Cha-Pa-Lang Post...

Feeling very lazy (and ill) to separate out the topics...So will do a Cha-Pa-Lang Post...

S2's SATs Today will be the final day of the SATs (Statuatory Assessment Tests) for Key Stage 1. When S2 came home from school yesterday, I asked him how it was.

S2: I had to write a letter to welcome a new boy. Use imagination.
Me: So, did you write anything?
S2: YES! I wrote so much. I wrote two pages.
Me: Wow! Two pages. What did you write?
S2: Forgot already! But I made sure the spacing is finger-width but I don't use my finger. I use my eyes.

How typical of S2!!!

Farewell Lunch Relocations, Going Home etc are all part of the expat life.....With the school year ending (American School ends next Friday), there are many GOODBYES at this time of the year. Attended a pot-luck farewell lunch on Tuesday for 5 ladies- 4 going home, and 1 to Shanghai...
Made a Homestyle Fried BeeHoon.......fried with "chue-yau-char" of course... :-)

Feeling ill Have not been feeling well these two days... Diarrhoea and now, also caught the sniffles. Feels like shit oni. Slept till like 10.30 am and then lazed in bed almost whole day. Maybe my immune system not so good these days because have chicken-out on so many of my yoga classes... :-P

New Phone Or rather OLD phone.... Inherited H's discarded N80 Phone. Tried to write a short post on my blog via the phone...but my fat fingers kept on pressing the exit key, and thus out of the internet connection. Fed-up ..donwan to do it liow.. But it's good to read news etc lah... Since mom didn't want my old 6111, I've given it to S1 already.....

Gardener Quit Liow I was gonna give the gardener an ultimatum..."tim-patt-chi", he also donwan to work. Told the maid that his father FORCED him to take up this job. This guy also "mou-samm-kei" to work one lah, that's why always never complete tasks one. Have to look out for a new gardener now. Will find one that looks like Gabriel Solis' Gardener!! Hahahah...

Desford Colliery Band Got dragged by a friend to watch this Brass Band yesterday... Am not musically inclined but FREE ma... plus my friend said cook dinner for me, have a driver pick and drop me off... So, go lor..

They are quite good,...founded in 1898 and have won many awards... wanted to post a picture but somehow it kept on saying "NO connection" etc... donno why leh...

Long Weekend We have a long weekend starting tomorrow... We will be taking the boys up to the mountains..... will post the trip when we get back. Hopefully, I will be feeling better tomorrow...

Changing of Guards...

Changing of Guards at Buckingham Palace???

NO...lah.. NOT so exciting leh...

Just Changing of Guards at my humble abode....Received a letter from the security firm that two out of our four security guards will be replaced with new people. Actually, already replaced. Don't really like this change but what to do? So, got to learn the names of these 2 new fellas...

Goodies for Me!

H came back late on Sunday nite... brought some goodies back..

LOADS of Magazines and Newspapers.. as imported magazines are rather expensive over here. These will keep me entertained for awhile...





MAC Eyeliners - The only "make-up" item that I use




Golden Boronia Nougat - I LOVE THEM!! Once I start, I can't stop!!
Camomile Tea - Like them but very "kiam siap" to buy.. these are obtained from the airline lounges..... *ssssshhhheeeee* don't tell, yah?


CHANDON bubbly - For our wine and dine nites....

Gladiator Hunk????

Yes I know that the voice doesn't really sound like me....

Country Fair @ School

Boys had fun in the Country Fair @ School, which was organised by the PTA. On the other hand, it was quite an ordeal for me.. It was a blardy hot day! We left home at about 9.30 am, because I was supposed to help man a games stall at 11.00 am till noon. But the stall was cancelled and no one informed us.... otherwise didn't have to go so early. We stayed till about 3 pm because there was a lucky draw at 2 pm.

NOPE! Didn't win the 30 GB iPod video, nor the PS2, nor the PSP, nor the 2 x tickets to Bali, nor the 2 x tickets to Hong Kong! Didn't even manage to get a lousy toaster or blender!! S1 was of course VERY disappointed that he didn't get the PSP or the iPod.... I wasn't aiming so high for the HK tickets lah.. but was hoping maybe get the dinner voucher at the Shangri-La or the Spa Vouchers... BLECH!! What "sai" also don't have!!!

Anyway, both boys were GLADIATORS!!!

This is S1 on the left. His opponent was non other than his current best pal, T. Yup! He lost!!






Here, S2 is on the right. His opponent? His Korean gal-pal from his class, SH. This is the ONLY girl that gets invited to ALL the All-boys birthday parties.

Oh...my cassanova was going "I don't wanna fight with her! Let her win!" ...

Yes! Yes! My two boys are "sau-mang-kais"!!!

BTW, am trying to upload my video clip of S2 and SH. All you can hear is me prompting them to "fight lah!!"....Will see if jadi or not...

First Payment!

Got my first payment from Smorty! Although only USD 6.00, I have to say that I was preeeeety happy!! As H says "tai-kor-ngau-chaer-lonne" (bigger than bullock cart's wheel)... HEE HEE...

Also shows that my PayPal account finally can receive some dosh!!!! Now..just have to see if my PPP dosh comes in too. I assumed the USD 10 is enjoying the sunny life over at TIMBUKTOO, and that it'll never return to me.....so just waiting for the others...

Also, I also blur-blur...didn't know that I'm supposed to post on ALL the stuff that's on my Smorty page? Or is it not? I also donno. The one pending now is the 300 words hotelreservations.com one wor... which I've already done for PPP. How to write another 300 word review on this site that's different??? I beh-hiow lah.. See lah.. maybe I get an EUREKA!!!! in the middle of the night..

Online Store

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I was just thinking to myself the other day... What am I going to do with my life? I can't exactly be going for massages, doing my hair or having manicures/pedicures every other day. Can I? I supposed I can BUT I feel awfully guilty and want to do something more!

Selling Merchandise Online was the first thing that came into my mind. This country is filled with craftspeople that churn out beautiful wooden handicrafts, exquisite woven fabrics and intricate embroidery works, and there is a good market for these items in Europe and the US.

• But where do I start?
• How do I create an online store?
• What kind of shopping cart software do I need?
• How do I set up the payment system?
• Will the set-up costs be astronomical?

This is where Ashop Commerce can help a total newbie like me. It provides a turn-key ecommerce solution with it's revolutionary online store building software. It's easy to use, fully customisable, web-based and sellers can start selling immediately! It must be pretty good as they've won an award for the shopping cart software!

As Ashop Commerce is offering a 10-day free trial, I will definitely TRY it out. Who knows? I might be a major exporter soon!

What can $10/- Buy?

I woke up in the middle of the night the other day and started pondering what I could have done with the $10/- that had gone to TIMBUKTOO. Tried to console myself that it's not much...BUT couldn't help thinking that the $10 can buy a myriad of items... For example:

1. Four (4) roasted chicken @ the Deli Counter, or
2. Five (5) raw chickens @ my regular supermarket, or
3. Two sessions of Home Massage (2 hours per session), or
4. One month's payment for Garbage Collection and Other Municipal Fees, or
5. Hair Wash, Blow Dry, Plus Manicure and Reflexology @ the neighbourhood salon, or
6. McDonald's Lunch for the whole family, or
7. Three (3) pots of Grade A Orchids, or
8. Thirty (30) packets of CapriSonne, or
9. Two dozen of very very yummy J.Co Donuts, or
10. Three (3) Cups of Hazelnut Lattes from Starbucks....

The list goes on... which will only depresses me more... so I shall stop now..

