First rolled sushi

Pretty nice-looking, eh? (I mean, the plate)

It's a lot of fun too rolling the sushi up, other than eating them heartily. After all, we don't need to think about the $$ for every bite we ate.

I test-run the first sushi with just one and a half cup of rice and cucumber slices. It's really much easier than I thought. Then I went out to get some tuna and add them into the sushi. Now that I have more confidence, I am googling for recipes for more varieties. It's a good thing I finally get started. No need to go Sushi King already, I told the boys.

Surprisingly, meimei who doesn't fancy sushi before, didn't even need encouragement to give mine a try. She takes them in, piece after piece. I'm so happy.

Korkor was the one who asked me to take picture of our first home sushi and put it up on the blog here, after three quarter of them was wiped out.

And I also baked raisin cupcakes.

*burp*

Preparing stage of a photobook

Last Aug, I bought my first groupon voucher for a photobook and it's going to expire in March! Talk about procrastination!

I had been busy, as we all know, but still, it's all convenient excuses. The company sent me a reminder email and oh-shiats! I have less than a month to complete it now. Gah!

Having no idea what theme to put into the book at first, so I started looking at my archives of photos, right from the time korkor was born. There wasn't much digital prints that time, since digital cameras weren't so in yet. As I was reminiscing those old times, I find myself smiling from ear to ear.

There are some shots of myself where I think "eh, I looked quite sock also wor" (special angles la, some of them I looked so haggard and downright mm-kin-tuck-yan) and some "look at my forearm! soooo skinny meh??!!) . And then, of course, the cute faces when they were toddlers, oh yeah, I have so beautiful and cutesy kids, where did those genes come from??!! Some videos of little meimei babbling, how I wish I could go back to that time! Priceless! And then I regretted not taking more videos of the 3 of them.

I wonder, if I had been a happier person before, cause the photos looked like I really was. It shone in my glowing face. Or is it because I had selectively forgotten the sad and bitter part of the yesterdays?

Better get back to my project now, time is running out!

Sunday little happy things

Things that made me smile today:

• Having breakfast at the balcony with my kids, them loving the koko krunch and honey stars cereal with milk (I normally cook those Quaker cereal for them, so this came as a pleasant surprise indeed)
• While I had my coffee and butter cake I made the night before. Heavenly feelings!
• Bits and parts of them helping out with the dishes, vacuuming, transferring stuffs from one corner to the other, even though they whined a bit. (Don't whine or complain too much though, I'll be lecturing how much we are working hard for you to live comfortably!)
• Cutting the boys' hair. Wonder how long it takes for them to put their foot down and say "NO, mommy! I want to go to a proper hair salon". I think I am getting better and better at it though.
• Drying meimei's hair with the dryer while she scrutinize my drawer of make up set. Ooh~ how she longs for the day she could put them on on herself, I guess? I always tell her that I am putting make up for myself because I'm getting old. She needs not because youth is so much beautiful by itself.

I'm so blessed.

The story of little mimi.

Do you remember about little mimi's story that I had wanted to tell?

Little mimi was the name given by meimei to her little doll which was rather special. That doll was specially chosen for her from my HK trip a couple of years back to keep my promise that I would bring something special home for her. It came with a little wardrobe and some cute little outfit for playing. It has some other little stuffs which were of very good quality. I loved it myself and seeing the joy when she saw that was priceless.

So, it had been one of her favorite among her sea of toys, something like Woody. I forbid her to take any toys out when we go gaigai because.. well, I do not want to make that a habit. But that time when we were planning to go for the whole body health medical check up, I prepped and warned them about it the night before and that they ought not to complain or make any noise. I suggested they could bring some books to read or something to play with. Surely they only think about ipad, but meimei thought of taking her little mimi out.

Well, since I felt sorry that it would be taking a long day for her, perhaps it could be alright. I had reminded her to take care of her belongings and make sure that all comes home in their rightful home.

