Another Wonderful Year

"When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I wrote down "Happy" They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life"

- John Lennon

On birthdays, we wish Happy Birthday and on other festivals too, we wish others by adding the word "Happy" in front. All these words were invented long time ago, meaning that folks during those days already knew Happiness is very important. people still know that happiness is important but most of the time forget how to be happy.

So I take this opportunity to wish all a Happy New Year! Hope this year was a wonderful year for you and next year even a better year for all. Delete all the bad memories or worries, erase all unhappy thoughts that bring miseries and focus on how to make yourself happy for the whole of next year.

Thanks for reading! Stay healthy and happy always!

French Toast

It has been a while since we made this. Last week we saw on t.v some people introducing food from coffee shops and one of the popular breakfast is this. Yummy but a bit oily and rich too. Well, eating this once in a while wouldn't hurt.

We sandwich two breads with butter and cheese, some with peanut butter and banana, some with butter and jam. Soak the sandwich into the beaten eggs that had been mixed with milk and a pinch of salt and fried them in butter. Yes, yes I know that it is a bit oily but it is sooooo tasty.

Droooooling already. So when was the last time you had French toast? We don't eat this very often because of so much work involved and fattening too. Normal days were just bread and jam etc no frying etc.

Thanks for visiting. Hope you enjoy cooking too.

A Christmas Joke

A Russian couple was walking down the street in St. Petersburg the other night, when the man felt a drop hit his nose. "I think it's raining," he said to his wife.

"No, that felt more like snow to me," she replied. "No, I'm sure it was just rain, he said." Well, as these things go, they were about to have a major argument about whether it was raining or snowing. Just then they saw a minor communist party official walking toward them. "Let's not fight about it," the man said, "let's ask Comrade Rudolph whether it's officially raining or snowing."

As the official approached, the man said, "Tell us, Comrade Rudolph, is it officially raining or snowing?"

"It's raining, of course," he answered and walked on. But the woman insisted: "I know that felt like snow!" To which the man quietly replied: "Rudolph the Red knows rain, dear!"


Just for laughs! Merry Christmas to all!

Brinjal / Aubergine / Eggplant

When I was in school, my teacher told me this is brinjal. Later when I was working, cook show said this is eggplant. When my son starts school, this is already known as aubergine. Wonder why so many names for this particular plant.

A neighbor gave hubby a packet of seeds. He planted the whole packet of seeds which is about hundreds of seeds in there. Out of the hundreds, only one plant survive. It has been blooming none stop, but most of the flowers didn't turn out to be eggplant. A few did but drop before it starts to grow except for this one and only one.

Guess now all we could do is wait for it to turn purple. Can't wait. Now I get how farmers feel. Must be frustrating at times. It has to depend on the weather, soil, pest etc. Farmers must be patience folks. I sincerely thank all the farmers around the world from the bottom of my heart. Thank you, thank you and thank you. Without you I wouldn't be having vegetables on my table.

Thanks for reading and happy gardening to you too. Now when I eat my vegetables, I think of the farmers and are really grateful of their hard work. Thank you again.

What's Your Reason For Having Children

Someone once said that the more children he have the better, because in case one child didn't make it in the world and can't afford to take care of him, he still have others to rely on. Sounds like buying lotteries to me. The more you buy the higher your chance of winning.

That is his prediction of the future, but what about bringing them up, now, financially and fizically. Is he and his wife capable of doing it? There was this documentary about a Chinese couple in Malaysia, who have fifteen children all together. They kept getting pregnant until her body says other wise and end up with so many children. The man have the same thought too. The more the better.

They live in a small wooden hut and only the husband is working on odd jobs which doesn't pay much and most of the time they live on sweet potatoes and vegetables that they plant outside their house. The man said that his eldest daughter is in her teens and will be getting a job soon to support the family.

I find these rather disturbing. How could a dad asked his daughter to help bring up his children. Then when she grows up, she might fall in love, get married and need to take care of her own family too. Then what.

Yesterday one of my student told me that after form five, he will not be going to college because his mum asked him to find a job fast so that he can help bring up his three younger brother and sister. I wonder how many more family have such thinking too. He also mentioned that actually his parents decided to have him as an only child. By the time he reached ten years old, he wanted someone to play with and asked for brother and sister. His mum then gave birth to a boy and one year after that a pair of twin sister.

By telling him this story does it mean his parents have made it his fault that they have four children now and due to age factor they are retiring soon and the eldest have to support his siblings. Sounds pathetic to me.

Thanks for reading. I just want to get this of my chest. So, what's your story for having kids? Accidently, deliberately or just want to start a family and upgrade yourself to become a mum or dad, just like me.

Grumpy Grandma

I used to think that grandparents are the most fantastic people on Earth. Not sure about you but I indeed got a loving grandma who pampered me and my sister more than my parents. A neighbor of mine, who lives behind my house, is a very grumpy grandma. Those days when I just moved in to the neighborhood, I rarely hear her yell. Now a days since she had to take care of her grandchild, I could hear her yell almost everyday. It is either "Don't touch that", "Why can't you just sit still", "Told you not to ...." etc.

The child could hardly speak a full sentences, my guess is she could only be around two to three years of age. Poor child. I, felt like the child is in prison.

Having children around is like having pets. Have to keep them occupied. If not they would ransack the whole house. I am sure those with children or pets will agree with me.

I used to collect McDonald Happy meals toys for my sons when they were young. On birthdays, I would pampered them with more toys, educational toys or toys that would keep them busy for a while. To me Lego and Hot Wheel is a must. My sons love cars, guess most boys do. So with a set of Hot Wheel, they need time to assemble the tracks etc and they could play for hours.

Someone taught me to keep all toys in two or three separate boxes. Let them play with only one box of toys and hide the others. After a week or so, they get bored, hide the first box and let them play with toys in the second box. Works for me, all the time.

So when they are busy with their toys, I could at least have some time to do housework and they don't even bother to touch my stuffs. When they are busy, I am busy and less or zero yelling which makes them happy children and most important me a happy mommy.

Sometime I wanted so much to tell my neighbor about what had worked for me in the past but then on second thought she might think that I am teaching an old lady with few grown up children how to be a mom again? Better keep my thoughts to myself.

Happy reading and hope you are a happy parent too. Happy parenting to your children and pets.

Media - jokes

On a political rally, Simon was arrested. Why???? A woman journalist was walking around with a badge that said "Press", so he did.

Old And Still Going Strong

My granduncle is eighty and still doesn't need glasses. He drinks straight out of the bottle.

Sign At A Barber's Salon

"We Need Your Heads To Run Our Business."

Sign In A Bar

"Those Of You Who Are Drinking To Forget, Please Pay In Advance."

Just for laughs! Hope you find this amusing.

