Gina's Place

Must. Update. Blog!!!!

2011-08-27T00:06:00.000+08:00

Soon..
Soon......
soon ...............

Staying mentally-Fit

2011-03-05T23:33:00.000+08:00

Been playing too much recently :-P

Hooked on Plants Vs Zombies. When I first saw it, I said to myself "What a dumb game!!" Then coz my kids really wanted to play, I decided to 'vet' it first by playing it myself. Got hooked!!! In my defence, it's really and interesting game of strategy. and experts said that playing games is a good way of exercising our minds, which otherwise would rot with dis-use! So... I'm just doing the necessary to stay mentally-fit :-P

Oh, I also got hooked to an FB game called Zuma Blitz. Another 'stupid' game. But I have to do what I have to do for the health of my mind, right?

Hee-hee

Bunnies coming!!!

2011-02-22T00:55:00.000+08:00

Busy Busy Busy now.

Lots of bunny babbies!!!

The Breastfeeding Classes I have been conducting are usually full-house events now. I'm really happy about it. Speaking to a full-house is more satisfying than having just a few people in front of me. To me, it simply means that more and more people are getting aware of the imprtance of breastfeeding, and they want to give their best to baby.

And yes, of course it feels great when I receive a call, and he went 'Are you the Gina Yong, who's the famous breastfeeding teacher?"

Parties

2011-01-18T00:49:00.001+08:00

What have we been up to?
Ok, I'll admit it. We've been so busy having a good time. This blog did cross my mind quite a few times (usually when I was about to fall asleep), and I told myself I'll update it 'soon' :-P

So, it's been one party after another since Christmas

Christmas eve - hosted a pot-luck dinner
Christmas Lunch - hosted another pot-luck party
Christmas Dinner - hosted yet another dinner
Day after Christmas - attended a party
New Year's Eve - hosted a dinner party
New Year's Day - hosted another pot-luck party
Day after New Year - hosted a party for members of my church group (food paid for by group)

Monday after New Year's Day - withdrawal syndrome.

I do so love to have parties. And I do like hosting them. Kids love them too. My hubby? He's ok I guess :-)

So when's the next party?

This coming Thursday. It's a public holiday - Thaipusam Day..... and my birthday :-)

Yippee!!!!

Updates

2010-12-20T00:44:00.000+08:00

Phew!!! Recently, life has been one whirlwind after another! My last blog was almost 2 months ago!!!! sorry , sorry!!! So what have I been up to?

We moved home!!!
From my big house to a smaller Condo unit. Why?? No maid to help me since August, and having to slave over the house was no fun! Yes, of course the kids do help out, but ....... Well, we decided to move to a smaller place, and I felt way better after that! Kids were quite sad initially coz they're pretty sentimental about the house where they spent more than half their lives, but after staying in this condo for a month, they agreed it's a good idea. Less work, more play, with the free use of swimming pool and the playground which is just next to our ground floor unit :-)

School Holidays
Lots to do!
Swimming, shopping, cleaning, skating, movies etc tc etc.
I'm busier during school holidays!!!

Christmas Shopping!!!
Yay!! I got a new Christmas tree! The old one was ..... going 'naked'.
Took each kid shopping (individually), so that they could get pressies for each other.
They kept asking me what I want, and I replied that I want something to make my life easier. Hmm... I wonder what they'll get for me without me knowing. Last year, Damian pretended to have a stomach-ache while shopping at Ikea, and he rushed off towards the toilet. I followed him from a safe distance and saw him buy me a lantern (which I indicated that I liked earlier on). So sweet.

There's only 11 days left until 2011.
13 days till school reopens!!

*Gulp*

I'm not done with 'going-back-to-school' shopping. Haven't bought their school uniforms, books or shoes!!!

I'm sure I have forgotten to get Christmas pressies for some important people.

And forgotten to invite some important relative to my home for Christmas dinner.

ok, ok, * DEEP BREATH*, I'll get it done tomorrow!!! After all, I'm SuperWoman

Princess

2010-10-28T00:49:00.001+08:00

We have Happy, a medium sized mongrel. But Happy's an 'outside dog' (we don't let her into the house), full of energy, and not so much fun to cuddle. Good for keeping fit as you really have to run after her when we go out for our evening walks.

Kids has been yearning for a 'indoor-dog', like my sisters' poodles, silky-terriers and shih-tzu. When my sisters have to go abroad for a few days, my kids are more than happy to babysit the dogs. It's a real treat for them. (the kids... and err... maybe the dogs too. i don't think the dogs get much rest when they were with us, as they get cuddled and coddled so much).

Whenever we go to a pet shop, we will be exclaiming over the dogs on sale. Oh how sweet they are! How cute! Oh dear, look at the price-tags! Never mind ... let's hope that your aunties go abroad more often :-P

Then, last Sunday, a friend from church asked if I would like to have a shih-tzu puppy. Really?? How much? It's Free????? Really??? She connected us to the owner, and the very next day we flew over to her house and brought the puppy home (before the owner could change her mind!)

My first thought was Honey (NO!!! the kids yelled)
What about Patches (but Aunty MP's dog has the same name!)
Josie (after Josephine? What happens if I wanted to scold the dog but they thought I was scolding the child instead?)
Princess (but that's the name of our first dog that has to be put to sleep! But most of us like that name)
Aunty M suggested 'Sparkles', (but Cousin D said NO!!!!, that was her dog that died!, but Steph likes that name.)
In the end .... it's Princess Sparkles !!!

Wedding Ring

2010-10-13T14:28:00.001+08:00

Received the following in one of those forwarded (spam) emails. It's good :

Why should the wedding ring be worn on the fourth finger? There is a beautiful and convincing explanation given by the Chinese .....

The thumb represents your Parents.
The second (index) finger represents your Siblings.
The middle finger represents you.
The fourth (ring) finger represents your Life Partner.
The last (little) finger represents your children.

First, open your palms (face to face),bend the middle fingers and hold them together, back to back.
Second, open and hold the remaining three fingers and the thumb - tip to tip. (As shown in the figure below):

Now, try to separate your thumbs (representing the parents). They will open, because your parents are not destined to live with you lifelong, and have to leave you sooner or later.

Join your thumbs as before and separate your Index fingers (representing siblings). They will also open, because your brothers and sisters will have their own families and will have to lead their separate lives.

Now rejoin the index fingers and separate your little fingers (representing your children). They will open too, because the children also will get married and settle down on their own some day.

Finally, rejoin your little fingers, and try to separate your ring fingers (representing your spouse). You'll be surprised to see that you just CANNOT, because husband & wife have to remain together all their lives - through thick and thin!!

So clever, those Chinese!!
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It's TOO MANY days to Christmas!

2010-10-09T23:57:00.001+08:00

I was observing Jeremy flipping at the wall calender in the kitchen. He was counting the days to Christmas, but he kept starting all over again. He was like " .... 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 48 ... aiyah..... 1, 2, 3, 4 ...."

Me : "You're counting the days to Christmas issit?"

Him : "Ya"

Me : "How many more days to Christmas?"

(count, count, count......)

Him : "Too many!!"

A Shot at Fame

2010-09-27T23:39:00.002+08:00

I have a new Baby!

2010-09-19T23:58:00.000+08:00

Took me 7 years... but it's finally done !

want to get a copy for yourself or as a gift for a friend? Call me la.
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My poor new car!

2010-09-17T00:18:00.000+08:00

Got a new Alza in April. And since then - 3 people has banged into me.

The first time was when I was at a junction waiting to turn into a main road. And a Toyota that couldn't stop in time knocked into me. I watched it happen in slow-mo, and even see the child who was standing in the front passenger seat fell forward! My back bumper dented. Guy gave me his number and said he'll pay for the damages. But I had no time to get it fixed yet.

2nd time - sometime last week, it suddenly rained. It was sun-shiny, and the next second it was like God poured a huge bucket of water on us! The car in front of me slowed down, and so did I, and suddenly I got a 'tap' from an old battered Honda behind me. Not much harm done, at least, it didn't look any worse from the first accident.

3rd time - yesterday! Going on my way out of Mid-Valley's P2 parking lot. I was going straight, and suddenly a Myvi wanted to turn into my lane from the right. He didn't stop and rammed into my front-right. The security-officers of Midvalley were really helpful. They took pictures and made sure that our cars were good to go. They testified that the other driver was at fault and did up their own report. We have to go to the police station ourselves and make our own report too.

I guess I should count my blessings. It happened in a car-park, and we were both not going fast, and so, no one was injured.

So, I guess I could go through the trouble of going to the police station, then having to be without a car for a few days..... and stop complaining :-D

Making time to Blog

2010-08-30T23:03:00.000+08:00

In my current crazy-busy situation, whenever I think about my unattended Blog, I feel guilty. It's been ages since I blog.

I'm trying to remember why I started blogging in the first place. I think it was because my friend cowie blogged about her kids (http://cowie.wordpress.com/) and reading it made me think that there were so many things that I can hardly remember about my own kids babyhood and toddlerhood. The memories of baby-ing 4 kids seem to blur and jumble into one hazy fog. So, I think I thought to myelf that I should start recording down some events in their childhood now that will help me remember in my old age.

Well, I've written 129 posts since I started in Feb 2009 (18 months ago!), and I'm now trying to plod on. Someone asked me what happened to me? How come so long no updates on Blog? I said "Check my Facebook. I update there ma". She said it's not the same. She enjoyed reading my blog.

Well, since I have at least one Constant Reader, and at least one person who wants me to continue to write..... I guess I will!!! but I'll cut myself some slack. I promise to update at least once a month(?)

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Ginawati & Antonsiti are back!!!

2010-08-04T00:38:00.001+08:00

yeah....

Sacked my maid 2 Fridays ago. She had the "3-hands" syndrome (chinese for thieving). Not only that - found her with a handphone with recent calls to a few men, and upon calling the phone company, found out that she has reloaded more than $200 in 2 weeks!! Where did she get the money?!!!!

Anyway, prior to catching her red-handed, I have been thinking about not renewing her when her contract ends in October. She has been an iritation to me, as I feel that she's really inefficient. I need a helper whom I dont have to constantly remind to do her work! In fact, I have been doing some of her work for her! So ... can't have her around anymore... so sent her back to the agent.

So - it's back to Ginawati and Antonsiti again!!

But this time - I do not feel as stressed. Kids were a great help. Not much complaining fromt hem either.

Other than taking turns to wash the dishes, putting their own folded clothes into the cupboard and cleaning their own space (beds and books) they are assigned specific tasks :

Damian - brings in the clothes
Stephanie - sweeps the floor
Josephine - washes the shoes
Jeremy - washes the cups and glasses

it's been 2 weeks. so far so good. and we didn't even get in the part-time cleaners :-)

oh, I invested int this:

It's the Phillips garment steamer. Really cuts down my ironing time.

Lacking Sleep

2010-07-17T23:35:00.000+08:00

I've been going to bed at 2 - 3 am recently. Why?

been rushing a project. Updating and revamping the Breastfeeding book I've written a few years ago. Wanted to get it properly published by August 1st. And it's like - the more I look through it, the more I wanted to add to it or change it. So, in the end, hubby and CW 'knocked' some sense into me. Told me to "Just get it out! Can do 2nd edition or 3rd edition later on".

Yar - I guess I got too caught up - "paralysis by analysis".

Well - another reason - kids have this project and that project to submit and they all NEED the computer to do their work. So, when they were using me - I can't use right? I can only do my work either when they're in school (which is the time I usually go out to meet prospects) or late at night after they went to bed.

Well - I've sent off the draft to the printer. Cross my fingers, toes and everything - hope the book will be out soon! And friends - never mind if you are pregnant or not, a breatfeeding mom or not - thanks for buying one! Keep it as a souvenir, or just give it away. Thanks!

