Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Healthier Body, Here I Come...

Since my last post, I'm happy to say that my plans in owning a healthier and fitter body is well on the way and is off to a good start. I've been exercising consistently and have been very careful in watching what I eat with the exception of a couple of nights. In my defense, I had to attend a birthday party and it was a shame to let the food go to waste since my friend had painstakingly catered for the event. And the other night? Hey...my mom got a huge promotion at work and someone from work rewarded her with huge Miri prawns. It was superb and I'm not regretting it one tiny bit. (Yeah..yeah...tell that to my cholesterol level...hardy har har).

Before I began, I had weighed and measured myself so I'd be able to see my progress. I'm determine to lose 1kg a week (I checked, and apparently losing more than 1kg a week is deemed unhealthy.)

After exercising vigourously for 30 minutes every single day, it suprises me that I do actually feel different. And although my arms, thighs and stomach muscles are aching like crazy (I'd rate the pain just a notch below labour pain) I actually feel 100 percent great! I feel so much more energetic. Before this, everytime I push the kids up the parking ramp at our place which is similar to a small hill, I'd be huffing and puffing like mad. Totally out of breath. The other day, both hubby and I was pushing the kids up the ramp while I was yakking away, by the time we reached the top I realized hubby was panting and completely out of breath (and looking a little faint I might add..haha!)and I didn't feel a thing. Whoa...I've more stamina. How cool is that?

So exactly a week after starting my new regime towards becoming a lean, mean fat burning machine, I had weighed and measured myself to see if there were any progress. Yahoo! I had lost 2 kg (a kg more than what is categorized as safe...but right now I don't care coz I'm absolutely elated over the weight loss), and a total of 22cm in my arms, thighs, hips and stomach region. Woohoo! Who's the man? I'm the man!!! It's nice to know that that all that hardwork did pay off. And when there's immediate result...hardwork doesn't seem so hard after all.

So this week, I've decided to take things a little slow cause like I mentioned, my goal is a kilo a week. Anyway, I think breastfeeding helps as well because without the overload of 'fuel' that I usually put into me, my body is working overtime burning the fat within my body. It's almost like I've a treadmill strap onto me or something. LOL!

I'm being very realistic about this whole process and am determine to reach my desired weight by March. After that, I'll continue exercising in order to maintain that weight. Call it my New Year resolution.

I can't wait till I'll be able to fit into a size 8...err, who am I kidding, I'm a tall girl so size 10 will do. Whatever it is, I'll just make sure I never become like those 6' size 0 giantess strutting all the major runways. What the heck is size 0 anyway? To me, size 0 simply means you don't exist. You're nothing but thin air. So I'll just settle for size 10 (or maybe 8...I wish!)

Healthier body, here I come! :)

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Confessions of a Reformed Dieter


I'm totally inspired. I've just finished reading AJ Rochester's Confession of a Reformed Dieter and am inspired to better myself, lose weight and lead a more healthy and active life.

It's a true account on how she (AJ Rochester) had managed to lose 50kg from 109kg (it's like shedding Calista Flockhart from her body! LOL) and dropped 8 dress size by changing her style of living and make healthy choices. It's an honest revelation and charts her high and lows during her incredible journey.

I truly identified with her (except I don't weight 109kg and if I did would have commited suicide long ago. Heck, during my pregnancy, when my weight hit 75, I was already contemplating suicide. LOL. ) Now I know that I've made unhealthy choices in my life and the effects of my action would influence how my children lead their life later on.

It's really inspirational and I'd recommend all to read it. AJ Rochester has manage to keep her wits and humour while battling with her weight problem. Reading her book itself is a life changing experience. I'm starting on her other book "The Lazy Girl's Guide To Losing Weight and Keep Fit." And the best part? Immediately after I finish reading, I did squats and sit ups while watching TV. Yup, I exercised!

I'm determine to make better choices in my life towards a more healthier life. I'm going to shed off those pounds by doing it the healthy way and keep it off for good. And I'm starting immediately.

Wait, I ade pasta today. Ooops...err, I change my mind. I'll just start tomorrow...err day after tomorrow. I have a feeling tommorrow is going to be another left-over meal day. Did I mention it's a huge pot? Hehehe. I promise I'll start day after tomorrow.

Monday, December 04, 2006

Ah-Choo! Sniff! Sniff! Cough! Cough!

During my absence from the Internet, the whole family fell ill. It started with the kids. Initially Sarah had the cough and Mika had the flu. Then I caught it and lucky me had both cough, flu and fever. I was in bed for like 3 days. I couldn't get up. It was pure torchure to bath the kids and prepare their meals while my whole body is aching and screaming, my throat feels like it's on fire and a stream of mucus continuously flows out of my nostrils. I had no choice but to turn to the ever dependable Pizza Hut. The delivery man and me are quite the chum now.

So for 3 days, the kids had nothing but Pizza Hut. Pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Even baby Mika although I don't see him complaining. In the duration of me falling sick, I think I've ordered everything within their Supreme range. I wanted to try that 4 flavour thingy but on the other hand...peanut sauce on a pizza? I'm not that sick.

Hubby had a lucky break because he wasn't around to take over my duties. So sickly moi, single handedly had to take care of 2 kids and nurse myself back to health. Due to breastfeeding, the doctor didn't prescribe antibiotics so my road to recovery was much slower than I would like. The doctor asked if I wanted an MC. I said yeah and could you write it out to my kids and my husband? And they dare say it's easy being a stay at home mom. Try being a stay at home mom with no maid, no husband and parents whom are still working and can't help out. After that ordeal, I'd better inform hubby that I'm seriously underpaid.

As I was recovering, hubby came home and then he fell sick. Although not fully recovered but considering that I was still in better shape than he was, my sense of duty and loyalty had me waiting on him hand and foot in nursing him back to health. (Why is it men can be such babies when their ill?) I even made myself wake myself in the middle f the night to make sure he takes his medicine and check his temperature. At one point I almost strangled him because he was actually fighting me off, refusing to take the pills and wanted to just continue sleeping. Hello??? You're 36 for crying out loud!

After 3 days, hubby was better and the next day he was off to work for 2 weeks. The morning that he went off, I woke up to discover 2 feverish kids in my hands. There goes my sleep. It's no joke running about sponging the kids down, medicating them, constantly checking their temperature, comforting and soothing them, cooking and cleaning and not to forget reconfiguring my computer and trying to crack my old password. It's a wonder how I still manage to remain sane. I think.

Now 10 days later, the kids are looking better, hubby's still not back and I've got a new problem in my hand. Baby hasn't been sleeping well for the past 2 nights. He keeps waking up screaming (in oppose to whimpering throughout the night when he had the fever) and thrashing about. He seems to be in a constant bad mood and lo and behold, I've discover another tooth coming out. No wonder he's been throwing such a tantrum and has been fighting off food. Now I must cope with a teething child.

Right now I look like a raccoon, have 2 enormous Louis Vuitton under my eyes and am about to declare myself bankrupt judging by the amount of sleep debt that I owe.

Sigh...another 4 more days to go till hubby returns and I get to dump the kids on him. Gosh, isn't motherhood a ball?

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Kaput!

Eureka! I did it! I’m finally in…hehehe.

I’ve been missing from the blogging world for quite some time now. No, I was not abducted by aliens. I suffered a fate which was worse than that. Dearest hubby meddled with my notebook causing it to crash….aargh! Hell hath no fury like a woman without her computer!

Hubby rarely uses the computer. When he does, his activities are usually limited to playing FreeCell, downloading music (thanks to me for downloading the software), checking emails (which are mostly forwarded by moi) and checking his flight schedules online. This wonderful man I married is totally clueless when it comes to computers. Heaven knows why he owns an O2 PDA. Once, the computer went on hibernate mode whilst he was on the net and hubby panicked yelling “The computer crashed! The computer crashed!” Duuh…

Anyway, to make a long story short, don’t know what he did but my notebook went kaput. I lost everything. Stupid me for not having a back up. To think that every single photograph that I’ve downloaded gone just like that. I was doing a month to month picture project of lil’ baby to see how much he’s changed and grown and that too are all gone. So much for that project.

