And there was a time...

AIR1's 3rd

2012-01-13T13:30:00.001+08:00

3 year just went by in a flash....

Technically, its on the 14th, but because we celebrated it at the nursery today, so I shall write about it today :) No photos because the kids were super excited with the cuppies and goody bag. One of the care-givers' son is a year older than him, also on the same day.

Baked them cuppies at 11pm the night before, finishing only at 130am....:( just as I was going to go to bed, Asrul had cry and wake up restless n seemed disturbed...by the time I went to bed....it was almost 230am..oh dear!

Erm, this time 3 years ago, I was still in the office....oblivious of what was going to happen later in the night which lasted for almost 24 hours....hehehe

But, indeed the 3 years had its ups and downs, but the best of it was knowing that a lil' baby boy is now all grown up....but still as stubborn and manja and likes to bully his sister, when his mood is bad, but loves his sister to bits in his good mood....

We had a quick conversation from kindy to nursery yesterday.

Me: Asrul, how old are you? (holding out my 3 fingers)
Asrul looks at me, until I prompted him....'3'

Me: What's your name?
Asrul : .....(I started saying Asrul, then he followed with) Irfan Riley.

Me: What is your sister's name?
Asrul: Sister
(I couldn't help laughing because it was the first time I asked him this, and it was a technically correct answer) Then I prompted him with Alvina Iman and he said 'Ranya'...

I wonder why kids (well to be specific ASrul) only remembers the last one only...even his own name, eversince he could speak. But he does call himself 'Asrul', only when asked for name, he will not say....weird....

Oh well...soon I'm going to miss his occassional 'Mummy, sayang' , asking me for a hug n kiss....

Mummy & Daddy hope you'll grow up be a brilliant child, succeed in whatever you do and of course, listen to us and treat us well when we grow old :)

Happy 3rd BIrthday, Asrul!!

Durian Cheese Cake

2012-01-10T22:20:00.000+08:00

Meant to blog about something else but just because I had this an hour ago, I just had to tell all!!

The durian cheese cake (in the foreground) is awesome!! Have not had anything as awesome as this before. Seriously...the durian's taste and texture is just nice and can feel it. It's potent. Only towards the rear of the cake you get less of it but otherwise it's all durian beneath a cheesy layer.

AWESOME! Go try it in secret recipe....not trying to promote, but it's simply awesome-lah! :D

New Year Challange

2012-01-04T10:30:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year!! (yeah, a tad late, but better late than never, right?)

Ok, this has been a really neglected blog....so many reasons and excuses I can give but I just blame it on the fact that when I feel like blogging, it's always the most inconvenient time ever and when I have the time, I'm not inspired. Can? :)

Anyways, my new year sort of started with a bang....yeah, kinda literally, cos I went for the Newton New Year Challenge! Not up to the full monty of 25km in those hills, so I did the 12km only. And of course, this time I fared much better, in fact, really well. A PB for me, inspite of the hilly route. Well, if it was really 12km (it felt shorter than 12, actually) and I did it in 1:13, it's an average of 6min pace...this technically means I can do a sub-60min for a normal 10km run....which I've not done in eons!!

OK, OK, let's just not get too excited for now....

At less than 2km from start, my MP3 decided to bonk out. (My first time taking it out for a race and it does that to me, how ungrateful!! ;p) Then the 'skirt & tights' I wore....had some technical issues...OK, the rear pocket on the skirt is unlike that of the tights so it 'bounces' more when loaded. This time I kept the MP3 in my arm wallet and phone in the rear, so the rear pocket was annoyingly bouncing too much. Less than 500m from start, I took the phone out and held it in my hands...and ran with it that way...then i added the earphones to the hand with my phone...

I'm used to holding my car keys while running, but this felt a lil' too much. I was half annoyed and displeased. But what to do? Continue running lah!!

Then Jaja and Bacin came by....so I kept up my pace with them...till almost the end of the first hill...I let them by, knowing I couldn't keep it up anymore. So I ran my pace, but just as I reached the U-turn, I noticed they weren't too far in front. I had hopes of closing the gap, knowing it was impossible to keep up as there was another hill looming.

Impressed with my own hill work and breathing, I just kept to my pace...knowing I need to conquer another hill and it's only halfway through.

When we reached the main road of Lebuhraya Bukit Jalil, I knew the end was near, but then again, sometimes it's deceiving. After the last water station (seeing I could do it in less than 1:20), I decided to give it a push...but boy oh boy, up that last slope before the right turn at the traffic lights, I felt like passing out!! The distance to that traffic lights seemed forever!! Slowed down a little just after the turn to regain myself...and one final push till the end! Satisfied at 1:13, I was half smiling, knowing it was one great run!! Despite lack of milleage and proper training, I think this was superb (for me lah!).

Now, time to bring out the stroller and AIR2 again this weekend!! :D

The day continued with shopping and walking!!

Have a great 2012 y'all!!

Little Reader Chinese

2011-12-01T00:07:00.007+08:00

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

2011-11-29T08:36:00.006+08:00

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

2011-11-26T00:18:00.002+08:00

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?

2011-11-22T23:28:00.002+08:00

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

2011-11-17T01:23:00.003+08:00

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

2011-11-09T00:11:00.002+08:00

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

2011-11-01T22:55:00.005+08:00

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!!

2011-10-26T00:29:00.002+08:00

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

2011-10-19T00:30:00.002+08:00

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

2011-10-15T23:55:00.003+08:00

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

2011-10-15T23:41:00.002+08:00

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!

2011-10-14T22:46:00.002+08:00

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

2011-10-14T13:51:00.002+08:00

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

2011-10-05T00:06:00.003+08:00

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

2011-10-04T23:11:00.002+08:00

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

2011-09-26T08:17:00.003+08:00

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

2011-09-20T22:52:00.002+08:00

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

2011-09-20T22:45:00.002+08:00

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

2011-09-09T13:57:00.002+08:00

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

2011-09-07T10:17:00.002+08:00

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

2011-09-07T08:46:00.002+08:00

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

2011-08-30T00:23:00.004+08:00

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

2011-08-30T00:21:00.001+08:00

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

And Happy Merdeka & Happy HOlidays to all!!

Dark days diguisesi

2011-08-22T21:11:00.002+08:00

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

How to wake up early?

2011-08-22T21:04:00.002+08:00

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

2011-08-19T12:12:00.003+08:00

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?

2011-08-18T23:20:00.002+08:00

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!

2011-08-16T23:53:00.003+08:00

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....

2011-08-11T11:14:00.002+08:00

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 :)

2011-08-08T08:39:00.002+08:00

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!