Happy Belated Birthday Jeremy

2010-07-11T23:25:00.000+08:00

Time flies!!!! I meant to blog earlier, but I couldn't find the time ..... yar yar, excuses, excuses.... :-P

My baby turned 8 last Sunday.
We had a party for him on Saturday. Initially he didn't want to invite any of his school friends coz he said he doesn't have any. He wanted me to invite MY friends. He said my friends are much funner (and they give better presents, I guess).

Then he told me he invited 5 friends, but only 3 could make it. So I allowed the girls to each invite 3 of their friends. (Damian said the party would be too kiddy for his friends).

Big day came. Guess how many turned up?

Luckily 'resourceful me' managed to scrape together enough party-packs for everyone!

Damian was the game-master (with Stephanie helping):

Musical Chairs

Passing Parcel

'Fix his Face'

Happy Birthday!!! May this year bring more fun (and less tears).

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Poor baby hamsters

2010-07-01T01:19:00.001+08:00

Two days ago, Panda gave birth to 4 babies. I saw it happening actually, and immediately separate Stripey (the father) and Porky (another female hamster). Don't ask me how they got their names. Due to some natural instinct that some animals had, Panda ate one of the babies *gross*

Stripey is the one standing, and Porky is inside the food bowl (as usual)

Just now, i heard a commotion, and saw this :

I don't know who did it. But they are now dead

Happy (belated) Father's Day!!!

2010-06-23T00:34:00.000+08:00

2 weeks of school holiday. Busy busy busy.
Bowling
Swimming
Trekking
Movies
Playgrounds
Running at the park
A-Famosa Water Park

Port Dickson

oh ....and yes ... Father's Day......

Did the kids do anything for their daddy? Well... gotta admit, it's not like Mother's day. I got chocolates, a card and a 'flower-thingy'. For Father's Day, he got hugs and kisses.

Life is good

Humpty Dumpty

2010-06-10T23:15:00.000+08:00

No, I didn't fall off the wall,

Just tripped over my own feet, and landed on one knee and two hands.
It happened at the morning market.

The guy who helped me up assured me , "mmm sei keang, lei tit tou hou yau ying". (No worries, you fell down with style).

Exams and Results

2010-06-07T01:03:00.000+08:00

Kids had their exams, and the results are back. They did good (my standards la).

Me : How was school? Any results today?
Jeremy : Yar, we got our science paper back. And the teacher taught us to 'berlagak' (show-off)
Me: huh? What do you mean?
Jeremy : He asked those who got 90 and above to come up front and show the papers to the class, and he took a picture, and then tell the class they are the smart ones.
Me : oh.... so... how did you do?
Jeremy : Lucky I got less than 90.... no need to 'berlagak'.

Josephine : I am really stupid
Me : hey, no, you are not stupid.
Josephine: My teacher told the whole class I'm stupid, I can't do Maths. I don't understand Maths
Me: You know what? Mommy was like that too. I always get low marks for Maths too because I cant understand it. But suddenly when I was in Form 3... ting! .... Maths made sense to me. So, one day, your mind will go 'ting'! too :-)
Josehine : But I don't want to be like you!!!! I want to be smarter NOW!

Stephanie : hahaha, I got 'C' for BM la
Me: So... how you feel about it?
Stephanie : It's ok. At least I pass. (big grin)

Our education system is messing me up!!
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The ole incident

2010-06-04T00:24:00.001+08:00

We saw this car, and the kids were so amazed. Could you spot why?

It led me to remember an incident that happened a loooooong time ago, back in the days when I was still under 3 feet tall.

Pa has a car (maybe not like the one shown above), but i remembered the fan!!!! And even when the fan was on full-blast, it can get sweltering hot, so it's usual for Pa to have the windows down.

The 6 of us kids were always fighting for the window seat, where you could feel the wind blowing in your hair. And although 'take turns' was a mantra amongst us, I never get the window seat (always on one of my sis' laps instead), something that I was eternally grateful for one day.

We were going somewhere, and my 2nd sis, MT, got the window seat right behind the driver. She was gleefully letting the wind whip at her hair, when suddenly..... my Pa made a huge honking noise, cleared his throat and .... spit out of the window!!! Guess where the 'treasure' landed?

New Hamsters

2010-05-31T23:00:00.000+08:00

Long time no write. Why? No time lor. Been playing with our new Syrian hamsters!!!!

Aren't they cute?

No-no, they're not dead.

They're not playing dead.

That's how they like to sleep.

I couldn't stop looking at them :-D

Reminder in a Cup

2010-05-24T00:01:00.000+08:00

When things seemed to be pulling me down, when it seemed like I was swimming against the tide, I get a reminder :-)

Met someone for discussion at Secret Recipe last Wednesday. The waitress said that it was not intentional. Wow.
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Good to be home again

2010-05-17T22:59:00.000+08:00

Learning Mandarin

2010-05-17T15:41:00.001+08:00

Went to Tawau last weekend to give a health talk. I gave the talk in Cantonese to a mandarin-speaking audience, and tho my 'presentation-Cantonese' is half-past-six (not so good), my audience could understand me (I hope!). They were laughing. (Ermm... or maybe they were laughing at my chinese?)

I could understand some Mandarin, but I can't seem to get my brain and my tongue to connect! Can't get the words out! But once I know the word, I have been told my pronunciation is as good as any native speaker (ahem!).

I know Mandarin is really so important, and not knowing how to communicate in Mandarin is a draw-back. It's been a struggle for me to learn Mandarin. But even so, I did not send my kids to a chinese-medium school. Many reasons.

Yes, they're real bananas (yellow outside, white inside). But I do believe when they want to, they'll learn the language.

When Damian was around 5, I sent him to this learning center to learn Mandarin. He'll be whining and crying each time, until I gave up!!! But now, he's asking me how come I didn't let him learn Mandarin? I reminded him what happened and he has the audacity to look embarassed. He said "Yar, it's better this way. I prefer to learn now that I'm interested and not forced to do so." (Why the interest? His friends are all speaking Mandarin around him!)

So now, I have a teacher come to the house to teach Mandarin once a week for 90 mins. Some asked "Can learn meh? Just 90 mins a week only wor?"

I think can lor. When you are interested enough. Kids can understand a bit, but they can't really speak yet. Never mind... they'll be ok. No need to speak Mandarin professionally. Just enough to get by... but hopefully a lot better than me. Hopefully, the advantage of their age would allow their brain and tongue to connect!

Happy Mother's Day!!

2010-05-11T23:24:00.000+08:00

It didn't feel like much, but we celebrated Mother's Day anyway because ... it was expected?

Got my maid to cooked some curry chicken and fried bee-hoon and took it over to Mother-in-law's house on Saturday. She has a fall a week ago, and hurt her back. Moving around isn't so easy for her. So we thought a simple celebration of home-cooked food should lift her spirits. I think it did.

My MIL is 84 years old. She's the kind of mom who gave everything, and expects nothing, and even when her kids wants to give back, she makes a big fuss out of it, and ends up making us feel unappreciated. Well, maybe after 15 years of me just brushing off her 'protestations' that she doesn't want anything, she gave up protesting. This time, she quietly accepted our gifts of food and angpows. Good improvement.

My mom - on the other hand - she doesn't demand too much - but we know she loves getting gifts from us - especially the monetary kind :-) I think this is healthier and makes for a happier dissposition. We kids, give what we can, and sometimes what we can't anyway! But then, how much time do we have? If we don't give now, then when?

I've heard it said before "No matter how your relationship with your parents was, you'll miss them when they're gone". I think it's true.

So, we had Mother's Day lunch at my Mom's - KFC, satay, a cake and some Haagen-Dazs ice-cream(!). Yummy! :-P

My kids gave me this :

See the card? It's a hint from the kids asking for another baby in the family!

And they did try their best to be on their best behaviour. Jeremy only cried once :-D

A smile to brighten up my day

2010-05-03T23:37:00.000+08:00

Whenever I go grocery shopping at Carrefour, Endah Parade, I always look forward to meeting him.

He always greet me with a cheerful smile, a happy 'thank you' and a wave of the hand.

He's none other than the guy who collects the parking fare.

I'm sure that despite his humble job, if he keeps his cheerful attitude, he's heading towards a great, happy life. All the best to him :-)

Moving & Renovation Fund for Harvest Centre, Sentul

2010-04-27T12:04:00.000+08:00

I've meant to write about this, but WSL beat me to it. All the better... since she writes better than me :-)

So, no need repeat .... hop over to here .

Just want to add this : I've gone and visited them, and they're really doing amazing work, keeping more than 1000 kids off the streets. There's no discrimination of colour and creed. All are precious....

Thank you for helping.

http://harvestcentre.webs.com/

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Ramblings of a Mom

2010-04-25T23:03:00.003+08:00

As Damian becomes a Teenager, the one person I keep having in my mind is ... my Pa.

I remember how Pa keep looking into the crib, but refused to carry such a small infant.

I remember when Damian reached his full-moon, and Pa awkwardly carried him and posed for a picture.

I remember how Pa said he gave up smoking because Damian was constantly coughing because of his allergy to ciggy smoke.

I remember Pa taking Damian and Marcus out to the playground so that my sister and I could have a little timeout.

I remember once when I wanted to cane Damian and Pa just whisked him away! Then I threatened Pa that if he doesn't allow me to cane that brat I will cane him [my son, not my Father :-D] harder!! But Pa just drove off to the shops and bought his grandson an ice-cream!

I remember when we first went to USA, how Damian, so tired from jet-lag was crying for his grandfather "I want my kung-kung. I want go back to Malaysia".

I remember how Pa used to save hundred of ringgit in coins and gave it to the grandchildren to be counted and divided amongst themselves. Pa was a good grandfather not only to my Damian, but to all his 13 grandchildren.

Why the nostalgia? I guess... with kids growing up, I realised that I can't pause time, no matter how much I wanted to. I might have this desire to keep them small, to keep them with me forever.... but that's not possible. They have to grow up. They have to leave the nest one day.

Damian turning 13 is just one more step into that direction. I cant stop that, and I do not intend to. What I can do now is to continue to ground him, give him roots, and at the same time, strengthen his wings. He'll fly away one day. And I hope.... that he'll also learn to fly home once in a while.

Just like what Pa gave us......

Strenth for a friend

2010-04-22T22:46:00.000+08:00

A friend's father passed away yesterday. He was a victim of H1N1. So sudden, so sad. I visited him in ICU on Monday & Tuesday. No, I did not know him, but it's more to give support and comfot to RR.

I feel bad that I can't make it to the funeral. I feel sd that I can't go to her and hug her and hold her hands and comfort her. But I think she understands. I think she understands that certain commitments can't be broken.

I pray for strength for her, and may she and her family be comforted.

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Kindness and Payment.

2010-04-16T00:28:00.000+08:00

Just switched on the TV to AXN. "Caught on Camera" was on. A young man just helped a hobo and then all of a sudden, he has an epilesy attack. Another hobo was passing by, and instead of helping him the hobo robbed him!!! The whole incident was caught on a traffic camera.

Someone saw the incident and sent the young man to the hospital where he later recovered. The young man said that this incident taught him that 'Kindness does not pay"

How sad......

I refused to believe that.

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Bad Hair Day

2010-04-08T11:30:00.002+08:00

Damian came home from school yesterday with this :

His friend stuck a blu-tack on him!

And then couldn't get it out.

In a stroke of 'genius-ness',

they decided to use ice to freeze the blu-tack

and then yank it out!!!!!

Dirt Sense

2010-04-07T12:14:00.000+08:00

Fan A - in maid's room

Fan B - in kitchen

What's the difference between Fan A and Fan B?
According to the maid, she washed them both at the same time, a week ago!!!!

The only conclusion I could come up with is this:

"All the dust and dirt that enters the house decided to fly immediately to the maid's room and attached themselves to FAN A in her room!"

The New Writer

2010-03-29T23:33:00.002+08:00

by: Jeremy, almost 8 :-)

Note from Author : S = Stranger

Earth Hour 2010

2010-03-28T23:16:00.001+08:00

The kids has been eagerly waiting for 27 March 2010, 8.30pm since Earth Hour 2009! (You can read about Earth Hour 2009 here).

