A Simple Family

Miscellaneous

2011-05-26T19:29:00.000+08:00

Looking at the date of my last post, it was in February. It has been a long blog break for me. No reason, not too busy but just .....lazy. I didn't have the "ummph" in blogging as I had previously.

But when come to think that it is such a waste to neglect the blog (which I shouldn't), I should be writing and uploading more of the kids' pictures and progress. At least they can read them in future.

Back to Norm

2011-02-12T17:17:00.000+08:00

well, this weekend is the most relaxing weekend for me ever since cny. I had visitors, my aunt and family came over from Sabah , my mom and dad , my brother & niece were here for cny celebration with us. I have been busy in and busy out since Christmas and had delay quite a few things which I dragged to do it for quite some time, (i) weekly menu planner (ii) my own time table (iii) the maid's schedule (she is coming in every Monday and Friday, so, I have to make sure everything is done where she is here) .
Hope the first 2 items able help to make my life more organized and easier! Hehehehe

Cambodia Trip 2010- Part IV

2011-02-12T16:52:00.000+08:00

Few more photos:-

Our last day in Cambodia........

One of the tourist spot, Phsar Thymei, a.k.a. central market. the government refurbished and reconstructed the whole building. It looked real different compared to year 2006, the year I left Cambodia.

Independent Monument

The lunch we ate before leaving for Pochentong Airport. Sze Chuan Food. My favourite dish and hubs and I surely had it at least once a week while we were in Phnom Penh last time.

And because of this meal, I had a very embarrassing moment in flight. My tummy was in terrible pain (due to the spicy food) right before the flight took off. The cabin crew stopped me from going to the washroom even though I told her I really need to do my "business". I had to hold my tummy and rush to the toilet when the seat belt sign has been off.

So, see you Phnom Penh! I am not sure when is our next trip there again. But I guess, it might be our last trip there. Dara, Susi, Samon, Assine and everyone, hope to see you all again.

Cambodia Trip 2010- Part III -Tuol Sleng

2011-02-12T16:31:00.000+08:00

Here, I am going to continue and conclude my Cambodia trip.

One thing good with Phnom Penh, you can see stalls selling coconut on most of the main streets. My mom and brother enjoyed the fresh coconut water.

The outside view of Tuol Sleng. It is actually a school and was converted into a human prison during Pol Pot time. Many Cambodian , especially those older generation who had gone through the Pol Pot time did not like to talk about this.

I was in Cambodia for almost 7 years. I had never visit Tuol Sleng. Those photos were taken by my brother. Every time when my family members or friends visiting me, I just get my driver to send them there.

Tell you, one of my maids told me this. She was staying near to Tuol Sleng. Her mom told her that years after Pol Pot time over, they can still hear crying and screaming came out from the school (prison). They believed it is from the "spiritual" thing.

Hello! Happy Chinese New Year

2011-02-12T16:03:00.000+08:00

Hi there, what a long- time- no- see greetings! Chap Goh Mei is not over yet and it is still CNY for everyone.

My first post in 2011 and will continue my long overdue Cambodia trip post, Part III in my coming up post.

CNY resolution: will need to be more "hardworking" in writing some posts on the kids.

Cambodia Trip in January 2010- Part II

2010-11-30T18:26:00.000+08:00

Mom and Dad had their dinner at FCCC, Riverside. The "MUST" visit restaurant when you are in Phnom Penh. A good night view of the riverside

Tri-shaw is a very common transport in Phnom Penh

Most tourists like to take this when touring Phnom Penh

Our breakfast at Sam Doo. A Hong Kong Restaurant we used to visit (almost everyday) when we were in Cambodia.

You can see lots of this in Toul Tum Phong

My boy in his usual stylo mylo pose

This man is the garbage collector . You can see lots of this in town.

Stylo-Mylo

2010-11-30T15:06:00.000+08:00

They like to "jing-sik-jing-sui" (act stylo-mylo) some times. Snap these moment of them, at least they can see it next time.


this picture was taken at our previous house


he always like ti drink his milk while on his way to preschool

take this picture at Zoo Negara

Homework Time

2010-11-30T14:18:00.000+08:00

They like to do their work when really in the mood. They can even sit still for a straight two hours to do writing, tracing, maths and colouring when the "MOOD" comes!

Trip in year 2011

2010-11-26T15:24:00.000+08:00

Airasia opened the route to Japan recently. We had booked for our flight to Hokkaido next year in July. Well, again, it will be a "three musketeers" holiday ! Hubby is not following as he doesn't like to go with a tour.

Kids and I will be traveling with all my aunties and uncles , again. My aunt will be in charge of contacting the travel agency to arrange for a family tour for a 8-days in Hokkaido.

I am now brush up my skill in photographing and hope to snap nice pictures there!

Cambodia Trip in January 2010 - Part I

2010-11-26T15:19:00.000+08:00

Read the news few days ago regarding the fatal accident happened in Phnom Penh during their Water Festival. I remembered I was once stuck in the "jam" caused by human for almost 2 hours for a only 15 minutes drive from the restaurant to my home.

There were so so so many people come out from the provinces during the water festival celebration every year. I got a message from my Malaysian "kaki" who is still working there. They also couldn't believe this can be happened as the bridge is so short distance and the crowd was too big. Even the police also couldn't move the crowd before the accident happened.

As promised (so many months ago), these are the photos taken during our trip back to Phnom Penh.

Waiting for our flight at LCCT

Arriving at Pochentong Airport, Cambodia. I have the chance to practice my Khmer language again after 4 years.....

The scene is very very common in Cambodia. My brother was amazed when he saw this.

This is where we stayed. Jardine Bassac Serviced Apartment.


A view taken from the Riverside. Tonle Sap

My dad jalan-jalan at the famous Russian Market- Phsar Tuol Tum Pong


Hubby and Dad enjoyed their afternoon tea at The Shop Cafe. They served the best patti in Phnom Penh. Hubby and I were the regular customers there every weekend afternoon to "tahn char"

Quick Updates

2010-11-26T14:31:00.000+08:00

Well, I could not believe that I have not been updating my blog for almost two months. I was so so so busy since mid of October. Here is a quick updates on what have happened in our family.....

(1) We went back to KL last month for a short vacation, mainly to bring the kids to visit the Aquaria and Zoo Negara , not forgetting my shopping trip;

(2) We moved to a new place as the previous landlord wanted to dispose his properties due to migrating to Australia;

(3) Busy with my photography course;

(4) The girl's school concert;

(5) Lot of work has to be done after we moved in to the new place.

I am now slightly relieved as most of the household stuffs are well kept and arranged in a good manner. We are all settled down and kids are enjoying their new place and new environment.

It's Fun

2010-10-04T23:26:00.002+08:00

They asked me to keep the box after the delivery of our new front loader washer. I agreed since I didn't let them play in a big box before.


enjoying their smoothies

lil' Missy requested to cut a door and window. So, they read books and watched their cartoon from inside the box.

Friends

2010-10-03T11:31:00.000+08:00

To you, my little princess:-

(from left: How How, Jia jia, Davinder and his bro, Jusvinder)

This is the first time I invited her classmate to come over to our place. I bump into them after sending off my mum to the airport and hence, invited them to come over our place to play. I like this little boy as he has beautiful eyes and sweet smile!

