Celebration is (almost) over...

So the water dragon is officially marching into the year. Had a fantastic week for my chinese new year break. Went hometown for a few days and had rounds and rounds of Texas Poker, Black Jack and In-Between with brothers and parents. I think in the end, I made some money, very little though :). Kids had a great time playing fireworks and messing around at home with the cousins (all boys!). My sister did not go back this year, so there was only one girl, my 4 year old, there. She was always getting bullied because she was the only girl, she was crying and complaining every other hour. Poor thing, hopefully next time my nieces will come along so the girls can have a gang of their own.

I also had the chance to meet up some long lost classmates from secondary and primary school, thanks to Facebook. We had 2 tea/coffee sessions. Most of them are in S'pore, KL or still in BP. Glad to hear most of them are doing mighty fine. Hope to see you girls again, maybe next CNY?

Delicious Soup. As usual, forgot to take pix, this one from link.

We ate at home most of the time. My kids and us are very big fans of soups and so for one dinner, I cooked fish maw/bladder, mushrooms and scallops (ingredients were from a gift pack from brother to mum) soup, slow-cooked with pork ribs (recipe here). It was delicious, even the kids loved it, surprisingly (because I thought the taste would be a bit strong for them). I never knew how to cook fish maw and only got acquainted with it through my MIL in recent years. I will be trying that again soon, when I get to buy some fish maw and scallops. But, actually, the things we snacked on most during the week were bak kua and 100 plus. Not too healthy...

Yee Sang in Fortuna Palace, Prima Kajang

We came back on 4th day of CNY and proceeded straight to dinner with hubby's family. 2 tables at Fortuna Palace with my in-laws and sister-in-laws and their families. My eldest sister-in-law's hubby's treat! I heard it was RM1200 for both table! Pretty hefty but maybe because it was CNY period lor.

It was a great week spent with family and friends for me.

I have started work since Monday. So back to the usual routine. But CNY goes on for a few more days and ends on Chap Goh Mei. Next Monday and Tuesday are public holidays and that coincides with Chap Goh Mei, so it would be more celebrations with family. A small fortune was spent on angows for the nieces and nephews and a larger fortune for my parents and in-laws. But what the heck, it's once a year only. Anyways, my bank account is a bit deflated and to make matter worse, all the children fees, i.e. kindy & piano, have been increased! Plus there are assessments and taxes to be paid for the properties every beginning of the year. Sigh, more money going out... sian ah...

Part of the relatives, my kids are in the pix too. Me? I am taking the pix.

Since we are back to reality, we have been thinking of how to make arrangements to take care of the additional bundle of joy which is coming in 2 months plus time. My hubby is really reluctant to get live-in help, which I kind of agree. We will leave this as the last resort only. My hubby tried to ask for aunties living nearby but so far no avail. We asked one of our church lady and she seems willing but she has not given us an answer yet. We still have a few more months before we really need the extra help at home to assist my MIL. And yesterday, we heard some good news that my workplace is setting up a nursery/kindy. Construction is currently underway and I hope it will be ready in a few more months so that can be one option for us. It's within the campus compound and it will be easy for me to check on the baby (or even my 4 year old daughter if I send both of them there). So I really hope the centre will be operational soon enough. This is a really positive step that the company is doing as staff benefits. I just hope it will be affordable or subsidised!

Lastly, my daughter's 4th Birthday is in a few weeks. Too tired to do anything big (sorry girlie girl), so most probably just cake and pizzas with family and in-laws. And I will bring her out to pick up a big present on the day!

Gong Hei! Gong Hei!

CNY is just a few days away. I have done most of my shopping for new kids clothes and they have been pre-washed and are drying now. I couldn't find any nice cookies on sale this year, no colleagues were selling. So I finally decided to make some. For the last 2 nights, I have been slogging to bake my peanut cookies and green pea cookies. I will continue for one more night to make the ever so easy, cornflake + honey cookies and then I am done for this year. At least my MIL and my mother will have a few types of cookies from me. I still have some more shopping to do, buy mandarin oranges, buy bak kua (dried BBQ meat) and prawn crackers, part of the gifts to my MIL and mother. I do this every year... Angpow money is not prepared yet, I have yet to go to the bank to withdraw enough cash for all the angpows.

