Vote of no confidence for the future.

I am back to being paranoid, after reading the second to second details of the harrowing experience of the girl who was almost abducted and God knows what could have happened to her if she had not managed to escape. How truly unsafe our city is now, they are even making their moves in broad daylight, in crowded malls! It' happened so close to home, and thinking it could be myself, or my friends, or worst, my own daughter (after she is all grown up) that I'm feeling very shaky about the kind of life we are living in.

Nowadays, I am very selective where I park my car in the mall I frequent (not that I wasn't before either), preferably near the entrance, or very near to the carwash service. I do avoid going there when I know the timing would be full with cars looking for a parking space as well. Of course, if I can afford to, I would try not to be alone. Worse come to worst, I'm contemplating, I should just send the car for a wash or use the valet parking service! Even then, I really wouldn't want to be out from my home anymore! I'm becoming even more a hermit than before!

Seriously, there is this no-confidence in tomorrow's world, for my children and the future generations. Not only we have to be vigilant of the silent killers, we can't avoid the dreaded big C if it does come. Then, we have to be careful of deadly creepy crawlies or pouncing animals (which rarely happens, but still?), robbers, snatch thieves, abductors, rapists, psychos, all on the prowl anytime of the day, anywhere! I don't even feel safe within my home vicinity! SO SAD!

Then, there are parents raising their kids to be more selfish, "don't let your friends bully you by taking your stuffs", forcing them to do what they think is best for their kids, pampering them with all the holidays and gadgets that's IN (OK! I'm just sour grape *pout*), teaching them bribery from early on with "RM2 for every deed you do as I asked you to", imparting how IMPORTANT it is to get 100% in all their papers, 95 is not even acceptable, the list just goes on! How to be confident in our future generations to be more compassionate, caring, tolerating? I have absolutely no confidence that my kids would find a good spouse when they grow up. Bah!

So, I'm thinking, it is just maybe be a good thing if the world is really coming to an end this year. Let's just all die together! *morbid thoughts*

Flowers are beautiful, friends too!

Up Fraser's Hill the 2nd time round, with the same company (almost) and enjoyed every bit of the moment of it (almost). 

The last time we were there, a one way road system from Gap to the hill was imposed. Now, another road was opened for the journey downhill, so there wasn't any need to rush and meet the opening time. But having said that, it was so painful a journey to be taken on a very winding road for ONE WHOLE HOUR!!!  

All of us were so sick that didi and meimei cried that they don't want to go Fraser's Hill ANYMORE!!

Then korkor threw up when we arrived at the bungalow. Poor guy.

We ate, played, took pictures, went archery, and reluctantly went back after a night's stay. The weather was so perfect to be sleeping in the whole day! But compared to the previous visit, this time seemed to be a bit more warmer and humid. Still love it, nevertheless!

Here some flowers pictures I took, my favorites. How about you? Which one do you like?

A big leap for my child

Korkor at this age is reaching puberty. His voice has grown really hoarse and "manly" now. Everytime I hear his voice, I feel myself drown in mixed emotions - both happy and sad, altogether.

When I was at a big shoes sale the other day and happily bought 2 pairs of school shoes for each of them, I was so shocked when they got home and couldn't get into the shoes! Except for meimei, who was also barely fitting into those shoes I brought home.

The next day, I took them over to try on the shoes themselves, and korkor's shoes are mighty HUGE!! His feet really look gigantic to me! My little baby, how much has he grown now! His height is almost reaching mine now, and I do believe he is much taller than his papa, but of course, papa still maintain that it can't be coz he's taller than me! *cynical*

I pray he would still be close to us and talking to us as he grows into his teenage years. I know teenagers have their own set of trouble and problems, bring it on!

My laundry room

How many homes do we see equipped with a laundry room?

I think a laundry room is truly an essential part of the home where all the tasks of laundry business are done.

Most homes I know, either have a corner somewhere in the kitchen or outside the common toilet with the washing machine whilst the drying area is separated somewhere else, usually out in the car porch if it's a landed property. The ironing and folding would be again in some other parts of the house and lastly, maybe up another floor to the room where the wardrobe/ closets are.

I learned from someone we knew before whilst staying in Taiwan in year 2000 that it is really not too hard  to put a solution to the running around handling and managing the laundry. The couple were architects and they had renovated their small little apartment extensively but so so practical yet stylish. I was really stunned with their home and they were very proud to show us around, explaining all the little details they put in.Most amazing thing was  how they turned a little corner to be the area for the washing machine, drying area, ironing, folding and even a sink to wash, scrub, and rinse. It was memorable tips I learned from them.

