A Trip To the Beach

Went on another vacation. This time to the beach with in-laws, nieces and nephews. Everyone enjoyed themselves and get to go fishing every morning.

So this year, it is quite fair. Get to go on two separate vacations, once with mum, sister and her family and another with in-laws family. Well balance, in terms of valuable time together.

We stayed in the bungalow at Port Dickson, that was provided by hubby's employee. They do have bungalows around Malaysia for staffs to stay for free.

Oh my, vacation over and school reopen next week. Busy, busy, busy. Chinese New Year in another months time. Busy again.

Happy New Year to all readers and followers. Hope you had a great Christmas and a wonderful year ahead.

Almost Got Robbed

Hubby almost got robbed yesterday morning. He walks to the train station every morning to take the train to work. It is about 20 to 30 minutes from my house if you walk, depending how fast you walk. He had been doing this for quite a number of years. Sometime when it rains I will drive him there. I had always asked him to take the car but he said he prefer to walk and that he needed the exercise.

Yesterday he need to get to the office early so he went out at six a.m to catch the earliest train. The road was quite quiet and not many cars. He need to walk pass a stretch of road that has only tress and no houses, just a short distance. After that it would be houses and shops and a police station at the end of the road.

Four guys in two motor bikes stopped at where he was. As at when two of the guys got off the bike, hubby knew something was not right. Before anyone said anything, he ran across the road to the opposite road and started running. As he was running, he could hear the bike following from behind. He continued to run and shouted "help! help!" and he could hear one of the guys said "we can still do it" in Bahasa Malaysia.

He ran straight to the police station and those guys left. He made a report and the policeman promise that they will go round the neighborhood in a while. A friend of ours was having his breakfast at the shop next to the police station and he offer to send hubby to the station.

What an experience. He called me when he reached the station and told me to watch out in case those guys know where our house is. Looks like it is not that safe after all even though they did build a police station near my house. Can't blame those policemen, they can't be every where at all times. We ourselves have got to learn to protect ourselves.

I am just grateful that hubby didn't get hurt. We wouldn't know if they were armed. Crime rate had increase around town. I am grateful too that I have Muffin, my dog, around. Makes me feel safer. At least he is more alert than me and would bark when strangers are around.

Thanks for reading and hope crime rate in your town is not as bad as mine. Hope this is the first and the last.

Irrisistable Stare

Look at that face, those eyes, who would not give in to what he wants? I just love getting him treats and every time when I go out, can't resist not to give him a hug. He must find me quite annoying by now. Those folks without a dog, they don't know what they are missing. Well, then again, if they hate animals, they will totally disagree with me.

Actually I had a short video of him playing basket ball and football, the ball, I mean, not the game, hahahahah. Can't find the button to upload the video. Previously before blogspot change the format, I used to upload quite a number of videos of my pets.

Well, guess I just post it on facebook instead. I love taking pictures and videos of my children when they were young, now since I have pets, more pictures and videos of pets. It is quite challenging to take pictures of very young children and pets, they just couldn't stay still for long. Guess candid pictures do turn out to be great too, sometime.

Thanks for reading and happy blogging to you.

I am that old already?

I am in my mid forties and to many I am still young. Well, age is just another number and really up to the person to feel old or young. I don't feel old right until my nephew announced that he is getting married next year. The first wedding in my family, my husband side. Which means in a couple of years I am going to be someone's grand aunt? Ooooh that title "grand" really sounds old.

Among the Chinese, a younger person do not address an older person by name, unless when working in the office etc. When we see an older female not related to us we call her "che che" (sister) and if it is a male, "kor kor" (brother).

I remember as I was growing up, young children use to call me "che che" right until I got married, look more matured, people start calling me "aunty". I was so not used to it. It obviously sounds older.

In a couple of years my nephew's children are going to call me grand aunt which means the granny generation, oh my. Used to feel excited and happy when my boss told me that I was promoted to the next level but this type of promotion really freaks me out.

I think I would prefer if everyone would address each other by name instead, but of cause, our Chinese customary will vanished. Well, no matter what, life goes on. Like what my mum used to say, "Go through each stages of life, gracefully" I am trying, very hard too.

Thanks for reading. So, which level are you in, now? Happy blogging and happy holidays, as to most, year end normally are vacation time. Have fun and smile always.

Ticklish Me

When I was on vacation last week, my sister suggested that we try out the spa at the hotel. I just can't. Most people would find spa relaxing and can't wait to have one, but not me. Whenever a stranger touches any part of my body, I find that ticklish.