I will be going back to hometown again for CNY and probably stay 4 days while my hubby will come back earlier since he has to start work on the 3rd day of CNY, pathetic :(. Anyways, the boys are always super excited to go to their grandma's and are planning on getting more guppies home. Half the ones we brought home the last time have gone to heaven. And they want more....poor guppies.

Would most probably be too busy these few days for any blogging, so I take this opportunity to wish all of you out there a Happy and Prosperous New Year of the Dragon, "Long Ma Cheng San" and "Gong Hei! Gong Hei!"

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!

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!

About Moods and Moon

Haven't been feeling too swell for the past few weeks. Gosh, hate to admit I am not young anymore. What takes so little effort before now seems like an uphill task for me. Each time I go up the stairs, I can hear crackling noises from my joints and bones! I think I am paying the price of not taking better care of myself when I was younger. So to those who are still young, do pay attention to your body and keep it in tip top condition all the time!

Life is the usual busy-busy. Haven't got time to bake or make clothes lately since hubby been working late. Besides, I didn't really have the mood. So every evening it's TV, and then off to bed.

Lately, the thought of getting into business to sustain our children and lifestyle beyond our working life has been cropping up often. I remembered I mentioned several times before about investments. I have delved into it with little success so far, my stocks are making losses and I think the Public Mutual Funds we started are also suffering. I guess I will just continue to hold on to the stocks and continue to invest monthly to the mutual funds for long term gains, like 5 to 10 years. So basically I have learn that trying to make money, especially in stocks ain't easy! To make faster and significant gains, we need to buy in more volume. To be very safe, we need to buy blue chips stocks which cost too much for small investors like me. Also, the stock prices are subjected to sentiments out of our control, small fry investors like me, are mostly the ones to suffer and pay the price. Frankly, it's like a gamble. Maybe it's just me, but looks like mission impossible, sadly.

So back to the drawing board for me. I have been trying to do some rough costing for a few 'businesses' that I have interest in, on paper they all look pretty good. But in practise, well, we can just say it will be a very different story. But both my hubby and I agreed that ultimately, we need to move towards it, somehow.

Moving to a lighter mode, the Mid-Autumn/Mooncake Festival is next Monday. As usual, we will have a small feast with the in-laws and put up some lanterns for fun. Will need to go get some mooncakes this weekend. Hopefully can also 'songlap' some from the office (gifts from vendors) so I can save some money. Mooncakes nowadays cost an arm and a leg. Last year, I did mention about making them myself but like I said, not in the mood lately, so will have to settled with the expensive ones on sale. Besides, I couldn't find the mould.

Penang Escapade

Alternate Dim Sum Shop that we went to, Fu Shan was impossible.

We set off before 5am and reached Ipoh at 7.30am. We looked for 30 minutes in Ipoh town and finally found the famous Fu Shan Dim Sum. And it was indeed famous, at 8am the place was jammed packed. People were lining up outside and around the tables, I could see people standing beside tables waiting for others to finish their food so that they could sit themselves on those tables. Even the one opposite it Ming Court was crazy crowded, so we settled for one that is less crowded around the corner. The food was quite ok, and the best thing was the price. The bill came up to less than RM30 for 2 adults and 3 kids. Way cheaper than in KL.


After breakfast, we went our way to Penang. By 10.30am we crossed the Penang Bridge. Since it was pretty early still, proceeded to Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera). The crowd there was crazy too. We lined up for more than 30 minutes to get tickets for the train up the hill. There were only 2 counters opened?! I was surprised that they didn't have a more efficient queuing system or opened more ticket sale counters. But it was worth the wait. Tickets for malaysians are priced at RM8 for adults and RM4 for kids (3 and below is free) and students, there was also a family special for 2 adults and 2 kids at RM18 which we bought. It ride took less than 15 minutes and it goes all the way up.

Penang Bridge with little traffic.