Digital Photo Frames

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Say What?
Being oblivious to technology of all sorts; that was my initial response when told of the availability of digital frames in the marketplace. Basically, it's a LCD where you can display all your favourite digital photos or video clips, complete with sound! And it can all be done sans PC. All you have to do is switch your memory card into the digital picture frame and VOILA!! Your favourite photos are in view. You can even set the time period for the pictures to be displayed, or the transitions between the pictures.

Eager to get one to show-off your recent holiday photos? Well, I've heard that DigitalFramez.com is offering a free 128 MB memory card with every 9" and 10" digital frame order. Hurry UP... Offer might not last!!!

Punishment!!

NO TV! NO GAMES! For the WHOLE Weekend!

Yup! That's boys' punishment for fighting this afternoon. Not normal fighting.. but S1 was dragging S2 around his neck almost strangling him!

How did it happen? Started off very innocently... they were going swimming, and S2 took my watering can and started to wet S1. S1 didn't like it, got angry and started chasing S2 and dragged him towards the pool. Of course S2 escaped and ran away. So, the chase and the dragging begins.

I was screaming "STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!" at the top of my LUNGS!!

Screamed so many times and still he wouldn't stop. Think my neighbour must have thought that there is some MAD woman next door. Screamed until NO voice already.... AIYO.. then after that, I got headache summore... ALAMAK!!!

And with no games, no tv, boys are running WILD in my room... playing with their star wars light sabers, my lotions/creams/moisturisers, eating smelly sotong, polluting my drinking water with sotong and pretending to be some warrior..

S2 to S1 : Are you the GRAND MASTER Yoshi?

My headache lagi worse now.. gonna put them to bed now....and I myself also want to go tidur..

Nitey Nite....

Very Sien...

SIEN SIEN SIEN...

Had plans to do few things today since H not around (gone Down Under since Wednesday).....

1. Mani/Pedi
2. Get driver to send H's NAD to the Service Center
3. Buy Scrapbooking Paper
4. Have lunch in the mall
5. Take boys to watch "Pirates of the Caribbean"

BUT!! Because of Monday's stupid accident, we had to use a replacement car which is an OLD Honda Odyssey... which in turn needs to be sent in for repairs today!!! SHEESH!!

So, all my plans WHACKO liow.. only managed to do my nails.. and summore donno what the driver was thinking? He was supposed to go send the NAD immediately after dropping me off at the Nail Bar.. but instead he waited for another half hour before he left. SO, blardy shit..I had to wait for 45 minutes for him to get back to pick me up! IF that's not enuff... get into the car, the A/C smells so fishy and then HOT!!! ALAMAK! This lousy replacement car not only needs to get it's engine checked, sekarang needs the A/C to be repaired pulak!!

Waaalauuu, the drive back home was torturous.. close car window, you get suffocated from the heat...open car window, you get choked by the Carbon Monoxide!!! HOW ? HOW? HOW???

So...no Pirates today...unless I wanna take the taxi... SHEESH!!! So..now STUCK AT HOME!!

North Cyprus Property

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DODO...

YES! I am a DODO!!

*Sigh* Again lost another USD 5 payment.. something wrong with my PayPal lah.. Email address okay.. but donno why the "Premier" account didn't get "activated" even after activation. Thus, cannot receive payment. SIOW-SIOW account. So, have to close the account and RE-open the account. Hopefully it's okay now. But time will tell.... I have sent a "Payment Request" to PPP for the money. SO far, USD 10 gone to TIMBUKTOO....

Are You Hungry?

Are you yearning of a yummy chocolate topped donut?? Here, have one of these... KEKEKEKEKKE






Still hungry anyone???

Love It! Hate It!

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I have a LOVE-HATE relationship with my Credit Cards.

On one hand, credit cards are soooooo convenient. Forgot your cash? No problem! One swipe is all it takes to pay for those purchases. Few clicks, and the discount hotel room or the airline ticket is yours! Easy-peasy! And what's more? Reward points are collected with every $1 you spend ....one step closer to redeem those FREE gifts from the banks' ever-expanding catalogue!

BUT... with credit cards, you sometimes "forget" how much you have spent, and when the statement comes at the end of the month, you will be in for a SHOCK!!!!!! This aside, the bigger problem is CREDIT FRAUD! Recently, H discovered charges of USD 60 monthly from a reputable airline site. He queried if it was I who had made these repetitive online purchases. Turns out to be FRAUD!!! The issuing bank had NO inkling that a fraud has transpired every month for at least 3 months. How can we keep ourselves safe from credit card fraud like these??

Supper...

It's 11.30 pm, and what am I doing? Eating "thong yuen", blogging and watching Mr.Bauer save the world...

See..told you that women can MULTI-TASK!!!

Actually, have put on about 2 kgs.. *sob* *sob*...and the worst thing is that I'm NOT doing anything about it... And yesterday was mega cia-latt...had a big bowl of HK noodle with chicken and fish balls for lunch, 2 scoops of ice-cream for tea and the "Chiang Kai Shek" dinner... AIyo..how how???

And this morning, had a scone with LOADS of cream...

p/s The syrup made with gula melaka ma...that is why black lah...

Lasik Complications!!

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I have always pondered if Lasik was for me... to be able to wake up and see everything crystal clear...BUT the idea of something wrong happening during the surgery constantly pops into my mind, and that is enough to hold me back from undergoing this procedure.

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My Son just Taroh-ed Me!!

"You mean you NEVER read the news one ah??"

This was what S1 said to me when he found out that I didn't follow the daily news...
When he told me about the Indonesian fisherman who netted an ancient fish ... I was like "Huh? What fish?" .. Apparently, my 9 year old actually reads the news on the Yahoo News when he logs onto the computer... He went on to tell me that the guy kept the fish at his house, but the fish later died. After my son taroh-ed me, I had to go and read this particular piece of news!(read it here on Yahoo News)

Then he went on to tell me about Paris Hilton being sent to prison..blah blah blah... and before he was satisfied with knowing his mother doesn't read the news, he went "I love to read the news!"

You see lah!!!

Videos on the Move!!

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H gave me an iPod some months back...(btw, it's the sleek black model)... But being the techno-dumbo that I am, I have only used my iPod for music and nothing more.... With the terrible traffic jams that this city is famous for, I should use my iPod to watch some of my favourite videos while on the move. I've heard that there is an iPod DVD converter Software that just came out in the market. This makes conversion of your favourite movies, videos, DVDs into iPod format as easy as A-B-C! What's more? There is a free trial!!

Worst Reflexology Session!!

Aiyo...am actually having a foot reflex session now... This one really beh-sai lah... I ask her to press harder also I cannot feel anything!!! It is almost torturous sitting through 2 hours of this lah. Really...seriously ... I am actually waiting for the time to be up! Next time must request for a man to do it...more powderful arms and fingers!!!

Updated: Okay..I really beh-tahan. I ended the session 20 minutes early. Ask her to go liow..

Boys' Mid Term Break...

Mmmm... 5 days gone by soooo quickly. What did we do??

Wednesday, I was being the terrible (or good..depending on how you see it) mommy.. I made the boys revise their school work. S1 on his fractions and S2 on his multiplication.. And after all the hard work, all they got was a Cheese Burst Pizza from Pizza Hut. Nope! No PS2 or computer games...

Thursday - Took the boys to the Ice-Skating Rink. Met up with S2's classmates at the Rink. Boys skated till lunch time..They had pizza from Pizza Hut again!! The mommies and daddies had nyonya delights at a restaurant called "Little Penang". H didn't come lah..that fella went golfing.. After skating, some kids came over to our house for play and swimming...

Friday - Went to the Safari Park...