2011-08-01T22:30:00.002+08:00

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

2011-08-01T00:23:00.002+08:00

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

2011-07-28T23:58:00.002+08:00

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

2011-07-28T23:55:00.004+08:00

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

2011-07-26T23:37:00.002+08:00

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

2011-07-20T00:40:00.003+08:00

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

2011-07-14T09:12:00.003+08:00

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

2011-07-12T09:26:00.002+08:00

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!

2011-07-09T14:55:00.002+08:00

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?

2011-07-08T13:40:00.002+08:00

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

2011-07-04T09:32:00.002+08:00

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!

2011-07-02T00:24:00.003+08:00

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

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

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?

2011-06-22T11:39:00.002+08:00

Fly FM Pagi Show

2011-06-22T11:21:00.002+08:00

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

2011-06-21T09:14:00.004+08:00

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

2011-06-13T16:19:00.003+08:00

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!

2011-06-13T14:41:00.003+08:00

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!

2011-06-09T23:14:00.003+08:00

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

2011-06-09T23:08:00.003+08:00

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

2011-06-08T13:47:00.002+08:00

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.

NB15k?

2011-06-03T23:17:00.002+08:00

It was just not meant to be... Registered and forgot that it was the same weekend I was going up north. And here I am, up north in Kedah, for a relative's kenduri. Next stop will be Penang to see mummy & daddy. This means no training at all this weekend! :(

Oh dear...the weather, coupled with a super-sticky-AIR2, it hasn't been easy. Except when she has slept. She'll crawl all over, grab everything in her way and unfortunately me being against the fact that there are cats wondering in the house during other times of the day, makes me uneasy letting her crawl all over..I'll be calling after her, running after her and trying to grab her before she grabs anything.

And because of that, my already not-so-perfect left knee is now suffering.
Hope tomorrow will be better.

AIR2's first birthday

2011-05-31T08:41:00.002+08:00

Am still trying to figure out what and where shall I have this. Any suggestions? Having a DIY at home is no longer an option. With two in tow, its almost impossible, esp when AIR2 sticks to you like glue and demands attention.

Having said that, on the day of her birthday, Iwill be flying. :( Yeah, but at least I get to celebrate with her the night before and the morning itself. The party will be the weekend before...

Still cracking our heads to think of something!! HELP!

Mom & Baby's Day Out

2011-05-23T13:27:00.002+08:00

This was Sunday.

AIR was told that there was 'horsey' ride. So he took me around the 'carnvival' area, looking for the 'horsey'. To his disappointment he couldn't find it.

It was actually across the office building. And when we found 'horsey', he refused to get on it. Refused any photos. Only after some persuasion, he touched the pony. It was actually a pony.

I felt for the babbies who were taking part in the 'cutest baby contest' as it was so hot and noisy out there. Thank goodness AIR2 was soundly asleep in his daddy's office :)

He's just so loving

2011-05-18T09:53:00.001+08:00

Scene 1

Lil’ sister was crawling all over trying to catch mummy, while trying to get everyone ready to go out. Big brother goes to sister and sits in front of her and claps his hands while singing ‘ABCDEFG….etc etc etc’… with an occasional ‘CAK!’

It was indeed heartwarming.

Scene 2

Lil’ sister tries to crawl and grab fritters on the plate. Big brother says ‘No, Nana, No! Kim Poh (grandaunt) scold.’ It brought smiles to those around upon hearing this.

Scene 3

At the babysitter, when they are being dropped off, it has been a norm that lil’ sister will cry. She just doesn’t want to be left with no one carrying her. Today was no exception. I left asking big brother ‘Take care of Nana, ok?’ and he nodded. Shortly, lil’ sister cried. Big brother immediately took to patting her on her back, although he was still ‘half asleep’ J She kept quiet for a while and then later got distracted by something else while I sneaked out. Babysitter must have come to accompany her after that.

Telekom Tower and it's twin

2011-05-09T22:10:00.002+08:00

7am along Federal Highway (sorrylah, blur photo but note Menara Telekom)

6am Ho Chi Minh city...do you notice the similarity in the two buildings?

The 'dish' on the 2nd photo is actually a lookout point. Tickets can be bought at approx. USD 15 per adult (wait a sec, or was it USD10?) to go up to the lookout point. It's the newest addition to the city and I was impressed. But didn't take many photos. It has 'water' surrounding the whole bottom of the building. It's called Bicotex or was it Bittomex (something to that effect lah, which I searched on the WWW but can't seem to find, must be my spelling). Very nicely lit at night, but didn't get a good photo.

Traffic, traffic everywhere

2011-05-07T19:53:00.006+08:00

It's strange because after many days here, I am not able to even load the Facebook page. I think it is banned here, just like in China. Oh well...Thank goodness blogging and my emails are still accessible :) Otherwise I'd be so disconnected!!

5 days gone, time to leave tomorrow. Thank God, flight's on a Sunday and there's no mad traffic rush. I would've thought my daily battle with traffic in KL was bad. Traffic in Saigon is worse. It takes between 1 to 1.5hr to get from the city to the industrial area, and that is if you leave at 630 or 7am. Any later, and it'll be worse. It took me 2+ hours to get back one day when I left the site at 5pm. On the day I left at 7pm, it took me 1+ hr too. Bear in mind, I wasn't even driving!! And motorcylists take almost 1 hr to travel 30km to work, according to my subcontractor, and that is because motorcylists get caught in horrible jams too!

rather old photo as now everyone wears helmet

To a certain extend, it makes me appreciate the KL traffic in a way :)

And one morning I witnessed a group of cyclists. My hats off to them. I wonder how the 'battle' with the traffic during their training sessions.

The amazing thing is - no one seems to be involved in any accidents. Intersections spanning 4-5 lanes each direction turns into a messy pool of motorcyclists and loud honking whenever the traffic light changes. I feel for the toddlers who ride with their parents. Some so young. But that's the quality of life there. Everyone dons face/dust masks.

Typical scene. Poor kid. I've seen a toddler sleeping on the bike. Building behind is the famous Cho Ben Thanh (Ben Thanh Market) - taken from stophavingaboringlife.com

I haven't had the chance to ask/see, I wonder how much petrol costs here.

Rain, rain go away, mummy wants to go and play. :) Its raining and I wanna do my final shopping. It has rained twice today. I brought the first rain for the 'rainy season' when I first arrived - so says my Vietnam colleague. Then it was dry for 3 days. Short spurt yesterday and earlier today and now.

All packed and ready but with some space left for last minute buys tonight :)

TATA!!

