...so this year we decided to try doing things that we haven't done before.

As it turned out, SweetTeen didn't go to school that morning for basketball practice because of the haze so she came along with us for a dim sum breakfast at the famous Kedai Kopi Dan Makan Seong Kee at Taman Connaught, Cheras. She said that although she didn't really enjoy dim sum, it was at least better than staying at home alone. This was the first time we've tried the food there...verdict: Yummy!

Hubby's favourite vegetable

After dropping SweetTeen off at school later on, we headed to Kenko Reflexology and Fish Spa at Mid Valley Megamall to experience the foot spa where we feed fish by letting them eat dead skin from our feet...! The place was clean and there were only the 2 of us at that hour so we had an enjoyable time relaxing and taking photos of our feet as we tried the different pools with different sizes of fish.

The smallest fishes - they are like mini vacuum cleaners as they thoroughly clean our feet. A little ticklish but enjoyable.

The medium size fishes - very ticklish! I could only dip my feet there long enough to snap this photo!

The pool with the large fishes - not for the fainthearted!

We haven't been to Madam Kwan's in ages so we had a late lunch of nasi lemak there...spicy but delicious. We had wanted to share a burger at Carl's Jr but decided to do that on some other day...when we figure out how to cut a burger in half at a fast food restaurant!

After the foot spa our feet felt refreshed so we could do a bit of shopping before fetching CoolTeen from school.

Had a fun 'together-time'...looking forward to next year's anniversary and many more years of 'together-time'. (big smile)

Yvonne Foong

2011-07-10T23:59:00.003+08:00

A few years back I had read in the newspapers about Yvonne Foong, a young girl with Neurofibromatosis, an inherited disorder where multiple tumours grow in the brain and along the spine. She was 16 when diagnosed with this condition and instead of going into self pity she wrote a book entitled "I'm Not Sick, Just A bit Unwell".

A few days ago I was at the hair salon getting a hair perm and was flipping through a magazine when I came across an article about her, but that article was written in 2006, so I looked up the internet to see how she was doing. I found her blog and she has accomplished much in the last few years, all listed here. Currently she is a university student and upon graduation she aspires to become a psychologist and therapist providing support to children with hearing aids.

What inspired me to write about Yvonne is her optimism despite all that she has gone through - she has undergone 8 major surgeries from 2002 till 2009, she almost went blind and her hearing has been badly affected by the disease, yet she does not depend solely on charity but raises funds on her own for her very costly surgeries (between RM90,000 to RM200,000 each!) by selling custom-made t-shirts, and a few days ago she posted on her blog that she is going to sell mooncakes to pay for her trip to the US to take part in a 4-year clinical research program that studies the long-term development of Neurofibromatosis Type 2.

Have a look at her blog post entitled "Mooncakes For Health" and let's do our bit to help someone in need. I'll be placing my orders soon.

ROTFL

2011-07-02T00:00:00.002+08:00

If you are having a dull day and need a good laugh, try looking up the travelling directions using Google maps:

1) Go to 'http://maps.google.com.my'

2) Click on 'Get Directions'

3) Click the car icon

4) In the A box, type 'new york'

5) In the B box, type 'tokyo'

6) Click 'Get Directions' below the B box

7) Read direction #51

Here's another one that will tickle your funny bone...

1) In the A box, type 'tokyo'

2) In the B box, type 'china'

3) Click 'Get Directions' and read #48

Now try travelling from 'china' to 'taiwan' and read #48...well, it's only 165km...!!

And one more thing I discovered:

1) Go to 'http://translate.google.com.my'

2) In the From box, select 'English'

3) In the To box, select 'Chinese (Simplified)'

4) In the large box beneath, type 'how old are you'

5) Click 'Translate'

6) Laugh...if you understand Mandarin :)

(The people at Google sure have a strange sense of humour!)

TGFMM

2011-06-23T12:17:00.001+08:00

These days my kids always seem to be hungry after their tuition classes and on their way home they would ask their dad to take a detour to get something to munch. I am quite sure this has something to do with the opening of a new minimart nearby...

SweetTeen is delighted that this outlet closes at 11pm because her tuition class usually finishes around 10.15pm and by that time most stores nearby would be closed... so she came up with TGFMM - Thank God For MyMydin...!

Bus Stops Around The World

2011-06-16T23:00:00.002+08:00

A friend of mine knows that I like creative photos and I received an email from her today with pictures of creative bus stop designs around the world....

Futuristic design seen in Curitiba, Brazil

A bit of swinging fun in London

Beautifully decorated bus stop in Cornwall, England

Delicious-looking bus stop in Japan

Unusual shaped design in Estonia

A comfy bus stop in Germany

Fully enclosed and air-conditioned - Dubai

Made from parts of an old bus in Georgia, USA

Play some football at this bus stop in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Colourful shopping bags above the bus stop in Singapore

And of course our very own Malaysian bus stop...simple but practical design

Designed to protect commuters from the heat and rain, but the bus stop itself was not safe from thieves...

huh? where did it go???

Stepping Back In Time

2011-06-07T01:08:00.004+08:00

SweetTeen went for a 4 day-3 night Christian youth camp in Seremban last Thursday. The last time she was away from home was when she went for a school trip 3 years ago to Pangkor island. The house was unusually quiet without her because CoolTeen doesn't speak as much and even when prompted with questions his answers are brief.

On Friday night, hubby and I decided to go to Empire Shopping Gallery to look for a gift as my MIL's birthday was coming up. Every night before she went to bed SweetTeen would call us on her mobile phone to say 'goodnight' and when she called on Friday night we were travelling home in the car after our shopping trip. As usual she would ask what we were doing and when we told her we were in the car, she retorted in a joking manner, "What? You went shopping without me??!!"

We were caught in a traffic jam on the way home, even at 10 pm the Federal Highway was still choked with heavy traffic, so we decided to take a little detour and see if the A & W restaurant at Lorong Sultan in Petaling Jaya was still around. It has been about 20 years since I last visited that restaurant!

The roads and landmarks have changed quite a bit, the huge signboard is faded but the A & W restaurant was still there...looking exactly as it did 20 years ago.

As we stepped through the glass doors it was like going back in time...the interior was still the same. Even the air-cond units were the huge old-fashioned type that was mounted on the walls, and I recognised the familiar floor tiles...and it was still as crowded even after all these years. We ordered our favourite - the waffle with a scoop of ice-cream topped with strawberry jam.

This was one of the places I used to hang out with my friends when I was a teenager, so being there again after 20 years brought back lots of memories. Hubby also used to go there when he was younger, but we didn't know each other then. So this is one thing we have in common.

The strange thing I noticed that night is that the customers were mainly people around the same age as us, some with their children and some just come on their own to enjoy a meal of fastfood...people who have had fun times at that little A & W restaurant tucked away in a little corner of Petaling Jaya, and still enjoy going there for the food and the ambience.