Penang Hill view from the train downwards.

The top of the hill was quite cool. The view from up there was really nice too. The indian man selling kacang putih was doing brisk business at RM2 a pack. We had some steamed chick peas which I had not have for a long long time. Tasted so great. Also had ice kacang and some other snacks. The weather was cool and nice, so we enjoyed it there. We were supposed to meet my brother and his entourage in Ipoh at 8am and later at Bukit Bendera at 10.30am but they missed both meeting times. So at about 1.30 pm, we lined up for the train to come down the hill.

Flower Power!

Kacang Putih!

Asam Laksa @ RM2.50, tasted great

Then it was time for lunch, we drove towards Georgetown and found a little lane with some hawker stalls which had locals eating there. So we parked our car and had our taste of authentic Penang hawker food, assam laksa at RM2.50 (albeit small portion), char kuey tiow and many others. When we had our fill, it was time to check into the hotel. Even with our iPhone google map, we had difficulty finding Berjaya Penang Hotel. Finally, past 3pm, we found it! The hotel room was pretty nice although the upholstery looks a bit worn and old. But the size of the junior suite I booked was nice, with a small living area separated with a sliding door form the bedroom with a king size bed.We all bathed and rested. But at about 5pm, we went out to the Toy Museum and finally met up with my brother and his family and my mum. The entrance fee was a bit steep, RM10 for adults and RM6 for kids, 2 and above. Inside, we saw models of many many toys and cartoon characters. Personally, I didn't think it was worth the money but if the kids enjoyed, then I guess it's ok. 

KungFu Panda (my favourite!) with the kids and their Grandma.

After the visit, we went to Gurney Drive for a stopover but we have already decided not to eat there. So after a brief stop, we drove to find another place to eat. My brother saw a restaurant called Kapitan Kopitiam and we stopped there for dinner. Food was quite ok and the ambiance of the place was pretty nice for families like ours. After dinner, we retired for the night promising to wake up early and meet at Kek Lok Si next morning, at 7.30am.

Beautiful View of the Pagoda.

The next morning, we woke at 6.30 am got the kids up and ready and we reached Kek Lok Si at 7.38am. My mum, brother and his family, who stayed in a different hotel at Batu Ferringhi, were running a little late, so we parked our car near the market and begun our walk up. Later we regretted this as we saw cars driving all the way up! My 2nd was already crying because he was tired but I pushed them on. When we were nearly there, my dear brother drove passed us! So we ended up at Kek Lok Si at about the same time! We walked around, took some pictures and went out the hill. My two sons took a ride on my brother's car while my hubby, my little princess (who would not follow them in the car) and I, walked down. Walking down seem to take a much shorter time and less effort. We met my brother and had breakfast at some hawker near the market place. It was the usual char kuey tiow, lor mee, har mee, etc.. By then, I think I already have an overload of mee and kuey tiow. After some shopping of tau sar perng, buah pala, etc. we moved on to our next destination.

The last stop was the Snake Temple which is in Bayan Lepas area, quite a little way away. My brother used his GPS and after like 20 minutes drive we found the temple. There were not that many snakes there but the kids saw a few of them and that seemed good enough for them. Then it was time for us to rush back to check out from the hotel, we managed to find our way back, had quick showers for everyone and checked out. We stopped for a snack of apom before we drove around Georgetown, with the thought of going shopping again but we ended up on the road to the Jetty. My brother had suggested earlier to take the ferry back and my hubby thought it was a great idea because they may stop the ferry service in future and we will have no such chance anymore. Since we found the jetty, we drove in and waited to board the ferry. I was pleasantly surprised the ferry service was free (Note: I found out later that getting off the island is free whether on the bridge or the ferry, pardon my ignorance!) and it was surprisingly the highlight of our trip! The kids enjoyed it so much, my eldest even got to drink some sea water as he stood right at the front of the ferry when some sea water splashed up.

Ferry Ride was most fun!