Ramblings of Saigon

2011-05-06T01:13:00.003+08:00

The first time I met my colleague from the Vietnam office, I thought he resembled my ex-GM. Almost the same height and size and even style.

At site, when I met the supervisor of my sub contractor, he had an uncanny resemblance to someone I knew, but at that point of time, I just couldn't pinpoint. 2 days later, I recalled....he's an exact replica of my ex-bf. ;p Only thing, he's a wee bit shorter than I am (my ex was slightly taller than I am), and is Vietnamese ;p even the way he talks kinda resembles him.

Speaking of short, Vietnamese men are kinda short. Well, not all, but from the 15 people I have worked with during my stay here, only 3 are taller than I am and the rest, are either about my height or shorter. Oh well....

And since my site in within a manufacturing company, there are female and male production workers, most of them perhaps in the below 30 age group. either that, or they have young-looking genes. And ALL, with exception of the cleaners and slightly older women, wear their pants really really really low waist-style. Most are slim :) But I expected more...hehehe maybe modenization played its part in fattening them up ;p Genetics!!

They are nice people, though most of them can't really speak English. Even some of the hotel bellboys. Hope to snap some decent pics of the city tomorrow during my morning tour-on-foot :) most are night shots so far and not very nice.

Can't wait!

Something about Saigon

2011-05-04T23:47:00.003+08:00

Vietnamese spring rolls

OK OK, it's not 'something about Mary' :)

Somehow, FB seems to be inaccessible from here. Lappy or phone both can't. I wonder why. Even Wifi from another location seems unsuccessful.

anyway, so I post up pics here instead.

A few days before I left for Saigon (Ho Chi Minh), another colleague of mine who just got back from a really really short trip to Hanoi complained she had nothing to eat. Yup, apparently Hanoi had halal food-drought. Well, I was more of the opinion that she wasn't as adventurous and she had a group of other colleagues (international, I must say) with her, so it made it harder for her to go food-hunting alone. So to be safe, although hubby has been here before, he told me to just pack 2 cans of canned food, just in case.

I'm staying right in the heart of town, right smack where all the branded shopping outlets are. And to my surprise, the street right across the hotel is the 'halal' street. Another street not too far away seemed to be the 'Japanese food street' complete with karaoke entertainment outlets.

2 of the 3 halal eateries are owned by Malaysian. But this one (Halal@Saigon) was my choice cos it had local fares.

The other, D'Nyonya was more of a Malaysian fare. I didn't come all the way to eat Malaysian food :)

My less than RM1 bottle of Coke...only if they had Vanilla Coke :)

She ain't heavy, she's my sista!

2011-05-04T23:35:00.002+08:00

Don't we look alike? We're going for a ride!! TATA!!

'Pony' ride! Yahoo!!

Miss Saigon

2011-05-04T00:45:00.003+08:00

Finally landed in Saigon. Before I came, colleagues, hubby and Dad told me -

1. It's impossible to drive there
2. Traffic really terrible
3. It's very French-like cos it was previously a French colony;

respectively....

and my thoughts?

1. Doesn't look very impossible to drive, but I think its easier said then done. I kinda like how 'co-ordinated' they are, i.e. the motobikes are on the right side of the road, hogging almost 2 lanes leaving the cars/other vehicles to one. (Cars here are left-hand drive)
2. Yes, quite terrible, especially if you try crossing the road. I think only people from Penang or KL city can survive. If you hessitate, you'll never get across.
3. Yes, this place, minus the traffic (and the excessive motorbikes parked along the roads) and if only there were more ang-mohs, would definitely be Paris. Only if it was cool like in Paris too.

*sorry photos in camera and I didn't bring the cable/card reader. will try to take from phone tomorrow.

I was walking and walking ever since I arrived. Certain things are cheap, branded ones I mean compared to Malaysia. But I've held back, since I've not gone to the famous Ben Thanh Market yet. Staying in the heart of the city makes things easy. All within walking distance and the busy streets don't worry me, safety wise.

A bottle of 390ml (have no idea why the odd number...French related, perhaps?) Coke is less than RM1, to be exact, RM0.75 only! *jumps for joy*

Bong Sen Hotel, where I am staying, is right in front of the street, which houses many halal restaurants and a mosque. This includes 'D'Nyonya', a Malaysian restaurant. 'D'Angsana' in a foodcourt in the Parkson Shopping centre is also Malaysian. Don't ask me why the obsession with 'D'. I've already set my sight on a very unique Halal eatery for tomorrow's dinner. Other Halal outlets here are mainly the Indian shops. Yup, northern Indian food or Pakistani food.

But then, tomorrow my day starts at 7am. Yes, I have to report to my Vietnam branch office at 7am!! Gosh! It's actually within walking distance, less than 1km away, but with one cooler box and 2 other bulky boxes of equipment, I'm forced to take the taxi.

Can't wait for an early start tomorrow and hope to clock in some running milleage after work! (Gym is as good as the one in Sibu ;p )

'Out of office' Assistant

2011-05-02T13:09:00.002+08:00

That has never been used more frequently than recently.

1 week of travel, 1 week back here. Another travel, another week here. Enjoyable it may seem, but it's worrying when you have to leave unwell kids behind. Pity the kids and the daddy. And knowing the especially-clingy AIR1 to me, I hope he'll not give daddy a hard time.

Back from Sibu, and I've only partially unpacked, to repack for Ho Chi Minh city. Excited. BUt then I feel abit daunting too as it's going to be my first site work alone, in a slightly different area and conditions. Pray that all will be well without hitches.

And of course pray that the kids will recover by tonight and so will not give daddy a hard time.

This wekeend's plans were partially aborted because they were down with flu and all of a sudden fever. Disheartening.

Labour Day Weekend

2011-05-02T13:01:00.002+08:00

Oh dear...the long awaited 3-day break came but it wasn't as fun as it was expected.

Kids down with flu and then now fever. And I'm due for a short trip out of the country :(

My oh my...pray that they get well soon and so Daddy can handle them... otherwise over-clingy!

Are Muslim converts a discriminated/disadvantaged lot?

2011-04-20T23:10:00.005+08:00

YES!!! If you asked me! And why you may want to know, right?

I've never thought of if this way, although at times certain transactions may be less convenient, until I experienced it the hard way, TWICE and that's enough!

Be warned - extra long post!