We had to send the computer to the experts and have everything reconfigured again. In doing so, I had to start again from scratch. I couldn’t automatically log into Blogger to add new entries because I had forgotten my username and password. To make matter worst, for the life of me, I couldn’t even recall the password to my old email to retrieve my username and password. Gosh it was hard. Day in, day out, it was like trying to crack some sort of government secret code or something. But as you can see from may latest entry, I succeeded. I’m ecstatic over this little achievement of mine. Perhaps this is how man felt when he discovered fire. LOL.

Hubby figured why risk my wrath again and is now a proud owner of a brand new Fujitsu notebook. That’ll be the last of him interfering with my stuff. I’m also happy to report that he has graduated from playing Freecell and is now using his computer solely for the purpose of playing some other sort of PC game called Pharaoh or something. Thank goodness.

I’ll try to be back ASAP to post other new entries. But baby has this 6th sense about waking up every time I log into Blogger. So right now, before little boy’s screaming gets any louder, I should check on the little master of my universe. Cheerio!

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Handicap Parking


Hubby and I went to Tesco today to do a little grocery shopping. I guess everyone had decided to do some last minute shopping as well so as it could be expected, parking was scarce. Seems like the only parking available were the handicap bays which obviously are reserved for the handicaps. We had to circle the whole parking lot a few times before finally getting a parking spot.

I don't know if anybody had encountered this, but there has been several times that I've seen some numbskull who totally disregard the handicap zone and selfishly park their vehicle at those parking bays which has been specifically reserved for the handicap. Each time I've just had to suck it in and resist the temptation to do their car some bodily harm.

Well today, as both hubby and I were pushing the kids in their strollers, we passed the handicap bays and there was a smart looking brand new Honda Civic reverse parking into one of the space. Hubby was already grumpy because of the hassle of looking for a parking spot earlier so when he saw the car parking he started staring daggers at the driver and loudly bitching to me about the selfish and I quote, b@st@rd. I told hubby to calm down and lets give the driver the benefit of the doubt citing that he is perhaps a handicap. Hubby said it was unlikely judging by the car.

The driver took some time to park and all the while hubby continued bad mouthing the driver. The driver looked up and gave hubby a huge grin. Hubby exclaimed loudly, "Look at his guilty smile!" I was in no mood to pass judgement and just rolled my eyes at hubby in response while trying to hurry him along.

Suddenly, the driver swung his door opened and called out at hubby. "Encik, hello encik! Excuse me!" Hubby gave him a dirty look and walked past trying to ignore him but I pulled hubby back to a halt. Then the man continued, " Encik, tolong ambil wheel chair saya. Saya orang cacat" and swung his body around to reveal that he had no legs.

Hubby just stood there with his jaws hanging (one would think he'd never seen a handicap man in his life LOL) that I had to nudge him with my elbows and whispered loudly telling him to help the man.

I guess hubby felt really guilty that he practically bundled up and carried the man out of the car much to the man's protest. I couldn't help but to stifle a giggle at hubby's antics. Hubby was suddenly very concern and attentive that even after the man had settled himself into the wheel chair, hubby kept asking him if he'd positioned and secured the man's chair properly and if he could do more to help. At the rate hubby was going, it looked like he wanted to adopt the guy. LOL. The man in return assured hubby that everything was fine and gratefully thanked hubby.

Hubby was quiet after that and seemed to be reflecting the whole incident. I just couldn't resist and just had to rub it by saying to hubby " You know, there's a saying...never judge a car by it's look." Hehehe

The lesson learned today, have good, kind thoughts and it doesn't hurt to give others the benefit of the doubt. :)

WISHING HAPPY DEEPAVALI, SELAMAT HARI RAYA, MAAF ZAHIR BATIN & HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE OUT THERE. Hope the long break will be good one for all of you. Cheers!

Monday, October 09, 2006

My Latest Happenings

My life seems so hectic these days. I'm just so tied up with caring for my family and the mundane task of running the household that I find myself with no time to spare for leisure. I miss blogging and blog hopping. Even checking emails are something I can't afford to do. Last I checked, I've over 600 unread emails. And they dare say that house wives have it easy. I'm stealing some of my sleep time right now to write this entry. My biological clock has gone totally haywire.

Anyway, just like to report about some latest happenings in my life. We've just purchased a house. Although I was eyeing a semi-d or a corner terrace house, hubby has decided that we should just settle for this particular house that we've purchased. It's a 26 x 80 end lot terrace house with 9ft of extra land. It's being developed by a reputable developer and although the location isn't exactly what I had in mind, it's closer to the airport but still 20 minutes away from town. Well, it's better than some unknown part of the world like Nilai or Bagan Lalang. It's a really nice residential area bordering USJ and Puchong. And the layout design is just superb. As the brochure says, it's a house for life. Hubby's very excited with his purchase and although I'm quite happy about the house, it saddens me a little to see our savings dwindling down to almost nothing because of this purchase. Oh well, I guess it was bound to happen same day...now back at square one in the savings department again. So, I'm happy to say that I'm definitely on my way of becoming a typical suburban house wife. Wonder if I'd be able to get a gorgeous gardener to do my lawn. Lol.

There has also been positive development in the weight department. I've successfully managed to squeeze into my favourite Dorothy Perkin's jeans. It's still a little tight but at least I could buckle and zip it up nicely. I even wore it out the whole day today without collapsing from shortness of breath. Yay. Tried it on a few month ago and it was a losing battle for me in trying to get it past my thighs. Lol. Still feeling a little apprehensive about trying my low cut MNG jeans due to my love handles. I'd probably give it a couple more month before I attempt getting into that one. I'm taking little baby steps in my weight loss program. Lol.

I've been considering about going back to school. Although my background is MassComm, I'm thinking about venturing into a whole new area. After having the children, I no longer feel inclined towards PR. My priorities have changed and am looking into taking up a Diploma in Early Childhood Education. I've always wanted to go into teaching but somehow, things just didn't turn out that way. I'm seriously considering to do it after Mika turns one. Hubby is being very supportive about this recent development and I'm quite excited by the whole idea. Although I've sort of made my mind about where to do it, I'm still keeping my option open and looking around about other part time courses offered by various local universities and private colleges. God knows where I'll be able to fit it in between my already hectic schedule, but where's there's a will, there's a way. :)

Beside the lack of breathing space and always falling asleep even before my head hits the pillow, everything else is going on smoothly. I can't wait till everything goes back to normal but after 2 kids, I've discovered I haven't a clue to what normal means. Lol.

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Mika's Seperation Anxiety Phase.

Mika has turned 7 month. He is currently going thru a seperation anxiety stage. I can't leave a room without him screaming his lungs out. I truly had forgotten about this phase in raising a baby.

I'm currently blogging at an ungodly hour. Just had my sahur and since he's fast asleep, tooked advantage of the time to blog. Gosh its been so long. Quite difficult for me these days to find some personal time for myself.

Mika can't stand being left alone. Even with his sister as company, he still can't feel secure without the company of an adult. I don't blame him. His big sister is in this stage where her idea of accompanying her little brother is to do some rough housing with him. Countless of time, in horror, I have found her trying to headlock her baby brother. I swear the whole building is immune to my constant yelling these days. Lol. A sinple big hug can turn into a one party wrestling match to her. Wonder where she learnt that.

These days, I can't even take a leak without having him as an audience. I'll place him in his bumbo chair and park him right in front of the bathroom door while I bath. It's kinda funny to see his mouth hanging watching me loofa myself. LOL. I don't know what the psychological impact will be on him later on but for now, as long as he is quiet, I'm happy even if it has to come down to becoming some sort of exhibitionist.

Mika is still unable to sit on his own or even crawl for that matter. At the same age, Sarah was already crawling about terrorizing the household. Well, one milestone is, he could open and shut his palm when I sing 'Twinkle, twinkle Little Star.' Simply adorable.

Being in front of the PC when he is awake is no easy task either. He insists on standing (while I support him that is...ooh my aching arms)in front of the PC and bang away at the keyboard to his heart's content. Otherwise, he'll start 'singing' again. Sigh.