There was no WiFi back then and there is still no WiFi at this restaurant today...very unusual for a fastfood outlet. I suppose that's why it was so noisy because people actually had to speak to each other instead of being engrossed with their portable WiFi devices!

Lunch At Kota Kemuning

2011-06-01T23:56:00.000+08:00

Visited a friend in Kota Kemuning today with SweetTeen and my friend MK with her 4 year old daughter. I have never been to Kota Kemuning but I've heard that it's a pleasant township with affordable housing, a nice lake and some good eateries.

Had lunch at this cosy little place called Treats Cafe. Tried their Chicken Chop in Teriyake Sauce which MK recommended. She asked me to rate it...I gave it an 8 out of 10.

SweetTeen usually orders Fish and Chips.

But what I enjoyed most was the dessert...Banana Fritters with a double scoop of vanilla ice-cream served with a drizzle of syrup...the combination of hot and cold was just yummy! Must try to replicate this at home.

Found It!

2011-05-27T23:34:00.002+08:00

I have been hunting all over town for an 'Angry Bird' t-shirt, from shopping malls to the pasar malam, without much success...until today.

I was at The Mines shopping mall when from afar I spotted the familiar red angry-looking feathered blob on a black t-shirt hanging at a stall across from the cineplex. There were also other colours and a choice of 3 designs but I had seen this design that I liked on a local website and had really, really wanted to get it...but it was RM55 plus postage, and I was unwilling to part with RM55 without knowing if the t-shirt would fit...after all, it's quite difficult to determine the exact fit through pictures on the internet even though measurements are given.

And I am glad I didn't buy the t-shirt through the internet because this one that I bought only costs RM19 (big smiles).

Cool, right?

A Little Home Improvement

2011-05-26T23:58:00.002+08:00

The weather these days has been rather extreme - it's either scorching heat or thunderstorms. For a person blessed with an over-abundance of sweat glands like me, this means that I create a puddle whenever I stand still on the days that the temperature soars above 30 degrees Celsius...sigh.

Hubby and I were at Viva Home Centre with SweetTeen the other day when we came across some shops selling those large showerheads which are the current trend. Hubby has always liked these showerheads because it's like taking a shower in the rain and our current tiny little showerhead and low water pressure makes showering a chore rather than a pleasure.

Our kitchen tap and shower in the master bedroom share the water supply from the main pipe, so if someone is washing dishes in the sink there will be very little water supply to our bathroom...so pity the person who has a head full of shampoo in the shower and suddenly there's only a small trickle of water coming out from the showerhead...!

The large showerheads on display in the shops were rather costly, around RM1000 and above, but we found this DIY shop that sold them for only RM400...just because it's manufactured locally (the expensive ones are imported). They also have this water heater which comes with a double pump to go with it, perfect for bathrooms with low water pressure...which made it even more tempting for us. We had set aside some money to get our house painted, so it was now a decision between getting a new coat of paint or a showerhead plus water-heater...

...and the money goes to the...

The house will just have to be painted some other time. For now I am going to enjoy 'raindrops' falling on my head :)

Bake, Bake, Bake

2011-05-18T00:59:00.018+08:00

A few days after bringing back samples from my recent baking class, hubby asked if I was going to bake any macarons. I had already tried baking chocolate cupcakes using the pre-mix powder that I got for free from attending the baking class, and they turned out beautifully, so I was all excited about making my 'Angry Bird Cupcakes'. Tried making a red 'Angry Bird' out of fondant (following the step-by step instructions from this page) only to realise that the recent hotspell we've been experiencing was making my fondant turn overly soft and gooey whenever I tried to fashion it into shapes, so it became really time-consuming to fashion even one bird and I had to quickly take photos of it before it started to melt in the humid weather. Hubby thought he would try making one too....

my red 'angry bird'

hubby's 'angry bird'...not too bad

'angry bird' sitting on a chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting

Making the 'Angry Birds' was a real challenge so those were the only 2 birds that we made...now I'm wondering what to do with the rest of the fondant that I had so painstakingly coloured.

Bought the macaron pre-mix powder and thankfully they turned out well...

pink macaron batter piped onto baking sheet... getting them all the same size wasn't as easy as I thought it would be

Made 2 batches, the pink ones turned out nice although the blue ones were a little burnt, but both tasted great :)

My Cookies Are Gone!

2011-05-14T10:40:00.001+08:00

Blogger was experiencing some problems yesterday and my most recent blog entry 'My Second Baking Class' could not be viewed. When I checked again this morning, everything was more or less back to normal except that my 'cookies' were missing! Not edible cookies but comments from readers which I label as 'cookies' :(

My Second Baking Class

2011-05-14T10:33:00.001+08:00

I've been hit with a sudden urge to bake ever since I bought these delicious macarons from Bread Delicious, a bakery in Viva, the new home furnishing mall at Jalan Loke Yew.

I looked up the internet and researched some recipes, then tried baking my own macarons. They didn't turn out so well, so that made me even more determined to get it right. Went to the baking supplies shop last week and saw a notice that there was going to be a class on how to bake macarons...signed up without much thought.

Went for the class this afternoon... this is my second baking class, the first one I attended last year was to learn how to decorate cupcakes with fondant figurines, which was so much fun! This time I was a little disappointed that the chef used premix powder instead of teaching us to bake the macarons from scratch, just because he was promoting this Puratos brand of premix powders for cakes, cupcakes and macarons. Anyway, he also showed us how to make pralines (chocolate with fillings) as well as a moist layered chocolate cake and gave lots of tips about baking that I can't get from cookbooks, so it was worth the RM30 that I paid.

Chef Sheng piping the macarons with much skill...all the pieces were exactly the same size!

Chocolate pralines with banana custard filling

Chocolate layered cake with choco ganache and banana custard filling...the yummiest chocolate cake I have tasted in a long while:)

Freshly baked macarons with filling

After I make a perfect batch of macarons I plan to make Angry Birds cupcakes...already bought all the ingredients :)

Daily Bumpy Ride

2011-05-06T00:08:00.002+08:00

My car suspension seems to need changing quite often these days and I think I know what the problem is (of course hubby would say that it is due to my bad driving)...speed bumps!

The distance from my house to my kids' school is about 2 km and within that 2 km stretch of road I have counted 15 speed bumps...yup, 15 of them...that's about 1 every 130m! Of course speed bumps are good, especially in housing areas and near the school gate...but this is overdoing it, don't you think? There seems to be an obsession with speed bumps nowadays...they can just appear overnight and some poor unsuspecting motorist would fly right over a newly-made one and get a shock of her life (speaking from my own experience) because it doesn't get painted until the following week or so.

So instead of producing cars with more powerful engines I suppose our local car manufacturers should produce cars with a superior suspension system to give us a more comfortable ride...now what would be a good name for that car...Suspenza? lol

One day when the Majlis Perbandaran workers get carried away....

Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining

2011-04-30T00:15:00.001+08:00

The other day while driving I saw this, and I just had to stop my car and snap a photo of it...

...sunbeams shining through dark clouds.

