Ramadhan 2011

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

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

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

And I sure hope this materializes.

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

Work in Penang

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

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

Bliss because housework just seemed so much less!!

hahahahaha

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

Crazy end-July

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pattaya

the path leading to my sea-fronting room

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

one of the 3 pools, this is with jacuzzi

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

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

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

Where am I? Sheraton Pattaya!! :)

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

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

oh well....

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

2 days to go. Time flies.

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

First born

First born - aren't they the luckiest ones?

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

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

2months - strolls

4months - runs, 1st time on the plane

6months - dip in pool and almost forthnightly thereafter

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

10months - first 'race' with mummy

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

6-7 months - strolls

10months - dip in pool

1 yr - first 'race' with mummy

and sadly no plane rides yet :(

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

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

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

My Maiden Run

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

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

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

NTV7's feel good run.

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

Can't wait to go for more.

Thanks Tey for the photo.

Stuck at home!

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

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

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

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

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

What are you up to today?

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

9th of July?

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

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

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

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

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

We shall swim and then shop after ! :)

Disney Junior Launch Event

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

I'm now a full-fledge pirate!

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

Hong Kong it was!

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alvina's 1st Birthday

Birthday Girl

'Koko' trying to help with the candles


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

Aydeen

Let me blow this balloon

See, I also can blow

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

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