A Birthday Gift

2010-10-01T13:38:00.000+08:00

Got a BIG surprise from hubby last night.............

When he arrived home at 12.05am from the airport, I saw this............

This is my belated birthday GIFT all the way from Coach, Pavillion.

Thank you Hubby for the birthday pressie!

Piano Lesson

2010-09-30T23:33:00.000+08:00

I am taking the piano lesson at the moment. It was great as I can pick up the musical lesson at this age and also I know I can guide my lil' Missy on her lesson in future. How nice!

Pix

2010-09-30T22:35:00.001+08:00

Some pictures taken with my new Canon DSLR. I asked my hubby to check around with his colleague where I can take up a short course on photographing.

Dinner @ Mr. Ho's Fine Food Restaurant

2010-09-30T18:16:00.002+08:00

This is a backdated post.

Two nights before my mum went back, we brought her to try out the food at Mr. Ho's restaurant.

Well, too bad as i didn't snap any pictures of our food. I was too hungry and start stuffing my mouth when it was served!

My boy likes to pose nowadays whenever I take his pix

I love them

BIG kisses for his Papa

picture with grandma

my little princess

he enjoys is food throughout the dinner, from starter to dessert!

When My Mum Was Here

2010-09-14T17:34:00.006+08:00

Apart from minding her grandchildren, my mum helped me with the gardening when she is here with us. I really miss her companion. We went yum char everyday after dropping the kids at school, having teatime treat together, she minds the kids when I do the cooking and she has the "green fingers" and likes to rearrange my garden.

my mum celebrated her birthday here

jia jia and how how love their grandma companion so much

my mum has the "green fingers". She is very good in gardening.

How We Sepnt Our Raya Holiday

2010-09-14T17:11:00.004+08:00

Today is the second day of school reopen. Kids are back to their normal routine and my mum had gone back to Kuantan yesterday. Kids and I are a bit sad when we waved goodbye to her at the gate.

We spent our raya holiday in Brunei with my father and brother. We were helping my father tidying and arranging his house. Cooking for them and bringing my mom around in Bandar to "yum char".

It was a good and fruitful holiday!

this cheeky boy

jia jia posing like a samseng

my dad with his 3 grandchildren

Mum Is Here

2010-09-03T22:42:00.002+08:00

My mum was here since last week. I was relieved from my duty and enjoying my "holiday" temporary. My mum is the child minder , gardener and my helper at the moment. One thing that trouble her is the knee joint pain. She has this problem whenever she is staying here because she has to go up and down many times a day. She is also the type of person who can't sit still watching TV . She must find something to do whenever she is free. I think I will probably redesign the playroom downstairs to convert into a bedroom, at least she can sleep downstairs next time when she is here. I am surely miss her when she travels back to Kuantan mid of this month.

By the way, I will be driving down to Brunei with her and my two kids next Monday when school holiday starts to stay with my dad and visit my brother. This will be my second time driving down to Brunei all by myself!

12th Year Anniversary!

2010-08-26T15:51:00.007+08:00

I have been busy lately, thus , I really do not have time to update the blog. Busy with the kids as usual, busy with house chore, busy shopping for the new furniture and beds for the kids etc. Besides, I am busy "studying for examination" huh! Surprise? I was asked by my aunt to take up a insurance license to act as an agent. She needs extra license to represent two more insures , so, I was the "chosen one"!

By the way, hubby and I celebrated our 12th year anniversary last month. He had a business trip to KL and he surprised me with this at 12am on the day he traveled back from KL.

I believe I will be busier with the addition of these two new gadgets.

Thanks Hubby for the anniversary gifts!

It's Not Friend, It's Colleague

2010-07-18T15:56:00.002+08:00

I was in a conversation with Jia Jia before their nap today. Our conversation goes like this:-

Myself: Jia, what did you eat just now? Did you meet papa's friend?

My lil' Missy has not yet answered but there is another voice saying this:

di-di: mum, it's not friend.

Myself:Not friend?

Di-di: ya, it's not friend, it's colleague.

Imagine, a 2.5 years old boy knows what is colleague means!

A Gift To Our Kids

2010-07-17T13:40:00.003+08:00

This piano was a gift from one of my hubby ex-colleague. His family migrated to Australia last month and he asked the forwarder to deliver the piano to us. And because of this piece of musical instrument, my lil' Missy is attending piano lessons now. She has been going for 3 lessons and doing very well. The teacher was quite impress with her maturity too. Hubby and I were not aware she is interested in music too until we sent her to piano lesson. I accompanied her and was amazed of the concentration she showed during the whole 3 lessons. She is so keen in practicing , thus she is able to play the song " Marry Had A Little Lamb" with the right and left hand on her third lesson. well done, darling!

Easy Way to Have fun

2010-07-17T12:42:00.003+08:00

.........in the bathroom. I am very afraid of messiness but on the other hand want to let the kids to have great fun activity. Here I come up with this:

painting in the bathroom!

stick a few mah jiong paper on the wall

let them do whatever they like

once done, tear the the papers, get them to help in cleaning and washing away the colour

And they like it so much because they can have a water play after colouring

Taiwan- Day 8

2010-07-15T20:00:00.003+08:00

We had few hours free and easy in the morning before heading to Taoyuan Airport. Hahaha....it was the first day I had a relaxed morning in the past 8 days, no rushing, kids woke up slightly late and had a relaxed morning breakfast. Mom and aunts all woke up very early and wanted to grab the last few hours shopping time. Si lai....

Well, I brought my kids to walk around the places near to our hotel after our good breakfast at Starbucks. Some of the sales persons asked us whether we are returnee from oversea. Hahaha...they thought we are Taiwanese return from abroad for holiday. Maybe they saw kids and I speak in English and Mandarin, "mix -mix"

my aunt with our tour guide, a very soft spoken Taiwanese lady and have been a wonderful tour guide. She is in her 60's but doesn't look like her age. That's why people said Taiwanese ladies know how to groom themselves well

di di had the chicken drumstick from his doting grandma. My mum has been a great help to me minding one of them when I was busy with another one. Besides, two of them are well liked by the elders as both are very well behaved throughout the holiday

dad strolled di di around the airport while waiting for the tour guide to help with the check in

mum, dad,kids and I

Bye Bye Taiwan, I will definitely come back to visit you next year!

p/s: hubby and I planned to bring the kids to Taiwan again next year. But this time, we will just spend few days in Taipei, makan-makan and "shopping".......

Taiwan- Day 7, Taipei City

2010-07-15T19:34:00.006+08:00

After lunch, we visited the 101 Mall, National Chiang-kai Sek Memorial Hall, Liberty Square before our dinner. After our steamboat dinner, we went straight to two night markets, Wu Fen Pu and Chi Lin Night Market. I had a great time shopping at Chi Lin Night Market ( not clothes, but those make up , skin care and also perfumes) with Jia Jia in a stroller with me and di di was with his grandma. Tell ya, I really need to praise them as they are both very very well behaved throughout our whole 8 days holiday, no fuss, no tantrum , been very flexible (wake up extremely early on some mornings and do not take proper nap but still remain active and no whining because of lack of sleep)

my mum and dad posing at the 101 Mall. We didn't visit the top floor as there was a very long queue and the tour guide strongly against it as she afraid it might delay our time to leave the mall

liberty square

di di was really excited as there was a dinosaurs exhibition held at Chiang Kai-sek National Memorial. In fact there is a documentary show there but again, it was a long queue and we didn't make it.

wu fen pu night market

some of the desserts we tried at night market.It was another feeling when you take something cold in a cold weather.