This is one of my all-time favourite scenes as it reminds me that something good can come out of a difficult situation.

As a little girl I have always been strangely fascinated by thunderstorms...I loved to watch lightning streak across the sky and would close my ears in anticipation of the loud thunder that would follow. I would stand at the window and watch the swaying trees in the pouring rain knowing that the storm would only last for a period of time, after which the raindrops would gradually stop pelting down and everything would be calm once more...and I was glad that all the trees and grass would have enough water to sustain them till the next downpour.

Now when it rains I just feel like curling up in bed under the blankets and taking a snooze...!

As I celebrated Easter last Sunday, I am reminded of what God has done out of love, and I am reassured that I never need to weather the storms of life alone because He keeps me safe.

A Belated Birthday Treat

2011-04-20T15:32:00.045+08:00

Hubby usually takes me out on my birthday for breakfast or lunch (without the kids, of course!) but this year he had auditors coming to his office on the day of my birthday so we postponed our 'pak tor' session to the following week instead.

A friend had told me about this pastry place called Levain at Jalan Delima in KL, somewhere behind the Indonesian Embassy so we decided to go there for brunch. This time we had a little 'spotlight' (in the form of SweetTeen) coming along since she is in the afternoon school session and would be rather disappointed to be left at home alone.

The place has a nice cosy ambience and the breads and pastries looked really appetizing. Each of us selected 2 kinds of pastries that we could share among the 3 of us and sat down with a drink to enjoy our feast. The strawberry tart was really good but SweetTeen had trouble finishing her very rich chocolate eclair and mango cheese tart. The place is famous for their macarons (which they spell as 'macaroons'), a meringue-like pastry filled with cream but I settled for a small packet of the meringue shells without the cream filling since it was rather costly...am planning to bake my own macarons at home :)

We were glad that we arrived at around 10am after battling the morning traffic because a little after that the place started filling up with customers and by the time we left at about 11am there was no more available parking space.

After dropping off SweetTeen at school and fetching CoolTeen home, we headed to 1 Utama shopping mall because I had read about cash-free shopping there using the Maybankard Treats Points (points collected from use of the credit card). I was disappointed that the shops where we had wanted to buy stuff were not participating outlets of this scheme. At least we could exchange our Treats Points for some Jusco vouchers, so those points came in handy after all.

Had a great day thanks to my sweetheart and by nightfall I was really tired out...fell asleep way before anyone else, which is a rare occurrence since I am usually the last person in our household to go to bed every night...

Many Happy Returns

2011-04-16T00:00:00.002+08:00

Celebrated my birthday on Monday. Nowadays children are so computer-savvy...this year my kids wished me "Happy Birthday" using Facebook.

I was also pleasantly surprised and touched by all the birthday wishes on my Facebook page from family and friends, both near and far, throughout the day and even into the next day. It's feels good to be remembered :)

Although I felt it was unnecessary, SweetTeen insisted that her daddy drop by the bakery and buy mommy a birthday cake on his way home from work so that we could have the mandatory candle-blowing, cake-cutting session...

Ok, so now the secret is out...that's how old I am, or as my sis-in-law so sweetly put it, how 'young' I am.

Have lived about half my life and feeling very blessed indeed :)

Angry Birds Kuey Teow

2011-04-08T00:18:00.003+08:00

I have been a big fan of the game 'Angry Birds' ever since I could download it to my android phone, although I can't quite understand how catapulting fluffy birds at sniggering green pigs could become so immensely popular!

I have completed all the levels in the original Angry Birds game, the Angry Birds Seasons as well as the new Angry Birds Rio...that's how big a fan I am ('fan' is a better word than 'addict', right?)

On Sunday, hubby and I went to ta pau lunch at a nearby coffeeshop when I spotted this signboard at a char kuey teow stall which reminded me of one of the birds in the game...

Maybe lately I've been playing the game too much that I seem to see Angry Birds everywhere, haha. Next on my list.... get my hands on an Angry Bird t-shirt.

How To Put Out A Kitchen Oil Fire

2011-03-30T23:13:00.002+08:00

I've seen this video before quite some time ago but received it again through email yesterday and it's a good reminder for all of us who cook, and those whose kids are learning how to cook...

My New Ceramic Knife

2011-03-23T22:10:00.005+08:00

The other day I was chatting with some friends over a bowl of freshly cut apples when someone mentioned that fruits cut with a ceramic knife would not turn brown from oxidation. I had never heard of ceramic knives before and the serrated kitchen knife that I have has served me well for the last 16 years without the need for sharpening,so I never thought about buying knives...well, until now.

If the ceramic knife is so amazing I would certainly get one because I remember cutting fruits for a party and they turned a terrible shade of brown before being served to the guests...not very appetizing.

I was at Ikano Power Centre (now known as IPC) last week and I was walking past a store selling fancy kitchenware when I spotted it....the ceramic knife...and it comes in a variety of bright happy colours! The salesman did a short demo and then announced the price - RM69.90

No way was I going to pay almost 70 bucks for a knife to cut fruits...!

I was glad I didn't give in to impulse and buy it because at another shop just a floor below I found one that cost only RM39.90! That was more within the range of what I was willing to pay and I was more than delighted to find out that I could redeem it with Maybankard Treats Points.(big smiles)

Ceramic knife with its cover

Bought a red knife. Really pleased with it as it slices through meat and vegetables effortlessly. Then it was time for the fruit test...grabbed 2 apples from the fridge. Sliced one with the ceramic knife and the other one with a stainless steel knife...and here are the results...

Apple cut with a stainless steel knife starts to turn brown after 15 minutes

Apple cut with the ceramic knife retains it colour

I read on the internet that it's because the ceramic knife is chemically inert whereas the metal in steel knives react with the food that is being cut. Not sure about all the scientific jargon and explanation though...I'm just glad that I can serve nice-looking slices of apples to my guests :)

Sungai Klah Hot Springs

2011-03-15T00:47:00.003+08:00

Last Saturday our church Youth Fellowship organised a trip to the Sungai Klah hot springs at Sungkai, about 2 hours' drive up north from Kuala Lumpur. This time we hired a tour bus instead of driving and there were about 30 of us...adults, teenagers and excited little kids.

It's a very pleasant place, landscaped with lots of shady spots for people like me who try to avoid the sun as much as possible. Entrance fees is RM10 for adults and RM8 for children. We are given plastic wristbands to wear once we pay for the tickets, and we can enter and exit the park as often as we wished as long as we are wearing the wristbands.

There are a few pools with varying water temperature for those who want to soak their feet. The water is supposed to have positive effects on stiff joints due to rheumatism and arthritis.

There is also a warm water swimming pool plus a large swimming pool with cool water from the mountains. The ladies tried boiling eggs at one of the pools and they turned out rather delicious without the strong smell that hard-boiled eggs usually have.

