My Kiddos....

Have not posted much about my kiddos for awhile...so thought I'll write a little about my two monsters....

S1 will be learning about the birds and the bees next term.....(Yes.. very scary thought for many mommies! We met on Monday for coffee to discuss about our children's schooling etc etc. One mom showed us a book on THE TOPIC. Aiyo... the pictures were rather graphic. And the information seems waaaay tooo much for 10/11 year olds. But apparently, it is the RIGHT amount...) Anyway, I was lecturing him about game-playing on the computer instead of doing actual school work, and then I mentioned "when you are supposed to be researching for a project but you go off playing games, I will know. I know all the sites that you have been onto!".
Waaa...immediately, he was sooo kann-cheong (anxious) and wanted to know how he could delete the address of a website. Told him I didn't know how to delete one site, but the entire history.
He then kept bugging me on HOW to do the deletion. Of course I got REALLY suspicious lah.

I have to probe and probe and probe.
Finally, he said " I typed something, and it accidentally popped up"

"What popped out?", I asked.

"Really. Really. It popped out by itself. Really accidentally one."

Again, I had to ask "what popped out?? Naked girls? Violent Stuff? What?"

His nervous reply was "errr... some girls in bikini!"

I didn't want to scare him from NEVER telling me things. So I told him that it was okay to look at sexy bikini-clad girls BUT NOT when they are naked and the pictures become obscene.

And when I related the story to H later at dinner that night, AIYO...S1 was soooooo embarassed that he quickly hid under the table!! Had to tell him it's not that bad lah.....

And S2.... this fella also one kind one. The other day, he was watching tv for about an hour already...and then suddenly screamed "where is the glass?". Well, the glass on one side of his spectacles was missing! And he didn't even know it until after one hour. We searched the floor and everywhere. No where to be found! WHere the glass fell out also he didn't know. Maid came and sweep sweep sweep. Tadah! What to do? Go and fix it....and also made a pair of spare glasses. Waaa...actually, this third world country arrr...very expensive. His glasses costs 30% more than in Malaysia leh....

This S2 also very cocky these days... he'll say things like "I am trying to do something here. I demand some respect!" to me!!!! Don't know whether to scold him or to laugh.

Stereotyping??

This is to add to my previous post on mixed-couples.

Before people start throwing rotten apples or ...*urgh*..worse, stones and boulders at me; I am not stereotyping that all Asian women who marry ang-moh husbands are of questionable nature, or that they meet their hubbies at questionable places, or they speak horrendous English. If that is the case, I think my sister-G would be the first one to THROW A BIG BOULDER at me!!! She, by the way...in my opinion speaks the best English in the family.. (Okay, V...you also speak velly good Engrish lah..), and met her current angmoh boyfriend from work. So... I am by no means of stereotyping...

But the thing with majority of the women from our Northern neighbour, that do marry ang-mohs are of questionable nature and do meet their hubbies at questionable nite-spots. I am sorry to say. Having lived there for 1 1/2 years, I do see alot of them on the streets and in resorts. The thing is...these women can hardly speak English. Their English is sooooo poor that alot of times, their so-called lovers are blatantly ridiculing them in the full view of others. And yet, because of their poor command of English, they just giggled. There was once we were at a family seaside resort.... and of course we were lazing by the pool. There was this 2 couples (little asian girls with angmohs) in the middle of the pool....frolicking and almost like making out. And one of them made a derogatory joke about his gal to the other fellow. They just laughed, and the poor girl didn't understand what was being said, and just giggled. Kepoh me was just staring aje lah. H actually told me off for staring....said if I stare any second longer, they are gonna come over and whack me!....Aiya.. they were busy touching here and there, where will they notice my obvious staring lah...

Somehow..in my previous company, we have a lot of colleagues or associates with wives from our northern neighbour. I've talked about my 2 ex-American angmoh colleague. I've got another Chinese colleague, SY who also married a girl from our northern neighbour too. He met and courted his wife two years before they got married. So...you would think that these 3 ladies are the best of friends, living in the tiny East Coat town of Malaysia. But NO. SY's wife actually does not like to mix with the other two women....as SY puts it, the wife thinks these two women are not very "chiing-keng". So...not only me have this thought. Ok??? (Oh yeah... one thing I forgot to add... JB actually sent about USD 10 K to the girl's parents not long after he met her.... when he was still married to his angmoh wife. So you think the angmoh wife go ballistic or not???)

My ex-boss travels to Frankfurt very regularly, and in his time... sat in many taxis and guess what? Many of the pui-pui lau-Ah Pek taxi driver work hard 9 months of the year, and then blow their savings on a 3 month holiday in our northern neighbour. And in their time there, they get themselves a local girlfriend, splurge and live the life. So, of course the girls think this Lau Ah Pek very tapp-sui lah. I supposed it's a win-win situation for both the girl and the lau Ah Pek. He gets a sweet (errr... actually, alot of those charboh with the pui-pui lau Ah Pek ang moh all boh-sui one.....normally won't even take a second look kind. You know what I mean??) young thing who thinks he is GOD, and she gets a "good" life for the three months ...and if she is lucky, either he repeatedly sends money to her, or she gets to be the WIFE...Lucky or not I donno lah.