When I was pregnant those days, and have to go for my monthly check-up, I find that ticklish too. The doctor would put some sort of cold gel on my tummy and move that small plastic, iron like, gadget on my tummy with those gel to check the condition of the baby. When he moved it too far to my sides, it was ticklish and I had to fake a cough or bite my tongue to stop myself from giggling.

On my annual pap-smear test, the doctor would check my breast and armpit, that is very very ticklish. I would fake a few coughs and moved about. I can tolerate pain but not being tickle.

Only hubby can touch me but I remembered when in my later stages of pregnancy, I couldn't reach my toes to cut my toe nails, my mum and hubby volunteered but when they were cutting I find that ticklish too. They can't cut all ten toes at one go, have to let me stop giggling for a while before they continue.

Maybe I have more male hormones in me than female hormones. I don't enjoy stuffs that most female does except for shopping. I don't wear high heels or make-up, I don't enjoy spa, massages, foot reflexology etc and even find facial massage etc a waste of my time. Actually I do find spending time at the saloon a waste of time too but I love to have my hair perm once in a while. I go to a hair saloon about five times a year, when my mum goes to the saloon on a weekly basis when she was young.

The only time I had a full make-up on my face was on my wedding day and I remembered I had a hard time eating my dinner that night as I can't eat properly with lipstick on my lips. I don't want to eat those lipstick, yucks. Had to wear high heels too, that night, so I told hubby to make sure he is always by my side when I stand up to walk or I definitely will fall as I do not know how to walk on heels.

Don't worry, I still look very feminine and lady like despite the above, hahahahha. Yeah I know, self praise is a disgrace. Well, all my friends and relatives are used to looking at me, the real plain me and had no complain so far.

Thanks for reading this ticklish tale of mine. What tickles you?

Malacca Trip

I am back from the short vacation. These are some of the photos of the hotel. The hotel is by the river and opposite our hotel, they have boat rides which will bring you out to sea and back.

The hotel is beautiful, the food is nice and the shopping is great but most important, the company that I am with which makes this a memorable vacation. Hubby and I and my two sons had been to Malacca on our own quite a number of times before this but this should be the best because mummy and sister's family were there.

We laugh so hard and so loud that at one of the restaurant, the waitress smiled at us and said "you all sure are a happy bunch". Yes we are. The crazy folks from Kuala Lumpur. Come and visit Malacca sometime. I am sure you will love it too.

Thanks for reading and hope you will have a fun vacation like mine soon.

Vacation

Next week my family and I are going on a vacation with my mum and my sister's family. It had been more than ten years since we had a chance to go on vacation with my mum. She had a stroke more than ten years ago. In fact due to her speedy recovery, we did go on vacation together a few years after her stroke.

A couple of years after that she had depression and non of us realize that until she committed suicide. She took all her pills at one go and slept in her room. Luckily my sister found out before it was too late. After that incident it was going downhill all the way for all of us.

We went from psychiatrist to psychiatrist. That few years she refuse to meet anyone except us family members. She won't even step foot into a saloon to have her hair cut. She would rather get her maid to cut for her.

Thank goodness lately she is pretty much her self again. We would chat over the phone every now and then. She would even make friends with the neighbors. In fact when I suggested that we go on a vacation with her she felt excited and can't wait to pack her clothes and go.

Glad she is back to normal. Can't wait for next week. Normally our annual vacation are with my in-laws of just the four of us. My sister had not gone for a break in a long time too. Glad she could make it this time.

Thanks for reading. Hope you will have a great vacation soon too.

Smart Dog

My Muffin had grown so much. He love sun bathing in the afternoon. Notice the garden hose by his side? He had never bite or pull the hose before. He would go potty in the garden on the grass area. I taught him that since puppy but sometime accident do happen.

It is raining season now in Kuala Lumpur. Sometime when the rain is too heavy, he would urine on the tiles instead. There was one night, after the rain, I and hubby notice he was urinating on the tiles. I told him in an angry tone "Muffin! Why did you urine here? The rain had stopped, you should go urine outside" as if he understand English. He continue to urine, then he turn and look at me with a sorry face. He then went and took the garden hose and pull it to the spot where he just urinated and put the hose down. He then keep staring at the hose like expecting water to come out and wash away his urine.

I and hubby was speechless and then I laugh. Every morning he watched me water the plants and wash the floors with water from the hose. He must be imitating me. Is this a coincident or was he really that smart? I shouldn't underestimate him.