This year we planned to have an 'Ice-cream party'. Kids begged to invite some friends over. Stephanie who went for a play-date a few doors away came back at 6pm with 3 friends (Dylan, another boy whose name i cant remember and his sister).

"I said they could have dinner here," she announced to me. Before I could say anything, she turned to her friends and said "See I told you my Mother very good one. You can have dinner here."

O...kay.... they are having dinner here, and I dont have enough food, but lots of ice-cream! I hurried out to buy more food - hokien-fried noodles and cantonese-fried noodles. The kids didn't eat much tho. They were waiting for the ice-cream!

Jo's friends turned up too. 3 of them - Suk Hwen, Divya and her younger sis. Of course, by default, the Leong family, is also expected to be here! The came of course, which made the gathering merrier :-) They came with a puppy they rescued from a drain a week ago.

So, that's 12 kids, 5 adults (including my maid), 2 dogs, 2 hamseters and 2 terrapin-turtles, celebrating Earth Hour at my place! I enjoyed it. I always enjoy having guests. Kids had a blast.

Earth Hour - so switching off electricity for 1 hour per year. Did that make a difference? Last year after Earth Hour 2009, I cleaned up / sorted through a big box of plastic bags.

I counted 144 plastic bags of all shapes and sizes in here!

I became more environmental-conscious after that. I started bringing my own shopping bag during groceries shopping. My favourite :

I'm happy to report that now I have less than 20 plastic bags at home, and they're used to line the trash can. :-)

So, as CW pointed out in her FB status : every moment is Earth Hour...Reduce, Recycle, Reuse (3R)

Blur

2010-03-22T22:51:00.001+08:00

Somedays, I can be very blur....

Went to the mornin market like this :

The maid had a good laugh at me :-P

Trekking at Gasing Hills

2010-03-21T22:27:00.000+08:00

After 4 kids, I was way overweight. FitLine helped shed off a lot of excess weight, but still looked flabby. So, I decided to join the gym in 2005. I was with the gym for more than 2 years. Went 2 - 4 times a week, for usually 2 hours (including sauna & shower) and I felt great!.

Then my kids got older and I realised that I do want to spend more time with them despite my busy schedule. Exercising together is the perfect solution. So, I quit the gym, and we started exercising together in the evening, usually around 5pm. Sometimes we go to the nearby Bukit Jalil park where they'll play at the playground and I'll brisk walk, while keeping an eye on them. Sometimes we cycle around our housing area, somertimes we walk the dog, sometimes we just walk.

A few friends have been telling me about Gasing Hills, but I was too lazy to check it out. I was happy to be able to brisk walk and work up a good sweat at Bukit Jalil.

So, after almost 3 years of turning down invitations to go to Gasing Hills, last Saturday, I decided to take my kids there. SC who invited me before was pleased to see us. (Jeremy couldn't wake up at 630, and so he didn't come along.). We started trekking with a group of people - friends of friends of friends. I guess we are all buddies when it comes to trekking.

It was SO MUCH FUN!!! Should have come here long time ago! Within 15 mins, I was ready to call it quits. Sure I could run and brisk walk in Bukit Jalil, but I guess I'm not fit to trek! :-P But the other 3 kids were 'running' ahead of me! So... (I've to save face ma, especially in front of the kids, hahah), I trudged on. It was about 3 km and 80 mins of "I can do this, I can do this". I kept thinking "Thank God Jeremy didn't come along. Else I might have to carry him!!"

When we completed the trek, the kids were jumping up and down, still full of energy and ready to go another round! So I have to tell them "Mommy got work afterwards! Must go home NOW!" hahahah. (Steph is watching me type this and asked me if I lied? Of course I did not lie. I just had the perfect excuse not to go through the jungle trek immediately)

Kids enjoyed it so much they wanted to go back. We did plan to go back the next day (Sunday) at 5pm. But it rained!!! (Divine intervention? Heehee). On Tuesday morning we got up extra early (for a school holiday), and off we went again. This time Jeremy came along!.

For me it was better than the first time. Jeremy got tired half way through and kept complaining that his legs were 'burning'. All of us kept encouraging him to finish the trek (there's no other choice, it's either finish the trek or stay in the jungle!).

We went back again on Friday morning, but this time Jo and Jeremy begged off. They were not feeling well.

I guess we would only be able to go during the weekends when school starts again. Join us anyone? Trekking is Fun! :-)

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Qing Ming

2010-03-15T21:43:00.003+08:00

As a kid growing up in a Taoist family, I remember Qing Ming as a 'Family Picnic Day". We will wake up early, and arrive at my Father's Parents' graves around 7.30am. My father's siblings and their families would usually be there too. And there will be food galore - sweet cakes, meats, fruits etc. I remember there was even a whole roasted pig! (One of the siblings must have had a great awesome year!) After all te praying and burning of offerings, we get to eat!! Yes, having a picnic at the gravesite! That was the best part! :-D

Of course this pix didn't come from my childhood. I googled it and 'borrowed'. It sparked a memory. :-)

Qing Ming is an expression of filial peity - a way to respect, honor and look after ancestors in their afterlives as well as seek their guidance for their living descendants. In this regard, many cultures and religions have similar practices. Some may visit the graves of their parents or other ancestors, leave flowers and pray to them in order to honor and remember them, while also asking their deceased ancestors to continue to look after them.

When I beame a Catholic and then married a Catholic, Qing Ming became irrelevant. Hubby's father was buried in Penang, and we never had time (or rather, never made time) to travel to Penang to practice this Filial Duty. We Catholics do have our own version - the All Souls Day, which is on Nov 2nd every year. We do our duty by praying and celebrating Mass for the deceased. Christians have been praying for their departed brothers and sisters since the earliest days of Christianity.

This year is the first time since a long long time that I actually took note of Qing Ming. It's already 8 months since Pa passed away. Time flew by, and it felt like just yesterday he was still with us. And as this is the 1st Qing Ming after his death, we were told that we have to observe it 3 weeks earlier from the actual date (April 5th, 2010)

The kids were excited. A week earlier, they were helping Por-Por fold Joss Papers. Altogether, they must have folded a million! :-D

Yesterday was their first experience of Qing Ming. My father was cremated and his urn is placed in the Ching Fatt Zhi Temple in Kwong Tong Cemetary, KL. As Christians, we did not participate in the prayers, but our presence there is our way of showing great respect to a beloved father and grandfather.

Everyone helping to prepare the 'table'

Simple Fare for a Simple Man

His Soul will rest in Peace, knowing he has filial descendants

Some people believe that their ancestors actually need to be provided for by their descendants, thus the burnt offerings. Others do not believe that the ancestors are even aware of what their descendants do for them, but that the expression of filial piety is what is important. Whether or not the ancestor receives what is offered is not the issue.

After everything, Jeremy asked, "When are we having the picnic?"

Why you didn't Call me?

2010-03-07T22:45:00.001+08:00

I don't know if this happens in other cultures? For us Chinese, we were taught from young to 'call' an older person (ie : grandparents or aunties, uncles) when we see them.

"Call' here is to acknowledge and greet the presence of a person of higher status.

For example, when we go to my grandma's house, the young children have to be first to greet the older folks : "Por-Por", "Kung-Kung", "Ah-Yi" etc. Woe to the child who forgot to call, or if the greeting was not heard!

Our parents will get "How come your girl don't know how to call ah? You never teach ah?" (There are many variation to the admonishment!) I used to feel very angry, especially when I did call/greet/acknowledge the elders, but they didn't hear me because they were playing mahjong or chit-chatting. And when we were kids, "Children are to be seen, and not heard" was still the norm.

Now that we are parents ourselves, we passed on this practice to our children. History does repeat itself. Now it's us who gets the "You young generation don't know how to teach your children to call."

I'll always remind my kids: "Hey, call Por-por ah"
Or when an aunt walks: in "Kids, call Ah-Yi"

Today, my uncle said to Jeremy "Hey boy, you didn't call me ah?"

Jeremy ignored him, and of course I tried to 'teach him his manners' :
"Jeremy, you didn't call Kau-Kung? You must call you know."

Jeremy sulkily replied "I got call! He is the one who didn't call me back!"

Yee Sang and Wikipedia

2010-03-03T22:01:00.002+08:00

One of my constant readers wants me to set the record straight. She cannot believe that the Chinese New Year 'Yee Sang' originates from Singapore as reported in : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusheng.

She went on to further inform me not to believe everything I read in wikipedia!

It did occur to me before that since anyone can contribute and edit anything on wikipedia, some jokers could have purposely mislead those seeking information on the WWW. (err.... my own son depended heavily on Wikipedia for his researches!!)

So... coming back to Yee Sang. According to many people this practice of tossing of the Yee Sang is relatively new and is a KL-Cantonese invention/practice. Which could be true, for I certainly can't remember having yee-sang when I was a kid [and I was a kid not too long ago! :-D ]

I tried searching the web about it. Can't find much relevant info. Most mentioned something about how raw fish was usually served on the 7th day of CNY to commemorate the goddess Nu Wa created humankind on the 7th day (RenRi) I didn't know that!

So... did the modern Yee Sang originates from Singapore as claimed by Wikipedia? Or the person who wrote that had no idea that this Yee Sang has long been enjoyed here in KL.

Anyway ... whoever created the Yee Sang thank you!! I really love this dish, especially the one served at Aoyama Restaurant in Sri Hartamas. My Sis took us there several years ago, and since thn, it's been our yearly ritual to gather around the plate of delicious sashimi - Yee Sang style. Y-U-M-M-Y !!!!!

Chinese New Year

2010-02-26T01:43:00.004+08:00

It's been a sweltering hot Chinese New Year.

It seems hotter than the previous CNY. Every year is hotter than the last. Global warming? Yar, that's what everyone's telling me.

Chinese New Year is quite different this year. Found myself blinking back tears many times, missing my Pa. Time has moved on. Yes, it gets easier, but sill missing him......

I had a great time going for get-togethers with family and friends. As on any festivity, we EAT, EAT and EAT some more!

Ate Yee Sang 7 times already this year!! (according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusheng, this practice started in Singapore)

This is the 'Must Have' during Chinese New Year.

The sumptious 8 course Chinese Dinner is as usual too much. Too much rich, meaty food and not enough vegetables.

Gathering my courage, I stepped on the weighing scales!!!! OMG!!!!

14 Feb 2010

2010-02-12T23:07:00.001+08:00

Certainly very auspicious :

It's

and

What to give him?

Delete the Grass

2010-02-10T10:42:00.001+08:00

Jeremy and Jo were helpimg me do gardening. So much fun getting our hands dirty!

I told Jeremy to dig a big, big hole so that we could plant a tree. Initially Jeremy couldn't make a hole as the ground was covered with grass.

"Can you please delete some grass?" he asked.

Someone is playing way too much Farmville !!

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Home Schooling

2010-02-08T00:22:00.001+08:00

I found out about Homeschooling in 2005. The concept intrigued me, and I've been researching it since then.

Going against the educational norm is scary. However, the rapidly-deteriorating public school system made it easy for us to made the decision to 'Homeschool' Damian when he finishes UPSR (Year 6, primary school).

Of course there are many good teachers in our public schools, but the numbers of ineffective, non-performing teachers are even higher. My kids have been subjected to veiled sarcastic remarks regarding their intelligence and they have learnt that the colour of their skin is a factor in many things. (We have always stressed the importance of respecting other races, but they have starting questioning how come a certain race do not reciprocate?)

And it's a well-known fact that teachers who are supposed to teach Maths and Science in English could barely speak the language themselves!! (Well... since the government has decided to revert the teaching of Maths and science in BM, and thus setting our country back by at least another 50 years, this issue of teachers not being able to converse in English is solved!!! hahaha)

So.... homeschooling. And why did we wait until Damian is 13? We just wanted him to experience 'normal' public school life. Yes, he learnt a lot and did very well... and that's largely due to the fact that he's a good student and like studying. But when he did the placement test, his score is that of a 11 year old or Grade 5.

