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

{Sponsored Post}
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.....

More Sketches for the Wall

As per my previous post, I mentioned that I wanted to do either 4 or 6 sketches for the bare terrace wall....Decided to just do 4 Sketches, as No.1 - A bit lazy liow, and No.2 - Don't think the wall is that big leh. After I put borders and frames over the sketches...it'll take up more space than as it looks now. Am thinking of white borders with either black or dark brown frames... Have attached the two new sketches. Nice or not?

Charles Dickens

S1 dressed up as Charles Dickens for school on Friday (27th April). He had completed a research project on a famous person, which was the famed author Charles Dickents. On this day, he had to walk around school pretending to be Charles Dickens..... Well, as I refused to buy a new suit just for this one-day thing, he had to wear one of his old suits that didn't fit too well. Also, with his oriental face, of course he doesn't look like Charles Dickens...more like some Ah Beng :-). He said alot of ppl asked him "who are you again??"

As you can see...Charles Dickens, S1 is NOT!!! KEKEKE...

FREE Dating Site...

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You guys must be wondering why would I be writing about a dating site! Nope. I am not dumping H...not yet anyway. Hahaha :-D

Anyway, I do have a very good girlfriend whom I've worked with eons ago. She's 38 and single. Being the busybody friend that I am, whenever I meet up with her, I would always query her to see if she's hooked up with anyone. Her answer was always the same - "don't have anyone". is she ugly? Is her personality bad? One would ask...but the answers to those questions are NO and NO. She's a cute petite lady. She's active (she had climbed Mt. Kinabalu and hiked in the Himalayas), funny, helpful. Why is she single? Well, tshe works 5 days a week till late and goes directly home after that. Weekends are spent with her sister and nephews. How on earth is she going to meet anyone? I am sure there are thousands of people out there in the same situation as my dear friend. The free dating services provided by JustSayHi.com could just be the answer to find the soul mate that's out there. Why wait? When this great site is 100% free??

Gila Daddy...

Boys as usual were up to no good at the dinner table last night. (BTW, made Carrot Soup, Chicken Cordon Bleu and Buttered Rice) .... Boys were walking about instead of sitting still to finish their dinner. Both H and I were already done... S2 was being his usual monkeying self that he had some food drop on the floor... So, H took out the cane from the kitchen and gave S2 a whack... so of course instantly sat properly to eat lah. .... While we were waiting for kids to finish, gila H suddenly said "You think anyone use the cane to whack themselves or not? You think pain or not?". I said "you try lah"... GILA H really went to do it... He whacked himself, stopped. Looked up to the ceiling "thinking", "feeling' and then said "yeah. Pain!". Of course the boys were laughing their socks off lah, as H was making a fool of himself. It's been a long time since H being silly... It was rather funny, I have to say. And then he did it again. Needless to say, the boys were laughing so much that it was a little bit difficult to eat properly.

Shiza! Am late again! - Updated

Starting to panic.... am three days late. And I am very punctual one!! Last month, when I was three days late, got excuse cause Feb only had 28 days.... This month... aiyo...abit takut as March was a month with 31 days! How? How? Am keeping my fingers crossed that it will come tomorrow!

Am such a lousy mother that I don't think that I should torture any more kids....

Update: Okay! It came today (Thursday)....have to say that I felt relieved. I mean a baby is cute and all, but realistically... don't think I can manage. Don't know if I sensitiveor what, but yesterday, H was like "heehee are you pregnant?" and this morning, he seems rather nonchalant when I told him my P came.... Maybe I read into things too much...

Scrapbooking Session..

Went to the ANZA (Australian New Zealand Association) for their weekly scrapbooking session to have a look-see and to be inspired! Have to say that I AM INSPIRED! But because am a BEGINNER, not gonna start using the boxed set that was given by my sis.. in case I destroy one sheet and then the whole set is incomplete. Will drop by in the Scrapbooking shop in town tomorrow to buy some individual sheet sets and start something simple. Was thinking of some of the pictures that I took of the boys in the first week of school. They were wearing their blue Batik Uniforms and playing in the garden.. SO, am gonna seek out some blue papers and blue embellishments!