Boiling eggs at a hot water source

Food cannot be brought into the park so we had to eat outside. Found a nice shady spot and had a simple picnic lunch of nasi lemak and pasta, courtesy of the ladies of the church. After lunch, the teenagers went back to the pool for a swim while I helped to keep watch over their belongings. The rest of the adults stayed in the bus to enjoy a short nap in the air-cond.

The weather was cloudy but most of them, including my daughter, got sunburn... and her cheeks and nose turned a bright rosy shade of red. I thought it was cute but she was horrified when she had a look at herself in the mirror!

Left around 3.45 pm and reached KL at almost 6 pm. It's been 20 years ago since I last went on a bus trip with a group of friends so this was lots of fun :)

Spotted a monitor lizard taking a stroll through the park

21st Century ABC

2011-03-07T00:02:00.005+08:00

Had a good laugh when I opened my email a few days ago and saw this...

What kids are learning today:

A: Apple

B: Bluetooth

C: Chat

D: Download

E: Email

F: Facebook

G: Google

H: Hewlett Packard

I: iPhone

J: Java

K: Kingston

L: Laptop

M: Messenger

N: Nero

O: Orkut

P: Picassa

Q: Quick Heal

R: Ram

S: Server

T: Twitter

U: USB

V: Vista

W: WiFi

X: Xp

Y: YouTube

Z: Zorpia

My daughter, SweetTeen, even guessed correctly most of what the other alphabets represent after I showed her only A, B and C from this list.

At least A is still for Apple...!

Family Day 2011

2011-02-28T00:36:00.004+08:00

Our shadows on the beach, that's me on the left taking the picture. Hubby is next to me, followed by Sweet Teen and CoolTeen.

Went down to Port Dickson on Saturday for hubby's company's Family Day. This time we stayed at the Casa Rachardo Beach Resort. The last time I stayed there was 5 years ago and I remember that it was such a colourful place with the interior of each apartment looking like a tadika as each wall would be a different colour and the furniture was in bright hues.

Looks like nothing much has changed since then...still the same colourful interior and exterior. The exterior walls of the building is a very loud yellow, visible from far away!

I wasn't looking forward to the trip at all as I was told that there would be telematches in the afternoon and a barbecue dinner at the poolside, me preferring the indoors to getting toasted in this scorching heatwave. But the games were simple challenges requiring some strategy and teamwork, and even my 2 kids joined in the fun. Our team emerged champion out of 5 teams :)

Our hamper prize for being champions

The theme for the barbecue was black and red, and thinking of casual comfort hubby and CoolTeen wore jeans with black striped T-shirts while Sweet Teen and I wore matching red striped T-shirts. When we reached the poolside we realised that most people were dressed in formal wear....and I felt that we looked rather odd dressed so casually! There were the customary welcome speeches followed by dinner and lots of karaoke singing plus a few lucky draw sessions in between...and of course we did not win any of the prizes for the best-dressed husband/wife/son/daughter but at least we won 5 KFC meal vouchers in the lucky draw :)

Spent time chatting and getting to know some of the staff and their spouses better. It was an enjoyable time after all, although I missed our main church's 30th anniversary celebration which was held on the exact same day as the Family Day :(

I didn't dare sit under that tree...at least not without a helmet!

PreTeen Is Now SweetTeen

2011-02-22T23:04:00.003+08:00

Miss PreTeen celebrated her 13th birthday yesterday, so now I am officially a mom of 2 teenage children...makes me sound kind of old, huh? And because PreTeen is no longer a pre-teen, I will now refer to her as SweetTeen. I was contemplating PrettyTeen but she commented that it had too many syllables and I suppose it just doesn't roll off the tongue as easily as SweetTeen.

Took Miss SweetTeen out for lunch on Sunday at Susan's Bistro, a cosy little Italian restaurant in Bandar Mahkota Cheras and later brought cupcakes to church for a simple celebration with her friends in the Youth Fellowship.

We also had the mandatory cake cutting ritual at home yesterday, the actual date of her birthday. She is so glad to finally be referred to as a teenager. I remember when I was around 12 or 13 that I had wanted to grow up quickly because it was always more fun to hang out with the older teenagers than with people my own age...and when I was in college I looked forward to joining the workforce. I suppose the grass always seems greener on the other side of the fence.

Tried my hand at making a piano cake

After adding the candles,
which coincidentally equals to 13 letters!

Now that I have lived for a little over 4 decades, I am happy where I am. If I could, would I change any part of how I have lived my life up to this point? Probably not, because the experiences that I have gone through, both good and bad, have helped to make me who I am today. I read this quote in a Christian devotional book that I use with my Bible reading - Life is not made by the dreams that you dream but by the choices that you make.

Speaking of various phases in life, during Chinese New Year as I visited relatives I made this amusing observation...the teenagers would talk about the latest electronic gadgets, people around my age (siblings and cousins) would talk about travel and places to visit as my mom and her generation of relatives exchanged news about cataract operations and other kinds of surgery to repair parts of their body!

Curly Or Straight?

2011-02-18T00:36:00.001+08:00

Went to the Mines Shopping Mall and came across a mini curling iron for the hair. I have been having bad hair days very frequently since my hairdresser chopped off my long hair till just about the shoulders even though I had specifically instructed her to leave my hair a little below the shoulder level.

So I figured that a curling iron was just what I needed to tame my locks and the price was too irresistable at RM70.

Trying it for the first time at home, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the curling iron is quite easy to use and it only took about 10 minutes for me to liven up my hairstyle with some curls! (big smiles) Got some tips from YouTube on how to use the iron properly...these days we can learn just about anything from YouTube!
Feels great to be able to switch between straight hair or curly hair as the curls are not permanent. Some days I can just leave my hair straight and other days I could use my little curling iron.

Mini curling iron - only slightly longer than a ball point pen

We women love variety. As Martin Luther once said - The hair is the richest ornament of women. Yup.

Too Safe

2011-02-11T23:14:00.001+08:00

Have you ever kept something important in a safe place so that you wouldn't lose it, and then when you need it you realise you can't remember where you've kept it?

I have...many times.

So I had a good chuckle when I saw this comic strip in the newspapers the other day...my apologies for the lack of sharpness in the pictures, I snapped a photo of the comic strip with my phone and uploaded it instead of using the scanner.

I suppose being absent-minded is a sign that either we're too busy or we're getting old...!

Egg Standing On End

2011-02-04T23:58:00.003+08:00

My friend MK sent me an sms to tell me that she managed to get a few eggs standing on end, and it only happens on February 4th each year. I tried it without any success at first, but after keeping at it for a few minutes this is the result.....tadaa!

Parking Woes

2011-01-29T00:49:00.001+08:00

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

2011-01-21T23:28:00.005+08:00

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

2011-01-15T00:10:00.002+08:00

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

2011-01-10T00:07:00.003+08:00

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

2011-01-03T23:44:00.000+08:00

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!

