Long Raya Break

The Raya is just around the corner. I would like to wish all  my muslims friends Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir and Batin.

 Yesterday, my eldest turned 8. On the same day I met with his English teacher who complianed of his horrible writing and absent-minded attitude although he is smart. This is the first time I have to go meet a teacher to hear complaints about my children. Felt like I was reprimanded for not doing enough, :(. Anyways, I told the teacher I will check his homework more often and make sure he does not tear pages off his exercise books. Teacher even encourage the use of the cane! I am already a very strict parent when I take time to look into his work but maybe I don't do that often enough. Anyways, Happy Birthday boy and please buck up.



8 years old today!

Our plan to Penang next week will be more fun now since my brother and his family will join us together with my mother. Now I am trying to draw up a schedule since we will be travelling in 2 cars. I am thinking about travelling very early in the morning and stop for breakfast in Ipoh before proceeding to Penang. Hopefully the traffic will not be too bad. Will write more about our trip next week.

Recycling starts with YOU!

I saw a TV programme last week where they were discussing about recycling and what can we do as normal folks. A few important things were suggested by this learned Dr who is holding a position in Penang government (so sorry I forgot his name).

The use of plastic bags, was high on the list to reduce. As we know Selangor and Penang have started the no plastic bag day on Saturdays. But some of the shopping places I see in Selangor are not really doing so. It's probably because of their customers complaints. Businesses cannot be blamed because naturally, making money is their priority. If their customer are not happy, they will not be making money. Therefore I think, recycling needs to start from oneself, from the mindset of the people. When there isn't a demand for plastic bags, they will die a natural death.

There was also a discussion about those so called biodegradable plastic bags. Apparently, bags that are said to be biodegradable in Malaysia are not certified to be really biodegradable. They are only disintegrating physically, meaning that they break into pieces with time or when exposed to the outside weather factors such as sun and rain. The problem is they do not break up chemically, so the bags have broken into smaller pieces of plastic but those pieces are still there to pollute the environment. This is something I didn't realize. So biodegradable plastic bag are no go too.So people, bring your own bags when you go shopping, not just on Saturdays but everyday. If you do take home plastic bags, make sure you use them repeatedly until they are unusable.

Most people are aware that paper should be recycled. So we often see the old newspaper collectors coming to do their round in our neighbourhoods. Apart from that almost all type of waste materials can be recycled. Plastic water bottles, aluminum and tin cans, beverages  packs, packing materials etc.. For more facts about recycling, this is a good site to visit. Even styrofoam packing materials can be recycled. But from my knowledge, the recycling centres in Malaysia usually do not accept them for recycling as the effort and maybe cost to do so are too high. So if you can, one of the first thing you can start immediately is to minimise or stop completely the use of styrofoam packings. Bring your own reusable containers when you go pack food outside.

I am sure most people have heard "reduce, reuse and recycle". Very importantly to note, is that the sequence of activities should be as stated. Firstly, you need to reduce your waste. Use less and therefore waste less. When you do have waste, reuse them. Like using paper on the other side, or reusing plastic and glass container, etc. Then, finally when you really need to throw them away, you recycle them. The last one is done by separating your waste right at the point when you discard them, usually this means at home. I have started to have a recycling corner at home for more than 6 months now. We have 3 big bins, for paper, glass and tins/plastics. Then, we also have our regular bins for things we cannot recycle. By separating your wastes, you reduce the amount of rubbish that will end up in a landfill somewhere. This is very very important, do not expect some other human to go through your thrash for you to try and salvage recyclable materials. Either you do it or they will end up polluting the environment in some landfill.

Our recycling corner at home.

For the materials that you have separated, you have a few options to get rid of them. You can sell them at many recycling centres that I can see everywhere, you can also give them to the rubbish collectors who will then sell them and get a little pocket money or you can do like we do, we give to a charity organisation that give a strong emphasis on environment protection work. Every few weeks, we will send our items to their centre.

I have heard people complained, why do we only do this and not that? Why do we stop people from using plastic bags when there are more horrible pollutants in other wastes. My answer is very simple, start small, every bit counts. Cultivate the habit and start learning more about the different types of wastes and how to recycle them. If everyone can just take responsibility of his/her own trash and do the 3 Rs, we can reduce a substantial amount of the 19,000 tons of rubbish Malaysians produce daily.