Taiwan- Day 7, Taipei City

2010-07-14T17:42:00.006+08:00

We arrived Taipei around noon and headed straight to the famous restaurant, Hai Pa Wang for lunch.

the "must-have" dish at Hai Pa Wang, dried shrimp glutinous rice

one of the famous dish, "fo tiao qiang"

kids happily enjoy their fruits

Taiwan- Day 7 , Kaoshiong /Taipei (High Speed Rail)

2010-07-14T17:34:00.005+08:00

On the day 7 morning, we took the Taiwan High Speed Rail heading North, Taipei City again. Instead of taking a long journey by coach, the high speed rail saved us a lot of time and yet it was fun sight seeing in the train.

Di di is the one who most enjoyed his ride in this "modern Thomas"!

Taiwan- Day 6 , Kaoshiong

2010-07-14T17:07:00.006+08:00

We visited a recreation park which I had totally forgot the name. Kids enjoyed themselves there.

dad and mum helped taking care of di di while I sneaked out for a cup of coffee

dad with his sister, my "si gou"

me on a train ride with the kids

see the penis-like thingy, it is believed that whoever wish to have a baby boy, they have to tie a red cloth and touch the stone for their wish to come true

Taiwan - Day 6 , Kaoshiong

2010-07-14T16:56:00.002+08:00

Xing Yun Temple in Kaoshiong

Taiwan- Tainan City & Kaoshiong

2010-07-14T16:32:00.004+08:00

We left Xi Wu Resort in the morning for Tainan City. We visited a strawberry and tomato farm and enjoy picking fruits there, especially the two kids. Weather is getting warmer and warmer while heading South. So, we wore less heavy and thick clothing.

di di enjoyed picking fruits at the farm

Jia Jia and my aunt

see the background, it is the salt mountain

salted eggs on sale

We reached Kaoshiong in the evening and headed straight to the night market, 六合夜市. Again, dad and I enjoyed the fermented beancurd there.

Taiwan -Day 3 & 4- Miaoli

2010-07-14T16:15:00.004+08:00

We left Taichung quite early on 3rd day to make a trip to Alishan Mountain and 日月潭 before heading to Xi Wu Resort.

Once you entered into the resort compound, you can smell the lavender fragrant instantly. The whole resort was planted with the lavender.

there is a mini canopy for the kids. This little fellow wanted to walk on his own. He refused his grandma to hold his hand. And he did it without our help.

mum with her sisters (my aunts)

Taiwan Trip- Day 2, Taichung

2010-06-23T18:24:00.000+08:00

We arrived in Taichung around 7pm+ and the tour guide brought us to the famous night market there, Feng Jia Night Market. Tell you, I was dropped dead tired and actually hope that we could check in to the hotel asap. This is the thing that you follow a tour.

I didn't do any shopping and my dad and I headed straight to the hawker food. I ate the famous "chow taufoo" (fermented bean curd) there. Tell you, the Taiwan "chow Taufoo" much more tastier than the Hong Kong Chow Taufoo. The one I ate in Hong Kong was deep fried but I tried the braised fermented bean curd with spicy szechuan style in Taiwan. Yummmmm......best lol....It was soooo spicy yet so yummy!

Taken some of the pictures of the hawker food.

I like this BBQ Taiwan sausage. Yummy! Much tastier than the ones sell here.

Taiwan Trip- Day 2, Taipei & Beitou

2010-06-23T16:40:00.006+08:00

Tell ya, this is the first time and also the last time I would follow a group tour. Imagine, we have to change the hotel everyday, traveling from places to places. Sleep late and wake up early to grab the breakfast. But, I need to praise my kids. Really! They have been behaving very well. Very , very well during our 8 days in Taiwan. No fussing for early waking up, no fussing from travel from places to places and no complaint from traveling in buses for long hours. In fact, from young as babies (they started traveling with us as early as 3 months old), both of them proved to us that they are really "kaki" travel!

our first destination on 2nd day- Yangmingshan National Park. It is a very nice park and the air is so good there. However, on all the way up to the mountain, if you wind down your window, there is a strong sulphur smell as there are hotsprings around Yangmingshan. There are also Azaleas (cherry blossoms) in the park.Too bad as I didn't snap the pictures of these nice beautiful blossoms.

After our visit to Yangmingshan, we took the coach traveled south to Taichung. Our first stop in Taichung is Yieliu. Weather was cold that day and it was even colder as yieliu is near to the beach.

me with the famous queen head statute at the back. I didn't try to take picture next to it as there was a long, long queue of tourists waiting there.

my lil's missy in the picture with my aunt (my dad's sister). We are traveling with the relatives from my mom's side and also from the dad's side. Huge family tour hor!

After all the visiting, we stopped at Wu Jiao Chuan Ban Restaurant for lunch. It was an attractive place. You'll be amazed as the sculpture and design there were made by carved wood and stones.

You must be wondering where is the little boy. He was sleeping soundly in his stroller. I remembered I "ta pau" the food for him to eat on the coach.

Taiwan Trip - Day 1, Taipei

2010-06-23T16:17:00.005+08:00

This is a long overdue post. It has been sitting in my draft folder for almost 3 months. Share with you some of our pictures taken during our holiday trip to Taiwan in March.

Our flight was at 9am+ departed from LCCT. We started our journey from Kuantan by coach and arriving LCCT around 5am+. Kids and I didn't nap and they both ran around the airport for almost 5 hours. They slept the moment the flight took off. I myself had to gulp down few cups of coffee to help me staying awake to watch them like a hawk.

Arriving Tao Yuan Airport around 4pm+ and there were two tourist guides waiting to receive us as we were traveled in a huge group (around 40+ persons)

my second uncle, mom and I having something to eat and drink at the LCCT cafe

Our first destination- Yu Ren Ma Tou. The weather was so cold and caught me by surprise as I didn't expect it was that cold. I had to take out extra clothings from my luggage to put on for the kids.

Di-di was in the stroller and been very silence due to the freezing cold weather. This picture was taken on the Blueway Wharf

After our visit to Yu Ren Ma Tou, we went to the famous Dan Sui Street to try out their street food before heading to a restaurant for proper dinner.

Jia Jia had the ice cream and tell ya, it was good experience eating ice cream in the freezing cold weather.

As I was busy trying out their hawker food, I didn't manage to snap more pictures. My dad and I tried almost the hawker food in Danshui Old Street introduced in the tour guide booklet we bought.

Floor Detergent

2010-06-17T21:02:00.004+08:00

For those who are clean freak like me, I strongly introduce you to use Licin-Licin floor detergent. I got to know about this product from my mom during my previous trip back to Kuantan. You will definitely like it after you mop your floor with this liquid.

No More Bottles

2010-06-17T20:54:00.004+08:00

The kids had weaned off from the milk bottles since April. Di-di doesn't ask for the bottles but lil' Missy asked for her bottle sometimes. Well, it has been two months that they drink their milk in Avent Sippy Cup and sometimes, just from the cup with a straw. I do not need to spend on the BPA Free bottles and the bottle teat anymore.