And speaking of stereotyping ERROR...this was my aunt a few years ago... Btw, she lives in angmoh country and daughter used to go to posh angmoh boarding school with the likes of Simon Le Bon and Russel&Bromley founder's children... So, daughter has this friend of mixed parentage. Angmoh father and mother from our northern neighbour. As usual, the first questionable thought of "mother mm-chai-si-hamm-mi lang" since from Northern neighbour wor... Errr...found out that mother has royal blood one wor....

SO. Cannot stereotype one...

But then hor... fly to our Northern neighbour. Be it in the streets of the capital or seaside resort towns... and you see.. the many many couples... then you start to wonder....... Stereotype or not???

Kekekekek

The Only One...

Only one what???

Well, from my last post... I mentioned that we were invited for a birthday party. Well, as it turns out, I was the only Asian woman with an Asian husband. The rest were all mixed-couples. Before, I proceed further, please note that I have nothing against mixed-couples.

There were more than 20 couples at the party....all Asian ladies with Mat Salleh husbands. I have to say that I was the odd one out! H was the only Asian man. Don't ask me why the disparity. I donch know....

There was a local lady (with an ang-moh husband, of course) has the biggest pair of boobies I have ever seen. I look but kept mum! Hee hee.. but one of the Thai ladies indicated that she should give her SOME ... Errr...she actually, pulled her top down a bit to show her bra and to show that it's ALL REAL and NOT fake! Aiyo...some more that time, my S1 walked over to the table to talk to me about something. Anyway, she went on and on about her size being 32 G blah blah blah... and how she don't like to wear sexy cloths when she was a teenager but now, she does because her hubby likes her to..blah blah blah.. Oh yeah..another thing she said..she said her boobies were like watermelons when she was pregnant!

There was a Japanese lady there...the rest were all ladies from our Northern neighbour.

I hate to say this...but can't help wondering where do these ladies meet their hubbies? Even in this country that I am in now...you do see quite a lot of elderly angmoh men with very very young local girls....(as my Aussie friend says "60 year old men with their 14-year old brides!) I don't mean to sound cynical but eeerrrrmm...when you see a young Asian girl who can hardly speak English with a much older ang-moh, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?

Be honest!

I've worked with two American men in my last job, and they had girlfriends from our neighbour who later became their wives. One of them, the guy (whom I will call JB) was still married to his ang-moh wife when he brought this girl to our country. And he continually b*t@hed about his ex-wife (when not yet really ex-). Also seems very proud when he went on to tell everyone how he met his girlfriend. Apparently, he went on a 2-week (or was it one week) holiday in a sun-kissed island, and this woman came back to Malaysia with him. Got any decent girls that follow a man to a foreign country is such a short time? Well, she bore him a daughter and then later married him (after his divorce was finalised). He always joked that she didn't want to move back to her country. Too many women and too few men! Think she has this idea that all her fellow-women were gonna try to grab her ang-moh hubby. (BTW, Initially her English was really really bad. She could hardly hold a conversation. Her hubby once said "shouldn't have sent her to English classes! Now she just nags and nags and nags! Hahahahah!!!!)

And there was this other American guy, named CT. There was a time when we had a potential project in our neighbouring country, and she was d@mn scared that he was gonna be posted there. She said that the little east coat town that they were in was much better than the larger, nicer town up in our neighbour. Of course not lah. She just didn't want to go back. And when she had to go back for awhile, she was adamant that she wanted to come back as quick as possible. Apparently, she saw me as a threat!!!! Duh?? And this CT somemore always want to trick her. When she called, he'll say "I'm with nomadicmom"....and then he'll paused for awhile before going on to name the others who were present. According to one of my colleague, this lady also lied about her age....to be younger lah.. of course! And there was one time, they invited us to their apartment for dinner. Aiyo... she was soooooooo manja to him, and also all over him that we (my colleagues and I) didn't know where to put our eyes. My colleague said that I would be set for life, if I could just learn 10% of her manja skills!! hahahah...

So? Any comments??

A Food Post

I've been rather 'hardworking' lately...and thus have been spending a little more time in the kitchen in the last week or so... Made a few things. Some are fairly successful, some are outright disaster...

Loh Pak Kou & Or Nee

Well, I started off the week making Loh Pak Kou (white radish cake ) and Or-nee(Teochew-style sweet yam paste). I wanted to include dried shrimps but found that those in my larder were a little mouldy. So omitted them and just used lap-cheong (chinese sausage). The Loh Pak Kou turned out alright, and boys did enjoy the Loh Pak Kou which I got the maid to pan-fry. As for the Or-nee... I don't know whether it's due to the type of yam I used, or the method that I made it. It turned out soooooooooooooooo sticky! How did I make it? I steamed the yam, then mashed it, sprinkled some sugar onto it, and then microwaved it, and then blended it. I think it was the MICROWAVE bit that change the yam molecules to some monstrous sticky blob!! I was lazy to make the sugar syrup over the stove, so short-cut it by sprinkling sugar onto the mashed yam and microwave it.

