michelle's coffee breaks

Connected Again

2010-10-03T01:08:00.000+08:00

Hello world.

Have been away for almost a month. Away as in internet absence for almost a month.

The recent months had been really really good. I have been reading quite a bit (random books), bought a Yoga mat, went away and had some quality time with hubs and my living dynamo, tried out some new recipes (I finally made my own Aoili!), walked my son to the park outside our house several times, read to him every other nights before we kiss goodnight (recently he is loving the ‘Gruffalo’), gazed at the stars and tried locating Mars and Jupiter, did a round of “Mickey-Musical-Latern which was given by our nice neighbors” during the Mid Autumn Festival and gee, the list goes on.

Frankly, I’ve been living without a personal PC for almost a month. No private emails, no blogging, no online shopping (opps), facebook etc. It has been really really good. This whole disconnectivity with the circular world felt good. It feels like I just went through some cleansing ritual, and really, I would strongly recommend this whole disconectivity-pursuit if you are feeling pressed and “a little too-into the rat race”. I think one should really do this, well, as least for me!

The past month has been an overwhelming month as well because we traveled as a family for the first time. No mother, sisters, in laws, tour guides, nothing! So, it was just the 3 of us, Ethan, hubs and I; we did the Land of the Rising Sun. That was an adventure I tell you. Armed with the only Japanese words I knew “arigato, sushi, sashimi, tempura, and chawanmushi” we conquered the land of Shinkansens, hub to the latest electronic gadgets, historic ryokans, GOOD FOOD, and seriously, good good food! I’ll write more about it soon.

While all these were happening, my son is now turning into a young broadcaster. He is picking up new words everyday and the latest addition to his vocabulary is .. yes, the much anticipated “penis”. It all started when Ethan did a leak while he was in his underwear ( we are trying to potty train him) and the horrified daddy had to clean up the mess. So big daddy took Ethan away from the targeted spot, wiped the stained floor, pull down Ethan’s underwear and sent him into the bath tub for clean-up. While cleaning up, big daddy pointed at baby e’s mini pride and glory and said “Ethan, when you she-she, you have to tell daddy and mummy”. Immediately, the baby pointed at his own p&g, giggled and said “she-she”. So big daddy had to do some correction, quickly he pointed to the mini one and said, “Ethan this is penis… you see, P-E-N-I-S”. Naturally, my brilliant son followed “pee-nise”. Ahhhh, and so it is done, the introduction to Penis 101 has began (try beating this) at 21 months. HAHAHAH. But seriously, he knows his penis, well at least the location of it. =)

It has been an amazing journey with Ethan so far. He is now coming to 22 months and showing early signs to the much dreaded terrible two. Yes, the time of trying to be independent while having to be dependent. Amazing isn’t it, how God create 2 year olds. I just love them!

It’s past midnight and all the other living creatures in the room are fast asleep. My head’s spinning and will need to hit my cradle now.

So for now, sweet dreams and good night!
I’m connected again.

A weekend of fine street food

2010-08-05T00:38:00.000+08:00

25-28 February 2010

We were in Hong Kong recently (well, not so recent really) for a short gastronomic trip. We also took the opportunity of wanting to be in Hong Kong during the Chinese Lunar Year. Streets were buzzing as usual, traffic was horrendous – as usual, people were rude – AS USUAL, but thank God that the food was good – as usual! Hence, we were there!

Ethan was his usual self when on a plane. He looked ecstatic because he knew he wasn’t going to get his usual stay-at-home-routines. The smart boy somehow knew that we were going on a family trip, as he was all jolly and cheerful. This is not his first time in a plane. So, it didn’t look too alien to him.

However, I must comment that I was not very pleased about our Cathay Pacific flight from Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong. The stewards and stewardess were not as friendly, and at one point, it passed to me as rude. They were a number of Vietnamese on board, and typically one wouldn’t expect them to speak English. (not when these passengers looked like they were farmers or one who spent more than half his life in a paddy field.) It looked like they were a couple of families traveling together; and obviously they wanted to sit together. One of the steward was trying to sort their seats out, wanting to make sure that they sat according to their boarding passes and not with their family. Problem was, there were a horde of passengers waiting in line behind the steward… ridiculous isn’t it?!? So there he was, raising his voice to these really innocent looking farmers while the others stood still – just watching, and waiting. I was seated a few rows in front and as I observed the commotion, I just couldn’t help but to think why must he do that. Can’t he just have them seated down first, get the other passengers to their allocated seat, and then finally sort their seating arrangement according to the boarding passes. Sigh – Hongkies. (excuse my language. I know it’s rude to address them this way, but heck, they aren’t any better).

Also, I just couldn’t believe that Ethan wasn’t allocated a bassinet seat as we have requested for it endless times prior to boarding. All they could say was they have put in a request but priority were for younger infants (I don’t exactly know for what reason bassinets are for younger infants… weight? Convenience? comfort?) . Now the problem was, I spotted 3 infants on board and only one was allocated a bassinet.. and yes you have guessed it right, the one allocated was a white baby – probably American. I thought it only happened in Malaysia Airlines, but I suppose it’s an Asian thing. The Asian attendants will treat the whites with pure respect, give the best cabin service and flash their utmost charming smile. Contrarily, the same group of Asians attendants would raise their voices, swift through the lanes without even stopping to assist (an Asian traveler) who just pressed for attendant assistance, created a huge scene and made their fellow Asians looked respectably stupid! Sigh!

Oh ya, I asked for an extra bun for Ethan because they only gave him 2 jars of baby food. My baby eats rice. So, I needed some buns to substantiate his meal. I was told to wait till she finished serving,.. meanwhile, she couldn’t even spare me an additional bun from the huge basket of buns which were filled to the brim. Anyway, I gave Ethan my bun and did not bother making a huge fuss about it.It wasn't a good experience with Cathay Pacific at all. Given a choice, I will not choose Cathay Pacific for any of my travels in future. I thought it was bad, real bad!

So, anyway, back to the trip. The really funny thing about this trip was that it’s a food gallivanting trip. Our unwavering spirit of eating took us places we didn’t know; we just followed the good old Hong Kong best food guide (which were printed in Chinese, but that wasn’t an issue for us because my family could read Chinese – ok, exclude Adrian, Ethan and I. My mum and my two sisters can read Chinese).

This dish, looked nothing special is actually a plate fish floss noodles. It came with a bowl of clear soup and the fish floss was all crunchy and tasty. I tell you, the Hong Kong people really know their ingredients. The combination, although sounded funny but was delicious.

At Yeong’s Noodle, 219 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai

Who could miss the most sought after and seemingly best egg tarts in town when in Hong Kong. Nope, we couldn’t! We walked, took the Ting-Ting, walked, walked on the walkalator, climbed some steps, climbed many steps, walked some more and … tasted the best egg tart ever.

I must say it was good. Worth the ‘walked, took the Ting-Ting, walked, walked on the walkalator, climbed some steps, climbed many steps, walked somemore’?… I’m not sure. But we didn’t mind just walking and eating.

And of course, Ethan didn’t mind walking anytime.
It was freedom for him.

Milk toast and steamed milk, Yee Shun Milk Company.

This is a must try for those who likes our malaysian tou fu fa. The texture could pass as tou fu fa, but imagine it even smoother and softer. and when in your mouth, it melts. One funny thing about this place, we each had to order an item. Should we not order, we will be charged a HKD5.00 each. So we had to order; chocolate milk, tea milk, steam milk, coffee and a milky toast. Gee, that wasn’t cool. We left with a stomach full with fluids, or rather milk.

I tell you, this is one of the best buns I've tasted in my entire life. Perfect combination of sweetness, saltiness, is crunchy on the outside and soft like marshmallow on the inside.. Please head over to Macau Restaurant on Coastway Bay when in Hong Kong.

Trust me, It'll leave you wanting more...

Ethan with both the yi-yis at the Peak.

This is not Ethan's first time out of the country. We first brought him to Singapore. He was very well behaved, and of course was his curious self as always! This boy of mine was overjoyed to have his yiyis, mummy, daddy and por por with him for the whole long weekend. It was a good trip really, we ate and ate and ate.

Did I say we ate and ate and ate? Oh yes, I just did!

My young man stole the hearts of these ladies in the hotel lobby. And in return, the ladies over at the reception couldn't help but fell so madly in love with him, they gave him soft toys after soft toys after soft toys.

It was a good holiday!

Lego time!

2010-07-20T22:42:00.000+08:00

Lately, I have graduated Ethan from his set of wooden ABC blocks to the more sophisticated looking blocks; the good old Lego Duplo. We have been building airplanes, somewhat-giraffe-looking animal, a green-man, and incomprehensible objects (well ,my husband calls it "building out-of-the-box"; hmm, that didn't sound too bad really) just to name a few.

Anyhow, just when I feel so proud after constructing something interesting looking, my engineer-in-the-making will seize it away and de-construct them, each one of them into pieces, back to its original shape … after EVERY ONE MINUTE of play. Speaking about short attention span. Never thought my effort could last only a minute?!?

I can only do less than 10 minutes each lego session and I have obviously run out of objects to impress him.

I think we need new toys.

Gee, I can’t wait to see him construct his own objects because obviously I can’t wait to de-construct them!

sour-paus

2010-07-18T23:44:00.000+08:00

As some of you guys knew, I went for a 9km marathon with hubs this morning. So, last night, I thought of a brilliant idea to make Red Bean (tausa) Pau for all of us for breakfast.

So what I did was, I prepared the tausa dough last night, left it in the oven to proof. Thougt I should only line the paus in the steamer this morning so that all of us would have a nice piping hot tausa pau for breakfast.

However, when I went down this morning at 6 to steam the paus, to my horror, I saw these awful, ugly, flat and bubbly pau dough sitting on the oven tray starring at me! THEY LOOKED SICK!!! Immediately, I darted over to my computer to google why my sweet looking tausa pau turned into an ugly-sick looking pau this morning. URGH….

Answer is: I over-proofed my paus.

Gee. So I learned a lesson not to over proof dough(s) for paus, breads etc. Here I thought it would be an intelligent idea to let it sit and to serve it fresh the next day. Not so intelligent after all. ?!

So, I came across some tips when making dough/bread/pau/buns or rather what went wrong when…

Crust is Too Thick
• Too much flour
• Insufficient rising
• Oven temperature too low

Baked Loaf Crumbles
• Dough not well mixed• Too much flour added
• Rising place too warm
• Dough allowed to rise too long
• Oven temperature too low

Bread has Sour Taste
• Rising place too warm and dough rose too fast
• Dough rose too long before being baked

Dough Does Not Rise
• Water temperature too cool for dissolving yeast• Dough to stiff – reduce flour
• Rising place too cool – raise in warmer area

Bread has Dark Streaks
• Uneven mixing or kneading
• Bowl greased too heavily
• Dough not covered during rising

Bread has Holes in it
• Air not completely pressed out of dough during kneading and shaping
• Dough rose too long before baking

Tops of Bread Cracks
• Bread cooled too rapidly – probably in a draft
• Dough too stiff – reduce flour
• Dough not well mixed

Bread Doesn’t Rise in Oven
• Rising place too warm
• Yeast weak or old
• Dough allowed to risk too long

Bread is Heavy and Compact
• Too much flour added
• Dough not allowed to rise long enough
• Certain flours create heavier products (whole wheat and rye)

Bread Doughy Inside and Coarse Grained
• Loaf under baked
• Insufficient rising

Bread Falls in Oven
• Dough rose too much before baking

Bread Does Not Brown on Sides
• Pan too bright which reflects heat away from sides
• Overcrowding in oven
• Poor pan placement – try a different area of the oven

Bread Smells and Tastes of Yeast
• Rising time too long
• Rising place too warm

Bread is Doughy on Bottom
• Bread left in pans to cool. Remove from pans and cool on rack

My goodness. Its not all that easy to make a nice tausa pau isn’t it?

Anyways, all of us ate the ugly looking paus. They tasted a little sour, but the tausa taste manage to cover-up the sour dough. And so, should you want to try making sour paus, ladies and gentlemen, just overproof your paus!

Jog for Hope 2010

2010-07-18T01:40:00.005+08:00

Good grief!

I'm joining my husband for his uni's charity marathon drive, Jog for Hope 2010 tomorrow. I'm pretty nervous now. The last time I did running/cross-country, I always finished in the top 10. Right now,after more than 15 years of not running, I'm just hoping I won't be in the LAST 10!

a sweet treat

2010-07-17T12:35:00.000+08:00

I made this low fat strawberry ice-ream for the boys.

I'm not usually a strawberry ice-cream person, but I enjoyed this thoroughly myself.

So, I had to dig into my son's share...

I was happy!

Ethan at 18 months

2010-07-14T23:47:00.001+08:00

Can I say Ethan's development is growing... exponentially? Gee. He is amazing us with new tricks, words, behavior, and smiles everyday. Just yesterday, we found out that he could put together two/three words together... ie
daddy car
car key
yiyi car
kick ball
cut cake (yiyi has been baking and icing for the past 4 weeks and therefore we had to cut and eat her beautifully decorated cake for the past month)
a, d, she
one, the, tee
a, d, she, d,e, e, g…

We found out that he is able to self feed, but seriously messy. I think we should be making him feed himself more often. And the one time when we gave him a spoon to scoop some mini ice cream cup, he took it with his left hand...uhoooo. so we kinda think he is a leftie.

