Little Reader Chinese

Remember I wrote about Little Reader sometime back. And this time I was offered to try out the Little Reader Chinese (LRC). And of course I was excited and decided to take it on. Thanks, Brillkids for giving me the chance.




I have planned to send AIR1 to a kindergarten where Chinese is also taught. In whatever available time I have with him, I try to speak to him in as many languages as I can. However, when I try to speak to him in Chinese, he keeps quiet. I know he is absorbing, but I just wonder how much and if it is correct. I have used flash cards too, but he will say the 'item/animal/object' he sees in English or Malay but not in Chinese.




Then one day when I tried LRC with him, I was surprised that he responded and followed every word which was recited. And of course I translated it to him too. He especially like the 'Multisensory' animation with the baby or the kids. He enjoyed it and wanted more.







It would show the baby moving to lie down on the bed.

I was surprised by the reaction of AIR1 and how such a simple animation could attract a respond from a young child. Now I am hopeful he is actually learning the correct thing and pronounciation. He has managed to repeat clearly and even wanted to learn more. That was an almost-3-year-old.

Then it managed to exicte AIR2, who is now 17 months old. She too loved the 'Multisensory' segment. And both of them can just watch it repeatedly as AIR1 taps the mouse.

It has the same level of 'interactiveness' as the Little Reader, but of course I hope in due time, the Chinese words can be recognized by both of them. The pronunciation is clear and easily understood and repeated by AIR1. I gather AIR2 is listening and waiting for the right time before she too can 'read' and repeat what she hears correctly!!

Now, to another 255 days of lessons and more exciting things to come!! Can't wait as it is not a daily thing yet for us. Weekends and certain weekday nights for now. Two days to go till the next session!! Yipee!!

Nike We Run KL 10k

I'm bored...when is this going to end, Mummy?

Yeah, the finishing is in view!!

In the beginning, it felt like a daunting thing to bring two AIRs with me along to this 10km run. I have ran with only either one before, and the most recent, probly a month back, with AIR2, 9+km. So the thought of 2, and 10km?? Kinda scarry.

I asked Fong to join us. And she gladly came. Looking forward to this. And of course, time was immaterial, but up to 6+km, we were doing good. Then the hiccups started to set in. However, it was not important. It was 6 of us finishing the run and enjoying every bit of it that counted. :)

Let's walk to the finish together

Thanks to Kam, Jason & Victor for the photos.

Penang Bridge International Marathon 2011

Alright, this is one run I've taken a break from since I did the 42km. That was in 2006. And finally this year I decided to sign up due to the arrangement of events which somehow I ended up in Penang. Plus I ran with my god-sis, her bestie and well, it's one run which I think I've taken alot of photos before start. Ok, 3 only lah, but then again I usually don't take any ;p

Anyway, starting at 3.15am, I think it is the most absurb time it could be. But anyway, for the heck of it, I took the challenge. Quite optimistic after a good outing at the PJHalf (ok, pirate pun pirate lah ;p), I was aiming to just finish, and perhaps clock a decent time. No targets, knowing I'd not be able to do anything less that 2:30. I wasn't prepared.

As I ran, I looked out for people whom I know who would be taking part. Met a childhood friend and she was surprised to see me. Started the run pacing two white chicks as they seemed to be or reasonable pace. Somehow, at the 1st toilet stop, they stopped so I had no pacer. I ran keeping to the earlier pace until one fit-looking girl came up next to me. So I ran alongside her, until we reached the mid-span, and she started to breathe so hard and fast, it was distracting. Seriously. I was surprised and how calm and consistent my breathing was compared to hers, that at one point, her breathing was so distracting that I had to push myself to run ahead of her. I was running out of breath just listening to her breathe.

Crap. And I thought I was the un-fit one. OK OK, cannot compare this way.

BUt anyhow, we were somewhat the same pace, but surprisingly I was faster on the hill/slopes. hahahaha I am amazed. I'm always the slower one compared to anyone when it comes to hills. So I have Fong and Alvina to thank for this improvement.

Anyway, I was glad when we U-turned at 9.8km and approached a water station. BUt WHAT?? NO WATER? I was dying of thirst. I wanted to down my gel and finish with water, but no water? I was already regretting not running with my pals cos they had water in their fuel belt. One man actually begged the volunteers for whatever leftover they may have as he is dying of thirst. Decided to leave that drama, I ran. then I saw those small mineral water bottles on the siderails of the bridge. I scouted as I ran and there were a few almost full bottles. I just grabbed it and down some of the water while running. AAaaaaah life saver!

All that happened when I was also experiencing an onset of calf cramps. WHAT?? I've never experienced cramps ever while running!! This is not good! Change my stride but then my toes hurt. Changed it back, stopped to stretch then continued. 1-2km down the road I had to stop again. I was cursing just before the 17km U-turn. But when I reached, the isotonic water station was DA BEST!! Iced cold 100-Plus to clear my mind off the pain. Then the checkpoint and maybe bout 100m away was an icing-station. It was quite a relief when my calfs were iced. Then I took a slow 5km run back. The thoughts of stopping and icing them legs were very very strong. BUt I kept running till the end.

The sight of the finishing line seemed to take forever. I was glad I finished despite clocking a slower time. Truthfully? Kinda dissapointed that I had to experience cramps. BUt oh, did I mention that from KM6 or so onwards, I had indigestion. It was not pleasant. This translated into stomach cramps bout KM12 onwards.

Oh well, now I've experienced all the pain! But I will still come back again!!

What's the big deal?

The football match Malaysia vs Indonesia during the Finals of the SEA Games was perhaps the most highlighted event of the entire SEA Games for Malaysians.

But what's the BIG deal? Yeah, the fact that we won it now for the 2nd time in a row is quite a big deal, but wouldn't all the other GOLD medal winners feel somewhat shunned by all the extra publicity and praises/compliments the football team got compared to them?

I would, if I were them.

It is the same gold medal only in a different event, so shouldn't all be equal? Did the return of the Yoong siblings received such a grandeur celebration? Not to mention Aliyaah Yoong is the youngest ever gold medal winner in the SEA games. Isn't that even a greater achievement, not to mention for a 8-year-old!! And between the 3 of them, they brought in 5 golds for the country.

The football match was the talk of the whole office the very next day. But did anyone talk about Heidi Gan's 2 gold medal efforts in the 5km and 10km open water swim? And when Kimberly Yap won the women's triathlon in the previous games, twice consecutively, was she the talk of the country? No, only the triathlon community.

Biased? I really think so.

Plus all the money that goes into training these athletes....somewhat wrongly focussed and channelled to the wrong people.

Oh well....I think there should be some fairness in treating our athletes who have put in so much effort in their own ways to bring back the medals for the country!

16Nov2011

Phew! It was a tiring holiday.

The whole family, kids n grandparents included, and close family frens decided to take a cruise. So off we went on Superstar Libra for a 4D3N cruise Pg-Phuket-Krabi-Pg.

Indeed it was quite nice, minus the kids...but if kids included....its just not suitable. Well, technically not suitable for kids below 5, I'd say. Otherwise it'd be a perfect holiday. To make things worse, AIR1 just has to be at his 'best' at throwing tantrums in the morning daily. Until the staff there has recognized him. And then AIR2 wasn't too well with a stuffed nose and poor lil' girl was not comfy at times.