Taking A Break In Langkawi

2010-12-31T13:39:00.007+08:00

Took the kids on a short 4 day-3 night trip to Langkawi. Hubby was busy the last few weeks so I had the task of finding suitable accomodation. I looked up the internet and found this little motel at Pantai Chenang called White Lodge Chalet which was within our budget of below RM200 per night. Nothing fancy, but comfortable and clean.

the entrance of White Lodge

the porch of our chalet

Left on Monday morning at around 7 am to fetch hubby's sister who was coming along with us. It's a 6-hour drive from KL to the jetty at Kuala Kedah. Reached the jetty at 2pm after a few toilet stops and a quick lunch at KFC in Autocity, Butterworth. Couldn't get tickets for the 2.30pm ferry so we had to wait till 3.30pm for the next ferry to Langkawi :(

our ferry arriving

Ferry ride was an hour and a half, our ferry left only at 4pm and we finally reached Langkawi island at 5.30pm. Had already arranged for a rented car a few days before the trip so we met up with Kapten Rosli, who is a friend of a friend of a friend. We had booked a Proton Saga but was given a Kia Rio instead because the holidaymaker who had used the Proton Saga broke the steering wheel....strange things people do! He charged us RM90 a day, which was really cheap since most car rental companies I looked up on the internet charged around RM150 during the school holiday season.

zooming around in our little rented car

Was glad we stayed at Pantai Chenang because according to the locals, it is the most happening place at night...something like the night market at Penang's Batu Ferringhi. Had dinner and walked around, CoolTeen managed to buy some interesting T-shirts and hubby bought a nice white linen shirt for Chinese New Year.

The next morning we got up early and visited the Langkawi Cable Car which was about 30 minutes' drive away. We reached there at 9am but there were already people queueing up at the ticket counter, which opens at 10am. I really dislike cable car rides and this one is really scary because of the very steep incline, but the view from the top of the hill made up for it...a cool and very windy place, sometimes the gust of wind is so strong that you feel you might be blown off the viewing platform!

cable cars...my most un-favourite form of transportation!

The shops at the foot of the hill have a variety of clothes, bags and souvenirs at quite reasonable prices. Nice place.

After lunch we headed for the Langkawi Wildlife Park and the kids were complaining about why we needed to go see animals but changed their minds the moment we stepped into the enclosure. Most of the animals were left free to roam about and we could really see them up close or even touch them. Had some fun feeding the deers and rabbits. The duty-free shop there had some of the lowest prices of chocolates compared to other duty-free shops in Kuah town.

Had dinner at Pantai Chenang and walked the night market as the stretch of road is quite long and we didn't manage the cover all the shops last night. Picked up some souvenirs.

Day 3, the kids wanted to ride the go-karts at Morac International Karting near the airport. It's RM37 per person for 10 minutes. CoolTeen and PreTeen had lots of fun, their dad's wallet felt lighter.

Then we walked around Kuah Town and realised that the prices of goods are not that cheap after all, even though it's supposed to be a duty-free zone. Things like perfume we can get back in KL for almost the same price.

things that are cheap in Langkawi

Went to the Underwater World and spent about an hour there. Some of the fishes there are really huge and there are a lot of species on display. It's a lot more spacious than the Aquaria in KL, and benches are provided here and there for people to take a rest and enjoy the undersea creatures. Nice.

the penguins were like those from the movie "Happy feet"

The widely advertised Wednesday night market at Kuah town was a real disappointment. We could walk the entire pasar malam in 5 minutes and things are really pricey there, probably because it mainly caters for tourists...but the tourists are smart too, they go to the night market at Pantai Chenang where things are cheaper and of better quality!

Day 4, checked out of the motel early at 10am and headed for the jetty where we returned the car, and thought we could do some shopping at the supposedly duty-free shops there but found that things are really expensive compared to the rest of the shops in Langkawi...and the toilets are in poor condition although we pay 30 sen, compared to the ones at the Kuala Kedah jetty which were clean...and free.

Boarded the ferry at 11.30am, reached Kuala Kedah at around 1pm and headed for home. Had a relaxing time in Langkawi where the pace of life is so much slower and driving around is quite easy. Hubby was disappointed we couldn't walk the curved suspension bridge at the cable car place because it was closed due to strong winds, but I was happy I got to step on the famous black beach. Next time we will go island-hopping instead!

Pantai Pasir Hitam - black beach

Had A Great Week

2010-12-20T23:37:00.005+08:00

Now that I am mobile again the first thing I did was...yup...go shopping! Went to MidValley Megamall the other day and this year's Christmas decor is absolutely gorgeous because I have a soft spot for soft toys...

I heart those giant teddy bears!

Also went for our 3 day-2 nite church camp in the little town of Kampar where storks (or flamingos, not quite sure which, because we only saw them from afar) can be seen hunting for fish in the lake. Stayed at the Grand Kampar Hotel.

The day that we arrived back in KL, someone dropped by with this....

...and it really made my day. These mini cupcakes are from Wondermilk Cafe and they are just heavenly...the cupcake is so small that I could finish it in 2 delicious bites!

Christmas is just 5 days away...looking forward to it!

Freedom Again!

2010-12-14T00:32:00.001+08:00

It's 4 weeks since my surgery and I'm feeling good physically. Finally able to go to church on Sunday. Tried reversing the car on Saturday and there was no pain at all. That gave me the courage to actually drive on Sunday but didn't venture too far. By Monday I was zipping around in my little car terrorizing other motorists (ok, that was an exaggeration!) and it feels GREAT to be mobile again after not driving for a whole month.

A few days ago, hubby decided to redecorate one of the walls in our home. We had taken some pretty nice family photos back in October and had framed some of them. I am pretty hopeless at hanging up pictures on the wall, I can't even hammer a nail straight, so I left it all to hubby to get the job done.

There were lots of stuff on the dining table....nails, hammer, measuring tape, wall putty, even a laptop....yes, a laptop...and this is what I saw on the laptop monitor...

Every thing was meticulously drawn and measured out on the laptop by my engineer husband who likes things to be orderly...and this is the end result....

A wall of memories :)

3 Weeks Post-Op

2010-12-06T23:26:00.001+08:00

It's been exactly 3 weeks since my surgery and I have been enjoying the total rest from housework except for some simple cooking. We tried a home food delivery service for a week and decided that we didn't enjoy their style of cooking. So I am now queen of my kitchen once more, with a little help from Ms PreTeen.

The kids have been very helpful around the house...they can wash and dry the dishes, mop the floor and wash the toilet, PreTeen tried ironing for the first time last week (thankfully she didn't burn a hole in her skirt!) and she can cook rice and do laundry.

To show my appreciation for all their help (while I lay on the sofa and watch TV), I thought I would order fastfood delivery once in a while as a treat. There is a McD's very close to my place and I called the toll-free 1300 number to place my orders but was told that there is no delivery service from that outlet (which I later found out to be untrue) so I looked up the internet and found that the Kenny Rogers' Roasters nearby did deliver, and the food came all neatly packed, warm and smelling great!