It was all well and dandy. Until after we left, and we decided to drop by at some furniture shops along the way home. After a few stopovers, she softly asked me in the car if I kept her little mimi away. I said no and immediately, I guessed she must have left it in the medical center. She confidently said no, she had taken it home from there. So, it could only be at one of those shops we were hopping by.

I told her to check carefully and she timidly said it wasn't anywhere in the car. I said she had lost it for good then. To which she replied, it's ok since she still has her Barbie dolls and other soft toys at home. And that made me fumed!

It's not about losing but her nonchalant attitude on her beloved possessions?? Shouldn't it be more compassionate? I was mad and I scolded her for being heartless, that I has wasted money on her for things she doesn't appreciate and so on..

I don't remember now what her reaction to that, but what I DO know is that later on, she tried to persuade us to turn back and look for it at those shops. She was pretty sure it must have been one or the other there.

As it was out of the way then, hubs didn't want to detour just for a little doll. Then she BAWLED like her favorite pet died! My gawd! I was so heartbroken then! You know, those kind of miserable inconsolable sadness cries? I felt so so sorry for her then. And I felt sorry for little mimi too, as I imagined the doll, if she has a mind, that she was stranded, left by her owner and would picked up by a cruel kid (like Toy Story 1).

I tried comforting her. She asked me if I could get another one of those little mimi again for her, and I thought, well, that would be too easy for her then, huh? Lose it and get another one? Shouldn't she be learning to take better care of her possessions now then? It's a life lesson that people she loves would die and be separated from her one day too. Or is that too much life's lesson for an 8yo girl?

It took a long long time for her to stop her tears from flowing and eventually, she moved on and got over it. But she still remembers her dear little mimi.

In loving memory of little mimi, the one in the center sitting on Barbie 2's lap.

Open house warming.

Before chap goh meh marks the end of the festive season 2012, we had some friends over for an open house cum house warming consecutively for 2 days. I think that was a feat that I shouldn't attempt a second time!

It was so much work! But of course, it was very warm and joyous as well.

Earlier the week, I had my good friend from HK who stayed for a night before flying off home at the very ungodly hours of the morning. JM were here too and we had a pleasant evening chatting, 3 of us, we did come a long way, didn't we? Thanks, MY for dropping by, it's just great having you over.

Then, the next day we had a lunch with my yoga friends after our workout in the morning. Everyone brought something over. It was very short though as I needed to pick the kids home then. Nevertheless, we all had a good time.

On Saturday, my high school friends came by to say hi.

I had this crazy will to cook sole-handedly for all 11 friends of mine, who came with their spouses and children. Some offered to bring along something and I really appreciated that! I didn't want to have too much leftover food as well so you can imagine almost everything was wiped clean. I believe the old folks would disapprove immensely of that cause guests ought to be fed well till there are abundance of food left!

We had spiral pasta (which the kids absolutely LOVED), fried meehoon, chicken rice, grilled chicken wings, charsiu, fried wanton. And the brought over food, egg tarts, cheese pies, macaroni cheese, and some others that I forgot. We still have food left, like the chicken rice, which we ate for lunch next day.

Then, it was my hubs' turn, his colleagues. I had not much energy to cook a feast hence I made steamboat for them. Easy job but not quite a good idea when there were more than 10 adults in the list, since not everybody can squeeze into the table at one time. As such, the kids, elderly and women get the privilege to go first. The good stuffs like raw fishballs were finished by the time the men sat down for their turn. And boy, there were still too many food left after they were done.

After dinner, we had a lou-sang again. Much of it was spew around the table, luckily hubs had the foresight to put newspaper beneath it. But it wasn't finished off as everyone was pretty full, and I felt that was such a waste of money. Someone said that Jusco's version of lou-sang was the best, but I myself was too full to eat.

Many left about 10+ while 2 of them stayed on to play black jack with my dad and hubs right over midnight. The boys wanted to have a go at the table as well, so hubs let them play with his money. After which didi wanted to use his OWN money to play! He took RM1 from his piggybank and I asked him if he was sure. He said yes, he wanted to "make" some money.