However, the trip also turned out to be a real workout for hub n I. We went to Patong Beach in Phuket and went to the Patong Ceylon Mall (can't really remember what exactly it was called). Almost 80% of the time, AIR1 wanted to be carried. And so he stuck to me like a semi-permanent attachment ;p Even slept on me throughout our 1.5-2km walk from the complex to the jetty. And AIR2 stuck to hub...and together we had out weight workout. ;p Thank goodness my knees are still intact and not sore...and hopefuly ready for PBIM this sunday.

But anyways, so what's so special on 16Nov 2011?

Got back to good ol' Pg and shortly after all the chaotic disembarkment etc etc and reached home, I got a call from a strange number. Thinking it was from True Fitness who was for the umpteenth time trying to give me a 2-week free pass and remind me to go collect it as it was almost 2 weeks since my appointment. I answered and there was this Chinese sounding guy trying his best to speak broken malay to me. I was almost annoyed, but when he told me he was calling from Dumex Mamil, I listened a bit more. At the back of my mind I thought he was trying to get me to update my info on their database or something of that sort.

Then he mentioned something which caught me instantly...which I didn't pay attention initially. He asked if I joined the contest, but I heard if I had joined the Mamil Club ...hahaha then by then I spoke English to him and I guess he was relieved. He proceeded to congratulate me. And said I've won. I expected him to say I won RM500 for AIR2 (cos I put her name there) and RM500 was the consolation prize, but he said congratulations, you won RM5,000.!!! I was like 'WHAT? Oh, ok...' pretending to be cool. And now, he is talking!!

So info n procedures were mentioned. Thank God I answered the call. Now I wonder if he had tried many times to call me earlier but failed.

And when I looked at the contest details again, I was surprised...RM5,000 is actually the 1st prize for the weekly winner!!

Woweeee! 1st time ever winning a first prize in contest of this sort....(Fear Factor doesn't count, ok.) ;p

Now can't wait to get the bank acc set up for AIR2! Yipee!! (aptly said and pun intended! - am supposed to open a Yipee savings account thru Maybank) hahahaha ;p

Now time to go zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

New routine

Oh dear...it's driving me nuts!! Testing my patience actually.

The moment AIR1 cries because of some menial thing and runs to me, AIR2 will for some reason or other cry too and come rushing to me, fighting her brother off, just to get to me.

And when there's no valid reason to pull a fuss, AIR1 will somehow think of a 'reason' to do so. The most common so far - say his toe/finger hurts.

Oh well, he is one creative boy, I'd say....hahaha

It's cute and entertaining watching their antics, but can be seriously stressful especially when AIR1 just can't stop making a fuss out of nothing. THE worst part is it always happens when he is sleepy!! And almost daily!!!

Adoi!!

Test of patience.

And no amount of diversion from Daddy would take AIR2 away from me so that I am onle left with one of them at the same time. Crap! The only way to 'calm them' is to carry both and eventually AIR2 will be satisfied.

Hmmm does your kids behave like this?

PJ Half Marathon 2011

Finally another run event but this time, Fong & I 'pirated' it.

I was fed up of signing up and then later something crops up and I can't make it. Yes, the timing can be freaking bad, and it HAS to be when there's a run I really want to go for, hub's time will be taken for some work. Oh well, so there goes the run. NB15km and Shape Night Run are few to mention.

Anyway, one lacks training and the other mid-way through pregnancy, so we decided to take it slow and easy.

Surprised that we managed to get parking easily (kind of) and we car-pooled. At 6.30am sharp (almost) we were flagged off. SO we started slowly. Starting from really at the end of the pack, it was the first for us. Usually we're stuck in the middle or near the front.

Caught up with Stupe and Aileen, took a snapshot and we trotted along. That was before the turn off to Federal Highway. As we entered Fed Highway, I was surprised that this time we ran in the motorcycle lane. Easy job for the police and marshalls. After a few minutes into it and it was no longer dark, I thought the guy next to us was Boone. Took a while to look and re-look before calling out to him. Looking great out there.

I was on a high. I felt good, but that was only 5km into the run. 16 more awaits and I didn't want to spoil it. So I stuck to our current pace. After the u-turn and alot more gossips, Fong was more quiet now. I took it as a sign and checked if she was ok. She said she was breathing heavily but still fine. Slowed down a little. Up the ramp towards Subang Airport and we slowed down a bit. Fong told me to go ahead. I went. Then came back to check on her before the flyover at Ara, just before the 12km mark, and Fong wanted to pit stop. Nearest pit stop would be BHP some 1.2km away. We initially wanted to u-turn at the Ara Damansara turn but since BHP is after that, we went ahead. I went on and came back to check again. Then another round. After that pit stop she had, she's now more energetic and ready to go!

So off we went again. She told me to go ahead so I agreed only after the u-turn we did. We turned at the roundabout and not at the designated u-turn, which was perhaps in total 1km less than the actual distance. Then off I went. The return had us run facing the bright sun. Not ideal. Glaring. Where there was motorcycle lane, we were running using it. Finally, like all runs, the last 1km seems toughest. But I enjoyed it this time because there were a few other ladies pacing me and wanting to run ahead of me. I guess they didn't notice I didn't have a timing chip on my shoe nor a number on my shirt. I was amused. :)

Finally arrived just before KJ stadium, where I stopped and backtracked to look for Fong. She was doing great!

The best part of it all - I felt great after the run. Knees were weird but they were not swollen and that weird feeling went off the next day. Only sore muscles.

I guess I'm pretty much ready for PBIM now. I thought I'd not make this 21km but now I'm more sure of myself. BUt then again, there are those good days and the bad days. Now let's hope 20th Nov will be as good as 30th Oct. :)

Salute to the preggy mummy!! She was fantastic! But I forgot to take photos of us again! ;p

Don't ask me who that ang moh is....;p

Happy Deepavali!!

Inspired by the Mount KK Climbathon. Wanted to register for this year's edition because it was close to my birthday and I thought it would've been a good family getaway, but I didn't. Fearing laack of training (which is awfully true) and of course trying to get the two kids along is quite tough especially when at a place where things may not be as convenient as back home.

So with serious lack of training and serious gainning of fat layers, I need to put in some decent milleage. Or perhaps the easiest would be to cut out/off those malaysian breakfast!! Crap! Control measures should be in plaace by Nov 2011! :)

In the meantime....PJ Half marathon will be a challenge. I wonder what kind of miserable timing would I be clocking?

And that;s a pre-emp for PBIM!!

Happy Deepavali folks!

In conjunction with that, lets hope I get to put in a minimum of 10km tomorrow morning!

Price of education

How much should sending your child to kindergarten or nursery cost?

I believe it should be cheaper.

Some of these kindys or nurseries cost per semester is as much as my one semester in a private college here in KL some years back. And these toddlers are only 3, 4, 5 or 6 years old! Oh boy!

*scratching head thinking of where to send AIR1 to now*

On an average, in the Damansara/TTDI area, RM500 is like normal. But of course there are cheaper ones approximate RM250-350 outside of this area.

