My Sunday

I had a very relaxing Sunday last week. I spent a few hours at a saloon pampering myself from “head to toe”. Yup, I had a good facial, pedicure and manicure, a good body scrub and foot massage. If times allowed, I would go for the full body massage as well. That’s my Sunday!

Story Telling

Well, it is not mummy telling the stories but cheh-cheh. My girl likes to tell her brother all stories that she knows before nap time or bedtime. She will hold the story book telling her di-di Mira and the Goose story and then suddenly switch to Little Red Riding Hood and then jump to Goldilocks and the Three Bears etc etc…… It was funny seeing them “playing” together like that……….

And I wonder why di-di is so afraid when we tell the story of Three Little Pigs……

Cheh-cheh starts saying “Once upon a time, there were 3 little pigs….and di-di pats his chest and say “No…..怕怕”

Simple Meals

These are the dishes I cooked for dinner last night:-

Stir fry choy sum with oyster sauce

Leftover satay

Steamed garoupa fish with sweet bean paste and ginger

Also, our soup for the day, shark fin melon boiled with pork ribs and honey dates

Sharing Moment...........Barley Water

My son does not like plain water too much and I always have to mix Ribena or give him the diluted fruits drinks. But to my surprise, he loves barley water and eat the barley as well. Here's a few pictures taken while both of the kids sharing a mug of barley water.

Best Friend Forever

My girl come to me while I was watching the TV this afternoon and said, “mummy, best friend forever…..” and give me a big hug! Oh so sweet, my heart melt instantly. I am wondering where did she learn the words. Maybe from her favourite cartoon, Little Einstein or from her playschool….And it was just sooooooo sweet hearing this from my precious sweetie pie!

Consequence of Life In Front of A Camera Lens

....................Jon & Kate Plus 8

I have been following this series on Discovery Home &Health on Astro. I watched this series since their first appearance on Surviving Sextuplets & Twins until the recent one of Jon & Kate plus 8. Imagine, I can wake up at odd hours just to follow the series.

Recent months ago, there are tabloids and rumours about the breakdown of their marriage, and off course, denials from them. After a few months of speculation, the couple’s separation and divorce is making the headlines of the magazines.

Just feel that what a waste of a good marriage with so many adorable kids. It should be a happy family but with such a sad ending. Sometimes, I think if they are not famous and just an ordinary and down-to-earth couple with twins and sextuplets, their story might be different. At least their story might not be ending with divorce and family separation. In fact, they suffered the consequence of life in front of a camera lens.

Good Thing…Bad Thing

The good news to me is that hubby got me a second hand 4x4 car, Nissan X-trail. Which means …..?. I can bring my son jalan-jalan anytime in the mid morning, I can just go grocery shopping in the mid morning, my girl can come home before 12pm, my girl can wake up slightly late as I will be sending her to school……etc etc. But, this also means that I might spend extra because I might go shopping more frequent…and most important, hubby has another commitment every month!

Lou Gong, thank you very much!

During My Boy’s Time…..A successful VBAC

I could say it was much better during my pregnancy with my son. At least I am in Malaysia. I briefed my gynaecologist what happened to my 2 previous pregnancies and I told him I need something to reduce my risk. I was given a type of hormone jabs starting from 19th weeks onwards up till 28th week of my pregnancy. One jab per week and it made my thigh numb after the jab was administered. That was fine as long as I know the risk can be reduced.

Then, in my 30th week, I had mild contraction and I was given 2 jabs to strengthen the baby’s lung in case of premature birth. Things were ok after that, but until 32nd week, I had bleeding problem. I was so scared and I still remembered that I said to myself, "cham lor, don't tell me baby wants to come out already"......... I was admitted for 3 days and was given jabs and jabs! Bleeding had been stopped by all the medication but my glucose level was at borderline. I was advised to control my food intake.

I remembered I had my time mostly on bed started from 32nd week. I was lucky because I got extra help as my brother sent his maid down from Brunei to help me with my little girl. My maid was not that competence and I didn't trust her that much in handling my daughter alone. On the other hand, I felt guilty during that period of time because my girl couldn't spend enough time with me.

I was admitted to hospital twice after that to have the glucose tests.

Everything was going well and at 38th weeks 5 days, I was induced and given birth to my boy via vaginal birth @ 9.40pm at Miri City Medical Centre, Sarawak. A successful VBAC!

I couldn’t sleep the whole night after the birth as I was overwhelmed with my birth experience.

This time, I stayed alone in the hospital and hubby was not around to accompany me. I joke with him once that if I give birth to 3rd baby, I think I might drive myself to the hospital and “kau tim” (settle) everything myself before he comes in. Hahaha…

G Seasoning Powder

I use it in my stir frying of most veggies and also to put a taste to my soup. I mixed it to most of my kids’ dishes to replace the salt. You can use it to make a delicious soup base by mixing 5 teaspoonfuls in 1litre water.