Overall, it was a nice trip. Two things I dislike about Penang. Firstly, it was the traffic jam which was caused by the long public holidays we have timed our vacation. Secondly it was the the people asking for money from you when you park your car in any tourist spots. I don't mind if we are paying the local government but I would hate for some drug addicts or some gangsters making their living off tourists like us, illegally. Now for the things I like about the island, it's very clean! And it's very historically looking, with many old and beautiful building from colonial times. Of course, the food is really good and cheap. And we have missed trying out some others like nasi kandar, etc.. Maybe another trip can be planned but I wouldn't know if it would be soon, hopefully not as long as another 5 or 10 years.

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.

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!

Half Day Family Trip to Tg, Sepat

Malaysia is really blessed, sometimes we need to remember that. We have such wonderful places just a short way from where we stay that we seldom take time to explore.

Last weekend, we decided to visit Tg. Sepat. The drive is just slightly over an hour from Kajang. After some google map checks, we decided to go via Lekas. Exited at Nilai and drove towards Sepang. After Sepang, the 1st stop for us was Bagan Lalang. We started off almost 8am and reached Bagan Lalang at about 9am. The beach there is pretty nice, although it wasn't very clean. The tide was high so there was some of rubbish washed up to the shore. This is a big problem in Malaysia, as I see, there are full of litter bugs! Rubbish is conveniently discarded from cars, while walking in the park, it's disgusting. Worse still, the foreign workers who come to Malaysia to earn a living are also contributing to the litter problem. We have witnessed them throwing rubbish as they walked on the roads. It's really sad, sometimes I wish we have good enforcement like Singapore, Then all these litter bugs will be fined, hard.

Por Por helping to dig for treasures in the sand.

Oops, I digressed. Now back to the trip. We had breakfast at a makcik's stall of curry puffs and nasi lemak. The food was okay but the drinks of teh tariks, kopi ais and milo ais were hmmmm, let's say, I make them better at home. Anyways, we then proceeded to the beach and the kids played for some 15 minutes of so. Only one person did not enjoy the stop, my daughter! She wouldn't come down and walk because she didn't like the sand in her slippers or feet. So we had to carry her all the time...

Then it was time to leave for our destination which is Tg. Sepat. The road signs on the way were not helpful so we took some wrong turns and asked some locals. On the way, we saw many dragon fruit farms but I think none were opened to visitors yet. Too early, I guess. Finally, after another 20 minutes, we reached Tg. Sepat. It is a very small 'new village' next to the coast. I think there are about 10 narrow roads altogether there, so narrow that it's hard to allow 2 cars to pass together at a time.

We researched that one of the main attractions is Lover's Bridge (情人桥) so that was where we went 1st. It is a long jetty that is about 5 feet wide that extends quite a long way to the sea. The tide was high and it was really scary to walk on the bridge. I was really scared especially for the kids. There was no hand rails and any naughty shove could land one of the kids in the sea! I was extremely worried and nervous for everyone, so we walked carefully on the bridge, sometimes having to stand aside for men on motorbikes to pass! After the concrete bridge, it continued with wooden planks, which made me even more nervous. So we quickly took some pictures and headed back to shore. The pictures looked great.

Lover's Bridge (情人桥) which scares the hell out of me.

It is pretty long, half concrete half wood.

A view of the bridge from a restaurant which hasn't started business for the day yet.

On shore, we bought some food stuff from the shop like fish keropok and some sauces. A lady sold cooked fishballs to us. We sat at the benches and started to have our newly bought snacks.There were some restaurants there but I think business has not started yet. Plus, we we still full from the breakfast, so we decided to explore some shops in the town. Found the pau shop which we also know is famous, wanted to eat some but the ladies at the shop said they were not ready yet! And that was about 11am! She told us to come back about 12.30. So we left without any paus, wanted to visit the coffee powder shop but the roads towards it was under some repair so couldn't get there.

Next, we wanted to visit the mushroom farm. We managed to do another stop which was just some minutes from Tg. Sepat town. It looked like a jetty for yacht training, we spent about 15 minutes there. We drove toward Morib hoping to find the mushroom farm but we couldn't find it. Since it's still early and we really wanted to come back for the famous paus later, we drove on to Morib which wasn't that far away from Tg. Sepat.