Rusty The New Cat

New addition to our family. He adopted us instead of the other way round. Remember my earlier post about Kiko, the orphan kitten that we adopted, or should I say found at the school science lab. We had him for only a short period of time and he died in a freak accident. So sad.

That unfortunate day, like usual after feeding him, I would let him out of the cage and allow him to run loose around the house. He would normally stay close to one of us. My neighbor asked me to go over her house at that moment and I asked my two teenage sons to look after Kiko.

My eldest son was playing some video game on a rocking chair in the hall and my youngest went to the kitchen to have a glass of water. My eldest son got excited playing his game that he forgot the tiny kitten was very near his leg. He jumped out of the chair, gave a good kick and Kiko died on the spot. Three of us just froze for a minute, went pale and really got a shock of our life when watching Kiko vomited blood all over the floor. Everything happen so fast.

After a minute or so, we came to our senses and wrap him in a towel, put him in a box and drove to the vet. The Doctor said it is too late. Kiko died of shock. We buried him in the garden that day. R.I.P Kiko. Well, it is nobody's fault, guess we were not used to such a tiny creature living with us.

Later I suggested that maybe we should get another cat but my eldest son still have not got over the incident said better not, so soon. So we decided to feed stray cats with the balance food that we have.

About a week ago, this handsome cat was wondering in the garden. I send my eldest son out the garden to feed my rabbit and there it was, staring back at my son with such lovely pampered meows. My son went and took those cat food and fed him and from that moment on, he kinda stick with us. We decided to name him Rusty, my sons idea.

The first thing when he entered the house, he went straight for the mat and rolled all over. Oh my, making himself at home. He looks healthy, well fed and loves human. I suspect he could be someone's cat. At night we had him sleep outside for fear he would ransack the house.

He would disappear every now and then but will always return for his meals and love to sleep on the mat for hours. Lately we taught him how to sit on request and high five with his paw, with treats of course and he is a fast learner.

I guess everything happens for a reason. With cats around the house, we google more about cats now a days and even learned ways to teach him tricks via you-tube. Perhaps all these are to train and prepare us indirectly for a pet dog in a year or two. I would like to think of all these happenings as my little miracle.

Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy reading about my little miracles and enjoy having pets too, as much as I do. May this be our second cat, as we, I, had never had a pet cat or dog when young because my mom dislike animals.

Through Thick And Thin

My washing machine broke down in the mid of washing. I have to hand wash all those clothes that was already soak in soap in the machine. Almost forgot how to hand wash clothes. Oh my, it had been that long? As I was washing, memories of hand washing clothes and my school shoes etc came back.

I only have one sister which is two years my junior. I and my sister are really closed those days. We do not have a washing machine then, so everything had to be hand wash. We make sure we do our washing together so that we could chat in the bathroom while washing.

Those were some of the fun time we had. No computer, internet, handphone etc, just me and her. We would be scrubbing those clothes and giggling and chatting and rinsing and laughing and we had so much to talk about, non stop, one topic after another. My grandma used to laugh at us. She used to say "You two seems to have so much to talk about all the time, can't seem to run out of things to say."

When both of us were in our early twenties, we were almost the same height and size. We were living with mum and grandma until we got married. When we get our salary, both of us would go shopping together. We would share clothes, bags etc those days. All our clothes etc when we mix and match, could go round for a month not wearing the same thing.

Now since both of us were married and living quite a distance, about half an hour drive away, we have very little time to chat. She with her career, children, family etc and I with mine. We get to meet up less than ten times in a year but when we do meet up or phone each other, we still could not stop talking.

The best part is when ever we got promoted, a raise, something happy or sad to share we will definitely call each other and update. Even when her son dropped from the monkey bar and broke his arm, she would called me, sobbing. She knows I will be there listening, consoling and advising and vise versa.

Thanks for reading and hope you have a great relationship with your brother and sister too. Family members are very important. Even if you are the only child, you could still have a best friend or cousins that will stick to you through thick and thin.

Park For Dogs And Human

Every weekend when we are free, me , hubby and my sons would go for a walk at parks around my place. This is Desa City Park. One of the park that allows dogs. Most park around my place strictly prohibits pets.

They have a huge lake in the middle with lots of colorful Koi fishes. Those fishes are really really big. Some people would just sit there and watch those fishes. Some even feed them when there is a sign saying to feeding.

By the side there is a small man made stream with lovely rocks. Isn't this lovely. Much better then my morning walk around my neighborhood. At least, this is much more pleasant to the eyes.

Look how wide the place is. It is in the middle of some housing area. At the side of the park there are restaurants, a pet shop and a supermarket. Sometime we have our dinner here after our walk.

Dog meet dog at park. I find most of the dogs found walking at this park are pedigrees. Have yet to see a mix breed. Perhaps I should be the first to bring a mix breed. My youngest son had been bugging us to have our first pet dog. He wanted a Husky. We told him for the time being we could only go and watch the dogs at this park. We will have a dog but not now.

This lady here is like a god mother to all the dogs around the park. She and her hubby would walk the park one full cycle and then she would sit at a corner with her stool and bags of dog treats. I notice, those regulars who walk their dogs, when the dog reach this lady all would stop and go near her for food before they continue their walk. She carries a container fill with dog treats. So many without dogs would approached her and ask for permission to take photos with her huge Chow Chow.

Besides dogs, there are lots of children cycling, playing with dogs and adults too having a good time away from work and their normal busy life.

Isn't this a lovely sight, dogs and humans socializing, strangers become friends and eventually will become a great big dog owner family. Perhaps one fine day I might get a dog and join this big family. Yet to come across a cat park. Guess no one walks their cats, right.

Thanks for reading. Hope you have a great dog park at your place too. Even though I have yet to own a dog but feels really happy walking around the park looking at dogs.

Consider Politics - jokes

Raj bumped into one of his school's guidance counselors at a bookstore. "I can't seem to find a career that intrigues me, " he said to his former teacher. "What are your interests?" he asked. "I like to take things apart, " Raj said, "but I hate putting them back together." "Son," replied the adviser, "You ought to consider politics."

Speak Chinese

Selena, the teenage daughter of a friend of mine, was accepted to attend a highly prestigious school in England. She was understandably nervous, afraid that she couldn't live up to the lofty standards that would be expected of her.

"All these girls are so smart," she said to her father anxiously, as they toured the campus for the first time. He tried to reassure her that there was nothing to be worried about, but she still didn't buy it.

Later, she met some of the students. After the initial pleasantries, she revealed that she had lived in Vietnam for ten years. The girls were impressed.

"That is so awesome," said one. "Does that mean you can speak Chinese?"

How It Happened

John : Where were you born?

Sally : Kathmandu

John : Wow! How did that happen?

Sally : The usual way.

Just for laughs! Have fun reading!