So he has to to start Grade 6 in Jan 2010 (altho he should be Grade 7!) Being the competitive boy he is, Damian is certainly not happy to be placed in Grade 6. The beauty of this homeschooling program is that you can go at your own pace. You can be faster or slower according to your capabilities. There's a 14 year old who's in Grade 3, and a 12 year old already in Grade 8!!

Damian plans to finish Grade 6 by April and then start Grade 7 (his actual Grade). And then he'll aim for Grade 8 by the end of the year. How's that for goal setting?

He's doing the Alpha Omega Program : 5 subjects:
Language Arts (English),
Maths,
Science,
History and Geography and
Bible Knowledge

All the topics are so interesting. They study World History & Geography as opposed to just Kajian Tempatan or Tamadun Islam ( and make 'Katak di bawah Tempurung' of us all).

Homeschooling takes many forms. One is to keep the child at home with parental guidance and marking of work, self-tests and assessments. This way is not for me la. Anyway Damian likes social interaction.

The other one is to send the child to a 'center', where 'supervisors' guide and mark the work done. There's no actual blackboard teaching involved. Anytime the child does not understand the material, he can ask the supervisor for help and explaination. Damian's school has around 80 students from Grade 1 to Grade 12. He's able to make some friends (of different ages). This center also has an 'Sports Day' once a week, extra activities like 'Show and Tell', craftwork and camps.

It's been 6 weeks since school started, and Damian is enjoying himself. He does have to get use to not having 300 other same-age students around in a crowded school of more than 1000 people. He does have to get use to not having school-politics, public peer-presures and disgruntled teachers, but learning is so much more fun now.

Read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeschooling
http://homeschooljewel.com/blog/2009/11/homeschoolers-and-self-directed-learning/
http://gracehomeschooling.blogspot.com/ (damian is not in this school, but the curiculum is the same)

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My Kids are Great

2010-02-04T00:01:00.000+08:00

Havent posted anything new for so long coz I was at a Training in Singapore last week. Just got back on Monday, then the internet was down. Ok, I'm back online now.

Came home to this :

Sweet eh? I should go away more often :-P

Hilarious

2010-01-26T00:01:00.001+08:00

Someone emailed me this :

English Signs from Around the World

In a Bangkok temple:
IT IS FORBIDDEN TO ENTER A WOMAN, EVEN A FOREIGNER, IF DRESSED AS A MAN.

Cocktail lounge , Norway :
LADIES ARE REQUESTED NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN IN THE BAR.

Doctors office, Rome :
SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES.

Dry cleaners, Bangkok :
DROP YOUR TROUSERS HERE FOR THE BEST RESULTS.

In a Nairobi restaurant:
CUSTOMERS WHO FIND OUR WAITRESSES RUDE OUGHT TO SEE THE MANAGER.

On the main road to Mombasa , leaving Nairobi :
TAKE NOTICE: WHEN THIS SIGN IS UNDER WATER, THIS ROAD IS IMPASSABLE.

On a poster at Kencom:
ARE YOU AN ADULT THAT CANNOT READ? IF SO WE CAN HELP.

In a City restaurant:
OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK AND WEEKENDS.

In a cemetery:
PERSONS ARE PROHIBITED FROM PICKING FLOWERS FROM ANY BUT THEIR OWN GRAVES .

Tokyo hotel's rules and regulations:
GUESTS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO SMOKE OR DO OTHER DISGUSTING BEHAVIOURS IN BED.

On the menu of a Swiss restaurant:
OUR WINES LEAVE YOU NOTHING TO HOPE FOR.

In a Tokyo bar:
SPECIAL COCKTAILS FOR THE LADIES WITH NUTS.

Hotel , Yugoslavia :
THE FLATTENING OF UNDERWEAR WITH PLEASURE IS THE JOB OF THE CHAMBERMAID.

Hotel , Japan :
YOU ARE INVITED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CHAMBERMAID.

In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from a Russian Orthodox monastery:
YOU ARE WELCOME TO VISIT THE CEMETERY WHERE FAMOUS RUSSIAN AND SOVIET COMPOSERS, ARTISTS AND WRITERS ARE BURIED DAILY EXCEPT THURSDAY.

A sign posted in Germany 's Black Forest :
IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN ON OUR BLACK FOREST CAMPING SITE THAT PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT SEX, FOR INSTANCE, MEN AND WOMEN, LIVE TOGETHER IN ONE TENT UNLESS THEY ARE MARRIED WITH EACH OTHER FOR THIS PURPOSE.

Hotel, Zurich :
BECAUSE OF THE IMPROPRIETY OF ENTERTAINING GUESTS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX IN THE BEDROOM, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE LOBBY BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE.

Advertisement for donkey rides, Thailand :
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RIDE ON YOUR OWN ASS?

Airline ticket office, Copenhagen :
WE TAKE YOUR BAGS AND SEND THEM IN ALL DIRECTIONS.

A laundry in Rome :

LADIES, LEAVE YOUR CLOTHES HERE AND SPEND THE AFTERNOON HAVING A GOOD TIME.

Goodbye Hamsters

2010-01-25T23:49:00.000+08:00

It was a blistering hot day yesterday.

Before we went off to church in the morning, the hamsters were still running about, full of energy. We came home at 2.30pm to discover 2 of the hamsters in the upper aquarium had died.

(The other 2 hamsters in the lower aquarium are ok)

Yes of course the kids cried. The hamsters that died belonged to Stephanie and Josephine. We buried them in a pot of flowers.

We were trying to figure out why the hamsters died. We thought maybe it was sick... but.......

This morning, the 2 living hamsters seem lethargic. When I put in my hand to touch them, the air in the aquarium feels warm to me. It striked me then that it's realy really hot, and that's what killing the hamsters. So, I put the aquarium indoors. The hamsters are ok now .... i hope :-)

My Birthday

2010-01-21T01:07:00.000+08:00

What an awesome day.

Woke up at 6.35am (to wake my kids up for school) only to discover that they have already waken up at 6am!

What's this??????

I am truly truly Surprised!!

'Predictable' Surprise from Hubby :-)

A Green Birthday party! KFC and roast duck Picnic at the park :-) Yummy

Some uninvited guests. We were pretty scared of them, actually, so we quickly packed up the leftovers. As soon as we did that, the monkeys left!

The best Cheesecake in the world from 'The Leong's Recipe'. My sis made this one. It's really good. (pssst : the one Denielle made is really really really good)

Lots and Lots of Birthday wishes on Facebook. Viva FB!!!

Also pressies and card from the ever-thoughtful Cindy.

Dear Family & Friends,

Your warm wishes

Filled my Birthday

With wonderful joy and cheer

Thank you

for making this Birthday

the best yet ever.

Who is a pharmacist?

2010-01-18T00:32:00.000+08:00

Stephanie turned 10 last November. She's sweet, kind and helpful. (well she does have her moods sometimes too, who doesn't yeah?). She's also very talkative, and she loves adult company, especially if they would listen to her chatter :-)

Last Friday :

Stephanie : Uncle M, what do you do? What is your work?
Uncle M : I am a pharmacist.
Stephanie : *eyes rounded, looking impressed* Which farm do you work at?
Uncle M : *huh?*
Stephanie : You are a farmer's assistant right?

Pharmacist - Farm-Assist !!!

Do you know .....

2010-01-16T00:46:00.000+08:00

Jeremy asked us: "Do you know how many pieces of mangosteen will be inside the fruit?"

"I do!!" he declared! "All you have to do is count how many petals is at the bottom of the mangosteen!"

See.... 4 petals = 4 pieces!

Don't believe? Count again. 6 petals = 6 pieces!!! Wow!

5 petals = 5 pieces! Amazing

You know the answer now!!!

Honestly ...did you know this already? I didn't. I must be sleeping when the teacher was teaching this!!

God's creation is simply amazing.

At the Park

2010-01-14T23:07:00.003+08:00

We spent a lot of time at the Bkt Jalil park last hols.

Met many 'cousins' there!

The kids made up their own version of 'The Amazing Race'

Great to have some 'dirty' fun

Smoke gets in OUR eyes........We wondered why this man bothered.

Are you Indian?

2010-01-14T00:52:00.000+08:00

I have never tanned well. Instead of tanning, or becoming a delicious golden brown (or hitam manis), I 'charred' instead!

Spending a few days in PD last December took its toll. I was playing with a friend's toddler when he suddenly asked me "Are you an Indian?"

How's school?

2010-01-11T22:35:00.001+08:00

School started a week ago!

Yes, I was a teeny bit apprehensive about Jeremy

He was good throughout the week.
No unhappy incidents..... except for one last Friday . :-P
A boy called Jeremy a girl!
What did Jeremy do?
No, he didn't punch that bad naughty boy. (I warned him enough times already)
Jeremy screamed at him instead.
According to 'ear-witness', he could be heard all the way up to the 3rd floor!!
That boy ran!!!

Back in School!!

2010-01-05T01:22:00.000+08:00

Now I am happy, Happy as can be
Happy as can be
Happy as can be....
Now I am happy
Happy as can be....
the kids are finally back to school!

Yee-haw!!!!

Twenty Ten

2010-01-04T00:42:00.000+08:00

2010 !!!!!

Ten years ago, many were talking about the end of the world! They say scheduled to happen when the clock strikes 12 on 1/1/00......

So....The world is still around the last time I checked.... although somewhat more polluted and aged, and technology has advanced humankind to the level where it's possible to send your kids (who happens to be just in the next room) messages on Facebook to tell them that "they better log-out now or else....", and it's easier to update your friends (and the rest of the world who dont give a peep about you) on the latest in your life, without having to take the trouble to call and chit-chat. Me - I'm GUILTY :-P

So... how did we herald in the New Year? With friends and food of course. We invited a group of couples (who attended the CMPC - Catholic Marriage Preparation Course - with us), intending to countdown together. The kids were so excited, and kept asking if it's time yet. We were chatting and sharing stories, and before we knew it.... we missed the countdown!!! hahaha. TV3 was 2 minutes earlier than the clock in my kitchen!!

Kids insisted on counting-down anyway!!! So we did ..... from 5...4...3...2....1 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Hugs and Kisses all around!!!

Christmas

2010-01-04T00:23:00.000+08:00

Christmas - Jesus' Birthday!!

Christmas Eve - the usual 'do' with my side of the family - but this year, my Father was not around. After everyone has gone hme, the kids said 'something' seems missing in the celebrations. Then we all got teary-eyed when we realised 'WHO' is missing.

Christmas Day Lunch with Anthony's side of the family. Quite a small gathering. Not everyone is here this year. My MIL was in Penang celebrating Christmas with her daughters. A close cousin was in Genting with her children and grandchildren.

Christmas Day Dinner @ my home. We're really blessed with so many friends who brought so much food !!!

Digging into the turkey drumstick. Yum!!!

This turkey was huge & yummy. Many thanks to Ryan!!!

Helping to blow out Jesus' Burthday Candle :-)

It's about making others Happy!! The Giver is happier than the Receiver!

Day after Christmas Lunch - Cousin's wedding. Eat again. Will be followed by the actual Wedding Dinner on New Year's Day.

Day after Christmas Dinner - Friend's 25th Wedding Anniversary Celebration @ The Armada Hotel.

Blessed,
So Blessed

Thank you Jesus.

PD Vacation Dec 09

2009-12-23T02:27:00.000+08:00

Thanks to WSL, I found a way to upload photos onto blogger a lil easier :-).

Went to PD from 14 - 16 December for a well-deserved vacation (on my part, at least, i think!). Kids were so excited. We stayed at Tiara Beach resort, a water-park resort with slides and water-playground, sand-castling area and man-made beach.

We were here before in June 2007, and the kids liked it so much that we decided to go back. Looks like we were not the only ones who liked it here. They like it here too. In fact, they were swarming the whole place!!!

Except for the flies, we had lots of FUN!