Case 1

Pregnant and close to due date, (last year) went into a bank (CIMB) to withdraw some moolah. Not convenient for an ATM transaction, so I went to the counter. Knowing that the name on the account is that of my previous name, I provided the officer with my IC and my convert card. (And just in case you don't know, my previous name, the whole name, still exists in my new name, so if you compare, there's no reason to think that it may be 2 different people at all.) Few seconds later, she tells me that my name in the system is not the same as on my IC and she is unable to proceed with my transaction. I have to go to my 'home branch' (which is like 40km away) to change my name before she can do anything.

My question to her:
1. I have given you my convert card which states both my old n new name, with my IC number, so why can't you use that? (short of saying - you blind kah?!!)
2. My home branch is far away, can't u change it for me? (you think I got nothing better to do? In the IT-age, you trying to bluff me that you can't do it for me?

Guess what she said?
1. Nope, it doesn't match in the system so I can't allow it.
2. I can't. Its easier if you go there and do it yourself, anyway. (if my branch was in JB/Kedah/Kelantan and not 40km away??)

At that point of time, i was fuming and called hubby who was waiting in the car. Immediately he came up. But while he looked for parking, I demanded to see her manager and this other lady was as 'lazy' and unhelpful as she is.

I told her, an internationally recognized bank, HSBC has no qualms allowing me to do transactions like this. RHB too allows me to do transactions like this. And what is so wrong with another local bank? She says that's the rule. But haven't I showed them enough proof?

When hubby came in, he reiterrated the same. After some heated exchange of words among the 3 of us, she relented, saying ok go ahead. Can allow. And right after that, hubby asked her 'Is that the way you treat or discrimate converts, while you yourself is a Muslim? What kind of image are you trying to project? More so you're doing that to a pregnant lady??' She kept quiet.

Immediately I told that officer, 'Please take out ALL my money and leave on the minimal amount necessary (RM10, I think) for me to keep the account alive, after which I will ensure its dormant. No point wasting my time with people who treat others like less than human. It's as though I was trying to cheat them.' And its not like I've got millions in the bank to begin with. The officer then asked me - should I change the name for you? I told her, do what you feel like doing, and give me the money I asked for. The rest, I'm not bothered as I'm not going to do another transaction with this bank, so I don't need to know which name its under! (couple of weeks after, I received a letter notifying me of the name change)

When we got the money, the manager passed it to us and apologized, with tears in her eyes. We looked at her and told her, 'its too late. It's ok, don't have to apologize. You should've thought about your actions/words in the begining.'

(May I also add that we told her that we'd write to the press. Maybe this was what worried her, as we got all their names down.)

Case 2

Few days back, after finding out that I may need to go out of the country for work, I went to renew my passport which had expired in 2009. Wasn't prepared, so I went to the Subang branch immigration office and asked the info counter what I needed. I also told the office that my name on the old passport is that of my previous name and he told me to hold on while he checked again.

He came back n told me that I only needed to get a letter from JPN to confirm my name change and the other docs were the same as normal renewal, i.e. form, photo and copy of IC and the old passport. I went home to get my old passport and got the letter from JPN.

Went back to the same office 3 hours later (yes, kelana jaya to petaling jaya to cheras and back to KJ), sat infront of a young lady and she looks through my documents. Gave her the JPN letter and then suddenly she says I need your birthcert. At that instant, I exploded (controlled, slightly). I blurted out 'excuse me, I came here 3 hrs earlier and that officer, yes that guy there (pointing), told me this is all I needed, so I went home to get my passport only. If I'd knew I needed the BC, I'd have brought. Why can't you guys be firm and standarize?' She claims this is standard and dunno why that guy didn't mention. Seeing I was angry, she went to her superior and this slightly older man came to tell me that they will process my application first and then when they call me, I bring my BC. Did you notice that now it's an application? Not a renewal?

MY question is, do you think I'm illegal that I needed to show proof of my BC? Isn't my IC proof enough that I'm Malaysian with both my names stored there, and my convert card too? I actually asked JPN what's the name on the IC and she told me both names are in the chip. So what's the problem, immigration people?

Then I cooled down a little and spoke to the lady nicely, telling her that perhaps there should be a standard doc or info for all of them to refer to so they won't cause such inconvenience. YOu know what she replied? Typical lazy gov staff - 'Oh we already have this, and I dunno why that other person didn't tell you. We also have a checklist already.' I asked 'so if the checklist exists, why didn't he give me?' Now my voice raised, she kept quiet.

And prior to this, she actually asked me why I converted. I asked her, what's the relevance of this? Why do you need to know? For fun, can or not? she say she wants proof, so I say for fun, got proof? She kept quite and asked my for my kad nikah. Because she saw I ticked 'married'. The guy at the next counter already noticed that I was one angry customer. Any angrier, the whole office would've heard me.

Conclusion
1. Is the IC not good enough for any official transactions? IF not good enough then what's the point of carrying it around? Waste time and resourced putting up the JPN office to make IC for people.
2. IS there a reason there's so many red tapes for a muslim convert (mualaf) in this country? And you call yourself an Islamic nation?
3. Is this the way you are trying to show other religion that Islam is a very compromising religion? When the very people who are making life difficult for us are also Muslims themselves.
4. Don't ever give the excuse that this is the law/rule, because in Case 1, you could bend the rules. Rules are created by human, and if required, it can be changed. No? Then why at last in Case 1, I got my moolah and the officer could change my name without me going to my home branch?

I assure you, this will be sent to the press.

Sibu, 5 years on

2011-04-19T23:35:00.002+08:00

*photos from here

I only arrived here at almost 10pm (by the time I got to the hotel) and here I am, reminiscing memories 5 years ago when I first came here as part of the Explorace event which I took part in.

It was Explorace 3 (yea the 3rd season). So far, what I've seen from the ride from the airport to the hotel, most have not changed, only additional commercial development. Airport is also under renovation and the hotel (Tanahmas) has also been renovated. Rooms are much better, but crappy TV channels. All sports and news channel from all over the place...no movies!! Arrrgh!

I can't wait to explore it tomorrow morning...

Disastrous Energizer Night Race!