I have also gone for short shopping trips to the nearby shopping mall...PreTeen says I need the exercise but the real reason is so that she could go shopping too :D
Hubby's car is rather tall and I cannot climb up into the passenger seat because my abdomen muscles are still healing, so he came up with this idea...

...a 'royal footstool' for the 'queen'...(haha)...

Did You Know?

2010-12-01T22:55:00.006+08:00

Did you know that...

An ostrich's brain is smaller than its eye.

Non-dairy creamer is flammable.(uh-oh!)

There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with orange, purple and silver.

Roses may be red, but violets are indeed violet.

Men can read smaller print then women can, but women can hear better.

Yup, it's impossible to lick your own elbow

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"?
A. One thousand

Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?
A. Honey

People spend about two weeks of their lives at traffic lights!

Pearls melt in vinegar.(so be careful with those pearl necklaces!)

My kids can actually do household chores without my supervision...I'm impressed, all those years of training has paid off!

Quick Solution

2010-11-28T22:34:00.001+08:00

Ok I admit I watch too much TV these days but this advertisement that has been playing on Astro over the last few weeks really tickles me because I am reminded of my own family...it this were to happen in my home it would probably be the kids screaming and hubby or me looking up the internet for the solution...talk about tech-savvy parents, hehe!

Things That Bring A Smile

2010-11-25T21:02:00.004+08:00

Am recovering well but not without the usual post-surgery discomforts like backache if I sit for too long or stomach gas causing my abdomen to bloat up every once in a while. Insomnia was a problem for the first week but the thing that got me worried was having my hair fall out without me even touching it. CoolTeen, who helped to sweep the floor, kept complaining about finding hair all over the place...specifically my hair.

So I'm really glad to have stumbled upon this website HysterSisters that has a wealth of information about hysterectomy and from there I found out that all the backache, wind in the tummy and hair-fall is actually quite common to those who have undergone surgery...phew!

Time seems to pass by painfully slow now that I am stuck at home but people have been so thoughtful and I can't help but smile when I see these...

A 'Get Well Soon' card signed by the Techflow committee, university students

Cupcakes from a nearby bakery...I always love pretty cupcakes!

I'm beginning to get addicted to these sour sweets :D

Pillow chosen by my daughter for me to use to support my abdomen and lessen the pain when I get up from the bed or sofa.

Gifts brought by family and friends. I now have enough Essence of Chicken to last me the whole of next year!

And of course, PreTeen says this little 15cm Teddy bear keeps me company when hubby and kids need to go out for a while and I'm all alone at home.

And not to mention my mum-in-law's yummy chicken soup and the fact that my hair has stopped falling (big smiles).

8 Days Post-Op

2010-11-23T23:53:00.000+08:00

It's been 8 days since my hysterectomy and I am beginning to feel a little bored at home doing nothing. Have you noticed that there's always nothing interesting to watch on TV when you have time to watch TV....?!

Hubby went out with the kids for a few hours the other day. Before leaving the house he made sure that I had everything I needed to keep myself occupied and comfortable. He set up the laptop for me in case I wanted to surf the internet and I had a bottle of water, my handphone and TV remote control with me on the sofa.

He also made sure I had contraptions that I could use to help me pick things up from the floor (since I can't bend down too much)...

belongs to my daughter

...and something to help me reach the fuse box and turn off the power supply to my bedroom in case there is lightning, because the modem is in the master bedroom (as I can't go up and down the stairs too often)...

kitchen utensils turned into a hook of some sort

...a closer view of the melon scoop to help me hook stuff

And I had settled down comfortably on the sofa to watch some TV thinking that I had everything close at hand... until the house phone rang...and it was way on the OTHER side of the room...sigh...

Goodbye, My Uterus

2010-11-20T11:08:00.193+08:00

The time has come
But I won't shed tears,
Although you've been with me
For 40 plus years.

Thanks for being a home
To each of my unborn child,
I wish the unwelcome stranger
Would only stay a while.

But it kept growing bigger
Every month or two,
My pants got tighter and tighter
And I often visited the loo.

So I bid you farewell
My upside-down pear-shaped friend,
I'm looking forward to
Regaining a flat tummy again.

It was a difficult decision to make...whether to go for a major surgery or to just bear with all the inconveniences of having a uterine fibroid grow larger every few months and dominate the space in my abdomen, squeezing my poor bladder into a little corner.

But when my pants got tighter and tighter, I knew that my uterus had to go. I am a long way from menopause (by which time the fibroid will shrink) and I certainly was not keen for people to keep asking whether I was pregnant or not...especially since my kids are already teenagers.

So a date was set...15th November 2010.

Monday 15th November:

10am - Arrived at Gleneagles Intan Medical Centre, Jalan Ampang with hubby. Admitted to a 4-bedded ward because no beds were available yet. Waited for about an hour before I could actually go to the ward.

11.15am - Taken to the ward, my bed is by the window. The ward is pretty noisy with the other patients having visitors. Blood and urine sample taken. Asked to be upgraded to a single room. Waiting time begins.

12.00noon - no lunch for me, have been fasting since midnight last night. Can't even drink water :(

2.30pm - single bedded room is finally available after someone got discharged. It's so much more convenient to have my own bathroom instead of sharing with 3 other patients.

3pm - wheeled into the Operation Theatre waiting area, it was nice of the nurse to ask hubby to accompany me for a while before I get wheeled into the OT. Hair is put into something that looks like a shower cap. Feeling a little nervous...

3.30pm - OT is like a very large freezer. Hooked up to drips and a machine that monitors my heartbeat. Anaesthesiologist puts a breathing mask over my face and asks me to take deep breaths. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out...and I am out.

6pm - I wake up in some pain. I am in the waiting area of the OT again. Hubby is there too. Wheeled back to my room and given a jab for the pain.

Throat feels extremely dry but am able to talk after I get a few sips of water. Groggy, but try to chat with hubby for a while. Drift off to sleep. Hubby goes home.

view from my room

Tuesday 16th November:

7am - Wake up. Hooked up to drips and external urine bag so I can't get out of bed. Nurse comes to check temperature and blood pressure. No need to eat since the IV drip supplies all the nutrition I need, I just drink water. Throat is still dry and my voice is raspy.

8.30am - Phones hubby at his office to let him know I'm ok. He'll be coming after lunch. Nurse comes to give me a spongebath...glad that she uses warm disposable wipes. Watched some TV after that...quite a good selection of Astro channels available :)

My pastors and some friends drop by throughout the day. I am able to sit up in bed for short periods. Love the remote controlled bed...at the click of the remote I can adjust the bed for maximum comfort (big grins). Hubby brings my in-laws and kids after dinner.

my own itty bitty tv

Wednesday 17th November:

Feeling much better. Am now on a liquid diet...clear soup for lunch and dinner. Friends and family drop by throughout the day since it's a public holiday. Unhooked from drips and urine bag (hurray!) and can get down from bed. Can walk around the room a bit. Felt rather drained by bedtime but couldn't sleep. Finally dozed off but kept waking up every 2 or 3 hours :(

IV drip securely taped

Thursday 18th November:

Had a relaxing day watching TV, and napping now and then. Glad to have internet access on my handphone. Am on a soft diet of soft rice, hospital food is not too bad. Took a short walk around the ward. Doc says I can go home tomorrow :D

my lunch - soft rice with chicken and vege

my bed for the past few days

...and the remote control that made my stay more comfy

Friday 19th November:

Discharged at 11.30am but the bill took quite a while to be processed. Finally able to leave for home at 2 pm. Am hogging the sofa, TV and laptop for the next 3 weeks. Plan to stay downstairs during the daytime and go upstairs before bedtime at night.