Now It's Di-di's Turn

2010-06-17T20:46:00.003+08:00

Remember my previous post on how Jia Jia dressed up the little Kiki, her favourite toy? Just a few days later, it was di-di's turn to be monkeying by his sister.

I know it is not good to let the boy to be "dressed up" like this but it was just too funny to look at. I had a real good laugh looking at them.

di-di wears her jie-jie's princess tiara and heels

Random Pictures

2010-06-11T23:32:00.003+08:00

I brought Jia Jia to the Bulatan Park on a weekend's evening. Only me and the little girl. She enjoyed herself very much cycling on her tricycle. After that we headed to a coffee shop nearby to get something to drink. It was a great evening as I managed to spend some personal time with her.

Lack of Updates

2010-06-11T23:26:00.003+08:00

Yup. I was on holiday for the past 1.5 weeks. Our holiday here (inclusive of Gawai Festival) started from last Thursday. Hubby was actually on leave since Friday, 28th May. So, everyday is sleep, eat, shopping, eat, sleep.....I myself also become so lazyyyy..........lack of "ummph" to work on everything!

We've been traveling to Brunei once during the holiday to help up my brother with his house and do some grocery shopping at Brunei Supa Save.

A Helpful Jie Jie

2010-06-11T23:07:00.004+08:00

These was taken quite sometime ago. It was on one Sunday when I was busy in the kitchen and the little boy wanted to go wee wee.

As my hand were dirty, so I asked lil' Missy to help her di-di "shee-shee". See how she undress and dress her brother. She's really a big sis and can really help me with simple task.

Random Pictures

2010-05-26T20:29:00.000+08:00

Lil' Missy dressed up her favourite toy, Ms Kiki in pink...

these pics were taken before we go out for dinner

they are both sharing a queen size bed we put in our room

Visit

2010-05-26T17:23:00.000+08:00

My brother visited me 3 weeks ago with his biker friends from Brunei. They rode all the way down for a bikers' roadshow held in Miri.

They're ready to go

Choices

2010-05-25T17:10:00.003+08:00

I read a blogger post today regarding her choice of letting go of her full time helper and she has to juggle 3 kids , 3 blogs and one online business.

First, I think it would be good if she does not employ any full time live in indon maids. All maids she employed through out the years have been giving her problems. I had experience with only one Indon maid ever since I am back to Malaysia. And it is enough. I don't think I am going to hire any live in maid anymore. But, I do hire part timer to help with the heavy duty house chores.

So, in this case, this mommy has to lower her expectation on the cleanliness and tidiness of the house. At least she can't expect her house will be "sparkling clean" like before.

I personally feel that she might be happier without any problematic live in maid. Besides, she may need around 1-2 months to get used of the "life without maid" ! I myself take about a month to get used of it.

Most important is she has to decide which is more important to her, either her online business or kids. According to her post, she has been neglecting her kids lately due to the thriving business. I personally feel that she can actually slow down a bit on her business and get a part timer to help with the chores. Things will become better when the kids grow older and more independent. This mean she has more time to pick up the business again.

Grilled Chicken Drumstick

2010-05-21T13:05:00.004+08:00

I tried my hands on grill chicken yesterday. It was a very delicious meal, even hubby likes the juicy chicken very much. The most satisfying part was at the end of our meal, my lil Missy asked me this " mum, did you buy this or cook this? " hahaha, it must be very yummy that she thought I bought it from the restaurant.

Indeed, this meal is very special because I didn't cook any pasta or rice. I boiled some sweet corn to go with the grilled chicken and broiled veggie. We were just too hungry until forgot to snap the picture of our wholesome meal.

Instilled a Good Habbit

2010-05-20T16:52:00.003+08:00

I was quite successful on two things for the past two weeks, (i) get them ready for bed by 10pm on weekdays, (ii) get them to eat their breakfast before go to school.

Previously, they normally drink their 7oz milk when got up in the morning before heading to school. But, until recently, I want to train them to eat a simple breakfast instead of just drinking milk.

On the first 2-3 days, I can see that they really have no appetite to eat their breakfast. But, by the 4th day onwards, the first thing they came downstairs, they will automatically climb on to their highchair and ready to eat their breakfast.

So, on most mornings, I am the busiest person, prepare breakfast, get them to finish their breakfast before 7.40am, then wash them up and get them in car before 8.20am.

I drop the kids at school now because hubby got to get to the office before 8.30am and so, he couldn’t send the kids.

Even with me rushing like a mad lady but still worth it as they are getting a nutritious start for the day!

Just Another Afternoon At Playground

2010-05-18T17:20:00.001+08:00

The kids woke up early from their cat nap on one afternoon last week; I decided to bring them out to the club. Afternoon outing means late dinner!

Every time when I brought them out for any outdoor activities on weekdays, I need to think of something simple for dinner as I normally quite rush in preparing dinner once got home. So, I don’t like something spontaneous and like to preplanned ahead.