Bubur ChaCha

My son had been bugging me to make desserts. He found this recipe in the internet from some blog and last weekend we went and bought all those ingredients and manage to cooked it that day itself. We all love eating bubur cha cha but normally we get it from shops. Too many things to cut and wash but since he promise to help, I finally get to cook it for the very first time.

It is easy to cook but too many ingredients to prepare. Ingredients are

Yam - cut into bite size or any shape you like - steam for 5 minutes

Sweet potatoes (2 different colors) - cut into bite size or any shape you like - steam for 5 minutes

Sago - boil in water till translucent then set aside

Cendol - I bought the ready made from the supermarket (optional)

Banana - cut slices and boil in water with a table spoon of sugar for 5 minutes and set aside

Coconut milk - amount depending on how much ingredients you are using

Boil some water and sugar in a pot. Once sugar dissolved, add coconut milk. Once it began to boil add in the rest of the ingredients and serve. It taste nice hot or cold. I did add a bit of cornstarch that had been dissolved in water, to thicken it and it is smoother this way.

Thanks for reading. Give this a try. Right after my sons and hubby had their first bowl, they already asked when would be the next time that I will be making this again. It is tastier than those from the shops. I am drooling already. Guess I will be having this dessert very soon.

Hey! You Could Use Some Yourself!

The world is filled with Good Samaritans who just love to give advice to others. I have quite a number of such folks around me too. I receives uncountable e-mails from folks telling me what I should do or not do, what I should eat or not eat etc. I have received many financial and health advice too, from others.

There was this family Doctor that I started going to, a few years back. The first time when I met the lady Doctor, I was a kilo away from obesity. She was quite huge herself, too. Maybe because of her profession, she advice me to exercise more often. She said she could feel my muscles were weak and even show me some of the exercise that I could do at home if I do not have the time to join a gym. She said she put off some weights after doing those exercise. I did what she told me and have been going to her for my annual medical check-up. Till to-date, she is still as huge as I first met her while I have shrunk from a size extra large to medium.

Then there was this lady who loves to talk about health food, how much we should eat, what we should or should not eat or do and she is not even a agent for health products. Every time if we get a chance to meet up, that is all she talks about but the funny part is she consumes the most junk food, is obese and had health issues too.

When I first announced to the world that I am resigning from my 9 to 5 (actually on most days it was a 9 to 9) job, a few came up to me and gave me financial advice. One even told me that I should get a part-time job or some sort of job that I could do at home so that I could earn a bit of my own income and not rely solely on my hubby, in case something bad were to happen to my hubby. Of all person, this advice came from a single mum who is a shopaholic and is about to retire in a few months time, with no financial support from her ex-hubby and her children are still in school.

I am grateful to those who gave me all sorts of advice and keep it coming. I love listening to those sound advice because maybe there are certain things that others see about me that I don't. I will always weigh the pros and cons and normally, if I have nothing to loose, I will follow those advise. I am thankful that I have now become slimmer, healthier and happier person because I made a change after listening to others.

The only problem is, sometime I wish I could walk up to certain people and say "Hey! Remember that valuable piece of advice you gave me sometime back, I thank you for it and hope you would use it on yourself too."

Thanks for reading and will visit back soon. Any sound advice for me?

Plant In A Cage

Remember the bird with one eye that we tried to save in my much earlier post? Well this is the cage that hubby bought for the bird. It is just a cheap simple cage. After the little birdie died, we don't know what to do with the cage. Was about to give it away to neighbors who have birds as pet. Then I realize, why not plant something in it.

I have a lot of "money plant" (that's what it is called in my area) in my house and it is easy to plant and spread fast. So we bought some coconut husk for the base and then added a bit of soil in it and put in the plant. I hang it at the side with the door of the cage open hopping that one fine day some birds will lay eggs in it. Fat hopes I guess, hahahah.

Thanks for reading and hope you like gardening as much as I do.

Simple Fried Spaghetti

This is easy to cook, simple but yummy. Ingredients are spaghetti, carrot, minced meat, minced garlic, prawns, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and fish sauce.

Boil the spaghetti in water. Add a table spoon of salt to the water when boiling the spaghetti. Marinated the mince meat with light soy sauce, a few tiny drops of dark soy sauce, pepper and some sesame oil. As for the prawns, I normally marinated it with salt, pepper, sugar and a pinch of corn flour.

Heat pan with a bit of oil. Fry prawns till both side changed color but not overcooked. Set aside. Now fry minced garlic till fragrant, then add in minced meat. Once meat is well cooked, add in carrots. Add a bit of water, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, pepper, fish sauce and a bit of sesame oil. When it comes to a boil, add in the spaghetti and fry till it dries up and lastly, add in the prawns.

You could add a bit of flax seed or sesame seed before serve. Give it a try. It is simple and yummy. Thanks for reading and hope you like this month's recipe.

My Baby No Longer A Baby

Felt like it was just yesterday that we bought our eldest son his first bicycle. He was only four then. Took him to the park almost every weekend to teach him how to cycle and now he is learning how to drive a car.

Felt like it was just recently that I took a photo of him in class, his first day in kindergarden and now we are scouting for colleges.

Felt like not long ago, I help him memorized his first opening speech for his kindergarden concert. He was only six years old and is already really proud that he was chosen to give that speech. Now he is a King's Scout (equivalent to Eagle Scout / Queen's Scout) and his school's scout troop leader where he have to give speech every now and then.

Remembered the day he chicken out on his first kindergarden concert, he was only four years of age. His teacher was so mad because everything went well during rehearsal and special costume was made for him. On that day itself, one look at the audience he chicken out and never made it on stage. Now, as he gets older, when ever he had a chance to perform in school, he would volunteer to dance and sometime even choreograph for his classmate.

Looks like he has changed or should I say, all grown up. No longer my adorable baby but has grown into a fine young teenager. Now into adulthood. Guess I, too, have to shift gear and up my level of parenting. Already start treating him like an adult. I would let him make some decision of his own and respect them.

Guess that's the wonders of parenting. We not only watch our children grow but we grow together, learn from each other and mature together. All mentioned above are priceless experience and tales that will be with us forever. At least, I would have some awesome tale to tell my grand kids about their daddy in the future.

Thanks for reading and hope you have lots of awesome tales about your children too. Share them with me if you don't mind.

Pet Or Pest

I was at the coffee shop the other day and as I was paying for my food, the owner pointed at a lady in the next table and chuckle, "That lady over there cried over her dead dog." He told me twice, as I didn't say anything but smile at him. He finds it ridiculous to cry over an animal. Bet he had never had a pet in his life.

I had also seen folks who can't stand flies. The minute a fly goes by her house, she would rolled up a newspaper and chase the fly from the kitchen to the garden and make very sure she gives it a good smacking and even after the fly had fallen to the ground, she still had to stepped on it a few times to be 100 % sure it is dead. Maybe she thinks that by killing a fly, other flies will not come by her house anymore.