When we planned for the renovation work in our current home, I wanted to make sure I have a laundry room. It's just perfect there's a little balcony space in the same floor as our bedrooms. There wasn't any water inlet/outlet and no powerpoint. I really have no idea what the architects were thinking when they created this space. Most owners of the same designed units had extended their living area into this space whilst some others I know had turned it into a small bedroom.

So, during renovation, I got the contractors to pull the water piping in and make a drain to drain the water out. Then, the old sink from the kitchen was moved over and a counter top is built to let it sit on. So then, my mom or I do not need to bend or move tubs of water around to soak or rinse some delicate clothes which are not to be washed in the washing machine.The drainer is perfect for some scrubbing job as well.

And my mom had only the best review for this work area. Dirty laundry is taken from the rooms just nearby which go straight into the washing machine. Then, they are hung directly from there. When dried, it's collected and separated out from folded and ironed ones, where the ironing is done right where the door is. 99% Perfect!

If only I could open up the roof to let the sun shines in, that would make it 100%! Or a transparent pergola for sun rays to come in while blocking the rain out. We then do not need to worry about rainy days whilst away from home.

So, I recommend you who are moving to new home, design your laundry room. If possible, work out solutions to cater to our crazy weather of one minute burning sun and another minute thunderstorm. Think how you want to work in the area without being sun-burnt too. When I was young, I hated putting up the laundry out in the hot sun or taking them in, also in the hot sun.

Or you can get a dryer. Oh well~

Making friends and keeping them

Friends are important people in our lives. Without any good friends, life would be so meaningless. However, we must choose our friends very wisely. Keep the good quality ones in the closet, under lock and key! Those just not worth our time, don't bother to waste time. Time's too precious!

Choose these kind of people to be your good friends.

1. Those positive and optimistic ones. Don't let those with all the negativity thoughts surrounding them to affect you at all! These people are highly dangerous, coz they just pull them down with you!

2. Those so-called friends who bitch about others in front of you and still pretend he and the one he bitched about are the best buddies, you can be rest assured they do the same thing behind your back too! Stay clear away from them!

3. Friends who are popular in school might not be the best friend you could ever get. Some gems who are normally funny, quiet, smart, low profile (like me, no doubt!) can turn out to be the best buddies you could ever have and they are the ones hidden from the radar.

4. Look out for those who shows compassion and kindness, those who likes to take a walk with their grandma or grandpa.

5. People with good mannerism, courteous and consideration for other people, so you learn to be one of them too.

Certainly there are more, but we'll keep it short and simple this time.

Going green.

Our new home boasts of a large balcony, partially covered by a balcony on the top floor. Which makes dining at the balcony al fresco style, complete with amazing sunset scenery emerging right in front of us, different view every day. Absolutely bliss.

But having a balcony also means more WORK! Like sweeping and mopping the floor which is ALWAYS dirty! This made worse that we can't just splash buckets of water or spray it with a water hose like celebrating Songkran festival. That's because of the lousy old design of this whole establishment that I can't do much about it. So, more work it is.

Then, there's this planter box around the balcony which I LOVE to see plants growing right in front here. The balcony would be an awesome spot to drink tea and have heart to heart talks with family or friends. My dad loves plants and he has pretty good nursery skills. Naturally, I passed this much reputable task to him, totally leaving the whole works to his professionalism.

He's very excited and shares with me what plants with what names he planning to put while I go mmmm....*totally absorbed in my own world*

First round of commencement, it was all good, that is until he went back home and left me to tend to the plants. Which spells disaster, of course. I just don't have green fingers, plants just die right in front of my eyes!

After few weeks, dad came back again, this time in his car full of pots and plants from his own garden! And he gave me the ultimatum - if I don't care for them well this last time, he would resigned from his job. Ah damn!  Don't talk like like it's MY fault?!

It's all so pretty and nice, really. But now there's even MORE work to do. Like remembering to water them. Not too much water, the roots would drown or rot!! Then 1 or 2 weeks, have to put some fertilizer. Then, of course, I need to pull off weeds or unwanted growth in the soil. And last, I have to talk to the plants tenderly!! Can you believe it?? SO MUCH WORK!! Sigh... what to do?? The perils of owning a balcony. It can't be bare and empty....

How I celebrated my 41st

Being a weekday, furthermore it was exam week for the kids, we didn't have much of a grand celebration for my birthday this year.

BUT I had a very happy birthday indeed!

I have to be thankful to FB, many people made my day by dropping a word or two on my timeline.

One of my yoga workout buddy saw someone posted a very early birthday wish and arranged to have a birthday lunch with me a day before. In the end, there were only both of us, but I still had a good treat.