Cooking for the breaking of fast isn't easy as well. If hubby's around and NOT asleep, I could at least depend on him to take care of my little boy. But when hubby's not availanle, its no easy task to stimutaneously cook, pick him up for a little while, place him back in his high chair, continue stirring and repeat the whole performance again and again and again. I guess it's sort of a good multi tasking practice for me. Lol. Hubby's off again so it's been 2 days that I have had to break fast feasting on rice and omelette. Less hassle. Well, on the bright sight, I have started feeling my clothes are much looser so I guess it's not such a loss afterall. You win some, you lose some.Lol.

Seriously can't wait for Mika to get over this phase of his and start crawling to relieve me of my aching arms. Right now, I'm off to catch up on the zzzzs. Judging by my current sleep debt, I'm practically going brankrupt! Lol :D

Monday, September 11, 2006

Pixart Pocket Photobook







It has arrived! My very first pixart pocket photobooks has arrived!

Recently, I'm into this website called Pixart. It lets you transform your photos into a professionally made photobook. You could either choose to make it into a coffee table book or a pocket photobook. Since it's my first time, I tried the cheaper pocket photobook but looking at the results, I'm eager to try out the coffee table book as well.

First you'll need to download the free software and when you're done creating your photobook, you can immediately purchase it! The end result, a beautifully binded and professional looking photobook! A truly wonderful keepsake.

It's a great discovery. Lately, I've found myself with having too many photos in my notebook. I thought about getting it printed but there's just too many of them. Then I was over at MMB and Pixart came to my attention. After considering the price of the photos if I were to have it printed, I thought that the price would be more or less the same but with Pixart photobook I wouldn't have any loose photographs strewn about (thanks to Sarah who is now at that nosy stage and taking out photographs from photo albums is one of her favourite games.)Thanks 5xMom for the recommendation.

I could just go on and on about how great my pocket photobooks are but I'll just let the above pictures do all the talking. I can't wait to surprise hubby with his sport fishing photobook, (call it a belated anniversary present if you may)when he gets back from Jeddah tomorrow. In my opinion, truly a gift from the heart. Now he can bring the book during flights (instead of hogging the camera all the time for the sole purpose those ancient fishing pics of his which are stored in the camera's memory card and under strict order from him to not be deleted) and impress all those sweet, sexy stewardesses with pictures of his fishing prowess.*groan* LOL. In the mean time, I'm off on another Pixart project. :)

Friday, September 08, 2006

Fatsville


I feel like jumping over the balcony. Not only haven't I successfully lost those extra kgs I've gained due to my pregnancy...I swear I've gained a few more kgs to add to the to the current bulk of blubber within my body. Aaaargh!

It's sad really. I had only manage to lose weight during my first pregnancy after my daughter turned 2. And just when I almost got back to my anak dara weight (3kg away to be exact), I found myself pregnant the second time around. I blame hubby for that. Lol.

And now here I am...back at square one. Although breastfeeding has left me hungry almost around the clock, I doubt I've been consuming more food than I usually do. My lil' sis was telling me the other day that lack of sleep could also make you pile on the weight so perhaps that's it. Ever since the birth of my boy, I've been surviving on 4-5 hours asleep a day. I'm tempted to ask God to add another four more hours to a day so I'd be able to get sufficient sleep. As if that could ever happen. Lol.

Anyway, I feel a little upset when I come across my jeans which I was able to wear for like 2 whole month before I found myself pregnant again. I wonder when will I ever be able to fit into it again. I've always prided myself on having nice long legs and in those jeans, I feel like a supermodel. But since my butt is currently the size of the galaxy, I guess I won't be having any supermodel moments for the time being. *Sigh*

The thing with my body is, omiting food won't even put a dent to my weight loss, my body needs exercise to lose those extra weight, a luxury I can ill afford due to the time constrain hence I decided to do my morning walk. But how in the world anyone could power walk while pushing a stroller while not scaring the daylights out of a poor little baby in the same time is besides me. Maybe I should just opt to climb the stairs instead of using the lifts. But with an 8.5kg baby in my arms and 7 stories worth of stairs??? Too risky.

I guess just like the first time around, I have to wait out the first year before starting to lose weight again. And when I finally manage to get rid of all the extra wieght only to find myself pregnant the third time around, someone, anyone,remind me to just shoot myself. Lol. That reminds me...I seriously need to get an IUD. ;)

Thursday, September 07, 2006

A Divorce Among Friends

Just got the news that one of my very good friend is going through a divorce. Among the 9 of us, we've always thought that she is the least likely to have to go thru such ordeal. It'd be safer to say that I held better chances of being divorced than her considering my not so docile nature. Lol.

I've always thought that her marriage was one perfect union. Good looking husband, equally good looking wife, absolutely gorgeous child. My little group of friends and I go way back, since secondary school. In fact some of us goes as far as primary school. We know each other so well like we know the back of our hands.

My friend here has always been known as the one who is sweet in nature. She's brilliant, giving and genuinely caring to those she holds near and dear to her. She's very loving and affectionate and as far as I can recall, I can't remember ever knowing her upsetting anyone. She's always been the most loyal, the most sweetest, the most smartest and the most kindest among all of us. It's shocking to hear such terribly news befalling her.

Her husband is the one who called in quits. Apparently he has found someone better for him. (If that's ever possible?) Ok, he's a rat assed cheating bastard. But what really is appalling here is the fate of his poor beautiful child. According to my friend, her child is quite close to her daddy, but when the father just decides to desert his family, the little child is sent reeling from the shock. She sobs herself to sleep everynight and even had gone to the extend of calling and appologizing profusely for being naughty and begs for daddy to come home. My friend has tried explaining to the child countless of times that it isn't her fault and no matter what they both still love her very much but I guess for a very young child, all this happenings is just too much for her young mind to comprehend. I can't believe how heartless her father could be.

And to add injury to insult, the father had initially insinuated that the breakdown was my dear friend's fault when she had been nothing but supportive, loving and loyal to her husband always. The truth finally came out that the cheating rat had another love.

My friend has a good job and the much, much bigger pay and has been footing all the major househhold expenses all this while. I guess with men, all that extra money and the absence of responsibilty (I have feeling he doesn't contribute much financially) has got him into mischief.

I can't believe all that gentlemanly qualities I see in her husband was just a facade. Her husband deserves to be shot dead especially considering what he is doing to his very young child. I can't believe that behind that handsome face lies a truly selfish, deceitful, cowardly and heartless individual.

I know my friend is heartbroken. I know that she is in turmoil. But I admire her strength and courage. She has tried her best to save the marriage but it takes two to make it work. She is resigned to her fate and refused to be victimized by the whole situation. She's being brave for the sake of her beautiful child.

To that cheating bastard, may you rot in hell for all the pain that you've caused thus never finding/obtaining total satisfaction in your life. Hope you live a wretched life.

N, my heart goes out to you. You are in my prayers

Friday, September 01, 2006

My daughter, the pre-schooler.


It's been a long rest, but a good one. Many things had happened but I've just never had the time to blog about it. Anyway, I miss, miss, miss blogging!

So since I've so much to write about, some happy and some sad, I've decided to write down one thing at a time. Anyway, since I feel quite cheerful right now, I'll start with a happy one.

I'm happy to report that Sarah has started going to school. And I'm even happier to find that she absolutely loves school. She's made so many new friends and her room teacher tells e that she is especially keen on paper & pencilwork.

Since attending school, Sarah has displayed some changes in her behavior. She takes instructions better and her appetite has improved. She is becoming more and more proficient with speaking and her language knowledge has grown. Sarah is more sociable and less shy these days. I'm happy with the changes.

Our lifestyle (mostly my lifestyle lol)is also much better than it previously was. Sarah's very discipline about going to bed early now and puts up less fight about going to bed. Unlike my 3am bedtime, now I find myself falling asleep even before my head hits the pillow by midnight. A good thing too since I need to wake up early to prepare breakfast and get the kids ready.

After sending Sarah to school at 8.15am, I'll go for a morning walk with Mika for the next half an hour. I consider that my exercise. I just love walking Sarah to school. Brings back sweet memories of my childhood days when I was about Sarah's age walking to school with my mom.