He loves to eat... we're not really sure if he eats well and if he is eating enough... but sometimes he does eat my kind of portion. On a typical weekday over at the grandma's, he would start off the day with a bottle of 200ml milk, then a huge bowl of cereal for breakfast. For lunch, he would either get a huge bowl of ABC pasta, soup noodle or porridge. He has tea between 4-4.30 and he gets 2 mini pods of yogurt, and 1 kiwi fruit or a banana or sometimes a slice of bread with cheese. Then for dinner, he gets another huge bowl of pasta or porridge.

That's alot isn't it? I don't think I eat as much and as frequent.
Anyway, the drama happens when are on the dining table.

For example:

Eating Mangoes.
Now that it's the mango season.. not sure it is but we have been getting good mangoes, my little champ and I have been feasting on mangoes.

Last night when I asked if he wanted mangoes ... and he started saying ango, ango ango... angoooOOOOOOOO, angoooooooooOOOOOOOOOO, ANGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO... and so

I took out the mango, showed it him and he went ANGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..

And so I had to say WAITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT, mummy cut and give! And he replied... "pissss".

10 minutes later he was giggling.

More dramas...

Butter Cheese

Last weekend, hubby and I thought we should just have the old fashion favourite breakfast at home before we head off the day with heaps of activities lined up - back to back! We tossed 2 slices of whole meal bread in the toaster, I had a cup of coffee while hubby had a cup of tea. Then I took the butter dish and a bottle of strawberry preserves to go with the toasts. Ethan was on his highchair next to us eating his cereal. When we opened up the butter dish, he looked at the dish and screamed cisssssssshhh... cisssssssssshhhhhhhhhh... reached out to the dish and screamed cishhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Hubby and I looked at each other, and we looked really puzzled because there weren't any cheese on the table. And for the loudest time, he looked at the dish and yelled CISHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..... and then hubby and I cracked and laughed... Our smartest 18 month old wanted to eat a block of butter because it looked like a block of creamy juicy cheese! And obviously he didn't get the any cheese or butter that morning!

Bedtime stories

So far, we have been quite lucky with this little dynamo because he can actually sleep anywhere, at anytime, and at any position when is tired. And so we learned the trick. To have him do all sorts of activities to zap off his energy during the day and so hubby and I could have some quite time at night. And right now, his bedtime routine will start off hubby giving him warm wash and wipe down, change into his pajamas and finally he gets to choose a book for bedtime stories. Sometimes we will all jump into bed together for bedtime stories. I love it when daddy reads "We're going for a bear hunt"! Funny thing is it's ideal that he goes to sleep (or rather we all go to sleep) after ONE book... but hey no. Our part-time night owl sometimes insist we read the same book a zillion times before he hits slumberland. So what happens when daddy is zonked and mummy is busy ironing, we just chuck in one of his favourites and he will be "reading" his book, and I mean "reading" out LOUD. And sigh, after ironing a mountain load of clothes, I find my tot snoring, with the book next to his mouth and half of it wet! Obviously he has been experimenting if he could potentially chew up the book and swallow it like one of his teething biscuits.

My son.

18 months and counting...

The Green Monster Model

2010-07-09T23:29:00.000+08:00

It was one of those really humid day and mind you, it was scorching hot outside that day.
And only on hot days like these, my husband will walk around the house topless. He doesn’t do that often, but when he does, the weather’s really bad! And so I had this brilliant idea of having Ethan walk about the house topless just like daddy, and also since it was SO SO SO HOT.

So after his bath, I put on his diaper and he happily paraded around the house half naked. As I was admiring him striding up and down the house, I thought to myself, my little champion will do a good model.. ahhh… thought I should get hubby to see how well Ethan modeled and perhaps we could get him into some baby talent agencies. Hmm…

And so I yelled to get my husband to the living room.

I smiled beamingly… “ look, he looks like a model doesn’t he?”

My husband gave me a puzzled look. “I thought he looked like a green monster”

???

apricots and still holding on

2010-07-08T01:04:00.000+08:00

Very unfortunate, my dear husband has been unwell for the past few days. Symptoms are very close to the much dreaded dengue. Well, he had his platelets count this afternoon, white blood cells are pretty low and that means he is fighting a virus. We are praying that it is a viral attack rather than dengue. The last dengue attack he had, it was horrifying. High fever, rashes, lost of appetite, fatigue, and yes, you name it. The list goes on.

Simultaneously, Ethan is down with some kind of viral fever.

We took his temperature last night and it was a whooping 39! Panicked, we started him on paracetamol. Fever came down, phew. And apparently, Ethan was talking in his sleep the whole of last night. Hubs heard him talking most of the night as he couldn't sleep due to terrible aches and pains. And this morning, he woke up with a deafening scream. I looked out the window, it was still dark. Checked the clock, 5am. Urghhh... I held him close and he was feeling extremely warm. So we gave him another dose of paracetamol. 10 minutes later, he gave this awful look that he was going to throw up. He did. And obviously he felt much better after that and went back to sleep.

Later this morning, he was again having another round of fever. We decided to bring him see the pediatrician. When consulted her, she discovered that his right eardrum was a little red/flushed. And therefore, she concluded that he might be having an ear infection? That was something I never expected... I was expecting to hear something along the lines of.. hand, foot and mouth disease (as both our God children Ethan Zac and Kristen are down with HFM) or even dengue. Nevertheless, we are rather thankful should it be just a mere ear infection. We will confirm this in the coming Saturday because should his fever persists, we will need to draw out some blood for platelets count. Poor boy.

And so, to make sure that he is well hydrated, we kept the fluids going. In the evening after dinner, we gave him half a cup of diluted juice, an hour later half a cup of milk and another half a cup of water. In the midst of that, he was eyeing on my tub of apricots which I happened to be munching on. And he was eagerly asking for them! So I gave him a bite, and he asked for another, and another and soon it was 3 apricots. I was utterly shocked to see him like apricots.. and he calls it, a-pi-cot.

And while I was out hanging dry my washing (the stained sheet compliments of Ethan), I could hear him shouting and screaming in the house. To my surprise, he was prancing and dancing in the house with daddy. Clowns!

Anyway, the lights are out now but he is still pretty much awake in his cot. I'm dead tired but still holding on. I thougtht I should pen this down to remind me that motherhood is not all about laughters, joys, and apricots. It's really testing during times like this. I feel like breaking down but I know i will have to hold on. I trust that the Lord will provide just right and i'm hoping and praying that both hubs and Ethan will get well real soon.

I'm secretly hoping to watch the Spain vs. Germany game later at 2.30am but I'm already half asleep. Looks like I'll have to resort to the 7am news tomorrow morning.

Mannn, I'm loving motherhood.

flash-blocks

2010-07-02T00:00:00.000+08:00

These were taken at different occasions.

We were ecstatic when we found out that he could identify 2 objects from the blocks one day. And from then, it was almost everyday where we would lay all the blocks on the floor and we’ll do our flash-blocks exercises.

December 2009

March 2010

June 2010

I am just overwhelmed by Ethan's object to words recognition development. I don't remember if I could do all these at the age of 3? I wonder if it's all these formula he's taking?!? ie: 4 times DHA and etc. Sigh, he's growing up really fast. Sometimes I feel like I'm missing out in his growing years, especially this past year. His growth and development has be exponential, really.

Nevertheless, we are just so proud of him!

my family, my life

2010-06-30T00:29:00.000+08:00

My sisters

My life...

Yes, my family

my life...

On a hot afternoon

2010-06-21T23:29:00.000+08:00

There's nothing better than having a cold sweet Indian mango on a hot afternoon.
Simply heavenly.
Ethan and I enjoyed this dark orangey fruit to the bits.

Oh, God is so good.

steps of life

2010-06-17T22:53:00.000+08:00

my husband

my son

my life...

Central Park

2010-06-16T23:38:00.000+08:00

I love the weekends!

We woke up to a beautiful morning a few Sundays ago. We didn’t have anything planned for the day and thought it would be amazing to go to the park.

I quickly fixed hubby, Ethan and I each a sandwich. We had the ham, lettuce and egg on whole meal, while Ethan had his mini cheese sandwiches. Chucked two breakfast mugs into the picnic bag and we were good to go!

We went to Central Park which was just outside our house, right in front of One Utama. It’s a good two minutes away from our place and this park has a huge play ground with several ponds scattered all over. And so we flung our straw mats on the floor and had our breakfast overlooking the beautifully landscaped grounds.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning, but it was a little wet because it rained the night before. Obviously that didn’t deter my champ from getting into the playground… not at all! He was just so thrilled by the fact that he was in a park. And there he was, picking up leaves, stones, and running his fingers on the sand/soil/mud?!? And since it was a Sunday, dog owners bring their dogs out to the park for walks and doggie-socializing sessions. We had a feast of a time dog-watching while enjoying our breakfast!

I must say sipping coffee while lazing in a park is just divine. The smell of crispy fresh air, and the touch of the cool gentle breeze on my skin made me realize that there’s so much more to life, especially when it's out here in the nature.

It was a beautiful and blissful Sunday morning indeed!

the reunion

2010-06-14T00:42:00.000+08:00

Thanks guys for your concern and smses. Yes, finally it's the reunion of Ethan and his "clan". Uncle Zuhun very efficiently coordinated and fles a family of the Sabahan Probosis Monkeys all the way from Kota Kinabalu. And yes, it was choirs of angels every night every since! So dramatic... well ok, it was that dramatic!!! (NO MORE screaming and yelling matters) and it was all smiles and kisses before bedtime!.

We got this huge box one afternoon and when we opened it up, to our surprise there were five of them!!! You won't believe how we have waited, prayed, hoped for some miracles to happen. And this was the miracle and Uncle Zuhun was St. Nicholas for the day!

Just to satisfy your curiosity about the Sabahan Probosis Monkeys...

Street Fiestas

2010-06-13T23:59:00.022+08:00

We were in Hanoi last year for a short get away. I must say that this place is magical and one of a kind. Seriously an absolutely beautiful place! I fell in love not just with the place but with the food. My hubby and I had such a wonderful time just eating and exploring this lively city by foot.

While having lunch and chilling in this wonderful little café called the Paloma Café on Lý Thuong Kiệt (highly recommended!!! They serve one of the best spring roll I’ve ever tasted) we saw things we’ve never seen before in our entire life. (I will try to write all about the food in another post)

We were on the roll, naming everything we saw outside the café’s huge window. We felt as if we were trapped in a fish tank… just looking at the world passed by. We were enthralled by all that’s happened. At one point, we started writing down things we saw.. mainly the happenings on the main street.

However, when observing even more while walking down the aisles of these quainty streets, we saw even weirder stuffs… We thought it would be amazing penning some of these down. And these are what we have written down but gee, this list probably will never end. Here are some to start with:

1. people playing cards

2. people drinking tea

3. people pouring tea

4. people deep frying food on stools

5. people knocking and bending steel

6. people selling clothes

7. people recycling rubbish

8. people sitting in the middle of the road selling balloons

9. people selling bread

10. people selling drinks in glasses

11. people shaving bamboo

12. people stood by the side of the road sending test messages through their blackberry

13. people pulling their mustache using a twizzer

14. people having their hair cut

15. people selling flowers

16. people selling vegetables and fruits

17. people having their meals on mini stools and tables less than 60cm in height

18. motorcycles carrying ladder

19. motorcycles carrying 3 gallons of water

20. motorcycles carrying a box of plasma tv

21. motorcycles carrying two dogs

22. motorcycles carrying 25 kilo sack of rice and it fell off on the middle of the corss junction, and the motorcyclist had to stop his bike to pick up his sack of rice

23. motorcycles carrying stand fan

24. motorcycles carrying cages

25. 3 adults and a child on a motorcycle

26. old grandmas chasing kids while feeding them dinner

27. a man walking at night

28. a man jogging at nigh

29. a topless man jogging at night

30. a group of men playing cards in the dark

31. couples moonlighting in the park
32. a bike with Gucci leather skin seat

33. a bike with leopard leather skin seat

34. people asking if you’d like a rent a bike

35. bikes bike and more bikes!

36. people cutting chicken

37. drivers sitting in an expensive car (with legs up on the dashboard in an e-class)38. cars parked on a three way divider

39. people pumping air into the motorcycles

40. people sitting down seeing the world pass while fanning themselves

41. … and the list goes on...

My conclusion, I love Hanoi!

18-21 July 2009

Hanoi, Vietnam

30 minutes of heaven

2010-05-26T00:02:00.005+08:00

It’s 11 pm and hubs has just put Ethan to bed after his bedtime story. Lately, it was Noah’s Ark. It’s rather unusual for Ethan to fall asleep before us these days. Especially after London, our little boy is still somewhat stuck to being in the London timezone; 3am means dinner time. However, today he is a little under the weather. Not sure what triggered his cold, but hubs suspects it was his swimming outing on Sunday. Gee, we will need to find out soon. Anyways, we have him a dose of Hydroxyzine and he is snoring silly now (oh yes, he snores!).

We are both enjoying some alone time. He is on his Macbook while I thought it would be a brilliant idea to do some self pampering. I’m desperately in need of one nice gentle home facial. So I cleansed my face thoroughly, did a deep facial scrub and finally applied this divine smelling mask; Aesop's Primrose Facial Cleansing Mask. It makes my skin feels rejuvenated each time I applied it. Frankly, I've tried many cleansing masks (and I mean MANY) and nothing compares to this one. It's light clay texture is just perfect, combining the delicate scent of roses, this is my favourite so far.

