Go Green

Earth Day is approaching and this is mama's effort to save the environment (haha, like real...)

1. No more Disposable Diapers



These cloth diapers were bought from an online store in Oz. I particularly like the itti bitti CDs because they are trim and very absorbent. I like to try different types of CDs on Jaden, like the Aqua snap-in AIO, Apple green fitted bitti boo, which comes with an inner of bamboo velour and bitti d'lish lime green CD which has a soft outer waterproof layer.





2. No more Disposable Wipes



Got this from the mail yesterday. The prints on the wipes are totally irresistable. Haven't used them yet but they felt extremely soft on the hands. Jaden has a liking on the dog wipe while Ryan loves the shark.

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An email that I received from a friend shows the environmental impact of diapers are staggering:

• American babies use an average of 3,796 diapers before they are potty trained.
• It takes 950 gallons of oil, 715 pounds of plastic and 4.5 trees to make those 3,796 diapers.
• American children use a total of 18 billion disposable diapers each year - enough diapers to stretch around the earth 90 times.
• It could take 500 years or more for a disposable diaper to decompose.
  

Hmm...I sort of regretted that I didn't use CDs on Ryan's bum bum :(

Over the Weekend

Marriage Time

One of the concepts we learned from our recent completed marriage course is 'Marriage Time' whereby 'we' as a couple should spend quality time together (without the kids) just to do about anything under the sun. We could go for meals together, bowling, sports, vacation, etc.... and just enjoy the ber-dating days :)

Last Friday, we spent our Marriage Time at Lobsterman since papa was craving for lobsters the whole week. We had a wonderful set dinner:

* Baked escargot

* Wild mushroom soup

* Live Atlantic Lobster (800g) in Simmered (North America) and Thermidor(Italy)

* Seafood pasta

* Dessert

* Tea/Coffee

The Thermidor cooking style tasted somewhat better than Simmered as the lobster meat was sauteed with white wine sauce and baked with cheese. Simmered tasted more blend but had a traditional authentic taste.

Yum Yum!

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Outing with PECH children at Bread Factory

Every Easter evangelistic event, our cell group will organise a makan time with friends and guests but this year, we decided to do something different - to bless a home and to bring the kids to the bread factory! PECH (Praise Emmanuel Children's Home) is home to 17 kids aged between 3 to 14 years. The children came from difficult backgrounds, either abandoned, abused, orphaned or neglected by their parents.

Our last visit to PECH was during Christmas in 2005 where we blessed the children with X'mas gifts, spent time with them and played games together. We were somewhat glad to hear that 2 of the children we befriended in 2005 had since returned to their mother.

This visit, we brought Ryan to PECH since he loves to mingle with children. Also, it would be an eye opener to him as it would be his first visit to an orphanage. It was good to see him mingling with the kids, hugging and playing with them.

Many of the cell members also invited their friends to join in this outing. There were a total of 41 of us travelling to the Silver Bird factory. Imagine the logistics! Thanks to the good coordination work of Ronnie & Rosalyn and all involved, the outing was a success!

Ryan's New Bicycle

Gong-Gong's Birthday


The 5 grandchildren celebrated gong-gong's birthday at Ah Yat Abalone Forum Restaurant on 8 April 2008. It is always fun to see the children playing together, snatching toys, pulling each other hair; with the anticipation of crying after that....haha....normal la, children mah :)

The food at the restaurant is so-so only. Not so good, I would say....abalone was rather small for my liking, prawn also quite small and the almond dessert - smelled yucky, so I didn't take it.

The signature cake by hubby's cousin, Ruijing is super good though...

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Ryan's New Bicycle



I have wanted to buy a bicyle for Ryan since last year, before we moved house but pondered on the idea as we stayed in the condo and there would be no place for Ryan to cycle except downstairs. So, on Monday (7/4/08), we finally decided to get one for Ryan and we went on a 'mad' hunt for children's bicycle that night. We travelled from Uptown to Desa Parkcity, to find the right bicycle for Ryan. Hubby insisted that we buy from a proper bicycle shop to ensure that the bicycle is adjusted to Ryan's height, shoulder/hand, etc.... And the boy has been practising on his new bicycle these past few days - and he's a pro now at cycling!

Jaden on the other hand, had to settled with the old car. We didn't want to buy a small bicycle for him as he would outgrow it very soon. Poor baby...

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Hi-5 Dancing

The boys really love to dance and on this very rare occassion, I managed to capture them on video....Hehe...Got talent or not??? :p

2 Active Kids + Trip = ??????

We were quite apprehensive about the trip initially - how we'll cope with no maids around, time difference, meal times, bath, etc etc but the tip is Be Cool, do not stress up unnecessarily :)


Take it lightly and be flexible when the kids:

• cannot wake up early in the morning due to jet lag

It happened to us on the 2nd day of the trip (7/3/2008). We planned to visit Australia Zoo on Friday but changed plan to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary when the kids woke up late after the long flight the day before. The zoo is much further than the sanctuary and we would have lost precious time on the journey.