Then there was this other lady who can't stand cockroaches. The minute one appears in her house she would spray it with insecticide till it turns over and die, if the cockroach runs, she will give chase and continue to spray till it drop dead and without realizing it, she actually used half a bottle of insecticide to kill just one miserable cockroach. Pathetic.

Well, I would like to remind all that during the stone age, we, human, animals, insects and plants live together sharing the jungles and seas. Then man kind starts to used their gifted intelligence and turn the green jungle into a concrete jungle. The animals and insects aren't as fortunate as us and some were born in the concrete jungle too. So where should they live but around our houses and buildings.

When you see stray cats or dogs on the street or a fly, a mouse etc and could not lend a hand to help them but at least don't think of them as pest. They didn't ask to live this way, they didn't ask to steal food from us. They have no choice.

For those who see strays and insects as pest, your blood starts to boil when you see one, your brain starts to come up with 1001 ideas how to get rid of them from the surface of Earth and when your plans didn't work, you get stressed out for no reason and wouldn't this be extremely bad for your health? On the other hand, if you see them as a pet or a friend, even if you could not adopt all the strays in the street but at least when you bump into one, you do not cook up an evil plan to kill it.

I cried when I watch "Marley And Me", I cried again when I watched it the second time. When mice get into my house, I trap it with a safe box trap and release it some where else. When I see a fly I shoo it away and make sure it does not land on my food. There isn't a need to kill it. When I have extra food I feed the stray cats and dogs around my area.

When you have a pet, you love them, they do love you back unconditionally. They do show affection even though they do not speak our language. Guess only animal lovers understand how I feel but for those who don't, for your health sake, let me tell you this, killing a fly or a stray cat does not solve your problem. There are thousands more out there. Why not just let it be. God created them to be around us for reason. Perhaps to test our patience and to see if we are good or evil.

Thanks for reading and be kind to all living things on Earth even though you are killing it for food, do it with humanity. They deserve a life too.

Lawyer Jokes

A new client had just come to see a famous lawyer. "Can you tell me how much you charge?" said the client. "Of course," the lawyer replied. "I charge RM200 to answer three questions."

"Well, that's kinda steep, isn't it?" "Yes, it is," said the lawyer. "And what's your third question?"

Doctor or Lawyer

A lawyer, who was talking to his son about entering college, said, "How did it get into your head that you want to be a doctor instead of a lawyer?"

"Well, Dad," answered the son, "did you ever hear anybody get up in a crowd and shout frantically, "Is there a lawyer in the house?"

Joy

*Joy is when my boyfriend holds my hand for the first time.

*Joy is when I see my son for the first time in the labor room.

*Joy is when my son took his first step.

*Joy is when I got promoted when I didn't expect and realize my hard work didn't go unnoticed.

*Joy is when I get to eat what I crave.

*Joy is when I see a bright rainbow up in the sky.

*Joy is when birds taking bath on my plant in front of me.

*Joy is when hearing laughter around the house.

*Joy is when I smile at strangers on my morning walk and they smile back.

*Joy is when I see an additional follower in my blog.

*Joy is when watching The Oprah Show and learn from experts.

*Joy is when National Geography and Animal Planets bring me to places that money can't.

*Joy is when hubby still holds my hand.

.... and the list goes on and on and on because most things bring me joy and I am thankful of their appearance / existence and grateful that they are a prt of me and brightens up my day.

Thanks for reading and hope I, too, exist in your list of joy!

My New Pet Kiko

Look at him! Isn't he cute! My 14 years old son found him in the school science lab with no mommy or sibling, just him alone. He called me from school and asked for permission to keep him and I said yes.

Had yet to have a pet cat. This is our first. More cute video of him coming soon. As you know, I love taking videos and photos of my pets, plants etc. The camera had been pretty busy lately with him around.

He came to our lives last Friday, and was still wobbling when he walk. Had to bottle feed him. Lucky for us, we had bottle feeding experienced with our 2 batches of baby rabbits and an extra cage for him too. Kinda huge for him at the moment. Now, after few days of feeding him with pets formula, he is very strong and had start to run about the house.

Everyone at home love him very much. Bet he will be spoiled in no time. So far, taking care of Kiko is not much of a hassle. He sleeps most of the time and when he starts crying it means it is time to pee or shit. When the bottle of milk goes near him, he is like a tiny Might Tyson punching and pushing in all directions not knowing how to drink properly, which reminds me of my 2 sons when they were infant.

Thanks for reading. Hope you have an adorable pet too because they do brighten up the house and make me giggle watching him discover the world.

Mind What You Say

I think most parents forgot that what ever they say or do, their children are watching and look up to them. They are the people that children believed and trusted the most. Most parents still do not realize that those words coming from their mouth are extremely powerful and their children are listening.

I teach Maths (tuition) at night to secondary school students aged between 13 to 17. Recently, one of my 16 year old male student told me that he got zero for History. I could not believed my ears. I asked if he wrote anything on the paper, he said no. He just wrote his name and went to sleep till the whole exam was over and passed up the blank piece of paper. Asked if his parents know about it yet. His replied shocked me, "My parents said History is of no use, we won't be needing it when we work in the future."

I used to teach English and Bahasa Malaysia to primary school children few years back. I remembered there was this mother who was very concern about her son's studies. She would checked with me her son's progress every now and then. Every time when I chat with her, in the presence of her son, she always said, "As long as he knows a bit of English and Bahasa Malaysia, just enough to be able to fill up forms when applying for loans etc, it is good enough."

So no matter how I teach him, even my other students had improved, he remains the same and his mum still do not understand why. Well, most parents would blamed it on the school or tuition teachers and never on themselves.

To me, able to study is an attitude. Something that the parents have to coach since young, just like potty training, manners etc. If they start with the right mind set, studying is not a problem. You can employ the best professor to teach your child but without the right attitude about learning, you are wasting your money.

Thanks for reading and hope your child loves learning. Make it fun and tell them it is as easy as learning a new on-line game.

School Days Crush (joke)

I was sitting in the waiting room for my first appointment with a new dentist. I noticed his diploma which bore his full name. Suddenly, I remembered a tall, handsome, dark-haired boy with the same name had been in my class some 40-odd years before.

Could he be the same guy that I had a secret crush on, way back then? Upon seeing him, however, I quickly discarded any such thought. This balding, grey-haired man with the deeply-lined face was way too old to have been my classmate.

After he examined my teeth, I asked him if he had attended Garden school in Penang. "Yes. Yes, I did," He gleamed with pride. "When did you graduate?" I asked. He answered, "In 1959, Why do you ask?"

"You were in my class!" I exclaimed. He looked at me closely. Then, that ugly, old, bald, wrinkled, fat, grey-haired, decrepit idiot asked, "What did you teach?"