Saturday - S1 had his classmate over for play...

Sunday - Took boys ten-pin bowling in the morning, and then they played PS2 till their eyes pop out in the afternoon...

And then, it was BACK TO SCHOOL!! YAY!!!

Need Some Por-Lor-Yeep for the Car!!

Had cooking duty at S2's class yesterday...so had to be in school by 1 pm... On the way there, at a roundabout, my driver was turning left and a motorcylist was cutting out to the right. I saw the fella come bashing into my side of the door! BANG! And then fall onto the road. Aiya..of course, my driver had to stop and go check on the motorcyclist lah.. Helped her (yes, it was a HER) to the curb and then gave him his driver's license to proof that he would be back later ..as he had to send me to the school first. Think she broke her arm or something like that.. My driver paid her about USD 27/-! Yup! So little... locals deal with locals ma... and there were witnesses that she was at fault. (YES! It's her fault... She like "hamm thau mai cheong" leh) If the accident is reported to the police, then my driver would be at fault, REGARDLESS...cause CAR always at fault if accident is between car and motorcycle! Well, if driver is foreigner..sure ketuk like no tomorrow liow.. like my case where they want to cheat our money kau-kau.

Anyway, later when my driver picked me up from school, he said something like wanting to wash the car with some herbs as this car seems to be attracting alot of accidents!!! Yeap.. My accident lah; a near-miss on a motorcyclist when H was driving; a hit on another motorcyclist (while driver driving); and this recent hit. No lah. He didn't say Por-Lor-Yeep lah.. I don't know what. So, was telling him to GO...GO...GO... get whatever to "cleanse" the car!!!

But then ar...the motorcyclist in this country..all ride like madman one... without a care for their own lives!!! Kena langgar, who is the one gonna die ar??

BTW, made mini-pizzas for S2's Cooking Session... Was very well-received by the kids!!

Chiang Kai Shek tio-ah-neh-lor

Chiang Kai Shek tio-ah-neh-lor... My dad used to say this whenever we have fairly good food on the dinner table. For the longest of time, I always thought it meant that Chiang Kai Shek ate simply. Only after I've read about Chiang Kai Shek and the Soong Sisters that I found out that they were very very extravagant! So, this phrase actually meant that we are eating as well as Chiang Kai Shek! (Bet you didn't know that, V!!)

For dinner last night, did have a Chiang Kai Shek tio-ah-neh-lor meal as I hardly cooked these days... and I cooked yesterday... Made a Claypot Braised Chicken with Yam (yam that I bought to make yam cake..yes! Did make the yam cake but there was too much yam still), Drunken Prawns, Dover Sole with Soya Sauce, Fried Beef with Brocolli and Oyster Sauce, Fried Poling Choy, and Salted Veg Soup. And for dessert, we had a yummy Thai durian. (No pictures lah... Sooo hungry. Never thought to take pictures!) I have to say that we have NEVER eaten any Thai durians when we were living in Thailand...always had the impression that Thai durians are NO good and that Malaysian ones better etc.. But Thai durians can be GOOD !!!

TAG - My fansee...who are you???

This tag is from Laundryamah .... My fliend from 1984... Wah... 23 1/2 years liow... I know she's going to kill me for this....I have a photo of Amah in her school uniform sitting so "chou-lou"....with her kaki kangkang..shorts definitely can see... Underwear also peeping out!!

Okay! Okay! Back to the tag.. Aiyo.. I where got fansee? Maybe if I post a picture of my little butterfly tattoo, then got loads of fansee lah!!! YeS! Me is a HOT MAMA!!! Kekeke...Fansee of the wrong sort!! Hahaha..
Seriously, where got fans? Mainly sisters, relatives, friends that want to see what I have been up to in this third world country... whether H tortured me to death already, or whether I have driven my kids gila or vice versa!
Geographical location of my readers? Just my sisters already 3 different continents liow.. Australia, Europe and Asia.... Good friends in the States, Down Under and of course Malaysia...

Tagging Others? Most of the bloggers I know already done the tag or has been tagged already. So, no need lah...

Marriage Similarities!!

Just like us, animals also go through the love/hate relationship in Marriage!


This pair of birds are obviously very much in love, and definitely still in their HONEYMOON stage!!!

As for the King of the Jungle, a few years of marriage has passed....The Missus is obviously giving him the cold shoulder...

Their convo probably went like this:

Lion King - Still angry at me for last night?

Missus - *Hmff*

Lion King - When are you going to start talking to me?

Missus - *Hmff*

HAHAHAHHA...cheap thrill ..btw, the picture of the lions is kinda blurred because I took it through the car window... Don't want Lion King to come bite us to please the missus...

Our Safari Park Outing...

H and I brought the boys to the Safari Park yesterday (Friday). The drive was about an hour and a half; and as usual, the boys played their gameboys to pass the time. S1 played quietly in the third row seat. S2 who was sitting next to me, was talking to himself ALL the way while playing his GB... H sat in the front passenger seat.

We bought some carrot bunches (to feed the animals. Well, not supposed to..but EVERYBODY does it!!) from the road stalls outside the park. USD 1 for 4 bunches! As we were entering the park, the comments started.

H - Huh? You mean we are going to look at animals? blah blah blah..
S1/S2 - Yeah..we don't like animals. We don't wanna feed animals. They are smelly..blah blah blah.

I was starting to get mad and actually screamed "Aiya. Next time just stay at home and watch DVD until your eyes pop out lah!! No need to go anywhere lah. Save all the money. No need to go Sea World lah.. "..

S1 - I like SEA animals, but not land animals..
H - Yeah. See animals for what???....*complains* .... blah blah blah...

Me getting VERY VERY GERAM! So, nobody wanted to feed the animals. So, I feed lah... but once I was doing it, and the boys also want to have a go at it. Once they started, they thoroughly enjoyed it. And started fighting over the carrots.. "you take all, don't have enough for me already!!" ...See lah..these people!!

There were also bears, tigers, lions etc. But of course we did NOT feed them. Skali, we become their food!

After the safari area, we went to the theme park to meet up with S2's friend. The park has rides and scheduled shows. Boys sat on some rides (not all as need to pay for each ride. The cable car was quite a rip-off as we had to pay USD 12 for the 4 of us). S1 being older, went on a mini roller coaster and space-shuttle (something like "Viking").. and thus went on more rides than S2. You guessed it..there was a "NOT FAIR! Kor kor get on more rides than me!". *sigh* So, had to let him go on some rides without S1. S1 was very good to NOT go on those rides, so that the ride-tally would be equal. *sigh*

We didn't watch any of the animal shows (Big Cats, Sea Lion, Elephant, Variety Show)...but did catch the Wild Wild West Stunt Show at 1.00 PM. Have to say that it was quite good. With the regular water splashes, gun shots with blood spewing, fires and explosions, falling buildings and some trained animals. The only thing was that boys couldn't understand the language! By the time the show ended at about 1.45 pm, it was getting kinda chilly and the skies were turning dark. We decided to go home then (on the way back, bought some yams to make yam cake...)

Butts Galore!!!

Animal Photos - Everybody sure have seen until donwan to see. What about animal butts???

Hee hee..H said "Men's butts. Women's butts. People wanna see. But, who on earth wants to see animals' butts??? ...cheap thrill for me lah...(Took boys to safari park yesterday..more about that in a later post)

Alamak! Wrong Account!

Aiya... I thought I was gonna start today's post with a jubilant "I have been paid my first $5!" But instead.... *sigh* Bodoh me lah! Input wrong email address wor.. So, the money gone into somebody else's account, I guessed. I've emailed to PPP to tell them about the type on my email add. Don't now if the error can be rectified or not....duh-duh lah..