Hmmm let me have another thought at it before deciding which should it be.

16 months

At 16 months (technically another 9 days to go), AIR2 still has 2 front teeth only!! hehehe but if you watch her eat, you'd never think that was the case. She eats almost everything you give her. Rice, noodles, chicken, vege, porridge, fruits, cereal etc but of course most will be cut to smaller pieces. She is eating more that AIR1. She can finish her portion and his too! :D

Not too stable yet in the walking department. Started walking only at 15 months. On the 2nd day she walked confidently, came back from the bbsitter and she started to try to kick a small ball. Boy oh Boy!! Must've seen those boys (and her brother) do it so often that she was just too excited to wait till later.

And like all other toddlers who have just started to walk, she refuses to be guided or to hold her hands, particularly when we are out of the house. She doesn't mind walking holding hands at home :P

She has started to hum to our singing (many months back), follow and try to pronounce the word correctly when read to, especially numbers 1-10 in Malay & English. I was amused when I first heard it. Now can't wait for her to be pronouncing properly.

And like her brother, she too loves to bully me. I have to reprimand her 3 times before she stops doing it, but her daddy has to just go 'hermmmmph' in a stern voice and she stops in her tracks.

Oh well. They grow up too fast....or it is because time pasts too fast? :D ;p

Alone with AIRs

It's whole 4 day of me alone with the kids, over the weekend too.

The 'problem' with this equation is, whenever four of us (hub, AIR1 and AIR2 and I) are together, AIRs will bully me. Yes....literally bully. So I anticipated a horrific, tiring, stressful weekend.

It started since Thursday night and today, Saturday night and suprisingly, all seems well. I was totally worried Sat would be hell. But AIR1 was well behaved, aside from 2 outbursts of stubborn-ness, which was expected of him as he was sleepy, everything was pretty much under control. Even managed to cook proper dinner for them, despite having to scream a couple of times as they invaded the kitchen and made it their playground.

AIR2 was very sticky to me. But it was merely because she was tired and refused to sleep. Now what else is new? ;p

I was amazed that AIR1 was so good to AIR2 the whole day, especially in the morning.

Now I shall see what happens tomorrow.

And on Mon, AIR1 will be going for trial kindy classes. I hope he'll be ok with it.

Cheap vege up for grabs!

Literally!!

Do you notice that most Tesco's will have a rack filled with vege which are already in not such good condition? Well, it's bundled up and perhaps its good to consume within the day or maybe 10% from the pack/bundle are not too fresh anymore. Well, I noticed they used to have that racked filled with almost rotten fruits and it really put me off.

OK, perhaps it was my bad and those fruits might have been lying there more than 1 day. I have recently been going to 'view that rack' to look for those prepacked salads which go for 20-30% of their original price. At RM7-9 per pack originally, am getting them for below RM2 now. And most are still in good and very fresh condition.

I do not have any idea when they usually bring this rack out, but I think those old ladies do. And they must have been waiting for it cos when I coincidentally went there, the racks were full and all the ladies were fighting/grabbing what they could. Luckily they were not 'fighting' for those salad packs. They were fighting for the local variety of vege.

Now I wonder if they (Tesco & the ladies) do that at a certain time everyday. It was quite amusing watching them after I picked my pack of salad. The type I got today wasn't my fav, but better than nothing I suppose.

Absence

Oh dear....am doing it again!

Not updating this negelcted blog. Darn!

And what have I got to say about it this time? Blame it on the kids again? Well, partly but I guess I was very tied up with alot of things too. October's been pretty busy.

And because life is so fragile, I think I'd just better write something today.

Another person in the running/cycling/tri-fratenity has passed on. It was indeed sad, knowing he was only 35 and it happened while he was out on his morning jog. And it could've been me...I was running at that time too. :(

Though I don't know him personally, but through sports, I've heard of him in the frat. Al-fathihah to his family and may the family be strong in going through this.

Little Reader

It’s almost the end of the year so what’s new?

Same time last year, I was contemplating sending AIR1 to kindergarten (kindy). Too young – my conclusion. Between then and now, I did go around searching for more info on kindy nearby my workplace.

With the arrival of AIR2, I find it more difficult to find time to sit and read to AIR1. There is always the ‘jealousy-factor’ and the ‘no-time-factor’. And at one point (like now), it’s both at the same time.

I realized the importance of reading to a young child, even before he knows how to speak/read with AIR1. I read a lot to him and we (hub & I) noticed his strong growing interests for books. But of course, not many parents today think of introducing ‘reading’ to their kids at very young age. Even people I know sometimes say that their kids don’t even respond or understand, so why read to them. And that’s the misconception. The kids actually absorb what is read to them and they remember.

We would read almost every night (not bed time stories though). But throughout the process, he will not repeat after me. Then one fine day, out of the blue, he can recite almost exact, (actually he made it seem to sound like what he hears), the things he heard many months ago. For instance, a nursery rhyme which I’ve not ‘read’ with him recently (or thought him the hand gestures which was done many months ago.

And I was glad I read to him. Flash cards, books, picture books and even just simple ABC.

Then I chanced upon ‘BrillKids’. Down loaded some trial programmes and found them useful.

One of those is ‘Little Reader’.
It’s sort of like a read-with-me programme which I personally thought was very engaging. AIR2 (at 15months old) can stand and watch the whole thing, while AIR1 (33 months) will follow the whole programme and follow/respond to what is asked for.


What I enjoyed most about the programme is the multisensory section of it (see the photo above). This part is also both the AIRs’ favourite as it draws reactions from these kids. The sound from the animal keeps them glued.

BrillKids has few programmes which can be downloaded and used for a trial period – 2 weeks, I believe. There’s even a Math programme, Littlw Musician and Little Reader (photo shows the interface of this programme).

And after I tried it once on AIR1, he’s been asking for more daily. And he even wants to have control over the slides/programme on his own. Although at times we don’t get to do it daily, I find that he has started to recognize words and read. Not from memory but from mere recognition.

Hop on to BrillKids and learn what it has in store for you. I can’t wait to go through Little Reader daily with him!

Disclaimer - I was provided this product in exchange for my honest, unbiased opinion. I was not paid for this review, nor required to write a positive review.

Slack

I've been such a slacker at updating my blog recently. Partly because I was really tied up with work and then there's the other reason - blame the kids ;p

Their late sleeping times do no justice as AIR2 always wants to have her say on the laptop too...and once in a while when 'mummy do work' excuse doesn't work, AIR1 will also butt in for his share of 'ABC'.

Today, one of the rare days...both asleep by 10pm with me. I say with me because when they're alone with me, I always get bullied. They sleep late and demand all sorts of things from me, despite me being stern. Maybe they detect that lil' soft spot in me, despite being stern :)

Now, at 15 months, AIR2 finally has started to walk...on her own, non-stop and even tried to play football...but with a much smaller ball. I guess she must've been itching to do that since the day she saw her brother do it.

then ,there's the 'bouncy' sessions on our bed which she always watches AIR1 enjoy himself doing. And finally, she tries to do it herself, i.e. hold and move hands up and down on her side (like jumping the star-jump), but in reality, her bouncing effect is from all the jumping AIR1 is doing on the bed. Ignorance is bliss....she thinks she is jumping, and she's so happy 'jumping'.

