headermask image

header image

Holiday plans

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 –

Now that Dylan is much older, we are now ready to continue our family vacations. Nothing far and nothing extravagant yet.

Just some easy local short holidays to begin with first.

Both hubb and I have so many vacation days to kill, and it is a waste not to go anywhere. So we are planning a trip up Camerons next month, and end of the year …mebbe take the boys to Langkawi via plane. Bryan has never flown in a plane before. I think he will enjoy it.

I am so excited that we can start going for holidays again. I have so many places that I want to take the boys to. Singapore to visit their uncle. Club Med when Dylan is old enough to join the kids’ activities. Perhaps even to cruises as neither hubb nor I have been to a cruise.

Can’t wait for the kids to grow up for them to be ready to have fun with us! Until then, it’s time to make and save money. But most importantly enjoy their baby time…coz they are really growing up too fast…

Shooi | Family, Wish bank | Comments (0)

A wonderful leave

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 –

I have to take 2 unpaid leave days every month due to cost control initiative at my company.

So I took one last Friday.

After I sent Bryan to his school, I went to the market and bought stuff for the weekend. Bought a dozen of huge farm fresh kampong chicken eggs. These are bigger than the regular ones and according to the seller,.much healthier, higher Omega, lower cholesterol..blablabla..

Then at the vegetable store, I asked the seller what is the minimum quantity for buying cilipadi. I only wanted a little so that I have some as a dipping sauce, and the seller just grabbed a bunch from the bag, and said, “I’ll give u free la!” Free stuff! Syioknya.

Went back home to drop off my marketing then to my beautician shop to collect a cheque. She decided to discontinue her biz due to health problem so am refunding my package balance… YAY! Money back!

After that a nice brunch of fried beehoon mee with some kickass sambal and a bowl of assam laksa… SLURP!

Then off to a nice relaxing facial. This salon beautician is very clever to ask me to buy this and that promo package, and con me into spending money that I have no intention of spending. The last package (10x) that I signed with her was probably 3 years ago, and I still have not used up all of it.
1. I have no time to go for regular facial.
2. Each time I go, she managed to convince me to buy another facial that is on promo la, etc. But promo also very expensive (to me la)
But last Friday, I managed to say NO to everything and just use one of my package facial. No extras….
It was a good facial. I dozed off during the massage and I feel so accomplished at the end of it that I don’t have to spend extra $.

That’s not the end of my activities yet.

I went to Gurney Plaza next. To hunt for a cheap swim suit. My swim suit koyak already, and I have been looking for ages for one that is on sale yet fits me. Most of the sale that i went to, don’t have my size or the design is yucky.

You can imagine my happiness when I manage to find one – Speedo at 70% discount. I found another one at 80% discount too, but the design is a bit gaudy. So it’s ok to pay a LITTLE extra for a decent looking swimsuit. So happy…now I can go back to my weekly swim. YAY! I definitely need to start working out again if I want to continue to stay away from fat burner supplements.

One last stop before I pick up Bryan fr school in the evening.

Big Apple Donuts. I have a buy 6 free 3 voucher. So pickup up some of my fav donuts to share with my mom & aunt.

What an accomplished day! Managed to do complete everything I wanted to do for a long time.

Heck, having to take compulsory unpaid leave wasn’t so bad afterall. Hehe…

Shooi | This & That, Wish bank | Comments (1)

External HDD

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 –

My old PC is really getting slower by the day. So worried that it will crash one day. If it crash, my biggest worry will be the kids’ photos & videos. I do backup, but not often enough.

I had wanted to get an additional external HDD last month during the PC fair..but then hub said his colleagues also wanna get and that he will ask them to buy.

Wait wait wait…never happen. Don’t know why also…

Really need to get the new HDD soon…perhaps I need to drag him to a flash memory store the next time we go shopping.

Shooi | Wish bank | Comments (0)

Internet shopping

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 –

I love internet shopping. I have been shopping on the internet for years…probably since 5 or 6 years ago. There are so much things that you can find on the internet that you can’t find at regular stores.

Plus, some things are so much cheaper as the cost to manage a website is definitely lower than managing a physical store.

And if there is a internet sale, woah… the prices are even more too good to be true.

Shooi | Wish bank | Comments (0)

Before I was a Mom

Friday, May 8, 2009 –

*got this in a fwd email…so true*


Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
or remember words to a lullaby.
I didn’t worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn’t want to put him down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn’t stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn’t know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body..
I didn’t know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby.
I didn’t know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn’t know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn’t know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom …

Happy Mother’s Day to all you wonderful mothers out there.

Shooi | Parenting | Comments (1)

Help Save the Puppies

Monday, May 4, 2009 –

Sometime in the future, I do want to keep a dog. But not until I know for certain that my family and I can cope with the responsibilities of keeping one.

Having a dog, is like having another child. It needs food, shelter, caring and most importantly love. But many people keep a dog without fully considering the full consequences. You have one, I also want one. But soon, the novelty dies off, and they then throw the dogs out to the streets. These dogs breed and cause even more strays.