What do you think?
Shouldn't be lazy..hor?

Chocolate Cup Cakes & Sugar Cookies
Another day, I made chocolate cup cakes and cookies...

Chocolate Cup Cakes
Boleth tahan lah?
As usual, made a dozen and gave 5 to the hired-help...my maid, the driver, the gardener and day shift guard and the night shift guard....

Sugar Cookies

Okay.. the decoration needs some more work!!!

But when H had a bite of my cookies, he said "waaaaa... your cookie soooo hard. Throw at the wall, the wall will crack! Your Or-nee throw on the wall, will stick to the wall. Your cookie throw on he wall, will crack the wall!".
You say need to WHACK this fellow on the head or not?
Of course, I merajuk-lah (sulk) after that lah... Told him that next time, he better NOT eat anything I make for my sons! Don't ask me to make any of his favorites anymore!!
Aiya... of course, then he heow-heow tried to cajole me lah....

Crystal Jade Restaurant
On Friday, went down to town to meet H for lunch... went to the new Crystal Jade Restaurant over at Pacific Place. Was pleasantly surprised when we saw that there were lots of PORK dishes in the menu. The other branches that we've been prior were pork-free you see... Naturally, we ordered the Siew-Yoke (Crispy Roast Pork)! It was very yummy! But a tad expensive. About RM 16 for 9 small miserable pieces. Also had the Pei-thann Sow Yoke Chok (Lean Pork and Century Porridge). This porridge not as good as the one over at Huang Ting (see last post). We also ordered the Konn Chow Ngau Hor (Fried Kway Teow with Beef) and Fried WhiteBait. After that, we shared a Caramel Ice-Cream from Cream&Fudge. Very rich and yummy ice-cream! (Not to mention FATTENING as well!!!)

Saturday Brunch

After reading about Laundryamah's recent post about her lunch... I also lau-nuah (salivating) and copycat lah.. Where did she go that I also follow??

Heee heee... Yes. Yes. Me a BIG FAT COPYCAT!

Think this SushiGroove's Signature wall??

We ordered some of the dishes from this List of Recommendation

Avatar Roll

H didn't allow me to take a pix as he wanted to dive straight in. I kena scolding leh... "Take what picture????" was his remark! Then S1 commented "Mom! Blogging is NOT your whole life. Oh! Wait! I think it is!!"

Geez...all this XY-chromosome species picking on me!!!

Cannot remember what is this called...
Tortuna Tower
This is a tofu dish

S1's Tempura & Chicken Teriyaki Bento
S2's Tamago

I Y Unagi

Birthday Party...

Got invited to a birthday party on Saturday afternoon by one of H's business associates. The birthday boy is of mixed Caucasian-Thai parentage. (Errr... more about abit of kepoh-ing about the guests in another post....) So, naturally...the food was also western/Thai mix. We had Panang Chicken Curry, Shrimp Tom Yum, Khanom Jeen, Green Curry, Som Tam, Otak-Otak, BBQ ribs, Chicken Rice, Burgers, Satay amongst others. Yes. Loads to eat. Was rather stuffed, and when we got home, H wanted plain porridge (after all the drinking, you see....) so we ate some more!!!

Today is Sunday!
And today... I made pizza for lunch. Yup! Made the dough from scratch. It was quite presentable and palatable. Forgot to take picture lah... And have prepared the ingredients for dinner. Gonna make roast chicken ala Jamie Oliver. Will see how it turns out. Will try to remember to take a picture.

Be my Valentine....

Valentine's Day is round the corner.....
Your TO DO List reads:
*Reservations for two at the city's top French restaurant - a
*Penned a touching poem - a
*Ordered a dozen of red roses - a
*Buy sexy Lingerie for the special nite ????

In a bind as to where to get the best-looking lingerie for your special gal or guy?
Fret Not. Check out LingerieDiva! They have a wide product line ranging from plus size lingerie, men's lingerie to sexy jewellery too. And I hear that there's some Valentine deals at the moment!

A Bing A Bong

You have heard of Ping Pong.
BUT...have you heard of Bing Bong?
When I first saw the words Bing Bong, I thought "Hey....typo there!". Boy! Was I wrong. There IS really such a game called Bing Bong!
It basically is a beer drinking game.
Yup! You heard me right.....Players throw a ping pong ball across a beer pong table to try to land inside cups of beer arranged on the other end. When a ball lands in a cup, the defending team must drink the cup's beer. The losing team is the one that has consumed all the cups of beer!

TAG - Spare the Rod?

Dancing Queen gave me this tag.... DO I SPARE THE ROD?

Of course NOT lah. With two active, jumping, squealing monkeys that are always at each other's throats and fighting... How to Spare the Rod?
Yes. I know Hitting them will not solve anything in the long term. But when they are almost killing each other, and YELLING does NOT stop the bickering and the murderous actions. I would have to WHACK!