Chandeliers for the Home

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Came across D'Legne Chandeliers while surfing the net this evening, checked out the site and found that they are offering hand polished crystal chandeliers for only USD 799.99. That's a steal! The chandeliers are European styled, and the reason why the price is so affordable is that they SELL direct to you. The middlemen is cut out of the equation! Their chandeliers are exquisite and looks really good hung either in the foyer or over the dining table etc... I would love to have one of these....

Think it's eczema...

As per my previous post on my cracked heel, I said that it was Athlete's foot..but have been doing abit of reading, and it's not. Athlete's foot concentrates around the toes. I don't think I've mentioned it but I've also had itches on my hands since about 4 weeks ago. Friends tell me that it's eczema.... and I've done some reading up too..and yeah..I think it's eczema.

Was gonna attempt a PPP post on the organic eczema cream but all the opportunities taken up already. Nevermind lah, still gonna write about "eczema".

The itchiness on my hands were really quite unbearable. Scratched until blisters form. I recall that I changed to using a new brand of soap 4 weeks ago... and that may be the cause of it. I've thrown the soap away, the itch has reduced but not disappeared.

As for my heel, I don't know the cause... I've tried all sorts of creams. Now, I'm trying to do a regime of exfoliate, cream and fresh aloe-vera. See it it works.

Maybe also getting old...starting to find that I am allergic to quite a number of stuff. Bought myself a tube of Japanese sweets on Sunday (gonna go watch TMNT with boys), after popping two in my mouth, felt that I was turning into Angelina Jolie leh....

And remember my hospitalization in Dec 2005? Allergic to fish?? or What? Dizziness, red as a lobster...including the eyeballs, shortness of breath.... cialatt!

Misc Foods

Sushi

Yesterday, I attempted to make sushi for the first time. Hee Hee ... The taste was alright, but as my H says "no presentation one"... S2 says "I prefer to eat in the restaurant"... My sushi roll sort of disintegrated into pieces and not hold its shape. My "Genki Sushi" style of salmon mayo also not like Genki Sushi's lah.. My california roll okay lah.. just roll into cone only ma.. Didn't take photo lah.. So malu :-)

Khaw Niew Mamuang

Or Mango Sticky Rice. Made that the other day. Have to say it was pretty good. Easy to make. The difficult part was to find SWEET mango. Not mango season now lah. Bought some from one supermarket. But the mangoes weren't even ripe, so had to go to another one to buy. Bought some "Bangkok Mangoes". Not that sweet either. My friend used to tell me that the good stuff, they keep IN Thailand and do not export! I think that's quite true. Always seem to get to eat SWEEEET mangoes all year round. Their pineapples are also mega sweet. I hate pomelos but Thai pomelos are yummy and I do eat them when I lived there...

Greek Food

Couldn't get these food photos in my earlier posts. So thought I'll include them here in my foodie post. ...The picture shows Greek Salad with big slab of Feta Cheese, Mussels Saganaki and Grilled Sardines...YUM YUM

New Baby..

There's a new baby in the family!! No lah! Not me lah. My sister has just given birth to her second baby yesterday. 3.5 kg BOY! Congratulations to you, SIS!!!

Yup! A second boy for her, a fifth grandSON for my parents! To date...5 grandSONS and ZERO granddaughters. When the first granddaughter comes, she will be a REAAAALLLL princess!! Will wait see which of my sisters gonna have the first granddaughter...definitely not from me ler... donwan liow.

Yup Yup...my generation, was girls girls girls.. this generation is boys boys boys wor...

Sketches for the Wall...

I bought these two lounge chairs from a Malaysian friend who has left for Doha, Qatar. Each one costs RM 200, which is quite a good deal lah. They are still in very good condition. Probably because she's not really sat on them, and basically just used them as a "clothes hanger". I've put them in the terrace. But as you can see the wall is very very bare.

At first, wanted to paint something..but decided to just do some black pen sketches, that I can have black borders, and a simple frame. Have picked "Angkor Wat Ruins" as the theme. Am thinking to do a series of either 4 or 6 sketches (depending on whether I am hardworking or not)...but so far have completed two. Nice or not?