Fabulous Places 2007!

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Deep Vein Thrombosis

Just got a news clipping via email today.
The New Paper headlines shout
"Dead After 8 Hours on Laptop"!

Apparently, this Singaporean Girl was working non-stop on her computer that she developed Deep Vein Thrombosis! So scary yeah? I almost wanted to say "I should stop blogging for $"..but then I thought "aiya, with my boys around, I definitely will not be stationary in front of the computer for 8 hours lah...not even half that amount lah..."

Real Estate Management Software

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As an expat in a foreign country, we live in a rented house. Recently, I found out that our landlord owns about a hundred houses. Mind you, these houses are not the teeny-weeny ones. They all consists of a minimum of 4 bedroom + 1 study + maids' quarters and swimming pools. How does he manage so many houses? And with them located at different sites around the city? Although he does have a small company that manages the leases, plans the maintenance and renovation works, I am sure that he uses a Real Estate Management Software to do the long list of tasks that are required, and to keep tab on them. I am sure he does! As he would require the necessary productivity and cost savings to manage his real estate efficiently and profitably! Could it be the software that's offered by Siterra.com?

LHDN

I just hopped from Laundryamah's blog on Tax Deadline !! Sei-ler! Sei-ler! Haven't filed ours to LHDN yet. Shucks! H did get his Borang B that was sent to mom's place BUT I didn't get mine. H definitely don't have to pay any tax since he didn't work in Malaysia for the whole of 2006. But as for me, I did work till July 2006 wor... *SiGH* Summore don't have the Borang B....How to file like that?? What to courier balik to Kuala Lumpur also susah...

HOW LIKE THAT??

ET Phone Home....

Why? Why? Why wasn't I smart enough to have an emergency phone card on-hand when we travelled to Greece last month? As you recall, our mobile phone could not roam as it should have; and the Greek SIM Card that we bought were also mega-problematic (My Trip to Greece for details). No one told me about the virtual International calling card service provided by Pingo.com then. I've just checked the call rates from Greece to my home, and it costs only 13.5 cents per minute! Best of all, just by signing up for Pingo, you receive up to 4 hours of free International calls. If I had known of this deal, it would have saved us some Euros, and avoided the short "Hello? Everything okay at home? Ok. Good. Bye" convo with my mom.

So, the next time I travel abroad, will have to remember to get an International Calling Card!!!!!

This Post is Sponsored by:

FRAMED Sketches for the Wall...

I've got those Angkor Wat Sketches framed and hung. Bare wall looks better now, yeah? But I think the sketches are wee bit too small.... But too late already lah..
Cannot remember how my sketches look like? Here are the Links:
1
2

Anybody want to buy? LELONG! LELONG! Hahahah....

New Movie Release - BUG

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WE are a family of movie buffs.... S1 can name most movies and their actors. We were just talking in the car this evening, and he was telling us "who is who in that show" and when we queried, he said "I read the movie credits too!". Sorry to say, even I don't do that.

But I guessed it's also due to our weekly weekend family ritual. We go to the movies almost every weekend. We wake up, and dash to the mall to get a good space in the carpark (we have to worry about car parking on these days as the driver is off on Sundays!), queue forever for our tickets, and then load ourselves with those butter-laden popcorn, cheesy nachos and soda. And then it's 2 hours of zombie-like entertainment where we get sucked into the fantasy world of the movies......

There's a new bug movie by Lionsgate Film called BUG, starring Ashley Judd that will be released on the 25th of this month. I've watched the trailer on Youtube, and the storyline is that bugs get into the skin and starts destroying the brain! With the tag line of "First They Send in their Drone, Then They Find their Queen"; I guessed Ashley Judd would later be the BUG QUEEN?? It's sounds gross and at the same time interesting.....something my boys will definitely like! By the way, is it PG-rated?

This poster gives the impression that Ashley Judd would become the "Queen of the Bugs". The black and white photo and the jagged edges on the bug's head somehow looks like a "crown" over Ashley's head.

Whereas, this one depicts Ashley subtly "morphing" into a different person. I guessed emotionally, she would feel a world of difference if she is turning into a bug!!!! Who wouldn't??

Can't wait to watch this bug movie at the cinema!

3Cs...

No lah..Not Car, Condo and Career lah.. It's CREAMY CURRY CHICKEN! Hee hee..

Just made this curry chicken for the Ladies' Coffee Morning/Luncheon that I will be attending today. Supposed to cook this the moment the boys left for school, but was busy putting in a post for PPP and didn't get to it until an hour later. H came down expecting to curi some curry chicken before he leaves for work, but was greeted by the sight of little 'ole me on the sofa typing away... Hahaha...hehehe $10 wor...

Anyway, didn't realise the pre-pounded stuff (chillies, turmeric, onions etc etc) that I bought from the supermarket had salt in them.. WAAAAAH.. Soooo "kiam" man the curry, even for such "ciak kiam chee" like me. Had to scoop out some of the curry sauce out and add water for dilution. Soooo ma-fan, and had to blend some additional shallots to add-in to thicken the sauce...

Hopefully, the ladies will not get "patt tor tia" (tummy ache lah)...

P/S "ciak kiam chee".. no good translation wor.. basically means "eat salty salty stuff"...

HDTV Tuesdays!

Hello there!! Not only Tuesdays are Coney Dog Days...It's also HDTV Tuesday!!! WOO-HOOOOO! And it is for the entire month of MAY!!!

What's so special about HDTV Tuesday???

Not only do we bloggers can blog for money, we can earn awesome products from PayPerPost too !! Isn't that great NEWS??? What cool stuff in in store, you say? Slingbox, Nintendo Wii, Yamaha Surround Sound System or a Logitech universal remote are all up for grabs today - May 15th! Loads more of cool Audio and Video equipment are in the near horizon! And the icing on the cake is a brand new HDTV at the end of this month! Moi will be eyeing this HDTV, of course!! I need..I need this TV as I did not win the 50" Plasma TV on Bid4Prizes (see my previous post). My 4-D number was unique but not low enuff... BUT NEVERMIND...I've got a second chance NOW!!!!

And who is this Santa Claus that is bringing all these awesome products in his great big sack to us??? Well, you guessed it! IT's Bid4Prizes ! So, a BIG thank you to this great sponsor...

Bloggers... what are you waiting for.. log on to this great site and get those goodies! ERRR.... JUST HANDS OFF MY HDTV, OKAY????

Kids Discussing about Sex???

Yeap! Unfortunately, they do at this age..i.e 9/10 years old! I've heard loads of stuff from the boys..mainly from S1 lah. Recent stuff that I heard:

• S has broken up with L because he wants to have sex with his best friend
• C says his father is sick because he likes to suck his mommy's butt
• T is very excited to watch the Sex Education video in Year 6

My S1 is still blur-blur lah... although he knows about "how a baby is made"..he actually asked me when he was about 5 and was happy with the answer of "sperm from daddy meets the egg from mommy"...and then he turned 6... and he was asking more. I would answer with a " Aiya... told you many times already...sperm from daddy meets the egg in mommy". My smart alec would say " I know. I know. BUT how the the sperm from daddy get to the egg in mommy???"... So of course, I bo-huat have to explain explicitly lah... which he took it quite well then.