Having a good, free and easy time at Morib Beach!

My in laws were reminiscing about old times when they brought their kids to Morib to play on the beach. Everyone was pleasantly surprised by the facilities newly build at the Morib beach. There was a park, with tiles pavements and jetty for visitors to enjoy the view of the sea. There were also toys and kites for sale. Toilets were new and clean at 30 sen per visit though :(. We enjoyed the sea breeze and let the kids run around the park. I was still worried when they got too near the railings. The open sea down there, just one slip away! I think I may have a sea phobia! I better learn to swim like a pro and make sure the kids can do the same. That may solve my phobia.

It was over 1pm when we left Morib and headed back to Tg. Sepat for the paus. We managed to get some paus, not all flavours were available because they were sold out! So we settled for Mui Choi with Pork paus and some sweet paus. Mother in Law commented that the skin of the paus were softer making it taste better and we all agreed. Also stop at the shop a few doors away to get some coffee powder. It's was already around 2pm, so we headed home. We did not have any bak kut teh or sea food lunch, I was a little disappointed. But we can always come back again to visit. Next time we stay longer (maybe overnight) and try more of the food that I read a lot from blogs.

Pau Prices

Local coffee; taste is ok only.

Life Goes On

A busy week, especially a crazy Friday. So many things to do so little time.

Still, have to bring up TBH's RCI report. After 2 years, the answer given to the late TBH's family is he was driven to suicide. I was really sad when I read about it, was even sick to my stomach. A colleague asked me if I expected a different outcome. Honestly, I was not surprised but rather very very disappointed because I still held a glimmer of hope.

A promising young man who was called in as a witness to investigate on a mere belief of a RM2K misuse of funds by a opposition led state, died the next morning under the custody of the MACC. I doubt his family members can accept that outcome, even I feel this is unconvincing. I guess the truth to his death will never be known because the dead cannot tell. I think we will get the same outcome with the 2nd RCI on Ahmad Sarbani case too. I am reading about it and I am so sad, so I cannot imagine how their families are feeling.

Still, life goes on. For the time being, I will put aside these unhappy thoughts. I have a life to live! Hubby and I decided to make a day trip to Tg. Sepat with the in laws and the kids tomorrow. One of my colleagues recommended the place to me sometime last year. I was planning to go there then. But the the famous murder of the business woman and 3 others happened at the location, so we didn't think it was appropriate to visit. But since a year has gone by, I don't feel turned off by the idea anymore. Read some blog postings about it so I think I roughly know what places to visit there. So you'll hear more about the trip soon. Will hopefully take some good shots too on my DSLR, which has been gathering dust for awhile. Wishing all a good weekend but please also keep our beloved country in our prayers.

Cameron Highlands Family Trip

My hubby was forced to take a few days off to clear his leave last week. So we thought it would be nice to go somewhere with the kids. We were contemplating Camerons or Penang and finally, we decided on Cameron Highlands for a 3 days 2 nights trip. The last time we went there was like 5 or 6 years ago! Time flies.

Steamboat at Brinchang @ RM15 per adult.

We love Cameron because of the nice climate. The drive up took us longer but we took the Simpang Pulai way up and it was quite a pleasant ride. Stayed 2 days in Century Pine Hotel in Tanah Rata, a nice hotel but a little pricy. The walks in the parks, the tea farms and the night and morning markets were relaxing and really enjoyable. Gained a few kilos from eating too much but food was good. We have steamboat in Brinchang for one dinner and western food at Rosette in Tanah Rata for another. If you are going there anytime soon, I recommend you try them. Then we snacked a lot on mushroom  and vege tempura, steamed ubi, fried ubi balls, etc..

It was Palm Sunday so we made sure we checked out the Mass time and the location of the Chapel of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Tanah Rata and made our way there. It was a great service and see some local Catholics. The 75 year old chapel which is also a Secondary Convent School is really beautiful.