Just for laughs! Enjoy!

Cheesy Squid

I love seafood. Learned this from t.v. Clean the squids, cut it to bite size and score the back criss cross so that when cooked, it would curl up like tiny squids. Pat dry the squids and marinated it with salt and pepper and a bit of corn flour.

Heat pan with a bit of cooking oil. Saute chopped garlic till brown. Add in squids. Once it curl up, add in cheese. I used a few slices of those sandwich cheese. Stir till all the cheese melted. Make sure dish is not too watery. The squid to release some water while cooking. So if it is too watery you can add more cheese or cornflour mix in water, to thicken it.

Thanks for reading and give this a try. It is simple yet yummy. I am drooling already.

Penny Wise Pound Foolish

I was watching this Korean channel (with English sub-title of course) recently and the documentary was about price hike in food. It shows how vegetables prices had increase by more than double. Some housewife would go marketing with a camera, snap a photo of the price and the vegetable and paste it in their facebook or blog. Other housewife would then compare prices and know where to buy what.

Would you do that? Very often others would ask me how much is a kg of meat etc cost and seriously, after turning into a housewife for about six years now and I had never memorized those prices. I would go to the market every weekend and buy what ever I felt like eating that week and shop till I am out of cash and I would go home. During the week I would cook what ever I could find in my fridge. So I do not really compare prices nor know how much it really cost per kg.

I go by how much I am willing to spend on food for that week and not going round town shopping for the cheapest meat, vegetables etc. I have neighbors who would buy chicken from market "A", fish from market "B" and fruits and vegetables from market "C". If the three markets are quite a distant from each other, the fuel going there would have cost more than buying everything from one place.

You could say I am the lazy type but to me I wouldn't want to stress out on a simple task like marketing for food for the family. Why go through the hassle comparing prices, taking notes and keeping an eye on food prices like watching the share market on CNN.

Thanks for reading my point of view. Life's too short to stress out on small stuffs like this. Happy marketing and cooking to you.

Jokes On Relationship

Out Of Africa

Young son : Is it true dad, that in some parts of Africa, a man does not know his wife until he marries her?

Dad : That happens in every country, son.

Wonder Why

When a newly married couple smiles, everyone knows why. When a ten-year married couple smiles, everyone wonders why?

Phuket Vacation

On our first day at a resort in Phuket, my wife and I went down to the beach. Later when I went back to our room to get something to drink, one of the hotel maids was making our bed. I opened my cooler and was on my way back out when I stopped at the door and asked, "Can we drink beer on the beach?"

"Sure," the maid replied. "Let me finish the rest of the rooms first!"

Just for laugh! Can't remember if I had posted the above before but is still funny when I read it again and again. Have a nice weekend to all.

Anyone Reading My Crap

I do read blogs from Linkreferral etc and most new bloggers express their fear that no one would read their post. Some even said that most just visit blog sites just to reach target and not really reading. I too have those thoughts in my head "what if no one reads my crap", " what if I do not get any follower", "what if I end up with nothing to write anymore" .......

Like the saying goes, when you do something you are passionate about the money will follows and in bloggers case, readers and followers will follow. I once introduced blogging to a friend and he said he doesn't have so much to talk about. Really? So is it just me or because I was born a chatter box.

I find writing and reading fascinating. It nurtured the creative part of me. Even at night when in bed before I fall asleep, words just pop up in my head telling me what to write in my next post. It just come naturally but now a days had been quite busy so had kept all those thoughts bottled up at one of the corner of my brain.

Someone once told me that I have to have a good command in English before I write. Really? To me, as long as my English ain't that broken and my message did went across to who ever is reading, it is fine with me.

Once in a while have to act like a kid again, do without thinking, speak without fearing of being judges, play deaf and pretend I live on an island alone, free to say and do what ever I like, but then again this can't happen all the time. I have two teenage boys to set a good example to.

So to me blogging is when I could released that child in me and feel free. No worries about wrong grammer, bad English and the thoughts of sharing my experiences and knowing that someone out there could have or are going through the same, would feel that they are not alone.

That's all the time I have for this post, till the next post, thank you for those who are following my site and those who often visits and leave comments, appreciate you guys / gals very much. Thanks to the internet too, for allowing me to reach so far out to the world. Happy reading and blogging to you all

My Butterfly

I would normally leave the car doors open an hour prior driving, for health sake. I was told it is really bad for health to enter a hot car, turn on the air-cond and drive. So normally I would air it out first and this is what I found. The is the second butterfly that landed on the car dashboard and died there. Guess it is must had been too hot.

So happened I had an empty photo frame, a perfect one for my butterfly. I gently lift it and place it in the frame and sealed it without any preservative etc. This butterfly in the frame had been with me for more than 5 years now and the butterfly still look good. I always thought that I would need some sort of chemical to preserved the colour and shape of the butterfly but mine still look good after so long. Guess if I open the frame now the butterfly might go into pieces.

This is the second butterfly that I found in the car and so happen someone gave us a photo frame as a gift and the butterfly fit in it perfectly. Wonder if there will be anymore dead butterfly in the future. So far not many know that the butterfly in the frame were real and not just a picture of it.

Well that's me, the creative Aries that could not see stuffs like these go to waste. Love it when I could turn junk into art, at least to my eyes they were art.

Thanks for reading and wish you have a fun and creative day too.

More Funny Travellers Tales

In a Bangkok dry cleaners :

Drop your trousers here for best results.

On the menu of a Swiss restaurant :

Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.

In a Copenhagen airline ticket office :

We take your bags and send them in all directions.

In a Rhodes tailor shop :

Order your summer suit; because is big rush we will execute customers in strict rotation.

In a hotel in Athens :

Visitors are expected to complain at the office between 9 and 11 AM daily.

Just for laugh! Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri to all Muslim readers.

My Little Rainbow

This photo was taken few months back and had forgotten about it. It happened on a fine evening around 7 o'clock when I went and fetch my son from school. On the way home, in the car, we saw a very bright rainbow in the sky. The brightest I had ever seen. The rainbow was so bright, we could clearly see all seven colours and from our point of view, at that moment, it looks as if the end of the rainbow is on top of our house. I jokingly told my son that we have to hurry home to collect that pot of gold that could be on top of our roof.

As I reach home and got out my camera, the rainbow fated away and all I captured was the bluish grey sky. Can hardly make out the rainbow in the photo. Disappointed, I put back my camera and sighed, wondering when will that next time be for me to capture something so beautiful to show others.

The very next morning when I got out of bed and as usual I brush my teeth and took a bath and went straight to the basin to do some washing and there it was, a mini rainbow on my kitchen counter near the sink. My hubby had the habit of drinking a self blend vegetable and fruit juice in the morning before he goes to work and wound normally soak the blender in water and leave it in the sink for me to wash.