至阿姨的一封信

2010-05-09T19:45:00.001+08:00

Aunty, 我想我好像从没正色向您说句谢谢你对我这么多年来的照顾。

感谢您:~

~~~~ 给我升学的机会

感谢您:~

~~~~ 在我和Ah Leong 在KL最辛苦的时候，对我说的一句话：如果你不够钱用，可以跟 Aunty 講

感谢您：~

~~~ 在我每次回Kuantan 时，煲糖水和煮白斬鸡给我吃

想说声对不起，因为我有时候做错或说错，一些让您不高兴的事。

从我还在求学时，直到我现在以为人母亲，你连我的孩子和丈夫也一様sayang.

Aunty, 真的很感谢您对我这么照顾，谢谢。

祝您母亲节快乐！

A Quick and Easy to Prepare Lunch!

2010-05-06T13:09:00.000+08:00

I was short of time the other day when the kids came back from school and they "shouted" for lunch. I think they must be really hungry that day because they normally take their lunch after their bath and rest.

In the nick of time, I came out with this dish. Udon with sausage and mushroom minced pork meat sauce and topped with ikan bilis (their favourite!)

Luckily, I made some mushroom minced meat sauce a few days before and keep some in the freezer for next meal to stir fry with Japanese tofu. Besides, there is always a bottle of dried anchovies ever ready in my kitchen.

So, I thawed the frozen sauce in microwave while cooking the sausage and the udon in the boiling water in a saucepan.

Once the sauce is thawed and warm, just mix it with the udon. Final touch was topping the dish with their favourite ikan bilis!

What A Good Day!

2010-04-30T17:18:00.006+08:00

Tell you, if people ask me what is the thing I can't live without, I must say PEDICURE! I had the habit of doing pedicure/manicure started when I was in Cambodia. I had it almost every week during those days because it was damn cheap there and I was working that time (clean hands are more presentable, hehehe! Plus I had two maids at home to take care of the house chores).

When I came back to Malaysia, I had my pedi/mani done once a month (it's expensive in West Malaysia) and when I came to Miri , I had it done at least twice a month (there is a salon here charging me cheaper as I am their regular customer).

So, yesterday, I booked my appointment extremely early as I need to pick up the kids from playschool at 11.30am. My pedi/mani session started at 9.45am. See, what do you think of my pedicure (nail art) and manicure ?

Tuna Egg Puff

2010-04-29T08:56:00.004+08:00

I tried my hand on few baking recipe recently ever since I bought the Faber oven. Here is another recipe that I tried on Monday. Thanks to Momster's Cooking for sharing this recipe.

it was just out from the oven. Can't wait and took one for hubby to try........

I will post the recipe in my cooking blog!

Homemade Lor Mei Kei

2010-04-29T08:52:00.002+08:00

Going back to cooking, here's my homemade lor mei kei to share with you. for the ingredient and steps, do hop over to my other blog at http://mommy-chef.blogspot.com/

She Loves Using Chopstick

2010-04-29T08:30:00.005+08:00

My little girl likes to use chopstick to eat her noodle while we were in Kuantan. I bought a pair of training chopstick for her while we were in Taipei last month.

see. how good is she holding on the chopstick like a pro

Just recently when we were out dining, she requested to use chopstick to eat and I agreed as I know she won't mess up herself as she is always a clean and tidy freak girl, just like mummy

!
I got this pair of training chopstick from the the local grocery stores in Taipei

Sand Art

2010-04-24T22:06:00.004+08:00

As usual, we went for our normal routine on most Saturdays- window shopping at Bintang Mall after lil Missy finished her ballet lesson. When we reached there, hubby went to the phone accessories shop to get my new "gadget" a leather cover.

There is a sand art shop next to the phone shop and lil' Missy kept bugging me to bring her to do some sand art. Well, I have promised her since last week that I will bring her out on a weekday night, just the two of us (poor di-di has to stay home with his papa), doing some girls' thing (shopping, having snacks and accompany her to do some sand art thingy). But I have yet fulfilled my promised until this afternoon.

Since I have to wait for the shop owner to get my phone nicely wrapped, I just brought her over to do the sand art.

Here's the photo captured by hubby using my iPhone.

They Are Finally Settle Down

2010-04-24T18:22:00.007+08:00

Both kids are finally settled with their normal routine. Lil' Missy didn't cry started the second week but the little boy is only finally settle with school environment started this week (3rd week).

For the past two weeks, this little boy cried the moment he was bathed and changed into the school t-shirt. He was whining all the way from our house to the school gate. Imagine, I have to bear with the noise from the back seat while driving them to school. But when hubby was the one who drove him to school, he behaved better, at least not whining like he did when I dropped him at school.

Ok, within this 3 weeks ever since I came back to Miri, I had received two "gadgets" from hubby. Firstly, that's the oven I have been wanting to get since Christmas last year. As we are just staying here temporary and there is no point to buy a big built-in oven. Besides, our kitchen space is limited, therefore, it is not advisable to get a 40L oven. So, I finally settled with this...

The Faber FE032, 32 litre Faber oven. Well, I had actually carried out some projects since last week, first was a grilled fish fillet, then a brownies (with ready mixed flour). "Outcome" are satisfying. I didn't snap any pictures of my "produce" as I do not have any digital camera right now.

Here comes the second "gadget"....tang..tang...tang...

Hubby got me the iPhone 3Gs today. He gave me a great surprise this morning by leaving the box on my dressing table. I am "learning" how to use the new gadget the whole day today. The best part is I can start taking clear pictures of my kids and my new dishes with the iPhone 3 Gs.

Thanks hubby!

Coffee Morning

2010-04-08T18:58:00.003+08:00

I had a pleasant morning today!

I was invited by my hubby's colleague's wife for a coffee morning. She had catered mee jawa and other kuih muih. Her friends came over and all of them were expatriate in Oman last time. They are all "old mothers" and their kids are all grown up already. It was nice chatting with them and I even pick up my son early and joined them again for second round makan-makan.

I think it has been a long time I didn't had such a "free" time to enjoy my breakfast while chatting around in such a relax mood!

I have been enjoying my "toddler free" moment in the morning since Monday as di-di was in playschool for 2 hours starting this week. So, I do my house chores in peace and also preparing lunch in peace . I would be going back to pool next week, at least I can go swimming 3 times a week.

How How's First Day at Playschool

2010-04-07T14:22:00.002+08:00

How How went to playschool on Monday. He was so eager to put on his uniform in the morning after his milk. He was okay all the time until we wanted to enter the door. He was slightly reluctant to go in with me but was slowly step inside his class.

He started to cry when I leave his class. I waited outside and his cry lasted for about 10 minutes. He even requested the teacher to bring the dinosaurs toys for him to play with. Hahaha!

When I picked him up after 1.5 hours (was told to pick child up early on the first week), I was informed by his teacher that he can speaks very well and know hot to express himself well too. Mommy is so proud of you, di-di!

Jia Jia's Progress

2010-04-07T14:13:00.003+08:00

My little girl has been reluctant to go to school since Monday. It was the first time I saw her crying ever since she attended Kindergarten in January. Even on her first day to Kindergarten, she was so calm and steady and she didn't even cry. I think it must be long holiday that turn her into a lazy bum bum! Hopefully she will be better next week.

I was informed by her teacher that she was lagging behind too. Almost one term left behind her peers. Hopefully the teacher does not put pressure on her in order to catch up with others. I feel that it was just too early to start a barely 4 years old kid on those "suku kata".

I should better do some extra work with her at home to brush up her alphabets and bahasa.

Back to School......

2010-04-04T23:11:00.003+08:00

Jia Jia will be going back to school tomorrow and marked the end of her 2 months long holiday. I think she would probably cry because she has been resisting to go back to school whenever I raised the "back to school" topic. I might ask hubby to send her tomorrow as I know she dare out cry if her daddy drop her off at school.

As for the little boy, He is supposed to start his playschool tomorrow but he has tummy upset since evening and I need to postpone it until he gets better.