My birthday fell on a Wednesday, and meimei wished me happy birthday even before her eyes were opened when I woke her up for school. Don't that just make one's day?

In the afternoon, after bringing them home from school, I sneaked out to have a teatime tete-a-tete with a friend. Mom was here to take care of the kids. Life's made wonderful with moms and friends like these.

After teatime over, I stopped by to my favorite baker's to get a cake for myself. Sounds pathetic, but, well, it's ok to me. As long as I get to eat a piece of cake that I love.

At home again, after dinner, I quickly rushed them over to sing me a happy birthday song, blow out some candles and take a picture together. It was done in a rush because I need to be attending a meeting soon. The cake was very delicious though and I regretted not getting a bigger one coz my dad and mom were around. It was finished the next day. I couldn't even get a second helping.

I opened up my own birthday present I bought for myself on behalf of hubs and felt really happy with it! And he wasn't around either to spoil my mood! So, it was a VERY good day for me!! And it wasn't yet over. The next day, another yoga workout buddy insisted to give me a treat as well and I had a lunch treat again! Then, on Sunday, another 2 wonderful, gorgeous ladies went out for a dinner together with me, as a celebration for both me and one of the other two's birthdays. What a great birthday it had been! 

 

 Glimpse of my birthday gift

 The usual birthday do.

Excellent cake! Should I get one tomorrow? I think yes!

I'm 41! woohoo~

Pameran Raja Kita at old istana

Do you know? Old Istana opens its doors to the public. I think it's a rare opportunity to finally catch a glimpse of our very own royal palace. Where the real king really stayed in. Excited or not?

Well, maybe it would be opened forever, then again, we never know. So the current ongoing exhibition "Pameran Raja Kita" is a must-see for locals or tourists, in my book. 

We went on the recent Mother's Day, having my parents over co-incidentally. They are opened to the visit as well and happily followed along after breakfast done. 

Finding a parking spot wasn't a big problem though there were many cars. Word got around very fast and more people are flocking over. We were lucky as a family was about to go off and we parked rather near to the entrance gate. 

Walked in through the gate and up the long slope which was visible from the gate. When we reached the end of the slope, this is the building that we saw at the right. 

Many sections of the palace are closed and only the hall for the exhibition is opened. Very welcomed indeed since it was a very hot day and the hall was air-conditioned. Cool air~

The exhibits are very intricate and nice to look at. Especially all these blink blink types.

Spent about an hour inside and stepped out in the open hot sun again to take some pictures.

Then we proceeded to the new palace. It was like a half day palace tour, having had our dim sum breakfast at a place called "Cheers Palace".

The new istana boasts of a vast space outside and inside. Just look at it! Darn mighty huge space to run around in.It was unfortunate noone knew when the changing of the guards would happen or what proceedings would take place, so we rather not wait in vain and called it a day after spending about 10 mins or so there.

In my opinion, I would say, if the old palace had opened up more of its doors for the rakyat or tourists to peep the living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, just to have a feel of "wow! this is where the king do his business just like us everyday", that would be so cool, eh? I wouldn't even mind paying a bit of an entrance fee for that! Then again, I don't think it would be possible here, even though it's Malaysia Bolehland.

Butter cake, anyone?

Promised someone I'd share a recipe of a simple but sinfully gorgeous butter cake with her.

As you know, my inlaws absolutely lovesss my butter cake. It might be the only triumph card I have to say "I'm the best dil you'd ever have!" (of coz, apart from the 3 lovely and cute grandkids I popped out for them). But to hear comments like "It's very easy to make butter cake only, just put in more butter in a generous amount" made me go think "okkay... you go do it yourself then"...

It's very simple, I agree, but helloh?? the time I give, to whip out the cake for you, it's THE main ingredient of LOVE that not everyone else could get from me, ok? And to hear a friend who had sms-ed to say the cake was gorgeous and could feel the love in each bite? It sent me to the moon (and left me stranded there)! Happiness comes from the joy of giving and making someone else happy, AND hearing appreciation for that effort, no doubt. (Though I would want to be happy without the last part, but I'm being honest here, I DO feel great to be appreciated back)

If you liked a simple easy butter cake, here's the recipe... I took it from the internet, I believe it's from 5xmom, it's eons years ago, and hence, I couldn't find the link and link it back to her. Thanks to her, I always have this cake for myself and my family when I feel down, or as a gift when I couldn't think about anything to give to friends who already have everything else.

250gm butter (SCS butter is what I always use)
200gm caster sugar
250gm flour (I use Blue key)
4 eggs (either A or B sized)
fresh milk (about 10 tablespoons) or orange juice.