2011-04-18T22:30:00.003+08:00

First it was a disastorous night race, then it was the most incompetent immigration officer...how bad can it get? Let's hope it won't 'follow me' to Sibu tomorrow! Yes, 5 years on, my 2nd visit to Sibu. Wait! I have digressed.... The most anticipated, 1st run in the F1 circuit was on 16th April. Yes, THE saturday night. HAving registered for 21km, and not ran for a month since the Bareno Run which I also did a 21km, I thought I'd just hit the road and do my best. Somehow, as I arrived, I was already pissed off even before the race started. Such a huge venue but no proper directions to get people to the starting line, or even to where we were supposed to collect our headlamps or to anything and anywhere!! Do you think everyone in this country has had the previlege of visiting he F1 circuit? Did they even think that 10,000 people will throng this place and abit more proper management is required? Yes, it's the crappiest race ever, and Energizer Night Race has just won hands down!! Took me 30minutes just to get to the headlamp collection area. It was so stuffy I think if I arrived any later, I'd have fainted. It took me another good 10 minutes to find the 'lane' to get to the start. With such a wide area, the organizers had to arrange the sensors for the timing chip to only about 10 feet wide!! And so it took me a good 2.5minutes just to get pass the start line. I was fine with the rest, for now. Until I came to the 2nd water station, with 2 miserable tables, ultra small paper cups and only 2 people maning the place, runners had to self-serve themselves. What on earth is this? No medic to be seen when I wanted one too! After the loop outside, which I was really happy with my timing, I went in and found more undesirable conditions. Everyone was scaterred everywhere running all over the place. A few officials were at the supposedly 5 & 11km finishing area but they were swamped with runners. RUnners are running on their own honesty. No one is around to ensure that they are doing 1 or 2 loops. What's the event again? And everyone was hovering everywhere leaving no space for even the 21km runners to run properly. Something in my foot told me to go abit more and then stop, literraly. I felt a blister coming and decided not to suffer. No point, no one benefits from it. And so I stopped, turned around and walked out. Did anyone care? NO! Took me another 30mins to find the way out and get to my car. Thank God I decided to just leave without the goodie bag as I already imagined few thousand people rushing to get out of the parking area. If only it had been organized better, I'd have enjoyed my race, I'd been able to get the tapes I required to temporarily relief the discomfort. Did I chicken out? I think partly I did, but Iguess it was somewhat a smart move. I bet my weekend 20km would be anytime better. LUckily I didn't get 'cheated' by the people at the carparks. What could be worse?? In the next post I shall elaborate!

Kenyir oh Kenyir!

2011-04-11T22:51:00.003+08:00

I was excited when registration for Kenyir Triathlon opened. I signed up immediately. That was almost 2+ months back and at the back of my mind, I'd think I would have time to train.

But hey, I've got to train all 3 disciplines...not just a 30min run every evening!! I thought I could do it.

Unfortunately, with my crazy work schedule, i.e. alot of travelling and slightly longer hours than usual, I didn't even have time for my 30min run!! Oh boy, was I in trouble or what? And yes, bout 2-3 wks before race day, I decided I was not ready. I cancelled my hotel booking and made arrangements for my race pack to be collected on my behalf. :(

yes, I was SAD. It was supposed to be my comeback race, knowing it was a tough route, I was determined to conquer it for the 3rd time. But it would be my first tri-race since 2006.

I guess I'll have to wait till next year for my next Kenyir. And thank God I didn't go as it rained the whole race and it would've been a horrible day as the kids had to stay in and hubby wouldn't have been too happy....I guess things did happen for a reason!

Aquaria

2011-04-11T22:32:00.005+08:00

For the first time, I'm going to Aquaria, and we brought the kiddos along too....

Well in actual fact we had free tickets to grandstand seats for the F1 race, but unfortunately it was last minute and we couldn't find anyone to help babysit. So we had to change plans and away to Aquaria we went. :)

AIR1 refused to budge when we were at the touch pool, though he wasn't interested in touching any of the sea creatures, he just wanted to observe. We were stuck there for a looong time. Took us ages to convince him there were more exhibits ahead.

When we reached 'gecko', same thing happened. He screamed and threw a tantrum when we tried to ask him to move along. He loved the otters and was amazed by all the fishes. Especially the Arapaima (Dragon Fish). He just stood there observing the 3 Arapaimas swimming, one looked as though he had a bad case of osteoporosis (all hunched).

As we went through the tunnel with the walk-a-lator, he was mesmerized, but refused to let me take a photo of him. We went through that twice. Coming out, AIR2 was sleepy and hungry so while I fed her, Daddy & AIR1 sat in front of the 'largest screen saver' where fishes were swimming 'inside'. A shark was sleeping at the side and AIR1 was kept busy trying to 'wake it up' while enjoying the antics of all the other fishes.

It was a loooong day but fun.

He wasn't in such a good mood as he was having slight flu, and we took turns carrying him. Oh boy! IT was quite a work out.

Now we postponed bird park, so perhaps that will be next.

Disappeared?

2011-04-06T20:50:00.003+08:00

No, no I've not...I've just been on the move alot!! Out at site, in and out of KL and when in the office, I'm just so bogged down with things to finish up! And this poor blog is neglected!! Took the kids for 'Rio!' screening! The tale of a flightless blue macaw, the last of its kind. Animated, 3D and it was really good. The best part was - both kids sat right through the show with no noise, no fuss all focussed on the show!! Lots of music and very captivating! AIR1 wanted his own 3D specs but didn't want to wear it. Thank goodness the cartoon didn't look totally blur like how it would on a normal 3D movie. Otherwise we'll probably be dizzy. After the movie, we wanted to extend his 'encounter' with birds by taking him to the bird park. Unfortunately he was very tired & cranky, and he fell asleep even before we existed the car park!! Can u imagine?? So it was homeward bound. Looks like another round of animated movie is possible! :)

One day out!

2011-04-01T08:14:00.003+08:00

Guess where we're going?

Mummy, tak nak!! Keep the camera!

Erk, my son camera shy??

Muuaaahs!

F1 driver in training?

Ice cream truck driver for a start also can.

It was a fun-filled day for him. AIR2 was not featured on as many rides but I guess she somewhat enjoyed it too. The cool air (abit too cold for her as she wasn't 100% well), the new environment and all that excitement.

It was a loooong day for them and AIR1 almost fell asleep in the cable car ride back. He hung on, until we reached the car.

The adults? watch them have fun and go with AIR1 for his rides! Hubby managed to sneak a ride for himself while we waited. the moment he went on his ride, AIR1 screamed as he wanted to go along.

Kenyir is now off as I'm not prepared to race. Next year perhaps.

Next road trip? still planning, but this Sunday will be a movie outing for all! Rio premier screening....I hope AIR1 will sit and watch and AIR2 will not make a fuss.

Bu-lian!

2011-03-29T13:25:00.002+08:00

The photo would have given it away....yes bu-lian=durian!

After a few time pronouncing durian perfectly, AIR1 sometimes says bu-lian.

And when I asked him what he wanted for dinner - chicken? he shook his head. nuggets? again shook his head. rice? shook his head again. Then I asked him so what you want? Instantly he said bu-lain!