I got this quite some time back but obviously I hadn’t much time for self pampering and what not; with Ethan yelling for attention, cleaning up poos, hanging up laundry and finally crashing into bed without proper cleansing. However, the uninterrupted 30 minutes was heaven. Ended the session with a nice steamy hot shower and I’m all ready for bed.

This time, I’m feeling good about doing my proper cleansing.
Good night!

the ABCs of motherhood?

2010-05-25T12:05:00.001+08:00

It was one of those ‘rush’ days where we had 95 things in our to-do list for that day. And of course, preparing Ethan’s dinner was one of them. So, I threw in a fillet of chicken, chopped some pumpkins, and brought the water to boil. Walahhh…, that wasn’t too difficult!

When it was time to put in the pasta, I spilled them. I was horrified, screamed on top of my lungs, flung one of those ‘swear’ words and thought, what a mess I got myself into. Feeling really annoyed with myself, I quickly looked for a cloth to clean up. But while scrambling looking for that piece of cloth, I stopped and looked at those pastas. Hang on, those innocent looking pastas don’t deserve such rough remarks. Also, I was making them for Ethan, and he loves his chicken pumpkin pasta. I shouldn’t be so nasty about the whole cooking for Ethan. After all, it was me who insisted he should have at least one home cook meal a day.

Isn’t that motherhood?

back

2010-05-22T08:32:00.000+08:00

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated. It’s really a pleasant surprise to get calls asking how am I doing as they have not heard anything from myskimlatte. Thanks for all your concern guys. I’ll definitely try to make it a point to keep the updates coming; but really, I’m humbled by your concerns. Well, at least I know I’ve got a bunch who cares!
Just so that those who didn’t know, we just came back from London. Some may not know as Adrian and I were working quite a bit, saving up our leaves for this trip prior to the trip. And of course, Ethan came along. It was spring, but freezing cold. It was about 4 degrees one evening. Yeap, that’s global warming for you I suppose, but again, I was told that the weather in London is schizophrenic!

Well, it was an awfully needed break for hubs and I, and especially to spend quality time with Ethan. My little champion is close to a year and a half. Where did time go? Adrian and I often talk and laugh about how our baby is becoming like a little old man now. We recently taught him his pleases and thank yous and, now whenever he shoves anything right in front of your face, he’ll expect you to take it and he’ll remind you with a “kank-u”. Oh ya, he’ll need to look at the contents of his food before actually having them in his mouth. And yes, he started showing interest in what he likes to wear. Gee, turning into an old man isn’t he?

So, while hubs and I muse over all of Ethan’s quirky beginnings, I asked if he could help me blog about them. I was thinking two is better than 1, wouldn’t you agree? And hence, I woke up the silent author in him. He surprised me one day with this beautiful entry he did on his blog. I almost cried as I knew what he wrote was straight from his heart and it rather inspirational. So here, maybe when you don’t hear much from the coffee freak, pop over to the sound box to see what genre is playing.

p/s: I finally learnt the simple art of tea drinking after coming back from London.

Pyjamas party

2010-04-12T00:46:00.000+08:00

On a night when mummy had to do the laundry while daddy washed and changed Ethan into his pyjamas.

Banana, oats and raisin muffin

2010-04-01T23:00:00.005+08:00

I’ve wanted to be adventurous in introducing new food into Ethan’s diet. Not too long ago, I made muffins; some form of ‘baby muffin’. To my surprise, when I first baked the “so called baby muffins”, my aunt gobbled all of them down. “I like it a lot” she exclaimed. Frankly, she is a very fussy and picky eater. And I was flabbergasted when she hinted me to bake this type of muffin when she comes visit. As I ponder on it further, I realized that the reason she fell head over heels over these muffins because they weren’t sweet but full of flavor… How silly of me. I should have realized this as they were meant for baby, and obviously, minimal sugar was my aim.

Well, not to mention, everyone loves this, even the daddy!

Banana, oats and raisin muffin

Ingredients
2/3 cup of self raising flour
½ cup plain flour
¼ cup caster sugar
1 ½ cups of oats ( I used the fashion old quaker oats)
3 ripened bananas
a handful of chopped raisins
½ cup milk (low fat cows milk)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
¼ cup canola oil

1. Preheat oven to moderate 180 C. line 12 muffin cups.
2. Place flour, sugar, into a large mixing bowl.
3. Make a little whole in the centre, add fruit. Combine eggs, oil and milk. Using a wooden spatula, stir for a minute or until all ingredients are just combine; do not overbeat.
4. Spoon mixture into prepared muffin cups, filling 2/3 full.
5. Bake for 25 minutes or until puffed and lightly golden.
6. Take out, leave to cool and serve.

Miso Soup, Chawanmushi and Rice

2010-03-26T23:26:00.004+08:00

And that's the smile you get after.
He simply loves it, the old-fashion miso soup and rice.

Rakuzen, Hartamas. 7 March 2010

Ethan Say....

2010-03-26T23:18:00.002+08:00

Ethan, say:

Apple – Apple
Car – Car… car car
Cat – Cattttttttttttt
Caterpillar – CAT
Pear – pear
Cocoon – ca-oon
Butterfly – a-a-fy
Banana – ba na na
Yogurt – gurt gurt
Gorilla – eh eh ah
Red balloon – ed-alloon
Elephant – el-le-hant
Computer – cong-u-te
Thank you – ank u
Handphone – hung phone
Escalator – ah ah lay eh
Kakak wait – kak kak a ti
Yiyi – eh eh
Por por – por por
Ku por – kuh por
Daddy – ady
Mummy - ….

I should be really proud of him for being able to communicate a bunch of words at just slightly over a year old.. but, sigh, he just doesn't say mummy (unless he is really in distress, which I've probably only heard... about 3 times?!)

I'm depress.

12.48am

2010-03-08T00:44:00.005+08:00

I need help.

We recently went to Hong Kong and left Ethan’s best friend there. His best friend, 'the monkey' was given to him by uncle Zuhun when I went over to Sydney last year. However, what makes this little primate special is that it’s a custom-made soft toy promoting the Orang Utans for the Sabah Tourism.

This monkey has some calming effect on Ethan especially during bedtime. He has to hug it to sleep every single night and the fact that we brought it over to Hong Kong was to make sure he had this comfort item with him. How idiotic of me not to check his cot before I send the luggage down for check out.

Now it’s pass bed time for Ethan and he is screaming on top of his lungs, probably looking for monkey. My only hope now is that uncle Zuhun has extras to spare…

Ethan turns 1

2010-03-07T00:41:00.006+08:00

Ethan’s First Birthday

Date : 28 November 2009
Venue : The Paddington House of Pancakes

This is a delayed entry as my little one turned 1 December last year. It was all smiles and laughters at the little party held in The Paddington House of Pancakes, The Curve. We prepared him months (well, maybe 1 month) in advance singing him the traditional birthday song and putting on the “Mickey Party” hat. And yes, you have guessed it right, he loves Mickey. His first Mickey was given to him by his Uncle Chee Wah and Aunt Elaine from Singapore. I have to acknowledge that this whole Mickey thing is not just a marketing gimmick or what not, the character is actually something children just love. I remember my first Mickey, and I bet you had yours.

So, the party started with throngs of assorted tiny pancake canapés lining beautifully on the plates waiting to be served. The guests were of course excited and some ambitious to fill their plates to the brim. I was chuckling quietly seeing them getting so excited over these little delights. The atmosphere was merry and cheerful with Mr. Clown sculpting balloons to young children and those claimed young - "at heart".

I would have loved to bake Ethan's first birthday myself, except I couldn't stand the mental pressures of "what-if-the-cake... ". Therefore, after a long domestic discussion, we got this beautifully decorated 2 tier Elmo Birthday Cake. Contradictorily, we wanted Mickey birthday cake instead, but was told that the cake designer makes Elmo better than Mickey. And so, this was how we ended up with the 2 tier Elmo cake. Surprisingly, we ended up liking the Elmo cake. In fact, everyone did!

It was a blast for the little man as he saw many familiar faces. I am humbled and blessed to have almost all of our family members, relatives and close friends attend our little one’s first birthday. Of course he had people who couldn’t make it but have sent greetings, cards, presents and prayers.

When I look back at Ethan’s first birthday, what struck me really, was the one year of journeying with him in our lives. He has taught me to laugh at little things, smile at small accomplishments, and understand the fact that teaching takes immense patience while learning takes time. He has also taught me patience, perseverance, determination, unconditional love and most of all, to accept and love imperfections as it is. I love him to bits and I thank God for this little miracle.

Goodnight

2010-02-21T01:43:00.016+08:00

goodnight...

moon...

Goodnight moon.

We stayed with Ethan's Tata and Neh-Neh till he was one because it was too taxing for Ethan and us to do the whole traveling every morning to grannies place and to be picked up in the evening. Therefore, we chose to stay during the weekdays and come home in weekends. At one point, the little boy was getting confused, didn’t know where he actually belonged. We didn’t have any choice since hubs and I both had to work, we had to settle for what’s best for all of us.

At about 5 months when he was trying to recognize faces and places, we were traveling to and fro (grannies and home) quite a bit. And the poor boy was at our mercy, he had to come with us, wherever we went.

However, one thing he found comforting was this magical book, “Good Night Moon” by Margaret Wise Brown. I remember one night when he was acting up quite a bit, we read him this book. It calmed the weeping eyed almost immediately. And in one of those pages, it reads:

Good Night Kitten

Good Night Mitten

To my surprise, I heard this cutest chuckle when I ended the 2 lines with “Good Night Ethan”... That was magic!

And henceforth, we will get the sweetest smile from him when we do the:

Good Night Kitten

Good Night Mitten

Good Night Ethan!

We bought this book even before he was born and it’s been his best friend even till now. He somehow finds comfort from these reassuring words in the book and he has never once said no to his cow jumping over the moon.

p/s: I had to read him this book, cover to cover for almost 11 times at 3 in the morning that night. I swore, I will never forget...

Good night moon!

Travelling Across South China Sea

2010-02-21T01:43:00.007+08:00

It was a short and meaningful trip back home for me as this is the first time Ethan came with us, back to where I came from, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Also, this happened to be his first time in an aircraft.
We went back for a good friend’s wedding, also an opportunity to meet up with the other side of his family.

Overwhelmed.

He made us real proud parents when he didn’t fuss nor whined during both the trip, going there and coming back. Instead, he was getting all so excited, prancing on my lap as we were sharing the seat. And we it was time for the flight to take off, my little prince tugged himself nicely in my arms, nibbling his little thumb and snoozing off quietly into his little dreamland. Believe it or not, I had equipped myself with children’s atarax “just in case”. I was really pleased when I found out that I need not any of them!

And that's good news for me. More trips back home. YEAY!

dum dee dee dum

2010-02-19T12:56:00.000+08:00

I sometimes really wonder what's running through his mind.
I really wonder...

Ethan,

Feb 19, 2010

Happy New Year 2010!

2010-01-04T23:11:00.003+08:00

I made a new year resolution,... only to my hubby. I will update my blog as often as I could. Ethan is 13 months now, and too many happened since my last entry.
When the clock strike 12 am on new years eve, we were all seated around our black glass dining table savoring Belgium Chocolate Baskins which we queued up for as there were on 31% discount that day.

I felt really melancholic about the whole new year fiesta. I suppose it was mainly because the year just flew by, very quickly, and really, I asked myself, where did 2009 go?
Well, after having to get lost in thoughts for the longest time, I decided to briefly pen them in here to remind myself that 2009 was indeed one of the most significant year for me so far.

1. Experienced first ever post natal depression… It was quite bad and I remember my O&G had to write me a referral to see a psychiatrist. Thank god for best friends; my best bud, my confidant was there when I needed her most. Really, I did not see any psychiatrist what not after that.

2. I got my first ever promotion

3. finally gathered my valor to leave my son behind for Sydney for almost a week, all alone! It was really really good. Having to soak the Australian sun again. I am totally thankful to the dearest hubs for allowing me the time I needed to go away and to gather myself again. Well, of course it helped with the actual reason to Australia was to attend Benjamin and May’s union as man and wife. It was one of the most beautiful wedding I have attended. Perhaps I should write about it on a separate post.

4. Hubby got me my very first coffee machine. Frothing low fat milk is what I look forward to during long weekends. And ever since then, we have been eating wholesome breakfast with Egg Benedict being the latest fad in our ‘family favourites’ breakfast menu.

5. We ate in Bobby Chinn’s. One word: astounding. Food was top notch, milieu was superb and did I say that the food was splendid again?

6. celebrated Ethan’s 1st birthday. This little sunshine managed to put a smile on our face for the past year. Everyday for 365 days. How else should I elaborate? He is our sunshine!

7. became a full time corporate rat racer by day and full time mummy by night. My goodness, rat racing has never been that easy if you ever compare it to sorting a child who is going through separation anxiety (the tears rolling down his cheeks stretching his little hands longing for a hug, turned out to be having to carry him throughout the night because he doesn’t want anyone else except his mummy). It’s tiring and I am not complaining at all.

8. Brought Ethan back to Sabah for the very first time. He was very well behaved during his flight journey, which made it tad easy for us. At least we did not have to deal with stares which will potentially make us looked like we were in a midst of "disciplining your baby, 101".