It;s been two consecutive days where she had mild fever at night...I hope it's just a sign of more teeth 'sprouting', because at 15 mths, she only has her two lower-jaw-bunny-teeth. But despite just having 2 teeth only, she eats all sorts of stuff.

1 more item on my to-do-list before I call it a night!
see u next week!

Halal Dim Sum

Recently, I keep having the feeling that I miss doing some of the things I used to do in the past. And one of the main ones, aside from swim, bike or run, is to have my weekly sunday morning dim sum breakfast. Oh I miss that!

Rewind to five years or more ago, if I don't have a race or long ride or run on a Sunday, that would be my weekly dimsum outing. And if I do have an event, sometimes that Sunday would be replaced with a Saturday. Seriously miss that.

Now the only thing that come close to this is I keep looking out for halal dimsum as and when I can and bear with the MSG-laden taste if I'm unlucky. Otherwise, pay a hefty sum to get a superb-tasting one.

And recently, I found one at CHINA TREASURES - a halal chinese cuisine restaurant sited at the Sime Darby Convention centre in Bukit Kiara. It was one of those 'discount coupon' thing which caught my attention. RM27 per pax(something like tat) for an ala-carte dimsum buffet. So bought 5 for the 5 of us from the office and finally we went last week.

I was expecting something like the one I get in Holiday Villa Subang's Chinese restaurant, but this was fantabulous. The variety and even the taste. But of course, the price per plate is also more expensive. Thank goodness we had the voucher.

At this place, it averages at RM9 per plate. Steep pricing, but if really no choice, this is really delicious, actually. Equavalent to those non-halal places. (In my opinion-lah)

So when the bill came, between the 5 of us, we had 30plates, and thats a whooping RM270, if ala-carte. However, we already paid for the voucher at RM135 and that's really a 50% saving. In actual fact, they do have that ala-carte buffet but it is at RM48+ I think. Can't remember. Which I think is also quite a good deal. Eat more than 5 plates, and you're equivalent already. Hahaha sound so greedy!

Anyway, if you're craving really good halal dimsum and don't mind paying, this is the place to go. Sorry, too busy eating and no photos taken. One unique dish was the salted egg yolk bun - which is actually a steamed pau, black in colour (yes, its black) with really nice creamy salted egg yolk filling. I can't describe it more, but just super delicious.

I will return! Likely with mum in tow. :)

Training

Post Raya training has been tough.

Immediately after Raya break, I was looking forward to a long run. I know I will suffer as the weekdays which were prior to this was filled with hopeless milleage and speed. So when Sun came (Sat had to abandon plans 10mins before leaving the house as all of a sudden AIR1 called out for me....and I spent the whole morning resting with him at home instead ;p), I left as early as I could.

Target - 3 loops
Loop #1 - slow, but felt good
Loop #2 - still slow and felt like dying at the steep slope
Loop #3 - half walked up that same steep slope

And I realise I need to put in more if I wanted to complete PBIM close to my PB or even my 1st half mara time in 2001 and 2000 respectively. Ouch...that's 10 years ago!!

Mon morning - the ache in my legs felt as though I ran a marathon...yes, literally.

And last week, long weekend, and I planned to run on all 3 days.
Fri - 3 loops, but this time I believe I was slower than the previous week. Seriously suffered. Short of breath after 1 loop.
Sat - 3 loops, though I wanted 4 but at the end of 3, felt like I was going to just die of shortness of breath
Sun - slow and easy with a friend. Felt good because I was not pressuring or pushing myself.

Need to rest and recover. Perhaps lack of sleep caused the breathing problems. Body was tired, I guess.

If I consistently do that 3 loops or 4 soon, every weekend, then I think I will be ok for PBIM. Otherwise I am having 2nd thoughts.

Decisions decisions.....should I or should I not sign up now??

out-of-office again

It feels as though its been quite a while since I went out of office, but I believe the last was sometime mid Aug, also to JB where I am now.

Right after Raya break I was 'out of office' too, but because work was still in Klang Valley, technically it felt like I was 'home'.

Kids sleeping late and barely have time to browse my social networking sites and blogs, I felt abit lost...kinda out dated :)

So here I am now trying to get updated on the happenings for the past 2 weeks :)

Piles - Harmorrhoids

Piles are round swellings on the inside of the anal canal - the short, muscular tube that connects your rectum (back passage) with your anus - in areas known as the anal cushions.

Although piles develop from inside your anal canal, they can hang down out of your rectum. They are graded as follows.
- First degree piles are swellings on the inside lining of your anal canal. They may bleed but can't be seen from outside the anus.
- Second degree piles are larger and stick out (prolapse) from the anus when you have a bowel movement, but return on their own afterwards.
- Third degree piles are similar, but hang out from your anus and only return inside when pushed back in.
- Fourth degree piles permanently hang down from your anus and you can't push them back inside. They may become extremely swollen and painful if the blood in them clots.
- External piles are swellings that develop from below the anal cushions. They can be more painful than the other types of piles.
Other causes of lumps around the anus can include a sentinel pile, which is the painless skin tag that develops when a crack in the anus (an anal fissure) heals up

Common symptoms of piles include:
- painless bleeding from your anus, which you may notice in the toilet bowl or when you use toilet paper, or from soiled underwear
- a lump on your anus
- a slimy discharge of mucus
- a feeling that your bowels haven't emptied completely
- itchy skin around your anus
- swelling around your anus
- pain and discomfort after a bowel movement if you have external piles

These symptoms may be caused by problems other than piles. You should visit your GP for advice.

Causes of piles

The exact cause of piles isn't known.
One theory is that piles are a result of a weakness of the tissue that connects the anal cushions to the muscle layers underneath. In combination with frequently straining while passing hard bowel movements, this can cause the anal cushions to slide out of their usual place and down the rectum.
You're more likely to develop piles:
- if you eat a low-fibre diet
- if you strain to empty your bowels (for example, if you have constipation)
- as you age because the support structures in your rectum weaken
- if you're pregnant
- if you're born with a weakness in your rectum or have a family history of piles

The information was extracted from www.bupa.co.uk

And why on earth am I writing about piles?

After about 2.5 weeks of fasting during Ramadhan, I noticed something wasn't very right with me. I do occassionally suffer constipation, mild and usually recovers on its own. Unfortunately one day I had 2 to 3 of the symptoms listed above. With the occassional discomfort where the sun don't shine, I had to check it out. I was worried.

Since I knew of piles long time ago, my mental picture of it was extremely different from the reality. I googled photos of it and finally self-diagnosed myself to have it. Disheartened and worried it may be more serious (I had the fourth type and possibly also the external ones), I went to the pharmacy and asked for medication for this, as it was almost the weekend and the most convenient lady-dr is only available on Mon.

Miraculously, by Sun I was cured. Cured in the sense the discomfort was gone and I believe no 'lump' was there anymore....

Thank God.