Jumping straight into action!!

Making the Kids take a break at the Sand-castling area.

Night activites at Tiara Beach Resort

2 bedrooms Apartment. Kids had Fun 'sardined' together!

FUN at the REAL Beach

Dare-devils

Souvenirs from PD!

Hot Day

Heading Home

Now I need a vacation to recuperate from this Vacation! :-)

Frustrated Blogging

2009-12-21T00:46:00.002+08:00

I've been trying to update this blog for the past 3 days with photos from our PD Vacation.

We went to PD from 14 - 16th Dec (last week!), and I thought pictures speaks a thousand words. Guess the pictures I wanted to put in was too 'cheong-hei' (long winded) and Blogger kept crashing on me!!

WSL told me that she'll "quit as a Follower" when the blogs she's following are not updated frequently .... so, this is just a short post to keep my Blog at least partially updated, else my 'fans' might think I'm 'losing steam' .......

Ok.... just one photo first (i'll try to post up other photos later)

Support a Home

2009-12-11T00:10:00.006+08:00

All the camps and worskhops finally over as of yesterday. There's still the Church Christmas Party this Saturday (but that doesn't really count)... so I'm set to relax. Of course I still have Fitline and Breastfeeding... that's year-round work. (Actually not work la, since I really enjoy doing it, so it doesn't feel like 'work' - more like hobby. But I get paid for these hobbies! Good eh?)

I've always have an interest in Homes for Children. These homes not only take in orphans but also kids whose parents are not able to take care of them. Whenever I start talking of these Homes, invariably some people will comment that some of these Homes are very 'high-profile' ie, they have big corporations and many influential people supporting them. These people will also comment that they rather give their money to lesser-known Homes. and when I asked them which Home do they support, most will not be able to give me a name!!!

As I've been working closely with some of these 'high-profile' Homes, I found out a few facts:

1. Yes, they may be well funded, but all the monies goes towards the welfare of the children. These children, like any children deserve:
good food
good clothes
good education (it's difficult to get anyone to volunteer to tutor them for FREE, so tuition teachers have to be paid)

All the above can be bought with Money, and most of the time, all the money donated to these Homes are actually not eough! Home Administrators sometimes have to go looking for donation when they should be spending their time looking after the welfare of the Children.

2. It's a fact that most people are more willing to just give money, but not their time

3. And even if Big Corporations and Influential People support these Homes, they do not visit the Kids on a regular basis and give them what they need most - a warm, caring and loving HUG and ADULT EMOTIONAL SUPPORT - on a regular basis.

I know of this company. My friend was in the committee. They wanted to do some charity. When my friend suggested these 'high-profile' Homes, the other committee members shot down the idea, saying that these homes already got the support of many big organizations. They wanted a lesser-known Home. Guess what? 2 years later they still have not done any 'charity' for any Homes. Why? All Homes suggested do not meet their criteria of deserving their help. So what happens to the money collected? Dunno.

Why are many people against supporting these Homes? Some refused to give anything because they say the Home Administrators will only take for themselves the rice or canned-food donated. Do they have proofs? Mostly it's just hearsay. It's just rumours passing from one mouth to the next without a thought to find out for themselves if it's really true. It's really a bleak way of looking at people - with suspicion, thinking that all these people who worked for the welfare of the less-priviledged as dishonest or worse - crooks!!

If you can help just ONE child by regularly giving your help and love, you might just have changed this CHILD's future. And if you really want to support ONLY 'lesser-known' Homes, then do it!! Don't just yak about it.

It's rewarding

2009-12-06T00:01:00.005+08:00

I've not updated this blog for 10 days!!!

It's been a frenzied time for me. Feverishly promoting the school holiday camps. Runing north, south , east and west asking people to sponsor 15 less-priviledged teens so that they too can attend The YES! Camp which was held on 2 - 4 Dec 2009 (Wednesday to Friday).

It's already 1st Dec and with 4 more teens left unsponsored, but I knew somehow, someone will help us pull through. Amazingly (but not surprisingly), it happened! Thank you to all my good friends who either sponsored a teen (some even sponsored 4!) or heped me get the word out!. Indeed there are many great amazing people out there!

Someone asked... why am I doing this? Honestly, I'm not making tons of money from these camps (yet), but I do it because I really really enjoy it. I enjoy seeing the awareness and understanding dawning in the kids eyes. I enjoy seeing them come out of their shell and start opening up. I enjoy pushing them to their limits and have them succeed.

There were many participants who were initially not happy to be there. They were forced by their parents, or by their guardians(in the case of some of the sponsored teens)

There was this girl.... she was sulking. She was not happy to be there. Everything is boring for her. On the last day, she was smilling and high-5-ing her new friends. And she wrote "people are not that bad... i just have to give them, and myself a chance". That's great isn't it?

Another said "Now I appreciate all that I have. I will be more positive from now on, and not complain just because I don't get my own way."

Yet another, "I have been to many camps, but this is the best camp ever!!"

Out of 29 participants, all (but 1) had an amazing time. I'm not making this up. I've proofs!! I actually recorded them saying these! And I have it in writing too!!! Ask to see it if you want!

So... one did not enjoy himself. He felt that the camp was 'military' and he did not come to camp to be 'tortured'!!! He told me personally that he hated the camp. (But yet, during graduation time, when we gave out the certificates, he said that he had a great time.) Oh well.... you can't please everyone!!

I'm happy.

And exhausted.

But Happy

Very happy

Kudos Damian and Marcus!

2009-11-26T01:41:00.003+08:00

UPSR Results were out last Thursday (19 Nov).

As expected - 5As for both Damian and Marcus. (out of 87 students, 19 of them got 5As.)

Now we can all relax. The weeks before the exam.... the weeks after the exams.... were pretty torturous for Damian , and me! Damian - because that's Damian la. He allows his imagination to run wild with 'what ifs'.
What if he wrote the wrong thing,
what if he accidentally shade the wrong box,
what if he calculated wrongly.

And torturous for me - coz - he keeps 'what if-ing' with me!

One of his teachers was telling them about a student who didn't get the results she expected and she killed herself! I told Damian (the day before the results were out) that if he kills himself, I'll kill him!!!

So... UPSR so important meh? 5As so important meh?

On results day, one of the boys were seen with his fingers crossed, eyes screwed shut and chanting to himself "Pls let me get a C! Please let me get a C!" (He was expecting a D for his BM paper!)

Another boy who was totally not expecting it, continued to stare off into space when his name was announced as amongst those who has gotten 5As!

A girl cried coz she worked so hard for her BM, score the A, but then scored a B in another paper!

Seriously ... how important are the As? Yes, of course it's great to have, but seriously.....does it really determined our kids future?

Stephanie and Josehine is now worried that they can't get 5As. I always told them.... no need to compete with kor-kor. Be the best they can be. Always either do better or maintain their own standards. Good advice? And when they've tried their best (and don't get an A), I really think they deserve a reward for their efforts.

R.I.P s

2009-11-18T01:12:00.007+08:00

If you've read my kids blog, you'll know about the hamsters.

Tobias was more than 1 year old, so quite middle-age by hamster-age standard. (Hamsters have a life span of 2 years). When it died last Thursday (12 Nov) Damian cried his heart out.

Two days later, we got 3 new hamsters from Carrefour Sri Petaling. One for Damian, one for Stephanie and one for Jo. They paid for the hamsters themselves out of their allowances. And the next day, not even 24 hours later Jo's new hamster (Jocy) died. Steph's hamster (Casterfur) don't look so good either. Damian's hamster (Arwen) was still ok. Jo and Steph was sad, but not too sad.

So we took Jocy and Casterfur back to the Carrefour. Initially they didn't want to change the hamsters for me, but I made a fuss ;-) so, of course we got our hamsters changed. At the same time, Jeremy wanted his very own hamster, and he bought one (out of his own allowances too). He named it Magic!

So now we have Arwen, Jocy II, Bonnei & Magic! And not forgetting Lucky which is Tobias's son (he's almost 1 year old) Are you following me with all those hamsters' names?

Today ...... Arwen died! (after only 3 days with us) She was from the first batch of 3 hamsters we bought. So I guess the first 3 hamsters were sick. Damian cried like it's the end of the world.

Now I'm worried the other 3 hamsters (Jocy II, Bonnei and Magic) might be sick too!. Don't think I could take any more tears from them!

Panda Eyes

2009-11-15T23:42:00.003+08:00

This morning, Damian commented "Mommy you look like a panda!"

OMG!! This is from the son who used to think I was the most beautiful thing God ever created! (ahem!)

Panda eyes! I got panda eyes!!!

Ok.... calm down..... I'll log off now and go straight to bed!

Yes, I'll go to bed as soon as I finish answering the 10,000 emails, reading all the blogs, and updating this one! And going thru Facebook, updating my websites.... what the heck am I spending so much time on the internet anyway!!!! Ok - off to bed!! Good night!

Manners, dear

2009-11-14T02:07:00.002+08:00

A friend, W, told me that she passed on my name to a market research company. They were looking for bloggers to be part of a focus group (or something). She didn't think I would mind.

No, I don't mind. In fact, once in a while, I do like to do this sort of stuffs. Get me out of my usual routine, add some spice and the like, you know.... well sort of (as if I don't have an already exciting life with 4 kids and lots of relatives!)

Well, anyway, since W already informed me, I was ready when someone called. This was how it went:

Caller : Hello, are you Gina? I'm from Company SNV
Me: Yes, this is she. How may I help you?
Caller: What's your full name?
Me : (huh?) You called me and you want my full name without introducing yourself?
Caller: Yar, because on my list your name is only Gina. So, what's your full name?
Me : My dear, why should I give you my full name when I don't even know who you are and why you are calling me?
Caller : (sounding irritated) Miss Gina, I already told you I am from Company SNV.
Me : And you assume I know what company SNV is? (actually I do la)
Caller : Yes, we are a market research company, doing market research and I would like you to participate in our latest research. So, what's your full name please?
Me : My name is GYMK (gave her the full name, since she said 'please')
Caller : ok, Gina Yong, what's your IC number?
Me: Are you seriously thinking that I will give you my IC number when I dont even know your name yet?
Caller : As I mention just now Gina, I'm from Company SNV and we're doing market research and I need your IC to continue my questionaire

I am flabbergasted! Didn't Company SNV train their people on how to handle these calls? They didn't even bother to ask if I am willing to participate.

To Facebook or not to Facebook

2009-11-11T23:58:00.006+08:00

One of the greatest invention in the www is FACEBOOK.

"If Facebook is a country, it's the 8th most populated in the world just ahead of Japan, Russia & Nigeria" Zuckerberg (founder & CEO of FB)

I've reconnected with many ex-schoolmates, most whom I've lost touched with for almost 20 years!
I've made new friends, especially people with the same interests
I now have more than 450 'friends' on FB
And I get to know about their latest updates without having to call them and "how do you do?"

So, yes, FB is great!

Now my son wants to be in FB too! Why? Coz it's just what One do! ALL (that's an exaggeration of course!) his friends are on FB! They're hanging out like buddies on FB! Everyone is playing this bgame and that game, harvesting here and there!

Of course I do not want my son to be left-out, to be 'backwards'. So.... with Damian by my side, I try to sign him up. Opps .... you have to disclose your age! FB is only for 13 year-olds and above. And Damian will only be 13 in a few months time. So what do we do? The most obvious is - make oneself older by declaring that one is born in an earlier year. Bottom line - LIE about your age.

Damian decided that he can wait a few more months.

New Kids on The Blog

2009-11-06T22:16:00.002+08:00

I started this blog on 24 Feb 2009 - almost 9 months! When I first started, I was told that many people start blogs and then don't continue. To tell the truth, I was not sure if I will be one of the statistics as life was really very hectic for me.

What I discovered is that blogging can be very therapeutic. Helps me to de-stress after a hectic day. And most times, helps me to see things clearer after I've written it, and then re-read it in the blog.

My kids read my blogs too (except Jeremy! He's not interested yet.)