Thai Ko Kar

Or Cracked Heel or Hiong Kong Kiok or Athlete's Foot or whatever names there are... I have this problem that doesn't seem to be going away. Started sometime last year... and now it's still not healed. It's only on my RIGHT heel though. The skin hardens and cracks reaaaaal badly. And my tangan also soooo itchy cannot stop peeling it. Peeeeeel until it bleeds. Peeling that time not pain wor....but sometimes at night, when the pieces of skin harden and brushes against my bed ar...so pain. Even wake me up from my slumber.

I wanted to post of a picture of my heel but thought better not lah, skali people lose their appetite for the rest of the month. It looks so bad that I don't dare to go have my pedicure leh. Even when I had my yoga the other day, was sure the instructor was looking at my Thai Ko Kar.
A friend said that it's bad circulation. But I have reflex and massages what. That should help right? But NOT wor. Another friend said that I'm deficient in some nutrient. But what nutrient? I've bought all sorts of cracked heel creams but maybe it's my itchy fingers that's the problem... I think I am also abit GILA liow. Psychologically thought that peeling off the hard skin will be good. Really realised that I have a problem when I used a blade to scrape and cut the skin off my heels. Of course cut my self lah! So many places some more. GILA or not???

Both H and boys are trying to help me NOT touch my heel by screaming and threatening... H the screaming...Boys the threatening.. Threaten me by saying "if you don't stop peeling, we are going to watch TV and play games the WHOLEEEE TIME!!"

I know I know..have to stop this nonsense with the peeling business.

Handicraft Fair

Err.. today not so good lah me. Went back to bed after sending boys off..cause so sleepy. Had a fight with H last night, so slept kinda late. Fight about what? Aiya...usual lah..."king-kai" that went haywire. Of course before we went to bed, want to "ngai" me back lah. But where can just switch off fire one??? I "mm choy hui" lah. So, in the morning of course still want to friend back lah.. I still "mm choy hui" and went back to bed. So, went he woke up for woke, I could feel that he gave me a peck on my cheek and mumbled something like "see you later". But of course I am ZZZZ-ing, I am not gonna wake up and "choi hui" what.

Anyway, woke up at 9.50 PM (errr..actually, my friend texted me) and then was out of the house by 10.15 AM. Got Handicraft Fair ma... wah... I salah besar, go and colour-coordinate my outfit wor, so wear my heeled wedges. Aiyo.. kaki so sakit. Really "oi leang mm moi meang" man. Some more the place was soooooooo BIG. There were loads of stuff...furniture, ornamental ceramics (statues, incense burners, basins etc), clothes, leather goods (shoes, bags, jackets, office table sets etc), baskets of all sorts, boxes of all sorts, artwork, assorted houseware, handicraft ...

What I bought?? Err...very pathetic. Only bought one very nice box (about RM 8) to dump the loose DVDs in our room; and an oil burner. That's it! Was looking at some Kebaya tops (about RM 120 for those nice embroidered ones. Malaysia how much ah? The lady said she used to supply to Endon's Batik project 3 years ago...) ...very nice, but thought that I will have no place to go in it, plus H probably will say "where got nice???" Also saw a nice tray that sits on foldable legs, but the one on display had goyang-goyang legs...otherwise would have bought at RM 48. Now come to think of it, should have bought a leather set for the office table. They have the mat, with the pencil holders and note holder etc.... And also maybe buy the soft leather magazine holder. I saw it in one of the Singapore Women's magazine... It's selling about RM 50. Think maybe I will go back again,...with more COMFY shoes! It's on till this Sunday (22nd April)...so maybe pop in to buy those things..