That day he left the blender on the side near the window just the right corner for the sun to go through and created that mini rainbow. I took my camera and snap a few shots of it. I am a great fan of "The Secret". I think that the Universe is trying to tell me that if I wish for something really bad, I will be granted my wish.

Thank you, thank you and thank you even though it was just a mini rainbow but the timing and the place it shows up, it was meant for me. I do believe in miracle and to me these are small miracles and I am still grateful about it.

Thanks for reading my silly tale. I normally practice having happy thoughts as often as possible everyday and the rainbow really does bring a smile to me. What are your happy thoughts? Stay happy always and have a great weekend to all readers.

All Sorts Of Weird Parents

I am a housewife by day and tuition teacher by night. I have students come by my house at night for tuition. I used to teach primary school children aged between 8 and 12. Now I am teaching secondary school children aged between 13 and 17. I have been teaching for almost 7 years now.

Most of my students would tell me stuffs that they would not tell their parents. After so many years of listening to their tales and their point of view, I became a better parent. Most of their tales were actually complains about their parents. Fascinating and unbelievable too. Will share them with you one by one in my post from now on.

The most heard of tale is about how parents lie to them to coax them to get good grades in school. Every batch of my students there would be at least one, who would complain about how their parents lie about their own grades in school. The more the child finds it hard to believe, the more he / she would want to dig up more about their parents past.

A few of my students already did some digging and found their parents school report card and used it against their parents when they lied about their good grades again. I would ask my students why they think it is a lie, their reply normally were that their parents could hardly speak English or Bahasa Malaysia. Every time when encounter with homework problems and ask their parents for help, it looks as if they don't know anything at all.

Parents out there, please take note. All these are facts that I gathered from a child's mouth aged between 8 to 17. If you think you can simply come up with a story to bluff your child into getting better grades, think again. No doubt they are only children but they ain't as dump as you think they are.

Normally when my sons ask for help in their school work, anything that I am not sure I will get them to help me find the answers from reference books, encyclopedia or the internet. We will look up for the answers together and I would normally say " So that's how it is suppose to be. I have learned something new today". By showing them I am willing to learn, it also influenced them to learn too.

I always tell my sons that knowledge will always stay with us, will never be robbed of it. The more knowledge you have the wiser you become and learning is not difficult but fun. Parents should show some leadership here, the more you are willing to learn the more your child would follow and you don't have to come up with weird excuses as to why they should get good grades. When a child finds learning fun and the happiness that comes with achievements be it academically or otherwise, the good grades will follow, no nagging, no punishing, no lies or tuition required. They can even self study, like how I trained my sons to do.

Thanks for reading and hope parents could share some parenting skill with me. Happy parenting to you.

Potato Carrot with Chinese Sausage

Learned this from t.v. All you need is potatoes, carrots, Chinese sausage, dried chilly (optional), sesame seed and sesame oil. Cut potatoes and carrots into toothpick sizes. Wash the potatoes after cutting, to get rid of the starch, then drain it. Cut Chinese sausage into toothpick size too if possible. If the sausage were too hard, steam it for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting.

Heat wok and add sesame oil. Fry potatoes and carrots till it becomes a bit soft then add Chinese sausage and dried chilly. Add a bit of sugar and salt to taste. At last add sesame seed (optional). The potatoes and carrots will turn out crunchy. If you want it soft add a bit of water while cooking but I prefer it dry and crunchy.

Thanks for reading. Give it a try. It is easy and yummy too.

More Jokes To Share

Denominations

A caucasian woman went to the Malaysia Post Office with a stack of post-cards to send friends and relatives back home. "What denominations?" asked the postal clerk. "Oh, good heavens! Have we come to this?" said the woman. "Well, some are Baptist, a few Catholics and the rest atheists!"

Morning Call

One night at a 3-Star hotel, I ordered a 6 AM wake up call. The next morning I woke up before 6 AM but the phone did not ring until 6.30 AM.

"Good morning!" a young man said sheepishly. "This is your wake up call."

Annoyed, I let the hotel worker have it. "You were supposed to call at 6 AM," I complained. "What if I have a million dollar deal to close this morning and your oversight made me miss out on it?"

"Well sir, " the desk clerk quickly replied. "If you had a million dollar deal to close, you wouldn't be staying in this hotel!"

Hotel Lobby

A salesman had a tiring day on the road. He checked into a wayside hotel in the evening and because he was afraid that the kitchen might close soon, left his bags at the front desk and went immediately to the dining area to order something to eat.

After a satisfied meal, he went to the front desk to reclaim his luggage and take his room keys. But he forgot his room number and told the clerk on duty, "My name is Osmond. Can you please tell me what room I am in?"

"Sure!" replied the clerk. "You are at our lobby!"

Just for laughs! Enjoy and have a good laugh!

Great Grand Parents

The age gap between parents and their children are getting wider. I remembered when I was little, grandma took me to visit her step-mum, which was my great grandma. No other kids in school had a chance to meet their great grand parents, only know them through photos.

Since the day when women fought for equal rights, more and more females had ventured into the corporate world, politics and sports. More and more female chasing after wealth, fame, recognition, be the first female president, the world's best in all aspect to let the world know that what ever man can do, female can do better.

Parents no longer discourage their daughters from pursuing higher education or their dreams. Since given the opportunity to go higher, females fire could not stop burning and went on and on and higher and higher and before they realized they had past their time to start a family.

I have nothing against female who which to be successful in every way but don't put your children last on the list. Not many successful female has successfully raised a good respective family. Unless you have a mum or a mother-in-law who is willing to take care of your kids while you strive for success. Not many could successfully juggle between work and home. It would be even worst for single mums and dads.

We could no longer hear tales like those in the 60's about how man meet girl, got married, man concentrate to provide a good shelter and food for the family while the female concentrate in bringing up their children to be a good person, and they all live happily ever after even though those days not many were rich.

Now the tales start with, what is the highest education qualification that I could achieve, how many other countries have I visited, how high and soon can I climb the corporate ladder and most importantly is how fast I could be rich and famous. By the time we have achieved all that, we could well be in our late 30s or early 40s. Then starts to realize the importance of having children and family.

My 8 years old student once told me that every time his dad picks him up from school or a friend's place, his friends would ask him if that was his grandpa. He was the only child at home. His dad looks like he was in his 50s.

Most of my friends that were of the same age as me, are now thinking of which kindergarden to sent their kids to while I am sitting here thinking of which college to send my eldest son to next year. My mum got me (I am the eldest) when she was only 20 years old and that time my grandma was only in her early 30s. I got married in my mid 20s and a mother of two before I turn 30.

Those days if you are still single and available at the age of 21, you are already being labelled a spinster. Now if you get married in your 20s you are known as stupid for not enjoying your life more before you start a family. My guess is human kind will be extinct soon not due to the Mother Earth turning against us but us human for forgetting that one simple reason why animals and plants reproduce.