Other times when they misbehave, I would start with my loooooooooong LECTURE, which believe me...is WORSE than my WHACKS. H always comment "like that you call whack ah?" as I don't exactly whack hard. It's just to get their attention.

Generally... I LECTURE and PUNISH by taking away things that they love ...like watching the telly, playing their PS2 or the PC. As this punishment hurts more than physical pain from WHACKS. So...in short, WHACKING is only to get their attention. When my effort in shouting for the fighting etc to STOP does NOT work. Aiya...some more my S1 so big boy already. Have to minimize lah... but then when he behaves like a little brat, WHACK it is!!

Now...who to tag? Think most done liow...but I will tag the following..
Laundryamah
Mommy of 3 Angels
Mott
Misha's Mum
bp


Instructions :**Start Copying Here**
Tag 5 bloggers1st - You leave their blog and post link and add to the list below.
2nd - Let the blogger know that they have been tagged by leaving comment in their blog.
1. Miche does not spare the rod.
2. Jo-N wants to be her children's best friend.
3. Trinity wants to talk and teach the children without the rod.
4. SueSue wants to guide her kids with patience and love.
5. Dancing Queen does not spare the rod.
6. NomadicMom definitely does NOT spare the rod.

Some Updates....23 Jan '08

My internet was down since Sunday morning... Only called the IP guys today, and the technician turned up less than two hours later. Not bad, huh? Turns out that my Linksys wireless thingy got reset by itself to the original settings. Apparently, according to this technician...this Linksys always does this. So...basically, I just need to reset with the RIGHT settings before I telephone for help lah...

Weekend Update...
Took boys to the Ice-Rink on Saturday morning...Normally, we don't go on weekends as it is usually MEGA packed. But H was quite eager to go to this mall to eat the chinese "tong-sui" that they have there.. So off we went early in the morning.

While boys were skating, and H went loitering about, I had a cup of cappucino at Donut Express. Played with my Canon. This is what I got....

We then went to Huang Ting for lunch..... Our first time there... (got this recommendation from a fellow blogger :-D ). What did we have? Let me think...

- Porridge with Pork, Salted Egg and Century Egg

- Prawn Wanton Noodle

- Roast Suckling Pig and Roast Duck

- Steam Minced Pork with Salted Fish

- Xiao Long Pao
- Abalone and Melon Soup

Yes. We wallop everything...as it was GOOD! Sorry lah... no pix cause the boys dug into the food rather quickly, and they didn't allow mommy to slow them down!

Then we went jalan-jalan in the mall. Went into the new department store called Parisian. It looked kinda fancy and expensive. But then...the Sports Station for kids have quite good deals.

Bought S2 a Spalding Sports shoes for about USD 13.

S1's Diadora Soccer Shoes ~ USD 17/-

(An Adidas one would have cost about USD 34!)

Prince Tennis Rackets at USD 5.50 each!!

(They were at a SPECIAL price! Original was about USD 30!!!)

Also went to NEXT, Mango etc etc since they were having sales...but nothing there leh..

After all the shopping, we went into Honeymoon Desserts for "tong sui". This is a franchise from Hong Kong, I believe? I had a walnut/black sesame paste dessert. H had a peanut paste with glutinous rice balls. The boys shared a Mango pudding. The total was about USD 7. Kinda expensive...don't you think? And I feel KTZ in SS2 lebih enak lah. But what to do? Beggars can't be choosers!

Next day, we headed off to Pancious for pancakes and waffles. H says the waffles are not that good. He says A&W's better wor. I think the pancakes are alright. But then again...until we find another place...Beggars can't be choosers...

How to take clearer pix?

Can someone please teach me??

Interior

(actually, this place has an outdoor sitting area that surrounds a swimming pool...but didn't take a picture lah.. Next time lah)

Closer Up on Sitting Area...

My Full Breakfast

S1's Waffles with Smoked Beef and Cheese

H shared a waffle with butter and maple syrup with S2. H was so quick that he cut the waffles into half before I could take a picture....

Favorite Pastime

What is your favorite pastime??

"Lying down watching the telly" is our unanimous vote!

Yup! H and I just love to unwind in front of the television at the end of each day...be it a action-packed movie or a short comedy. At the moment, we either lie on the sofa or sit in one of the boy's bean bags. What we really need is a comfortable recliner in our room! One that we can easily whizz to a reclining position when our poor 'ole back requires some relaxation. Perhaps maybe with a massage function thrown in. Ahhhh...that would be good, huh?

Spring Cleaning...

The Chinese New Year is round the corner, and like many other Chinese homes, we are frantically doing last minute cleaning to spruce up the house for the festivities. There are the upholstery to be cleaned, corners to be dusted, garbage to be carted off etc etc. We have just finished polishing the marble tile in the living room today. Now, it's squeaky clean and gleaming....... just the way it should be. Still lots to do before my house is ready to receive guests though!

Victorian Day

Victorian Day At School on Friday, 18th January...Here are some pix.

From the boards..