That's my dog. I am the proud owner. A few days later he urinated on the tiles again but he didn't go get the hose anymore. Wonder how wide is his understanding of my language. Pets do surprise us from time to time. Glad to have him with us. Even though sometimes he could be quite annoying but we all love him dearly.

Thanks for reading. Hope your pet is as lovely as mine.

Termites Problem

Oh my, we found termites trail on the ceiling and a corner of a room. It all started last year. My neighbor on my right had termites in the ceiling and he tried getting rid of it himself. After the neighbor's wife told me about it, hubby decided to get someone from the pest control company to come and take a look at our house. We were certified to be clean, no sign of termites at all.

A few months back, hubby noticed some damaged on the kitchen cabinet door and looks like it was done by termites. So we cleaned the whole cabinet and he painted a layer of anti pest poisonous kinda liquid onto the door and all. The smell was terrible and it stayed for few days.

Then about a month later, I noticed one of my hibiscus was wilting when the other plants around it is doing fine. After investigation, hubby found termites having a party on a piece of dead wood next to the hibiscus. He got rid of that too on his own.

Last week he noticed termites trail on the ceiling. Now we are worried and seek professional help. Luckily enough the damage was not much. I didn't pay much attention to termites until the guy from the pest control explained to us about termites colony, that there is no way they could eat up the whole roof overnight etc.

They just look for the trail, confirm there are termites and what is the species and they just stick a box of yummy termites food on the trail. Once they eat it, the workers will die gradually and the rest of the colony will die too. It seems that only the workers chew on woods and after that the workers will go home and feed the queen, the baby termites and the soldiers.

Wow, the whole colony only depend on the workers to find food to feed them all. So sounds like three quarters of the colony are lazy bums. At least we are getting rid of it the natural way, non poisonous, no terrible smell and we don't have to pack our bags and move house.

I told my son that we are going to kill the whole colony of termites meaning that those few houses around my house will be safe from termites for a while. My son jokingly said that in that case neighbors nearby should help pay the cost of the pest control too.

Thank you for visiting. Hope you don't and never will have termites problem. They often hide from us and are really sensitive, once their trail was disturbed, they will immediately moved to another corner of the house.

A Ring Of Rainbow Around The Sun

I would call this another of my little miracle. How often do we actually look at the sun, moon, mountains, trees etc. Maybe if we pay close attention, we do get to see amazing things once in a while.

Yesterday at noon my son text me from school. He asked me to go outside and take a photo of the sun because it is different yesterday. From his school, one glance he saw a sun with a halo.

So I went out, face the lenses towards the sky without looking at the sun, because at that hour the sun is directly above my head, and took quite a lot of shots from few different angle. After that I went into the house and found that almost all my photos was taken perfectly. The sun is right in the center of each photo.

Look at the three photos above. Isn't it lovely. Now we get to admire the sun without looking at it directly. The wonders of science and invention of camera.

Thanks for visiting. We should all pay a little more attention to nature and discover it's wonders.

Mid-Autumn Festival

This festival was brought down from generation to generation from China. We of course in Malaysia, does not have four seasons. However, we still celebrate this festival by eating moon cake, which cost a bomb now a days and all sugar and calories, and playing lanterns.

When I was very young, to me, this festival was all about lanterns and playing with fire. Every year grandma would buy me and my sister a lantern each, just like the one above. We would parade around the neighborhood with the neighbors children showing of our brightly lid lantern.

Once we reach home, we would fill the whole balcony with small candles and lid them one by one. This is the time when we were allowed to play with fire. The next day we had fun scrapping the wax off the floor.

We do this for days until the actual day. Once it was over, on the last day, my sister and I would normally burned the lanterns so that next year we would get new lanterns. If not the existing lantern will be folded properly and kept for next year. We sure were cunning then.

My father-in-law made hubby a tin lantern when he was young. It comes with wheels too. He would cut vertical lines on the tin so that lights can appear on the outside when lid. Nothing fancy but D.I.Y lantern is priceless.

My sons however, when they were toddlers we got them plastic battery operated lanterns that comes with songs and blinking lights. Until they are much older and were allowed to play with fire, we brought them the paper lantern.

How time flies. All my nieces, nephews and my sons are all grown up and no one to play lantern around the house anymore. Now a days we just eat moon cakes and watch t.v on that day. Kinda missed those days, playing with fire, lid candles every where, make bonfire out of dry leaves and candles and sing songs and play games around it.

Those were the days. Thanks for reading and hope you have a great day.