The cause of it all? My extreme diet change during the Ramadhan month. Not enough fruits and fibre in my diet. My daily lunch intake always has lots of vege n fruits. But during ramadhan.....no lunch, and all that also gone. Param food leaves me with not much option and no one sells sliced pineapple in the evening ;p

There were days where I actually had salad as my sahur after this incident. :)

Now lets aim to eat healthily and piles, be GONE!

Update update

So much to update (really? that much? kekeke) but not enough time...late nights throughout the long break I had (yes, late nights, but not partying, late nights thanks to the kiddos...;p) and hence I don't get the chance to go online...

AIR2 loves to have her say with the lappy too....AIR1 already understands that 'Mummy do work' and leaves me alone...unless his angry-bird-mood returns and wants to play angry bird or watch 'pirates' = Jake & the Neverland Pirates on YouTube.

So I will update with photos when I can again. The looooong leave has taken a toll on my morning kickstarts and everything else ;p

Post Holiday Syndrome

arrrgh!!

How long would it take for me to adjust to waking up early again??

Mon - thank God I was on leave....woke up 730am
Tues - after goodness knows how many times my alarm rang and was 'snoozed-upon' I woke up...luckily it was 530am.
Wed - same as Tues, except that my attempt to sleep early the night before was foiled as the kids were the heroes of the day....1130pm and still going strong...mummy half dead.

And so Wednesday's morning run was like dragging dead logs along and I think I must've ran at 8min pace or something....well good enough to get some adrenaline out and wake myself up to last till lunch time, at least :)

Breastfeed on the run

When AIR2 was between 1-2 months, and we went out shopping, I will carry her in the sling. It was the most convenient thing ever.

What I loved about it was also the fact that I could even BF her while shopping and walking around without people realising it. I didn't have to stop, find a seat or a suitable spot before I could feed her.

I've also BFed AIR1 while driving...ok, I know it is dangerous, but I had no where to stop and the poor baby was crying himself silly. It was a short stretch before I found a place to stop. And that was only once!

But today, I found out that there are some people who are able to do more amazing things! On the way for some so-called last minute grocery shopping in Gurun, we were tailing a motorcyclist. What caught my attention was the toddler standing on the bike between the dad (driver) and mum (pillion) was that she had brownish hair. THe kind of brown where I read that is actually some mineral/vitamin deficiency in toddlers. Then I noticed that she was crying out and all of a sudden, the mum laid her down. Hub thought she was putting her to sleep, but I suddenly saw that she was slowly lifting her blouse. I just exclaimed - OMG, she's goona BF that lil' girl!! Amazing! I'm sure she's done this more than once. She's probably and expert at it already.

Now, talk about breastfeeding on the run!!

Salam Aidilfitri

Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir & Batin to all my Muslim friends out there!!

And Happy Merdeka & Happy HOlidays to all!!

Dark days diguisesi

Is there always a silver lining (or gold maybe?) underneath every dark cloud?

How to wake up early?

Eversince the mobile phone with alarm was available, I've stopped using the 'traditional' alarm clock. And that has been my loyal device until AIR2 came along. More like until the last few months.

AIR2 used to awaken at about 5am plus for her morning feed, and she's my alarm every weekday. I've had occasions when I over-used the snooze button until I was almost late, but my 'reliable alarm' AIR2 never fails to alert me right on time. But of course there are occasions when her 5am was 3am instead cos the night was cold and of course the lil' tummy got hungrier faster.

During the month of Ramadhan, she wakes up approximately an hour earlier. Now is that plain coincidence or she just wants to remain being my ever-reliable 'live' alarm?

Buka Puasa in KL Hilton

Dissapointing buka puasa last night. Hub had an invitation to attend Proton's Buka Puasa with the Media at Hilton KL. Hearing the good feedback on food there, we were excited.

It was also because last week we had buka puasa with Les' Copaque in One World Hotel's Cinnamon Coffee House and the spread was endless. If I sampled just one bit from each, I think I'd explode. There was just too many types and the variety was endless. Pasta, Desserts, Dim Sum, from the Grill, Japanese, Chinese, Yong Tou Foo, Roasted Lamb, Malay dishes, Indian food & curries, Salads, Fruits, Drinks, Soups and I can't even remember how many dishes they had. It was just endless.

So expecting the same spread, we were totally dissapointed. The event was held at the Ballroom, and not in any of its restaurant. Hence, the spread was specially catered for this event. And as you can guess by now, it wasn't very impressive. Bubur Lambuk seafood, Oxtail soup to start. Some gado-gado, strange looking Malaysian/Indon salad which I have no idea what it was, roast duck, roast chicken, rendang kerang, serunding and some other light stuff which didn't look too apetizing. Mains had rice, nasi minyak and fried lou shi fun (short fat noodles ;p), rendang beef, dry curry lamb, curry chicken, sweet and sour fish (which was totally hard), sambal prawns, mix vege and one other curry like dish which I don't remember.

Desserts wasn't that appealing either. Some sago jelly thing, coconut pudding, pandan jelly/truffle like stuff, mixed fruit platter and bread pudding (which was not up to standard at all). Fruits pun so pathetic. Only thing different, they served markisa.

In the begining they had an array of about 5-6 selections of drinks and juices and teh tarik and nescafe tarik. By the time I wanted my juices, it was all gone and no refills. Pathetic. Thank goodness I had my fill of teh tarik and nescafe tarik, which were good. Tried their coffee and it wasn't that nice.

Oh, forgot, they served curry noodles, roti boom and roti canai and some kebab/pita thingy which I wasn't bothered.

Sorry no photos cos I'd look weird trying to snap amongst all those hungry faces :)

Wasn't satisfied. Had a large iced lemon tea on the way home and that was totally refreshing! It was a long hot day on site and that was what I wanted most!

Now, I wonder if we may have any next week?

What's for sahur?

Running out of ideas. I'm the no-fuss,no-frills-type during sahur....Laziness personified ;p

For the first week, I had roti jala almost every morning. 2nd week, I continued but on certain days there was fried bihun or just egg sandwich. And now, running into the 3rd calender week, I'm out of ideas. I even had just vege yesterday morning with 1 slice of bread. I guess I couldn't sustain on roti jala because the quality of the curry which comes with it just deteriorated as the days went by. Alternative curry was not easily accessible hence I just stopped.

Siu mai which I had 2 days back was superb. Too bad today we didn't go to the TTDI bazaar so no supply :(

Now what shall I have tomorrow? Tempted to cook spagethi tonight but then AIR2 suddenly awakens and now I'm stuck. Oh well....save that for the weekend perhaps.

Well....

Half of Ramadhan is over!

I barely have time to do anything at home during the fasting month.

Sadly the routine has been - feed the kids, break fast (or concurrently), rest a while (20-30mins depending on what permits) and then AIR1 and AIR2 will make sure you are part of their games, or TV/DVD watching sessions. This goes on till 1030 - 11pm on most days and even almost 12midnight on occasionally days where AIR2 refuses to sleep.

Adoi...on the other hand, am looking forward to waking up at 4am, spin and then sahur. After 16 days, I've only done that twice. Resorted to sahur then run at 715am instead. Consistent but I just don't have enough time to run more than 4km each session. Does not help in improving my stamina. But I guess its better than nothing :)

the huge butterfly which visited us on the 14th day of Ramadhan....as much as both of them like watching it, they were afraid of getting close to it

AIR2 at 14 months

And today is one of the rare days where they're asleep by 10am (we were on the way back home) hence I have some time to do my work.