Thanks for reading the true tales of live and wish the best to mankind. Do you think that we should act like how our ancestor did before and have three to four generations sitting at the dinner table on festivals or like what most family does now a days, having your first child after you had done enjoying life, because not many people have the opportunity to enjoy both at the same time. Which is more important to you?

Work Like A Dog

I just found out that 5th of August was declared as "Work like a dog" day. Wonder whose idea was it. Must have come from those slavery time. Does a workaholic work like a dog and does "work like a dog" means slavery? Why dog? Does it also mean an obedient worker who always obey it's boss like a dog obeys it's master?

Well, if you have watched Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer, not all dogs obey their master. Only those well trained. Humans should not used words like obey but respect. Dogs are actually behaving the way we want them to because they respect us not obey us as a leader. So all leaders out there, earn your respect and others will follow you willingly.

In my opinion, there should not be a day to celebrate someone who had to work like a dog. In fact should celebrate that they are not out of job, now-a-days. Since the recessions recently where so many around the world had lost their job and had yet to get a decent job that pays them like before.

Someone once said that do the things you love and the money will follow. Had this happen to you yet? Are you still working for money or for passion? Wonder how many of you had actually landed on their dream job.

Well, what ever you are now remember to have a balance life. Money is important but so were many other things like family, friendship, neighbors and your health. Balanced up your life, don't just concentrate on one part and neglect the other. All are equally important.

Thanks for reading and hope you have a wonderful and a fruitful week ahead.

Second Time In Labour

Took almost a day to deliver my eldest son. Luckily I don't have to go through a C-Section. By the time I got pregnant the second time, it was almost two years apart. Could still remember that day as clearly as my first labour.

It was a Sunday morning, I woke up and felt the pain or maybe the pain woke me up. Since it took so long to deliver my eldest son, I told myself, take my time to prepare myself this time. I woke hubby and my son up and told them it is time to go to the hospital. My son was almost three then. Like any other toddler, at first he fuss around refuse to wake up but when I told him that we need to get to the hospital to get his brother, he jumped up and could not stop asking question.

I brush my teeth, took a shower and even had time to prepare breakfast. I want to make sure my son had a full stomach before we leave the house. Once we reach the hospital the nurse asked me to sit on a wheel chair and wheeled me straight to the labour room. Hubby then took my son to the ground floor to register and make payment.

When I was being wheeled to the labour room, the nurse asked if this was my first child, told them it was my second and that's it. The nurses and the mid-wife in the labour room all started treating me differently. Most of the time I was given that "you should know better" statement assuming I should memorized all the details as to what I should do next like memorizing a text book preparing for a major exam. Luckily the doctor, the same male doctor that delivered my eldest son, still treat me like before.

No wonder most ladies I asked preferred a male doctor to deliver their child as they are more sympathetic than female doctors. Most female doctors, midwife and female nurses get agitated easily during labour and put up that "serves you right, you asked for it" look most of the time. Hahahah, no offense to female nurses and doctors out there.

As far as I could remember, the nurses treated me better the first time around. Anyway, back to my tale, right after hubby had done filling up the necessary forms and made payment, he took my son to see me in the labour ward. By the time they reach my room, the nurse is ready to show them my second son.

My eldest was so excited seeing his brother for the first time and still couldn't stop asking questions. He used to hold my tummy with his two tiny hands and put his ear near and listen. Sometime when the baby moved while his hands are still on my tummy, he would laugh and asked thousands of questions. At last I got him a brother to play with, or should I say fight and argue with as they grow up.

Thanks for reading my tale and hope you have a wonderful day, today and everyday.

Travelling Jokes

Fly To Singapore

A lady telephoned the travel agent and asked how long it took to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. The clerk replied, "Just a minute."

"Thank You." said the lady as she hung up.

Round Trip Ticket

Traveller: I'd like a round trip ticket to Hawaii

Salesgirl : I'm sorry, all our tickets are rectangular!

Notice In A Tokyo Hotel

It is forbidden to steal hotel towels please. If you are not a person to do such thing is please not read notis.

Notice In A Bucharest Hotel Lobby

The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable.

Just for laughs! Have a good day to all.

Simple Lunch

This is simple, yummy and good for your tummy. Oh yes, now only I realize I don't have greens on the plate. Experts said we should have at least five different colours on your plate every day.

To make sure the omelette comes out fluffy and smooth, I add a bit of corn starch that had been diluted in a bit of water then add into your eggs. Add salt and pepper to the eggs and beat it. Fry the prawns / meat / vegetable first, then place all the cooked ingredients into the bowl of raw eggs and mix well before pouring all into the hot pan.

The surface area of the egg that touches the pan gets cook first so scraped that layer of eggs up and make sure those those raw eggs from the top goes to the bottom. Keep doing this until all is cook. Learned this from t.v from a Chinese Chef. Seen some used milk instant and keep whisking the eggs while they are on the hot pan.

What ever way, as long as it turns out yummy, is always good for me. Thanks for reading and happy cooking. Kinda busy lately to visit all of you. Will visit you gals / guys more often when I have the time.

Wife For Sale?!?!?

I was having dinner with my sister and her family at a restaurant near my house. We were sitting there waiting for our food to arrived when suddenly my nephew said "oh can get a wife for RM600, not cheap!" and he pointed to this board. This is hilarious.

Actually below the poster there was a rack filled with a few types of biscuits all nicely wrap. Those words up there were actually direct translation from Chinese, the name of the biscuits. Yes, there is such a thing as wife biscuits. In Cantonese we called it "lo por pang" which means wife biscuit. Not that the husband should not eat it, it was just that traditionally, when you marry off your daughters, the groom side of the family would have to give a certain number of wife biscuits to the brides family about one to two weeks before the wedding. The bride's family will then send the biscuits together with the wedding invitation card to friends and relatives, and yes, most of the time, by hand.

Guess the shop owner just want to save space and paper, he just wrote wife, and it is only RM6.00 and not RM600. He even saved on ink for decimal. My youngest son went up to the board and took this photo with his hand phone and the shop owner and his workers kept looking at him, puzzled, still not knowing that in English it means you could actually buy a wife from his shop. Guess his English is not too good.

Just thought of sharing this with you. Thanks for reading. Wonder if any foreigner had ever ask to see the "wife" catalog instead of the food menu. Hahahah!

That Should Be Me

That should be me on that plane, that should be me in those photos, that should be me holding that medal, that should be me driving that luxury car, that should be me, who got promoted, that should be me, that should be me, that should be me....

Voices in the head of those who often torture themselves with jealousy, could not stand looking or hearing about the victory of others. Can't stand when others are better off than them. Shouldn't they be happy for that person instead. What they didn't realize is that it shows on their face, their body language and the tone of their voice. Unless of course they had been to acting school and is damn good at hiding their jealousy.