Method:
Sift flour into mixing bowl, mix with sugar, then blend in the butter. Make hole in the middle and slowly blend  in the eggs, one by one each. Beat it up nicely for about 5 mins and blend in the milk/ orange juice till the texture is nice. Pour into round or square tin and bake for 2 hours in 185'C. That's what my 3-in-1 microwave, grill and convection oven's setting which bakes the right cake for me.

Enjoy your butter cake!

Cycling to school is an adventure in itself

One fine day, korkor asked me why is that in our country, school children can't cycle to school.

Maybe he thinks it's so cool to be doing that. 

Seriously, I thought that it was cool too once upon a time, before I really HAD to.

In my secondary school years, during that time when I moved in to stay with my 3rd Aunt, I had no other choice but to cycle to school everyday. Thinking about that, I just remembered I hadn't continue on from the first post on my life story... somewhere. *yawn*

I never knew how far the distance my cycling route to school was, and I googled map to find it out, after about 25 years or so now. The distance from home to school that time is 13km, crossing maybe about 5-6 traffic lights junctions, and the biggest junction would be the one from Jln Pasir Puteh to Jln Yang Kalsom. That one is HUGE! I remember I need to peddle very quickly so that I would reach the other side before the lights turned red and in the meantime, avoid the cars zooming past me. I used that junction so very often, that I know exactly if I was at a certain distance from the lights while it was green, I knew I should just slow down for I won't be able to cross it before the lights turn. 

Actually, this method of going to school is not really that bad. At that time, safety was much better and cars were definitely lesser. I remember, in fact, I love it early in the mornings when the air was cool and the day seemed to be such a good day! Most times, it was just lovely in the mornings. 

But come afternoon time, after school? It was *bawl* SO BAD! The burning hot sun and the exhaustiveness from the school day's activities basically took the joy of cycling totally away. Can you imagine me with schoolbag, dodging passing cars, zooming traffic lights WHILE CARRYING AN UMBRELLA??? My goodness, I thank GOD that I am still alive today, miraculously!

There was a time I had a gargantuan big lump behind my back which was hurting me like hell and I couldn't turn my head. But still need to cycle to school that day. It was so painful I went to any of the clinics after school and the nurse basically did an operation on me to dig out all the pus and whatever it was inside that thing. I looked at the mirror after it was over and a big hole the size of maybe a 5 cents coin and depth of 1cm was visible. Never able to find out what caused that but it was a huge relief.

So, I told my kiddo, perhaps you think cycling to school is such a cool thing to do now, but when you had to  do it, you would really understand how damn lucky you are to be chauffeured around in an air conditioned car instead. 

If only the safety in our country is much more better (no abductions at all!), bicycle lanes all over the city and covered lanes from the sun and the rain, I would surely am agreeable to you cycling to school yourself. Will we ever see that day? I doubt so.

Come to think of it, was I ever caught in the rain last time? Maybe yes, but not so eventful as I can recall. Most likely would be hanging around under some shade just like those motorcyclist or having a shower in the rain on the bike. Might as well, right?

I do remember there was a time I came home from school to find the house empty and I had to wait for about 1 to 2 hours right outside the gate for my aunt to come home. That was the only time I felt really sorry for myself.

A day for mothers.

When I read about the Mothering Mothers' idea from some blog, I thought that was a pretty good thing to do. I myself had been in a hospital tending to a sick child before, so I knew exactly how helpless and worried that kind of feeling would be.

For you who do not know what it's about, it's to pool some small gifts from any contributors and distribute to the mothers who are nursing or taking care of their sick kids at a hospital during Mother's Day. This idea was born some years, taken off from a famous blogger in Malaysia who had lost a child herself before and volunteered her time to do some charity work at a hospital those days. Very inspiring indeed.

This year, I get to know that  they, who used to follow up the good deed throughout the years, had been garnering effort to do the same thing and I responded. Pooled in some other gifts from my friends and I got 35 parcels to deliver to the person and they were to distribute them today, right this hour.

People do it for reasons only known to them, but mostly we feel good, thinking we have at least, put in a little contribution to maybe bring a smile to these mothers' faces for just a while. For me, I had done it to thank someone up there for giving my kids healthy lives and that I need not go through that trauma of facing the uncertainties of a disease or illness.

Mother's Day is really over-rated. I feel sick when my friends wished me Mother's Day. I'm NOT your mother, ok! I do not know why I'm feeling so jumpy about it. Guess my mood had been in a roller coaster ride these few weeks, from sudden high to sudden low and often quite a ride in itself. But nevertheless, being a mother myself has been the most wonderful thing that happened to me. I go ask my kids to give me a mother's day hug now. ;)