Maid is Gone.

No. Not run away. Just Quit.
Went off last night for her "off-day" and then came back tonight and told me that she quit.

I'm actually surprised that she lasted till now, i.e. 5 1/2 months. She has been getting regular scoldings from me. Regular as-in almost EVERYDAY. First week, she was like mega efficient. Then the next few weeks, she seemed okay. But the more I am in contact with her, the more faults I find. One time, I actually asked her to GO but then she started crying and kneeling. Aduh... so I kept her, and I kept getting very 'mang-chang' (irritated) with her almost everyday. If I spend more than 5 minutes in the kitchen, H and the boys would be very scared. They have this idea that I would be screaming at the maid. :-) Read here and here about how my maid made me mad before...

This maid.... or I should say ex-maid.. her mouth must open one. Don't open cannot.
Last Friday, I told her to cut the namecards that I printed. On my way out, she told me she can't do it sitting down. She has to stand up. Aduh! Do I need to know that? I give you a task to do. Regardless you stand, sit, squat or run. I don't care lah. Just do, right?

Alot of times, she is like blur. Cleaning and regular stuff...she is pretty good. Remember to change sheets, clean the boys shoes, take out the floor mats, sweeping, mopping. All okay. But if things that need a little bit more of instructions, she is kelam-kabut.

Few incidents:
- The other day, she asked if the boys want Milo. S2 said he wanted milk. Then she repeated "no milo? milk only?", proceeded into the kitchen and made Milo!
- Another time, she said "Use chicken? Not pork?" And then proceeded to cook the noodles with neither pork nor chicken.

Anyways, I'm glad that she did ALL the washing up after my BIG baking session yesterday. But she didn't clean the floor properly though, and I commented to H about it. And again he said "Just change lah. Everyday complain about the maid!". Since she left on her own accord. Good also lah. Save me the dilemma of deciding to keep her or not.

Actually, S1 just commented that he was telling his friend at school that he would be surprised if the maid lasted another week! So can you imagine how bad it was? hahahah

No. I'm not worried about not having a maid. Just a bit more elbow grease on my part and everybody elses in the house....which can be a positive thing if you look it in a different angle. Boys here are so spoilt. The maid packs their PE Kit, takes out their lunch boxes, pick-up their dirty laundry that they just throw all over rather than into the basket etc etc. So with NO maid, the boys will have to be a little more responsible. They really need to do some work...otherwise really really too spoilt and be too "useless". Don't you think?

I won't be looking for a maid until I come back from the summer holidays.... Can't exactly get a new maid now, and she works for a month and then have almost a month off right? Maybe get a part-timer to come twice a week to do the heavy mopping, sweep the garden. I think toilets I wanna wash myself. As for laundry, probably send to those laundry-by-the-kilo places...

Will see how everything works out. By the way, I did wish my ex-maid well and for her to find a more suitable employer. I do mean it.

Oh yeah.Gotten rid of my gardener about 3 weeks back. Just couldn't take his ABSENTISM anymore. So got a guy to come in twice a month now. He came yesterday, and he did do quite a good job.... maybe because I pay at the end of every job done.

I am Drunk!!

heheheh... No lah.

Not exactly drunk. But a wee bit tipsy maybe... Perhaps it is because I had my bubbly on an empty stomach. What did I have? I had two beers while manning my cupcake stall. Ahhh...yes. In case you didn't know. I had a cupcake stall at my boys' School Fair today. Check out my post on this here. And at 2 pm, I abandoned my stall (okay...this was only after selling about 90% of my little morsels of love) and proceeded to the champagne tent and had 3 glasses or Verve Cliquot! Empty stomach because it was such a hot day, and I just didn't have the appetite to eat anything...

Okay better go rest abit. Think champagne is still in my system!

"Mm-Tai-Tak"!

Who?

Who?

Aduh! My S2 lah...

How it started??

Well, H came back from KL last night...and this is what he had for me.