• be creative

During our check-in at KLIA, we were informed that MAS requires 6 hours before a flight departure for a passenger to request children's meal on board. Waliow eh...what kind of rule is this.... So, that means no kids' meal for Ryan and Jaden. So makan apa? Thank goodness, mama brought along some potato bread for the kids. And thanks to papa's creativity, Ryan had a pretty decent meal. The two adult meal choices on board were not suitable for kids - nasi lemak (too spicy) and chicken potato casserole (too meaty). Ryan, being a china-boy insisted on having rice, so papa mixed the coconut rice (no sambal) with the chicken sauce.

• take it easy when the kids refuse to brush their teeth or eat their meals - normal routine stuff

After all, they're on holiday - so why not give them a break!

Clash of Elections with Australia Trip

Hmmm....I haven't been updating this blog for soooooooo long now and hubby had not been helping either, altho' this blog is theoretically his :(

Don't know where to start...so many things have happened these past few months. Elections came and gone but we were not around to vote this time round. Our trip to Brisbane were pre-planned since last year and ticket paid up before the polling day was announced. As much as papa would love to vote for the Opposition, mama, however, would be torn between voting for BN or BR, else be labeled a traitor. You see, I came from a family whose father is heavily involved in politics (BN) for as long as I can remember and voting for Opp would be akin to going to Pavilion KL, the very land that my school used to be.

But I guess times have changed and people need to move on in their life. I'm glad that the people have spoken and elected their representatives in Parliament. I can say this partly because my dad has retired from politics :p. In fact, my dad was rather relaxed when we called home (from Brisbane) on polling day and even tho' the counting of votes has not completed at Batu constituency (my brother was contesting there), my dad left to play mahjong. As he put it...'Phew, I'm glad I missed the tsunami :)'

And as to our Brisbane/Gold Coast trip (6th - 15th March), we truly had a fantastic-a time there! The boys were totally knackered by the end of the 10-day trip and Ryan lamented that he wanted to return to home sweet home :)

To update more on the Australia Trip in the next entry...

Happy Birthday Papa!

It was papa's birthday last Saturday and mama wanted it to be a memorable day for papa - so, mama arranged for a couple spa at Jentayu Spa! Why Jentayu? Firstly, the place is just 1 minute drive from our house. Mama has heard quite a lot about this spa belonging to Sheila Majid, so why not give it a try.... Moreover, the price is rather reasonable as well - A Spa treatment plus Hair Creamebath (4+ hours) for RM280. Where to get!!!!

We arrived at Jentayu for our 2pm appointment on Sunday. The 7 ladies working there are all Indonesians so we had to speak Malay to them. No problem for us but what about foreigners...nah...I guess they mostly deal with locals and frequent clients. As we sat at the waiting lounge, we went through the menu. Papa decided to take the Just Relax spa package while mama went ahead with the Truly Heavenly Jentayu Spa. The difference between the packages is in the choice of mask, massage oil and body lotion:

Just Relax Spa Treatment

• Body Steam (15mins)

• Body Mask & Scrub - Honey and Sesame Seed scrub (30mins) - exfoliates and throughly nourishes the skin

• Body Massage with Jentayu Bliss Oil (75mins)

• Herbal Bath (15mins)

• Jentayu Bliss Body Lotion

Truly Heavenly Spa Treatment

• Body Steam (15mins)

• Body Mask & Scrub - Mococa scrub – (30mins) - a blend of coffee, cocoa and coconut that stimulates blood circulation

• Body Massage with Jentayu Sensual Oil (75mins)

• Herbal Bath (15mins)

• Jentayu Sensual Body Lotion

When I made the appointment, I told the lady that we wanted a couple room and she offered the gazebo for our treatments together. However, I voiced my concern knowing that the gazebo is located outside the bungalow and incidentally, renovation work has started for the bungalow next door (which coincidentally, is my friend's parents house). Anyhow, each of us got our own rooms - more privacy in a way.

Before we literally stripped ourselves naked, the therapists gave us a foot scrub in a floral foot tub filled with peppermint salts and flowers. Later, we were brought to our room, which is equipped with individual showers, to change into our disposables and towel. We were then brought to the steam room.....OMG, the 15 mins seemed like hours man....

The body mask/scrub and massage were just heavenly and I swear that I heard papa snoring after the mask had been applied even though he refuted :p Throughout the massage, I heard the lady burping and later, she explained that my body had wind but I couldn't release it, therefore the wind passed to her and she released it for me...got such thing one meh....

After our massage, we had our milk bath and the bath tub was actually just below the massage table, a way to save space I presume.