9. Saw 2 of our Godchildren baptized in SFX; Ethan Zachary Chong was baptized by Fr. OC Lim and Kristen Tham was baptized by Fr. Simon Yong. That would mean, we are now proud Godparents to 4 Godchildren; Ian Lim, Pio Lim, Ethan Zac Chong, and Kristen Tham. We are blessed in so many ways, and we could not ask for more when He gave us Ethan, our bucket full of sunshine.

10. I got my a husband a Macbook Pro. That would mean I will have to adjust my wardrobe stocks for the year 2010, and it will probably look unhealthy as I would need to start my year with high balance brought forward (b/f), low disposals and lower capital. Not too nice looking in my balance sheet, but he is smiling silly. So heck the balance sheet. =)

Happy New Year.
Eat, love and live!

People are USED and Things are LOVED

2009-11-09T22:30:00.004+08:00

This was one of those forwarded mails I received in my inbox which I would like to keep and well, I'm sharing it with you. A very short and strong illustration of the self explanatory title.
Well, if Saritha you are reading this, I got this from you. =)
...
While a man was polishing his new car, his 4 yr old son picked a stone and scratched lines on the side of the car.

In anger, the man took the child's hand, and hit it many times, not realizing he was using an iron wrench.

At the hospital, the child lost all his fingers due to multiple fractures.When the child saw his father.... with painful eyes he asked 'Dad when willmy fingers grow back?'

The man was very hurt and speechless, he went back to car and kicked it alot of times. Devastated by his own actions...... sitting in front of that car he lookedat the scratches ........... the child had written 'LOVE YOU DAD'.

The next day that man committed suicide....
Anger and Love have NO LIMIT - choose the latter to have a beautiful and lovely life

THINGS are meant to be USED and PEOPLE are to be LOVED,
but the problem of today's world is that

People are USED and Things are LOVED!!!

I missed him

2009-11-08T23:45:00.000+08:00

Ethan was acting up a bit early this evening. Didn't know what was wrong with him. His yi-yi Angeline had to carry him and talk to him to "soothe" and "amuse" (aka to give attention) - mind you, it really works. (Babies like it when you talk to them and talking to them I mean, like an adult conversation, just don't expect any clever replies.) I thought he was wanting attention you see, so got some help to chat him up, walked him around and basically "entertained" him.

Had a huge weekend, was out and had issues in the family. So I had to quickly pack for the week. While I was packing and cleaning up, I'd occasionally stopped by to blow him kisses or hugs. At one point, he felt a little warm. I disregarded it and went on doing my own stuffs. (WELL, I disregarded it because Ethan is generally warm. Anyone will love hugging him because he is always nice and warm).

He wasn't himself later part of the evening. Checked with Adrian to see if we needed to give him a dose of parmol. Well, Adrian gave a go and we syringed a 2.5ml for him. He likes parmol. I think he likes medicine in general. There are sweet and normally "cold" from the fridge.

Later brought him up to the room and put him in his cot. He was pleased to see his cot and gave a huge smile. Placed him inside, and I quickly took my bath knowing that he is unwell and will need to rock and put him to sleep. Came out from the shower and saw him sleep soundly in him cot, curled up.

I felt bad for not being able to be there when he is not feeling all that good. However, I'm thankful that he went to sleep after all. I was expecting another rough night, probably due to his teething issues. I hope he'll feel better tomorrow.

I guess, I just missed him,... by a couple of minutes?!? He is sound asleep now. And so I will be as well...
Good night.

"Ethan the Builder" in the tub

2009-11-04T23:06:00.007+08:00

If you do not already know, this little boy loves his bath. We bathe him every day, twice a day; once in the morning and once in the evening, I'm still not very happy with the fact that he bathes twice a day, considering what the typical Chinese aunties will say "yap fung" literally translated means, will "cause wind" and apparently is the common culprit for osteoporosis during old age?!? Not entirely sure about the credibility of the fact, but we'll just 'listen' to what people have to say.

"Ethan the builder" in his pink tub!

Anyway, the reason he bathes twice a day, really is because he sweats alot, and I mean alot. Perhaps it's because he's got a head full of hair. I love the colour of his hair; it's dark brown with strips of toffee at the ends. He can just sweat when he's eating, playing, drinking his milk, walking, sitting down, .. even sweats when he is sleeping !!! I have concluded, he has extremely high metabolic rate?!

Here is another self explanatory picture of Ethan taking his bath!

Yes, the black spot is done on purpose. Can't be showing my son's pride and glory to the whole world can I?

And yes, he loves his bath!

Ethan's First Rusk

2009-10-26T22:20:00.006+08:00

We gave Ethan his first Farley's Rusk when he turned 8 months old. We are pretty conservative and very much playing safe when introducing any form of solids to him.

These Rusks can be introduced to infants at/around 6 months old. However, we will try as much to delay introducing new delights for him to build better immunity and resistance. Not sure how much he will gain from this though. But sigh, as first time parent, will try to be as 'careful?!Q?!' as we can be. Just a note of consolation, he has been fine with most food we have given him so far.

We are quite pleased to be able to capture his first biscuit moment. From the first picture to the last one seen in his hands, 7 minutes.... and that's my son!

Picture taken on the 31 August 2009
1st picture: 4:37:56 PM
Last picture: 4:45:30 PM

Ethan's yiyi

2009-10-26T00:46:00.003+08:00

Introducing Ethan's yiyi, also his ever faithful playmate and part time nanny!

This picture was taken in an open air restaurant in Seremban. Food was top notch but the it wasn't the most baby friendly place. However, Ethan's yiyi could actually find a comfortable position to feed our little friend. That's pure nanny-ing skills. SALUTE!

pizza on a sunday afternoon

2009-10-25T00:30:00.000+08:00

Have been wanting to cook but just couldn't find a good time to do so. However, would love to get my hands back into the kitchen again, especially now that I will have to come up with more healthy meals for my little tot.

I made this pizza one Sunday afternoon after having a huge brunch. What made it fantastic was the fact that this pizza had more than 4 different types of cheese in it! I found some cheese that were gonna go bad, so decided to just throw them in and walla...

Who can ever say no to 4 different types of cheese, all baked together on top of a pita?

She

2009-10-16T00:56:00.002+08:00

When we first set eyes on her, she didn’t have the best looking physique and stature among the rest. However, when spoke to her the first time, she was relaxed, composed, and above all, she blew us away with smart responses. She smiled at every sentences ended, and she looked into out eyes when we spoke. That got us smiling, all the way home.

I remember asking impatiently when she would be able to come home.We furnished her room with a new bed frame, new mattress, fixed up her new wardrobe and washed up her bed sheet and pillow cases for her.

I remembered the day when she was going to arrive. My heart was beating as I waited patiently for her. When she stepped in, I gave her my biggest smile. I was so pleased.
She was quick to respond, followed instructions enthusiastically, quietly observed details and was on her feet at all times.

She was all I ever needed. My help, and my assistance.

We brought her along with us, as a family everywhere we went. Introduced many of our friends and relatives to her. Made sure she feels assured and safe with us. We brought her out for dinner with us countless times. Made her order what she likes to eat. Bought nice clothing for her. And gave her more often than not, more that enough rest time, (from 8pm onwards).

Unconsciously, we have made her like a part of our very young and little family.

8 months past. We were starting to loose personal items and money seemed to go missing at times. All of us kept it to ourselves, thinking that we might have misplaced them. Then came one evening, hubs stomped down from the room and griping about how his USD went missing. We started confronting each other; me, my sisters and my mum.. and found out that all of us had our fair share of foreign currencies went missing.

Came out with a game plan. My mum will have carry out a closed door investigation, probing/questioning Lulu while Adrian and I did the same to her. Probed the both of them (she and lulu) and found out that they both had skeletons in their closets which only both of them knew. While both of them were put in separate rooms, they started to spill the beans, … and more beans. And finally we found out that she has been stealing things. We probed further and told her to come clean with us on what else she stole and we were very sure we lost money… and a huge sum of money, mind you.

She did not own up.

Lulu then confessed to us what she said and did while we were away from home. She looked guilty, but denied it. Many times. When Lulu told her to admit what she has done, she went berserk. She was screaming and hitting herself hard on her chest (Imagine King Kong) and pleaded with us to just sent her back. We were shock to see this person, whom we once trusted so much turned into an ugly monster. Little did we know?

We were sadden and disappointed with her. We sent her back to the place where we took her from, at 3 in the morning. We could not let her go near Ethan anymore since we have seen that shocking side of her. Very fast, we got her to pack her bags and very fast she left.

I was crushed.

After sending her off, we felt that emptiness and forlornness. It hit us quite hard and yes, nonsensically, we missed her.

Emotions aside, we had quite a bit to sort out since we got her officially in through an agency. She has our names in her Passport, Working VISA and I-Kad. We had to go back to the agency to make sure that we have officially declare that she is no longer working with us and that we will need to have her documents properly filed (this is just in case if she goes missing and the papers still states that she is under our care and custody).

We expressed our disappointment for being victimized. We were then told that we should lodge a police report for what she had done to us and she will probably be charged and sentenced. But that would however be the decision of the court.

We faltered no more and went straight to lodge a police report.

They took her and reprimanded her in the police station. When I looked into her eyes, I nearly teared. She looked sorry, but I told myself that that’s how she looks all the time. I held back, got myself back together quickly and waited as Adrian spoke to the sergeant.
It was quite a long wait. When Adrian was done, he came out.“We have enough evidence to charge her. She admitted that she stole our belongings and money” Hubby whispered.
She is still being remanded in the police station up till today. Not sure how long she would be there for. I still think of her. Praying that her sentence in jail would make her a better person.

Right now, I’m officially the full time maid after working hours. We’ve read so countless horrifying maids stories. Never thought it would happen to us. Not the most pleasant experience. We are still recovering, trying to take things one step at the time.

Despite all that, she is still in my mind… O dear Lord, please help us pull through this.

Ethan... at 10 months

2009-10-01T23:07:00.003+08:00

How time flies. Ethan is exactly 10 months today, and 60 days to his first candle. This little angel of mine has brought us all (not just Adrian and I but my whole family, mum, sisters, and even the the maids) unspeakable joy. He loves to laugh, smiles when he's awake and he loves interaction.

Anyway, at 10 months, we have noticed some developments:

1. loves to play peek a boo
2. blows raspberries into the air
3. forming bubbles at the tip of the lips
4. giggling in front of the mirror
5. hiding under the sheets
6. the sound of the bathroom water tap turned on
7. going topless (feels outrageously happy when we take off his clothes)
8. shivers when pees
9. looks constipated when he wants to go to the toilet
10. sings, sometimes yell when performing number 2
11. queer obsession for fans, ceiling fans and standing fans alike
12. kicks his left leg (or one leg) when happy
13. stretches both hands downward-forward when excited
14. Ethan’s Number 1 love: he loves Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

Embrace

2009-09-27T22:46:00.003+08:00

Embrace

I just got off the bed after putting Ethan to sleep.

He was out the whole day today, from joining us for dim sum lunch to doing massive grocery shopping and finally attended mass in the evening. Oh yes, it didn’t end there. We celebrated Adrian’s grandparent’s birthday; and that would mean Ethan’s great grandparents, (gung-gung: 87 and por-por:76). Very very blessed couple.

He was really excited seeing so many people and was his usual self. Jumping, cruising, crawling and yelling about. (Yes, our little friend is very vocal now). After cutting the birthday cakes, we finally bid our goodbyes. That was about 10pm. Ethan did not sleep the whole evening. He will normally have his evening naps about/around 9pm for about 30 minutes or so. Exceptional for tonight?!? I suppose he was really happy.

When we came home, he was already making quite abit of fuss. Cleaned him up, wiped him down and changed him to his pajamas. Gave him his last feed, rocked and lulled him to sleep and he finally sealed his tired eyes: calling it a night. Por-Por (My mum) is in town and therefore took over so that I could wind down myself. Came up to my room to checked my emails and half an hour later, I heard a loud scream from por por’s room. It was Ethan. (My little darling is at this stage where he needs to see daddy or mummy before he sleeps and while he is asleep, he needs to know that daddy and mummy is near him.) Went down to pick him up and saw tears all over his eyes. Poor little boy. And so I embraced him and whispered into his ears, mummy is here… don’t cry Ethan. It’s ok. Mummy is here. He calmed down and wasn’t crying anymore.

Placed him into his cot and 10 minutes later he was whimpering again. So, I pick my little champion up, whispered into his ears again, it’s ok Ethan, mummy is here. Don’t cry … it’s ok Ethan. Calmed down, he sucked his little thumb and went back to sleep. And this time, I had to cuddle him, rock him, sing to him and embrace him. I was doing that while lying down in my bed; admiring every bits of my little angel.

He is coming to 10 months/40 weeks/300 days old. This is how long God has given me happiness and love, ever since Ethan came into my life.

I always thought that one shouldn’t be carrying and cuddling a baby too much for the fear that it will “spoil” the baby. When I was cuddling Ethan to sleep just now, it finally dawn upon me that the last time I cuddled him that way was when I was still breastfeeding him full time, during the first 2 months of his life. I hardly get to cuddle him and admire him this way now because he is growing up so much and.. so fast and we hardly get to rock him to sleep during the day. He would play and go to sleep when he is tired.