Whenever I need to prepare a quick meal like noodle soup and run out of pork rib or chicken, I will do it a “short cut way”.

First, I stir fry some garlic and onion with a little oil in a pot, and then add in some water. Once the water boils, just add this Japan Style G seasoning powder with some fish ball, meatball，鱼滑 and green veggie. Voila! A tasty rice noodle is ready to serve.

Birds' Nest

I used to buy in bulk when I was in Cambodia as I didn’t travel back to Malaysia often and it was cheaper for bulk purchase. I always get my stock from my aunt in Sandakan, Sabah.

The good thing to buy direct from the local orang asli is that you can get a cheaper than market price. But the problem is those birds'nest are really dirty. You may spend hours just to clean one piece.

Miri is also quite famous of the birds' nest. I found a shop here selling CLEAN birds' nest with reasonable price.

My mom asked me to put one to two slices of ginger while double boiled the birds' nest. According to her, it is a good cure for cough. I usually just boiled it with rock sugar in a slow cooker. I may try it these days as my daughter is prone to cough same as her papa.

Their Quick Fix Dinner on Sunday

I managed to get these dishes done within an hour. The best thing is my picky eater likes these dishes so much that he can finish a whole plate of rice and a bowl of soup within 30 minutes! (How nice if he eats like that for every meal, hor?!)

Fried egg topped with organic soy sauce



Mixed veggie soup boiled with prok rib


A complete meal consist of rice, eggs and the veggie from the soup and steamed baby pea.

Shopping For Kids’ Clothes

I will be back to my hometown next month. Apart from going to Teluk Chempedak, Cherating or Clud Med, my plan is to shop for my kids’ cloth at Factory Outlet and Reject Shops. The choices here in Miri are limited and thus, whenever I go back to Kuantan or holiday in KL, I’ll definitely shop around to stock up their clothes.

Simple Meals

I cooked a few dishes for dinner yesterday. There are very simple and yet easy to prepare.


steamed fish with shiitake mushroom, sour plum, tomato wedges and topped with fried ginger and garlic.


stir fry brocoli with carrot, scallop , chinese mushroom and button mushroom.



a simple stir fry veggie.

Mommy, please take care of di-di, okay?

This is what my little girl said to me this morning before I sent her out from the house to playschool. Isn't that she is cute?

She’s so much different from my little boy as she has been an easy-to care-for since a baby. Most important, I have no problem in feeding her since a baby until now. Feeding her is such a breeze as compared to my son.

I have no problem in potty trained her and she was fully “diaper-less” (day & night) when she was just 2 years & 2 months old. She didn’t cry when having haircut (in fact, she likes it very much).

And …………………She is always mommy and papa little precious darling!

Chicken Wine

Is it delicious? I think those mommies who see this dish will surely think of their confinement days with chicken wine and pig trotters vinegar. I am a fan of chicken wine. Do you know who cook this dish for me? hmmm..................HUBBY!

He has always been a good cook and his specialty is wanton dumplings, pig trotter vinegar, chicken wine, 梅菜扣肉，客家芋头扣肉. I have actually been asking him to cook this dish for me since many weeks ago and he finally cooked it on Sunday last week.

..........to be continued

For my second pregnancy, it was not easier either. Hubby and I always think that lightning will not strike at the same place twice. But it happened. Most pregnant mommies concern about the first 3 months of their pregnancy but for me, my worries started when entering 5th month.

I was in Cambodia when I was pregnant with Jia Jia. I remembered during that time, I was extremely careful. Hubby did not allow me to drive around (whoever went to Phnom Penh will know how's the traffic there, vehicles sometimes come from a different direction), not to do strenuous exercises and I took the "sap sam tai po" chinese meds soup quite often.

I prayed hard and told myself that this time will be safe and "it" will not happen again. Things are going smoothly until 21 week into my pregnancy. I remembered I woke up that morning not feeling quite comfortable and hubby asked me to take a day off from work. I stayed in bed the whole day and the "feel" got more intense around 8pm at night. I just told hubby that I got the same "feeling" like last time. So, we called up our doctor at one of the private clinic in Phnom Penh. Dr. Lai was from Singapore and has been seeing me ever since I was conceived. I remembered very well that during our first visit to her, hubby briefed her about my history and asked her if I have the same problem again, is there anything to treat my condition. She told us that they will try and have meds to stop the contraction if detect early. That's why I just went to her for my routine check up. Cost per visit was around USD80-90 and if additional tests needed, the bills cost us around USD100-150 per visit.

Hubby called her up that night telling her that we wanted to check in to the clinic and wanted to see her. Do you know what did she say.....She told hubby to bring me in tomorrow morning because she's not in the clinic now. Then, she asked me a few questions and she even told me that the pain might be a sign of premature contraction. Until today I still remembered the words from her...."Esther, it is no point for me to see you now. I can only do the ultrasound for you when you come in tomorrow. .....Imagine, this kind of doctor who gave such an answer to her patient at this moment!