Victorian items

Victorian Photographs

Wall Painting depicting a Victorian Scene

Boys in Costume...
Yes...very boring. My S1 is hidden behind his 3 friends...(brown waistcoat behind)

Girls in Costume...
So much nicer and exciting than boring boys' costumes. Don't you think??

Handy Accessories!

What would you consider to be handy auto accessories? My vote would be "roof-mounted racks". Why? With the racks fitted on your automobile; be it a sedan or a MPV, you are able to ferry more stuff around. In addition to that, larger-sized items can be carted as well. Yes. We do have a set of racks fitted. How else could I have brought home the HUGE laundry hanger that is almost bigger than my car?? So,...take my advice. Fit one on your car too. You'll never regret it.

We go A-Hunting for...Furniture

Last weekend, H and I went out furniture shopping. Yes...before you all start with the "Oh no! Not more furniture again!"...we needed to change the boys' beds to more sturdier ones from their current rickety-shakey ones. We went to the furniture mall to browse on the offerings. Most were kind of kiddy-looking or girly-looking. Guessed we have to look elsewhere for the beds. Was also looking for an office swivel chair (mine broke a few months back). Went into a very huge shop that sold all kinds of executive office furniture that ranged from luxury old-fashioned type for the director's room to modern desk for the uber chic types....but no affordable chairs for poor 'ole me.

Two Hours Wasted...

That's the amount of time I spent sewing a stupid cap for S1's Victorian Day. Remember my previous post when I asked for help for some Victorian Costumes?
G pointed to a good site where I could copy the Victorian boy costume(http://www.ivyandmartin.demon.co.uk/summers/victorianboy.htm).

I thought "Aiya...easy lah.." since he already has a white shirt and black pants. And he can wear my waistcoat. All I need to get is the hanky to tie around the neck and a cap.
Again, smart alec me waited till the last minute (Victorian Day is TOMORROW!!!) to gather all the stuff. The hanky was easy lah.. Just cut out a triangle-shaped piece of cloth. And the hard part was the stupid Victorian cap.
I agak-agak (estimate??) the size and on how-to-make it.
Initially, I cut the fabric to a size too big. I sewed it up, i.e making gathers at the edge. Put it on S1's head and he said "Mom! This looks like a shower cap!" . '
Ooookayy...so it was off to the drawing board again (so to speak).
I reduced the circumference and included some kind of the band. This time, it didn't look too much like a Shower Cap. Pop it on top of S1's head.
"Mom! I look like I work at the Pizza Delivery Shop!"
Okay. Okay. I reduce some more. Cut. Cut. Snip. Snip. Sew. Sew.

VOILA!! It's completed!
Woke S1 up (he was already asleep. 8.30 PM is the bedtime ma...and I only finished this third version at 10 PM) to see if it fits.

OMIGOD!!! It's tooooo small now. Can't even sit on top of his head!
How lah??
Fed-Up liow... donwan to cut/snip/sew anymore. Give up lah!

He'll just be a Victorian Boy who lost his cap!!!

Summary??
A Seamstress I am NOT!!!

p/s Will post some pix on Victorian Day tomorrow...

S2's Glasses Lost! - UPDATED

UPDATED -
S2 went to the LOST & FOUND in school today. And luckily, he found his glasses. But I think to be on the safe side, I still have to make him another spare pair. Like you all said, he'll probably lose it again, or sit on it or whatever.... Yeah.. got to find cheap frames...but then hor, also must look fairly presentable one lah... Donwan him to look like a nerd leh... His dad calls him "lou foo zhi" (Cantonese)... or "lau fu tze" (Mandarin). Remember this character in comics??

Just as I was writing my paid post earlier regarding getting spares for S2... Today, he came home and tried to get his glasses from his schoolbag. Guess what? Not there?
Maybe he didn't look properly? S1 looked. The maid looked.
Nope. Not in the bag.
So how? Lost liow lah...
And somewhere I blurr blurr left the prescription slip with the rest of the medical claims for H's secretary to process. Luckily, H retrieved the slip. So...what to do? Got to head out to the shops to buy him another pair plus a spare!!!!!
Aiyoyooooooo....
Bleah!

S2 is Short-Sighted!

Yup!
You read correct!
I received a note from school that informed that S2's vision is less than perfect, and I should have his vision further investigated. So when I was back in KL, I took him to an ophthalmologist (my SIL advised that I should consult the ophthalmologist first, instead of going straight to the optician) for a check-up.
The verdict?
He needed prescription glasses! *sigh*...My baby is now four-eyed! :-( The ophthalmologist did mention that if both parents are short-sighted, the higher the chance that the offspring would be too. Got him a pair that costs about $50, and he is so new to using his glasses that I have to keep asking him "where are your glasses?". Everyone has advised that I should get him a pair of spares as he is bound to either lose them or destroy them. But it is rather expensive, don't you think? But as I was logging into my laptop today, I chanced upon this Great Discovry:$ 8 Prescription Glasses From Zenni Optical! This is so much more affordable! I can now get two extra pairs of glasses for S2! Just have to look for the prescription slip now....