What’s Up and Coming Up

There were disturbing news about the riots in UK this week. It is sad to see even a country like United Kingdom can descend into chaos (albeit not at a scale that would cause long term effects). It just goes to show that dissent can appear even in one of the world most advanced countries. From my readings, the riots and looting are the actions of unemployed youths trying to steal or rob stuff that otherwise they cannot afford. Leaders of countries should be proactive in battling issues that are affecting a big group of their citizens. More damage is done when actions are implemented after the frustrations of this group exploded. Yeah, you are right, it's easy to say that in one sentence but nobody said being elected leaders is a walk in the park. It's not a job for people with underdeveloped brains or guts (which we have a bunch of them in office here).

Apart from this, we also have the stock market massacre! All over the world, the stock markets, led by the US' Dow Jones, have been falling like crazy. It recovered a bit yesterday but who knows what will happen next. Here lies the opportunity to earn money and also to lose money. Looking my past experiences, I would be extremely cautious. Stock investment is really a hard ballgame to play. Oh well, we'll see.

Locally, we hear of the raid by Jais in a dinner at a church building. Won't really bother myself about it. It's not the 1st time ridiculous things like this happen here. But Malaysians have to remember, Malaysia is a country that we should all love and cherish. The government, the ministers and the laws etc., they are not Malaysia. These may come and go, government and ministers may be voted out, laws may be changed but Malaysia is country, my country. Please do not be frustrated with her, it's not her fault that things are getting from bad to worse. She is not the enemy, she is in need of her beloved citizens to make the right choices at the ballots. Oops, got carried away and a bit emo. You people know what you people need to do.

Now for something more relaxed. Planning to have a 2D 1N trip to Penang with the Brady Bunch. Booked a hotel already and come Raya holidays, we will be on our way. Been a long long while since I last went to Penang. In fact, I don't even remember it. So I am so looking forward to see the island again. Definitely will try to find all the famous authentic Penang food and see Kek Lok Si, Bukit Bendera, etc.. Maybe meet the Chief Minister at the same time in Komtar. If I do, I will make sure I snap a picture with him. Only worry now is who can help feed our dog which by the way is recovering nicely from her 'operation'. I am now looking for automatic dog feeder, will try to find out where we can get one.

 
There is a MATTA fair going on this weekend, maybe it's a good time to grab some cheap tours, planning to go somewhere over the sea with hubby end of the year. Short trip somewhere but haven't decided on the destination yet. While waiting for all that, I will be busy finishing my project runway - PJs (pants and shirt) for the boyz.

Weekend Activities

Birthday Boy with his cake.

Pretty standard week for me except on Friday night I took some timeout and went to meet my friends. It has been a long while since I met them. So the hubby (reluctantly) took care of all the kids while my friends and I chat until wee hours in the morning at one of their homes. It was great to be get a short break from the usual routine and chat about many many things, from politics to investments and from kids education to migration. I reached home at about 4.30am that morning, and got about 3 hours of sleep.

On Saturday, my brother's family and my mum came to visit and I made roast chicken, boiled potatoes and salad for lunch for them. The kids' cousins were here too, so the kids had fun playing computer games, iPad2 games and the regular masak-masak toys (for the girls). It was also my 2nd boy's birthday, so we took the in-laws, including the sister and brother-in-laws to Yip Seng near my house for chinese dinner. After that we had a small birthday cake for my boy who is officially 7. His brother's 8th birthday will be in about 2 weeks time.

On the same day we made appointment with the vet to perform spaying on my dog. So the poor bitch went under the knife. I had no choice, I don't want to disturb the whole neighbourhood again when she is on heat next (which is every 6 months). All the stray male dogs will stalk my house, making a din with the neighbours' dogs barking nonstop into the middle of the night. My hubby couldn't get a good night's sleep for a week, and I can just imagine how the neighbours must have hated us. Those stupid strays also broke my flower pots which were placed outside of the gate, :(. So my poor dog is recovering now from her operation, the vet said it will take about 10 days. The 1st day when she came back, she didn't want to eat but she was eating again the next day. We think maybe she knows something is different and something is missing in her. Oh, it hurts us to have to do this but we have to be responsible pet owners. We are sorry, Cotton :(.


On Sunday, after church, we rested at home. Cooked a nice dinner with dishes like Kimchi Dubu/tofu, stir-fried leek, radish soup, etc. After dinner, I took out my sewing machine after dinner to start work on making pyjamas for the boys. I like buying nice pieces of cloth when I see them but making time to work on them is a difficult task in itself. Hopefully I will be able to complete them soon.

Radish Soup which hubby made with slow-cooker. Miss it already!

Kimchi Dubu, loved t!