The kids really enjoyed themselves! My eldest said we should stay for a week. Well, maybe next time we will. Then it was time to go home. We decided to take the shorter but more winding road down to Tapah and we soon found that it was not that good. The 2 boys complain about being sick and were whining. The roads were pretty dangerous, with every corner, you don't know if there will be a big truck coming at you! But if you drive slowly and carefully, it's ok. I wouldn't mind taking the same way next time only if there aren't any kids in the car. To my delight, my little princess was great as she slept on my chest the whole way down.

 We reached Tapah in 1 1/2 hours and had KFC for lunch before we drove home. And in our bounty, we have potted cactuses and plants, fresh vege and mushrooms! Love it and will be back to Cameron Highlands, hopefully not in the too distant future.

Little princess with 'snowy' plants at the Mardi Park.



Justin Bieber wannabes...



On a different note, Easter is next week. Blessed Easter for all fellow Christians. God Bless!

Unspeakable Tales

Oops, meant to be back but took a longer break then anticipated. But I am back! Well, I have been well and about just after one good day of rest, the flu seemed to be suppressed for now. Busy with cleaning, cooking for the family and even stole some time to sew a little last weekend. But this weekend I am going to be going full gear, have to start and finish all my cookie baking! BZ BZ BZ...

But in between being occupied with all the usual stuff a working mum would be, I have been researching on Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), one of the many psychological problems defined (Suffice to say, every home has some unspeakable tales, 家家有本难念的经). Anyways, the more I read about it the more I have empathy for the surferers and even more empathy for the people who live with them or being harrassed by them like in the movie Fatal Attraction (staring Glenn Close and Michael Douglas).

Truth is, everyone suffers from some of the symptoms some of the times, but BPD people have most of them, most of the time. Can you recall the last time you were extremely angry or disappointed? Remember how bad you feel? Well, BPD people feel like that most of the time. What a sad way to lead one's life. I found a number of resources, mostly in USA and I have ordered 2 books online on the matter which were not available at retail stores. I hope to get them soon. For those interested to know what BPD is like, see this video.

In Malaysia, Counselling and Psychology is still at its' infancy. I think people are still reluctant to get counselling or psychological help when they have emotional or psychological problems. I think the stigma of being called a 'nut case' is what is holding people in Asian countries from seeking mental health consultation. But I truly believe, sometimes, people do need to talk to people who can help, especially when they do not have anyone else to talk to or who can understand them. Marriages or even lives can be saved.

The important thing is take care of yourselves before you can take care of others! More updates soon, hopefully. Nevertheless, life goes on, happy preparing for Chinese New Year!! Rabbit chase away the Tiger.

Lucky 4

Busy busy weekend. The kids had their pre-Christmas party with the rest of the kids of our BEC zone on Saturday. Parents have to bring in food for potluck for the kids. I have been asked to prepare fried chicken but I decided to make roast/baked chicken wings instead, healthier for the kids. So on Saturday morning, we had breakfast with the in-laws then off we went to buy chicken from the near by factory that slaughters chickens. I always get my chicken there as it is fresh since their just slaughtered them. I think is is also a little cheaper than the retail palces. 3kgs of wings were cleaned and marinated before they went into the oven. It turned out okay but if I had marinated them longer, they would be better.

In between baking the chicken and going to the party, we had to go to Metro Point to report a problem with our sony Bravia LCD TV which is 9 months old to the retail shop. We also had lunch at Sushi King after that. The management of the buidling has put up the tallest Christmas tree in Kajang in the building, it is really pretty.

After the kids' party, when the kids were getting ready for bed, I went present shopping. When I got home, I had to wrap the presents until past midnight, so now we have a lot of presents under our little Chirstmas tree, waiting to be opened on Chirstmas day.

On Sunday, after church, we met with my sister and her family in Metro Point (again). I am surprised that they had many activities there, there was Santa distributing sweets and taking pictures with people and also there was an auction for electircal/electronic stuff and some lucky draws and games. I was lucky as my name was the first to be picked out for the lucky draw and I won a RM10 voucher for waffles (which we redeemed already). My hubby tried at the games and got a little Hello Kitty thingy to hang on the phone. So we were pretty happy how the afternoon turned out.