I really miss hugging and cuddling Ethan to sleep. Like how I did when he was a few days old. This hope I would be able to cuddle him as long as I can. This magical feeling is indescribable; looking at him (admiring every bits of God's wonderful creation), holding his little hand and simply by embracing him.

Sausages, baked beans, hash browns and sunny side up!

2009-09-07T23:36:00.003+08:00

Took a day off as it was a public holiday in Selangor. Thought, why not, as hubby is gonna be free as well. We woke up at about 8.30 in the morning and gave Ethan his feed. The kakak then took over, bathe, breakfast and finally his morning siesta. I was just feeling really lazy and tired for all the other mornings I had wake up, tend to Ethan, rush to work, back from work, take over from the maid and there goes… a typical life of the working mummy. “phuuu… trust me, it’s no joke. Tired!) THEN.. of course I had to play my duty as a wife as well. So that morning, had to ask hubby what he would like for breakfast. As usual, he would bestow on me this huge smile on his and … none other than going for his nasi lemak breakfast. Since we had it yesterday morning (we got 8 packets of nasi lemak for the household and still, there wasn’t enough), I thought we shouldn’t have it again. So I thought, we should just have our cereals for brunch.

Dragged myself out of the bed, washed up and got ready for another nice warm morning. While getting out from my bedroom, I could hear Ethan yelling and screaming (more of laughing and giggling out loud) from the living hall.

Went to the kitchen and was interrupted by a pleasant surprise. On the saucepan, I saw baked beans and on the plate were nicely browned beef sausages. Then hubby gave me a sweet smile, “Hunny, where is the little pan for the egg?”

I opened the cabinet underneath and gave it to him.

After a good 15 minutes, there was a plate with Sausages, baked beans, hash browns and sunny side up… for each of us.

It was a beautiful morning indeed.

his first tooth

2009-09-03T23:28:00.005+08:00

2nd September 2009, exactly 9 months old.
His first tooth appeared!

Ethan's been drooling big time, since he was about 5 months old. Because he was drooling so much and was looking rather uncomfortable, we thought he was teething. Some days, he would wake up at night screaming on top of his lungs until he knew that we had picked him out from his cot and cuddled him. Then, I thought, he was teething because I was told that one sign of infant teething is when bubs cries in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. Sounded like him!

Nope, that didn't happen until for months later. Therefore, yes, his mummy has been saying the same old line for the past 4 months... Ethan is teething. He cried again last night for no apparent reason. However, when tomorrow morning comes, no sign of whatsoever under his gums =

But now, yes, finally. It came out!
Yippieee!

Ethan's Piggie Bank

2009-08-27T22:59:00.005+08:00

We received a huge parcel one day from Ben and May, all the way from Gold Coast via Sarawak. Ben called earlier to alert us to expect a parcel. Knowing Ben, he is so not a parcel guy. Therefore I concluded that it was the works of his ever brilliant wife, May. They got hitched not too long ago in the Gold Coast. I attended it and oh my, it was beautiful. Never attended a wedding where I could possibly tear every 5 minutes. Will write about it another time.

Anyway, Ben and May had told us that the parcel would be for Ethan and therefore when we got it, we told Ethan that it was for him and he could open it up.

He was so excited and slammed both his little hands on the box, trying to show us that he knew it was for him. Then he carefully pulled the strings off from the box (mind you, he did it as if he knew how to untie a dead knot!). Of course it didn’t work. We had to help him.

Ethan loves to open presents. We found that out when we gave him a wrapped parcel and he showed great interest in trying to rip the wrappers off. Also, he will give us this look this look, hinting to us that he needs help. Well, yes. He is growing fast. Sigh!

Ethan meticulously trying to untie the string. Well, we applauded him for his effort. And nope, he didn't manage to untie anything.

We helped him open his present and he was estatic to see such a cute looking piggie.

And obviously. He loves it.

And yes, we shall be teaching him the values of saving up his coins... just like the good old days.

Ethan and his sun salutation

2009-08-22T14:50:00.006+08:00

Ethan is at this stage where he loves to walk and jump. At 7 months, he wasn’t really crawling yet (or rather didn’t show signs that he will be crawling anytime soon). Therefore, we speaking to his pediatrician, she highlighted that babies these have the passing the crawling stage and they just get up and walk!

My eyebrows raised, my mouth opened. Then I asked politely, “Why is that so?” She smiled and replied, “Evolutionary!”

However, at 8 months plus, Ethan has just surprised us one day by getting down on all fours and started crawling. Though he didn’t crawl like how the babies in most advertisements did, we knew he was discovering his little hands and foot and showing us that he finally is able move about on his own. We are so proud of him.

This young man will always put a smile on our faces. When he wants to crawl and move about, he will just lift up the hands and stretched his legs (imagine doing your sun salutation, and yes, he does it well!)

Ethan doing his sun salutation.

I did post an entry that Ethan loves music. A couple of weeks ago when his yi-yi played Taylor Swift over her computer, Ethan started to shake his head and tap his foot – to the beat when he stood up with our support. And after a while, he started jumping – to the beat. Frankly, that didn’t last very long. A good 20 minutes?!?! He was tired and we were all exhausted!

Any yes, naturally, he is able to get up on his own, having to grab hold of a larger object for him to obtain balance. And the amazing thing is, every time when he stands up, he will turn his little head and look out to see if we saw what he did!

That’s my little champion!

His first outstation trip

2009-07-24T00:09:00.008+08:00

My sister, Yvonne recently got herself baptized in a catholic church, the St. Francis Xavier Church. Prior to her baptism, she had to attend a pre-baptismal retreat in Melaka, a 3 days 2 nights stay in retreat.

Naturally, by being her sponsor, I was looking forward to going to the retreat with her. The night before the retreat, I was trying to get Ethan to sleep in our bedroom. He didn’t want me to put him to bed and was struggling for almost a good one hour. And finally, mommy instinct told me that I had to call my maid up to the room to put him to bed. Sure enough, when the maid turned up and took him in her arms, he quieted down.

I was perturbed.

I couldn’t really fall asleep that night thinking if I’d to leave Ethan at home the whole day with the maid, he’s so not going to want me anymore.

Biting my lips hard, I told hubby that we will have to cart Ethan to Melaka and the maid was not going to sleep with my little boy. My other sister, Angeline was compassionate enough to understand what I was going through. So, she braved her horrible cough and cold in an hour car journey enroute to Melaka.

It was good seeing my son after one night of not seeing him. This was one time which I thought that motherhood thing has actually seeped into me. Nice!

Since it was a pretty last minute decision, we decided to book a room in the Majestic Hotel, Melaka, though the YTL Platinum Plus. (I must say that this club this the only one community which takes special care of it’s member. To top that, I have gotten invitations to watch a couple Malaysian musicals/stage plays but never could make it.)

Hubby was really excited about the whole idea of getting away, near or far. As for him, the induced thought of the Melaka Chicken Rice Balls drove his will for the one hour drive. However, I had to sneak out of the retreat sessions to check if things were fine with Ethan. I felt really bad about it, but lil sister was really cool about it, assuring me that she understands and told me to make sure the little boy was alright.

It was a great weekend for the family. Not to mention that it’s even better with Ethan behaving himself and enjoying himself in the hotel.

Check out the Majestic Hotel room and you will know why. By the way, that night when we all slept in the hotel, my little champion fell asleep in my arms. I was so overjoyed.

That's Ethan's yiyi preparing for his bath in an open concept bathroom in the hotel room!

This hotel used to be a mansion, dating back to the 1920s. The YTL decided to erect a new building in next to this mansion with it’s facade remains at the heart of the hotel mirroring the original architecture.

I remember reading an article on how the restoration team had to work on the hotel’s renovation by ensuring that the original porcelain flooring remains untouched. I seriously wonder how can that happen.

I must say that the hotel’s design integrates the old with new making it an experience. Lay man term, it feels like staying in a 6 star modern kampong.

Hubby swore that he is definately going back again. My verdict? A MUST! Frankly, the YTL Hotel Properties have never failed us. They might not be the biggest and most grandeured facade hotel, but I just love their so very intimate and unpretentious service, and their very personalised touch. If you are looking for a quiet hideaway with easy access to local food, this is the place to be!

ethan loves the guitar

2009-07-17T00:19:00.005+08:00

Ethan absolutely loves music and he is really fascinated with daddy's guitar. When Ethan kicks a fuss, daddy will try to distract him by either strumming a lullaby or just plucking tunes. Lil E will sit down and watch daddy attentively, as if he was in a concert.

When lil E gets excited, he will move closer to daddy and try to pluck or strum the guitar strings. (Yes, he is getting pretty restless)

Speaking about that, grandpa came home with a flyer for Kindermusik one day. And we thought for a while, Ethan doesn't need to attend Kindermusik, really. He will attend music lessons with daddy! That will save us some money considering infants can only probably do listening and clapping at this stage. We will enrol him eventually; when his motor skills are more developed and he has better control of his hands coordination.

he doesn't like avocados

2009-07-14T23:46:00.001+08:00

We've tried it many times.

He loves carrots.

He doesn't like avocado and carrots.

He loves pumpkins.

He doesn't like avocado and pumpkins.

He loves spinach.

He doesn't like avocado and spinach.

He loves bok choys.

He doesn't like avocado and bok choys.

Any suggestion on how he'd like avocados?

An act to a word?

2009-07-13T23:17:00.005+08:00

I came across an article on some really weird situations where an act eventually became a word.

Pinkwashers (n) Certain companies who specifically use support for breast cancer research to promote products or services.

Carborexic (n) A person who is obsessed with minimizing his or her use of carbon.

Precycling (v) Purchasing products based on how recyclable they are.

Ghost call (n) A silent phone call received from a person who inadvertently has dialed or selected the number on their mobile phone (also known as ``purse-dialing.'')

Micro-boredom (n) What we used to call downtime is now increasingly filled by fiddling with mobiles or BlackBerrys. Those who market these devices, or the services they use, see it as an opportunity to sell us something.

Baby goggles (n) A phenomenon where the parents of an ugly baby think their baby is adorable and no one else does.

Fauxmosexual (n) A person who pretends to be gay, particularly as a way of garnering attention; a person who mistakenly believes he or she is gay.

Kitchenheimer's (n) When you're in the kitchen going around in circles because you can't remember what you were doing there.

SOURCE: Cramer-Krasselt's ``Urban Dictionary''

I find these words really amusing… and I really like the term Kitchenheimer's, maybe because that’s the word I have been looking for, for a long long time and yes, I do get Kitchenheimer's all the time. Do you?

Separation Anxiety

2009-07-05T23:51:00.008+08:00

I just found out why Ethan was crying profusely yesterday night when hubby and I were attending a wedding dinner, while grandma and Ethan's yiyi babysat him in one of the restaurants in the Hotel.

When we first left Ethan to the both of them, he was find indeed. Apparently, after we have left him about about 30 minutes, be began his whole crying saga and both grandma and yiyi couldn't understand why he was behaving that way.

And only much later (in fact now) that I found out that he is at this stage (around 7-8 months) where he becomes aware when we are not around. Technically, this is because children at this age haven't yet grasped the concept of object permanence -that you exist even when you're not with them.

Apparently this anxiety can last well past his first birthday. Sigh, will let you know if he is one of the "bad case".

Anyways, I found out that there are some ways of dealing with separation anxiety. Looks like mummy and daddy will need to pay special attention to these pointers:

1. Keep things familiar
If possible, have your child stay in his own home with someone he knows well -- grandparents, a caregiver. If he has to be away from home, don't separate him from his siblings, and make sure he has his favorite blankie. Routine is especially important for younger babies. A 4-month-old is too young to comprehend why Mom isn't with him, the most you can do is keep his daily routine the same.

2. Tell baby what to expect
Children really need to learn to trust you, so forecasting and then doing what you say you're going to do is very important. For kids under 3, a heads-up one or two days before you go is plenty. And don't skip an explanation because you think your child is too young to understand. Your tone of voice and your attitude send a message to your kids before they understand all the words.

3. Build anticipation
Whether he'll be going to the zoo with grandpa or baking cookies with grandma, emphasize how much fun your child will have while you're gone. It's also good to acknowledge his anxiety. You could say, "I know you're going to have a really good time with Grandma -- but it's okay if you miss me. You can tell Grandma you miss Mommy, and I bet Grandma will give you a really big hug."

4. Rehearse
Before your first kid-free trip, try some short practice runs. You want to help children gradually learn to tolerate separations. Try going out without your child a few nights a week. If that sounds unrealistic, an occasional overnight visit at Grandma's or a few afternoons with a babysitter can also help prepare your child for longer separations.

5. Always say good-bye
A baby can better adapt to separation if he sees Mommy and Daddy before they go. If he is sleeping or distracted when his parents leave, he may wake up, notice that you're not there, and start crying.

6. Leave a reminder of you
Leave something of yours behind with your baby. She could watch a video that you're in, look at a large picture of you, or sleep in one of your unwashed T-shirts.

7. Have a countdown until you return
Sometime after his second birthday, the child's sense of time improves. He may enjoy crossing out days on a calendar while you're gone, or marking them with stickers. Another idea is to give your child a box or bag of small gifts when you leave town. Then each day you're away, he gets to take out one gift.

8. Stay in touch
Consider sending postcards to the toddler before you leave so they'll arrive early in your absence. E-cards can also be written ahead of time and programmed to arrive when you choose. And of course, for children of all ages, phone calls are very reassuring. If your child starts to cry during your call, it's time to say good-bye -- and perhaps have the caregiver take him outside for a change of scenery.