Sarah's got more friends now and I make it a point to take her to the playground almost everyday so she could play with them in the evenings. These days she watches less TV and the fresh air has done her good. Even I have acquired a few more friends having the opportunity to befriend the various maids and a handful (more like a couple to be exact LOL) of mothers at the playground.

I'm so looking forward to Sarah's concert this coming November. They've started practicing already and all of them look absolutely adorable doing their routines. I truly am enjoying this part of motherhood. :)

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Hiatus

I've decided to go on hiatus from my blog for awhile so I can catch up with a lot of things that I've been missing out.

Somehow or rather I've been feeling overwhelmed lately and haven't been able to find the time to do things I enjoy when I'm on the net like blog hopping, reading up about anything & everything and YM-ing with my buddies.

I really missed curling up in bed while reading a good book or just enjoying a good DVD. And it's been awhile since I last dine in a nice restaurant and wonder aimlessly in a park or a shopping mall.

These days I just feel rushed when I'm on the net and moderating the forum is starting to take its toll and become burdensome. It's so burdensome that lately I've been suffering from a huge writer's block and this effects my will to write. I don't get that kick I usually get from writing.

So I've decided that I'll be taking a month long hiatus from blogging to sort myself out while catching up from the things I've been missing. It'll be good to break away for awhile while recollecting all my thoughts and ideas.

However, this isn't the last of me. But for the time being...au revoir.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Siti to Wed Datuk K.


By now everyone has surely heard that Malaysia's sweetheart Siti Nurhaliza will wed prominent businessman Datuk Khalid Mohammad Jiwa. Her story even made it to the front page beating the news on the recent Tsunami in Java. Yup, here, Siti is bigger than a dreaded tidal wave.

As a moderator of a particular forum, I have a responsibility to remain impartial despite whatever personal views I may have. It frustrates me to see all the bashing done by forumers towards Siti upon the news of her nuptuals. Honestly, I'm not a fan and I don't even own a single album or song for that matter. But it saddens me that there are bitter, spiteful people out there. And to make things worst, these people are feeling bitter, spiteful and resentful to a woman they don't even personally know.

Rumors has it that Siti is the person responsible for the divorce of Datuk K & his ex-wife. They have branded Siti as 'husband snatcher', 'gold digger' and other deragotary terms. Ok, the thing is Siti may or may not have caused the breakup but I am a firm believer of the saying 'a good woman is meant for a good man and a bad woman is meant for a bad man'. So if perhaps Siti did steal this man from his wife, and this man is horrible enough to dump his wife for a and I quote IMMomsDaughter 'an SYT', well all I've got to say on behalf of the jilted wife is good riddance. You deserve better than the likes of that lecherous man you called husband.

But Siti could be innocent. She could be just a naive girl who fell in love with an older man. Just give her the benefit of the doubt. Doesn't it matter that one way or another she deserves to be happy. I believe everyone deserves to be happy regardless. And to me Siti was lucky enough to find the love of her life even if he is a middle age divorcee with 4 kids in tow.

I hate the spite and the resentment that is going on. Why can't people just resign to fate and offer their best wishes instead? It's truly frustrating to just keep mum when people are being malicious to another person.

Ok, what about the jilted wife one may ask? Well, what about her? She's affluent, she's got really good connection, she's got the looks and yes she may not have the love of her life but if that love of her love did stray and cheat on her...I feel she is better off without him anyway. A man who betrays the trust of a love one in my opinion is a person we are better off without.

So lets not fight among ourselves and stoop down to name calling and character bashing. Lets think the best out of the person instead of focusing on all the negativity.

Unless it's the moron who ruined my hair that is. ;) LOL.

Friday, July 14, 2006

The Best Moment of My Life

As I was breastfeeding my boy on the bed while keeping an eye on my daughter splashing about in the bathroom, I glanced at a portrait of hubby & me on our wedding day hanging on the wall and I thought to myself that was the best moment in my life.

Then I asked myself was that really the best moment in my life?

My mind drifted to back when I was a little girl, at the time we were in Minneapolis and I was straddling those McDonalds' character rides with my brother and other friends and back then I thought that was the best moment in my life.

Then I remembered this one time when I was younger, just watching my parents getting ready for their big night out to celebrate their wedding anniversary, just the two of them. My father was never more handsome and my mom was absolutely gorgeous. They looked so happy and so much in love, and even then I thought that was the best moment in my life.

I went on to recall the time I was 14 and had lost a whopping 14kg. My father was so excited for me and took me shopping. He was the one going crazy in the store telling me to try this dress and that. I was so happy to see him so proud of me, and I thought that was the best moment in my life.

Then memories of watching my mom smile and joke with me for the first time after almost a year of watching her grieve over the death of my father and I thought that was the best moment of my life.

I remember feeling proud that I got exceptionally good result for SPM despite my partying ways and I thought that was the best moment in my life.

I remember falling in love for the first time and at that time could see me spending the rest of my life with him and I thought that was the best moment in my life.

The image of me donning my stewardess uniform and accepting my cabin crew certificate upon course completion came into my mind and I thought that was the best moment of my life.

I recalled the moment I realized that I was in love with this man who was destined to be my husband and I thought that was the best moment in my life.

Then I saw myself cycling in beautiful Salzburg with the mountains as my backdrop and back then I thought that was the best moment in my life.

The day of my graduation while I was receiving congratulatory hugs & kisses from my husband, my mother & my step father and secretly knowing that I had a two month baby inside of me, I thought that was the best moment in my life.

And now, as I watch my son feed, my daughter happily splashing away and squealing in delight in the bathroom and the portrait of both hubby and me beaming on our wedding day and I'm thinking, this is definitely the best moment in my life.

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Haircut Mishap

I'm sad. I'm angry. I'm upset. I'm furious. I'm devastated. I'm livid. All because of a haircut gone wrong. The one time in my life that I actually cried over a bad haircut.

I went to get a long overdued haircut last Saturday. My decision to go to a different hairdresser rather than going to the one I'm more used to proved to be a big, huge and fat mistake. Almost fatal.

I wanted a bob. A long shoulder hair bob. With a little fringe. I told that to the hairdresser and even showed a picture of Nicole Ritchie's hairstyle. But when I finally looked up from the April issue of Bazaar, I discovered horror upon horror. I had layers, short layers instead!

The stupid moron gave me short hair instead. Layered short hair. I sat there fuming, listening to all those stupid moron trying to convince me that layers are good for me. My hair is thick and layers will reduce the volume they say. Well...no one asked for your oppinions! I wanted a long, shoulder hair bob. Which part of that said short layers?

My new hairstyle will require me to blow style my hair every single time I want to look presentable to the world. I've had this hairstyle before. And the myth of short hair being relatively easy to manage than long hair is just that...a myth.

I definitely gave that moron with the scissors a piece of my mind.

Me: "Look at this picture (I shoved the picture of Nicole Ritchie almost up her nose). Does it look the same?!!!"

Moron: "This one got layers mah"

Me: "Do I look blind?! I wanted it all the same length. I don't want layers! Short layers are hard to maintained. And with 2 kids, when will I find the time to blow myhair?!"

Moron: "Layers look nicer"

Me: "Then why dont you come to my house every single morning just to blow my hair?!!"

Moron: Stood there in silence.

Me: "Next time listen, look properly. Now what am I going to do with my hair?!"

Moron: "But now ths is the trend mah.."

Me: "I don't care! I've had this hairstyle (I did, during my stewardess days and even then I hated it. Now I loath it.) It's too hard too maintain."

Moron: "No lah. Easy to maintainlah."

Me: "You think I'm stupid? I told you I've had this hairstyle before!"

Moron: "Yes aah?"

Me: "That's why I want long bob. Easier."

Moron: "You're hair too thick for bob. Not very nice."

Me: "I've had bob hairstyle so many times now. I know it looks okay on me."(From the day I joined MAS, I was told by the stylist to stick to bob hair which I religiously did throughout my flying career except that one time when everyone had that stupid Rachel/Jennifer Aniston hairstyle craze and I had to make it much, much shorter due to company's requirements and ended up hating it every single day till it grew out.)

Moron: "Yes aah?"

Me: "Yes! Now it looks like a damn helmet! And there's nothing I could do about it!"

Moron: "You do rebonding meh... and then easier to maintain."