Tried to hide my amusement.

What is that?

2011-03-27T21:14:00.006+08:00

A very much delayed posting.

The picture doesn't do much justice as I keep forgetting and only took the photo at night. I'm not good at night photography (not that I was any good in any photography for that matter ;p)

Take a guess - what did I make? take a guess....It's not shaped like it's supposed too!

Savoury scones - aubergine, chicken ham and cheddar scones. My first attempt and it wasn't too bad. Though the dough turned out to be not as thick as it should be (it should be able to be rolled like bread dough but turned up not) it still tasted fine. I wasn't bothered to actually add more flour to make it thick to its required consistency, fearing that I might do something wrong and also the fact that I would then have too many scones!

Turned out I has scones with lots of stuff! :) Attempt #2 is in the queue...tonight or tomorrow!

Desaru

2011-03-24T13:12:00.003+08:00

Hammock!
First beach experience for AIR2

Getting daily updates

It was a short but fun stopover in Desaru, especially for AIR1. The pool, the beach and the playland were his favourites! AIR2 had her share of fun too. Her first beach experience was quite hillarious.

Busy Busy March

2011-03-24T08:01:00.002+08:00

It's been 2 weeks since my last update!! Oh boy....

It has also been a JB-Desaru-KL-Ipoh havoc week and work is not getting any easier. Lots of travelling and plenty of stuff to be sorted out.

My new toy (to be revealed later) was delivered last night, tried it out for 10mins today and well, I'm liking it!!

Time to get some breakfast and I'll be back!

Invasion of my personal space

2011-03-04T20:47:00.003+08:00

KUL-BKI-LDU and the KUL-BKI sector saw a full flight.

Whenever I fly alone, aisle sit it shall be. After so many flights, my conclusion, never sit next to a 'makcik'. I'm not being racist here, but from my experience, it has been 100% true.

1. Usually this lady tends to be 'horizontally challenged'.

2. Always has a travelling buddy, i.e. another 'makcik'.

3. She thinks she paid for 1.5 seats instead of 1.

4. Arm will be on my arm rest and conveniently at times intrude into my personal space.

5. Carries large 'mature lady type' handbags, which will first be at the feet, somehow when plane takes off, it moves up to her lap and once in the air, somehow it will end up on the 'table', until meal is served, then she gets 'kelam kabut' not knowing where to put it.

6. Bag ends up on her lap and depending on how 'challenged' she is, it will tilt the table.

7. Half the time, while eating, due to space constraint, her elbow jabs me, almost her whole arm by now is within my personal space.

Once not enough, more than once her arm will keep coming. Unfortunately I had no where to run! :(

That annoys me sooooo much! Out of respect, I just bite my tongue and move closer to the aisle. Thank God I still have space to squirm away.

Starting young

2011-03-02T08:49:00.002+08:00

This is what you should do when your 'teacher' forces you to read when all you want to do is sleep ;p (upside down pun upside down lah)

When babies meet

2011-03-02T08:43:00.002+08:00

Aydeen: Now let me check her out.

Aydeen: OK kot.
Alvina: hahahaha but mummy I want to mum-mum.

25 months and counting

2011-02-25T08:20:00.006+08:00

Wow, time just flew by. AIR1 is now 25 months old. Gosh. Onset of the terrible twos and what-nots but the best of it all, is seeing how he progresses daily.

1. Few weeks back he can sing the whole ABC song, recite numbers 1-10 in both BM & English, 11-15 in BM.

2. 2 months ago he started recognizing alphabets such as A, B, C, O, E and Z.

3. Picking up and speaking new words almost everyday. New to me, because sometimes he may have been using it in the nursery but I've not heard but generally his vocab suprises me. Some words I've taught him in English or Hokkein but he refused to repeat in the begining, suddenly pops out of his mouth. And it'll take me a while to decipher.

4. But he's not into scribbling (on paper or even anywhere) but he likes painting, i.e. finger painting, stenciling anything to do with paint. Colours are attractive perhaps.

5. He hums, sings very often now and can even hum to his sister when asked to. (When in his good mood)

6. Very demanding especially when either one of us is busy attending to his sister nearing bedtime.

7. Very afraid of Daddy and prefers to stick to me (i.e. bully me too!).

8. Can remember characters in all his cartoons, and even those he rarely watches at home(from his nursery). His favourite cartoons are Pororo, Dibo, Timmy Time, Spongebob and once in a while Handy Many which will glue him to the TV for a while.

9. Loves to talk on the phone recently and have been having 'calls' with me while I was away.

10. Can recognize all the alphabets from A-Z already!

Oh well, 10 facts enough la...

But out of these 10, the 10th is the one I'm most impressed with. When I started 'testing' him, those he didn't know he will go 'err err' and those he knows will be really quick responses. And 2 days ago, he recognize ALL!

I wouldn't say his learning progress is solely attributed to what he learns at home. His nursery is quite good. Although most of his learning is informal, but there are daily activities which they have both for the older kids and the tots. Learning ABCs, 123s, singing nursery rhymes, learning to solat and alot of other interesting activities.

I read about early childhood learning and stimulation and although I wouldn't say that I fully practised it, I would have done it on and off and subconciously. Started him on those soft cloth books, progressed to hard books and flashcards (most materials courtesy of Grandpa) and some other suitable books. He took on well at a young age. All this stimulation and learning is done on the road (house-nursery journey is 30min-50mins depending on traffic and vice versa), at home during weekends (he used to sleep in the car on the way home and then sleeps through to the next morning), and whenever there's time.

AIR2 on the other hand is at a slight disadvantage because when she was old enough, our daily morning trips are in darkness still. On the way back, she sleeps too. And whenever we have the chance in the car, AIR1 intervenes :( So it's usually at home or when there are two of us together in the car. Also she likes to flick and throw her books about, instead of holding and 'turning the page properly'. I hope she can still catch up with her brother.

Different kids progress at difference pace, so not to worry.

Have a great weekend with your family! What have you planned?

Old Newspaper!

2011-02-24T13:42:00.002+08:00

It's been quite sometime now that I've not bought newspaper on a daily basis. Reasons being:

1. By the time I get home and have time to read, it'll be yesterday's news (or almost). I doubt I'll ever receive 'tomorrow's news today'! (remember this line? *brain-block* I can remember the title of the TV show)

2. I always get my daily news online (while at work, the first thing I do when I get to office)

3. I can browse the hardcopy in the office during my 'breaks' in the pantry or when I feel like it.

4. What you don't know doesn't hurt. (this is especially true when it comes to special sales)

5. I'm trying to do my small part in going green. Less newspaper means less trees? Assuming someone would notice a decreasing trend and hence the printers would not churn out so much.

