Still here?

It's 6am and I have been up since 4.30am. Not being able to sleep after been woken up by my little girl because it's just too warm. I am sweating even when I am not doing anything! Malaysian weather is getting worse, isn't it?

So I have been up reading the online news, checking on my black glutinous dessert cooking in the slowcooker and thinking about several things. Oh yeah, also noticed that the home PC was infected by Spyware (must be the careless hubby or the clueless kids that allowed that to happen) and cleaned it up with Malwarebytes.

I was reading the letters published on MI about why people stayed in M'sia or migrated to other countries. Reflecting on this, I honestly think I have always have this in the back of my mind. If you asked me why I would consider migrating, I think my main reason is because of the weather. My second son, who is like me, sweats easily, always complains about the weather being too hot. My answer to him is, this is Malaysia mah!


And if you ask me again (Ok, I know no one asked me anything, it's me talking to myself on my own blog, because I can!), which country would you prefer, my answer is US of A! To live the American dream, to go watch David Letterman Show live, to sit in rock concerts of the super rock stars, to move anywhere in the US and find the place and weather most pleasing (I think Georgia is a good state to be). I never thought of anywhere else, although my hubby thinks South Africa has great weather and it looks like Australia is a preferred destiny for many others, at least it's just 7 hours plane journey away if we plan to come back often (compared to more than 24 hours for USA).

Now if you ask me (as if...) why I am still here? Mainly because I am not motivated enough to do anything serious about it. As the age progresses, the motivation and opportunities also become less. I guess I was/am not sure if that is what I really want for me and my family. The effort and struggles to look for and plan migrating a whole family, the kids, the finances, it's no easy task by any standards. Of course we are talking about legal migration and not "jump plane" (tiew fei kei). Then there are family ties. Starting life anew in a different continent is also daunting, with no other family members to depend on.

Well, other than the weather, many fellow Malaysian will complain about the politics, the government, the unfair policies, etc..But there are also the things that we are so used to and like. The food, the people, the places, etc.. Basically of the good, the bad and the ugly of Malaysia, SHE is the only country I know and call home, for now. (But honestly, I am not dispelling all notion of trading that for another country, who knows what the future holds.)


So it's no surprise when I always look for cooler places to go to for vacation. Cooler, but not freezing, mind you. Cause you know snow is good and fun for 1 day but not for months! But if cannot move to cooler countries, then move to Cameron Highland or Mount Kinabalu, can?

Trust me?

Do we really, honestly trust each other? Do husbands and wives, parents and kids, lovers, siblings, friends trust each other? Do neighbours and co-workers trust each other? As much as I would like to say I do in my own capacities as a wife, a parent, a sister, a friend, etc., I really don't think I can honestly answer it in the affirmative, 100%. But then again, nothing is 100%.

Lately, I have seen and experienced some of the ugly sides of not having trusts between people. Since these things aren't exactly things to be shared out, let's just take it at a general level. Trying to find out how to define trust in relationships, I found many interpretations. These are what strike me as most aptly described.  

1) Trust is both and emotional and logical act. Emotionally, it is where you expose your vulnerabilities to people, but believing they will not take advantage of your openness. Logically, it is where you have assessed the probabilities of gain and loss, calculating expected utility based on hard performance data, and concluded that the person in question will behave in a predictable manner. In practice, trust is a bit of both. I trust you because I have experienced your trustworthiness and because I have faith in human nature. (Source:ChangingMinds.org)

2) Trust means to believe. I trust you, means I have no doubt in my mind about your honesty, integrity and credibility. No relationship can survive without trust. How to develop and keep the trust in a relationship forever, because as soon as the trust breaks, the relationship breaks. Trust is the foundation on which a relationship is built. If you don’t trust a person, howsoever you may love him/her, your relationship will not survive, because you have no trust in him/her. (Source: yourromanceguide.com)

Some of you may have gone through some teamwork trainings at work, where the trainer will ask your fellow colleague to 'receive' you while you allow yourself to fall faceup onto your back? The purpose is to illustrate how to trust your co-workers. Frankly, I never like doing that fall. Not because I don't trust my co-workers but I don't have confidence in their strength to hold me from popping my eyeballs off head. Moreover, that is just physical trust, the things that matters more are the emotional and sometimes financial stuff.