So, when S1 came back with loads of talk about "sex" and "gays" etc, I felt that I had to explain a little bit more about how things works.....about sexual abuse, "erection" but I said "chiow-chiow get hard", etc etc. Of course I told him to keep it to himself and not share with his brother nor his friends, as some parents may not want their kids to know about these stuff so soon... But I prefer that he gets the information from me than from the internet !!! (My S2 even said "can type SEX into google and find everything about SEX!!!! Sei-mou?? They just know the word but don't really know what it really means... ) Told him that he could always come and ask me about things... and the great thing was, he said "Yeah! Sure I will talk to you. I can talk to you about anything one!"...which is mighty good... Just hopefully, he doesn't change his mind about this and decide that "talking to mom is UNCOOL"....

Learning to be a parent of a TWEEEEN....

Holiday Getaway...

Boy! Don't I love to travel!!! I would love to get-away every month, if I could! Especially so now, living in a traffic congested city of more than nine million. Travelling does rejuvenate the body and mind! Hey...actually, I have been somewhat travelling every month this year. In January, I was in Bangkok with my five girlfriends, in February to Bali with the boys, and March/April to Greece with H. It's mid-May now, and I am due for a trip out of the country!!??!! Heehee....

Actually, seriously... H did offer to babysit the boys during their mid-term break while I fly off to Singapore for a few days, for shopping and visiting family. I did check out the airfares online on the Hotel Reservations travel site. They had a few good deals from multiple airlines. I think that's a key advantage - able to compare prices of different airlines on the same site. The site is also good for hotels, car rental, vacation rentals etc.

I also did a check on the hotel rates for Bali, Bangkok and Athens (since I have recently travelled there), and I have to comment that the room rates at this Hotel Reservations site are rather competitive too, with offerings from a wide range of hotels that would cater to all budgets. They are also offering great discounts on some of the hotels.

The worldwide Vacation Rentals that are on offer at this site are of great interest if travelling with the kids. I particularly like those two-bedroom units with fully equipped kitchen c/w washer dryer. This way, when the boys wake up, they can entertain themselves in the living area without disturbing my slumber! Those kitchens are great for cooking those yummy prepared meals that are purchased off the supermarket shelf... And of course, with two boys, the washer/dryer is mighty handy!!!

Oh..coming back to my trip to Singapore, have decided that I would stay put and be a good wife and mommy...since H will also be on vacation! But I definitely will be travelling out of the country in the SUMMER HOLIDAYS!!!! And will surely check out the offers on HotelReservations.com


This post is sponsored by :

Pheeeewww!!!!

What a RELIEF!!!! It's not Diabetes...

I have been dreading and delaying my visit to the doctor for my "thai kor kar" (Gosh! Think I have like 3 or 4 previous posts about my "rotten" foot and still see no ending yet)... I was afraid that the doctor might tell me "Sorry..you've got diabetes". AIYO!! Greatest nightmare! Like that, what also cannot eat. Kway teow cannot eat, yellow mee cannot eat, normal white rice cannot eat, and of course cakes and ice-cream and chocolates all cannot eat... Why diabetes? Cause diabetics usually have bad circulation in the extremities, i.e feet and wounds cannot heal blah blah blah..thus amputations in many cases....

Anyway, this morning..had to ngeh-ngeh-lai drag myself to the local SOS Clinic to have it looked at..as my right foot has been "awakening" me in the middle of the night with bad bad bad itches and even pain yesterday. Doc was a bit concerened that my right heel was like ROCK hard and discussions led to grandmother diabetic and mother having high sugar levels but not yet diabetic blah blah blah.. So, there, had a finger prick to check my fasting glucose levels... The result was 101 mg/dL which is way below the fasting level of 140 mg/dL.... So GOOOOOOOD News! But still must look after diet because of the possibility of hereditary diabetes...

So, am put on anti-histamine medication for night time and some Nerisona Fatty Ointment... Hopefully will clear up within two weeks...

Mother's Day

Of course I didn't get any flowers from H! When I asked him about them, he said "you are not my mother!". Somehow, he feels that Mother's Day is for his mother and not his wife. Tried to explain that I am the mother of his kids..but still cannot get into his head wor. Anyway, I almost wanted to go out and buy flowers for myself!! Heee Hee Hee.. H was like "go lah".. I would have gone if the sky didn't look scary...that it was gonna pour cats and dogs!

Anyway, this morning...S1 came in and wanted to wake me up. H stopped them. When I woke up, I found out that he made me a cup of coffee and fried eggs (okay..actually, he asked the maid to make the eggs) to be served "in-bed" but as I was still ZZZZ like a piggy, H asked the boys to finished up the eggs. When I woke up, S1 brought the same cup of coffee which was of course MEGA cold and couldn't be drunk. Oh well, it's the thought that counts!!

What celebration? Nothing ler.. We went out to Longbeach Seafood Restaurant (Singapore Chain) for lunch.. We were quite cautious and didn't order too much of the crabs as the waitress said it was local crab and we've had so many NO FLESH local crabs. But turned out that they were really fleshy and quite yummy too. We had Chilli Crab with Fried Mantou, Yutiow with Squid Paste, Sotong Balls, Fried Rice with Little Fishes and Steamed Bamboo Clams. Vellly GOOOOD!! Yum Yum... Got standard lah. No need to go to Singapore to stuff ourselves liow.

FREE Online Contests

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General Updates - 11 May 2007

Mid Term Break
Time flies!! Next week is mid term already. Boys will have 3 days holiday plus the weekend. H was trying to book a trip when he found out that it's public holiday too (Ascension Day) ....but tooooooo late. All flights fully-booked! Oh well, guessed we'll just stay put and grow worms...

Year 2 Assembly
Last Friday was S2's class assembly, which was based on "Pocahontas". When the teacher wrote to request for costumes (settlers, indians), I quickly wrote back to indicate that we have no costume and would prefer S2 to be a narrator. Didn't want to spend money to go out and buy a costume just for this half hour assembly. Anyway, this fella only had ONE line which was "We would like to tell you what we have learnt in our history class". Yeap! That's it. Just ONE line... The photo depicts the settlers meeting with the indians.

Return of S1
S1 returned on Wednesday afternoon as scheduled... Somehow I see him like he's grown whilst away for two nights. Hee Hee.. H said "lei sei ler.. you sure gonna be those moms that hover over their kids everywhere they go..". He enjoyed himself tremendously....and now, he's got to work on his journal. Of course must write a journal about the trip...

Tidak Apa Attitude
I have to say that I must have the two most TIDAK APA attitude kids in the world man. I don't know how many caps, water bottles, school lunches, books that they've lost/misplaced/left in school. I've nagged, scolded, threatened and still it happens over and over again. MEGA Sien man... Just irks me that I have to keep replacing these things... and they being nonchalant about it all..... GRRRRRRR....GERAMNYA

Precious T-Shirts
H has got a few precious T-shirts that are a style of it's own... He's so proud of them that he's even posed in one of them here. Mom did nagged him a few times to change those T-shirts..and I've tried throwing them...but kena scolding when he couldn't find his precious T-shirts. As you can see that it's in such a unique style, my maid is having trouble ironing and folding them up after she's laundered them! ... Well, think this particular piece disintegrated this morning when he was taking them out...HEEE HEEEE ....

MIL's Birthday & Sad News
Today is MIL's birthday. Haven't called her yet. SMS-ed her though...will call her when boys get back from school later today. Also put in an order of flowers and cake to be delivered to her today... Hope she likes them. H did call her this morning to wish her.. and also received some bad news about her nephew's wife (MIL's sister's DIL)... She hasn't got long.. CANCER... Aunt and family are leaving for the States to see her for the last time. MIL can't get the US visa on time so won't be going. So sad... So sad... They (cousin and wife) adopted a daughter from China, and when she knew her cancer was terminal, she made arrangements for her sister to adopt her daughter.... Cousin is chinese, she's caucasian..somehow donno how come the CHINESE girl they adopted looks mixed. Very pretty girl... So Sad leh... Me also want to cry liow.. (Yeah..this is the angmoh-in-law that speaks and writes perfect mandarin!)

