Bye bye 2011 and Hello 2012!

It's less than 2 days before the start of a brand new year, 2012! How did the year 2011 pass by? I am kinda still in a daze how did 2011 come and is almost gone. Let's take a look at what we have done for this year? Hmmm, erhhhh, I cannot really remember anything really significant. Of course everyone in the family is healthy and well, that's the best thing we can really have. Otherwise, everything is pretty normal, I don't really recall anything significant to tell. Hmmm, probably just one thing, that I dragged my hubby to join in the Bersih 2.0 rally, :P. That's a first and hopefully there will be no need to do any more of those.

I ended my last 2 days of work attending St. John's First Aid training, which was organised by the company. That's a cool way to end the year at work ;). Now I am certified to perform 1st aid for the next 3 years! It was a very good training for general knowledge and who knows when you may need those skills and knowledge we learned in the 2 days. It may make a difference to someone's life one day.

Meanwhile, we have no plans on how to celebrate the new year's eve. The girlfriends want to have a meeting at one of their homes but I am not sure if I should join them. Feel bad about leaving my hubby and kids at home on New Year's Eve. Need to check with my hubby first.

Since I have not much to talk about this year, maybe we could say something about next year which is just less than 2 days away.  The school is reopening in a few days. Since none of the kids are going for school for the 1st time, I am pretty sure they will cope fine. Besides, hubby is on leave (fixed company leave) on that day, so I will leave them in his hands. Importantly, a new baby is on the way in April, so that will change MANY things. Probably in mid next year, after my maternity, we will look for alternate arrangements like day care for the 2 elder kids since we have an additional baby in the family. I think I would also need some domestic help, maybe engage cleaners to come once a week to keep the house cleaner. Or even getting an iRobot? Getting a live-in maid is not something we want at all, if we can help it.

I also mentioned before about getting the boys to learn swimming, which I have yet to do anything. So in 2012, I must send them for swimming classes. For myself, I had better live healthier and really reduce my weight and encourage my hubby to do the same. We are middle aged people with young kids, we had better maintain a healthier lifestyle so that we can keep going until our kids are grown. Sounds terrifying.

The election will be sometime early next year, I hope some significant change will come to this country. And according to some predictions, Dec 2012 will be end of the world, so that may but most likely will not come true, :P. Well that I leave to the hands of God.

I hope 2012 will be a safe and great year for all of us with plenty of God's blessings upon all of you. However you are planning to usher in the new year, please keep safe. HAPPY NEW 2012.

Christ is Love, have a Blessed Christmas

Christmas is just round corner. I have been busy with lots of other stuff to really prepare myself and the kids for Christmas. We do have some presents for the kids and the Christmas Tree is up. Otherwise, I am ill prepared. I would love to do some more shopping but do not have the time to. My sister and her family would like to come over for lunch on Christmas day so I will need to do some planning for a small party. I am thinking of making roast chicken, mashed potatoes and salad. Hmmmm, or I could just buy a few Ayamas roast chickens. Will think it over.

Christmas is more than just holidays, parties and presents. But as an adult, I am also guilty of no reflecting on the season and remembering what are we celebrating. Caught up by the lights and the fantastic deco in the shopping complexes and the jingles, it is easy to forget. And Christmas is always 5 days away form a brand new year, they are entwined into, basically, whole lot of happy parties and celebrations. And, for the kids, it is all about presents! This article aptly describes how most people deal with the season of celebration, I quote:

"The Christmas season is always a time of endings and beginnings. The sense of time condensing and then unfolding again is palpable. The Advent season begins, blossoms, and passes by, Christmas comes, with its joy, thick with memories, and then Epiphany, and we go on, leaving the Christmas season behind and entering into the new year. And often this entire season is a whirlwind, filled with preparations of all types. We don’t stop.

We ought to. We ought to stop and be still for a moment. We ought to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas. What is it?"

The reason for Christmas is no surprise. It is to celebrate the birth of the messiah, Jesus Christ. Was is the most appropriate way to celebrate Christmas then? Definitely not with lots and lots of food or expensive presents. This is what I try to teach my kids, not to expect many gifts. If we are celebrating Jesus' birth then how do we find the real meaning in the celebration? The article linked above gave us the answer, "We find Christ through love." and "So, if we act out of love, we are acting out of the Spirit of Christ."

For Christmas, all followers of Christ should do some act, any act to anyone, whether they are for your loved ones, strangers or any people in need. It doesn't have to cost you a lot of money, but give your time, your energy and your love. Act out of love and that's the best way to celebrate Christmas as Christians. Have a Blessed Christmas to all Christians and Happy Holidays to all! God bless each and everyone of you.

Deliciously Johor

The boys are finally back home with us after two week being away at their Grandparents'. Except for the multiple mosquito bites on their legs and hands, they are fine and enjoyed their stay thoroughly. The boys are already planning to spend 3 weeks next year! But that has not been decided yet, ok boys? (I am typing this because they are watching the screen while I type).

Anyways, we are back home and somethings that the boys remember and miss is the food that Johor has to offer. My eldest now have a new favourite food, Mee Rebus Johor! I have almost forgot what that tasted and my dear father bought us a pack to try while we were there. So now, I am thinking if I should try cooking it sometimes for my son. But the recipes that I can get from the Internet are so surprisingly difficult! I never realised that a seemingly simple plate of mee rebus requires so many ingredients and so much work. Now I am having second thoughts, hmmm, am I up to the challenge or should I go find somewhere in Kajang that serves Mee Rebus Johor Style?! This remains to be seen.

Other than that, our other favourite Johor or specifically BP food are Char Chai Tua Kueh (stir fried radish cakes), 'O' Luak or 'O' Chien (Fried Oyster), Lontong (I love this for breakfast), briyani, duck noodles, etc.. Thanks to their granparents for buying all these nice delicious food for the boys and ourselves. I forgot to take pictures of them, so I only can provide some pics that I can find from the Internet.