Nag? Scold? Lecture?

Actually I wrote a looooong post about this yesterday. But somehow lost it. Geez...So got to re-type the post... Maybe shorter now lah..

What brought on this post??
My maid lah.. Other than my kids...the maid can also make my blood boil.

I found that she "locked but did not lock" the terrace doors. Basically, she turned the lock but the lock did not "catch" and thus did not get locked. Know what I mean? Usually, I don't re-check the doors but somehow I did a final check before I went upstairs, and one of the terrace doors just slid open soooo easily. Of course I immediately called out to her lah. And guessed what? She also didn't latch the kitchen window. Gave her a scolding/tongue-lashing that led to a full-blown lecture about safety etc etc, and then as I was still going on and on...it somehow turned to nagging. Told her that she shouldn't take things for granted even if we have a security guard. Went on to tell her that some aggressive burglars might even resort to murder ...including the maids. blah blah blah.. Told her to RE-CHECK the doors and windows. But I guessed I would have to do the checking myself to be doubly-sure. I do lock my upstairs door (door upstairs that is between our sleeping quarters and downstairs living) before I go to bed.

She has also been chucking my kitchen gadgets all over the place. Things are not kept in one place. For example, my blender would be in one cabinet but the blades for the blender would be somewhere else. And when I need them, I can't find them. So it is quite irritating. Just this afternoon, I was looking for my measuring cups to make chocolate chip cookies (errr..my cookies are like 5 times the size of Famous Amos!!! My teaspoon was tooooo heaped!) and I couldn't find them. Had to look high and low. Thus, have been re-organizing my kitchen this afternoon... so she better make sure she puts all the things in the right place from now-on

There's more.. but better not make myself too "maang" (irritated?). *breathe* *breathe*

Why not complete it Online?

As usual, I dropped boys at their Mandarin class yesterday before heading off to the gym. Didn't know that S1's teacher had gone back to China, until I went to pick the boys up from the Center an hour and a half later. S1 told me that his teacher had gone back to China to complete his University degree. I wonder what degree the teacher is undertaking, that he has to track back all the way to China? Hasn't he heard of online education? Someone should have told him about the accredited and fully online Capella University. Perhaps if he knew earlier, he wouldn't have left, and my son would still have his old teacher...instead of a young substitute now.

This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com.

Some Places to Eat...

Since Laundryamah indicated that her dear 'ole relatives went back to Malaysia pale and skinny...I thought I should do a post on where to eat.

Steaks
Abuba (Good value for money - USD 25/- for the four of us. Yummy... See my previous post)
The Steakhouse @ The Four Seasons (Expensive but good)
Tony Roma's (Yes. Real PORK ribs served!)

Japanese
Blowfish (Modern Japanese and really nice decor. I like! )
Sushi Groove (Not been there but it's part of a chain, right?)
Shabu Nobu (Good Shabu-Shabu)

Chinese
Ah Yat Seafood (Good and value-for-money seafood sets!)
Ah Yat Abalone (Wide variety of dim sum especially Sundays. Go early!!!)
Duck King (All sorts of goodies)
The Soup Shop
Din Tai Fung (Not as yucky lah...okay what...)
Crystal Jade Restaurant

Malaysian
Penang Bistro (one of our favourites)
Penang Place (not been there but my friend says it's good)
House of Ipoh

Others
Kinara (award winning Indian restaurant...)
Tam Nak Thai
C's at the Grand Hyatt (Fancy place like Mezza 9 in Grand Hyatt Singapore)
Emilie (lovely foie gras in this French Restaurant)
Lara Djonggrang (Very very nice ambience. Good to bring visitors. Food is local lor..)
Gourmet Garage (have aussie, japanese etc in different sections...food is quite good too)

Sweet Tooth Places..
Bakerzin
Secret Recipe
Death by Chocolate...

Then of course there's your fast-food chains like Wendy's, Burger King, KFC, Popeye's, McDonalds...

There are loads of other restaurants that it would be too long to list. Some we have tried, and some we have yet to go.

Born with a Silver Spoon...

I was just watching a program on cable this evening entitled "Forbes Top 20 Heiresses".
Who were in the list?
To name a few... Ivanka Trump, Holly Branson, Charlotte Casiraghi, with Vanisha Mittal taking the top spot. Though these heiresses hail from different parts of the world and have different personalities; one thing that they have in common is that they are all born with the silver spoon in their mouths!
I say...You and I can just continue to dream of the $$$$ that these ladies will be inheriting!
Well, though we don't have a silver spoon while growing up, but perhaps we should invest in some silver bullion so that our kids can have the silver spoon in their mouths??? If you are interested, check out what Monex is offering for investors.

Weekend Updates

There is this Steak place close to our house that we drive past almost everyday. At weekends, the road will be packed like crazy as patrons park on both sides of the road to savor the offerings. There would be so much smoke bellowing from this place that you would think that some BIG uncontrolled fire has ensued. But fret not...it's just the smoke from the barbie! Some friends who live in this area said that the steaks are indeed good.... We have saying that we will come and try the steaks for the last one year or more....