Me: "No way am I doing it here!!!!"


And with that I stood up and walked out. I jut had to walk out because I was so tempted to stab that woman with a scissor. I almost threw the money in the cashiers face.

As I was about to go into the car, I felt my blood boil over again and I reentered the saloon. I called for the manager and told him. "Please do not hire deaf and blind people to cut hair. Look at what your staff has done to my hair. This was not what I had asked for. I told her what I wanted and showed her a picture but obviously she was neither listening or looking. It's just not right for someone to make a mistake with someone's hair and just go ooops. My hair is horrible and it's all your fault!"

And then I noticed that the whole store went awfully quiet. Everyone was looking at me. I turned around and stormed out. Never to return...forever!

I'm so pissed off. Luckily my hair grows really fast but for right now, I guess hairclips are the way to go. I'm cursing that moron. May she be a kuli for the rest of her life. Damn her. B****!!!!!!

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Where's My Mail?


I'm so annoyed. It's been almost a week and I still can't access my Inbox at yahoo. Don't know what's the matter. Everytime I log in, the compose mail setting will immediately appear. I can't get to Inbox at all. How irksome.

Maybe I should go back to my TM.Net account...oh no, I haven't renewed my subscription, so that's out. Should've taken up that Google invitation that I had recieved. Sigh...If I still can't access my mail, I'm definiety opening another email account & rid myself with the old one. I hate being forced to change something I'm so comfortable with. :(

Friday, June 30, 2006

Sarah's Birthday Pics

It's been really hot this couple of days. Stifling hot. Because of the heat, I don't feel like writing much, anyway as I've been meaning to jot something down about Sarah's recent costume birthday bash, I've opted to post pictures instead. They say a picture says a million words so I'd let the pics do all the talking this time around...and perhaps a little comment for each pictures. :P


Sarah with her cousing Soso (Sarah's pet name for her cousin Soefara) waiting for everyone to gather around her huge Barney cake. (Thank goodness she didn't notice that I swapped her Batman cake for a Barney cake instead :P)


Sarah doing a sort of indian dance...who knows??? She's getting into character perhaps...Lol



Sarah the little red indian, Itaf as Darth Vader (took off his helmet due to the heat) and little Danish as...you guessed it; Fred Flinstone! Hehehe...so adorable kan?



Mika the Tiggeriffic baby with his pal Imran. They were born 19 days apart and since both their mommies have been friends since they were little girls, it is inevitable that these 2 are also destined to be lifelong friends. :)


Sarah going berserk with all her prezzies.


All the kids were so engrossed with the sand art activity, most went home without having a single bite of food! Glad I decided against face painting, the kids had so much more fun with sand art. Lol



The most sought after person during the party...the balloonist! Poor dear, she didn't get to rest a single minute. She was definitely a hit. :)


The loot bag (err...more like mini hampers lol)


A father trying to relive his childhood. Lol.

Can't figure what's going on with Blogger. Probably having a headache or something. Lol. Can't seem to upload anymore pictures. Hmmmm, anybody experiencing that lately?

Anyway, all in all it was a great party. Good food, good friends, good times. The very next day, Sarah asked mommy and daddy if she could have another birthday party. Lol. Maybe next year darling. Hehehe.

Monday, June 26, 2006

My PD Excursion

After my last post, out of the blue hubby announced that the very next day he’ll be taking us for a quick a getaway. I know for a fact that he doesn’t read my blog, in fact he doesn’t read anything, period. So this piece of news was quite a pleasant surprise.

Initially he wanted to take us to some high ground vacation spot, but after being stuck day in day out in our 7th floor condo unit, the last place I wanted to be was some where high. Due to the time constraint, I suggested Port Dickson instead. So off we went to PD yesterday morning. The whole family was in high spirit even little baby Mika. Sarah even went “Yay! Sarah go holiday! Yay” and that was followed by “Apa itu holiday Mommy?” Lol.

Both hubby and I ware happy to note that PD isn’t what it used to be. It’s absolutely clean. Even the public beach is very clean. No litter whatsoever. The sands are actually beginning to turn powdery white again and the sea water isn’t murky anymore and is almost crystal clear. Good job MPPD! :)

At first hubby suggested that we all check into Avillion. But I balked at the idea because my lil’ sis Sherly had told me that the cheapest room was over RM500 a night. Remembering a good friend telling me her good experience at the Corus Hotel, we then decided to spend the night there. It was a good decision after all because for less than RM500, we got ourselves a night in the Junior Suite, room service, a seafood dinner at a nearby beach restaurant, buffet breakfast, McD’s and a load of junk food. Try to beat that Avillion. :P

The room's really nice. It has a king size bed, a gorgeous bathroom, a living room, a small courtyard terrace that exits to the beach & a magnificent view. The next morning, hubby took Sarah for a morning walk and Sarah got really excited when she spotted an owl. She was a tad upset that all the swallows were sort of disturbing the owl & made the owl fly away. Sarah was also delighted when she saw a little puffer fish at the edge of the water. Too bad hubby didn’t have the camera with him.

Throughout our stay, Sarah swam, swam and swam some more. She was very gung-ho about going down the pool slides. Although she bruised her cheek ( to my horror, my clever girl decided to slide down ala superman), that did not deter her from going down the slide again and again. I swear I had a mini heart attack every time she went down the slide. Hubby kept telling me to back off and stop smothering the girl. Makes me wonder, whylah my girl simply refuses to behave like a girl?

Overall, although short, it was great to be able to escape and recharge. Am definitely repeating that experience. Here are some pictures we took.


Wind in my eyes..err..it's more like hairs in my eyes


Seafood galore! I was so excited with the sight of our meal I forgot my initial plan to take a picture before we dug in. I remembered my plan halfway too late.

Who says lying down on isn't fun?


Showing her mummy what a good swimmer she is while hubby keeping an eye on the little show off.


Strike a pose...


Sarah & Mika. Posing everywhere like Japanese tourist.


Mummy, Sarah & Mika doing the dugong pose.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Yadda Yadda Yadda

I feel guilty for neglecting my blog for awhile but between Sarah's coughs, vomiting & diarrhea, other stuff has been creeping up on me lately as well. First, Sarah had a bad case of tummy aches that stretched for a week. Must've been from the playdough she swallowed (damn you play dough!*shaking my fist). Now she's caught some coughing bug from her cousins.

After that, my BIL had to be hospitalized because he found himself unable to move one morning due to some problems with his muscles. Since SIL is due to go into labour any day now, hubby and I had to keep an eye on her while minding her err..very 'challenging' kids. It didn't help the situation with her being so anxious, aggitated and temperemental all the time.

MIL came down from Penang to help out but because she too can't stand Her Royal Grumpiness' temperemental antics for a prolonged period, we've had to 'rescue' the poor old lady once a day to keep her sane. Well, good news is BIL was discharged yesterday, so hopefully, everything can go back to normal such as us not having to deal with Grumps till she gives birth. LOL :P

I still owe the blog a detailed account of Sarah's birthday bash. I'm gonna forget blogging down anything lovey dovey bout hubby for awhile cause the man forgot both our anniversary & my birthday (how could he???). I'm still smarting over the incident. Maybe I'll forgive him when he gets his pay hehehe *evil. According to my rough calculation, he's recieving a few extra 'K's' this month. And I so need a nice holiday ASAP. Oh, that reminds me, must make a mental note, need to do baby's passport for Phuket.

Started potty training Sarah again. I've rolled up all the carpets and from 10AM up to now, she's already had 4 accidents. Seems like it's gonna be a long week ahead. *sigh

With all the halloo balloo happening right now, I'm seriously suffering from a major writer's block. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Monday, June 19, 2006

World Cup 2006

In spirit of the World Cup, I guess I’m compelled to jot down a few words on my thoughts or rather what I know (which is not much) about football and the World Cup. Before I begin, let me warn you that all this while, my knowledge of football and the World Cup is limited to Posh Spice who happens to be married to David Becham, who is not just a Bryl Cream model but a world renowned footballer as well. And perhaps he landed the Bryl Cream contract because of football. That’s it. Oh! And the fact that his wife Posh, has a to die for sense of style. Yup, that’s about it. Lol.