So what happens if there are too many strays on a picturesque tourist island? The villagers’ solution – cast all the dogs away to another island…… TO DIE.

You don’t have to own a dog to love dogs. Read about these poor dogs plight at Skeletons on the Island and go to http://www.mycen.com.my/rescue to learn more about how YOU can make a difference.

Updates:
Donation details
Furry Friends Farm account at CIMB 1457-000-1182-05-6
You can also pay via PayPal to tvsmith@gmail.com
Contact: dogrescue.pk@gmail.com

For updates on the rescue mission, go here.

Shooi | This & That | Comments (1)

Weekend timetable

Monday, May 4, 2009 –

Our typical weekend/ public holiday schedule

8:00 – 8:30am: Kids wake up, Daddy will wash up when he hears that the kids are awake. I will bf Dylan and play with the kids in bed.

~8:30am: Daddy comes and take over from mommy. I will wash up while Daddy play with kids. I will then go downstairs to start cooking the soup. I normally would prepare the soup stock using chicken/ pork bones the night before using the Thermo Pot cooker. Then in the morning, I will remove the bones, and add in vegetables. I don’t like to cook vege in soups overnight as they will all turn to mush by the morning. Anyway, my pot is too small to put everything in. Planning to get the large 5L pot.

Me, I normally have breakfast on the go – between my chores.

Remove one car from the porch and clean the porch. Usually it is just sweeping the leaves & dust away. But if I am planning to let the kids do some activity on the floor, then I will mop the porch. No time to scrub the porch as it will take a longer time to dry.

9:00am: Kids come down. I will change their bedsheets.
Bryan & Daddy have breakfast. Dylan will get bits of their food.
Wash laundry.

9:30am: Kids go out to the porch to play. Do whatever they want outside, just don’t come in the house.
I will then sweep & mop the house, and starts to prepare lunch.
Hang laundry out to dry.

10:30am: Kids finish playing outside. Bathtime. I will then bf Dylan and put him for his morning nap.

11:00am: Dylan should be napping, and Daddy will watch over him as he is a light sleeper. Daddy will surf the net or do some quiet activity next to him.
DVD time for Bryan.
I will continue to prepare lunch.

12:00nn: Lunch is ready. Clean the kitchen.
Prepare the table for lunch. Wait for Dylan to wake up.

12:30nn: Lunch time for everyone.

1:00pm: Clear the tables and dishes.
On Saturday, I will then get Bryan ready for his 45 min weekend play session at his old school, starting at 2pm
Sundays, we may go for a short outing (Aquarium, grocery shopping, etc) or
We may do some baking at home. Bryan loves to help me bake.

3:00pm: Get the kids ready for their nap.
While kids are napping, keep laundry. On a regular sunny day, the laundry will be dry by now.
Rest

5:00pm Prepare dinner unless it is Saturday where we will go to MIL for dinner

5:45pm May go for a short evening walk esp if the kids are grouchy from their afternoon nap

6:00pm Dinner/ go to MIL’s house

7:00pm Finish dinner, clean the house.
Either hub/ me will accompany the kids to go outside to play / socialize with the neighbors.

7:30pm Go shopping or just hang out at home

9:00pm Give kids a bath, story time, quality time

10:00 Good night children
Wash the day’s laundry – kids clothes, diapers, etc
Prepare for next day (meals to cook or prepare for work)

Phew..with so much things to do, no wonder I am more tired during the weekends than on weekdays. Salute to you full time mummies! No wonder I don’t need any diet pills to lose weight.

Shooi | Family, Wish bank | Comments (3)

Protected: Mou tai chi

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 –

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:


Shooi | Family | Enter your password to view comments

Old school days

Friday, April 10, 2009 –

My friend posted some old school photos on Facebook a couple of days ago. It certainly brought back floods of wonderful old memories of school.

Sure, exams were tough..but when it is non exam seasons….boy do we know how to have fun.

My friends and I are very active in performing arts. If there is a school concert, we are bound to be presenting in it. Singing, dancing or acting, we loved it all. I remembered playing the role of Puck in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. Haha..the costumes that we created for the play was quite hilarious. Some of them looked like some adult Halloween costume. But our play was the comedy version…so you can imagine just how hilarious some of them were.

Yeah, some of them were ugly but we did not mind wearing them. All we cared about is how much fun we were having.

Ahh…the wonderful old school days.

Shooi | This & That, Wish bank | Comments (0)

Unsafe world

Friday, April 10, 2009 –

My dad’s neighbor used to ride his motorbike to work early in the morning ~5am or so. But now he no longer dares. His friend was met with a robbery while coming back from work one late night. 2 men on a motorbike forced him off the road, robbed him and then beat him up very badly using their helmets.

I was so mad when I heard this. Yeah, if you wanna rob someone…rob. But you don’t have to hurt them like that.

Furthermore, I wonder how much money they managed to rob from a motorcyclist, as most motorcyclist are not rich.

*Sigh* Our society is just so unsafe nowadays. No wonder there are more and more people are buying self defense products.

Shooi | This & That, Wish bank | Comments (1)