Honeymoon in LV - Updated

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The other day, S1 asked me..."Mom, do you know what LV stands for?" . Me - " Louis Vuitton?" Hee Hee :-) And of course he said "No! It's short for Las Vegas! Have you been to Las Vegas?"... Well, in fact, H and I had our honeymoon in Las Vegas....more than ten years ago! Have really good memories of our time in Las Vegas. It's a good place for a holiday. There's the theme parks, the famous captivating shows, the casinos, and it's a short hop to the Grand Canyon... cool, yeah? In fact, H was just commenting that now is the time to buy property in the States. Maybe I should get him to buy me a luxury holiday home in Las Vegas as our tenth wedding anniversary present??? Hey...we could rent it out during other times, and VOILA! It's an investment, and not wholly for my indulgence! Would be pretty cool...I should roll up my sleeves and research on Las Vegas real estate MLS listings now; and log onto www.millionsaver.com and *hint* *hint* *blink* *blink* to H.

Blogger Tag

Got tagged by Mommy of Two Angels.
Aiyo... I am terrible in the BlogSphere ...my answers are all crap and boring leh.

1) Who is the 1st blogger you meet?
Laundryamah lor. She was the one that urged me to start my blog so that friends and family can keep up with our nomadic life. And like Mommy of Two Angels indicated, known Laundryamah for the gazillion years......like 24 years?

2) Who is the ‘Most Wanted to Meet’ blogger for you?
Aiyo...don't know yet

3) Who is the ‘I could meet, want wanted to meet but somehow never got to meet’ blogger?
Again. Donno

4) Who are the group of bloggers you most wanted to meet?
I guess MOMMY group ler

5) Do you have bloggers/blog readers that you wish to meet right now?
MOMMY group lor

Need to tag other mommies? No need lah. Okay???

S1's Year 5 Residential Visit

S1 is going away on a 3 day/2 night trip next month (7 - 9 th May). It's going to be the first time that he will be away on an overnight trip without any family! I mean he has had sleepovers, but that's at a close friend's house and only for a night...but this is different. Think he is rather scared. He was like "err...can I not go?". But you know arr... I don't know who is more scared? Him or ME???? :-P

These angmoh schools basically want the kids to be independent... and they don't want parents to call them whatsoever (so mobile phones for the kids not allowed on the trip). If you don't allow your kid to go, the teacher will call and "mann-cheong mann-tuen" and then advise you to give consent. If you still have reservations, then they will get the Year Leader to talk to you. Wa... it's like a NO-NO if you don't give consent. (My Singaporean friend didn't give consent for daughter to go on her Residential, and she was like kena "samm-fann" like that. So when she finally gave her consent, she wanted to go along, and of course the answer was a BIG NO. She was like mega-kiasu that she wanted to go there herself to look-see but stay at arms-length kind. hehehe....).

He's gonna do historical tours like to the museum, to the docks etc. But don't pway-pway okay. The kids are staying in a 5-Star Hotel. Three to a room. So S1's already selected his two room mates. Both also angmoh-kia. But luckily these two boys' moms are quite stern and no-nonsense kind. So...quite good also lah.

(p/s S1 whispered into his father's ear over dinner..."I am going to learn about S-E-X next year. We have got to watch a show. My friend, T is very excited to see the show". HAHAHA...kids!)

Productive Monday!

Waa... have to say that yesterday (Monday) was very productive. After I sent the boys off on their school bus, I had my breakfast, did some weeding, updated my blog, and then I did go for my Astanga Yoga class. After the class, went to the nursery and bought 2 palms and some other ground plants. Went back, re-potted some of the plants and put some in the ground. Did more weeding, and then shifted my two lounge chairs to other end of the terrace. Showered, had some lunch, did about 6 Sudoku puzzles, had 20 minute power nap, then took boys to their mandarin class. Did some shopping, helped S2 with some reading, did more Sudoku. Good yeah??

Err...today ah.. after sending boys off at 6.45 AM, I sat on the terrace and did some black and white sketches of the Angkor Wat Ruins (from photographs lah...have not been there. Should! Any ladies interested to go?? Actually, should go to Borobudur first leh)..till about 11.30 AM. Dashed out to the Mexican Restaurant to have lunch with 3 friends...chatted till about 2.30 PM, then they came to my house for a coffee (or rather a tea) till about 4 PM.