Noticed that I've also been slacking at posting pictures. I guess handling 2 fellas while eating or doing something occupies us. And I tend to forget. Not to forget my 'diva' son who dislikes to be photographed. :)

Selamat menyambut Nuzul al-Quran!

Want not, waste not during Ramadhan....

From my personal point of view, there are a lot of wastage during the month of Ramadhan. Why do I say so?

1. Majority of the people who fast would at least take-away (tapau-lah) from the Bazaar every evening. Some a few items, some just one or two but how many actually carry their own recycle bags or reusable containers? If lucky, maybe a handful, otherwise none at all. Plastic and Styrofoam waste are generated, and in large quantities too.

2. Food – all that we buy from the Bazaar or even from the buffets we go or get-togethers, sometimes go unfinished. Organic waste.

3. Buffets – is so common during Ramadhan nowadays. And they don’t come cheap. A decent one in a relatively decent hotel may cost from RM50 and above. Some go up to RM100+. Some eateries/restaurants offer buffet too and are not that cheap. And how many times a week do you frequent these places? That compared to normal non-fasting months of the year. Some don’t even go to a buffet at all until the fasting month. And how much do you actually eat which is of that value? Waste of money!

But seriously, don’t you think so? The month of Ramadhan has become so commercialized. Now I wish people would realize this and save the environment. Their pockets – I don’t care, but the poor environment gets an additional influx of waste one month a year.

Sadly, I am one of the contributors too, especially when hub does the tapau-ing. But I’ve always got my reusable containers and bags ready! :)

Anyone has a trend to share?

The weekend that wasn't :)

All systems were set to go. Plan was to wake up at 4am on Saturday, train, sahur then maybe squeeze a short run before the anticipated time AIR would wake up. Unfortunately things were not as ideal.

Woke up at 4am. As I was gettin ready, AIR stirred at 410 asking for me and his blanket. Then I made him milk hoping he will sleep. After finishing the milk, he started to chat with me. Oh dear, I knew that spelt trouble. I coaxed him to sleep promising to take him for a swim later after he sleeps. But no.

445 and seems like my plans are already down the drain. Went to reheat some food and made drinks for sahur and he sat with us. Refusing to sleep. After sahur, I tried again, hoping I'd at least get to run. No way he was backing down.

He did his big business, saw a firefly and got daddy to catch it for him and I don't remember how long it was as I eventually dozed off. And he woke me up again at 730am. I doubt he actually slept.

Sunday was a different story as I slept late and 4am was impossible. And of course while waiting for the sky to brighten a lil, proved much difficult without caffeine. Lesson learnt for next weekend.

Was a glorious Mon as I managed to spin. And now I await the evening for a short miserable run. :)

Stressed out!

Kek si lang!! (Hokkien - sakit hati)

Emo day I guess but then again...its unexplainable. I dunno.

I'm just bitter about things I suppose.

I hope this dark cloud will drift away soon.

Ramadhan

Salam Ramadhan to all my Muslim friends.

Please forgive me if I would have been harsh in my postings/comments in this blog or yours or even in our meetings.

Hope this month will bring allow us to know Him better and make us a better person.

I'll try to forget the past, but somehow 'forgive and forget' is easier said than done. Everytime Ramadhan comes, it brings back memories. Memories of which I do hope to erase forever but it never gets done that way. It just haunts me more.

Maybe Ramadhan this year will be the beginning of something better?

Selamat bersahur & berbuka! :)

Ramadhan 2011

It's round the corner. Time of the year to fast and be thankful of what we have.

But what's different this time is that there are two attention seekers who may make things abit more complicated during breaking of fast. Let's hope they'll be understanding and leave the hungry parents alone and not make them angry! ;p

My plans -
- if I wake up extremely early before sahur, I'll go for a spin. Then have sahur and then some weights.
- if I wake up just in time for sahur, I'll have sahur then spin/weights after
- try to slot in a 20-30min run before going to tapau food for breaking of fast/fetch the kids

And I sure hope this materializes.

But wait...I've got some travelling to do on the 2nd week. Vietnam, I maybe going there again. Part of me excited, part of me feel really bad for leaving hub & the kids. But hub doesn't want to come along...Oh well, 1 week left to decide. Let's hope all goes well...

Work in Penang

Three days of work back in Penang, with mum & dad helping take care of the kids was bliss. Bliss because it took less time to travel from home to site and back, hence more time with the kids and also for me to run!

Bliss also because the kids were somewhat more well-behaved? kind-of...perhaps earlier in the day they already bullied their 'ah kong' and 'ah ma' ;p and

Bliss because housework just seemed so much less!!

hahahahaha

How lazy can I get? Once in a while I suppose is alright, right? ;p

Crazy end-July

I've been travelling quite a bit for work and neglecting this blog.

So much to write, but when I wait till I have time, I'm already drained.

Kids sleep close to 11pm (or sometimes even later) and by then I'm half asleep, especially days when hub comes back late too. Then, the early cycle the next morning starts all over again.

It's amazing how 5 days can change a lot of things. AIR1 greeted me by being extremely chatty on the day I returned from Pattaya. He had a larger vocab and started to summarize the 5 days into 5 mins. Adorable.

AIR2 was still groggy from sleep and took a while to adjust. Then, she got chatty too.

And this week, am back in Penang. AIR1 was the most excited when he saw Ah Ma and Ah Kong from afar. Almost jumping out from his seat in the car. Its been a great but hectic week. I wonder what AIR1 would think when we return to KL tomorrow? I already miss Penang.

Pattaya

the path leading to my sea-fronting room

the 'pavillion' and view of the sea from the entrance to my room

one of the 3 pools, this is with jacuzzi

some random singage, but I wonder what was before that 'papaya' previously

This is where I am since July 17, 2011. And I will only be leaving on the 21st.

Superb hotel, pampered in luxury, but its abit far off from the city and the beach. Yes, this hotel has no beach. Only a short stretch for lounging around and sun bathing and its not even 200m long. From this 'beach' there are rocks and then the sea. No swimming possible from here. (photo in camera but not able to d/load)

Where am I? Sheraton Pattaya!! :)

Long way from the road which is also known as 'Beach Road' which leads to the town, running along the Pattaya Beach. The hotel is nestled between Jomiten and Pattaya beach, which is right at the protrusion into the Gulf of Thailand.

And I was looking forward to a beach run. NOw, I have time to run in the gym only. To run out and back would've been superb, but kinda dangerous in the quiet and semi-bright 530am morning. So off to the gym I go instead. I miss beach runs. Evenings are just in time for dinner with the group hence, no time again, although there are many keen joggers/runners along the way.

oh well....

SHopping's not superb either. Same reason as above - hotel kinda out of the way, so no time either. Save the moolah, I guess :)

2 days to go. Time flies.

Wanted badly to bring the family here, but hub's time wasn't convenient. Another time, perhaps. I hope :)

First born

First born - aren't they the luckiest ones?