Damian asked if kids could have their own blogs. I asked him why would a kid want to blog? He replied "for money?" (Hahaha, I certainly have not made much $$$$ from blogging, tho I know some people actually have their main income (4 to 5 figures) from blogging.)

So Damian wants to try blogging. For money maybe (if we could find out how), but also for the fun of it.

"I want also!" both Jo and Stephanie said.

Want what?

"To blog. Like kor-kor."

Oh, and what will you write about?

"Dunno. But I want to blog"

So...now there're New Kids on the Blog: www.dsjj-asweseeit.blogspot.com

Spring cleaning toys

2009-11-03T00:22:00.005+08:00

Was doing some spring cleaning. Found so many stuffs. Didn't realise we had so many stuffs from McDonald's Kids Meal. And some from KFC Kids Meals too. OMG!... did my kids really eat so much fast food???

The maid is here!!!

2009-10-29T22:47:00.005+08:00

I got my maid!!! Yahooooooo!!!!!!

She came on Monday... so, have been with us for 4 days already. I've been praying for a good maid. Really praying. We tried to get one from the agency. Do you know that we have to pay about RM8700 to get a maid now? Agency fees plus 6 months salary in advance!! Needless to say, that's a huge chunk out of anybody's pocket!

My friends (husband and wife) had a maid who wanted to try greener pastures. So I got her to work for me, without having to go thru the agents! Thank God for great friends. They helped me to get her! Well,, yes, she's only been with me for 4 days, so it's hard to really tell if she's any good. But so far, she's been ok - willing to learn.

And suddenly I find myself with time. YES! Time to get back to work!!! So... guess what? I played games on FB!! (Something I said i wont waste time on). But hey... games on FB can be quite fun (and therapeutic)! :-P

Ok ... better get back to work! Got a few people to talk to the next few days. I know they're serious about losing weight and getting healthier, and I'm sure I can help them! Great!!

Jeremy & Exams

2009-10-27T16:25:00.011+08:00

Yes.... again!!

Happened yesterday. Teacher called! He refused to do his BM penulisan paper! I know! *BIG SIGH* What to do? What to do?

I went to school. He said if he can't get 1st in class, then he wants to get LAST! OMG! Where did that come from?

I asked, "How did you know you can't get 1st?"

"Because the last exam, I didn't get 100. Another boy already got 100 and they count the marks of 2 exams to get 1st"

Well, anyway, I'm not going to give you the blow-by-blow. What finally convinced him is the threat to send him to a holiday school and he wont get to go anywhere for the holidays. He will have to go to a boarding school and can only come back when normal school reopens next year!! (Ok... quick, where to find such a school .... just in case i really need one!) And if he purposely fail - off he will go to this school!

I sat outside the class for 15 mins. Then went to check on him. Turned out that he got most of the answers right. See how la, when the results comes out.

Today, he went to school happily. How come? He's sure he's going to get 1st in

Maths!

Chefs in the Making

2009-10-20T00:14:00.006+08:00

I have been now maidless for more than 2 months!! Really really tough. But now getting the hang of it. It ain't that bad. I got part-time cleaners, at least. But I'm tied down - can't go out as and when i like - can't go hospital anytime to help someone to breastfeed, making apppointments for fitline in the mornings, then have to rush back to cook and get the kids from school

Kids got it tough too. They've learned how to wash plates properly, sweep the floor, fold their clothes and put them into their proper place in the closet and cook!

Yes cook!

Damian cooked this Fried Rice (a bit wet tho) - I just gave verbal instructions and he did everything. The orange? His idea. he even cut them himself.

This dish was cooked by Josephine - all by herself, without me standing next to her!

The two girls having a blast. This dish (Seafood spaghetti), I got help la.

Not having maids can be a blessing in disguised.... but I still want one!!! I think I can 'see ' one coming soon! ;-)

Missing Kung-Kung

2009-10-16T00:53:00.006+08:00

I was out for a meeting when I received a distressed call fom home. Damian was on the phone sobbing his heart out. He must talk to me NOW!!! I rushed home in record time. (It didn't occur to me to call his father, who's at home babysitting!)

What was the emergency?

Damian read a story from Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul which made him think about his grandfather, Kung-Kung. That inspired him to write a poem. And then the tears started, and soon he was sobbing! Real big sobs! I just held him. What can I say? I wanted to cry too.

With Damian's permission, here's the poem he wrote. (You can see that it does not matter about rhyme and prose, as long as it came from the heart):

A man died a few months ago,
Suffering from a mistake he did long ago
His family misses him, although he's far,
But they know he's in their hearts.

They cry for him each other day,
For he is not around anymore
Many distractions have made them forget
But nothing can replace him.

'Him' is my grandfather
whom I love so much
Even if he's gone from Earth
He'll never leave my heart.

Jeremy

2009-10-09T17:29:00.003+08:00

My friend WSL asked (on msn) how come no more updates about Jeremy. I answered coz he's boring nowadays. nothing much happened.

Jeremy's been 'coughing' for quite some time. Why 'coughing' (and not plain coughing)? Coz it's not real coughing. It's more like there's some irritation in his throat and he's clearing it all the time with a cough. All the manuka honey and Superkid from Fitline dont seem to help (by the way, Jeremy hardly sees the doc, and even when he does, he hardly takes the medication given)

So, i took him see doc. and doc said that his throat is very dry and 'raw' probably from too much screaming or shouting. It's not infected, and his lungs is clear, and it's not a normal cough. So he must have hurt his throat from screaming.

Yar, that explains it! Jeremy has gotten into the habit of crying and screaming his lungs out whenever he's angry. Well... last time he screamed too... but now he's bigger, he scream more and very much louder too. Once, Josephine told me that Jeremy screamed and cried in school so loud that they could hear him in her class which is 2 floors above.

So I 'pakat' with the doc and asked (with a wink) in mock seriousness what can be done? Doc played along, and said 'well, if he does not stop screaming, and his throat really spoilt, then we've no choice but to cut it out."

Jeremy was:

It's all worth it

2009-10-09T00:51:00.006+08:00

Sometimes, something just happen out of the blue, and makes my day:

MoonCake Festival Dinner

2009-10-04T00:30:00.004+08:00

Mooncake / Lantern / Mid-Autum Festival today!! No need to cook! Uncle want to belanja makan at a restaurant. Yay!!!!

The family went to this restaurant. We've booked and ordered our meal a day in advance upon the urging of the manager as she said that they'll be very busy on account that it's MoonCake Festival. We ordered the set menu (Chinese 8 course dinner) that cost $688, plus extra dishes as there are 14 of us and the set menu is good for only 10 people.

7pm - arrived at the restaurant, wait for Mom and Uncle

7.30pm - Mom and Uncle arrived. Waitress said the food will be ready in 10 mins. Great.

7.40pm - Where's the food? Oh, another 10 mins. We observed a few other groups of diners entering the restaurant and seated.

7.50 pm - Food mana? Sorry ah, they're getting it. 10 more mins

8.00 pm -The table next to ours got their food. They ordered ala carte (not the 8 course set)

8.05 pm - Sis ordered white rice for Ben. We passed the time by trying to kill flies! Yes, there were flies!!! One into Steph's watermelon juice and drowned!

8.10 pm - I ordered white rice for Jeremy. The extra dish of Venison (not part of the set menu). We were so hungry it was gone within seconds!!! Where is the rest of our dinner????? Oh, there's a mistake in the kitchen. Dinner will be ready in 10 minutes!! Another table of diners who came in much later than us got their food!!!!!!!!

8.20 pm - No sight of our dinner! Our stomach is grumbling, kids are getting tired, we decided to walk out! Without paying for the drinks we already had, and the single plate of venison that we ate! Just walked out. The assistant manager quickly came after us and practically begged us to go back in. Full of apologies, she dragged mom back into the restaurant. So we went back in lor.

8.30pm - Dinner is (finally) served. The soup was bland, the vegetables has no taste, the fish was very salty (like eating salted fish), the chicken was weird. It was a very unsatisfying dinner. It appears to have been prepared in a hurry. The cook must have put too much salt in some dishes and forgot to salt the other dishes.

Oh another fly committed suicide in Jeremy's juice.

The bill came. Full charge on everything!!! Of course we complained, and ask for a discount. Uncle was saying never mind la, but we say, No, what's fair's fair. It's not that we're not going to pay. We just pay what's due. So, in the end, the restaurant gave us a 10% discount plus no charge on all drinks.

Well ... that's ok, i guess, but .... This is one restaurant I WILL NEVER GO BACK to.

I need more than 24 hours!!!

2009-10-01T22:00:00.004+08:00

So many things to do (when there's no maid)!

Get kids ready for school
Separate clothes for washing in the machine
Wash 1st Basket of clothes (usually dark coloured ones)
Wash up after breakfast
Marketing
Answer Phone (usually on Breastfeeding)
Hang clothes to dry
Put Marketing stuffs away into Fridge or cupboards
Sweep and Mop
Answer Phone
Log onto Net, Check emails, Facebook, etc
Shower
Answer Phone
Prepare Lunch
Pick up kids from school
Lunch
Wash up after Lunch
Talk to one of the kids
Phone again
Talk to one f the kids
Wash 2nd basket of clothes (usually whites)
Phone
Talk to one of the kids
Collect Clothes when dried (or scrambling to get them in from the rain)
Hang 2nd batch of clothes to dry
Talk to one of the kids
Help kids with schoolwork (maybe)
Phone
Talk to one of the kids
Fold and Iron Clothes
Talk to one of the kids
On the Net
Phone
Prepare Dinner
Talk to one of the kids
Walk the Dog, kids go cycling
Dinner
Talk to one of the kids
Wash up after Dinner (Anthonsiti will do this part)
Hide in the loo to escape the family (read a book)
Shower
Talk to one of the kids
On the Net
Tell Kids for the thousandth times to go get ready for bed
Prayers before bedtime
PEACE and QUIET
on the Net
on the Net
on the Net
zzzzzzz (usually at 2 am!)

Hyperventilating now.....

I need OXYGEN .....

I need HELP ......

I take my hats off to mothers who has to work and also manage their families, day in and day out without a maid to help.

Selamat Hari Raya

2009-09-22T15:48:00.010+08:00

I remember (in my childhood) .....

But now the only 'feel' of Raya is ......

Raya decorations in Shopping Complexes:

Is this 'sad' or what?????

Izma : Case Closed (?)

2009-09-18T00:53:00.004+08:00

So... the case is now considered 'closed'.

Had a meeting with the HM, her 2 assistants, the discipline teacher and the school counsellor on Tuesday. Izma was not present, tho I requested for her to be there.

Cut to the chase : Izma has insisted she did not slap Stephanie repeatedly with a book. She just 'touched' Steph's shoulders with a thin book!

Well, anyway, HM said Izma has been given a show-cause letter, and they'll be keeping an eye on her. And to further explain their investigation (and protect her teachers, of course), she invited one of the assistant (A-HM) and the discipline teacher, DT, to give their reports.

The A-HM said she spoke to a few students from Steph's class, and they all confirmed that Izma did not hit Steph. Anyone could imgine how frightened a child would be to be called to the office and be questioned about Izma! (Steph told me later that one of the nice and dedicated Teacher asked those students why they did not tell the truth. The kids said that they did not dare as Izma might start hitting them too! I spoke to the Teacher, but she said that she's not allowed to discuss the case.)

According to DT, who consulted the few teachers who teach in Steph's class, Steph is a rude, disobedient child. He implied that because of Steph's behavior, she deserved to be hit (?). Oh, you could imagine my fury. I lost it it!!! Raised my voice and everything. Pointed out to them that since Year 1, Steph has been getting an A on her attitudes towards her studies and school in general. She might not excel in certain subjects, but teachers has always given her good remarks when it comes to her behavior and attitude. And now they (the HM, DT & Izma, at least) are implying that Stephanie is a 'discipline problem'?