Yeah. The new DELL Studio XPS notebook. We have been contemplating whether to get a desktop or a minibook for the boys. They have been fighting over the old DELL notebook for awhile now. Then I thought "Aiya. If anyone should have a new computer, it should be me!"....and as H has a friend at DELL, we got this at a good price. Actually, all H did was inquire about the new models available. The next thing he knew was....that his friend already went ahead to buy it, and texted H that he owes him $$. Don't want also cannot lah.

So my dear friend, am blogging from my new laptop!!

Errr...but I still need to transfer my files from the Macbook over.

What's happening to the Macbook?

For H's home use and also the boys...so no more fighting!!!!!

And...when we went out for dinner tonight. I got this...

Been complaining to H about lugging the "Brick" (his old Nokia Communicator) that he had DUMPED on me about a month back. Can't even put this "Brick" into a nice little dinner bag. The phone also bigger than the bag!!! So my dear old hubs decided that he would sell off the "Brick" before it becomes obsolete that nobody wants it anymore. That's how I got a new phone tonight.

And then as were going towards the Restaurant Row for dinner. I overheard S2 complaining to his father "So this is mommy's happiest day lah. First a notebook, and then now a phone!". His face was si-peh-chauu okay!! Damn mm-tai-tak that his father bought me those things. And H was like "this is your mother you know? Why are you angry that I bought her stuff?".

We had to let him choose our dinner venue.

If I were to choose?

Wa-lau!! I think that sour face will be till donno when!!!

Really too much lah. This Boy!!!!

H said S2 is like very koo-thuk if he can think like that, and expect that I give-up the Business Class seat to him (remember MEL - SIN flight upgrade?)
How like that??

Up in the Sky?

This was taken at Outbondholic just after Easter....during the Easter Break. Nice pic, huh?
We went there again yesterday......

"Are you Crazy???"

That was the question asked....when my friend found out that I am having more boys over at my house for a sleepover, in addition to her two boys. Heeheee... Supposed to have a total of 8 boys (including my own two monsters) in my house tonight but one boy couldn't make it due to a viral infection. So, ...I have 7 active boisterous boys over at my house.

I tell you... boys are boys. I think if they have their way, they wouldn't shower. I had to shooooo all of them into the shower after their swim. At this point in time, I still have a half-naked 9-year old out there playing X-Box. He kept insisting that he has showered...but I think NOT!!!!

Let's see if I will really be CRAZY tomorrow!!! 

Oh Yeah. H comes back home from KUL tonight...so I would have 8 boys in the house! Hehehehe

Do Visit Our NEW Blog...

Yes. A NEW Blog by my sisters and I.

What are we blogging about?

Cakes and More!

Click on the logo to visit our BLOG now!

Like our logo?

It's designed by the Art Director of a London-based Advertising Firm!!!!!

An Interesting Ceremony...

As part of my Explorers Group, we managed to experience an actual Mitoni Ceremony.
What exactly is Mitoni?

"When a woman becomes pregnant for the first time, at the seventh month of her pregnancy, a ritual ceremony is performed. Mitoni comes from the word “pitu” which means seven. The seventh month ceremony is aimed to get God’s blessings for the safety of the parents and the baby. It is also hoped that the whole family will live safe and sound, and be happy ever after. The ceremony consists of the followings important steps :
* Holy bathing of the mother- to- be
* Dressing up of the mother- to- be
* The “angreman” – eggs-hatching ceremony.
Offerings are prepared in place. "

The above excerpt is taken from this site. It is in more detail there--->
http://www.jagadkejawen.com/en/ritual/mitoni

Some photos.. (Errr.. as I forgot my camera, the photos are kinda blurry)

The Offering

Check out the String of Jasmine hanging from the Umbrella

After the "Siraman" (Bathing)

Breaking of the Earthen Pot - to signify a smooth delivery

For more info about the RICH culture and spirituality of this island, go here---->http://www.jagadkejawen.com/

Harry Darsono Museum - Photos

Here are some of the photos from the Harry Darsono Museum. To read my visit to this museum, go here.

A Day Out at a Museum!

I think I've mentioned before that I'm not a museum girl. But today, I visited a museum with some expat ladies.  Not any old museums.... but the Harry Darsono Museum. Honestly, I didn't know who he was before. But all the ladies who has been to his museum raved about their visit.. as Harry himself would be the museum guide. And he is indeed a very flamboyant and interesting person. 