PPP Love

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What is PPP? One would ask...Well, it's the acronym for PayPerPost, where you get paid for blogging!! Although I've been encouraged to sign up months ago by a good friend, I've only done so last month. Now, I am wondering why I didn't do it sooner??? I just LOVE to give opinions and can comment about ANYthing and EVERYthing under the sun, and I have to say that PPP suits me to a T as I get paid! What am I gonna do with the $$ ? For a start, I am gonna get a birthday gift for H... then as the money grows, gifts for the boys and then something nice for myself... As part of the consumer generated advertising, I recommend that you hop on to the PPP bandwagon to earn some $$$.

H and I

H came back from work early today...complaining of back pain, said he pulled a nerve. He blames it on me wor..says that I i-galloped too vigorously this morning. Hahaha....

Anyway, I have been indulging myself a wee bit too much this week. Have to slow down a bit as am feeling a little bit guilty.... I've pampered myself almost every single day..
Sunday, 29/4 - Two hour foot reflex
Monday, 30/4 - Hair Wash @ Salon & An hour of foot reflex
Tuesday, 1/5 - Two hour foot reflex
Wednesday, 2/5 - Manicure/Pedicure at the Nail Bar
Thursday, 3/5 - Hair Wash @ Salon & An hour of foot reflex
Friday, 4/5 - Two hour foot reflex
Saturday, 5/5 - Two hour Body Massage
Sunday, 6/5 - Zilch (since had to take boys to watch Spiderman 3)
Monday, 7/5 - Body Scrub, Aromatherapy Massage & Cream Bath
Tuesday, 8/5 - Zilch (but had a two hour nap in the afternoon!)

Siow or not, you say??? I was casually saying that I should STOP for awhile, seems abit excessive with all this on a daily basis. And H said "what's wrong with that?" .. H says it's OKAY wor... But still think that I need to control abit lah...

www.BOOGER.com

Yeap... S2 has decided to re-name the site... He was watching over my shoulder while I was blogging earlier, and he went "www.booger.com"! Don't think I wanna be blogging on a site named "Booger" leh. And by the way, just that you know, this is an actual site address wor... Don't worry! No XXX stuff... ha haha

And he still does not miss his older brother,...this is the answer I got when I asked if he misses his brother.. " NO! Of course I don't miss him. I hate him!" I am sure he does miss his brother a teeeny weeny bit, yeah???

Flowers..Flowers...Flowers

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I just LOVE flowers. Flowers can instantly perk me up. I would just LOVE to receive some flowers from someone, anyone! Mother's Day is round the corner... *HINT* *HINT ....
Gone were the days that I would receive bouquets of flowers from H. *Reminising* Used to receive a bouquet a week when he was trying to "chase" me. Ahhhh.... But once he "caught" me, I don't even get a single leaf or weed, let alone a bouquet of flowers!! So.. as desperate as I am, I am gonna send myself some flowers for Mother's Day. Hahaha..... But being the pennywise person that I am, I am gonna use the Proflower discounts found on www.couponchief.com to purchase the flowers that I am eyeing. And whilst there, I might get some additional coupon codes to purchase some additional gifts for my mom and mother-in-law for Mother's Day..

Silly or Mis-communication???

With S1 away for his Residential, S2 didn't want to sleep alone in his room. At first, I asked "you dare to sleep alone in your room or not?". S2 replied "of course!!!..... *short pause* ...Can daddy come and sleep with me??" So, he was to come and sleep in our room on his own mattress on the floor.

I told the maid to bring over S2's mattress to be put beside my bed, and then went out (A friend came over from HK. So H and I went out dinner with him. S2 didn't want to come along...). When we came home, H went upstairs first and I heard him MUMBLING something.. when I went into our room.. There it was.. S2's WHOLE BED! The wooden bed frame and all. We were like WTF ???????? How on earth did she bring it over? Did she get the security guard to help her or what???? H even woke poor S2 up to ask him how the bed got into our room... But of course the poor guy half-asleep was like delirious lah, and couldn't answer...

So...was it a case of SILLY MAID or MIS-COMMUNICATION???

Online Encyclopedia

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With the boys having to do research projects at school, I find that the internet is a great source of information, especially those encylopedia sites. With S1 turning into a tween, I find that I am also resorting to the internet for some parenting tips and advice. There are multiple topics on Encyclocentral's "Kids & Teens" category which is of interest, ranging from furniture to toys to Children's Safety. With kids getting more independent these days (did I mention that my 9-year old S1 has gone away for a 3 days/2 nights trip?), children's safety is of paramount concern. Gone were the days that parents only worry about girls. These days, boys are equally vulnerable to sex offenders. The "Childsafe Network" provides essential assistance to safeguard children from these social pariahs! Log on and read on more...

TAG - 10 or More Ways H Pisses You Off

This TAG is from Laundryamah,... Ways that H Pisses me Off...

1. I hate it when he tells me to "Don't Slouch!". Yes, I know it's for my own good, but it's the TONE that he uses, soooooo criticizing!
2. His nagging! Yes!! He does! And worst of all, he says that I nag!
3. His Short-temperedness, Mang-Changness
4. His arrogance and LCLY-ness
5. When he criticizes my un-manicured or un-pedicured nails...with "Aiyer, so ugly" or "Yucky! You dare meet your friends like that?" ...the list goes one...
6. His Procrastination on Household Stuff... Work or friends....very kann-cheong one, but home or family stuff, always dragging feet..."Until shit almost reaching the underwear" kind.
7. He hears, but takes his tttttiiiiimmmmeee to answer me, which I would think that he didnt' hear, and thus REPEAT, and then he says I NAG!
8. He already decides on something but still want to ask me. And if I answer otherwise, he gets agitated.
9. After we fight, he can switch-off to as-if fight did not happen, and expect things to be NORMAL with a snap-of-the-fingers
10. His love of saying "You MUST have the last word!" when we are arguing...
11. "NO. I didn't say that!"..although he DID!

I supposed there would be more... but I've learnt a few things that had made me more bearable of H's attitude/behaviour, ie.

• MEN generally cannot multi-task. So, if H is doing something, I TRY to let him finish whatever he is doing first...
• MEN need to unwind in their "cave" after a long day's work.. So I let him be...
• MEN are lan-see creatures!!!!

Guessed I need to also put in some positives about my H lah....after all, cannot exactly spend almost 20 years with this man, if there are no positives, right?? (Yeah..come July, we would have been together for 20 years...wah.. like so old like that...)

1. When he's at work, he calls me about twice a day to see if I'm okay.
2. He's definitely NOT "kiam-siap" with me or the kids (I am the "kiam-siap" one )
3. He makes an effort to spend some couple time with me (we went out to a wine bar yesterday... needless to say, was a bit drunk.. I went to bed at 7.30 PM!!)
4. And yes, he does puts a smile on my face in bed...kekekeke

Spiderman, Spiderman...

Took boys to watch "Spiderman 3" yesterday... The cinema was soooooooooo full. Even with 8 out of 10 theatres in the cineplex showing "Spiderman 3", we still could not get proper seats at the time we want. We had to split up our seating... H took S2 with him and I had S1 with me. Even then, the boys' seat were one row in front of ours.. Our chapalang seat numbers were A1, B1, B19, C19.... so really at two ends of the theatre!

Well, being the manja boy that he is, S2 ended up seating on H's lap throughout the show... and when someone died (don't want to say who lah) in the show, S2 commented "This is the saddest show that I've seen!" in his trademark dramatic expression...