This weekend is the first weekend hubby and us spent together ever since we were back from Taiwan. He went back to Sandakan for Cheng Beng last weekend.

I need to hit to slumber land now as I need to get up early tomorrow to get things ready! Back to life...back to the reality........

Just Another Conversation......

2010-04-02T14:14:00.001+08:00

My daughter and I was talking about something while I was driving them to a grocery shop to buy juices. Out of sudden, she started on the below conversation with me.........

Jia Jia : Mommy, next time aa, when I grow up ha, I come out to work.

ME: How about mommy?

Jia Jia: Mommy go shopping lor...

ME: But mommy is not working, who give money to mommy to spend?

Jia Jia: I give you lor.... ( she likes to put a "lor" to every sentence nowadays). When you get old, I bom bom (bathe) for you...I change your baju, I wipe you. After that, I on the TV for you. And mommy, ha, I bring you go shopping....and I also sleep with you...

Hahahah...this is exactly what I did for her everyday...

It is so sweet to listen to what she said.

A LAzy ME

2010-04-01T14:08:00.002+08:00

I was really lazy to take my wok out for cooking. Kids have been eating out quite frequent lately ever since we came back to Miri last week (bad mommy!). Just lazy...

Tell you, I was on HOLIDAY for the past 2 months. My mom helped me with most of my kids' stuffs. I do not need to clean the house, she even helped to wash and steam the bottles every morning. My dad was in-charge of the cooking for all of us. My kids like his cooking too, especially the porridge.

Bad thing is...it is quite hard for me to resume all my normal routine now. Sigh! Lazy bone, lazy bone.

My First Time

2010-03-28T22:30:00.002+08:00

Hubby was away in Sandakan for "cheng meng". So, I decided to bring the kids to Brunei to visit my brother since I have not seen him for quite some time.

Well, this is my first time drive down to Brunei by myself. It was an 2 hours plus journey and about 5 hours driving in total. It was a day trip and I was not tired maybe I was too excited.

My brother proposed to stay overnight but I need to be back in the evening as my part time helper was in my house to help with the laundry and ironing. Imagine, I folded 3 full baskets of clothes (for 8 days clothing from my traveling) and I really need her to iron the clothes as soon as possible.

Both kids are excited too. Seem that they're still in their holiday mood!

Welcome Home!

2010-03-28T22:24:00.002+08:00

Well, we are back in Miri. Both kids and I arrived last Wednesday morning. We were away for about 2 months since January.

For the past two months, we have been traveling oversea twice, one was in January for a 3 days 2 nights trip to Cambodia. The second one was early this month on a trip to Taiwan for an 8-days tour. Kids and I are equally enjoyed our 2 months long holiday.

I'll upload the pictures taken in Taiwan soon.

Greetings From Kuantan!

2010-02-01T12:47:00.003+08:00

I'm typing this post at my mom's office in Kuantan. We were just back from Phnom Penh , Cambodia for a 3 days 2 nights trip.

It was a good trip. We managed to catch up with our friends and met up with some ex-colleagues too. Hubby visited his ex-boss too.

I may not be able to upload the snapshots taken for our trip as I have lost my digital camera at the service apartment we stayed. Well, in Cambodia, if you lost something outside your room, you won't be able to get it back even though it is a well reputation place.

I will try to get my brother to e-mail me some of the photos that he has taken. At least I can upload some and post it here!

Hubby wanted to get the latest Canon DSLR for me but I have turned him down as it cost around RM4100.

A Wholesome Dish

2010-01-21T18:05:00.006+08:00

I had a 七星斑鱼 fillet still sitting in my freezer the other day. It was brought from Sandakan by my aunt who were here last month.

Instead of steam it the usual way (with fried garlic or teow chew style), i steamed it with Japanese tofu, salted vegetable, tomato and ginger.

Check out the full recipe at http://mommy-chef.blogspot.com/

Fish Maw Dessert

2010-01-19T23:01:00.003+08:00

Have you eaten dessert made from fish maw? I cooked it last week and it taste good. At least my kids like it very much. It is so chewy that I myself also wolf down a bowl of it.

This is a very nourishing dessert. According to the boss at the Chinese medicine shop, it is especially good for kids as it cures cough.

Tell you, it taste real good and I like the texture of the fresh fish maw (no the fried one), so chewy.

Find out more on http://mommy-chef.blogspot.com/2010/01/fish-maw-dessert.html

Salmon Fillet

2010-01-18T13:04:00.005+08:00

I google the recipes on how to cook the salmon fillets. This is what I found. Visit my other blog http://mommy-chef.blogspot.com/2010/01/salmon-fillet.html to find out!

What's This

2010-01-17T22:44:00.006+08:00

Locals said this is fresh "black olives". I am not sure but it tastes like olives. I used this to boil soup for Jia Jia last week and it did relieved her cough. Locals have a different way to eat this type of olives and I haven't tried yet.

Wanna know about the home remedy, do hop over http://mommy-chef.blogspot.com/2010/01/home-remedy.html

Lacking Behind

2010-01-17T22:31:00.004+08:00

I have been super duper busy last week (loads of house chore) and I am really slow in my work as I planned to clear up my kids' old toys and clothing to be sent to the orphanage via Red Crescent Miri. I planned to get all done before Saturday next week. Hopefully, I manage to clear up their wardrobe soonest possible.

Besides, bento-ing was put on hold too. So, I just pack those simple cheese and bread or cakes and pastries bought from the bakery for her to bring to school.

Hubby has been quite busy with his work too and I was told not to prepare dinner for him. So, I brought the kids to eat out quite often last week. For lunch, I would just prepare simple meal for them.

Jia Jia was down with cough and flu last week too and I've tried some home remedy and chinese herbs to cure her sickness without taking the singulair prescribed by the doctor.

Clean Up ..Clean Up

2010-01-17T20:40:00.003+08:00

......just like one of the songs in Barney. The part time maid has been "disappeared" again. Do not know what happened to the agency. The lady boss just disappear like that. No one pick up calls even her personal mobile phone. I'd called the maid directly but was told that no one pick them up from the quarters and they don't hear anything from the boss as well. Hopefully, the lady boss is not "run away" like those people who owes a big sum to "Ah Lung".

So, for the past week, I've been doing laundry, cleaning toilets, washing the car poach, ironing clothes etc. A good way to burn off the excess fats.But bad thing is I have only little time for the kids and most of the time, I'll let the TV keep them occupied.

I hope the cleaning service resumes next week as I need to spend time to keep our luggage. We'll be leaving next Sunday for a 2-months long holiday in Cambodia, West Malaysia and Taiwan.

Rain, Rain Go Away..........

2010-01-15T22:47:00.003+08:00

It has been raining cats and dogs for the past two days. My clothes are still lining out there and there are more loads to come. I brought the 2 kids out today to drop off my laundry at the self service "kedai dobi" but was told by the owner that there is no machine available. I have to go back tomorrow at 8am if I want to use the clothes dryer. Hahaha.....what to do, gotto load back the 2 big laundry baskets to my car!

I don't feel like cooking too...Maybe because of the weather...(another lazy excuses). Just don't feel like doing anything today.

Since no dinner at home, three of us went to the Hong Kong Restaurant and enjoy our meal. Hubby didn't join us as he was still in his office working OT .

Well, just try to finish another 2 loads and send all together to kedai dobi tomorrow on my way to send my lil Missy for her ballet lesson.

Ai...rain , rain, go away....come again another day.............

See The Way They Eat Fruits!

2010-01-13T02:07:00.003+08:00

Just some photos taken on days that they had their fruits the cutest way.

They are having great time" tahn sai kai"! Watching TV and eating at the same time. Noticed what are they having? They prefer green apple more than the red ones. Maybe it is mummy's gen. I always like the sour and sweet taste of the green apples.