In the evening, we left the boys with their 'por por' and we went for BEC zone dinner with my daughter. The food was pretty good for the price we paid, and I ate quite a bit. Guess who got the 1st lucky draw of the night? My hubby! So he won himself a mug. We were really happy to be lucky 3 times in a day! But that was not the highlight. Right about the end of the dinner, my number was drawed and I won a pretty large and heavy present which we have yet to open. We are guessing it is a vase of a clay statue since it is pretty heavy. We are saving it for Chirstmas before we open it! So there you go, 4 times lucky in a day! What a nice day! We do not know what significance it brought but we were nevertheless pleasantly surprised at our 'luck'. What a way to end a busy but great weekend!

Carolling at dinner.

School Holiday, Christmas and Year End Coming.

Almost the end of the year and the school holiday is around the corner. We are planning to take the boys to their grandma in Johor for a week or so. I think they are both big enough to not pin for their mommy and daddy for 1 week. I am sure Grandma and Grandpa will keep them entertained, plus we will bring along their PS2 to occupy their hours. So my fingers are crossed. We will be driving them down the week after next and then go fetch them back a week later. My worry is more for our little princess, she will miss playing and fighting with her brothers. Hopefully, she will not be too hard to handle (for MIL) while her brothers are away.


My eldest is getting his result for Standard One soon. Apparently, he is amongst the top 3 in his class and will be getting an 'award' this coming Friday. Guess we will find out what position he got in his class then. I promised to get him a PSP only if he gets No. 1. Too demanding? Not really, my son has not work on his studies at all. He seems to have the lazy gene in him who knows from where. He didn't even flip through his schools books when he was having his exam, so getting something without working for it shouldn't be awarded. That was what I tried to make him understand. Regardless, he will still get what he wants under the Christmas tree (there goes more money!). Kids nowadays are expensive!


Talking about Christmas presents, it is about time to start shopping for them. Looking at the wish lists from the kids and their dad, I think we will be spending several bombs, so there goes the year end bonus. Not to mention, new school uniforms and supplies for the 2 boys going to primary school and also my little princess at the kindy. More money!!


We have got a number of activities within our BEC in December too, so it should be a busy month. We should also be doing some short trips and activities to keep the kids happy in their holidays. I haven't got everything planned yet, maybe a picnic at the river side, swimming at the pool, going to the parks and a short trip to the beach. It's going to be tiring for the parents come school holidays.

Blowing my top

The day begun as usual, the office day was nothing out of the ordinary. But I was furious when I got home to find the dog had dragged my clean laundry to the floor, again! I have punished her numerous times but she just wouldn't learn. Then the kids are also a bunch of trouble makers too. Fighting and snatching things from each other. I blew my top, more than once today.

This is one of those days that I really want to get away to be by myself. But alas, it cannot be. I don't have much of alone time anymore since the kids came along but that's part of family life. I am also having a headache and not feeling all that well. So God, please give me the strength.

It's time for bed for the kids. I think I will let the hubby handle them for awhile upstairs while I steal some alone time to update this blog. With some period of quiet time by myself, I can quickly collect my thoughts and look at things in different perspective. Hmmm, I will make sure my hubby make some alternate arrangements for drying the clean laundry so that the clueless dog cannot reach it. I am going to plan some activities for the kids, preferably something that involves physical movements for tomorrow, since it is a public holiday (Deepavali). These kids get extremely naughty when they are bored. Then there is also the weekend. Maybe swimming, playing at the park, shopping (involves walking), dunno yet.

Oh yes, just read the news that the two by elections were won by BN, just as I was expecting. So I am guessing the election is coming soon with BN having great confidence with these two wins. I was telling my hubby that the mass media is pretty important especially in rural and remote areas. These are the only means of information from outside for them, forget about Internet. It is after all a democracy (to a certain extent) and the people of Galas and Batu Sapi have spoken. Accept that fact and move on.