Then H came back, and took the boys to the local SOS clinic...because got a note from the school nurse saying that S1's immunization is not up to date, and if I can't give written proof of the Tetanus and Polio Booster, he can't go to his residential visit (more about that later). But I remember in Malaysia, once the kids enter Primary School, we basically don't have to worry about immunization what. The Ministry of Health have school visits. RIGHT? Also I asked S1 and he said that he had jabs and some liquid drops when in Puay Chai. So had to go talk to the doctor lah. Anyway, doctor says no need then till he is 12. However, I remembered that S2 is due for all the booster jabs, and I would have to do it since we are no longer in the Sekolah Kebangsaan. But they gave him DTP, MMR and Polio. Say BCG no need wor. But I thought BCG must???? Wa.... S2 SCREEEEAAAMMM like siow man!!! Luckily H was there to HOLD him down. Really have to HOLD him down.. Don't think that I would have managed. Even the doctor turned away to laugh!!! Cause S2 was soooooooooo dramatic. You know him lah...

Remember my earring?? Aiyo, I dropped it again!!! I was like "OH SHIT!!" when I realised that it was gone, and in the clinic some more. Told H and I kena scolding as he said "You know that it is loose already. Some more you go and where it again. Shouldn't have worn it again!! blah blah blah". So, go look lor..in the consultation room. Cannot find. Was gonna give up. Then S1 heard that I've lost my earring again. So he went to look. He didn't find it, but seeing him looking at the floor prompt some nurses to look too. And luckily one of them found it. Si-peh lucky man. But cannot wear the earring liow..until I fix it. (P/s I gave my maid approx RM 40. She was surprised and I told her that it's for finding my earring. She was soooooo happy. )

Back on Schedule?

It's about 7.50 AM (local time) now.. So, I woke up at 6.00 AM this morning. Roused boys up from their slumber, sat with them through breakfast and sent them off onto their school bus. School bus was about 5 minutes early. Supposed to come at 6.51 but came at about 6.45 AM. As the Bus Mom (chaperone) was waiting for the boys, I apologised BUT she in turn apologised back saying that the bus was early.

Alot of people complained about the bus service, but again, I have to say that they are quite good. There was once that I was at school, and S1 decided to go home with me at 2.20 pm (he was scheduled to be on the 3.20 bus as he had basketball that day) as he was unwell. So I called up the School bus office to inform them that S1 will not be on the bus today. Immediately, the guy on the line said "What about S2? Will he be going back with you?". I was gobsmacked that they know S1 and S2 are siblings. I mean there are 600 kids that take the school bus everyday and yet they know the names of the kids. All of them??? GOSH! I will be in trouble if I work in there. I cannot even remember what I ate for dinner last night!

Anyway, after the boys left, I had my breakfast (coffee and toast) and then did some weeding in my garden. WOW!! I didn't go back to Bed! That's GOOD!! The gardener ... how should I say? Can't say he is horrible but yet... He comes 3 times a week for 3 hours each time, yet my garden is turning into a jungle. Is it that I need to supervise every single time? Be a hawk to "kapp" him when he works? There are weeds and such. I didn't finish weeding lah. Just did enough to leave a statement!

See if I am gonna keep my schedule and go for my Yoga class at 9.00 am!!

YAAYYYY!!! Earring is Found!

Actually, it's my maid, Y that found it. At least she didn't gasak it for herself. Reckoned it would have fetch the equivalent of a couple of her month's pay. So, she's quite honest, yah?

I was gonna write and complain about her "creativity" the other day. I've so far taught her three different ways to steam fish, i.e. the Teochew Style with the "hamm choy", the taucho style and the plain kicap style. But the other day, she somehow tried to be Kylie Kwong or whoever, and used ALL THREE styles on the same fish! Thankfully, it didn't taste yucky that we couldn't eat it. But did tell her to STICK to the way that I've taught her!

Anyway, this post is not about my maid grouses. It's to commend her on her positives.

No. 1 - She is still with me after 7 Months. In this country where maids come and go. This is a big Plus already.

No. 2 - She doesn't show me face when I scream at her, nor give me the dumb smile look like some of the previous maids that I've had.

No. 3 - She does have initiative to do things without being told.