Bento For The Past Week

2010-01-13T01:06:00.003+08:00

Shared with you some of the pictures taken on the bento I made for lil' Missy last week.

Friday- Bread and cheese cut out in bunny shape, octodog, baby peas with carrot , served with canned pineapple and longan.

Tuesday - Butter bread with bunny/ bird shape cheese, chocolate cookie as treat, canned longan and pineapple and chicken sausage cut out in flower shape (maybe the cuts are not deep, so, end result is not that nice)

Wednesday-bread rolls with cheese, carrot, cucumber served with cherry tomatoes (her favourite).

Thursday- bread with cheese (mould with a karipap mould), cherry tomatoes, sausage with cheestik and served with a slice of green apple.

Bento

2010-01-06T00:47:00.003+08:00

I was informed by Jia Jia's School Principal that they do not provide snacks/food starting from this year as there are many guidelines to comply with inclusive of hiring a cook specifically cook for the children.

I used to give simple snacks, i.e, bread, cookies etc for her last year as she would take porridge or fried noodle prepared by her preschool.

So, got hubby to drive us to Parkson last night after dinner to get some "gadgets". I am into the journey of "bento-ing"! At least make the whole lunch box more appealing! I got a few simple tools (moulds, container etc) as I planned to buy the real bento kits when I return to West Malaysia end of this month.

This also mean that I need to get up slightly early to prepare the bento. I've planned to make the Octodog tomorrow and see how's her reaction when she sees that.

Last Day of 2009

2010-01-06T00:14:00.004+08:00

* back dated post*

Just to note what we did on the last day of year 2009.

Hubby took a long lunch break that day and we went to have dim sum at Han Restaurant, Grand Palace Hotel. We seldom have dim sum during weekdays as it is always lack of time to do so, especially we need to "tahn sar" when having dim sum. After dropped hubby at his office, kids and me went to Bintang Mall to shop as Parkson having Members' Day Sale that day. We reached home at almost 5pm and we all went to take a nap.

forget to snap pictures before putting our chopstick on the dim sum. too hungry

lil missy patiently waits for her chicken porridge

Hubby asked not to cook that night and we had steamboat dinner at Shobu Shobu. Then again after dinner, we went to Parkson again! See, there is not many places you can go in Miri!

Her First Day At "Big School"

2010-01-05T23:24:00.004+08:00

Big School. Yes, her preschool teacher named it ! Her teacher "brain washed" them that they are big kids now and should go to Big School in year 2010. I brought her to see her big school few times during the school holiday, just to make sure she is prepared.

Yesterday marked the "kelam-kabut" day for most parents. First day of school, be it a preschool , primary or secondary school.

My girl entered her first year at kindergarten, Level One.

She is so eager to try on her "uniform" this morning

When I shopped for her white blouse , I was thinking like since when my girl has grown up so fast that she is going to be 4 years old this year.

Time flies. She was just a 3 months old baby when we brought her to Miri. Slept in the bassinet and a very easy traveler during the whole journey from Kuantan to Miri. But she was very cranky on her first night until mummy and papa has to take turn to "goyang sarong" to put her to sleep the whole night.

I was actually afraid that she will grow up real fast and then one day she will tell me , mummy I want to sleep on my own because I am a big girl already!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!

2010-01-01T13:27:00.006+08:00

The year has gone but made us strong. The path was long but we walked with a song. There were fears and tears but we also had reasons for cheers......

WISHING YOU ALL A GREAT BEGINNING FOR THE YEAR 2010!

My Aunt Celebrated Her Birthday Here

2010-01-01T00:00:00.000+08:00

This is a backdated post.

My aunt and her family from Sandakan was here for a week holiday during the week of Christmas. Her birthday was on the 21st December and we celebrated her b-day here. On the same week, we had 2 birthday celebrations.

Last Day of Her Pre-School

2009-12-31T00:58:00.001+08:00

This is a backdated post.

My lil' Missy will be enrolling for the kindergarten Level one next year. The preschool held a mini party for the kids on the last day of their school.

lil Missy with her bf Isabelle.

guess she is bored with the games

Just a small group on last day because most of the kids were not joining the party.

I was told that her teacher asked her to dance on that day and she did . Hahaha....

Random Pictures Taken on How How's Birthday

2009-12-30T16:56:00.002+08:00

We celebrated di-di's birthday earlier December. Here are the pictures that were taken on his B-day.

papa boiled two red eggs for him in the morning

we had dinner at the restaurant. He opened up his pressie from mummy.

his all time favourite Elmo

mummy and cheh-cheh sing the b-day song

enjoy eating his Elmo cake

Our Winter Solstice Dinner

2009-12-30T11:59:00.002+08:00

I cooked up quite a few dishes for winter solstice dinner. This is the first time I cooked such a great dinner (from preparing, washing, cooking and cleaning aftermath) all by myself.

braised fish maw with sea cucumber, chicken, mushroom, scallop and clams

assam fish

stir fried mixed vegetable with Japanese tofu

braised pork with yam (a Hakka dish). My aunt bought it and deep freeze it to bring over to us all the way from Sandakan.

tong yuen in red bean soup

I also boiled a big pot of black chicken herbs soup that day but forgot to snap the photo. Anyway, everyone was so hungry that everything was finished that night and no leftover.

Back to Usual

2009-12-29T10:37:00.003+08:00

I have been "busy in, busy out" for the past whole week. Cooking, christmas shopping, eating, chatting etc etc. That's the reasons I have been neglecting my blog.

It was a wonderful holiday/week though. Relatives were here and kids are happy because have the "yee gong" and "yee poh" sayang. Have the aunty and jie jie to play with , have pressies and go kai kai almost everyday.

Everything is back to usual now. They go back to their normal routine at home. Getting to eat their full meal (they tend to eat less when dining out). Back to their sleep routine, didn't skip their afternoon nap.

I am now preparing lil' Missy for her "big school" next year, especially she needs to get up early as the school starts at 8 o'clock.

Veggie and Fruits Juice

2009-12-29T10:24:00.004+08:00

I made this the other day for hubby and I. To my surprise, both the kids like it too.

I have been juicing this since then and they had at least 3 to 4 times of the mixed veggie and fruit juice every week. It is another way to boost up their veggie and fruit intake. Yummy!

Stir Fried Fish Fillet with Ginger

2009-12-29T10:08:00.003+08:00

I like to cook this because it is so easy to prepare and most important, the kids like it.

Please check out at my other blog for the recipe!

Finally................

2009-12-18T13:12:00.000+08:00

Yeah! I finally got my kitchen cabinet. I have been shopping around the town's best furniture shop and finally decided to get this cabinet which is "peng, liang, cheng" (nice and cheap!)

There are fixed in kitchen cabinet in this house but I need extra storage for my "sa po ang chang" (pots and pans). Because it is not our own house and it is not worthwhile to invest in the fixed-in cabinets as it will be very difficult to move them if we are relocating back to West Malaysia.

So, today will be "keeping and de-cluttering" day for me. With the two "great helpers" around, I guess it will take longer than usual to clear up the stuffs.

I'm So Proud of You

2009-12-17T23:10:00.004+08:00

I am so proud of my little di-di. He is fully diaper free now. He surprised me when he went to pee in the potty by himself last night while I was folding the shirts in the playroom.

He told me he wants to pee and I asked him to go look for his papa. He didn't but he took off his pant and go sit on the potty. He even manage to put the pant on all by himself after that. I was soooo...happy. He is just barely 2 years old and he managed to do it. Well done, boy!

I miss his chubby look . Can cubit cubit his leg. This photo was taken when he was 7 months old at grandma house.

Blame It on Laziness

2009-12-13T15:32:00.004+08:00