9. Prepare for changes when you return
Many kids -- eager for your attention -- will act a little funny when you arrive home. Often you'll see a bit of regression/ It might be thumb sucking when they haven't done that for a while, or they may slip up in their potty training. But just like your child's fear of your leaving, this too shall pass.

Oh my, looks like we really need to prep him way in advance because our little boy is showing some signs that he is not happy when mummy and daddy are not around.

Ethan's first artwork

2009-07-05T23:29:00.000+08:00

Ethan helped daddy make a father's day card for grandpa of course with some help from mummy. This was taken during Father's Day (21st June 2009). We used non-toxic children's paint and made sure that Ethan had his tiny hands wash twice after our little project!

tomorrow will be a better day

2009-06-30T23:50:00.000+08:00

Have you ever just felt like you just don’t feel like feeling, felt horrible for no apparent reason, felt like the patience–o-meter is at it’s negative reading, no appetite for food, caught in a jam and thought that it was the worst ever, tired, haggard and exhausted.Well, that was how I felt today. Monday - it may be?

Came back from work, feeling horrible and tired. Had dinner and gave Ethan his milk. Testing! Because he just didn’t want to finish his milk. Frustrated! Walked out and went into my room.
Lied on my bed for a while and got the water in the bath running hoping to soak in the tub to unwind. When I was about to step into the tub, I heard Ethan’s yells and screams from the other room. There goes my time alone. Picked Ethan up and pacified him. Read him his Goodnight Moon, probably more than 10 times?, played with him and finally turned on the magic lullaby (daddy’s original mixtape), which hubby recorded when we found out that Pearly Shells could actually put Ethan to dreamland.

Finally, snug into bed with hubs. I asked him,“Have you ever just felt like you just don’t feel like feeling, felt horrible for no apparent reason, felt like the patience–o-meter is at it’s negative reading, no appetite for food, caught in a jam and thought that it was the worst ever, tired, haggard and exhausted.?”

Hubby answered, “Yes, many times. Like when he got out of bed on the wrong note. But eventually, it will turn better”

Me: It will?

Hubby: Yes. It will.

Then, hubby wrapped his arms around me and said, “Yes, it will be better. I’ll be here always. We can eat the banana cake together tomorrow morning.”

We said a prayer and went to sleep.
Yes, it will be better, much better tomorrow.

Yes, so sweet of hubs to buy me a loaf of banana cake from the SS2 pasar malam. I’ve never bought any cakes from the pasar malam, fearing its condition. But when I woke up this morning, I had 4 generous slices of the cake.

It was good, and yes, my day was much better.

Footprints in Sydney

2009-06-16T23:49:00.002+08:00

I was in Sydney again, after a very very long time - 5 years? And this time, I packed my bags, and board the plane all by myself, yes! Very couragious one may say, but really, I was crushed inside for having to leave hubby and lil' E at home. Unfortunately habby is not able to take just that couple of days off, thus the reason I'm travelling alone.

However, I after boarding on the plane, I watched some in-demand movies and went straight to sleep. When I woke up, the stewards were just serving breakfast and 1 hour and 15 mins before we land in Sydney Kingsford Airport.

Nice! That was how I felt....

When stepped out, it was Swine Flu Alert all over Sydney airport! I was amused by the termal videocams set up all over. Passed the cameras and yippie, went straight to the luggage belts.

Not too long later, saw a familiar face. Zuhun was as big as ever. No wonder buddy loves hugging this giant.

I wondered around town on my own, no hubs, no bubs. And that was really good. I could just wake up in the morning, not having to think about what do I need to complete for the day. I could just take my time and do nothing.

Of course I didn't do nothing! I just sipped coffee and smiled.

Spent a good 3 days in Sydney, revisiting and re-living it again. It was indescribable. But most of all, spending some time with buds. That was priceless .

We ate, drank, chatted, gossiped, 'sucked' (ahem, oysters), giggled, laughed and I teared when I left.

Pacific Oyster at the Fish Market.

$18.99 a dozen.

Buds and I each had half a dozen... and

half a lobster, half a dozen of scallops, salmon and tuna sashimi, 3 prawns.. all within an hour!

Sigh, that was what you call a taste of heaven!

Ethan - Starting Solids

2009-06-08T22:44:00.001+08:00

When Ethan turned 6 months on the 1st June, I was really excited wanting to see how he'd react when this alien spoon reached his tiny mouth with some white gluey paste in it. We have been training him with the spoon for the past month, feeding him just water using a baby weaning spoon.

We follow strictly the recommended time when solids should be introduced, and according to the WHO, it is best to introduce solids to infant at and around 6 months old because the iron stores that baby gained will begin to run low and a full term baby will need the iron from other sources. Therefore it is important for the little one to gain a balanced nutritional intake. Also, it is a perfect time to start him at this point because he is showing massive signs that he is ready for solids (he drools a whole lot, puts everything and anything into his mouth, sucks his thumb profusely). I was told by my pediatrician that the danger begins when we deliberately start him much later (after he has shown all these signs but we still insist on not starting him on solids until much later) will do more harm than good. And if infants are not introduced to solids after 6 months, they will then to rely on their milk intake only. This is dangerous as milk alone will not be able to sustain a growing infant’s nutrient requirements.

Therefore, we started him right on the dot when he turned 6 months old. This little champion took us by surprise because it actually turned out quite alright as I was expecting him to throw out 50% of his baby cereal. He really did made us proud by showing us that he can eat, and I mean eat properly. He did not kick any fuss, but welcomed each spoonfuls of cereal by opening up his mouth and launching himself forward excitedly every time when he sees his food coming close to his direction.

Referring to a little note written by his pediatrician:

1st week : Baby cereal anytime between 5 - 7 pm
2nd week : Baby cereal anytime between 7-9am and 5-7pm
3rd week : Mashed fruits and vegetables

I am at week one! 2 more week sto go... What kind of mashies should I start?
Carrots, avocado, Carrots, avocado, Carrots, avocado, Carrots, avocado, ... Avocado!

counting down

2009-05-23T22:48:00.003+08:00

I got these colourful baby feeding spoons, ready in time for Ethan's first solids which will be a week time. Have been standing, squatting, leaning, sitting along the aisles of these infant/toddles department reading each of these usage instructions.

However, what was eye catching and somewhat consistent in most packaging were the "BPA Free" baby products. I later found out that BPA stands for Bisphenol-A which is a hormone-disrupting chemical considered to be potentially harmful to human health and the environment. It has been known that scratched and worn polycarbonate feeding bottles will leach this chemical into liquids.

Urghs, didn't help much though when I bought Ethan's full set of Avent bottles "BPA un-free". However, after finding out his has definitely made me more aware of the conditions of his bottles and will have to painfully discard his bottles away once signs of deterioration.

Anyways, 1 more week to go... What should I start him with?
Carrots, avocado, Carrots, avocado, Carrots, avocado, Carrots, avocado, ... Avocado!

Jelly Bean Prayer

2009-05-06T01:02:00.001+08:00

Red is for the blood He gave
Green is for the grass He made
Yellow is for the sun so bright
Orange is for the edge of night.

Black is for the sins that were made
White is for the grace He gave
Purple is for the hour of sorrow
Pink is for the new tomorrow.

Give a bag full of jelly beans
Colorful and sweet

Tell them it's a Prayer...
It's a promise...
It's an Easter Treat!

the young lims

2009-05-05T23:29:00.002+08:00

Ian Lim, our first Godson now 5 years old, has turned out to be a fine young man.

Pio Lim, born 1 week after our wedding is known to be Mr. Smiley for his generous cheerful smiles.

And we shall wait, one more Lim on the way... in 7 months time!

his chair

2009-04-30T00:57:00.004+08:00

We finally got Ethan's high chair from Toys 'r' Us in preparation for his solids very soon! It was one of the few last items in the to-get list for Ethan because I didn't want to accept the fact that he will soon be taking solids. However, hubby thinks otherwise. He can't for Ethan to join us at the dinner table. Actually, he can't wait for Ethan to join him camping, fishing, shooting hoops and sharing his passion in daddy's line up of Jordans.

Therefore, daddy went all over town to look for a good looking high chair and guess what daddy found? A yellow chair!

Anyways, when hubby showed me the yellow Graco chair that was on the shelves, we immediately feel in love with it. It has a detachable table for the little boy, which was perfect for heavy duty cleaning.

All we need now is a set of baby's feeding set and we're ready to go. Not quite actually, he has just turned 5 months old.

Anyways, we are sticking to the conventional introduction of solids at 6 months old.

1 more month to go...

Ethan in his yellow chair

eat and be merry

2009-04-22T23:33:00.016+08:00

29 November 2008

We had a little get together for Christmas when I was 37 weeks pregnant, that was November 29 (3 days before Ethan decided to pop). With much anticipation of Ethan’s arrival, I thought I should spend some time with our close friends before the “confinement” began.

For the first time, we had a proper pot luck Christmas dinner. For years, our get together session had always been theme-less pot lucks.

Hubby prepared his famous rosemary roasted chicken, complemented by herbed roasted mix vegetables. Well, needless to say that he was very proud of his roasting skills when he presented us his golden brown roasted potatoes. I must admit, that pot of thing he did, was respectable!

Leonard and wifey Carnee showed up with huge honey baked chicken and a huge bowl of mashed potatoes.

Because Jaclyn was 2 months pregnant, Kenneth didn’t allow her to step into the kitchen. This time, we had the privilege (finally) to have him stir up his super expensive ovens and produced a palate of handsome grilled lamb cutlets. On top of that, this man is the only person on earth I know who makes superb “siu yuk”aka roasted pork.

Gabriel and Lauren swore that they took part in LEARNING Gabriel’s mum’s homemade slow stewed pork (which was really, Tai Thong standards!) The pot of meat melted in out mouths. Gee, the thought of it sends water in my mouth.

KC, Yueh Li and Ethan Zac showed up with a huge platter of bangers: Italian sausages, mixed herb, Chorizo, smoked chicken, chipolatas and you name it. To top that, they actually baked it! Hooh, superb.

Sharon finally rang the bell with 3 tubs of Baskins Robbins which were whipped off the minute we took it out from the freezer. Needless to say, our beauty queen was late (again) but at least she showed up!

Mum and I partnered up to bake little Christmas cupcakes. Being 37 weeks, I was breathless most of the time, I only could bake the cupcakes and didn't manage to ice the cupcakes. Mum therefore helped with decorating the little delights.

Yvonne was busy transporting plates of bruschetta from the toaster out to the dining table. We had the classic herbed tomato and brown button mushrooms bruschetta served as the appetiser.

Braving the complicated step into baking a baked cheese cake, my sister Angeline made dessert a highlight of our evening. Ended the evening with heart warming carols and later did our little round of gift exchanges. It was indeed an evening dedicated to friends and thanking the Lord for the season of love and joy.

Needless to say, the boys had a swell of a time.

Blessed Christmas everyone!

ethan

2009-04-21T23:19:00.011+08:00

When we found out that I was pregnant with a little boy, many asked if we had given him a name yet. We would smile and said yes! However, we did not want to disclose his name until he came out!

Well, same time when I was pregnant, one of Adrian's cousin, KC was also expecting a little bundle of joy. But, both KC and Yueh Li decided not to find out the gender of the baby and preferred it to be a surprise instead. We received a text message one morning thanking us for the toy we bought their little boy and that, baby “Ethan” will definitely love playing with them. And guess what, little baby being Ethan, will make him Ethan Chong… as well!

We prayed about little boy's name and somehow, both hubby and I have were very attached to the name as we have been calling him by his name since we knew he was a boy, that was probably when he was approximately in his week 25. Therefore, we decided that we'll stick to his name, Ethan, Ethan Chong Xiang Wei.

By the way, his name Ethan is of Hebrew origin and his name means "firmness, strong, long-lived". Biblically, Ethan was a man of Israel noted for his wisdom. One reason why we chose the name Ethan was partly due to its meaning. Our only prayer for him is to be strong, despite having to face with tremendous challenges, pressures and temptations the world might endow on him.

While we're on the subject, we are proud God parents to Ethan Chong Ching Her. He is 4 months older than our little boy and that makes him the big bro! However, we will not be calling him biggie Ethan or Ethan senior or what not. KC and Yueh Li has decided that he will have a confirmation name, Zachary. Therefore, he is Ethan Zachary Chong Ching Her, in short, Ethan Zac!

That's Yueh Li and Ethan Zac

his little thumb

2009-04-20T00:47:00.001+08:00

It's past midnight and we have put Ethan to sleep an hour ago after his last feed. I was washing up and heard faint sucking noises from Ethan's cot. He is sucking his thumb! I'm so proud of him because he is obviously not asleep and he knows it's bedtime. Better still, he is not making any fuss but to suckle his little thumb to sleep!
Sweet dreams lil' E!

it's a boy!

2009-04-17T00:21:00.002+08:00

We ordered a 2kg chocolate butter cake for Ethan's full moon for my collies over at work. The cake looked lovely and it came in a shape of a milk bottle. I tried the cakes from Just Heavenly a couple of occasions and I totally feel in love with their cakes.

Ethan's full moon cake for workmates over at MB Malaysia

For the those who swears that eating chocolate actually releases endorphines, please try the Death by Chocolate. It's one of the best chocolate cakes I've ever tasted. Pair it with a scope of vanilla ice cream and you'll hit the 10/10 button! It's glorious!