As I was nearly screaming, the DT quickly added that Steph's 'discipline problem' is 'mild'. At this time, the school counsellor quietly said that "Stephanie is a good girl". (He has been on the investigation for this case and has spoken at length with Steph). That calmed me down, and the DT tried to climb out of the hole he dug himself by giving all sorts of nonsensical excuses about what he meant by 'discipline problems'. In the end he just trailed off......

Well.... anyway, Izma wrote an official apology "kerana menyetuh anak puan di bahagian bahunya dengan buku nipis". (touching your daughter on her shoulder with a thin book). Initially, I refused to accept that apology because Izma refused to acknowledge her wrong.

But my hubby, ever the calm, cool man, played 'good cop' to my 'bad cop'. He said of course the teacher will not admit in writing that she hit a student. That will be like handing over evidence of a crime. And since she has been given a show-cause letter, her career prospects has been much compromised. So we'll accept this way of settlement now. If it ever happens again in future, a lawyer will be involved!

So.... the case is now considered 'closed'..... until the next time (?)

Sweet Siblings

2009-09-09T01:00:00.006+08:00

All his brother and sisters knew that kor-kor was stressed over his UPSR. Jo and and Jeremy woke themselves up before 6am and wrote a message for kor-kor on the white board in his room:

Teacher Izma

2009-09-07T22:51:00.008+08:00

Last friday, Stephanie (my 10-year-old) was repeatedly hit in the face with a book by a teacher! Her offence? She forgot to bring her book to school!

This teacher is well-known for hitting students. She's about 40+, wears long fake eye-lashes with studs on them (seriously), thick make-up, long fingernails with a ring on almost every finger. For this reasons, we dubbed her Izma (from Disney's Emperor's New Groove):

(think about the above in baju kurung, and you'll get the approximate picture)

She has been terrifying the kids since last year! This year, Josephine (Year 3) has her for Maths and Stephanie (Year 4) has her for KT (Kajian Tempatan).

She's a slapper! She once told a boy "The next time I'm going to give you a tight slap!" and she immediately slapped the boy! What happended to 'next time'????

She once banged two boys' head together because they wouldn't stop talking.

She told Jo's class that if they don't get an A for Maths, she's going to 'whollop' them!

She has been slapping and hitting the students, but no one dare complain coz the kids are terrified for she had warned them "if you complain to your parents and I get into trouble, you'll be in bigger trouble!"

Some parents knew about it, but no one complained as most likely, parents are afraid their kids will be victimized if they complained. This has been known to happen.

I am a "fair complainer". But I am also an 'appreciator'. Teachers know me. After all I've 4 kids in the same school!

You can imagine how I reacted when Stephanie told me on Friday (after school) that Izma used a book and hit both sides of her face. I was furious! I went back to school immediately (school's just 3 mins away from my house), wanting to confront Izma. She left already, but the HM and assistant-Head were still there. HM not free to see me, so Asst-H took down my complaint.

When I asked her what actions will be taken, she said that they will investigate, but the school is not obliged to tell me what actions were taken. (This is what they always say whenever a parent complain about a teacher or a situation). I told her that if they don't tell me what actions will be taken, then I'll just assumed no actions were taken. I'll lodge a police report and then go to Ministry of Education. That got her attention! As she cannot make decisions, she told me to come back on Monday (today) to speak to the HM.

Cut long story short, HM promised to investigate, but with UPSR and etc, she'll need time.

Stephanie came back from school today pretty unhappy. She told me that Izma scolded her in front of the class. Told her off for 'squealing' on her and getting her in trouble. Izma claimed that she did not hit her face. She was holding a notebook, and was going to tap Steph on the shoulder, but accidentally hit her face. Huh? Accidentally hit hit both sides of her face a few times?????

Izma asked the class who she has hit before. A girl put up her hand and Izma told her to 'put down your hands stupid girl!" No one else dare to put up their hands. Izma also told Stephanie that if she's so 'precious' she should just get out of the class and don't study or change school.

During Math period in Jo's class, Izma scolded Jo for not doing her work properly and say "I'm going to whollop your face if you do this again! You are just like your sister!"

I am horrified! How can this mad woman be allowed to teach????? I will insist on her termination!! I won't let this go without a fight!

UPSR tomorrow

2009-09-07T22:28:00.010+08:00

Finally, UPSR is just hours away! Damian has been counting down since the beginning of the school year and as the days pass, he got more and more tensed. We kept telling him to relax, but he seemed unable to do that. He tells me that everytime he thinks about UPSR, he gets stomach-ache and his heart beats faster.

Well... he doesn't excatly bury his nose in his revision books. In fact, I think he reads more story books than he does his school books. And he always gets good results - well, most of the time anyway, except for BM Pemahaman paper. That's the paper he's most worried about.

Hmmm.... we didn't have UPSR back then. We has something called 'Assessment Exams' in Standard 5. I was so lost during those primary years. I went to school one day and found out there's an important exam that day! Hahaha. I bet my brainy friend SY was prepared ages ago! (I mentioned SY here before.) I turned out ok. Didn't ace every subject, but I turned out ok.

But I know Damian will be ok. He'll get his 5A's.

What's the big deal about A's anyway?

Maids

2009-09-02T01:17:00.005+08:00

There are 2 new maids at home .....

Because the 2 maids are new to the job, they're not used to hard work. By the end of 1 week, both were scheming about running away.

The kids were very sweet.

They helped to wash plates (after which Ginawati has to rewash, due to the soap and sometimes grease and food still stuck on the plates).

They helped to sweep the floor (moving the dirt and dust from one end of the room to the other end.)

They helped to wipe the tables (sweeping all the food residue and bones under the table.)

They helped to tidy up their room (dumping everything out of sight into the cupboards.)

They helped.

Thanks!

............................. I mean it!!!

* kisses and hugs for them!

Sisters Buddies

2009-08-29T22:35:00.003+08:00

It's school holiday. The two girls have been at each other.

Mommy Jie-Jie (Elder Sister) did this
Mommy Jo-Jo did that
Mommy Jie-Jie not helping
Mommy Jo-Jo didn't help just now
Mommy Jie-Jie snatched
Mommy Jo-Jo wouldn't share
Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

(and the final straw)
Mommy Jie Jie hit me
Mommy Jo Jo started it first

I've warn you before..... no hitting!!!
And guess what I did?
I gave them each a stroke of the rotan! (so much about leading by example :-P)

Now they're best buddies again..... and angry with me. There's nothing like having a common enemy to go against to patch things up.

RIP dear Girl-Girl

2009-08-22T01:38:00.005+08:00

Names

2009-08-17T22:59:00.003+08:00

I made a digital scrapbook album for a good friend for her birthday and wrote her name and the origin of her name on it. Shortly after, she IM me:

CW: hey
CW: what does light/moon mean?
CW: on the cover of the photo album?
GY: that's the meaning of Cindy
GY: greek origin
GY: means light or moon
CW: oh yeah kah
CW: didnt know that
GY: :-)
GY: so suitable hor
GY: you're the light to those in darkness
CW: yup
CW: :-)
CW: what does your name mean in greek?
GY: Queen :-D
GY: latin origin
CW: LOL
CW: your name is very very apt
GY: see - english name Queen
GY: chinese name KENG - King
CW: LOL
CW: habis la
CW: pau ka liau
CW: all you sapu
GY: i pau-ka-liau
GY: ;-)

Anyway - HAPPY BIRTHDAY CW!!

Jo - a Nurse?

2009-08-13T00:19:00.003+08:00

I'm out of inspiration what to blog on. My life is currently 'boring'.

So I dug my brains/memories for some little 'stories' to share. This happened about 2 years ago when Jo was 7 years old.

We were at Children's Service in Church one Sunday, and the reading of the day was :

Matthew 4:18-20 (New International Version)
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.

The teacher explained what the passage meant, and then in her cheery voice asked "So, who wants to be fishermen for Jesus?"

All the kids in the room put up their hands except Jo. I gave her a nudge. She shook her head and gave me a worried look. Then in a loud whisper she said "But Mommy, I want to be a Nurse!"

7 is such a blissful age........ :-D

Picnic @ Tiny Tapir

2009-08-10T12:56:00.009+08:00

I joined a Picnic @ the Bungalow yesterday which was hosted by Tiny Tapir Eco Shop.

There were tables promoting stuffs ranging from baby clothings to eco friendly, home made sanitary napkins to hand-made costume jewelries.

I love visiting the bungalow. I give breastfeeding and nutrition talks there every 2 months or so. And everytime I visit, I ended up buying stuffs. This time, I bought:

If you do not know what it is - it's cloth sanitary napkins!! It comes in various sizes and thickness for different flows and days. I've started using cloth sanitary napkins since 6 months ago, and I really like it!! For one thing - there isn't the horrible stink that usually accompanies those commercial disposable pads. I mean - the menstrual blood actually don't smell when I use cloth napkins. Secondly, I feel better not contributing to the amount of garbage in the landfills! I am doing my part Saving the World!! Yay!

I was also very intrigued by Christene's Bento making demo. She seems to magically turn simple, ordinary, boring food into works of art! Watching her, I really admire her dedication to ensure that her family gets her best! I know bento-ing won't be my kind of thing - but it's really awesome watching someone else do it - and with such ease and flourish!

To see more of Christene's creation, click here. Yum!!

Kids are .....hmmmm....

2009-08-02T00:31:00.008+08:00

So, Jeremy is banned - from watching TV for 1 whole week!!! I told him that if he cheats when I'm not around, then it's an additional week! How did he take it? Well, he howled, initially, then it was quiet .......

(hmmm, maybe 'No TV' is not really a punishment. He's enjoying himself with his many sets of Lego - the newest set from Aunty SY)

We were discussing bad habits. The following is the general consensus:

Damian - Digging his nose!!! (Eeewwww...)

Stephanie - Talking too much, too fast.

Josephine - also Gigging her nose (double Eeewwww...)

Jeremy - crying and blaming other people

Daddy - not listening

Mommy? Oh, Mommy has no bad habits. Mommy is perfect

"But nobody's perfect" said Jeremy.

"But your Mommy's perfect!" I insisted

"I know what Mommy's bad habit is." declared Jo. "Mommy's bad habit is not admitting that she has bad habits!"

Life is back to normal

2009-07-31T23:15:00.004+08:00

Yes... indeed life is back to 'normal'. Why I say that? *Sigh* Another incident happened today at school......

Yes, it's Jeremy again. It's "Hari Suntikan' (some immunization jabs - I've lost track).

Well anyway, the kids were not warned. The nurses just turned up at school and almost all the Year 1 and Year 6 kids have to line-up for their turn to get a needle stuck into their arms! Some kids got 2 needles, and it seems there was this Year 6 kid who was given 4 jabs!!!! And so the news travelled about how that kid nearly 'died' - it was so painful. *eyes rolling*

Ok .... so it's Jeremy's turn. And he had no idea what was happening. In his own tearful words.....

"I was just lining up and suddenly the nurse grab me and put a needle into my right arm! Pain ma! So I kick her lor! Then 2 other nurses came and grab me and that first nurse put another needle ino my left arm. I kicked all of them."

He created such a havoc that his kor-kor Damian came running. Jeremy held onto kor-kor and wouldn't let go. He refused to go back to his class and followed Damian to his class instead. So what do you expect a 12 year old to do? Damian's teachers told him that he should have just left Jeremy to cry. That Damian is not helping his little brother by manja-ing (moddle-coddling) him.

Damian felt real bad. He's afraid that he might had just played a part in Jeremy turning out to be a monster. Are the teachers right? What do you think?

Moving On

2009-07-25T22:38:00.006+08:00

It's been almost a week since Pa left us.

On one hand, I know that it's a good thing. That he no longer suffers. That his illness was short. That we were able to take care of him in during the 3 weeks he was sick. That his kids manage to pay filial piety before he dies. That we were able to be by his side at the time he breathed his last.