Ok, I know, I know…such lousy knowledge of football when it is perhaps the most sought after, talked about event this year. Truth is, I’m pretty oblivious of it happening at all. But since I’m obligated to write something, anything about football, I did a little research of my own. In other words, asking an expert (well, in this case hubby because he used to be a reserve player in primary school and in my books that’s expert enough) a few questions regarding football and the World Cup and getting a few grunts for answers. So let me share with you my findings.

1. Maradona is NOT Madonna pronounced in a foreign language. The fact is he’s a GUY who played for the Argentinean team and later got into a drug related problem which subsequently ended his career and is now an overweight, middle age has been. Oh, he had something to do with something called ‘Goal of the Century’ whatever that means.

2. Ronaldinho and Ronaldo are two separate person and Ronaldinho is the uglier of the two. He is actually that guy with the scary looking set of teeth with a bad case of frizzy hair plastered on billboards all around the world. He is currently advertising for Breeze and is also considered the world’s best player. (He doesn’t even qualify as slightly good looking so I can’t figure out why the extreme adulation.)

3. Anyone with enough common sense should root for Brazil and England is just overrated. (Heck, don’t ask me I’m just quoting hubby, I don’t even know what that is suppose to mean.)

4. A small village in Bangladesh broke into a riot because the electricity went out during a game.

5. Ronaldo won a golden shoe in the last world cup.(???) In my opinion, a golden shoe on a man is waaay tacky. Very the pimp-isque

6. The World Cup isn’t actually a cup but a trophy that doesn’t look anything like a cup. ( So why they call it a cup is a mystery to me) Trust a man to not recognize what a cup looks like. To them, cups, mugs, glass are just things to hold water.

Yup, that’s about it. Hubby mostly shooed me away because I was disturbing him watching a game between Argentina against I-can’t-care-less. So that’s that. Now that I’m over and done with that, I can actually move on to things that are more meaningful and not as ridiculous as grown men running, pushing, shoving and chasing a little ball for the sake of a cup. Call me ignorant, call me clueless, I'd like to think myself as blessed. I'm in better shape than all those poor, sleep deprived football die hards who are pushing their body to the limit forcing it to stay awake in order to watch a game...and I have a 3 month old baby!

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Today, June 15th, 2006


29 years ago on this day and date, I was brought into the world. I can't believe I'm already 29. Time surely flies. And how am I celebrating my coming of age? By being all alone taking care of a 3 year old with a tummy ache (told her not swallow the play dough) and a 3 month old cranky baby who seems to be fighting sleep. *sigh*. Sort of have a rough idea what the year holds for me. Wonder if hubby would be thoughtful enough to call me just to wish me a Happy Birthday all the way from Rome? That'll surely make my day.


Oh, did I mention that it's also my 5th year anniversary? Whoopee doo! But I'll speak of that later. Need to gather my thoughts so I'd actually write something memorable to commemorate this day. Anyway, it's not like I have anything special install for me, so I'd like to save writing about it as the highlight of my day.

Anyway, many happy return of the day Linda. Hapy 29th Birthday & Happy 5th Anniversary!

Monday, June 12, 2006

Sarah's Birthday Bash!

Am I glad that Sarah's party is over and done with. Now, my life can continue as per normal. I'm happy to say that the party was a success. A few things did go wrong but overall, it was a blast.

One of the things that went wrong was that our camera decided to go kaput the day before the party, and since it was so late, didn't even manage to borrow one. Had to depend on others to take pictures. Once I get them via email, I'll definitely upload it here.

I really have so much to tell about the party, but I'm just too exhausted to write it down. I'll save it for my next post. There's just so much to jot down. But in the meantime, I'd like to thank EDEN catering for the delicious food, I highly recommend them to anyone who plans to cater for any functions. They're really efficient and even went out of their way to help me with the balloon decos. They cleaned up in a jiffy and was courteous, helpful and friendly to all my guests. Not to mention that the food was absolutely delicious.

Ms Yong the balloonist was delightful. Everybody (and I mean every single person there) got a balloon. She was definitely a hit. I'm definitely using her again next time.

I'm glad sis talked me out of the face painting and replace it with sand art instead. The children had so much fun and even some adults went to participate in that activity.

Sarah really did enjoy herself till she forgot to eat! Seing her so happy and really enjoying herself made it all the more meaningful. It was definitely worth it. A greaat party indeed.


Sarah as a little red indian. Manage to persuade her to become a red indian after all and she really loved her costume!


Baby Mika as Tigger.


Sarah & adik Mika posing with their ballons. Sarah has a wrist flower and Mika a gold fish on a rod! How cute is that?

Friday, June 09, 2006

How To Make Chicken Curry Maisoh

I've no clue what to write about. So I've decided to do a how to piece. This is a recipe that I'd consider as one of my specialty. Well, it isn't really my recipe, it belongs to my mom but I still consider it as my specialty. Both hubby & Sarah just can't get enough of this dish. It's called Chicken curry Maisoh.

Since I'm the 'campak-campak' sort of cook, I won't waste time calculating the exact amount for each indgredient because I hentam everytime anyway :P Here are the indgredients needed for this dish.

Anyway, the indgredients are as below:

Chicken parts
Spices
Curry paste
Curry leaves
Finely sliced ginger and onion
Chopped garlic
Tomato sauce
Oyster sauce
Water
Oil
Salt to taste



First you heat some oil in wok.

Next, you stir fry the above spices till fragrant. Besides cinnamon and star anise, there's err...I've just realized I haven't the slightest clue what the rest is called in English so I'll use their Malay names instead. Bunga cengkih, buah pelaga, halba campur which contains mostly biji sawi, fenugreek, jintan putih and jintan manis. You could also use just biji sawi instead of halba campur.

Once spices are fragrant, add finely sliced onions.

Put in the curry leaves immediately after the onions and continue stir-frying till fragrant.

Throw in finely sliced ginger and chopped garlic and continue stir-frying till fragrant.

Add meat curry paste and continue stir-frying.

Add in the chicken parts and fry till the meat looks slightly cooked. Add water.

When the water has come to boil, add a little oyster sauce followed by some tomato sauce.

Let it simmer till the gravy slightly thickens then add salt. Continue to let it simmer till gravy thickens and chicken is cooked. How thick the gravy should be is totally up to you. My mom like it almost dry while I like a lot of gravy.

Voila, chicken curry maisoh is done and ready to be served. Yummy yum, yum...dig in.


Sorry, I've only managed to upload only 2 pics. Dunno what's wrong with Blogger.

Nasty Crew

After reading back my last entry, I thought urgh, how depressing. So no more depressing posts from for the time being, I've more exciting things to look forward to like Sarah's costume birthday party. But I'm not going into that today, I'm here to vent out my anger. Sheesh, first self-pity and now anger, hmm, seems like I've got a lot of negativity going around me right now. Must be the stress of planning a party.

Anyway, hubby got back from flight earlier. He came home fuming away. I've already put both kids for their evening naps so had some leisurely time to sprawl on the sofa and lend a listening ear for sweet, ole hubby. He needed to unload too.

So hubby told me that an incident occured on board. He had a big fight with a stewardess during his flight back. This is how it went.

It was time for his rest period and since there were plenty of vacant seats in the first class, hubby decided to head there for a little shut eye. Hubby had gone to the toilet before he went to his seat. When he was seated, the stewardess in-charge of first class came up to him and rudely said," Excuse me, next time please clean up the toilet after using it" and she turned away and headed back to the galley. Hubby was like, "What the???" And his blood began to boil so he walked to the galley to have a word with that nasty woman.

At the galley, hubby asked her, "What did you say to me just now?" She turned to him and rudely repeated what she had said earlier. Hubby then replied, "Cleaning toilets isn't my job, my job is to fly the aircraft. I thought it's your job to clean toilets." Defensively the nasty stewardess replied, "It's not my job either." Huh? Part of a cabin crew's duty is to ensure passengers' comfort and making an effort to keep the toilets clean is one way of ensuring passengers' comfort. Obviously crazy woman here wasn't paying attention when she was in training school.