Recently, a D.J mentioned over the radio that at one time, when he was at a friend's house, a car pulled over and park in front of the house. The host walked to the window and peek, came back and said in an agitated way, "Who does my brother-in-law thinks he is, driving such an expensive luxury car?"

Once, a teenage girl was showing off a medal that she received from school due to her straight A's, to all her cousins, uncles and aunts. One of her uncle look away and didn't say another word after that. Maybe his kids weren't that good in their studies.

Then there was a time when a lady was showing her vacation photos oversea, to the rest of her families, one of her sister-in-law suddenly turned a sour face in just seconds and sat there whole night sulking.

You don't have to be an expert in face or body language reading to know that those mentioned above are suffering in side with "that should be me...." Hope they realize soon that others can read their mind and had just turn a good relationship into a bad one.

Hope folks like these should make a change and learn to be happy for others and no doubt do envy others but positively and use it as a motivational force for them to strive harder to achieve their dream. If she / he can do it/ have it, so can I.

Thanks for reading and start feeling happy / glad for others, sincerely, because your face and body language never lies, even a child could sense it.

My Berries

Look at my berries, these are blackberries right? My father-in-law gave it to us. He got it from his sister. Can't wait for it to turn black / darker red. It is much sweeter when it is dark in colour. Could only harvest about half a bowl each time so not enough to make jam.

Thanks for dropping by. Happy gardening to you.

Do What the Big Boys Do (funny)

An old man, walking down the street saw a small boy sitting on the curb crying. He stopped and asked, "Little boy, why are you crying?" The little boy said, "I'm crying because I can't do what the big boys do." So the old man sat down alongside of him and cried too.

My Back Neighbor

One hot afternoon, my back neighbor was painting his gate wearing two jackets. I asked him why he was wearing two jackets on such a hot day. He said that the directions on the can read: For best results, put on two coats......!

Gas Cylinder

Note on top of gas cylinder: WARNING ON THE BOTTOM

So obviously, everyone will turn it upside down to read the warning which says: WARNING! DO NOT TURN UPSIDE DOWN!

Just for laughs! Have a great funny day to you.

A birdie with only an eye

Look what we found one afternoon. A tiny baby bird standing there in the garden and refuse to fly away when shoo. We then placed it in an open box and leave it in the middle of the garden, hoping that it's mummy and daddy would come to it's rescue. Still no sign of mum and dad after one hour. It could fly but not much.

So we decided to place it in the house. Hubby went and got a cage and some bird food for it. As it was standing there, I realize it only had one good eye. Poor thing. Is that the reason why it was being abandoned?

I still have my feeding bottle for pets (for my rabbits). So we mix some bird food in water and feed it with the bottle. It manage to drink a few drops then it stop. It would just stand there chirping. After awhile, it got tired and sleeps for quite a while.

At about ten at night, we place it in a cage. we only manage to feed it a few times and each time only a few drops of diluted bird food. It would just stand there and sleep. Must be real sick by then. By mid-night it drop to the bottom of the cage but still breathing. After awhile my youngest son picks it up to have a closer look and it died in his hands.

What an adventure. During hubby's younger days, he had once found a baby bird on a nest that had just drop from a tree. The nest drop because he catapult the fruits on the tree and didn't realize there was a nest with bird inside. He took it home, feeds it regularly until it grew strong enough to fly. It would fly in and out of their house when ever it likes. It would even respond to hubby's whistle.

Guess this episode with one eye bird didn't last very long. At least I still have it's photos and video for remembrance and another tale to tell my grand kids in the future and a tale for my blog too. Thanks for reading about my adventure, would love to hear about yours too, if you don't mind.

Too Matured For Their Age

When I was young, my parents got divorce when I was only six. Dad ran from paying alimony and mum had to work seven days a week to maintain a roof above our head and food on the table. Grandma took care of us but she had never been to school. So I grew up with limited general knowledge. I was asthmatic too, so I had to skip school every time I had an attack.

In school I do not have many friends because other kids think that I am lazy for skipping school so often. I remembered there was once, I was absent during a monthly test and the next day I was allowed to re-sit for the test. I was suppose to spell "helmet" and draw it too. I was already seven then. Had no clue what a helmet was. My fellow classmates look at me like I was from outer space.

Those embarrassing moments are still fresh in my mind. I promise myself, when I have kids, I will jammed pack their brains with general knowledge before they start school.

When my sons were younger, every night we would chat before they sleep. What ever questions they asked I always have an answer for them. Even if I do not know the answer, I would find out and tell them the next day. We would read the encyclopedia when ever we had the time.

One night, my youngest son, around age four then, asked how come when ever I switch off the lights, the room appear to be so dark and later we could see again. I trained them to sleep in the dark since birth. I explained to both of them that there is a small window in our eye called the pupil. It controls the amount of light that can enter the eye to help us see better. It needs time to open or close, so every time when I switch off the lights, we would count to ten and right after that we could see in the dark again.

Told them that it will never be that dark at night because there is always the moonlight and the street light just out side our house. They became more confident and not so scared of the dark.

Few months after that, we went on an annual family trip to the beach. We get to stay in a bungalow by the beach with my in-laws and nieces and nephews. Most of my nieces and nephews were of my sons age.

That night, all adults were busy downstairs preparing for a barbecue and all children were upstairs playing in those four rooms. Most of them were below ten years of age and about nine of them. Suddenly there was a black out. The whole neighborhood was without electricity.

The first thing that cross my mind was the children upstairs. I shouted from downstairs telling everyone not to move and that I am coming to get them. I could hear a few of them running and shouting towards the stairs. Some were crying too. When I found my sons in one of the rooms, my youngest son giggled and said "Why do they have to panic? Don't they know that the pupil in our eye needs time to open for more lights to enter?"

I was a proud mummy that day. Glad to know that all those stories I told them every night does not go to waste. Others always tell me that me children were very matured for their age. I don't find that to be a bad thing. Since most of the facts they would need to know sooner or later, why not sooner.

There was the time when we were all at my sister-in-law's house. My niece had just got a microscope set from Toys'R'us and the children were all taking turns to look at the specimens provided. My eldest son, around the age of eight, took one look and said loudly, "Hey! This looks like a sperm!" My in-laws with their eyes wide open, all look at me. Hey, we do read the encyclopedia and it comes with pictures too.

Where ever I go or do with my boys, even just watching t.v, I would explain to them what it is about, what it is suppose to mean, morally is it right or wrong etc. Children at the age below ten have brains like a sponge. They could absorb more then you think they could. To me, it is better that they learned from me than to learn from their fellow friends of the same age, they might get the wrong message.

Thanks for reading and happy parenting.