Hubby then called up a few expat doctors and private clinics but no one will take me. At around 12am that night, we decided to go to the Cambodian gynae. She has a private clinic. We went to her clinic at 12am+ and her assistant came out to talk to hubby. I was so afraid that she was not around again. When hubby came into the car and told me she was on call at Calmette Hospital, we just rushed there. After all the registration and check up, I was admitted to hospital and stayed there for about 6 days.

I had a TOTAL OF 33 JABS during the whole 6 days in hospital! Imagine, 33 jabs within 6 days, oh, I could not move to the right and left because my thigh had swollen due to the frequent injections. Until one stage that my maid got to filled up the glass bottle with hot water to massage and roll on my thigh.

After I was discharged, I'd called up my boss and asked him whether I can resign with immediate effect as I was advised to take a full bed rest. My ex-boss was ok with my request but I need to hand over my work with the help of my secretary. Hahah...I remembered I worked from my bed for about 2-3 weeks while my secretary visited me every afternoon to take note of everything.

During the two months period, all I did was finished up my outstanding job, go online, watched TV, read magazines etc etc. I only came down from bed twice a day, going to poo-poo and take bath.

I came back to Malaysia when I was in my 29/30th week. Jia Jia was born at Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital in Kuantan, Pahang @ 3.38am via c-section. The night before she was born, Siti Nurhaliza had her first performance in Kuantan and the venue was near to the hospital. I could hear her singing the whole night from my room.

A Portrait Of Mommy

Yes, this is ME in the eyes of my angel. She drew this on a paper the other day saying, “Mummy, this is YOU!” This is the first time I saw her “proper” drawing. I mean not just the scribbles on a piece of paper.

My Boy

How How woke up quite early this morning. He usually wake up around 10am+. After a bottle of milk at 8am+, he continues to go back into his la-la land. Today, he refused to take his morning nap when I put him to sleep at 10am.




So, by 12pm+, he has already worn out and see his action.... Sleeping while sitting on the sofa.


He woke up by his jie jie when she returned from playschool. When he saw his jie jie, he just showed her his lovely grin and started playing again....

Kor....My Brother, Their Kau Foo

My brother came down from Brunei last Sunday by riding his bike. He is a bike lover. He supposed to join his group of friends for the "Yamaha Outing Day"....They went to Sungai Tujuh which is past Kuala Belait and half way down to Miri. My brother just drive straight to visit us. My kids are excited when see their kau foo, especially in the bikers outfit. You know, they keep peeing out from the window just to look at their kau foo's bike.

My brother put his jacket on Jia Jia and took a photo of her. They were happily playing with my brother's bike that afternoon.

Small Project

This is what we did on Tuesday afternoon. Both kids are happily helping me or should I say "messing" up my work during the whole afternoon. Anyway, it was a good workout for 3 of us. We were all went into slumberland very early that night!

It is just a starting point. I will need to plant more beautiful plants and flowers at the garden. Just to utilize the space we had. But, there will be another problem. I would need to think of getting help to water my plants if I am not around at home.

I Love You, You Love Me

How How likes to hug his jie jie when this song started to play at the end of Barney & Friends show.

See , both of them hug each other here....I love you, you love me, we are happy family....

Sometimes when I was busy at the kitchen, this cheeky boy will run to me and request a hug by saying this " mummy, hug" and open his arm wide. Ain't it is so sweet....

I remembered Jia Jia did this too when she was at this age.

Simple Meals

This is what we had for dinner….macaroni cooked with Campbell mushroom cream soup.



I mixed prawn, cubed lean pork, baby peas (very sweet), grated carrot and broccoli into the pre-cooked macaroni pasta. Once everything is well cooked, add in the mushroom cream soup.

And our soup for the day is beet root boiled with black chicken （竹丝鸡），玉竹 and sweet corn.

The taste is sweet. My boy, the picky eater likes this soup so much that he keeps saying” mummy, soup, mummy soup” …

Jia Jia doesn't fancy the soup much maybe because of its colour. She asked me what that when she sees this bowl of soup. Anyway, she likes the macaroni and this is the first time she has eaten all her prawn.

And not forgetting our red bean sago soup as dessert for the night!

Painting Fun

As I had promised that I wanted to do hand painting with my girl, finally I put my plan into "action" on Tuesday. Since hubby had dinner with his buddies that night, so, I just make simple sandwiches for kids and I.

In order to "minimize" the anticipated messiness that might be created by them, I decided to do it at the laundry area.

They both got excited when seeing me put everything on the floor

Happy painting on a big piece of paper lying on the floor…..

From hand painting become ......face painting! Hahaha….it was actually mummy’s job and they are happy doing this on my face too!

We had a good time doing all this despite the messiness....and I planned to make this as our routine activity on every Tuesday ...

Tell you this, while I am typing this post, my sweet girl is happily feeding me grapes...what a sweet girl, hor!