Later, we were escorted up for our hair cremebath. The cremebath is a complete treatment for our crowning glory. It includes hair wash and mask with aloe vera and avocado blend, plus a head, back and hand massage. The Blend was cooling, so it made us felt refreshed after the treatment.

We went home about 6.30pm, after 4.5 hrs at the spa.....and ooh.....we bought the 5+1 package, thinking that it's such a good deal :) Meanwhile, we left the boys at home. We told Ryan that we were going to visit an uncle's house and the uncle had a lion dance show, and mama's gonna fight the lion. He's extremely terrified of lion dance (thanks to a lion dance show during auntie Adeline's wedding :p) and it's our trick to make him stay at home...kekekeke.....)

Blog hiatus....

Mama had been on a super long hiatus.... reason being:

1. Mama sat for a professional paper on 15 November 2007 - need some time to study lah :p

2. We moved in to our new house on 2 December 2007. Surprisingly, there were so many things to pack and move from the condo, so much so that until now, not all things have been shifted yet. We didn't get any movers and all work/shifting was done with the help of church friends - a big thank you to Edmund, Rosalyn, Vincent, Ronnie, Ivy, Leuk! :)

3. Our Indon maid suddenly decided not to come back to Malaysia after her 1-month break. We were frantically looking for a new maid after we found that she decided not to come back on 26 October 2007. Our new maid, kakak Els just arrived on 15 December 2007, about 1.5 months after the 'disappearance' of kakak Mima.

4. We went for a work-cum-family holiday trip to Hong Kong from 5 December to 9 December 2007. Mama had a business meeting in HK on 6 December (which didn't really materialise), so it was somewhat a paid-for trip for mama with family tagging along :)

And of course, the 2 boys tagged along. We contemplated for a while, whether we should bring Jaden along, but in the end, Jaden followed us as we did not have the heart to leave him behind. So how did papa managed while mama was away at the convention center in HK? (Mama had to visit some booths at the HK Convention and Exhibition Center even tho' the business meeting did not materialise). Haha....it is 'his' story 'cos mama did not know what happened at the hotel room...or rather 'no eye see' :p

Some pics....

Ryan with his newly bought Transformer toy at Toys R Us HK


Ryan at the HK ferry pier

Ryan at the Disneyland Resort Station, just before entering Disneyland

Ryan and Jaden playing near the space shuttle

Family photo with the brightly lighted castle as background

Backdated post - Third Floor restaurant and Lantern Festival

Papa was kind to bring mama to the exclusive Third Floor restaurant at Marriot on mama's special day. We deliberated for a long while - whether to go or not - 'cos mama was feeling a bit thrifty while papa the total opposite. But anyway, to cut the long story short, we went in the end :)

The ambience was romantic and rather quiet, except for a group of diners, who left after a short while. All we thought was it would be a private dining experience for both of us until another couple came in :p

Papa ordered the Chef's Specialties, which is a 7-course meal set and the menu was to be a surprise for both of us throughout the night. A very interesting idea - that way we get to sample the chef's specialty dishes and also to lift up our excitement throughout the night :)

Before the waiter came with the appetiser, we had a free sample of a cheese tart, specially made by the chef. The appetiser was some creamy scallop thingy with caviar. The taste was really unique and mama thoroughly enjoyed each spoonful.

Papa had this broiled quail

Mama had the crab stuffed spring roll.





Oh, both of us agreed that this is the best for the night - seared foie gras with caramelised fig. It's really yummy - gosh, thinking about it makes my drool...




This is a Tasmanian salmon dish with something like seaweed on top.

Main meal - seared beef fillet with mushroom sauce





For mama who loves dessert - this is a must to finish even tho' we were so stuffed - Chocolate cake with ice cream - It was just simply delicious. The warm liquid chocolate flowed out from the middle and together with the ice cream, it was heavenly.




They added a personal touch to it by remembering that it was mama's special day. Papa made the reservation and mentioned to them about mama's birthday and they remembered! And they surprised us with this free strawberry mousse cake!



This petit four platter came with the freshly brewed coffee/tea.




This mineral water alone costs RM23...aiseh! Mama felt like taking the bottle home but darn..paiseh man...


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Lantern Festival

The two boys had the opportunity to walk around the neighbourhood with their lanterns during the recent Lantern Festival, thanks to Aunty Shirley and Uncle Richard's invitation to their house. Lil' Jaden also joined in the fun...

p.s. All the above pics were taken using papa's hp/camera, so a bit blur...sorie ya!

Lil Golfer in Action

We were at Mid Valley last Saturday for a movie - Ratatouille and yes, Ryan sat through his first cinema show amazingly. However, half-way through the movie, he asked for his 'nen-nen', so mama had to make milk for him in the dark... *phew* thank goodness, everything ok lah :)

After movie, we brought him to buy his first 'real' golf club and gloves. He really loves to practise golf at home and when papa brought him to his first golf lesson at Kindergolf some time back, he thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Maybe Tiger Woods in the making!! kekekeke....