I wasn't there together joining in the fun, as I was busy cleaning up the whole place. Boy! Exhaustive, man! 2 nights in a row sweeping and mopping up the floor like that. Holding parties without any helpers really is not much fun.

When I was done, I was on the way to my bathroom when I saw didi crying his eyeballs out. Right away I knew he must have lost his 1 buck then. There he goes, his first bittersweet experience in losing money over gambling.

I comforted him, telling him he must be prepared to lose the money when he plays. This is gambling. Making money should be from work and not through gambling. Yada Yada Yada on and on lecturing about how some people gamble till they lost everything and throw themselves out from the top of buildings. Yawnnnnn.....

Later, my hubs told me he made money wud.. What?? He said he lost his capital then and held his tears back strongly so the other nice chap offered to lend him 1 buck to play on. From then on, he won, and when he made 4, he quickly decided to cabut with his hard earned money, returned the 1 buck (without interest, of course!) and went to bed.

Jeez!! Imagine him borrowing money from Ahlong next time to gamble?

That was the weekend of parties over at our home. Though I had said it was hard work, now I wanna have another one soon coz it was just too fun!

Share some of your angpow money, man!

There are times I often wonder what will become of me when I grow old?

Que sera sera, whatever will be will be...

I gave up earning my own keep to bring up the kids full time. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it after all. What happens when I don't have any income? What happens when my hubs leave me for someone else? *gasp*

I am becoming more and more dependent indeed. Scary!

Can I rely on the kids when they become independent? The other day, I tried coaxing them to share 3 bucks from their angpow money also damn tough. Didi had a whopping 753 bucks while meimei had 604! They are so lucky! And I can't even get 3 bucks each from them??!! What the... "sang jei la, sang jei la...??"

In the end, didi agreed to give away 3 bucks, for me and hubs to share. After I objected, he finally gave me 2 while he took another RM1 from his piggybank to give to his papa making it RM2 as well. Ain't he fair? And I had thought I would have higher privilege than hubs?!

Meimei cried as she didn't want to split with her angpow money and in the end, rather fork out RM10 from her piggybank to give me! I ask her why RM10 when I wanted only RM3, she said she had no 1 dollar notes in the piggy. Then after probing deeper, yun-loi, she doesn't want to part with the new crisp dollar angpow notes. wtf!

After that, hubs complained to didi that meimei gave me 10 bucks, and what did he do? He went to the piggy to take another 10 dollar note to give his dad. *BIG QUESTION MARK* what is this???

He said I have 10 bucks from meimei so it's only fair that papa has 10 too.

So, from this exercise, do you think these 2 brats are reliable when they are working adults while we, the frail, lazy, poor old parents are hungry and need money to go eat wanton mee?

Aftermath.

Somehow, this had been what I was looking forward to. The routine. From the starting of the long school break, then the start of renovation works, followed by the chaotic moving home at the same time when school started, CNY preparation and again, public holidays and long weekends after the 1 week break.

Now that the dust has settled, I had been enjoying the pleasurable moments of freedom in the mornings again and of course, the warm and cozy home we are living in.

But oh gawd, another heartache comes along. The bills! They are mighty explosive! I mean, yeah, we ought to have expected that, given we had set aside the amount for the renovation works, but still....

*heartpain can die*

The other day as we were eating out after failing to catch a movie at the last minute, I did not know what to eat so I let didi decide as really, I do feel slightly sorry that he had no pressies from us this year. He chose Sushi King and papa agreed, albeit a little bit uncomfortably. I let him order the food and somehow, I had this sinking feeling we shouldn't be having another fiesta, after being admonished by him for spending some big bucks on some other stuffs earlier, and the bills we had to pay, then the big chunk of money we spent for CNY....

Poor things, we had 3 meals shared between us, and really, korkor wouldn't have enough, given he's really a big eater nowadays as he's approaching puberty but sadly, I think we couldn't afford to spend lavishly continuously just like that. I made a mental note to stuff him with other food later on as we go home or feed him with more homecooked food for the coming days ahead.