Lontong Johor

Mee Rebus Johor

We will be back in BP for CNY next month. Hopefully we get to taste at least some of them then...

Again, the boys would like to thank their Grandparents for taking care of them so well for 2 weeks and they want to remind that they will be back again, next year end!

Feed me for a day...

I have recently not commented much about the politics of the country. Maybe because I did not find anything interesting enough to mention in my blog or maybe I am preoccupied with other things in my life. But I am aware and still read news online regularly. Today, I was browsing the Star's online portal and I read this article about action to be taken on those who cheat the government to get the RM500 aid per household. The article is here: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/12/11/nation/10076176&sec=

I am not surprise about the warning by the government to take action against cheaters because, there are bound to be people who will take advantage of any situation when they can. What I am taken by surprise is the Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni's quote: "...there were 6.3 million households in Malaysia, and the 5.2 million eligible account for 83%"

83% of households in Malaysia are actually earning below RM3K per month! So the government will be paying this one off Bantuan Rakyat 1Malayisa (BR1M) amounting to RM2.6 Billion! Also not forgetting the RM100 per school going child which had been given recently too, so the government must have paid a few billion just like that. Why? Because the election is here soon?

I am not saying giving money back to the people is not good but I really wonder how a one-time cash payout will actually help in increasing the household incomes of those affected. Instead of spending that kind of money, isn't it better to help those who really need help by providing them with a permanent jobs or skill of something? RM500 will probably help them that month but what about the rest of their lives? Reminds me of the proverb: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Also remember Badawi's time when all car owners got the RM600 plus rebate for one year because of the fuel subsidy cut? How the heck did that help? For those who use their car a lot, it's fuel money for a month maybe but for those who don't use the car much, it was like fuel for a year! And some people actually have more than one car, so their get the rebate a few times that year. How fair was that?

Coming back to the current  BR1M scheme, I am quite unsure of the process and what constitute a household? Does it mean all those living in the same house are automatically considered one household? What if you rent a room or 2 families living in one house? If you are married or single, does that make any difference? Retirees, like my in-laws and my parents, do they count?

I am sure I am not the only thinking citizen to feel this way.The scheme is flawed, the process is unclear and most importantly it doesn't help people in the long run. I am surprised that the chosen government of the day have no better ideas to improve livelihood of the people instead of giving out one time goodies right before election times. Time to get some smarter people to the lead the country.

Someone Like You...

The boys are away from home this week and seem to be having a great time with their grandparents in BP. I was wondering why my house is so quiet lately, then I realise, I miss the boys :(. We wanted to go fetch them home this weekend, but the boys wanted to stay longer, so we will let them stay on another week.

Their sister is quite lonely without her brothers messing with her but she is ok. I try to make it up to her by bringing her to breakfast in the mornings before sending her to her por por house. Also, this weekend, she'll have mom and dad to herself and so I plan to bring her to PJ to do some shopping or something interesting. I need to get Christmas presents for the kids, put up the Christmas tree, clean the house a bit, etc.. I also have to go to the gynae to check the baby. Luckily I have Monday off so a little more time to relax.

I am, at the moment, trying to compile some mp3s for my new car's player. I couldn't find a easy site to dowload whole albums in mp3. I used to do so through peer-to-peer downloads but had stopped doing so for a long time. Now, I have to do it the hardway, finding music videos from youtube and then download mp4 and converting them to mp3 :(.

My current favourite song is from Adele - Someone Like You. Dedicated to you out there if you have lost someone who loved before...

Growing

Owen and Erin, new friends.

It was really wonderful to see all my old friends in Singapore, some I haven't seen for many many years. They all look good and some didn't change much from their teenage times. So envious of that. The bride looked great and the wedding lunch was really nice. My daughter also had fun with a new friend, Owen, the 5 year old son of one of my friends. They look so sweet together :). I didn't get to shop at all because it rained on the 2 afternoons we were there, so I couldn't get anything for the boys. I think we will make another trip there with the whole family next time, maybe to Universal Studio.

After the tiring but enjoyable trip to Singapore, we are going to have another trip back to my hometown this weekend to send the boys to their grandma. They want to stay for 2 weeks but I think 1 week will be more appropriate. Don't want to tire poor grandma too much. The boys have been bugging me daily to go to BP, so cannot postpone any much longer.

I went shopping recently and I saw that the school supplies and uniforms are out on sale already. So soon, even when there is more than a month to go before the school reopens? I did not plan to buy anything so soon because in 1 month, my sons (especially the 2nd one) could grow out of their new pants and shoes! Why the heck are the school supplies on sale so early? Oh, now I am in a dilemma, to buy now or not to buy now. If I buy later, they may not be on sale, if I buy now, the kids will grow too big for them in a few months! This year, I had to buy new sets of uniforms and shoes by mid year because the existing ones were getting to tight! Arghh... decisions, decisions...

Speaking of growing, I am also growing too much in the middle lately. Looks like I cannot conceal my expectant mother status anymore. Yeah, this is motherhood for the 4th time for me, straight from the horse's mouth. As usual, my pregnancies are never planned. In fact, I was trying to avoid it but as it's God's will, I am going to be a mother for the 4th time. The doctor said we are getting a girl, not that I mind at all since I already have 2 sons and a daughter. Frankly, it has not really sink into me yet. I am not feeling the reality of having a new little one in our lives in a few more months, yet! Actually, I was kind of troubled for awhile. 4th child, how can we manage? But slowly, things become a bit better.We will just have to do the best we can and leave the rest in God's hands. God loves me and my family dearly and I hope we realise and remember this always and love Him back!