6. Everyday RM1.20 (or 1.50 on weekends) will end up on my stack of old newspapers and clutter my store room after a while. Only benefit, I get other not so important news which is not available online.

Newspapers on a Thursday and Friday is always fully loaded with special retail offers for the weekend. Today happens to be one of the days when I had time to browse and I saw things which I wouldn't normally see. :)

Yes, cheap clothing. Luckily these were clothes for kids, so instead of the usual grab-the-milk-and-go routine, I browse the other aisles. So AIR1 benefitted from it. hahaha

This weekend's getaway

2011-02-22T13:36:00.003+08:00

Oklah, map to indoor theme park only. Our target would be first the outdoor then the indoor.

This weekend. Kinda excited as it will be a new environment for both AIRs. Let's pray it materialises and weather will be kind to us :)

Chap Goh Meh

2011-02-18T07:07:00.003+08:00

The end of celebrations....Chap Goh Meh was celebrated last night, i.e. today is the last day of Chinese New Year, the 15th day.

I chanced upon a chinese restaurant here in Sandakan, corner shoplot but it had 4 lions performing the lion dance...oh my! So many lions!! Lots of evil to chase out or it will experience abundance of prosperity this year? ;p

Chinese New Year is celebrated for 15 days but it felt as though the 15 days went by so quickly. CNY goodies are still aplenty in my house...partly because the main 'consumer' is away :)

Oh well, can't wait to doll the kiddos up again in CNY outfits, esp when AIR2 can walk already....that lil' cheongsam on that lil' bump! ;p

Now, when's the next public holiday?

Gym in Sandakan

2011-02-17T22:14:00.003+08:00

Mini gym at Mark's Lodge, Sandakan.

Can't complain, as long as it works and makes me realise that I've got my running legs back but only need to work a little more on my stamina...I'm almost at BC (before childbirth) speed! Almost only, ok.

This is what keeps me happy when it rains outside ;p and it has been raining for already 24 hours, since yesterday. Boy oh boy...

The sky allowed me to run back to hotel from 6pm yesterday and apparently it was raining at the hotel, but when I arrived at that area, roads were wet, but it wasn't raining. After I went into the hotel, not too long, it started to rain again. aaaahhh I feel so loved :)

And then today was a gloomy, wet, raining, grey day!!

Can't wait for 6am tomorrow!!

Sashimi on a Wednesday

2011-02-16T22:50:00.002+08:00

I got my 10!

2011-02-13T12:10:00.005+08:00

Finally, after resuming 'training' I finally managed to get 10km in one outing!

I was sore when I missed my ride yesterday as weather was great. Today I was just being lazy, as I only left the house at 8am, I didn't want to be riding till too late, hence I went to Bkt Jalil, followed Fong's directions to the safest car park and trotted abit before it became a proper run!

Had a 'partner' for a short stretch but because he only ran the small loop, we parted at the junction.

Satisfied, though I think I almost collapsed on my 2nd round up that super steep short slope. Now, how am I going to do 21km on a hilly terrain?

Mind over matter! :) .... I hope!

Valentine's Day

2011-02-11T08:21:00.002+08:00

Valentine's Day is just 3 days' away. What have you planned?

Although it's not encouraged for Muslims to celebrate this day (that's as far as I've read and know-lah) but I'm sure at some point of our lives we cherished and looked forward to this day. It's as though it's THE-day for all dating couples, especially teenagers :)

But I never believed in all the expensive roses bought and sent on that day. For a start I'm not a flower-person (though I'd melt when someone gave them to me ;p) and I always thought that the exorbitant prices of flowers during V-day is just a waste of money! Especially when the flowers come in huge bouquets and can run up to hundreds of ringgit. Better use that money for a more everlasting gift. Diamonds/jewellery perhaps? (they appreciate in price too!) Diamonds are a girl's best friend, right? ;p

I also never believed in celebrating the occasion extravagantly on that day. Love can be expressed on any other day, right? and it should be the same throughout the lifetime. Plus restaurants take advantage of this overly-commercialised day and make consumers spend more. We used to celebrate it before the actual day. More like a reason just to have a huge, expensive meal for us!

This year? I'll be going outstation :( but nevertheless to us it's just another commercialised celebration, so it does not matter!

What do you have planned?

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-09T22:30:00.001+08:00

Chinese New Year, birthday & everything nice

2011-02-07T14:07:00.004+08:00

AIR's rainbow cake

the steamboat affair from the balcony into the living room after it rained ;p

Chinese New Year came and gone (the first few days lah). While we were also busy preparing for open house cum birthday celebration for AIR1, many were travelling back. Thank goodness this year we decided to just stay here and not go up north. Mum & Dad came.

CNY was kinda quiet. With most of my friends up north we just relaxed at home with a steamboat dinner on the eve. 1st day CNY which usually is spent at home while my relatives visit was still spent at home. Relaxing with family and entertaining the kids. 2nd day was when the ‘full swing’ came. Since it wasn’t a huge affair, things were kept simple.

Luckily we were not extremely ambitious so not much leftovers like the previous time.

AIR1 loved his Upin& Ipin themed cake and he just wanted to ‘eat’ them. The next day he woke up and saw the cake gone, but later I showed him the portion I saved and he said to me ‘Ipin sleep’. He ate the ‘eye’, ‘head’ and some of the alphabets. :)

Beautiful cake, but a tad too sweet. The icing and even the cake itself was very sweet. Otherwise I’d have wallop every remaining bit of it, I guess. haha

Over the weekend, nothing much happened. Had indian mutton briyani. Superb! that was lunch. Dinner another mutton/lamb meal. Oh boy...talk about lamb overload! :)

Sunday dinner was another family gathering. Thought of balinese-style food, we went to Subak, only to realise it's actually western. Should have gone to Bora Ombak or Bora Asmara, but nevertheless though Subak was slightly pricey, ambience and food was superb. I guess AIR1 enjoyed it most as it had so much space for him to explore!

Gong Xi Fa Chai!

2011-02-05T17:10:00.002+08:00

Happy Chinese New Year! and Happy Belated Birthday to AIR!

His 2nd birthday cake, small celebration in conjuction with his Ah Kong & Ah Ma's (grandpa & grandma) presence here.

He was extremely excited when he saw his cake. Upin & Ipin!

Retro Night!

2011-02-02T00:33:00.003+08:00

specs abit too big for the face... :)

That was the theme of my co's annual dinner...