It was certainly strange to see hubby and the kids cleaning the house while I laze around on the sofa. Am officially banned from my own kitchen for a few weeks, and I am so going to enjoy the next 3 weeks of total rest :)

A Change Of Colour

2010-11-14T00:22:00.001+08:00

Went to buy PreTeen's new school uniform after dinner today. Thought I'd better get it early because I remember at the end of December before CoolTeen started Form 1 I had a difficult time buying his secondary school uniform because most of the sizes were already sold out.

My girl will be wearing a new colour soon...no more dark blue pinafore but a light blue one. She looked so grown up when she tried on her new uniform at the store and there were only a few more sets of her size left. She even got a baju kurung set, and giggled when she tried it on because she had never worn a baju kurung before. I made sure it wasn't too long so that she wouldn't trip over her skirt in school...or she will never wear it again (teenagers being so easily embarassed and all)

Too Much Plastic

2010-11-10T23:29:00.003+08:00

I was buying some gifts at MiniToons store in Sunway Pyramid the other day when I was given a free membership card for purchases above RM50, to add to my ever growing collection of free membership cards.

My wallet keeps getting fatter, not because I have lots of cash (how i wish!), but because I keep getting all these discount cards...which I often forget to use because I can't really remember which cards I have...until I have already bought my stuff and then I realise, "Hey, I have a member's card for this shop"! Getting older, memory not so good...sigh.

Membership cards seem to be the trend nowadays...even the neighbourhood Chinese sundry shop has a card! Here are just a few of the very many cards I have in my collection....

It's Official!

2010-11-06T00:34:00.001+08:00

Today Miss PreTeen and I were standing in front of a full length mirror when I noticed that she is now 1cm taller than me. The time has finally arrived and I am sad to declare that I am now officially the shortest person in our family...! CoolTeen is a whole head taller than me and hopes to be as tall as, if not taller, than his dad.

Oh well, time to dig out my stilettos and platform shoes (by the way, those are not my legs in the picture...wish they were!)

21st Century Char Kuay Teow

2010-11-02T23:28:00.001+08:00

I love char kuay teow. A new char kuay teow stall has opened at a food court about 5 minutes' drive away from my home. This is no ordinary char kuay teow stall - the owner, Jacky, gave his business card, and says we can call up and make our orders then come and collect it. No need to find parking or wait in line when there are many customers, how convenient.

Not only that, he is pretty IT savvy too and has a Facebook account and even a blog - he runs a few stalls at various parts of the city and he informs his customers of his whereabouts. How's that for a 21st century char kuay teow stall!

My New Buddy

2010-10-25T23:14:00.001+08:00

Hubby was so sweet to get me this a few weeks ago...

It's a mini version of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 touch-screen phone. The reviews on the internet for this model is quite good and I love that it is only slightly larger than a credit card and hardly takes up much space in my very cluttered handbag (a mom always carries everything in her handbag...including safety pins, plasters, Panadol/Actal, sewing kit, nail-clipper, measuring tape...just in case someone needs them).

It runs on Android which means that I have access to a very large variety of free downloads - wallpapers, ringtones, games and apps. And I have discovered the convenience of...WiFi! Now I can just find a place with free WiFi, order a drink or dessert, and surf to my heart's content while waiting for my kids to finish their classes....instead of sitting in the car deleting old SMSes or photos from my phone like what I used to do while waiting.

The only thing that needed a little getting used to is the virtual keypad. It takes me such a long time to type a simple SMS because I keep tapping the wrong keys depending on the angle my finger comes into contact with the screen. Like what my older brother said when he first got his I Pad and tried to type, "The back key is the one most often used"...!

Like all phones, the X10 mini has its short-comings...like not being able to pair with another device using bluetooth unless the other device runs on Android too, not being able to 'send contact' and that you need a very steady hand to capture clear photos but with a little bit of research on the internet someone always has a solution.

And to think that all I wanted from a phone is to be able to make/receive calls, send/receive SMSes and take good photos...I now have a virtual piano, a guitar tuner, loads of lovely wallpapers, a very funny ringtone, some cool games and even a Bible in my phone...the many functions on this little cutey has far exceeded my expectations (big grins).

Say What?!

2010-10-11T22:35:00.003+08:00

Hubby's phone had started giving problems, it would frequently 'hang' in the middle of an application and he would have to restart his phone, so I said that perhaps he should trade it in for a new phone before it totally broke down.

Touch screen phones are all the rage these days, so hubby traded in his old HTC for a new touch-screen one...nice!

As with all new phones, it takes quite a bit of getting used to, and one day hubby was typing an SMS to a sick colleague and he wanted to type 'take care' but somehow the spellcheck function turned it into 'take crap'! Thankfully he checked his SMS before tapping SEND! I'm quite sure the person receiving the SMS would really be offended...imagine being sick and receiving a 'take crap' message...haha!

It shows that we can't be 100% dependent on modern technology and devices. Calling someone to convey a message is always better than a long SMS, though I admit I do use SMS more than making calls because of the convenience...sometimes the other person may not be free to talk when I call. But having said all that, I still believe that the human touch always makes a difference ;)

Facebook Lingo In Everyday Life

2010-10-08T00:00:00.001+08:00

Facebook has become so much a part of our daily life. I check my Facebook news feed every day and it's nice to be able to keep in touch with friends, especially those who are in another state or living in another country, and see from their photos how big my friend's kids have grown or what my friends have been up to lately.

We moms also get to know a lot about our own kids and their friends from FB...just add their friends into our Friends list! I have had a few of CoolTeen's friends requesting to be added as a friend, strange but true.

Have you ever wondered how life would be if Facebook became a reality? I don't think many of us do, but someone sure did and came up with this video clip...

It's Been 22 Years

2010-10-06T00:02:00.002+08:00

Our church celebrated her 22nd anniversary yesterday with a colourful flag dance by the children and a short drama by the youths. It's been 22 years and I have been a part of this church from the very beginning, when I had just finished my studies. It has been my privilege to serve in the music department as well as put up stage presentations on special occasions like Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, our church anniversary and of course, Christmas.

Hubby faithfully helps me record all the presentations with his trusty videocam and I have quite a collection of them by now. It's such a joy to see ideas that play in my head become a reality on the stage. The few minutes before 'showtime' is always the nail-biting moments because things could always go wrong, but by the grace of God everything always falls into place...because all this is done for His honour and glory. God is good.