Well, who is he? ...I hear you ask.

He's Indonesia's first haute couturier who has designed for Princess Diana and other celebrities. His tales about his life and work is indeed very interesting. 

I really enjoyed my visit today....more so that I expected. I thought "People say must go. Go lor". All-black as requested as the dress-code...so that we could wear some of the haute couture.

Yes. Tried my first haute couture today. :-D ...err but not the gowns worn by the famous people lah.

Toured around the museum ...was shown gowns worn by Princess Diana, Princess Something from Belgium, Queen Sirikit, Queen Rania, Queen of Bahrain, costumes from plays such as Julius Caesar, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet etc etc. 

I think what he said was one day (think after a devastating fire which destroyed a substantial amount of his prized possessions), he just decided to appoint 13 agents to approach his clients to purchase back his designs.

Also visited the workshop where some of the work were being done. 

And we had tea accompanied by a soprano... with Harry at the piano. He is indeed a very talented guy. (Actually, he said there is no such thing as talent. Only determination and dedication) ...But I still have to say he is very talented. He plays the piano, the harp and the cello. He's also pursued a degree in psychology and has published a few books on this topic and other. Not only that, he has designed the interior of the BMW 7 series, grand pianos manufactured by Steinway & Sons, china, jewellery, clocks, performance stage and the list goes on. He draws. He paints. And would you be surprised to know that he was ADHD and couldn't speak till he was about 9 years old? He lived in Paris from this age...and ran away to the Himalayas when he was 14. He lives in London now... but has a penthouse here. 

Oh. Did I mention that he made us sing "I believe in Angels " (Abba song) along with the soprano. He said he really does...as the fire destroyed many things except some key items from his troubled childhood.

If interested, you can read an old article on the LA Times about Harry here. 

I took loads of pictures...but blogger doesn't want to upload them. So wait for next post. Ok?

Losing Weight...

I'm sure all of you have tried losing weight ....in one point or other in your life.

I for one is always going through some kind of a weight loss regime......especially after a holiday! Remember my recent to Hong Kong whereby I put on over 2 kilograms? Over the years, my weight loss regime ranged from appetite suppressants, exercising on the cross-trainer, to yoga, and even hot body wraps (Yes. I did this...in order to look slimmer for my wedding many moons ago :-P ). One thing that I've never tried are colon-cleansers such as Colonix and others. I don't know much about them. Are they any good? Or is it a safer bet to continue with my healthy gym-going and eating right?

Eating Out lately ...

Lately, we have been visiting restaurants recommended in the TIME OUT magazine. Boy! And these restaurants certainly do NOT disappoint! To date, we've gone to a chinese place that serves crispy roast pork, a ramen shop which has a devoted Japanese clientele, and a french bistro which dishes up escargots smothered in parsley butter, mussels in cream sauce, homemade pork sausage etc etc... Just writing about these yummilicious foods is making me really hungry!!! Worse is that I've been quite busy lately (or should I say lazy) to hit the gym. Guessed it's time to search for some reliable natural appetite suppressant or I won't fit into my clothes!!

Summer Holidays

I mentioned to my friends back in Malaysia that I will see them during the Summer holidays.

Their remark was "Isn't summer ALL year round in this part of the world?".

Well. It is true. But as my boys are in the British School, naturally their holidays will follow the British Calender. 

So we'll all be flying back home...but what I would really like is to have a driving holiday around continental USA. Told H that it would be great fun if we could go "Coast to Coast, LA to Chicago" (from Sade's song...ring any bells??) and do rv camping along the route. Not any rv, mind you! I'm thinking more along the lines like in the movie 'Meet the Parents'. Hahhaha Don't you think it would be a great adventure for us city folks???

Business Opportunities

Last year, my girlfriend and I had the good intentions of starting a home-based gift basket business. We thought that we could target the expat community and offer gift baskets that consisted of imported gourmet foods. We did our basic research... met with the wholesale sellers, bought some sample baskets and embellisments, talked to an advisor with regards of registering our business etc. But in the end, we didn't go through with it. 

Why?