(Sorry, korkor, hope you understand we really, really wanted to provide what you ask for, but sometimes, we had to spend wisely as there were just too many bills we need to pay off)

That night, I had a small chat with hubs and he said he feels pressured now that the monies are almost wiped out. Sigh!!! (Waffor wanna move home leh???)

So.

I had to get out from my cozy slumber and work on the old place, clean it up and faster rent out to help out with the bills.

That had got me working my butts off these few days. I started with sorting out what the things I still need to move over to my current home. My gawd, there were still boxes of stuffs!

Then I sorted out the leftover things. Either those are don't-know-what-to-do-with-them or to-throw-away. I put all the former things in the smallest room which I cleaned up first, then I combed each and every corner and rooms one by one.

And while I was at it, there were little little stuffs that I reconsider and put over in the safekeep box. Sometimes, there are just things that have sentimental value and I do not know if I should just dump it or keep it. Like the music box which was the first Valentine's gift from my hubs. It's worn, old and basically, just "charn"... keep? throw? keep? throw? ... *big frown*

From now on, we shall be having family dinners during the weekend at home more instead of eating out everytime. Maybe once a month as a holiday for me? Anyhow, we ought to be having family dinners at home together in weekends, as hubs usually eats by himself on the weekdays. After all, we do have a nice dining table now, or eating at the balcony just feels wonderful, especially after a rainy day with cool crispy air.

I must learn to make sushi too!

PD Legend water chalets

Last school holidays, the least we did for them was to bring them for a night stay at PD Legend International Water Homes.

It was a wonderful room with 2 huge beds so all of us slept pretty comfortably that night. It also come with a huge open air pool so we had all the privacy we could get. Would have loved to shower right outside but not so daring enough. What a pity! It should have been designed in such a way that the shower can be utilized fully.



There wasn't much else to do at the hotel except to dip in the main pool, and cycle around with rented bicycles. Outside PD, we went for dinner at some lousy eatery as hubs wouldn't want to drive around to look for a proper one. I had no idea why he seemed much agitated that night, restless and not accommodating. So, we just settle for anything edible and came back to the room to sleep.

The next day, we just checked out after the cycling activity and went for a McD lunch by the seaside. I think he wanted to have McD that night but I objected, hence the bad mood. :(

Koh Samui airport

I would say, Koh Samui's airport is very much an attraction in itself.

When we arrived, I could see the vast difference compared to other airports I had been to. It looked more like a resort or a high-end golf course (not that I have been to one, but I imagine...)A very welcoming ambience.

On the day of our departure, we drove over using our rented car and returned the car after dropping off our luggage.

Then a buggy drove us to the main gate after we completed our check in process.

It was a short journey through the little beautiful road on the above picture and if it wasn't drizzling, I would have loved to stroll it down myself instead of using the buggy. Doesn't it look like somewhere in a fairytale?

Hearsay, the airport is owned privately and that is why the airport tax is very high, hence normally the airfare is higher than other routes of the same distance. Not many airlines fly in too as they restrict them from overflowing the place? Well, could be wrong, as the source wasn't that reliable. (my hubs la, who else)

Free flow refreshments are served in the lounge. All the passengers are spoilt for choice with the beverages there. I wanted to drink more than 1 cup!

We were very much in a hurry for our flight(nothing new!) but luckily the flight was slightly delayed and we had a little extra time to indulge in the lovely surrounding.

And then, we were off! Yay! Couldn't wait to see the kids again, really missed them and they were to be at a daycare center from early in the morning till we arrive. That would be almost 12 hours straight and I was hurrying my hubs along. That concluded our very short getaway trip for the year 2011.

Things to do/see in Koh Samui

We didn't have much time to explore the island, but studying its map, it seems to be pretty small and nothing exceptional which is a must-not-missed attraction.