I really liked the choc and cheese. I've tasted many variances of choc and cheese and this is one which I think has the best combination of classic cheese and chocolate cheese in a cake. It's not as sweet as I thought it looked and and boy, this is one time which I would choose cake over calories! Total surrender, oh, sigh...

Check out Just Heavenly.

Gute Nacth

2009-04-16T01:08:00.004+08:00

Today Ethan finally went to sleep by himself in his cot! He has been rooming in with us for the past 4 1/2 months, in our bed, between the two of us.
Therefore, for 4 1/2 months, I fell asleep not having to have hubby wrap his arms around me to sleep.
For once, I can quietly snug into bed with hubby.
Sweet Dreams, Gute Nacth!

little chinese delights

2009-04-15T22:29:00.006+08:00

We went out for a dim sum outing at Chynna, KL Hilton. This restaurant serves Cantonese-Shanghainese fusions. That was made known when a funny looking spout (a very long spout, mind you) from a teapot handled by a waiter was tilting towards our Chinese porcelain cups. And that’s how Shanghainese teas are served!

Malaysia being a Muslim country, it’s normally pork-free in Chinese restaurants in the major hotel chains. I must say that the dim-sum served was good, well, really good for a pork-free menu.

The details on the palates were impressive (sorry didn’t manage to capture some of these creative gastronomic presentations because we were so hungry. Now that we have to sort Ethan out before leaving the house, its takes us about a good 1 hour from the time when we adults get ready. He needs to be fed, cleaned if he poos, we need to pack his bag making sure his stuffs are brought along, stroller and finally strapped down to his car seat) but they also actually taste good!

Ethan was really amused with the open dim sum kitchen and bar. Who could miss the huge red lanterns draping down from the ceiling, making the restaurant look as if it’s like a mini lantern parade. Well, by the way, if you don’t know, this little boy of ours is full of curiosity, inquisitiveness, and is nicked names Mr. Nosy!

For durian lovers, this restaurant is the only restaurant in town that offers piping hot durian- custard mini buns. They were splendid!

To end, the all time favourite chilled mango pudding with ice cream.

Well, its not just the mini buns which were good, the restaurant serves other seafood dim sums which introduces perfect combinations of various tastes. Bravos to chef for putting smiles and blissfulness in his dining hall. No wonder he was awarded the “CHEF CONGENIALITY AWARD” for the Malaysia International Gourmet Festival 2008!

Mummy and Ethan after a scrumptious lunch

writing again...

2009-04-14T22:01:00.002+08:00

Before Ethan came into our lives, I was busy looking for one of those “my baby journal” books to pen Ethan’s developments as a reassurance for that I am actually growing with him, despite being a working mommy, which I did.

Some of the contents in the book: my first day at home, my first Christmas, when I first slept in my room, my first smile and the list of my firsts…

As I look back at these writings, it has taken on new meaning as I have gone through the stages of motherhood within these 4 months. When I feel like I have been too busy at work or too unaware of Ethan’s small changes I pull out this journal and read just one or two of the tiny details of my life with him. Immediately the richness of my motherhood experience unfolds for me and buoys me up.

However, I realized that they were more things which happened and I would like to remember. Ie: sleeping patterns, children’s parties Ive attended, shopping sessions with grandma, outings, other curiosities that took place.

And hence, I'm writing again.

And I hope that this will eventually be a trail to follow, to try to figure out how Ethan is unique in his own ways; his maladies, his fear, and his accomplishments in the years to come.

These intricate details hopefully would be able to take me back to my motherhood experience, where it all began, the struggles, pleasures and contentment. And hopefully over the years, they bring me the peace of mind that while leading a working-mommy life; busy, hectic, full life was full of motherhood's great rewards and pleasures.

waiting

2008-08-28T23:40:00.000+08:00

We have been shopping heaps for little Ethan and Daddy is sure getting all excited about Lil E's arrival.

Daddy couldn't help but to snap some pictures of lil E's outfits.

lil E's patch booties, daddy's jordans

can't wait for a ball game with lil E

" I wanna grow up to be just like daddy"

Santa Claus!

2007-12-17T21:43:00.003+08:00

Right now, I’m sitting next to Adrian. He is focused wanting to finish up his work for the night, while me, just stepped out from the shower thinking about something really strange.

Santa Claus.
Who is Santa Claus.

I was actually thinking to myself, who is Santa Claus. Believe it or not, having gone through quite a NUMBER of Christmases and growing up always wanting be know where santa came from, I just can’t believe at this point in my life, I still don’t know who is Santa Claus.

Without much thought, I dived into the internet and googgled Santa Claus. Typically, the 1st result that appeared came from wikipedia.

Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, or simply "Santa" is a fictional folklore figure who, in Western cultures, is presented as bringing gifts on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day or on his feast day, December 6.

The popular North American form Santa Claus is derived from the Dutch Sinterklaas, which in turn is a contracted form of Sint Nicolaas (Saint Nicholas). However, the Dutch Sinterklaas is depicted as being very different from Santa Claus in many ways.

Also, I found out that the outfit Santa Claus wears comes in many colors depending on which country. The most common depiction (red with white cuffs, collar, and black leather belt) became the more popular image in the United States in the 19th century due to the significant influence of Thomas Nast.

Thomas Nast's depiction of Santa Claus

Thomas Nast was a famous German-American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist in the 19th century and is considered to be the father of American political cartooning. He drew A classic version of Santa Claus1863 for Harper's Weekly. Before then, most depictions of Santa Claus showed a tall, thin man. Nast drew him as the bearded, plump man known today.

In the mid-20th Century, and artist Haddon Sundblom came up with a series of Coca-Cola advertisements featuring a Santa Claus which was round and jovial, closely depicted by Thomas Nast.

Haddon Sundblom's depiction of Santa Claus is the Coca Cola Advertisements

Many legends and miracles are attributed to Santa Claus:

When he was an infant, his mother only nursed him on Wednesdays and Fridays; he fasted the remaining days.
He halted a storm at sea in order to save three drowning sailors.
During his lifetime, he adored children and often threw gifts anonymously into the windows of their homes.
His father left him a fortune which he used to help poor children.
He grabbed the sword of an executioner to save the life of a political prisoner.
He brought back to life several children who had been killed.

Present day, you can find quite a number of legends, related to Santa.

Throughout many countries in Europe, St. Nicholas/Santa distributes gifts to the children on DEC-5, the eve of his feast day. In some countries, the gifts come at another time during Advent or on Christmas eve.
In Germany, Weinachtsmann (Christmas man) is a helper of the Christkind (Christ Child)
In France, Père Noël distributes the gifts.
In Russia, under the influence of communism, St. Nicolas evolved into the secular Father Frost. He distributes toys to children on New Year's Eve.
In England, Father Christmas delivers the presents. He is shown with holly, ivy or mistletoe.
In Scandinavian countries, the ancient Pagan Yule goat has transmuted into Joulupukki - similar to the American Santa.
In North America, Santa Claus rules, thanks to a certain brand of soda.
According to Roman Catholic church, his body is said to have not decomposed. In his shrine in Bari, Italy, it is believed by many pilgrims to exude a sweet smelling odor which cures medical disorders and illnesses.

Right now, I'm left with a retiring smile because at least part of my naive and innocent growing up year believing that there is a Santa is not at all a fairy tale. He is just Saint Nicholas!

THE POEM

2007-12-13T22:58:00.000+08:00

I've read this poem a couple a times and never really thought it meant anything to me. Of late, I've been really caught up with work and sometimes forget totally about the meaning of existence and the creator of it.

I am truly humbled and often feel much more secure to know that He is close to me.
Now I'd like to share this poem with you and hopefully it'll speak to you soon.

---

I knelt to pray but not for long, I had too much to do.
I had to hurry and get to work for bills would soon be due.
So I knelt and said a hurried prayer,
And jumped up off my knees
My Christian duty was now done
My soul could rest at ease.
All day long I had no time
To spread a word of cheer.
No time to speak of Christ to friends,
They'd laugh at me I'd fear.
No time, no time, too much to do,
That was my constant cry,
No time to give to souls in need
But at last the time, the time to die.
I went before the Lord,
I came, I stood with downcast eyes.
For in his hands God held a book; It was the book of life.
God looked into his book and said "Your name I cannot find.
I once was going to write it down... but never found the time"

pralines?

2007-10-21T23:44:00.005+08:00

A couple of minutes ago, Adrian and I were just chilling when I took out a box of Max Brenners chocolates Andrea brought for us from Sydney.

This box of chocolate comes with a little menu/catalogue where it labels the type of chocolates in the box.

I chose the "Dark Chocolate Praline with Cornflakes" and Adrian picked the "Praline with Dark Chocolate".

Then he asked, "Hunn, What is praline?"

I thought for a second "I think it's high class chocolates."

He paused and said "o-kay".

For the next 30 seconds, I sat still and I came over to the check what a praline actually means.

Praline is a family of confections made from nuts and sugar syrup. (Source: wikipedia)

As originally invented in France at the Chateau Vaux-le Vicomte by the cook of the 19th century sugar industrialist, Praslin. Pralines were whole almonds individually coated in caramelized sugar, as opposed to dark nougat, where a sheet of caramelized sugar covers many nuts. The powder made by grinding up such sugar-coated nuts is called 'pralin' or 'praliné' in French, and is an ingredient in many cakes and pastries.

In most other countries the word 'praline' is used to mean this powder, or even a paste, often used to fill chocolates, hence its use by synecdoche in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium to refer to filled chocolates in general. In the United Kingdom, the term can refer either to praline (the filling for chocolates) or, less commonly, to the original whole-nut pralines.

After reading this, pralines are not exactly high-class chocolates. There are chocolates which have softer/caramelized texture inside and are covered with another layer of chocolate.

Hehe, I will need to explain this to my confused husband.

Carls jr.

2007-10-15T23:07:00.000+08:00

Lately, I had strange cravings for jap food. And knowing my cravings, it's best to get my stomach to Genki Sushi for cheap assortments of standard japanese food. Tonight in particular, we left for dinner pretty late, about 9pm. When reached Genki Sushi in One Utama, it was already closing for the day.

We found out from my sister that Carls Jr. is in town and it was just a couple of steps away from Genki sushi. So we've decided to give it a try. Afterall, I've missed it the last time when we were in Singapore.

Having the go through the menu was quite difficult as most of them looked similar except the burgers with mushrooms. For your information, if you've not heard of Carls Jr, it's another one of those American fastfood chains serving huge portion of burgers.

I opted for the Portobello mushroom burger while Adrian had the Western Bacon Cheeseburger. When we've finally made our order, the lady over at the counter asked if we would like to upgrade our fries to crisscut fries, onion rings or chilli fries. We asked how much is it to upgrade, she said RM3.00. Therefore we thought it was quite a good deal to pay 3 bucks to get chilli fries. GREAT! The total came up to close to 50 bucks for 2 sets of meal. *GREAT-EER* When checked why, the chilli fries cost about 7 bucks to upgrade. What a great way to get us to upgrade. GEE!

Anyways, we didn't make any fuss out of it hoping the serving of chilli fries would be good. When our meal arrived, we were pretty pleased to find that our wrapped burgers were in generous sizes: means to my standard - HUGE. However, to my horror, when I open up the burger wrapper, all I saw 2 huge hamburger buns with a tiny charbroiled beef patty. The patty looked 3 times smaller than what we saw in the menu and the yeah, the buns looked exactly the size - HUGE!

Oh well, without a word, we took our dinner “ quietly"

The verdict - The burgers were alright. Perhaps a 5.5/10. Yes, we were completely stuffed after finishing our meals, but that did not feel good at all. We felt we've stuffed ourselves crazy with more burger buns than any thing else. The chilli fries weren't that good either. Possibly a 5/10. As for the drink, Coke what can go wrong Coke.

The meal was nothing a shout about. Possibly it's because it;s halal here and the Asian fed cows here are just sad. To sum up, I won't mind trying Carls Jr. in America or even in Singapore. However, I don't think I will step into Carls Jr here in Malaysia again.

al naroufah

2007-10-15T22:00:00.000+08:00

Al Naroufah
Le Meridian, Kuala Lumpur

A Date? drink
It tasted funny though.

Apparently, middle eastern meals are always served this way, table full of food!

I love these pita bread especially with the hummus dip!

Cod Fish Pilaki Tajeen
Braised Cod Fish in Vegetable Ragout (Turkish Style)

Doner Kebab
Minced Kebab Meat from Rotating Grill, served in Pita Bread, Tomato Salsa and Garlic Cream

An Arabian tea to end the meal, how soothing

Chilled fragrant mango pudding

bintang beer ad

2007-09-30T23:12:00.001+08:00

Bintang Beer Ad
Starring: Canon Ling
Directered by: Adrian Chong & Tracy Ho
Photography by: Michelle Loh

Ad 1
Venue: In front of Kuta Beach
For the heat and sun

Ad 2
Brand Recognition: To introduce the "Bintang" brand by showing hints of brand name in the Ad.