Much Ado About Hair

2010-09-29T00:00:00.005+08:00

Hair is vitally personal to children. They weep vigorously when it is cut for the first time; no matter how it grows, bushy, straight or curly, they feel they are being shorn of a part of their personality. ~Charles Chaplin, My Autobiography, 1964

Miss PreTeen wants to do hair rebonding during the year-end school holidays. She was born rather bald, then when her hair started growing it came out in beautiful little ringlet curls. I was her first hairdresser and I gave her haircuts until she was about 6 or 7. Then her curls disappeared when she grew her hair really long...probably due to the weight of her hair. Now it's slightly wavy but she would prefer it really straight. Everyday she uses the hairdryer to straighten out her wavy fringe. She'll be a full-fledged teenager in a few months' time and it seems that bad hair days cannot exist in Teen World.

CoolTeen also didn't have much hair as a baby and when his hair grew, it was really fine and straight. It used to stand straight up on his head and he would always wear a cap to flatten his hair down. He really hated getting his hair cut and we always had to bring a toy or biscuits to distract him whenever we took him for a haircut. To make it less traumatizing for him I bought a hair clipper (the electric one that the barber uses) and became his hairdresser when he was about 3. Boys being boys, he could never sit still and I had to give him loads of books to read to make him keep his head still for about 20 minutes before he starts to fidget. Hubby took him for haircuts at the nearby barbershop when he turned 5, and both father and son would go for haircuts together. When CoolTeen turned 13, he decided that the barbershop hairstyles were not so cool and he tried hair salons instead. His hair is his treasure and he would stand in front of every reflective surface to check his hair and make sure every strand is in place, something that he still does now. One time I caught him using one of my shiny new pot covers in the kitchen to check his hair! Till now he still hates to get his hair cut and would try to cut as little as possible whenever he goes to the hairdresser, much to my annoyance...so I let him be and I tell him that I get to save money on his haircuts when he gets a free haircut in school...courtesy of the discipline teacher!

As for me, I must admit that I have always been rather vain. I loved to change my hairstyle ever since I was in primary school, and I had a scrap book with pictures of different hairstyles that I cut out from my mom's magazines. I would put my hair in curlers when I was about 10 or 11. When I was 12 I cut my own hair with the help of 3 mirrors, so that I could see the side and back of my head, and it didn't turn out too bad. My mom really thought that I would become a hairstylist one day. I have tried all kinds of hair styles - short, long, straight, curly. Just last week I permed and coloured my hair in one day against my hairdresser's advice...something I have never tried before (yes, I'm a risk-taker)... and the results were rather disastrous. My hair turned really dry and frizzy. The funny thing is that expensive products couldn't tame it but the cheap one did...strange.

Found this funny quote on the internet:

A fine head of hair adds beauty to a good face, and terror to an ugly one. ~Lycurgus

How true, haha.

Mozart The Litter-Bug?

2010-09-24T00:16:00.003+08:00

Saw this advertisement in a magazine for a children's music course... poor Mozart...they are calling him a litter-bug! The proper name for the course is actually Music For Little Mozarts which my kids attended when they were about 4 or 5 years old and subsequently moved on to piano lessons.

I Got A Crush On You

2010-09-17T23:23:00.011+08:00

Recently the small fish pond in our garden has been rather popular with frogs and toads when all the fish died. Hubby found tadpoles in the water one day and had to clean out the entire pond to get rid of them. He also added some new fish to keep the frogs from laying eggs in the pond, but one particular frog would still come to visit.

Tonight we understood why, as we caught sight of that one lonely frog (circled in red in the 2nd photo) sitting on one of the stones in the pond...

...looking adoringly at the ceramic fish by the side of the pond???

Now that's infatuation...froggy style!

My 'Prototype' Mooncakes

2010-09-12T23:14:00.008+08:00

The Mooncake Festival is around the corner and the price of mooncakes has risen again from last year. It's becoming so expensive that I would be very careful while eating it, knowing that a single crumb that drops on the floor may be worth about one Ringgit...! (ok,ok, I'm exaggerating, but it's kind of hard on the pocket)

So being a DIY kind of mom, I thought I would make my own mooncakes this year...no, not the jelly kind that I often make...but the "baked-in-the-oven lotus paste mooncakes with pumpkin seeds" kind. One of my friends (who bakes mooncakes every year) told me that it really isn't very difficult. So feeling encouraged, I looked up the recipe on the internet and bought all the ingredients.

Ok, first of all I had to melt sugar with some water to make a syrup. Not too difficult, right?

WRONG.

The sugar refused to melt to a golden colour (as stated in the recipe) even after one whole hour of boiling, by which time my feet were aching from standing so long watching the fire so that the sugar won't get burnt...so I dumped the whole pot of syrup and used bought-off-the-shelf golden syrup instead.

I mix the ingredients and make my mooncake skin dough. It turns out really, really sticky and gooey but I need to let it rest at least 3 hours, so hopefully by then it would turn into a pliable consistency.

WRONG...again.

I had to add extra flour to the dough mixture so that I could knead it and divide it into 15 equal portions without the whole piece of dough stuck to my hand like a second skin!

OK, I finally manage to wrap the dough around small round balls of lotus paste mixed with pumpkin seeds and try to stuff the first one into the mould.

Oops...over-estimated the size...the mooncake turns out into an ugly mis-shapen lump...(sounds of hubby and kids laughing in the background, and hubby whips out his camera)

This time I reduce the quantity of the lotus paste and dough, and manage to make the mooncakes look more decent.

Brushed them with some egg wash and popped them into the oven. When they're done they don't look too bad.

The taste? Not too good....the skin was quite hard and the filling was a little too dry.

I got some more tips from my friend and I suppose I will try baking mooncakes again....next year. Right now I am wondering how I am going to finish all these mooncakes since they are not good enough to be given away...

Just Buy A New One

2010-09-06T22:09:00.003+08:00

My trusty hairdryer, which I got for free a few years ago when I redeemed some points with Real Rewards, has finally given up on me. I had tried to use it earlier and I saw the wire glowing red where it joins to the 3-pin plug. Then there was a burning smell, which meant that something was seriously wrong and that I should just switch off the hairdryer rather than risk setting my (precious) hair on fire.

Hubby had a look at it, plugged the hairdryer into the electric socket to test it and there was a loud "POP" which tripped the electrical supply to a section of our house. Then he decided to chop off the offending part...(reminds me of the Red Queen in the recent movie 'Alice In Wonderland', who loved to yell "Off with his head!!"...well, in this case..."Off with the tail"? haha)

...and said that he could probably change the 3-pin plug but wasn't sure if the mini explosion had damaged the whole wire, but he could try to get it repaired. As much as I loved this hairdryer, I thought it would be better to just buy a new one. See, to us ladies the solution to most problems with electrical appliances is simple...just go buy a new one! Men on the other hand...ok, time to zip it and not say anything because hubby reads my blog...