On our first day after arrival and checking in, we were starving and went out to look for some food. It was late afternoon and maybe because of that, we couldn't find anything much on its main street outside the hotel. Walked a long way and decided to turn back to venture into Fisherman's Village of Bophut.

Ahh~ no wonder we can't find any food stalls on the inner street. All the food galore is in this little lane of Fisherman's Village. But since it's a mainly tourist spot, food there is expected to be on the higher range. As we were famished by then, we had no choice. I asked for tomyum, my absolute favorite whenever we are in Thailand.

Hubs was coaxing me into his idea to rent a bike for the next day to venture around the island. I was not very enthusiastic about it all, coz, you know, my make up and hair would be all messed up??!!! Nay!~ I just felt unsafe riding pillion behind a no-lesen fler. And and... how about all the stuffs we need to pack to go on an adventure like this? My water bottles, change of clothing, towels, etc... yikes! I was running out of excuses and he was still excited about his whole idea.

Anyway, in the end, he changed his mind after he checked out the price for go-kart. It costs like double for a 10 mins ride compared to renting a whole car for 24 hours??!! Vroom~ He was very pissed and he settled to a car, much to my relief when I was about to give in to his biking plan.

The next day, after breakfast and listening to its hour long presentation, the price we "paid" for the 2 nights stay, we went off to check out its town and some of the highlights of Koh Samui.

Went for a walkabout at this big gold Buddha and hit some gongs said to scare of bad luck leaving only the good ones around us. *smirk*

Went for a foot massage while hubs asked for a good back massage for his back pain. It was nice to be pampered like this.

Went to this lookout point with its amazing rock and sea scenery. I would have freaked out if the kids were there, as I would be worrying for their safety walking near to its edge. But being just on our own, we just need to look after our own backs and it was fun to feel adventurous like this.

Then we walked around Tesco and had a cheaper Thai dinner with tomyum (what else?) at some outskirts from the tourists spots.

That's about all we did in Koh Samui!

Anantara Resort Koh Samui

Last year, sometime in Dec, my hubs and I went off for a little short break on our own.

It was not planned way long before the travelling date as I hadn't any intention to leave the kids behind.

But one day, out of the blue, we received an offer in the form of a postcard in our mailbox to stay in one of their Anantara Resorts either in Koh Samui/ Phuket (or somewhere else I can't remember) in exchange for our presence in a 1.5 hours presentation to their vacation club.

I was curious and called up the number to inquire. And that was rather a mistake cause the tele-salesman was ever so aksi. He said "You had to say yes now to take up the offer, else if it's all given away, you wouldn't be able to take up the offer anymore. The phones keep ringing, hear that?" I swear he lied to me!

And in an impromptu and hasty manner, a decision was made. I checked up the airlines and found Koh Samui flights in early Dec were still affordable and a couple of clicks and calls later, it was ON!

Without knowing how to settle the kids yet. How exciting!

As the day came, things were even made clumsier when my parents (whom I was relying on to babysit the kids for me) were off to Korea with my brother and his family. I was almost in a panic mode and to the brim of calling the trip off. But the advisor had told us that if we missed the presentation, we would have to pay for the room for its 2 nights. That didn't sound too good.

Worse come to worst, I was thinking of taking them back to Ipoh to their grandparents home. But they pleaded with me to leave them in KL with someone instead, as they would be crying BORING in Ipoh. I felt for them, as I already felt heavy hearted to leave them here while we sunbathe in luxury style. Sigh!!!

So what I did, I pleaded with my ever-reliable best friend cum babysitter to come and help me out. She was not very confident initially, but managed to be persuaded into my plan after I told her another girl would be here to help her out. After all, these 3 monkeys of mine, are much bigger now and easier to manage, allow me to say.

They came and we were gone!

If you ask me if the trip had been great... oh well, it's ok. Just ok. I think it would be better if the kids were around. I missed them much during our separation.

Well, allow me to show you some shots I took of the resort for now.