Ad 3
To appeal: By having the model drink his Bintang passionately

Ad 4
To emphasize: Model to squint a little to highlight the superb taste of the beer

Ad 5
To have fun: Model to post naturally to promote fun in drinking Bintang

check out Bintang Beer

So, what do you think about the ads?

peep out

2007-09-30T10:49:00.000+08:00

taken from my room one evening.

by the beach

2007-09-26T23:20:00.000+08:00

Tanjung Jara Resort
East Coast of Malaysia
South China Sea

I like Octopus... yeay baby!

kuta beach

2007-09-23T23:23:00.001+08:00

Bubbly brunch at PJ's

2007-09-23T22:40:00.001+08:00

PJ's
Four Seasons Resort Bali
Jimbaran, Bali

We had brunch on the deck while soaking in the waves of Jimbaran Bay.
The view was astounding while the food, top notch!

The mood at PJ's is always upbeat and casual.

Seating on two decks and at the bar provides a clear view of the beach and Jimbaran Bay.

Smoked Salmon with Scramble Egg, Bagel, Cream Cheese, Capers and Sautéed Mushrooms

Eggs Benedict and Mini Caesar Salad

After 2 glasses of Mimosa
yipeeeeeeeeeeee... pretty happy at 12 noon!

That's Jen and I

dreamland beach

2007-09-23T22:22:00.001+08:00

Dreamland Beach
Uluwatu, Bali

KUDETA

2007-09-23T10:33:00.000+08:00

KUDETA
Seminyak, Bali

mine
to start: squid ink pasta

His
to start: pork confit

my main: tea smoked barramundi fillet

His main: lobster linguine

This restaurant sure lights up at night!

Check out KUDETA

What is good food without good company?

Tracy & Canon

Jeany and I

Us!

breathing Bali

2007-09-23T01:14:00.000+08:00

random shots taken during our trip to Bali
September 2007

I was delighted to see a cotton tree. Really, this is my first time seeing a cotton tree in my entire life. Looked like an ordinary tree at first, then I was real pleased to see tiny cotton drizzling down, looks just like snow, but the weather was horribly humid!

A shot of the locals in action.

paddy field

I swore that I will never waste a spec of rice ever, after seeing how hard these people have to work in the paddy field.

one of the many Hindu temples

2007-09-23T00:26:00.001+08:00

Gua Gajah
Ubud, Bali
Indonesia

Check out Announcement 1: Women during menstruation are strictly forbidden to enter the temple.

Actually, pets are not allowed as well.
That is why we took a photo right in front of the entrance to the temple with Miko because he is not allowed in.

Ancient belief that when you was your face with the water flowing out from this statue of some goddesses?, you will look younger?
All I was thinking then was that, I don't think I want to risk my face with some water that will have me go back to the dermatologist asking for more acne cream.
To sum up: I gave that a pass.

These colourful sarongs worn by us (tourists) are actually to cover our legs as a sign of respect in this place which is considered sacred by the Balinese.
We thought they looked cool and colourful instead!

A shot of us admiring the sacred tree from a view from above.

Remains of a temple which once stood in this area.

A view from above.

Adrian thought these stones were used for idol worship like on Mount Kinabalu!

Balinese Babi Guling

2007-09-22T00:16:00.002+08:00

Bu Oka
Ubud, Bali
Indonesia

The famous "babi guling" place.

The thought of it sends water into my mouth.

ULAM

2007-09-21T23:45:00.000+08:00

ULAM (Balinese Grilled Seafood with Authentic Chilli Dip)
Nusa Dua, Bali
Indonesia

30 sticks of satays per person

2007-09-21T23:14:00.000+08:00

cindy

2007-09-21T23:07:00.001+08:00

a balinese massage by the sea

2007-09-21T21:30:00.000+08:00

Westin Spa
The Westin Resort, Nusa Dua
Bali

One of the traditional Balinese pavilions by the ocean.

We pampered ourselves crazy in an hour long Balinese massage in these pavilion with a full view of the ever-changing Indian Ocean.
It was wordless.

salak

2007-09-21T21:19:00.001+08:00

Balinese "Salak"

the keys

2007-09-17T23:45:00.000+08:00

Today, we got the keys to our new place. It was pretty tough looking for a place with the property prices getting soaring exponentially. Anyway, we got a really neat place in Bandar Utama and I can't wait to furnish it.

We just got a huge TV and that will sit in our room, spoiled ourselves silly with a gorgeous bed and a huge tub. Right now, we will really need to go around hunting for a good dining set, some book shelves and I am desperately in need of some ideas for a garden.

being too cool

2007-09-15T22:59:00.001+08:00

Cool people
Cool hobbies
Cool rewards

The Cool Boys
Justin, Brandon, Jeremy, Devin, Evan, Adrian

The" Cool" Drummers
Evan, Brandon

Brandon in action

Part time cool models as well

The sweet "cool" voices and sweet "ccol" faces too
Tanya and Jeslyn

"Cool" Trio in action
Tanya, Jeslyn and Joyce

The "cool" guitarists

Devin, Justin and Adrian

The "very cool" keyboardist
Michelle

her "cool" part time assistant, Brandon

Coolest reward: besides getting real reward from Heaven for rocking the church, they get pocket money too for playing for the KC and Yueh Li's Wedding Mass.

KC & Yueh Li's

2007-09-15T22:49:00.001+08:00

The Wedding of Kien Chung and Yueh Li
15 September 2007
Bangsar Seafood Village, Kuala Lumpur

Ng, Adrian, Kenneth Tham, Gabriel Chan
Lee Mee Mee, Michelle, Jaclyn Chiam, Sharon Lim, Joyce Ling

the 37"

2007-09-13T21:23:00.000+08:00

Our new television arrived and guess who was the who stood by the entrance looking at it like it was 4 year old looking at mickey mouse come into his house. Oh gee..

We are in the midst of buying stuffs for our new place and yes, the tellie was the first in line. You can be sure that it definitely wasn't my idea buy a Regza before the couch, bed, kitchen appliances and OMG, we've totally forgotten about the dining set.

Man, I suppose it's such a gender affair when it comes to furnishing the house. Anyway, I was at peace with the fact that Adrian wanted a new tellie badly. I played a tinnie part in deciding the tellie. Of course it didn;t help that i have absolutely no knowledge (like, base general knowledge about televisions), therefore I insisted that the Samsung Plasma was a beauty. It took us about 2 hours, (more of, it took Adrian about more than 2 hours) to convince me that Plasma has shorter life span and is phasing off. Therefore, the LCD flat screen is a much better buy. At the end of the day, I gave up, no I gave in.. =), and I replied Adrian nonchalantly, "You can decide which tellie you like" because then I can decide on the other etcs, and yes, we got the Regza, which I have to say that it was NICE!

So, we graced it last night watching "In Her Shoes" by Jennifer Weiner. It was a good movie, not too harsh and we enjoyed it thoroughly. In fact, I was just about to finish her latest paperback, "the guy not taken". It's a good book though, witty and cheerful. A very good book for lazy readings, I have to admit.

our room

2007-08-25T01:15:00.002+08:00

Room 1508
Tanjung Jara Resort

This is the room we stayed in.
It's funny how the whole resort's concept is so much like staying in the traditional Malay's homes. The whole architecture reminds us of the "rumah kampungs".
We even had the original "Bunga Manggar" in front of our door to welcome us as the newly weds.
We thought that was really thoughtful of them to prepare such detail.

bunga manggar (palm blossom)

Apparently,these traditional bunga manggar placed just in front of the door are to mark the arrival of the newly weds to the resort and resort staff knows they must accord extra special treatment to the couples. It’s also a sure way of saying “Do Not Disturb”.

Peeping out from our room.

The rooms opens up to the beautiful South China Sea.
Waking up to the sounds and the sights of the shore is definitely one of the highlights of our escape here.

Unmistakably Malay

2007-08-25T00:35:00.000+08:00

nelayan - private outdoor dining

2007-08-14T10:43:00.000+08:00

Dinner by the Beach
Nelayan
Tanjung Jara Resort

Beautifully setup for a private evening over looking the mighty south China sea with the rhythmic waves collapsing one after another making the most romantic themed dinner.

To start: fresh Norwegian Salmon

Abalone and Sea Scallops Salad with Green Asparagus and sprinkled with sesame dressing

Crab Cappuccino with crispy prawn and coriander

To neutralize: Orange Sorbet

To Satisfy: Fish Duet
Pan-fried sea bass and , complimented with sauteed watercress and risotto

To Spoil: Flourless dark chocolate cake served with vanilla ice cream

To end: twilights surrounding our dinner table to wind the night up

spa village, tanjung jara

2007-08-14T01:26:00.001+08:00

Spa Village
Tanjung Jara Resort

World's Most Innovative Spa Award

breakfast

2007-08-13T23:54:00.001+08:00

Breakfast @ Di atas sungai
Tanjung Jara Resort

My favorite time of the day.
Having breakfast.
If you know me well enough, I do love breakfast.
All means: preparing breakfast, having breakfast, buying breakfast. Of course I do not have the luxury of doing so, but when I do have the time, I really love to have long and lazy breakkie.

'Di Atas Sungei' is Malay for 'Above The River'.
We enjoyed each of our mornings buffeting our breakfast away above this river that flows into the South China Sea.

I really like this surrounding of this area, surrounded by lush tropical greenery, and shaded by a huge Ketapang tree. I enjoyed myself thoroughly just sitting down reading the book I brought along after having the scrumptious breakkie served.

tanjung jara

2007-08-12T21:38:00.000+08:00

I need a break

2007-08-12T01:33:00.001+08:00

Have been working real hard for the past couple of months, pretty much like a routine; to work, home, dinner, chores, and bedtime.

I need a break terribly. Have been staring at my table calendar for the past month counting down the days when I can see sunshine, feel sunshine and see sun set.

This time round, we've have booked ourselves a good 4 day 3 nights compliments of YTL properties for hosting our wedding dinner in one of their boutique hotel in Kuala Lumpur. We enthusiastically packed our bags, and so ready for a road trip to the east coast. Being Malaysians, which I have to admit that I'm a pretty bad one, we have decided that we should visit the towns/cities that are located at the east coast. So, we booked ourselves a hotel in Kuantan, Pahang for a night before heading to Tanjung Jara, in Dungun, Terengganu.

The ride there was good, taking our time absorbing the scenery and the air of freedom, (for just a miserable 4 day out of the office/work/rat race).

Guess what, it's our first time having to go for a trip with nothing much planned out/no research done. We just needed a break, not thinking of what needs to be done during the break, but just "being" in the break. It felt really good, to just let go some times and and experience come what may.

Slipped some CDs in the side compartment of the car and off we went, cruising. I'm not so much of a cruising person, but it hit me that I should stop at some point in life and not take mother nature for granted.

We took about 4 hours to reach Kuantan, where we took an overnight stopover and visited the Kuala Cempedak coast the next morning. Growing up in Sabah, I have also loved the beach.

Breathing the sea breeze again refreshed my life (I had some time to think about growing up, friendships, love, mistakes, and really withdrawing from the pressures of this ever-changing world). I always have this nostalgic feeling every time Iâ€™m being the seaside, especially now that daddy is gone, I know I will always feel him in the wind. (My dad and I shared some of the best times in our lives by the beach back in Sabah).

Authentic in architecture and attitude, always warm and welcoming, it is an environment to let go, to relax deeply and take time to rediscover yourself, your family or your friends;

Then off we went, for another 3 hour drive into Dungun, a small town in Terengganu which is culturally untouched. We saw villages after villages and rows of coconut trees which mark the drive along the coast. It was a gorgeous sight!

And finally, we have reach to the winner of an Aga Khan Award for Architecture's Tanjung Jara Resort.

Reception area.

We were told that about the philosophy of the Resort which is based on the Malay concept of Sucimurni, which emphasises purity of spirit, health and well-being. Indeed, that was how I felt when stepped into the warm and cozy reception area; I felt like a long anticipated visitor which was very much welcomed by the locals.

When we arrived, we were welcomed by a hot towel and a glass of chilled Roselle drink, (made from the extract of Hibiscus flowers) which frankly tasted like plum juice. It was nice indeed, not really because the drink was excellent, but really, the fact that you have someone coming up to you serving you a nicely presented drink.

PRIME ribs

2007-07-27T20:40:00.000+08:00

Prime
Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur
21st July 2007

The only restaurant in town that offers the choice of having our steaks grilled on either imported charcoal or on lava stone. I chose the imported charcoal of course!

The Restaurant’s signature dish - Prime Rib.

Australian grain fed beef is slow roasted for 2 hours and the portions are cut to the our choice.

We had Canon to take the honor to pick his bottle from the Wine List. Unfortunately, they did not give him his first pick, but his fifth. It wasn't too bad though knowing that Canon always picks fairly good wines.

Not so much for being our dining critique, but Canon did show what a wine connoisseur he is by asking the poor waitress to decant his bottle of red.

Mercedes-Benz Active Safety Experience 2007

2007-07-13T21:09:00.000+08:00

Slalom

Learning to drift
First pointer, to drive at 100 km/h
Slam on breaks to activate ABS
DRIFT

Skid Pad

ABS breaks

Kelvin & Jobina's

2007-07-07T21:56:00.000+08:00

The wedding of Kelvin and Jobina
Church of St. Francis Xavier
07.07.07

Groom: Kelvin Chong, and Us

Chris and Adrian

Adrian and I stealin a shot

Us and Yueh Li and KC (who's got married 2 months after)
Everyone's getting married!

God sent sons!

2007-06-25T23:02:00.000+08:00

Ian

God sent sons!

2007-06-25T12:47:00.000+08:00

Pio

23rd June 2007

2007-06-23T23:02:00.000+08:00