We calculated that the profits would be rather poor due to the high import taxes. 

I'm sure there are other business opportunities around. But what?

Horse Riding in the City?

Okay. Not exactly right in the city center. But just on the outskirts of the city. I've met quite a few  avid horse-riding enthusiasts from the boys' school. One of S1's classmate actually has his own horse! The family spends their weekends riding every single week. Good family quality time. I know that they've got to rent the stables but I wonder if they have to purchase their own horse supplies to maintain their horse. Or would their riding club take care of everything? Maybe I'll ask the mom the next time I see her...

No Market...

What do I mean?

No market for my stuff at the Trash and Treasure Sale.

Why? 

Not that my stuff sucks so badly. 

It's because the buyers were mainly the school's staff and drivers. Not that many parents. I would say 90% of the buyers were the school's staff. 

They were only interested if the items were priced waaaaaaay down low. 

Also, quite alot of the items that I brought there for sale are items that they (the staff) would never ever need. Things like -

- English Language Books (I only sold 2 paperbacks and 1 recipe book)

- CDs (7 CDs at less than USD 1/- each!!!)

- H's Ties (only sold 1 tie to a little girl)

Other things we sold:

- 9 DVDs (bootleg ones at less than 20 cents each)

- A pair of M&Ms dispenser at USD 2/-

- 75% of my Old Monet/Anne Klein/Dorlan costume jewellery

- An Esprit Canvas Bag at less than USD 3/-

- 6 Thai Silk Bags

- 2 Cosmetic Bags

- 2 Men's Belts (less than USD 4/- for both!)

- Some of my old blouses. All at USD 1/- each (when I was plastic-wrapping my blouses/shirts, H saw one of my bright yellow blouse with BIG RED sequined flowers. And he was like "Aiyo. Tolong! That one can throw already. I'm sure no one wants to buy that". Guess what? This blouse was the first to go. Hahahahah...)

All and all. Sold about USD 105/- worth of stuff. Most of this $$ came from my old costume jewellery. So...still have alot of UNSOLD items. 

Did so much work (read here)... and end up having to put them all back to their original storage spaces when we got home!!

Next time. I should either just donate to the charity shops or just hold a Garage Sale when I am leaving the country for good... 

Little Princess On the Way...

Everywhere I looked, there seems to be someone pregnant.... Friends, strangers, relatives... and my own little sister. She's expecting baby No.2 and I hear it is a GIRL!!!! Absolutely everyone is over the moon, and can't wait for her to make her appearance in June. The FIRST little princess in our family... after FIVE BOYS!!! We can't wait to buy cute little PINK items for her! I'm sure the proud daddy is not going to scrimp on the birth announcements to welcome his Little Princess.

Difficult Task at Hand!

What is the difficult task?

Sorting out my stuff.... to decide what to sell on this Saturday's Trash and Treasure Sale at boys' school. It is really quite a daunting task. Not only the sorting, but also the difficulty in putting a price on my unwanted items. 

 In addition to sorting, so far I have done the following:

- transferred music from 75% of my CDs to my computer (to transfer to my iPod later; and sell the CDs)

- plastic-wrapped the Thai Silk handbags (x 5... a few totally unused!)

- plastic-wrapped H's unwanted ties (x 11...some still soooo new!)

- plastic-wrapped my shirts and blouses (waaaaa...some really so lou-tou!!!!!)

- price-tagged my books (some not read...which I don't think I will ever read. Why buy ah??)

- plastic-wrapped and price-tagged my house/kitchenware

- price-tagged DIY stuff (aiyo.....so many unused stuff waaaaaaay back from Bangkok)

- arranged my BBC Good Food magazines in a nice box (waaa...issues from 1990! Am I a hoarder or what?)

Things that I still need to do:

- print out some mini-posters  

- transfer the rest of the music to my computer

- sort out the VHS and LDs (Yes!! We still have these!)

- sort out cables (OMG! We have sooooooo much cables!!!! )

- sort out boys' unwanted toys

- price the rest of the items

So many things. So little time. So why am I still blogging?

Cause I am multi-tasking!

Am transferring music from CDs...as well as watching telly 'The Gems of Life'.  Lee Si Kei in this show is a real manipulative bit@h. Don't you think? 