Why do I say that? I've no one to compare with, but I've made observations on my kids.

When AIR1 was born, he had both our time soley to himself. Now that there's AIR2, he has to share the time. For someone who loves taking the kids out when I go for my runs, AIR1 followed me as soon as I was up and about.

2months - strolls

4months - runs, 1st time on the plane

6months - dip in pool and almost forthnightly thereafter

7months - first plane ride with mummy alone and subsequently few more

10months - first 'race' with mummy

But with AIR2, she was not as priviledged. I can't handle one delicate baby and one boisterous toddler at the same time, so its always the boisterous one first, leaving the delicate baby at home to rest with daddy who also needed to rest :)

6-7 months - strolls

10months - dip in pool

1 yr - first 'race' with mummy

and sadly no plane rides yet :(

But of course she has more exposure to the variety of toys and books and games at home, playing and learning together with her brother.

She's more aggressive than her brother, if u must know :)

However, this does not mean the first born is always better, it depends on how the child is brought up along the way too.

My Maiden Run

urrrgh! What's with my face?? Please ignore that.

It's not my maiden run, but AIR2's maiden run. Yes, she's never gone for a run with me before, sadly. It's always been AIR1. So this time around, I've decided to take her along.

Somehow along the way, the blanket landed on her face and she just couldn't be bothered. She enjoyed the run. She stayed awake throughout and didn't fuss about. 7km and it was good.

NTV7's feel good run.

But this jogger has got alignment problems and I have to keep pushing it harder on one side to prevent it from going towards the left. Aiks, end up, arm ache. Not very bad, but if the route is longer, I guess it will have more effect. Neways glad that I took her along despite not having enough sleep.

Can't wait to go for more.

Thanks Tey for the photo.

Stuck at home!

It's 9th July, and at 545am, I headed to Bukit Jalil. What do you know?? The road block which I saw on the opposite direction the night before is now in my direction and am stuck!

YES, literally STUCK for 40mins cos no vehicles were moving at all. I had no escape. Cursed them and I was so tempted to wind down my windows to ask them what was their problem because they didn't even check or anything. PLUS this road does not only lead to KL but to many other places, so why not block at those relavant areas only???

after 40mins of time-wasted, I turned back home and decided to LSD near my housing area. Mood gone, headache crept in.

So it wasn't a real LSD but a longer run than usual, by definition. Ran through where the rich live. Ran through where the middle income earners live. And ran to buy myself newpaper, thosai and nasi lemak for the family :)

And now, stuck watching crappy paid-TV hoping that by the time the kids wake up, the roadblocks would've cleared and we'll have a good outing. This gloomy/hazy weather does not help. Swimming plans canceled. :(

What are you up to today?

I still need to BERSIH-kan my kitchen, though :)

9th of July?

It's been a week of weird happenings. Weird to me only lah. I've not been feeling top notch. Darn!

I've been going to bed right after the kids sleep - mind you, they now have the tendency to stay up till even 11pm and on one occassion, almost 12 midnight!! Arrrgh! I'll take whoever who looks more sleepy, put him/her to bed, and then ask hub to help with the other, because right after I'll be as asleep as the lil' fella I just put to bed.

And the ulcer-like-thing on my tongue, dunno what on earth it is, but I'm giving myself till today, if it doesn't go off, I have to see the dr. This 'thing' spoils my mood. My efficiency has dropped, I feel lah. the only thing that seems to be the same is my morning runs! Yipee!!

Despite that, my attempts to add more milleage is not successful because I keep giving myself excuses that I'm not too well this week. Not very good, ei?

Neways, looking forward to the LSD tomorrow, whatever must happen during BERSIH or what not, I don't care. I'm not going KL-bound hence I think I'm fine. Just as long as those traffic police don't block those roads near my area, I think I'll have a great weekend with those munchkins!!

We shall swim and then shop after ! :)

Disney Junior Launch Event

Hot & tired after all the activities, AIR1 is too tired to look excited, despite waiting for so long just to see Mickey & Minnie.

I'm now a full-fledge pirate!

Hot Saturday, but than God we had to morning session. Felt like kindergarten again cos I was helping AIR with all the games. :) I guess for his age, he did quite well afterall!

Hong Kong it was!

Winds during 'Strong Wind Signal No. 3' was in place

View of the mixed development (including hills) from Gold Coast Hotel

The other side of the 'development' - Golden Beach & across the lagoon


Last weekend (23-26June), this was where I was - Mainland Hong Kong. Gold Coast Hotel, along Golden Beach, which connects to Kadorie Beach and subsequently Peak Beach.

Very quaint area and this was supposed to be a newly developed area, I guess it meant the hotel and entertainment spots, but I noticed the houses here are not exceptionally new.

What I liked about this place was - it felt safe and at 6am, it felt like on the East Malaysia - yes bright skies awaits! And everyone else who's local seems to be awake too. ANd they head to the beach. :)

OK right now you must be thinking of the hot bodies in skimpy suit or speedos which I would have oogled while out for a run, but nooooo.... hahaha you'd be surprised! I am talking about senior citizens who throng the beach and the sea for a morning swim. Yes, no taichi, waitankung whatsoever, but they go for a dip in the sea! I was surprised too. And they are regulars. They have their groups. And at each of those beaches I mentioned, there's adequate shower 'cube' (its half open and male & female share it, and separate changing rooms (not shared ;p) and these are not charged and well maintained!

I didn't bump into any runners in the morning but saw 1-2 at night. Only if I stayed longer and had a chance to explore more by foot. The strong wind signal was actually good, every morning it was cool and breezy and it made running feel easy! kekeke

The Asia Young Leadership Conference was good (yes, still young what! ;p) but it didn't leave us with much time to walk/shop/explore. I guess that means another reason to go back to HK? hehehe

But then again, with that short span of time I had, I went crazy shopping too. Bought stuff for the kids and some sports-related attire. Cheap. Cheaper than home. Oh well, if more time, then it would've been more ;p In a way, thank God I didn't have much time. and I don't bring alot of cash along. Cards? These, I have better control off. The thought of the month-end surprises are enough to scare me along the way! :)

Perhaps when the kids are slightly older, Disneyland HK can be planned. With the exchange rates (compared to Singapore), I think its perhaps wiser to just go to HK. At least you get 4 seasons there ;p erm, what kind of logic is that?

We'll see which is more economical when the time is right.

Alvina's 1st Birthday

Birthday Girl

'Koko' trying to help with the candles


'Let me see what's in your mouth thru my lenses'

Aydeen

Let me blow this balloon

See, I also can blow

Two weeks after the event (I've been having consecutive weekends travelling), finally I manage to post some of the pics up. Thanks, Isabelle for the wonderful shots! Small event for the lil' one. Hopefully we'll have more time & energy for the next!

And thanks to all for making it happen! Alvina loved all your gifts (despite Asrul already taking partial ownership of some)!

Guess who's going to be 1 tomorrow?

Fly FM Pagi Show

Fly FM pagi show will never be the same again next week.

Why? Ben & Fabes will no longer be during the pagi show slot. Somehow Fly FM music has recently been urm not at the lastest, but the entertainment during the pagi show is still the best. The evening slot isn't too bad either, but Fly is the only station I like listening to. And now I wonder who is going to be with Nadia during the morning slot.