It was inevitable that her last statement would be followed by an argument. Hubby asked the stewardess, "Why should I clean the toilets?" She replied, "As a common courtesy to us for choosing to rest in first class and I've already had to clean up the toilet 3 times before you went in."

Ok, hubby practically exploded, "Courtesy?!! Do you know I have every right to rest in first class?!! Do you want to know what courtesy is?! It's us allowing him (hubby pointed towards the Senior Chief Steward who was snoring himself deep into La La Land) to sleep in first class!" At that the stewardess just grew frustrated and screamed back, "Oh just shut up! Fine! Do whatever you want! And while you are at that, go flood the toilet will you!"

And at that, hubby turned to the flight steward who was just standing there gaping and said, "Go and call your Chief Stewardess." The steward who seemed intimidated replied, "...but she's resting." "Call her, NOW!" And the steward scurried away.

When the Chief Stewardess arrived and asked hubby what was the matter, hubby told her. "Your stewardess here interupted my rest period and is being extremely rude. She's being insubordinate." The Chief quickly tried to calm hubby down and told him to continue his rest since he is operating as Team A and must be really tired. Hubby just glared at the defiant stewardess, who by the way glared back. She had the cheek to mutter, " You weren't resting, I saw you playing a game on your PDA." Hubby just continued walking back to the cockpit. In the cockpit, he related this incident to the Captain. The other operating co-pilot got pissed off as well and went down to first class to tell the stewardess off. But when he came back, he said the stewardess has been sent off to work in economy istead. The stewardess never did appologize.

During my days, we had a fair share of rude stewardesses but never a case of insubordination especially when it concerns the technical crews. We've always stuck to the chain of command rule and according to that rule, hubby was second in command.

If I was there, I would have given that stewardess one, tight slap. Not only for the lack of respect she displayed but also for having the cheek to tell hubby to clean toilets. No one tells my man to clean toilets but me. Grr...

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

I'm Doing My Best!

I was on the phone with my sister just now. Felt the need to whine to someone about what a handful Sarah is becoming and since hubby’s in London, thought sis would be the next best person to pour out my frustrations.

I told her how I blew my lid off last night after managing to keep my cool and putting up with Sarah’s tantrum for 2 whole weeks. Sarah as usual was working up a fit refusing to bath, I had to carry her kicking and screaming into the bathroom to bath her. After I was done, she starting working up a fit refusing to leave the bathroom and put on her clothes. The baby was in the background screaming his lungs out. I kept insisting her over and over again to come out and get dressed. She repeatedly screamed back “No!” What really ticked me off was when I saw her putting the hand bidet into her mouth and drinking the tap water. Countless of times I’ve told her, scolded her, reasoned with her to not do that. This was one too many times that she had disregarded my instructions, so what did I do? I switched off the lights of the bathroom and shut the door.

Sarah then screamed in fright and started banging on the bathroom door pleading to be let out. I stood outside the door quietly for 2 whole minutes before switching on the bathroom lights and letting her out. Somehow or rather, that made her come to her senses and she behaved her all the way to bedtime. When I told her it was time for her bedtime, she obediently complied without putting up a fight like she does every other night.

Anyway, told my sis about last night’s entire episode. I was taken aback when my sister exclaimed that what I did was the meanest thing she’s ever heard off. Sister made me feel guilty and ashamed for what I’ve done. To add insult to injury, she insinuated that Sarah is spoiled. I’ve let her get away with stuff countless of times and this is the result of my doing. Then she brought up the incident when Sarah was younger and played with her documents and stuff and wasn’t reprimanded for her actions. Heck, she was only 2!

I’m a strong believer in encouraging a child to be positive. I try not to say ‘No’ to her all the time. Like when Sarah played with her daddy’s work manuals, hubby freaked out. Although I told Sarah what she did was wrong, I didn’t see the necessity to punish her for it. It’s not like she can read and at her age, a piece of paper is just a piece of paper. I told hubby, if he wanted to blame someone, blame himself for leaving important stuff strewn about.

Little sis then proceeded to say “Don’t you wonder how so and so does it? Her eldest boy is just perfect.” Hey…what’s that suppose to mean? I’m a terrible mother? The truth is, I too think so and so is an excellent mother. But it’s easy to be a superb mom when you don’t have to worry about cleaning up the mess, doing the laundry and cooking. Your youngest child can already talk and walk and on top of it all, have TWO excellent maids to call and depend upon.

I was pissed with lil sis. Humph…what does she know about being a mother, she isn’t even married. I ended THAT phone call abruptly. Perhaps I am being defensive, insecure and emotional but I’m doing the best I can. I admit I’m not the most excellent mother around and wouldn’t even stand a chance if this was a competition but it is all I know how to be.

Despites my whines and complaints, I know that no one will be able to love my children the way I do. No one will know my children the way I do. No one will be able to care and nurture my children the way I do. I may be a terrible mother, but I’ll be the only mother that Sarah would ever know of. At the end of the day, it’s what she thinks that really matters. I hope she knows that I’m doing my best.

Sarah was born on May 15th, 2003 at 12.o5pm. Someone once told me children born during midday will be of the stubborn variety. Hmmm….

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Goofy vs Pluto




I was watching Mickey Mouse and Friends with my girl the other day. As we were watching she started asking me questions.

Sarah : Mummy, what's that? (Pointing at Mickey Mouse)
Me : That's a mouse.
Sarah : Ooh.

Sarah : Mummy, what's that? (Pointing at Donald Duck)
Me : That's a duck. Quack quack.
Sarah : Ooh.

Sarah : What's that mummy? (Pointing at Pluto)
Me : That's a dog. Woof woof.
Sarah : (Giggles) Ooh. Woof woof.

Sarah : Mummy, what's that? (Pointing at Goofy)
Me : Err...that's..that's a dog.
Sarah : Dog? No..that dog. (Pointing at Pluto again) Dog woof woof mummy.
Me : I know, but that's also a dog. A big dog.
Sarah : This one no woof woof mummy. (Pointing at goofy)
Me : *sigh* Entahlah Sarah. I don't know what that is. Wait for daddy okay? We'll ask daddy.

I haven't a clue on how to explain to a 3 year old why one dog can talk and the other can't. Got any ideas?

What Sarah Wants to Be



Been rather busy lately planning Sarah's upcoming birthday party...or rather, upcoming belated birthday party. The poor thing has to wait almost a whole month to celebrate her birthday. Poor dear. Well, we couldn't help it...hubby's roster just did not permit it. Now, since it's a costume party, there's this question of what the birthday girl should wear. The reason I came up with this whole costume party idea was so I could dress her up as an elaborate fairy tale princess. I mean that's the fun part of having a girl right? You get to dress her up. But noooo...my stubborn gal has ideas of her own.

I told her that on the day of her party, she gets to dress up as a beautiful princess. Sarah thought for a while and told me,

Sarah : Nanak princess mummy.(No princess mummy)
Me : Huh?
Sarah : Sarah nanak be princess. Sarah nak Sosoman.(Sarah does not want to be princess, sarah wants superman.)


What the...? I kept insisting that she becomes something more feminine, but my adamant daughter refused to budge. *Sigh* So Superman it is.

A week later, she came up to me and told me,

Sarah : Mummy, Sarah nanak sosoman. (Mummy, Sarah doesn't want superman.)
Me : If Sarah nanak Superman, Sarah be pretty princess lah. (Hoping...hoping for her to say yes)
Sarah : No.
Me : Darn it.( muttering under my breath)
Sarah : No princess mummy. Sarah nanak princess, Sarah nanak sosoman.
Me : Habis tu?(Then what?)
Sarah : Sarah nak coyboy.(cowboy)
Me : Hmmm...ok Sarah. *sigh*


So a few days after that, I went to a costume website to show her what her costume might look like. She was really excited about being a cowboy until she saw a Darth Vader costume.

Sarah : Mummy, Sarah wants this! (Sarah said pointing at the costume.)

At this point, I really started wondering...did I really give birth to a girl? Lol.

Me : Sarah, this is for boys, you are a girl. Sarah be princess lah. (Small try from me.)
Sarah : NO! Sarah nak be ghost! (Pointing to Darth Vader.)


So Darth Vader she shall be. *sigh*

3 days ago, Sarah ran up to me.