No. 4 - She is quite "sik chou", in terms of sorting out boys and their school things

No. 5 - She is honest (so far...)

No. 6 - She is quite good in following instructions (although occasionally need some reminding)

Overall, have to say she is quite good. So, better just close ONE eye for other little things...which I do lah. I just tell her to do it lah.

BTW, I texted H about my FOUND earring, and he just called to say that I should reward the maid by giving her some money. I don't think I'll give her money lah...Maybe just buy her a gift as appreciation for her honesty. I know Laundryamah sure say "no need to treat maid so good!". Think she scolded me once when she found out that my Filipino maid (old maid back in Malaysia... ) has got a TV in her room :-)

Lazeeee Fortnight!

Wa...these two weeks have been ONE LAZEEE FORTNIGHT man... After my trip from Athens, I have been sleeping till 10 to 10.30 AM. I got a shock this morning, when I woke up and saw that it was already 10.30 AM...not long later, H called me and said that he's already arrived at the TeamBuilding site...which actually takes about 2 hours drive from here. Can you imagine? My H left early in the morning, and I still "mm chai". I seriously thought it was about 9 AM only leh.

Boys already have been having a BALL of a TIME lah. Wake up, watch TV, play their PS2 the whole day...until they become ZOMBIE... even if they weren't zombie-fied, their eyes must have popped out of their eyes.

Well.. Thank Goodness we will get back to some normal more decent schedule from tomorrow. YAY!!!! Boys go back to school!!!! So, starting tomorrow, I will have to get back to my normal routine of waking up at 6 AM. Tonight must sleep early liow.

As for boys, that also means going to bed at 8.30 PM, waking up at 6.10 AM. No more PS2 during weekdays. No more Gameboys during weekdays too. As for TV. Only about half an hour IF they behave well.

Am very sad :-(

Am very sad today :-( cause I lost one of my earrings. It's a ring-type earring with diamonds - one like those eternity rings. BOO HOO HOO. I don't know where I dropped it. I don't know if I dropped it yesterday, or this morning or just. All I know it's GONE!!! Searched high and low for it. Told the maid to look out for it...aiya..sure say cannot find one lah.

H has gone off for a 3 days/2 nights team-building thingy this morning. So texted him about it. He was like "aiya..no need to be sad lah". So, I said "now if your hands itchy and want to buy me stuff, you know what to buy lah". *sigh* Still sad lah. H bought me this pair of earrings when we were living in Singapore....like 7-8 years ago.

Guessed I'll just have to be a Pirate and wear one side lor...

Ang Moh Kids

S1 had his classmate (plus his two siblings) over for play yesterday (Thursday)... They played PS2, some board games, swam etc. They stayed over lunch, so I asked their mom what they preferred - noodles or fried rice. And she said noodles. So, come lunch time, I served them fried noodles. Only S1's classmate ate, and had a second helping. His older sis and younger brother "beh hiow ciak" and didn't eat wor. Anyway, after lunch, I asked "Are you guys allowed ice-cream" and the answer came back as an "Of course". So, I gave them ice-cream with all the toppings... chocolate sauce, whipped cream, sprinkles..the works. Then after they've cleaned up their ice-cream bowls...

T (S1's classmate) : BTW, you DON'T have to tell our moms that we had ice-cream.

Me: What do you mean? Of course I have to tell your mom that you had ice-cream.

T: No. You don't. You can just waaassh the evidence away!

Me: You are NOT allowed ice-cream?

S (T's Sis): Oh! We are allowed! Like once every few months.

L( T's bro): Yeah. Once a lifetime!

So...you see, have been duped ! Eat first then face consequences later! These 3 angmoh kids are quite well-behaved. Their mom are more strict with them than I am with my kids. Sometimes feel that I am such a lousy mom lah...

Greece...Part 3

Sunday, 1st April

This morning, we visited the National Archaelogical Museum. It houses artefacts from the Cycladic, Minoan, Mycenean, Classical, Roman Times... The museum's quite interesting. But the BEST part was finding out that entrance is FREE! And all entrance into archaelogical sites is FREE on the first Sunday of every month!!