So what's the point of all my 'shiok-sendiri' ramblings? Actually, there isn't. Just want to 'ngam' (means 'runggut' in malay or 'nag' in english) a bit. The truth is, when someone (especially your family/loved ones) display some form of distrust in you, maybe it's not just his/her problem. Maybe we didn't do enough to make him/her feel that you are absolutely trustworthy. Since nothing is absolute, we can never do enough, can we?

In short, no one can trust another 100%, but achieving 99.99% is good enough. For those who have been facing this issue of trust with people you care about or people you are forced to care about, then maybe re-examine if we have done enough to gain that person's trust. If everything else fails, there is always someone you can absolutely trust, 101%, and best of all HE has no problem trusting you back! Happy trust getting!

Modern Parenting

My kids are a bunch of quarrelsome lot. They drive me nuts sometimes. I am especially worried about my youngest, she is getting to be very bad tempered. You cannot scold her, she will shout at you and cry at a volume that you couldn't believe can come out from a 3 year old.   When she is nice, she is a darling but when she is upset, she is really an earful. She even swears, in (broken) malay! Example of her swearing, "lu siapa, lu berak dalam seluar!". Guess she is picking up these bad traits from somewhere, mostly from her brothers and some from the parents. She does take a little after me but she brings it to another level entirely!

My middle son, he is just plain loud and obnoxious, always getting what he wants and snatching things from his brother and sister. My eldest, he is more mellow in comparison but may display extreme anger when really upset. He still worries me a lot because he is always so listless, leave things everywhere and losing stuff all the time. He is also very, very mischievous, doing weird things that he knows will get him in trouble. 3 kids with 3 different characteristics, we don't really know what to do. *SIGH*

I have bought some books on parenting for my hubby's birthday present. Hopefully, we will learn some good technics on how to bring up good kids. Parenting nowadays is not like my parents' times, you need to learn how to deal with today's kids who are more exposed to knowledge and information, both good and bad. It's not like the dungu kids we were 20 years ago (By the way, for those who are curious about my age, it's 28. My aging machine broke down at 28, so forever 28). So we have to read more, research more and pray more :).

Received the iPad this week, after about 2 weeks + from ordering it online. Great looking piece of machine (I bought the white one) and works great. Did have a little trouble getting iTunes to detect it properly. I called for techinical help from Apple and it was a pleasant experience. Nice lady and very professional. The matter has since been resolved with a little plugging in and out of device and network cables.

Going to make this iPad a reward for the kids when they are well-behaved! We have to resort to threats and treats to get them to behave, and it works, sometimes. We learnt this from Nanny 911 which I mentioned before in a much earlier posting. We give stars for deeds that they do and thumbs down for misdeeds. Over the months, this process has not been upkept properly, it's time we reinstated it and keep it consistent. I read that consistency is important when dealing with kids, guess we as parents have to work extremely hard to ensure consistency in the ways we treat and deal with our kids. Daddy, I know you read this, CONSISTENCY is the key, work with me!

About Bags and Pants

I made some pyjama pants for my boys and they are happily wearing them to sleep last night. It's been hard to find cheap and comfy long pants for them to wear to bed, so I thought it would be great to make them some. It turned out to be fairly easy to make. I just needed to cut the cloth into 2 identical pieces (see pic) and join them up, hem and put an elastic around the waist and hem the bottom and voila! The pants turn out great. Now I might make some shorts for my hubby and myself using the same technic.

The series I am watching now.

Apart from that I am now watching a borrowed Korean series and in the pipeline, I just bought a new series myself, yuhoo!! Last night I watched 4 episodes after the kids have gone to bed, and today I woke up feeling fine. My routine of getting ready to work and getting the kids ready for kindy and to their grandma's was as usual. Everything was ready in 30 or 40 mins. I was quite happy with the time and I even thought I have time to drive through to McD (I have been told is't McD and not MacD, so I will pay attention to get it correct lah) to get breakfast. Luckily, I changed my mind because when I reached office, I realised I left my entire handbag at home. I would not have money to pay for breakfast if I went to the drivethrough. That would be embarrassing. My hubby said I watched too much korean dramas but those korean guys are too irresistible. I heard from someone who went to Seoul, Korea that the korean guys she saw in the MRT were cute. I always thought that only the korean actors are cute and the korean laymen are not so good looking but hey, I would gladly be proven wrong, hehehehe. Maybe I should consider going for a vacation to Seoul with the girlfriends....