Soup Kitchen

The other day we were all talking about Soup Kitchen in Malaysia. A temple in Kuala Lumpur had set up a Soup Kitchen and is expanding too, to other states through out Malaysia. One of my brother-in-law's church is coming up with Soup Kitchen too and they are asking for donation.

My other brother-in-law, however, don't really agree with this whole idea of feeding the homeless. He said, this would encourage more lazy folks to become homeless. Come to think of it, who, with the right frame of mind, would prefer to be homeless.

Sleeping in the streets with stray dogs, cats and rodents. No clean clothes to change into or place to take a good bath. Not knowing where or when the next meal will come from, if there is a next meal. The worst among all is, they totally lack self esteem, can't even face the world.

I don't think we have the right to look down on these folks. If given a chance to know every single one of them, I am sure they come with a terrible story that left them homeless.

I do agree that, there will be folks who will take advantages of these voluntary non-profit organization and enjoy those free food which are meant for those who really needed it most. Well, this should not be a discouragement to continue to help the homeless and the poor.

We who are lucky that always have more than enough to eat and wear, should be thankful and lend a helping hand to those who are less fortunate. I am always ready to donate food and clothes to the food bank and the needy.

We don't have to be rich to start donating. No matter how much you earn, I am sure you could at least spare a dollar or two for charity. To you, it is not much, but to the homeless, it is a big deal.

Thanks for reading and hope you start donating like me.

Upset Over Hair

One of my neighbor, female in her late forties, had straight long hair, waist length. She had never cut her hair any other style before since young. Now I have a few nieces who had not cut their hair any other way before too, and I was thinking if they would end up like my neighbor. Once you are older and the face bigger etc it don't look nice to have hairs like this.

Isn't it a bit boring to see yourself in the mirror everyday with the same hair style? It does to me, maybe because that is the nature of Aries, always trying out new stuffs. Hair grows back, for a healthy normal human being that is, and should not worry so much of giving oneself a new hair do.

One of my friend told me that her husband does not allow their daughter to cut her hair short. When she enter kindergarden, the principle told my friend that all her students are to wear their hair short, at most shoulder length. She and her hubby got so upset that they had a long talk with the principle.

Even some of the model on "Super Model" cried when they had a make over that involve their hair. Didn't anyone tell them that hair will grow and she can change it back to her old hairdo in no time?

Thanks for reading. Just find it amusing when people get upset over their hair, unless of course that due to some diseases, your hair could never grow back. Are your hairs your priority too?

My Cute Plant

This is not a huge vase. I took it from the aquarium. We had two glass rectangle shaped aquarium and hubby decided to get rid of one and in the aquarium he had all sorts of decorative ornament like this, kinda look like a broken jug with holes by the side for tiny fishes to swim through.

I took it, sealed the base and added a bit of soil and planted this in it. I watered it every day. Didn't expect it to live so long. It is over a year now and the plant seems to be healthy and growing well. I started it off as an experiment not sure if this plant count survive with such little soil.

Guess I do have green hands after all or maybe just lucky. I love gardening and planting all sorts of tiny plants into all sorts of stuffs like teapot, bird cage, basket etc. Normally I would convert all sorts of old utensils etc into pots. I prefer small pots and plants. That way I can put it on my table or on top of the aquarium or the the side of the fish pond. Lovely.

Thanks for visiting and happy gardening to you. Do share some of your gardening experience with me.

Frightening Experience

I was driving the other day and experience vertigo. It was kinda scary. Luckily I manage to drive to the side and stopped the car in time. I rested for a while before I continue to drive to school, slowly, to fetch my son. We made it home in one piece.

A few days later, on the same stretch of road, I had a panic attacked. I felted like a rush of hot blood flowing all round and later chill. I had to stopped at the side again. This time I really panic. I drove very slowly to my son's school but I don't think I could continue driving home.

I called my elder son who is in college and on break at that moment to come fetch us home. I parked the car at the nearest fast food restaurant.

Until today, which is already about a week now, I still feel a bit car sick when I am in a moving car even though I am not driving.

I went for a blood test and everything came out fine. I asked the doctor if this could be a pre-monopause symptom, she said I am too young, shouldn't be monopause. Blood pressure and urine test are fine too.

Guess now I have to learn to over come my fear of riding in a car on my own. I have to brain wash myself and get rid of that fear soon. Now I truly understand how a person feel after a panic attack and those who are phobia of certain things, it is just beyond our control.

Hope I get well soon and become normal again. Any suggestions, anyone? I can't avoid traveling in cars for the rest of my life. Thanks for visiting my site and hope some of you could teach me how to overcome my fear.