Finally...we went to Abuba for lunch yesterday. We were there early...at exactly as they open...which is 11 am. Therefore, no crowds yet. Kids were of course complaining...as Abuba is a shop by the road with no AC and plain wooden tables and stools. Spoiled Brats, they are!!!

Here are some pix....

Guy at the Barbie...
(only our order on the barbie...so not so smoky ...YET)

One of the Posters on the Wall
(Don't pray pray. This roadside shop serves NZ, Aussie and US Meats...and even Wagyu!)

All the Condiments you can think of!
(Tomato Ketchup, Chilli Sauce, BBQ Sauce, Tobasco Sauce, Sweet Soya Sauce, Salt, Pepper, Mustard, etc)

My Tenderloin...YUM YUM!

H's Lamb Chops...Also YUM YUM

Boys' Salmon....Another YUM YUM!

Have to say that it was quite an enjoyable meal.... Certainly will come again!!!

What else did we do??? H introduced 'card building' to the boys. What is that?? Building a little structure with cards. He used the boys' Yu-GiOh cards. Boys were soooo amazed that they actually sat there and attempted to build their little structure with their stack of cards. (Modern kids...donno much about old-fashioned games like this nor marbles nor tops..) I actually fell asleep on the sofa while waiting for them!

Here's a sampling of their masterpieces...

We also went out to buy Alien Vs. Predator to watch... so that we are more abreast with the story....before we went to watch Alien Vs. Predator 2 today. Not exactly a show suitable for kids. But watch with the parents better than watch it somewhere else...

Mesothelioma

Do you know what the term "mesothelioma" means?

It is an asbestos-caused cancer of the serous membranes that surround many of the body’s vital organs. In the late 19th century, asbestos was widely used in buildings and other items, due to it's high resistance to heat, fire and chemicals. Unfortunately, unbeknownst then was the carcinogenic properties of asbestos. It is only in the later part of the 20th century that we are aware that inhalation of asbestos fibers can cause mesothelioma and asbestosis. Thus, many countries today have banned the use of asbestos altogether.

Small Business

You are starting a small business.

Your business plan is perfect, and you have found the perfect location to run your small business from. Now, all that you need to do is to equip your office with the right furniture and equipment, and you are ready to go. One of the key equipment to conduct your business is the telephone. Yes. The little gadget that was invented by Alexander Graham Bell years ago. It helps you to communicate with your customers as well as your suppliers and associates. Do you know where you can find the ideal small business phone systems that will suit your business operations?

Really Stoooooopid!!!

I really cannot believe how stooooooopid I was!!!!

Was organizing my photos on Tuesday night, and I don't know why I DELETED my Pictures folder.....and ALL I mean ALL my photos that was in my Macbook were GONE!!!! I screamed SOOOOOOO Loud that S1 came running in to inquire what went wrong. Think I kinda frightened him with my dramatics. He tried to console me with "it's not the end of the world"...I swear I was almost devastated!!! The worst thing was that there was a prompt to ask if I was sure that I want to delete the folder. What was I even thinking to press ENTER???? I really don't know!!!

%^&#@&^* *Tearing my hair out*

What did I do?? Search the net to find a software to try to retrieve back my deleted files lah....Had to buy UnEraser that costs me USD 39.95. What to do??? Definitely have to fork out the dosh lah.. I had to try to retrieve my photos, right???

Luckily I had my older photos on my Dell Notebook too. So what was lost were from July 2007 onwards. Managed to recover most of the photos though not all.. Better than nothing lah. Managed to recover photos from Bangkok, Port Dickson, Singapore, Paintball Party, Egyptian Day, some Xmas photos.

Lost the photos that my sis transferred (so..YM , pls burn the photos onto a CD, please....), Safari Park photos (the one that H wore S1's Bali-bought shirt), some of S1's KL birthday party shots...

Now...have to always back up my photos on CDs ASAP allllll the time!!!!

Victorian Costume !!!

HELP! HELP!
I need to get S1 a Victorian costume for next week!!!! How ?? How?? Where? Aiyo...My kepala pusing (head spinning) liow!!! If you know any pictures of Victorian costumes (BOYS one lah, of course), please lead the way!!!! I need to get it printed to show the tailor. Yeah..Yeah.. am surfing the web to find...but mostly for women or not so good pictures.

GEEEEEZZZ

Bangkok - Part 2

Tried to upload the video of the Countdown and Fireworks...but Blogger kept on indicating that there is an error. So...just some pix lah..

Concert in the Area between Siam Center and Siam Paragon

Big Christmas Tree outside Central World Plaza.

H reckons that it's bigger than the one at Rockefeller wor...

Crowd on Rajadamri Road

This road plus Rama I and Ploenchit was closed. Think there must be about half a million ppl.

Look at the Number of Taxis!!!

King is 80 this Year!

Amazing Thailand Indeed!

I really do like Thailand... "Chan chorp Meung Thai maak maak"!

Sawadee-kaa.... Chan ton-ni yaak pai non liow.