It's quite an enjoyable show...very action-packed! Have to agree that somehow ALL the bad guys are hunky and good-looking, as compared to nerdy, geeky Peter Parker... Maybe I gravitate towards bad-boys?? H is not exactly a good boy, is he??? hahahahha

Oh..and S1 is off for his 3 days/2 nights Residential today.. will not see him till Wednesday. He's pretty excited,..sharing room with 2 of his best pals in school. As for S2, he won't miss his brother as he only said "Aiyer...kor-kor no need to go for Chinese Class today...."

Ugly Feet...

My supposedly "eczema" "thai-kor-kar" is actually not that bad lah. Think they were just not properly cared for. The more I thought them to be too ugly to be pedicured, and so did not go, the worse the condition my foot became.... Also, to makes matters worse, I tried to stinge on the creams by buying cheapo ones. First, I bought a Malaysian-branded Cracked heel cream...then changed to a Local brand and back to the Malaysian Brand...They all don't work. And also, some fungal cream, some eczema cream, some anti-inflammatory cream... Semua also did NOT work. Then finally, I went to buy Scholl's Made-in-UK Cracked Heel Cream last Sunday, and WOW! Just within 3 days, there were visible results, as advertised! Have also been having very regular foot reflex (as in 5 times this week!) as one of my friends said that cracked heels are also due to BAD circulation. When H saw the guy touching my feet, he exclaimed "aiyer...your feet so scary, he dare to touch ar??"..Well, at least now not so scary.

What is scary is the email that I got from a friend yesterday - on Chinese Bound Foot. I showed the pictures to the boys, and S1 kept on asking "Why can't they just buy BIGGER shoes, instead of breaking the bones?" Had to explain to him that they wanted the small dainty feet. We did some research on the history of Chinese Foot Binding, and have to say the boys were a little grossed out and thought the idea was stupid and silly. Have included the excerpts from Kidzworld site if anyone interested. And this morning, when we were in the car, I mentioned to H about this email, and S1 sort of interjected and said "Crazy...So Ugly... Take out the leg, Yuck!"

" The Origins of Foot Binding - The Golden Lotus In the early 10th century, emperor Li Yu of the Southern Tang dynasty in China ordered one of his slave girls to bind her feet in silk ribbons and dance on a platform littered with golden lotus flowers. From that day on, foot binding was often associated with the term golden lotus. At first, foot binding was something practiced only by those within the royal court but soon women of all social classes were eager to have dainty, "beautiful" and desirable feet.

How Were Feet Bound? So exactly what did foot binding do to the feet? Well, young girls would have their feet bound for the first time when they were about five years old. Their mothers would take long lengths of cloth and bind the feet so that the toes would bend under and the bones in the foot would break, forcing the front and back of the foot together, giving the appearance Chinese Bound Feet of a high arch and tiny foot. The ultimate foot was to be between three and four inches (about 10 cm) long. Over the course of about three years, a girl's foot would be broken numerous times to get it to the perfect shape. "

Maids and Drivers

Actually....should say the maid and the driver...since got only one each...

Maid-Y
This morning, she made the breakfast for the boys as I told her to, but when boys came down, they ask her to make something else...and she did. When I came down, of course I scolded her lah. She said that S1 will get angry if she doesn't listen and will bang the door. I asked her lah.. who pays her salary? Me or S1? Is she more afraid of me or S1? Of course she said ME lah. Anyway, I went back to bed after the boys got on their bus. Guess what? I dreamt that she said she wants to quit and also she wants to CEKIK me! Hahaha... Nope. In reality, she has not said that she wants to quit ..YET...

Driver
Driver borrowed some money from us. He asked H. H actually already made the decision to lend it to him but told him that he would ask me first. Make me be like the "boss". (BTW, think this is a MAN thing cause my friend said her hubby also like that)..... People generally say don't lend money to hired help..but our driver is quite good lah. HWas just thinking to myself yesterday when we went to pick H up... "Wah... he could drive us to be sold".. cause we went through some funny obscure roads. I mean most roads and places here are like that...and having a good and reliable driver is quite important. Unlike my friend whose had to "tai driver meen sik" (watch colour of face?) in case he drives her to some god-forsaken place and leave her there! Her driver would leave without being discharged, "fatt pei hei", change the time on his time sheet after she's signed, etc etc... Got another friend whose driver is a "gangster", and another one who drove her to the mall already and ask her to go back herself... So..have to say we do have quite a good driver.

Smorty

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I have to say that I am getting hooked on blogging... Why? Because I like to talk :-) ...but with me miles away from my friends and family, blogging is like talking with my fingers... And the icing on the cake is that I get paid to blog!

Actually, Laundryamah has been asking me to get onto the "blogging for money" bandwagon looooooong time ago, but being the procrastinator that I am, I only started blogging for some dosh last month. So far, my approved posts only made me USD 15/- but hey... that's 3 x two-hour massages from my regular masseuse! And this has sort of got me hooked, and I've just registered onto Smorty today. It's a service connecting advertisers with bloggers. So, try it and see for yourself! Am sure you'll wanna do it too....

S1 - A Tween?

Think S1 is certainly a Tween.... just this evening at the dinner table, I said something to S1 and I guessed I was going on-and-on a little, and H said "what are you mumbling about?" and S1 was very gung-ho and said to his father "yeah. I don't know what she's on about " *sigh* like that talk about the mother one meh? And the other day, I spoke to him on the phone..I found out later that he told his dad "I never listen one.." Why do I even bother???

And lately, he has been comparing what his friends has and that he doesn't have....even something that is soooo irrelevant.. For example:
S1 - Dad doesn't spend his money at all. He only spends it on cigarettes and lighters. We don't even have cups under the water dispenser.
Me - Huh? What are you talking about??
S1 - T's water dispenser has a cupboard underneath, where they store the cups. We don't have it.

You see the irrelevance of this? Then there's T has an iPod. T's swimming pool is much better than ours. T has this. T has that... I have to constantly remind him that there would be a whole lot more of stuff that T would have that we would not. Also, I said "how come you only compare things that you don't have...how come you don't do it other way? T doesn't have a TV in his room. So, maybe you should take the TV out of your room too!".

It's already difficult to parent a child...but it's doubly difficult when his peers have more money and stuff to flaunt... Other examples: Kids taking USD 30 to school. Whereas most days, S1 brings lunch to school. On days that he doesn't, I give him about USD 1 to 2 only. Kids bringing the latest mobile phones to school, iPods etc etc... There are even kids who would pay USD 10 to get one merit from another kid... The british system rewards children with merits when they do their work well or behave well. The merits (in the form of stickers) are stuck in the merit book. So, these rich (and obviously spoilt kids) would pay USD 10 for each sticker. So...there goes my daily challenge to keep my kids grounded to a "normal" life amidst all of these.

Bid4Prizes

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When I saw bid4prizes on another Blogger mommy's post, I was like "Sure or not?? Where got such a big pigeon running loose?? "...Being the SAHM with nothing better to do...I hopped over to the site to have a look-see since it's FREE. It's this crazy game that you bid a uniquely LOW number to win the prize. It's this UNIQUE number that gives it a little kick, like in those Toto and Magnum 4Ds, which I do dabble once in a while.... :-)

What did I bid for? The 50" Phillips Plasma TV, of course! Well, H recently sold his 42" Plasma TV to his company, and he has been complaining that he can't go hide in his "cave" as it's currently void of a TV... And as his birthday is coming up soon, what would be a better birthday pressie than a 50" one?? Especially if it's a Prize??? My bid amount was 2346 cents! Hehehe... because I almost got first price in Toto with this number once... Fingers Crossed this Time!!!