H kept saying "I don't like her lah. I don't like her lah". Think it's because we just finished 'Moonlight Resonance' (the mooncake show) whereby she is sooooooo goody-goody. Very contrast!!!

Okay lah... later..

And They are OFF!!!!!

What?

What?

S1's braces!

They came off on Saturday, 2nd May 2009.....after only a year. But he still has to wear his silicone mouthpiece overnight for another six months. 

Now...he is very lengchai!

Hong Kong 2009 - Summary

Actually, I find my blog posts quite useful. Many a times, when I cannot remember certain events or dates, I just have to refresh my memory here... 

So... before I forget everything about our HK trip, I better post a summary here...

Wed, 8th April 

- Flight on Singapore Airlines to Hong Kong, via Changi

- Causeway Bay for Thong-Sui

Thurs, 9th April

- Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum

- The Peak Tram

- Peak LookOut for Ice-Creams

- H off to Macau with big boys

Friday, 10th April

- Watched InkHeart @ CyberPort

- Lunch @ Chung's Cuisine

- Wong Tai Sin Temple

- Star Ferries/ Drinks @ the Harbour

Saturday, 11th April

- Cheung Chau Island Visit

- Dinner @ Top Deck

Sunday, 12th April

- H leaves for home

- Dessert Buffet @ Aberdeen Marina Club

- Boys ran amok in the Adventure Zone and swam

- Dinner @ Flower Trump (C and I only. Boys ate at home)

Monday, 13 April

- Went to Horizon Center (alot of designer factory outlet stores... but didn't buy anything. Looked at furniture and houseware only. :-D ) 

- K took all the boys (yeah, 5 of them) to lunch, supermarket and AMC again!

- C and I went to Rice Paper, and then tea @ Landmark.

Tuesday, 14th April

- Saw a TVB actress at the kindy (tagged along to send J to kindy. And this actress was also dropping off her daughter. Don't know her name... but she acted in quite a lot of shows...)

- Balik rumah....

We didn't do much in Hong Kong....other than EAT lor.

BUT we really enjoyed ourselves.

All of us..... GREAT company. GREAT food. 

My boys actually learnt to ride the bike in HK. 

Every evening, they'll go over to the next block to play with the other kids...ride bikes, play tag, hide-n-seek etc. 

The highlight was a trip to the Supermarket with K. The boys saw a fish that was already skinned on half a side but still ALIVE. Gills were moving and then the fish actually flipped from the counter onto the floor. The boys were screaming like GILA. They took a video...but think accidentally erased the video clip when S1 and I switched phones. 

My boys also learnt to rap... Canto-rap??

Not really lah. Just following this Henry Chow rapping in HK-slang English. 

I took a recording...but can't upload to blogger. Very funny leh..

My kwei-loh S2 rapping "Henry. Lei hou leng-chai"... and then "Leng-lui. Tim ah?"...just like those kwei-loh speaking Cantonese. 

Will try to see what other formats I can change it to, so that I can upload it. 

Other Posts about our trip... 

The Culprit

Run Run Run

What did we do in HK?

Old Stuff...

The boys' school is organizing a 'garage sale' on the 9th of May for parents/staff to get rid of unwanted items. It's aptly named Trash or Treasure...as one man's trash can be another's treasure.

We've reserved a table to hawk-off our old stuff....Initially, the only thing that we could think of was H's Pool Table, which he bought about a year ago. Then I thought I could sell off my old costume jewellery, music CDs, old Thai silk handbags, H's ties, boys' Pokemon gamecards, old Kodak camera etc etc.

The thing is.... How much should I tag the items?

Need some help here. I don't want to price the items so high that I have to lug it back home. Neither do I want to put toooooo low a price.

How much should I sell each CD? 

USD 1? USD 1.50? Or just 50 cents?

How about old costume jewellery?

They are generally Anne Klein, Monet, Dorlan ....all good brands and still in very good condition. You think USD 5/- for a pair of Anne Klein earrings are too much?

What about those Thai Silk handbags?

USD 1/-?

Please give me some ideas.....

Thanks.