Sarah : Mummy! Mummy! Sarah nak be snowman. Sarah wear hat. Sarah wear neck (I presume she means scarf), Sarah wear nose (carrot perhaps?)

Make up your mindlah little girl...

Me : "Okay..." (I answered defeatedly.)


Hubby arrived from Paris this morning. I told him that we've got to start looking for a snowman costume.

Hubby : I thought she was going to be a princess?
Me : Nope. At first she wants to be Superman, then she wanted to be a cowboy, after that Darth Vader, now she wants to be a snowman.
Hubby : No princess huh? (Hubby smirked at me.)


Then hubby had an idea. He told me that he saw this most adorable Red Indian Girl costume at Mothercare in London and since he'll be going next week, mybe he ought to get that. And it only cost 10pounds where else costumes here are anything around RM100 to RM200. "It's not too girly, she'll love it!" Hubby exclaimed.

Hubby then broke the news to Sarah.

Hubby : Sarah, for your party, Daddy will get you a Red Indian costume. You can be a little red indian with a bright feather in your hair! Owoowoowoo!
Sarah : Hmmm.....Nanak red indian. Sarah nak pieyette. Sarah nak Capstan Fewwosod!(Sarah wants Captain Feathersword of the Wiggles.)


Oh boy...here we go again.

Friday, May 26, 2006

Colic and Periodically Irritable Crying



If there are mothers out there, who are dealing with colicky babies, here’s something to help you out. I got this from Dr. Benjamin Spock’s Baby & Childcare. The man’s a god sent. Who says babies doesn’t come with a manual? Lol.

Three month colic and ‘periodically irritable crying.’ In this section I am describing 2 somewhat similar conditions that may be related to each other. The first is colic (sharp pains in the intestines.) The baby’s abdomens becomes distended with gas, they pull or stiffen their legs, scream piercingly, and may pass gas by rectum. The second I call “periodic irritable crying.” These babies, even though they have plenty to eat, cry miserably for several hours at one regular time of the day without definite signs of pain or gas. They may be pacified as long as you hold them and carry them about. One baby has colic, another has irritable crying, a third seems to have a mixture. The 2 conditions may be related to each other, because both commonly starts around 2 to 4 weeks of age and are usually over by the time the baby is about 3 month old. Both conditions cause trouble most often during the evenings or late afternoon.

The commonest story is this: The baby was said to be well behaved and quiet in the hospital, but a few days after going home she suddenly has a crying spell that lasts for 1 to 4 hours straight. The parents change her, turn her over, give her a drink of water, but nothing works for long. After a couple of hours, the parents wonder if she is hungry ahead of time, because she is trying to get everything into her mouth. The parents warms up a bottle and she takes it eagerly at first, but before it’s finished she lets go and cries again. The screaming often continues for the full 4 hour interval between feedings. After she has finished her next regular bottle, she may be miraculously relieved.

Lots of babies have just a few attacks scattered through the early month. At the other extreme is the infant who has trouble every night until 3 month old. In a rare case severe colic can last up to 6 month.


Some babies are very regular about their colic or irritable crying. They sleep like angels after every feeding but one. Other babies spread their unhappiness through a longer period. The crying of colic most often begin after feeding, sometimes right after, sometimes half an hour later. In this way it is different from the crying of a hungry baby, which usually occur before the feeding.


Parents are distressed to have their baby so unhappy and think that something is terribly wrong. They wonder how long the child can keep this up and not become exhausted. They wonder how long they can it. The strange thing is that colicky and irritable babies usually proper from the physical point of view. In spite of hours of crying, they continue to gain weight, not just average-well but better than average. They are hungry babies. They gulp down their whole feeding and always seem to demand for an increased amount.

When a baby turns colicky, a mother’s first thought is apt to be that the feeding is wrong. If he is on breast, she thinks its her milk to blame. If he is on formula, she wonders if it needs a fundamental change. It is plain to see that the quality of the feeding is not the main cause of colic. Otherwise why should the baby be able to digest it perfectly 4 out of 5 feedings a day, and get into trouble only in the evenings? Colic occurs with breast milk, with cow’s milk and with all kinds of formulas.

We don’t know the basic cause of colic or irritable crying. One guess is that both conditions are due to a periodic tension in the babies immature nervous system. Some of these babies are hypertonic all the time. The fact the trouble is commonest in the evening or late afternoon suggest that fatigue plays a part. Many babies up to the age of 3 month are on edge just before they fall asleep. Instead of being able to slip peacefully off, they must at least let out a few piercing cries.



The Treatment of Colic
The most important thing is for both parents to recognize the condition is fairly common, that, on the contrary, it occurs most often in babies that are developing and growing well, and that it’s probably be gone by the time the baby is 3 month old, if not before, leaving the child none the worse for wear. If the parent can accept the condition in a fairly calmed and resigned way, the battle is half won.


Some colicky baby (the hypertonic ones) seems to be definitely better when they lead quiet, calm lives – sleeping in a quiet room, being handled slowly & gently, being talked to softly, not seeing any visitors (at least closely), not being tickled and roughhoused in any way, avoiding noisy places outdoors and perhaps in some rare cases, not going outdoors at all until the condition improves. The colicky baby, like others, must have company and cuddling and be smiled at, but it can be done gently. It is important to get the air bubble up after feedings.

Colicky babies are usually more comfortable on their stomach. They may get more relief still by being laid across the mother’s or father’s knees or a hot water bottle, and rubbed on the back.

Hot water bottle. You should be able to rest the inside of your wrist against the hot water bottle without discomfort. Then, as an extra precaution, wrap it in a diaper or towel before laying the baby against it or half on it.

Should you pick babies up, or rock them gently or carry them around while they have their colic? Even if it makes them stop crying, won’t it spoil them? We aren’t scared nowadays of the danger of spoiling babies as we used to be. If babies are comforted when they are miserable, they usually don’t go on demanding that comfort when they are not miserable.

It’s hard on the parents of a fretful, hypertonic, colicky or irritable babies. She may be soothed when you first pick her up. But after a few minutes, she’s apt to be screaming harder than ever. She thrashes with her arms and legs. She not only refuses to be comforted-she acts as if she is angry at you for trying. You feel increasingly in adequate because you are not able to do anything to relieve her.

But many parents get worn out and frantic listening to a baby cry. It is particularly difficult for mothers if she is with the baby constantly. She should make a great effort to get away from home and the baby for a few hours once or twice a week. It’s best if both parent can go out together. If you’re like most parents, you’ll hesitate to do this. “Why should we inflict the baby on somebody else? Besides we’re nervous being away from the baby for so long.” But you shouldn’t think as a vacation like this as a treat for you. It’s very important for you, for the baby, and for your spouse that you do not get exhausted and depressed. If you can’t get anyone to come take care of the baby, the parents can take turn once a week to go out and see a movie. The baby doesn’t need 2 worried parents to listen to her.


Try also to get friends to come in and visit you. Remember that everything that helps you keep a sense of balance, everything that keeps you from getting too preoccupied with the baby, helps the baby and the rest of the family in the long run.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

BKI with Love.


Kota Kinabalu or BKI, will always hold a special place in my heart. I've so many happy memories there. It's where I started my life. I was posted there to operate both the 737 & Fokker routes throughout Sabah and Sarawak.


I remember going to BKI with only RM400 in my hand but full of anticipation and excitement. Even then, I knew it was going to be a life changing experience. And it was. BKI had made me who I am today. I'm positive, if I didn't go to BKI, today I'd be today's average superficial and supercilious person. In BKI, I learned that it's not what you wear or what you do that counts. It's who you are is what really matters. And I hold that with me till today.

During my stay in BKI, I had made some life long friends, had the best conversation of my life, learned to connect with people, learned about life, gained wonderful experiences and met my true love. It was so laid back there, there was no feeling of urgency whatsoever. The sky was always blue. The people always friendly. The scenery always beautiful. The day stretched forever. It felt like being in a dream.


If I could go back to one point in time to relive my life, I'd chose to start again from the time I was in BKI. It was where I felt truly free. It was where this once child woman actually became a full fledged grown up. KK, you have my everlasting love. You'll always be my home away from home.