I also have to shop for a new handbag as mine is going to break. I think over the years, I have changed like one bag one year. Maybe it's time to consider getting an expensive and branded Coach or LV bag that will be longer lasting. I am not very particular about bag fashion, something practical and doesn't look like it belongs to grandma will be fine. And I am a lazy person when it comes to changing bags to suit the outfit. To me, the bag should carry all my necessary stuff that I will need and I do not need to port things here and there. Because, I know me, I will misplace stuff if I were to change bags frequently. So now I am on a look out. Should I spend a few hundred ringgit that will last me a year or a few thousand which may last me longer :(. If only money grows on trees.

Happening Day!

It's Friday, hooray. There are many causes to celebrate this day. It's the end of the working week and the start of the weekend. In addition, we are celebrating Labour Day on May 1st and so we are getting Monday off too. Hooray. Besides that, many a good things are also happening today.

First up, iPad 2 is out for sale in Malaysia today! I heard people have queued up in Mid Valley since last nite to get their hands on one! Great excitement going on and those pads are selling like hot cakes. Me? I am not going to spend hours waiting in the queue, I can wait a few weeks. So I took the easy way, ordered it online through Apple Store today. In 2 to 3 weeks times, it will arrive (hopefully).

Next, who doesn't know today is THE day. The royal wedding day of Prince William and Kate. It's going to start at 10am UK time (or 5pm Malaysian time), if you want to stream it live you can go to the Youtube Royal Channel. Else, go back home and watch on your TV, I am sure there will be some if not all channels showing the wedding. Local news station have sent reporters to cover the event live which to be is kinda waste of money. I am sure the foreign news would already be covering the whole event in great detail, wouldn't it be better to just show their coverage. But what the heck, it's a celebration, so the more the merrier. My best wishes to the royal couple. Thanks for the invite but I cannot attend since England is pretty far from here. Send my love to Grandma Elizabeth, :P. 

One last thing I would like to highlight is this interesting TV show on TV8 which I think you should catch, every Wednesday at 9.30 pm. It's Showdown 2011!! I watched most part of last year's Showdown too. You will not be disappointed, I promise.

Dancing is like way out of my league, further then the moon, maybe all the way in Pluto. Keeping my hands and legs in coordination poses a huge problem for me even when I try to follow the aerobics videos. So I am convinced that these people are genuises in their own right. I think I am in love with this group Elecoldxhot. Amazing talented and cute guys. But then again, all of the top 12 groups are talented beyond my imagination. So do watch out for the show. Watch out also for the all girls group, Panic (sexy!) and the favourites, HMC Phlow. I am begining to pay more attention to local productions like this one which shows there is quality and substance in some of our local entertainment. So give local TV a chance, will ya! Peace and out.

  

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!

Not all Bad

Didn't I say life is unpredictable just 2 post ago? MACC has another death in their hands. This time a custom top officer was found dead on Wednesday morning at MACC KL office, after he supposedly fell off the 3rd floor onto the badminton court of the 1st floor. That makes it 2 floors only?! Hmmmm, MACC has just gotten more trouble in their hands now even when the TBH RCI is still ongoing. One death is already one too many, now 2? I don't want to make any assumptions, but let's hope this mysterious death will not take 2 years to be solved. Like I said, I am no surprised anymore. Malaysia memang boleh! However, condolences to the family of the dead man and may justice be served.

Ok, nuf of the bad vibes. Let's go for a few nice things happening. I made my 1st wearable blouse for myself and wore it to office today. This really is a positive development as my previous 2 attempts were not too satisfactory. I know now that patterns and precision are important in dress making. I will try making more stuff soon.

Some may already know that I am a MacD fan. Now MacD is giving away free sausage mac muffin with egg for breakfast with coupons, again! Last month, they gave 2 free big breakfast with RM5 purchase. We had that a couple of times last month. This new free giveaway is valid from April 1st to April 13th, so go find out before the end of the offer. Yippie!! Thanks to my friend for the tip offs.

Up next, we have American Idol's latest news. Pia is out and everyone is surprised because she is really good. But like I said before, everyone is good is time round and all of them deserve to be in the finals. But she's out and there is no 'save' left. Hmmm, I do not know who I should make my favourite this season. But frankly, I do not really care for I already have Adam!!!

Lastly, we will be off for a holiday next weekend with the kids. Already booked the hotel with Agoda, so look forward to a nice break on the highlands.