28 Jan 2011, that was the night we all turned up dressed in our best 60s & 70s outfits. Mum doesn't have anymore of hers so I had to rent....

Had fun and wil try to post some more photos...very busy week it has been...

Selected for 'Best Dressed Award' but we had to do a dance, and of course I failed miserably...hahaha I can't dance for peanuts!! so consolation lah!

Wet and Cold days ahead

2011-01-31T15:12:00.003+08:00

It's never felt so cold for a long time....

2 whole days of no sun...drizzly and raining all the time. Roads were constantly wet. Reminds me of gloomy England/Leeds in winter.

Doesn't seem like it's the season/time for Chinese New Year! :p

Hot coffee became warm only even before reaching my already cold cubicle.

hmmmm 2 days before I go onleave.

Boeing 737-800

2011-01-30T01:32:00.002+08:00

On 18 Jan 2011, my KK-KL flight was onboard the new 737-800. On the outside, it looks like a normal 737, except that the distinction would be the new 'decals' (is that what its called even on a plane?) on the exterior of the plane. New 'lines' different from the usual MAS signature identification, but it still has the blue and red.

And on each seat, that's the individual entertainment console. Touch screen, loads of movies for all ages and background. Unfortunately it was a sub-3 hr flight, so no earphones were provided. Ended up watching a foreign movie, because it had English subtitles, but fell asleep in the middle of it ;p

Smelt brand new (and not of the MAS air freshener which I dislike) and seats were nice. Now lets hope I get on another 737-800 on my next trip.

Banana Spring Roll

2011-01-30T01:29:00.003+08:00

I thought it was just plain spring rolls but it turned out to be banana spring roll. No, not the one closest, the one in the far end of the photo. It just looks like regular spring roll (popiah) but its got a strip of banana inside. ;p

One of the things available in Lahad Datu only ;p

World Wetlands Day

2011-01-27T14:54:00.003+08:00

Did you know that 2nd Feb every year is World Wetlands Day (WWD)? It marks the date of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea.

Details of the Ramsar Convention can be found here.

WWD activities of all sizes and shapes, from lectures and seminars, nature walks, children’s art contests, sampan races, and community clean-up days, to radio and television interviews and letters to newspapers, to the launch of new wetland policies, new Ramsar sites, and new programmes at the national level.

I wonder what Malaysia has planned? Or perhaps everyone is busy planning a grand celebration for 'Hari Wilayah Persekutuan' (Federal Territories Day) on 1st Feb?

Halal BBQ Meat

2011-01-27T09:11:00.003+08:00

The CNY season is here again!

Sometimes looking at some of the delicacies which I have previously enjoyed, I do feel that someone should come up with a halal version. Thank God I don't have that many of those food which I miss, because generally those waxed meat are not my favourite.

However, I do miss the ocassional floss and BBQ meat.

1-2 years' back, there was this outlet DQ Meat which sells halal BBQ meat and floss. Chicken, beef, lamb and some fish products. I was overjoyed. But then again, these don't come cheap. But because of the craving (once a year during CNY not enough, even before this), I will just buy a bit, enough for myself, because hubby doesn't fancy these.

And not too long ago, the DQ meat outlet in MidValley closed down. Kinda expected that to happen. Now I wonder if the stall in Pavillion is still in existance. And so there goes my only source of halal BBQ meat.

Yesterday, suddenly one of our suppliers gave us 2 boxes of halal BBQ meat and guess where they're from? Kyros Kebab! Yipee!! instantly I searched the web for more info, and I will go grab some this weekend! Can't wait. Check them out here.

I'm overjoyed!

BTW, I digress! Where do the chicken floss used in those bakeries which sell buns with floss come from? They're supposed to be halal, so where can I find them? Or IS IT actually halal?

Awesom-est phone call

2011-01-20T22:01:00.003+08:00

AIR1 loves the phone. Give it to him and he'll pretend to be talking to someone. But give it to him when someone is on the other end and he will be silent. If he recognizes the person on the other end, he will smile when he's spoken to. Otherwise he will remain silent.

Today will be my 2nd time on this trip talking to him. The first time, he was silent, as usual. Today, after a while, he interacted with me. I was surprised. Hub has a photo ID of me on the phone, so putting me on microphone, AIR1 could see and hear me, thinking I could the same of him. (But no video call, so I only can hear him ;p)

Then all of a sudden during the conversation when I asked if he did any reading, he went and brought his fav book to daddy and started to want me to read with him. My first phone conversation with him and it felt awesome! Finally at 2. I asked if I could speak to his sister and he asked daddy to 'take me there'. Adorable.

AIR2 squealed in delight and smiled (says daddy) when she heard my voice, not knowing where it came from. When I was 'talking' to AIR2, AIR1 played the baby-toy which had music, danced to it and asked me to see. I could imagine him doing his 'dance'.

And when asked to say goodbye, he waved at me. Ohhhh can't wait to see them three soon!

Traditional Massage

2011-01-19T22:35:00.003+08:00

Finally....my long awaited massage - only this time, it's in LAhad Datu.

I couldn't wait any longer. Wanted foot reflexology, but the reflexologist wasn't around and dunno when will be back, so my colleague and I settled for a traditional massage.

Price? RM75 for 1 hr. OK lah, considering the massuer came to the hotel.

My verdict - value for money lah. Enjoyed the back massage and wished it could've been longer. Included abit of foot reflex too but this lady wasn't too good with the feet.Didn't seem to hit the spots :)

Although hub & I have signed up for something back in KL, I just had to have this massage. And somehow the time was right too - I was having some neck/shoulder discomforts these 2 days. It's been months since my last pampering.

Work became sort-of-holiday :)

Rain, please stay away tomorrow morning...if possible, stay away the whole day and come by only at night!

Day 1 LDU

2011-01-18T23:56:00.003+08:00

After much contemplation, I will be in Lahad Datu without AIR2.

Thanks Fong for the effort in helping find the nursery. Managed to go view it and though there were people there, I didn't stop to talk/chat/check with them. It's a proper nursery, I'd consider it when I'm back here again in a couple of weeks' time. But quite pricey too...

Without AIR2 I will have more flexibility in terms of time management and movement. Weather will not be a major concern. Oh yes, if it rains, traffic and time to go fetch her will have to be considered. Who said a small town like LDU does not have traffic jams?

I will also have less things to bring along.

But I will surely miss her laughs and baby talk every morning and night. And her brother's antics band daddy's too.

So far, its been relaxing. Let's see what happens tomorrow.

Now let me wake up at 530am for a run tomorrow!