No offence to Nadia but I find her alone rather boring. I find Hitz.fm's morning show boring too, as I can't stand Rudy's accent and his laugh is annoying. I find the other stations' not as entertaining either in the morning but somehow, Ben&Fabes have synergized pretty well and perhaps are on a somewhat similar wavelength.

Oh well, we'll just have to wait and see next week.

HooHathlon, Father's Day & Birthday

AIR2 will turn 1 on 23rd June so we decided to have a birthday celebration for her the weekend before, and in coincided with Father's day.

It was a tiring day as I had a really really short triathlon race (HooHathlon) in the morning (my first tri race after giving birth to these 2 brats). Swam in the Putrajaya Lake in Precint 6 (Pusat Sukan Air), cycled around Putrajaya and we ran around that same lake again. The swim and run was somewhat a new place for me, but cycling in Putrajaya was not new. Knowing it was a short race, I pushed really hard on the bike. OK, my definition of 'hard' here is just to maintain an average of 30km/h, despite minimal training. Cycling is not my forte. Think I managed quite close to that (meter was bonkers throughout the 10.6km ride) and by the time I started the run, I was panting like crazy. If I had a HRM, I think I must've been doing more than 100%!! hehehe

on the way to the 2.5km mark

And so I ran. The 5km run never felt so long. It was already hot, although it was barely 9am. OK, when I checked with Fong, she too felt the run was long. Maybe it was the heat. Quite proud of myself that on the return leg (we had a u-turn point), I was pulling 2 guys along with me. Both seemed like first timers and one seems like a runner. I think we were all too tired to small talk. :) We crossed the finish line together!! (can't seem to transfer the photo from my phone)

Headed home after a short after event-ceremony. Goodie bag was super! There was BBQ buffet too..

Both AIRs were extremely manja when they saw me. Changed, got them ready and we headed out for lunch with my parents too. AIR1 slept on the way to lunch, AIR2 slept on the way to the party.

Then we were ready for the party!

Guests came abit later than 4pm but we were all good as the birthday girl was still asleep. She awaken to a crowd of new faces and she didn't really like it. (photo not downloaded yet ;p)

Will post bout the birthday later. We had a great time, though AIR1 and AIR2 took turns to stick to us. Thank goodness AIR1 was comfortable playing with Lil' Adam and they were preoccupied.

It was fun and hassle free for us, otherwise cleaning up would have been soooooo tiring!

Thanks for coming and all the presents, ya!!

And thanks Tey, for the race photos!

AIR2 almost 1 year after

In exactly 10 days, AIR2 will turn 1. Time really flies. But being the 2nd child in the family, the excitement has worn down a little compared to AIR1. Nevertheless, we will still hold a party for the lil’ princess and have a small celebration together.

At almost 1, she
- Still does not have any teeth (yes, it’s amazing, but she being No.2, I'm not worried as I'm now abit more aware than before)
- Loves to stand, but still can’t do a hands-free
- Likes to grab and hold on tight to people who carry her, i.e. me or daddy
- Is not stranger-friendly at all
- Loves to play ‘cak’
- Does not give up easily when trying to keep what’s hers, hers…especially if her brother is the one taking it away from her
- Loves to scream when she’s not happy with anything/anyone
- Is an ultra-light sleeper…the WILL ALWAYs wake up when lifted/moved from current sleeping position
- Ultra-clingy

Let's hope she will somehow enjoy the birthday party....

Training & baking!

11 June

Supposed to start my run at 0530 but ended up only leaving the house at 0600. The toilet ritual was horrible. It’s not even a race, but it has been 3 times this has happened, on my planned LSDs.

I ended up starting at almost 0630. Anticipating a loooong journey I started slow. Knees were not in the best shape and decided to take it easy since I was running alone this time. But then I thought I saw Fong’s ride at the carpark. I wasn’t sure.

Almost at the end of Loop 1, Fong came up and I was surprised that she was still around. It made my running more fun. But then it was just a short run to the entrance and she was going off.

Total loops done – almost 4 (got discounted cos of laborious breathing and knee pain)
Went home abit disappointed.

Decided to test out my kit for the coming weekend.
Swam for 15 mins or so. Also discounted cos it was super duper cold and I felt really weak and thought I was going to pass out in the cold water. Sides (tummy) hurt while breathing, made me feel like I was still running (the type of side stitch you get while running) so I decided to call it quits.

12 June
0530 – spinned. 20mins later, AIR2 awakens. Patted her hoping she’ll go to sleep again. No luck. Plans abandoned. :(

Used AIR2 as my weights while entertaining her at the same time. Lasted for 15 mins before I ran out of idea as I was still kinda sleepy and she not extremely thrilled as I think she was still groggy ;p

0930 – went for a swim, finally a decent swim. 30mins, maybe 1.5km or so. Forgot to count my laps ;p Satisfied.

1030 – took AIR1 for a swim instead. He sat by the pool for a good 15 mins in the sun before taking a dip and then refusing to leave. J

After lunch, went for a fondant cookie deco class. It was interesting. As expected, I’m not too good with my fingers, but I think it can be improved. Now only if I can find time to bake and make all these deco. I miss baking those cuppies, though they’re not excellent, but its therapeutic, I guess.Came back and after seeing AIR1 wallop the ‘elephant’ and ‘caterpillar’, I was thrilled and convinced I should make more J for his next birthday, perhaps.

My completed project, except the pirate.

Catepillar with some parts gone

Can you guess what these are?

Boy I do miss baking.

Me-time!

Finally managed to squeeze in a spa-treat. Well, actually its just a massage session. Badly needed.

But I came out dissapointed.

Massuer was a blind lady in her 40s, Sabahan and new to this place. Started off quite well but in the end, she gave me more of a accupressure-type of massage compared to what I wanted, Shiatsu. So my upper body remains 'unsatisfied' (ok, don't misinterpret, ya! hahaha) but my lower half - not too bad. Just that my already stiff knee from this morning feels weird, despite me telling her to 'knead' it lightly. Hope it will feel better by tomorrow morning!

Now when will my next precious session be, I wonder....

School Holidaysssss

It doesn't seem to make much of a difference to me this time. Ok, it does slightly...I leave 15mins later. hahaha, like it makes heaps of difference!

I could leave later but I don't. That's cos I still want to reach the babysitter's by 0715 or maybe 0725 the latest so that I can squeezeee in at least a 30min session of run. Actually if I wanted to run longer I could, but then I'll be leaving office past 6, then poor kiddos will be waiting. So instead I try to make it to office by 0810, then shower etc...

So far, this seems to be the best way to get my 30min runs! And before I leave the house, I'll squeeze in a short spin or some weights.

Inspired by Fong to get new weights now! Think my miserable weights are getting too light and boring for me ;p

Desperate to work out! I miss that pink-flushed-look after every cardio session!!

Launch of Kelab Upin Ipin

The day he followed Daddy to the event and he met his idols.

Apprehensive

He had a great time there, but the moment they disappeared, he started grumbling to Daddy. When I fetched him from the babysitter, he complained to me too....he didn't have enough.