I have been neglecting my other blog lately. No updates at all. I have lots of pictures to be uploaded in the other blog and it is still in my flash drive. Will try to get it done tonight after the kids go into slumber land.

I am sure I will upload more recipes and photos once I got my oven next week! I am searching for the recipes of scones as hubby likes it when we had our coffee at Starbucks yesterday.

Our Saturday

2009-12-12T21:37:00.003+08:00

Lil' Missy does not have ballet lesson today and hence we booked an appointment for dental check up. We got up quite late and just in time for brunch when we went out. We had a good and filling lunch before heading to the dentist clinic.

Hubby has a RM1,000 subsidy for dental and optical every year. We had a balance of RM700+ unused portion and hence we better used it before end of the year. So, after our dental check up and cleaning, off we go to Bintang Mall to get another pair of glasses for hubby. Sometimes, it is real good to work for a big company which the benefits given to employees are darn good.

After shopping around at Parkson , we had a coffee break at Starbucks "tanh char" before heading home.

That's our Saturday!

Happy Birthday To You

2009-12-05T23:05:00.000+08:00

We celebrated di-di 2nd birthday today. We went out for dinner just now. As he's fan of Elmo, we bought him an Elmo birthday cake!

Things To Accomplish This School Holiday

2009-12-03T14:26:00.003+08:00

Tomorrow will be the last day of my girl's pre-school and she will be going to "BIG SCHOOL" next year, Level 1 in the kindergarten. Times flies and I still remembered the first day she attended pre-school 1.5 years ago. Di-di will follow suit as he'll be going to the same pre-school as her cheh cheh next year.

Talk about school break, I have so many things which I planned to do it this coming school holiday such as:-

1) Potty trained di-di at night. See how far he can do it. He has been almost diaper free during day time, except he wears disposable at nap time. We tried not to wear him diaper during "kai-kai" time and no accident occurs. Means he is ready to go 100% diaper free.

2) Checked around whether there is any swimming lessons for lil' Missy. She likes water and I think it is another good exercise for her apart from ballet.

3) Do some minimal decor with the kids (they like Christmas, just like me) for this coming festive season.

4) Plan to buy an oven to do some baking and learn to do cupcakes.

5) Ready the list for packing as we'll be going to Cambodia in January next year. I will not be back to Miri so soon , only after my Taiwan trip in March 2010. Means kids and me will be away for almost 2 months + and I need to figure out what to bring home.

6)Re-arrange the house and do a "mini spring cleaning". I try to keep all household items to minimal as I know hubby will not have much time to clean the house during my absence.

7) Shop for Christmas presents.

List goes on.........and see how far I can accomplish on the above seven "agenda'!

Blame it On.........

2009-12-01T13:29:00.004+08:00

..........Beyond the Realm of Conscience! The hottest Hong Kong TVB series. Hubby bought the series on Friday last week. I have been watching it since weekend until my lil' Missy complaint mommy have been watching TV too much worrr.........

So, this is ME now...with sleepy panda eyes..Even my part time helper asked me this morning what had happened to my eyes. I must have looked like a zombie??? She had just last seen me on Saturday last week. Only a few days lack of sleep ended up with such a " huge impact consequences"! See, age is catching up. I remembered I can just easily beats those days with lack of sleep during my younger days. Thanks god, my girl's school holiday will be starting from Friday this week and I can wake up slightly late every morning starting from next week to RECHARGE MY BATTERY!

Faces

2009-11-25T18:23:00.004+08:00

I just love to see these faces everyday. I love them to bit but I do scold them and even whacked them at times when they really drive me up the wall with thier mischeif and naughtiness.

Fruit Juice

2009-11-25T10:17:00.000+08:00

I made strawberries, apricot and grapes juice for them after lunch the other day. I prefer to use fresh apricot instead of apricot juice but it is difficult to get fresh one here and also I have run out of Del Monte Canned Apricot in my pantry.

Taste ok but a tad too sweet. I will try out a smoothies using same ingredient but add in a plain yogurt some day.

Snacks

2009-11-24T17:59:00.003+08:00

Both of my kids like cheese. They can eat cheese with bread, with pasta etc without bored. At times, they can chomp 3 - 4 kraft cheestik at a time. I always stock up my fridge with this as it is easy to keep them pateintly wait for their food when dining out. Sometimes, I also take a pack with me when we drive down to Brunei as this can fill up their tummy before we reach Bandar.

Next Year Plan

2009-11-24T17:52:00.004+08:00

I"ll be having a peaceful and serenity mornings starting from next year. Hubby suggested sending his cheeky boy to playschool next year for him to be more socializing with other kids.

I think it would be hard for him and me during the first few weeks as I have a feeling that it might not be easy to drop him off at the playschool. I remembered my lil Missy only took a week to be "familiarized" with playschool and didn't cry at all starting from the second week onwards.

Hubby asked me the other day what I am going to do with the extra bonus time in the mornings. Well, I really need to think how to utilize the time. Cook more yummy food and try more new recipes are one of my plans. Enroll for a yoga class comes second. But I am sure I'll miss my little ones at times some days!

Chinese Herbs Soup- Sap Yee Chan

2009-11-19T09:18:00.006+08:00

here's the ingredients!

Just put everything into the slow cooker and put enough hot water to cover the herbs

Some ladies will take this Chinese herbs soup right after their menses every month. What they buy from the Chinese medicine shop is PAT CHAN 八珍. But mine is SAP SEE CHAN 十二珍。My mum got the ingredients when she went to Hong Kong many years back whereby one of her Hong Kong friend brought them to try out some Chinese herbs there. She got the list of ingredients and she started to ask the Chinese medicine shop to follow when she was back to Kuantan.

The differences between both are PAT CHAN 八珍 has 8 types of herbs and SAP SEE CHAN 十二珍 has 12 different herbs. I personally feel that SAP SEE CHAN 十二珍 tastes sweeter and better.

I took SAP SEE CHAN 十二珍 ever since I was 11 years old. Even when I was in

Cambodia

last time, my mom asked the shop to ready pack a lot and I had enough supplies for a year to bring back to Phnom Penh.

I will definitely pass this “recipe” down to my lil’ Missy!

Do e-mail me if you wish to get the "recipe"!

Halloween Costume

2009-11-19T02:25:00.000+08:00

Ain't she look so cute here?

I was given this photo from lil' Missy's teacher the other day when i fetched her from school.

She looks so different with this long curly hair. Now, I only realized that why she talked about witch and tall hat and even asked me to tie her towel at her neck when I change her after her shower the other day.

Flowers

2009-11-18T10:43:00.000+08:00

These are the photos of the flowers in my mini garden. The plants and flowers grow pretty well and beautiful too. Thanks to my hard work of fertilizing them once every 1-2 weeks...hmm!

this pot of orange rose belongs to di-di

this pot of pink rose belongs to lil' Missy

Nice or not?

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-11-18T01:38:00.002+08:00

....and lazy, lazy, lazy! Yeah, that's the reasons why I didn't manage to update my blog lately. Been busy with kids, house chores and BEAUTY SLEEP! Yup, I slept quite early nowadays at around 10pm+ and also take a long nap in the afternoon. Nope, don't get me wrong, I am not expecting No.3......

In-laws are here since last week and this mean I got to clean up more. Yeah, that's the disadvantage of not having a domestic helper especially when you have visitors.

It's Dinner

2009-11-06T21:41:00.001+08:00

We had these for dinner 2 nights ago. I was in the mood of cooking and thus had come out with 4 dishes. Hubby said it was a lot because the kids doesn't eat much at dinner and both of us have to stuff everything down into our stomach.

assam fish

stir fried squids in sauce

stir fried veggie

steam tofu with dried shrimp. The veggie and tofu dish were cooked mainly for the kids as they can't eat assam and squids.

Not forgetting our dessert

I will post the recipes in my other blog.