We had brunch at the square fronting the museum. I had a Greek Omelet which was filled to the brim with more feta cheese. H had a wine platter which was filled with all sorts of cheeses and cold cuts. So much cheese until we had cheese coming out of our ears!

Since entrance is FREE today, we went up to the Acropolis again as H wanted to take some pix. Initially, he was like DONWAN to take pictures at all. Then donno what bit him, and he's got the itch to take photos with his camera phone. Says that he wants to write a "travelogue" and put it in the company website wor. Stupid idiot was like "go away go away, I don't want you in my picture!"

Anyway, here are some shots of the Parthenon and views taken from Acropolis of the Agora and the theatre.

Again, we had dinner at Plaka in a taveran (cannot remember the name). We had mussels in lemon sauce. After that, did some souvenir shopping..Bought some olive oil soap, fridge magnets, Olive Massage Oil with Ylang-Ylang, Body Butter, Olives and Greek Delight.

Monday, 2nd April

We walked to Omonia Square, had some croissants and coffee in the morning; then walked back to our hotel. Final check on everything, checked out and went to the airport. This time, we are smarter. Took the Metro which only costs 10 Euros for the both of us.

We only arrived in Singapore the next day. Stuffed our faces in the lounge and then did some shopping in the terminal. Bought some books and StriVectrin for my stretchmarks. Apparently it's very good. Donno yet..only been using about 5 days.. will see how it goes.

Greece...Part 2

Friday, 30th March
This morning, we set off to Ancient Olympia, where the first Olympic Games took place in 776 BC... Ruins included the Gymnasium, the Stadium, Temple of Zeus, Temple of Hera (where they still light the Olympic flame in this current day), The Metroon (where they worship Goddess Rea with ORGIES...kekeke)...

Then it's a long drive from the Peloponese Peninsula to Central Greece. Had to cross the Gulf from Rio to Antirion on the newly constructed bridge (have to say that it's very "kui" to cross this bridge). Think it might be longer than Penang Bridge leh...

We drove towards Delphi, passing through coastal towns. Had lunch (yummy Greek Salad, Mussels in Creamy Tomato Sauce and Grilled Sardines... yum yum) in a place called Taverna Porto in Galaxidi..very nice village.

Then it's a climb towards Mount Parnassos where Delphi is. Again, checked into a 3* hotel, Hotel Parnassos. Waliow eh!!! Unlucky or not??? Got a whole bunch of high school students also staying in the same hotel. Partying like SIOW like that. Doors banging, Loud Singing, Clapping till 3.30 AM!! Complained so many times also they never stop!!! Really zombie man! Lucky H didnt' scold me (as I was the one that booked the hotel.. he was like saying that even want to book better hotel also don't know which one, all also look alike in the village.. PHEW!)

Saturday, 31st March
Visited Ancient Delphi - the navel of the Earth (Zeus released two eagles from opposite ends of the world, and it was Delphi that the two eagles met)...

Then we drove back to Athens... was abit sien of all the ruins liow, so took the Motorway back instead of the scenic route. Reached Athens and took wrong exit out... so obviously got lost lah... Of course H "ngam-ngam cham-cham" lah... luckily by sheer luck, I managed to navigate him towards our hotel...this time, at Novotel Athens. Hotel is quite nice,....but location not very nice ler. Anyway, dropped our bags, rested abit then went to return the car.

Had coffee and yummy croissants at Syntagma Square... these were croissants filled with Greek Cream Cheese, drizzled with honey and walnuts. Yummy like anything. H had wine... After that, more wine drinking...this time in the roof-top bar of the Grande Bretagne Hotel - where Heads of States normally stay....(cannot afford to stay here but at least can afford a drink lah... )

After that, we walked to the old quarter of Plaka and guess what? EAT again lah. H had the Lamb Souvlaki again, but I had the grilled Sea bass. Very fresh and yummy. This time NO more greek salad. We were having so much greek salad that we had FETA cheese coming out of our ears.

(don't know what's wrong with the Picture Upload function...not working leh...so will edit later)