Bangkok - Part 1

Went to Bangkok with H on Saturday, 29th Dec and stayed on till New Year's Day. What do we do?

EAT

SLEEP

SHOP
BEING NOTTI ;-P

Hahahhahaah......

Day One - Saturday, 29th Dec

We arrived early in the morning. Took a cab to the hotel. We stayed at the Somerset Suwan Park View. For awhile, thought the name rang a bell...and then I realised that when we lived in Bangkok, our driver's name was Suwan. :-) Anyway, it's a serviced apartment in Soi TonSon, off Ploenchit. I think this place is really good. Located in the quiet street of TonSon, and so near to Central Chitlom and the Chitlom BTS Station. Apartments are of a good size with a kitchenette and living room. I really prefer a serviced apartment than a hotel leh. Yes. We did make use of the kitchen. Made supper :-D hehehee...

After a quick rest, we went to the Food Loft on the top floor of Central Chitlom for lunch. We had Tom Yum, Kar Moo Tom and Phad Thai. Was very very yummy! Went to the Erawan Shrine for prayers in the afternoon after lunch. And in the evening, went out for dinner with my friend. She was actually gonna go up-country, but delayed the trip till after our dinner. Would be a 7-hour journey for her. Feel so pai-seh. Had pre-dinner drinks at Vertigo - the famed roof top bar at the Banyan Tree on Sathorn. It was very very nice. Took some pix of Bangkok in the night....but pictures not very nice leh. We then proceeded to Ember on Soi Langsuan for dinner. Wat did I have? Let me think...err.. Had the foie gras for starter, then soft shell crab as main, and melted chocolate cake for dessert. I actually told H to pay for dinner waaaaaay before dinner, but we were too slow. My friend, YY snuck her credit card to the waiter before we knew it. It was great meeting this old friend...

Day Two - Sunday, 30th Dec 2007

We were off to Chatuchak in the morning. Didn't really have much to buy. Just go basically for old time's sake. Stuffed ourselves silly with food. Had fried pork, cincau, kwetiew soup, fried chicken, coconut etc. Then from Chatuchak, we went to the old Pantip Plaza on Pratunam....I say old because it has a new name liow. It's called IT World or something like that. So many changes in Bangkok from the time we lived here. Previously, H was like saying "let's go to the seafood shop in front of Amari Watergate"...hehehe...little did he know that his little one-storey shack of a seafood place has been demolised, and in its place is a multi-storey clothing center called Platinum. Hahahah.. When we were at Pantip Plaza, we could see a glimpse of the new and shiny-looking Platinum. Hung out later at Siam Paragon. Bought a few things....had dinner at the food court. Again, stuffed ourselves silly with all sorts of foods and snacks.... and caught a movie "I am LEGEND". Wa...very expensive wor...watch movie here. Cost BHT 160 per ticket. NO. Not the premium one leh... I have to say that I was very scared throughout most parts of the movie. I actually screamed quite loudly on one scene. H said I probably scared the hell out of the other movie-goers, instead of the movie itself. :-P

Day Three - Monday, 31st Dec 2007
Silly ppl like us then took a cab to Soi RangNam to look for the old roast pork rice stall. ALAMAK! The place NO longer there liow. So, cincai eat at another stall lor. Why Soi RangNam? H's old office was there, and he used to eat regularly at this roast pork stall. Sort of want to revive the nostalgia! And then it was off to Siam Paragon again. Shopped abit and then had wine and some sweets. We had dinner at Somboon Seafood over at Surawongse. Had crabs, prawns, oyster omelette, Tom Yum and Claypot tanghoon. Very yummy and cheap too. Then we walked to Patpong. Was a nice stroll....the weather was very good. Breezy and abit chilly too. Hehehee...bought some cushion covers from Patpong. H was like saying "we don't even come here when we had guests before...why you wanna walk in here??". But okay what... Anyway, went home...rested, and came out for the New Year's countdown over at Central World Plaza. Videos...later.

Day Four - Tuesday, 1st January 2008

We have some time to kill before we catch our afternoon flight. We watched a movie in the apartment and continued on to Central Chitlom to do some last minute shopping...

Overall, enjoyed my trip to Bangkok. Though we didn't do much...it was really relaxing and fun.

Here are some of the stuff I bought.

Clothes for Kids

T-shirt of little D, Romper for little A, Dress for little E, Long Tees for My Boys

NEXT Jeans for the Boys

Jim Thompson Bag

(H says to "get rid of my plastic-bags carrying. So this one will replace my plastic bags!!!)

Jim Thompson Stuff

To put my medicine and stuff

Thai Silk Weave

For my shelf in the hall

Princess Grill

(H was very happy with this. It's half the price compared to here!!)

Cookie Cutters, Meat & Syrup Thermometers and Such

Saw them, so buy lor..

Khanom Jeen and Pork Cubes

(Very difficult to get Pork ones here...)

Oopsss...forgot to take picture of the cushion covers... Nevermind lah.. just like any other faux-silk ones that you see in the stalls in the KL malls.