Refresher course and Ginn's Birthday

Mama was away at Nilai Audit Academy Negara (AAN) for 3 days for a refresher course. It's the first time for mama to be away from Ryan and Jaden. As a result, Jaden really missed mama and couldn't have a good night sleep for 2 nights. (All the poor souls at home, except Ryan, couldn't sleep well either because of the wailing Jaden at night, partly looking for mama and also because he was not feeling well).

Mama was quite impressed with the accommodation provided at AAN. Each of us had our own room and the room is not too bad, above my expectations.

We had fun during paintball too. Below pix is mama in full-gear paintball mask. One of my colleague was so frightened that she'll be hit by the balls, so much so that she chickened out. As for mama, I wasn't shot at all - simply because I hid behind the bunkers most of the time - scared of being shot lah!

Siew Ginn celebrated his 8th birthday last Sunday at Da Vinci creative centre. A very unique place to celebrate birthday indeed - each child had the opportunity to show her/his creative talent by painting on a stone. Ryan was too young for that and as an alternative, he was given a spiderman 3D sculpt to paint. He enjoyed that so much!

The party ended quite late and by the time he set foot in the car, he was fast asleep!

End of 2nd Semester

Today is the last day of second semester and Ryan will be moving on to third semester beginning next week, September 2007. Looking back, Ryan had been attending kindergarten for 6 months now and he had definitely learnt so much and his knowledge is improving by leaps and bounds daily. This is the progress report I received from Che-che Ann recently :

"His motor skills are still poor but we're still persisting with it. His concentration span is short and before, he used to cry, make a fuss about work. Now, he's getting better. His memory for words and alphabets are also improving. Slowly but surely making progress".

I guess for Ryan, transforming a 'playster' to a studious person will definitely be a challenge as he's so playful at this stage and getting him to sit down to do 'work' will put our patience to test.

But anyhow, I'm quite proud of tis lil boy of mine as I'm impressed that he can read! He has no problem reading words like 'look, Mummy, Daddy, I, like, is, here, no........' from his Vital Years reading series and when I use the Peter and Jane reading books, he can actually recognise those words that he had learned in school - so, it's not memorising words on pages in his workbook but rather learning the words themselves. I quite like this style of teaching as compared to other kindies. Apparently, SmartReader's students were taught to memorise words from their workbooks and when they were given other story books, they couldn't read! (even like after 1.5/2 years in that particular kindie)....scary....

Ok...gotta ciaw....will be waking up very early tomorrow morning for morning church prayer and later, Merdeka prayer walk!

Happy 50th Merdeka to Malaysia!

Wow.. seems like no posts for a while eh? :)

Well, we've been rather busy and my 'sub-con blog poster' seems to be away from duties as well.
Just a short update on happenings I guess.
We are taking part in our church's 21 day fast and prayer campaign - so blog updates is not really a priority area at the moment :)
The house is coming along well, and we expect that it should be done within the next 2 weeks. However, we probably will not have 100% of the stuff inside ready, so we'll need to work out when we plan to move in.
Of course, I can't wait - but that's mainly due to the fact that I want to 'get it done!' ASAP. Running around every weekend and even at times weekdays scouting for stuff, monitoring the progress of the renovations, etc, is REALLY tiring.
I can't wait for the time when I can just lie back on my sofa and say - ok, it's done :)

God bless

PS. Here's Jaden closing the door for me this morning before I went to work.



PPS. Seems Krystal has just posted something while I am editing the spacing of my text, which seems to always go wrong when I post.

It has been a while...

...since mama blogged. Aiyo, weekends are so busy and now with the 21-Day Fast and Prayer (13 Aug - 2 Sept), papa and mama are so exhausted by day-end. Papa had been consistently waking up and reaching church by 5.30am and Ryan and mama only started joining this week since it's Ryan's school holiday. Have to say that God's presence is so strong every day that it always leave me in tears and awe!

Anyway, below are some backdated pix taken with Jaden on Bumwear cloth diapers. The cloth print is so pretty that it is simply irresistable! Have to add that it's very soft for the skin and also very absorbent indeed!

We also went to a Thai restaurant last week to celebrate Tai Yee (mama's sister) farewell. Tai Yee will be going to Australia for 9 months to complete her fully-funded research and sub-specialisation in endocrinology.

Tai Yee, we will miss you definitely! *sob sob*

Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)

When I was just a little boy
I asked my father what will I be
Will I be a pilot
Will I be a F1 driver
Here's what he said to me

Que sera sera
Whatever will be will be
The future's not ours to see
Que sera sera