Korean DILs???

Sounds like I've been bitten by the blogging bug..but just have to post this one before I forget...

Will I be having Korean daughter-in-laws??? Hahaha... Yeah lah..it's too early.... Have found out that S1 has a crush on a Korean girl. He didn't want to tell me who.. Our convo..

Me - Who is she?
S1 - I'm not telling!
Me - Tell lah... Who is she? What colour is her hair?
S1 - Black
Me - She's a Korean girl? (I guessed lah...lots of Koreans in their school)
S1 - Yeah
Me - Who? In your class?
S1 - I'm not telling.. I'm not letting my mom know about my secrets!

At this point, S2 excitedly said "I looooovveee SH. She's also Korean!". Hahaha...

So... KIMCHI anyone???

Kids are Expensive!

Ever since NOT having a job, and having to stretch my palm out to H for household allowances, I have been diligently entering my daily expenses into a MS Excel document. BOY! I have to say that nurturing a child is NOT cheap! I was just summarizing some costs.. Saturday Swimming Lessons per Term for 1 kid is USD 70. For 2 kids is USD 140 ..multiply by three terms..have paid USD 420 for swimming lessons. Then there's the Mandarin Classes.. USD 560 per term for two kids....multipy by three terms.. And then there's Mad Science activity which is USD 55 per kid per term. Sums up to quite a lot of money! This does not include the PS2 games, the gameboy games, the movies, other activities, their hunger for snacks, holidays etc etc... I asked the boys "can you choose an activity that is FREE ah?" ...and H said that I was cheapo wor... so, "bo huat". Luckily don't have to pay school fees and the bus fares, as they are paid by H's company...otherwise, sure PENGSAN!!! How much? Sure you wanna know? Fees are pengsan amount of ~ USD 15 K per kid per year. Bus fares are USD 490 per kid per term. We definitely CANNOT afford these amounts ourselves....

One of my Singaporean friends (she only has 2 kids, like me) said that a lot of her friends in Singapore are having 3 kids now, because of the SGD 10 K ( I think) that the government is giving as incentive to have more kids.. Aiyo.. Sounds like a lot, but REALLY! Where got enough? I mean you have to treat all your kids equal.. it's like S1 doing Mad Science..S2 also wants to do...I cannot exactly say "Cannot! Too expensive", right? Then I will definitely get a barrage of "NOT FAIR!!!" ... For example holidays... cannot exactly just take one and the other one, you tell.."you stay home okay?".... Actually, I have a friend with 3 kids...she takes them on holiday one-by-one. Her kids are okay with that.... Mmmm... Somehow, I have difficulty doing this leh...And my kids DEFINITELY will not allow it!!!

Is Lasik the Answer for Me?

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Having been short-sighted since I was 8 years old, and wearing contact lenses since 12 years old,... I was always thinking "ahh...how nice if I can see clearly the moment I wake up!". My current lenes are 850 for each eye... Can you imagine?? Without my glasses, I am as blind as a bat!

In the 80's, one of my aunts went to Russia to have some kind of pioneering eye surgery to correct her short-sightedness. Unfortunately, it was not exactly successful as she had some problems and needed additional follow-ups, and still had to wear her thick glasses. So, when Lasik came along, I was of course really excited when I heard that corrective vision surgery/procedures has improved leaps and bounds.

Will I go for Lasik? I am rather keen but at the same time, scared. I've heard quite a number of success stories... (my ex-landlady who did her Lasik at 58 years old, and is raving about it, wondering why she didn't do it earlier; my cousin who also did it after wearing glasses for over 35 years, and another friend who also just did it last year ), so there's really no reason to be scared. Being the pessimist that I am, I will be thinking about all sorts of BAD scenarios. However, I think I will definitely do it one of these days. When? When my hands are too trembly to put-in and take-off my daily lens... When I move to a more developed country where the healthcare is NOT questionable. When I find a doctor with perfect track record....

Sydney, Down Under - Updated

H is going off to Sydney this weekend. He's got an Executive Program in one of the Unis there. His company has been quite good with his continual development... You know me lah, of course look at him with the "suspicious look"... Our convo..
H - Why don't you come with me?
Me - Cheeeh! *Eyes Rolling until almost pop out* You know that I can't get away with the boys here with no one to look after! Ask for fun oni...
H - Ask your mom to come.
Me - Blech! You know my mom is in Singapore with Sis just delivered.
H -Ask your dad then. He can fly in on Friday...

Aiya... he just tok oni lah... after that also never discuss liow.. Somehow went to the topic of "what is there to buy in Sydney?".... Anyway, he also will have to come back before the program ends as his boss wants him to go to Munich next week too... Siow... Fly here, Fly there...like never take plane before...

Updated - 4th May: That fella...change plans again. Now say not going to Sydney. Got to postpone the trip. But going to Munich next Tuesday... BUT Aiya.. knowing him.. go up the plane already, then only believe him lah..

Kids, Their Antic and Words....

Starting Young...
At dinner on Monday nite, S1 suddenly said "my friend S and his girlfriend, P went to a quiet place and then they kiss. His pals, stood outside like knights like that to guard the door, while they kiss!". Can you imagine? Both S and P are 9 going to 10 or maybe 10 already. I asked if he was one of the "guards" and he said "No. I was not around". H was like..."Aiya! How can you be the guard? You should be the one kissing the girl inside!". And then H looked at me and said "Lei sei ler... give you one more year the most!". Meanwhile, my S1 was happily grinning, and telling me more about his friends while chomping down his food. So, my solace for the time being is that he is still baby-ish and not yet ready for this kissy-wissy stuff. One more year is better than tomorrow!

Mince Beef with Potato Pastry Crust
I made this tonight for dinner. H was not around (today is his weekly Pool League Night whereby he competes with other pubs in Pool) and called just after dinner to tell me about him starting on his game soon. S1 picked up the phone... I could hear him say "Hi! Are you on your way home now? .........Awwww... Err..just finished dinner.........mom made this pie which looks really UGLY but tastes good!.." Needless to say, I was made-fun off by H about my "food presentation skills". Didn't have enough pastry to cover the pie bowl, so had to streeeeetch the pastry, so got hole lor... Taste wise...so-so only lah. Didn't want to waste the tin of tomato puree so hantam all in instead of just 2 spoonfuls...

Normal Life?
Boys drank Yakult upstairs today (which they weren't allowed to), and some got spilled on the floor, didn't tell either me or the maid. Just left it there, walked and treaded all over the place. S1 blamed on S2 and vice-versa. Of course I screamed lah.. and one thing led to another, and ended up with S1 saying that I am UNFAIR cause I scolded him and not S2 blah blah blah, and then screamed "I just want a NORMAL LIFE". Waaaaa... So I said "okay. Define normal life!", and gave him a piece of paper to write down what exactly is normal life as he sees it. I laughed when I looked at it... it was almost exactly as what I want him/them to do except for the last three.. S1 wrote:
1) Have 3 rules - 1) don't touch iPod, 2) don't eat upstairs 3) wash hands after dinner
2) Sleep at 8.00
3) Wake up at 6.00
4) 30 minutes homework
5) 10 minutes reading each night
6) sometimes have light breakfast
7) have a smarter brother
8) have a brother who doesn't distract me

Cannot remember what else.. but I was prodding him to include "can watch tv whenever I want. Can play games whenever I want'...but he just shook his head and said "that's not normal!"... So, think my sons know what is right and wrong, normal and abnormal... Just difficult to adhere to the normal and rights.....