Some people commented that the fact he died before breakfast (at 6.32am) shows what a considerate person he was. That he left all good things (and all his meals) to his kids. He was also considerate in the sense that he died on a Monday, thus allowing us to observe all the 7th-day observations (on 7 consecutive sundays). We kids do not need to take leave from work.

One thing I'm truly thankful for is my 2nd Brother-in-Law who took it upon himself to settle all of Pa's medical bills. He certainly did not need to do so, and I'm grateful for his generosity.

I'm also grateful that somehow with all our differences, we 5 sisters and 1 brother remain united. (We hear stories about so and so who has a fall out with a sibling etc etc or so and so no longer on talking terms with a family member etc etc.)

So many things to be thankful for. So many blessings.... yet when I go to sleep at night, all the emotions come crowding in, and I start to weep. My eldest boy told me this morning that he don't know why, but when he closes his eyes at night - he wants to cry. I hug him and told him "It's ok to cry. In fact it's good to cry. We must spend some time mourning. Then we move on...."

I also pray that my mom will also mourn.... and then move on. She's been living with him for more than 45 years... now single again. I imagine it's not going to be easy for her.

Goodbye Pa

2009-07-23T00:17:00.006+08:00

Pa passed on ....
Monday (July 20th) @ 6.32am.

We mourn .....
but we can move on ....
for we understand ....
it's better this way ....
to allow him ...
to leave his body ...
wrecked with pain ....
and go to a place ...
where eternal rest attained ....

A good man ...
With all his faults ....
A quiet man ...
who likes his mahjong ....

The testament of his Life...
Us 6 kids ...
All grown now ...
with kids of our own...

All of us ...
with no regrets ...
Say "Godbye Pa, go now in peace ...
You know for sure ...
We'll take care of Ma"

We see your smile ...
We feel your love ....
You say "I go now in peace...
For look at you kids ...
My work here ..
now is done...
This goodbye is not forever ...
Much unlike ...
Our love for each other ... "

Master Mind Power?

2009-07-15T00:22:00.003+08:00

I'm soooo excited to share this with you now, because I've had a chance to try this myself, and it is almost unbelievable how powerful this is: http://www.mindmovies.com/?13770

I apologize if I get right to the point, but this is too important to spend a bunch of time dancing around it. Let me explain...

One thing I've noticed along the way is how difficultit can be to try and get your "inner game" finely tuned so you actually can achieve what you want in life. This applies to business, personal life, finances...EVERYTHING. Sure, you can set goals and all that, but somehow you just seem to lose focus before you get there. It's kind of like too much garbage gets in the way, you know?

All that is about to change!Because now there is a powerful way to literally set your sights on what you want to happen in your life, and then GET IT--simply by watching a movie.

I'm NOT kidding. The best thing is for you to see how this works for yourself. I think you'll catch the vision very quickly when you do. Watch this to find out how to achieve anything you want: http://www.mindmovies.com/?13770

P.S. I Almost forgot to mention, they have some great bonuses ... so check them out, and see how this can help achieve all your goals in life. http://www.mindmovies.com/?13770

A Pasar Malam Experience

2009-07-10T23:11:00.004+08:00

I took Damian to makan dinner at the local Pasar Malam (Night Market). He has been to the Pasar Malam , ummm, maybe 4 times in his entire life, so you can imagine that this is indeed a treat for him and he's eager to try some new stuffs.

We decided on Asam Laksa and some sinful fried chicken fillet with cinnamon and fresh chilli powder (yummy!) We have to share a table with this man (in his late 40s, maybe). He was eating his asam laksa quietly, he doesn't look like anyone you'd take notice of.

Immediately after his dinner, the man lighted a cigarette and literally blew smoke into our faces and food! Damian coughed and look meaningfully at me. I said to Damian, "It's all selfishness. The world would be a better place if we're not so selfish."

And to our shock, the smoker started yelling at us "What's wrong with me having a quiet smoke after my dinner? Can't I enjoy life?!!!!"

I stared back at him (coolly, I believe), "Of course you can enjoy life, but we have the right to breathe un pollutted air!"

He continued yelling, "Then drop dead! Your son can also drop dead! Hah! I was not disturbing anyone! I was just having a quiet dinner!"

Damian was obviously shaken. I whispered to him "It's ok. Just finish our dinner. When someone curse you, the curse will fall back on him."

And he continue shouting (yes, people were looking) "So what if the curse falls back on me? Hah! You don't like ciggarette smoke, don't come out of your house-la!"

I fixed my eyes on him and stared daggers at him. (Anyone who's familiar with the killing-look-of-a-mother will know what I'm talking about.) He immediately shut-up. He finished his ciggy and dialled someone on the phone and started yelling into it saying "If you don't pay up I'll just have to force you" (yar, like that kind of talk is going to scare me!)

I continued staring at him ... making him all flustered. Then we left, only after I slowly finish my asam laksa, all the while staring at him!

Damian was troubled by the whole incident. I explained that maybe that man had a real bad day, and is somewhat crazy, and the slightest provocation sets him off. Poor guy!

"What about him telling us to drop dead?" he asked

It's like this. If you throw a stone at a wall, what happens? It'll bounce back and hit the thrower, right? We are like the wall, protected by our strong faith and values, and no curse can touch us. We are children of God and Jesus is our Lord after all. Who can harm us?

Damian is more relieved after that.

At His Bedside

2009-07-07T23:13:00.007+08:00

Its hard to explain just how I feel,
This moment seems so unreal.
It was only weeks ago
You were up and on the go.
Seeing you in so much pain and distress,
I pray the Lord would just lead you home,
away from the losing battle inside,
to a place where eternal peace awaits.

Happy Birthday Jeremy

2009-07-05T22:36:00.007+08:00

Yes, he has a blast yesterday!!! Transformers 2 at Midvalley, Pizza and drinks at home with family and 2 special aunties who knew just what he wanted - another Transformer toy!

Today, he said to me quite sadly "It's going to be a whole year before I get another birthday."

Then he asked "How many more days till Christmas?"

I went to buy a cake for him. The cashier asked if I wanted to write anything on it. I said "Jeremy, dia 7 tahun ya" (Jeremy, he's 7 years old ya), and she proceeded to write:

Is it July 4th yet?

2009-07-02T11:51:00.004+08:00

On June 1st, Jeremy declared that he will be "good from today."

Why from today? I asked

"Because it'll be my birthday in one month's time."

He did try.... but he keeps forgetting and has to be reminded every hour or so.

He has been checking the calendar in the dining room almost everyday. To see if it's July 4th yet.

only 30 more days to go
only 22 more days to go
only 9 days to go
and suddenly today .... oh gosh! .... only 2 more days!!!

And we haven't plan anything for him!! (yes, I feel guilty)

He didn't ask for any party.

I think he's just hoping that when he opens his eyes on his birthday his fairy-godmother would have arrived and left him an enormous present. One that cost RM29xx !!

(we have this tradition in my family where the birthday kid will wake up and see presents on his/her bed. Everyone - mom&dad, bro and sis will give something, small or priceless!)

So today I frantically called on a few of my friends and asked if they will come for a pizza dinner on Saturday. Jeremy's so lucky to have all these sweet aunties who say 'Yes, I'll be there' even tho it's so last minute.

Good to be home

2009-07-01T13:51:00.015+08:00

I went to Singapore last Wednesday and came back on Sunday 2am! After 5 days away, I was exhausted. Saw this:

Aren't they the best? Makes all the hard work so worthwhile.

Happy Daddy's Day!!

2009-06-22T00:41:00.004+08:00

Guess who's head this is?

Well... of course I have the full face photo as well... but I think he'll be embarassed if I post it up here. :-)

He was really sporting, playing with the kids, and he let the girls use him like their dolls. They really have an amazing time with him.

"Anyone can be a Father, but only he who really give his Heart can be a Daddy. "

I LOVE YOU DARLING.

A little Influential

2009-06-17T22:16:00.003+08:00

We were on our way to the library. Waiting for the traffic light to turn green.

Suddenly Stephanie exclaimed, "Oh my gosh!! Look at those bad men!

Everyone turned to look at the car next to ours. Two men were eating kuaci (sunflower seeds) and chucking the shells out of their windows. All my kids stared aghast at them.

"So bad, they're treating the world like their dustbin, hor mommy?" Jeremy commented

The 'bad men' realised that they were being stared at.

Josephine shook her index finger at them, (like a mother shaking her finger at her child who's being naughty).

Damian shook his head at them and gave them a disgusted look.

The men had the decency to blush and looked embarassed. They continued eating their kuaci, but kept the shells in their hands.

Even kids can make a difference, be a little influential.

Jeremy..... again

2009-06-15T23:22:00.003+08:00

Three weeks ago before the school holidays, the kids sat for their exams. remember Jeremy refused to do his BM test? Well, he did do it the next day. Teacher said he completed it in 15 mins. Jeremy said he "simply do". Guess what he got?

BM Kertas 1 - 93%
BM Kertas 2 - 92.5%

Oh, another incident happend with the Maths test. He completed the paper in 20 mins. He then started tearing out papers from an exercise book (buku conteng-la) and folding them into paper-planes and throwing it.

Teacher (the same one as BM Teacher) told him to stop. When Jeremy ignored her, she got angry and took his book away and threw it into the wastebasket!!! Jeremy also got angry, crumpled up his Maths paper and threw it into the basket too!!

If it's up to me - I'll have left the paper in the basket and given him a big 'ZERO'. But the teacher picked it up.

Well.... he got 100% for Maths! And Teacher gave him $1.

I know I should be worried about Jeremy's 'naughtiness'. After all the yelling, screaming and spanking - thinking about it - Jeremy does add flavour and colour to my life.

"Nurture his strengths & strengthen his weaknesses" . That's what my big sis advised me. Great advice. Yar, I guess I'll just go ahead and follow it!

My Millionaire

2009-06-14T23:58:00.007+08:00

Attended the Millionaire Mind Intensive by T.Harv Eker with Damian.

Damian has always been very money-minded. While some [like some older folks, and even some younger ones] might frown on this, I actually encourage this!! How I wished I have been money-minded from an earlier age! Then I would have learned more about making and managing my money and not make the mistakes I made!

So.... Damian is having an early start!! When asked why he wants to be rich, his answers are the usual buy books & toys, live in big house and go on holidays. But on his list there are also:

build libraries for all the poor people

save the planet by creating environmental awareness

build schools

give money to people affected by natural disasters

Now of course you might still be able to do that if you are poor, but we believe we can do more if we are rich!! And we'll have more fun too!!!

Keep Moving Forward Damian!!

School Holidays

2009-06-08T17:44:00.004+08:00

"WHAT ARE WE DOING TODAY?"

It's been a week!
A week of "What are we doing today?"

Since school Holidays started on 30 May, what have we done?

May 30 : Work. Kids stay home babysitting our new temp maid.

May 31 - June 1 : Went to Sungai Klah, Hot Springs with sisters and cousins. It was ok. Kids wanted to stay longer..... but us parents must go back make more money first.

June 2 - 3 : Yelled at kids to stop yelling at each other.

June 4 - 6 : Girls went for church camp from 8 - 4.30 daily. They came back and taught me lots of songs. A little quiet at home

June 6 - 7 : Damian went for a "Daddy & Me" camp with Daddy. Cam back with lots of mosquito bites and bodyaches. Saturday (June 6) was really quiet, with just me and Jeremy. He was ok being by himself and his Lego. But, every 5 mins he'll ask me when je-je or kor-kor will be back.

June 8 : watched 'STAR TREK' at GSC MidValley

June 9- 10 : Steph and Damian frantically trying to finish their homework. They have to do scrapbook for Kajian Tempatan. Steph's is "RUMAH" and Damian's is "INUSTRI DI MALAYSIA". Not like the scrapbook we did 25 years ago where we have to cut from newspapers & magazines and write in pen/. Now they can just cut and paste from internet and print!

June 11 : That's today! It's now 1 am. Well be going to Genting Highlands at 8am!!!! Good night!!! Errr... technically, Good morning! Whatever!