Tomorrow is a brand new day, Happy Deepavali to all that are celebrating. I conclude with a prayer for this nation: Lord, please provide the people of this nation the wisdom and courage to choose their leaders wisely. Please bless this country of ours with peace, harmony and fairness to all, justice to the afflicted and hope for the despaired. I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ your Son our Saviour, Amen. Peace to all.

Get moving or...

I can see hectic few months ahead. One of my colleague has found greener pastures and I am happy for her. But as the new semester just started, the busiest time of the year, it will be hard to handle without the much needed help. Looking for replacement is really not that easy, especially a suitable one. I anticipate 2 months at least without a replacement. But that's life, sometimes things happen and they are not within our control, we just need to try our best.

Since I am at the topic of work, I wonder if it is an occupation hazard to sit in front of a PC all day. My neck aches so often since these last 2 years. Sleeping has become a chore for me as I need to find a suitable position to rest my neck and head. I didn't do a good job last night, so today I woke up with a stiff neck, again! My hubby is scaring me, saying it could be the onset of some dreaded illness but I think it just comes with my job. I sit in front of a PC all day and also I do no physical activity. I blame my hubby for the second, I used to play tennis regularly with my ex-colleagues in my previous work place but ever since I met my hubby, these activities just gradually diminished.

Instead, together we grew sideways together. What do you expect since our favourite past times were the likes of eating toasted cuttlefish with mayonaise. That is the problem with me and my hubby, we are too much a like. So much so that we allowed our laziness to seep into our bones. Physical activities is totally absent from our daily routines. That's why I have stiff neck so often and my hubby needs to watch his cholesterol.

We know so well we need to change our lifestyle but we have no motivation and no determination or will power. If one of us is an exercise freak, the other would be dragged out of his/her heavy butt to at least maintain some form of routine exercise. But as it is, we are too much alike, 2 fat lazy bumps that are getting fatter and lazier.

Can we change? Can we start getting our bodies in better shape? Can we eat healthier? Hubby, if you are reading, we have no choice! I hope we can motivate each other to change gradually. We need to if we want to last till our kids can fend for themselves.

Pleasures of Home Cooking

Cooking and baking for the family are really great pleasures for me. On Malaysia day, last Thursday, my brother and his family visited us at home. I decided to cook nasi lemak and thai green chicken curry with the green curry paste I bought from Chiang Mai. It was pretty good, a little too spicy because of the paste but still good. My brother and my sister-in-law seemed to have enjoyed it.

Then on the weekend, I cooked more stuff for the kids and hubby. For lunch on Saturday, we had Hot Soup (Hakka style). This is a very simple soup, made with chicken or pork slices or both. The soup based was made from anchovies. Ginger slices, 'tong choi', ground pepper and chinese celery are also important ingredients, none of them can be omitted. The result is a hot but clear soup, wonderful for clearing your nasal blockage (just my personal opinion).




For tea, I made egg tarts. I had made them previously but it had been a while. It was difficult to get the baked tarts out of the tart moulds but we finally managed to. I like the taste of it but I think I need to try a few more times to try making the pastry thinner and also find the correct technique to remove the baked tarts out of the moulds.

In the evening, we went to a close friend's house for a early mid-autumn celebration cum bday party for her daughter. Was a nice nite for gathering of my friends with some hubbies being dragged into the gathering as baby sitters, such as mine.

On Sunday, after church, we had my kids' favourite for lunch. No points for guessing correctly, yes, it was Mc Donalds. I also must admit I like McD too, my all time favourite is double cheese burger. I know they are having a promotion for triple cheese burger but I dare not order it, double is already bad enough! So I had my double cheese burger while the kids had beef burgers, chicken nuggets and fries coupled with large diet cokes (too much sugar is bad for you, hence diet coke. Fat ).

For dinner made pork belly with salted fish in clay pot (ham yu fa lum po) again and also thick taufu soup (taufu kang). Felt good that almost everyone enjoyed their dinner. I said almost because my little girl wouldn't finish her food :(. She is a picky eater but I am determine to change that, slowly :P.














Looking forward to try cooking new stuff when I can again.