We had jumped into this opportunity because we know Anantara Resort won't disappoint. We visited one when we were in Phuket some years back. It was right beside the resort we were staying in and I was impressed with it.

Comparatively, I think Anantara Phuket is much more spacious and enchanting. But since we haven't visited Koh Samui before, it was good all in all.

Unfortunately I didn't have the pamper of a massage at their relaxing luxurious spa, but we did have a few sessions of Thai massages from the outside. Pure enjoyment.

I so missed the kids when we were dipping in the pool or the beach for it felt so lonely with just the 2 of us. No romantic moments in the air. The beach wasn't very inviting though, as the sand were rough and the seawater was in a chocolaty color.

It has the monkey theme in this resort with every other resorts having their own theme.

The room was spacious and very comfortable. Bed was big enough to roll around.

And that was where we spent the 2 nites in Koh Samui.

Didi 9th birthday

The day after we came back from CNY holidays at Ipoh, it was didi's 9th birthday. My sis-inlaw and her family were here staying with us for a night enroute Singapore.

I told the kids this year, we are not going to have any birthday presents for a change. Instead we would be having a birthday cake within the family.

Korkor negotiated for a stayover with a couple of friends for HIS birthday and my reply to him was -.-

So, this birthday didi had this delicious fruit cake, my absolute favorite.



We went for a lunch with both hubs' siblings and their spouses and kid.

I just love simple celebrations like these. No extravaganza please. Definitely not in front of a crowd singing the birthday song in english and cantonese in a public area. *gawk*

Happy 9th birthday, didi!

(that lucky fella, he has extra RM100 as angpow from his popo&kongkong and his gugu as birthday gift. Both meimei and korkor surely will remember to ask for their share when it comes to their turns! Whatever happened to my ruling, no presents??)

2012 new year clothes.

~Love~

Gong xi gong xi!

Our CNY for 2012

My! my! What had happened to January? It's so fast into Feb already and I'm here, procrastinating at all the work I need to do. All the bills I need to pay, that is. Shiats! I hope the bank won't be coming over to clamp my padlock.

So, CNY was here and done. Oh wait. There's officially another few days left but unofficially, it's over for most of us. We are slowly moving into our normalcy but with the holidays all over the calendar moon, how are we supposed to do that? A bit tough.

Let me recall our last week spent at our hometown.

We ran into a crazy, unnecessary traffic jam on the highway on our balik kampung frenzy. Both my elder brother with his family and us were together in the jam at almost the same time, knowing through the sms-es sent here and forth. Being in a private car ourselves, we had the privilege of changing our course of direction while they had no choice but to stick to their current mode of transport which was the bus taking them from KLIA to Ipoh direct.

All in all, it was moderately ok for us, taking slightly over 1.5 hours more KL-Ipoh while they were in the bus from 2-9pm that day. Painful!

Anyhow, we stuck to the plan to eat our reunion dinner together at my mom's place on the 29th day of the chinese calendar and plopped into bed over midnight. Life was gonna be crazy from then on.

Basically, every CNY had been the same, and there wasn't any other difference this year too. I helped out more though, having said my mil wasn't feeling very good, but hey! she was always at the mahjong table with no signs of anything wrong! hmm...

This year, I changed my home visits a bit and instead of going to my dad's relatives for "pai-nien", we went to my mom's side. It was truly fun and my 2 other cousin sisters wanted to have another gathering again and we agreed to meet up on the 4th day. It had been good.

Korkor noticed the slight difference and that surprised me. He asked me why we weren't at y-koong's relatives this year and I asked him back why it concerns him. He said there are more angpows from there! Kakaka... I had indirectly shortchanged his angpow value for the year!

Apart from that, we hadn't have any friends' gathering at all. Naturally, I was very disheartened since we had been meeting up almost every year after our separation ways. Somehow, I feel that wasn't a good sign. Just pray for my close sixth form friends that they are well.

With a lou-sang big lunch, that marked the end of the festival for us at home and we set to come back home to our new comfortable home. I missed it so much.