Another Dog

My sister had adopted a dog few years back. An adult male, mix breed, via the internet. His name is Bebble. A very shy, dorsal male dog. The previous owner who is expecting her third child and has two older daughters, could not afford to care for this dog anymore.

Yesterday, my sis told me that she might be adopting another dog. Male Labrador named Andy from a friend. This friend had to move to an apartment and does not have enough space for a huge dog anymore.

Before this, my sister already had two other dogs, at separate time, but due to the high energy of those dogs and she and her family had no time to properly train those two puppies, they turned aggressive and become difficult adult dogs. She had to give them up to the SPCA.

I can't imagine my sis having had so many dogs and I only had my first dog this year. You see, she is very afraid of dogs when she was young. I remembered very clearly that when we were young, granny used to send us to the sundry shop nearby to get groceries. We would have to walk a block away to reach the shops.

Every time when we bump into a stray dog on the street, my sis would freeze and sometime cried too. I on the other hand would walk pass the dog at ease. With her around we have to divert to another road.

When ever I am at a friends place who has dogs, I would spend time playing and patting the dogs while my sis would be standing at a far corner.

Guess people do change. I do not know exactly what triggered her to change or when she actually started to like dogs. Her daughter still do not want to have anything to do with dogs even after so many years living with a dog at home. My sis, her hubby and two sons would take turn to care for the dog but the daughter would make sure the dog stays at a far corner when she comes home from school or when she need to go out.

She must have gotten my sister's gene. Hahahha. Maybe someday she might change her mind. Anyway, they only like dogs at the moment, not really fond of cats or rabbits. Unlike me, my neighbors and relatives used to tease me saying that my home is soon becoming a zoo. I always laugh and tell them that by having just a rabbit, a puppy and some stray cats had yet to qualify for a zoo. Hmmmm maybe I should adopt another lion or/and tiger or/and elephant, then I would qualify to convert my home to a zoo. Just kidding.

Thanks for reading and hope you love pets as much as I do. Happy parenting your pets.

Let's Change

Last week one of my student told me that his name, which sounds like a girl's name in Chinese, was chosen by a Feng Shui master. To me, he has the lowest I.Q and not much of a common sense when it comes to solving maths problem. Even a simple conversation with him can make my blood pressure rise. The whole class could be talking about something and out of no where he would pop an irrelevant question. Makes me wonder, what his name is suppose to do for him.

I have relatives and friends who went and consult Feng Shui master and have their name changed. The reason being, things didn't go as smooth as it should be. Some even change their furniture etc just for the same reason.

I do believe that Fend Shui does work but only to a certain extent. It helps a person only about ten percent. The other ninety percent is totally up to us.

Like the saying goes "God help those who help themselves". If we kept blaming our name, our furniture, the environment etc we will be busy changing everything else instead of ourselves. Guess for those who consult the Feng Shui master often, only makes the master richer, not really a smoother road for themselves in the long run.

Why not spent those time discovering ourselves, our weakness and our strength before we make a change.

Thanks for reading and let us all make a change, and I don't mean changing your clothes or your name.

Headless Dog

Look at my dear cute Muffin. I was searching the net to find some home made toys for dogs and found quite a lot of cheap, recycle way to keep dogs occupied. One of it was feed him his meal in a tissue box.

Look at him. Even though his head is stuck in the box, he still continue to eat his puppy kibbles. Oh my, it doesn't bother him at all. Kinda fun discovering how silly my dog could be. Not sure if it is entertaining for him, but it sure was for me.

Once he finished those kibbles I helped remove the box from his head. Wonder why he didn't react like the dog in the youtube. He is suppose to tear the box apart before eating. Maybe he is still too young to figure that out.

Thanks for visiting and happy parenting your pets, if you have any.

He Cares, Actually

When both my sons, which were three years apart, were younger, they used to fight and argue to just about anything under the sun. I was so worried that they might end up like some of my class-mates, who rarely talk to their siblings. I find it strange to know that I have friends who hardly knew their brothers and sisters. I and my sister, could not stop talking when ever we are around each other.

So when ever my sons fight, I told them I will not side anyone and both will be grounded. However, when ever I see them paying together, happily, I would praised them and encourage them to do it more often. Easier said than done, they fight more then playing happily together.

When my younger son entered kindergarden, my eldest son was already in primary school. That few years they were both busy with their own stuff and in separate school. When my younger son was ready for standard one, my elder son was already a junior prefect in school.

The first day of school, I asked my elder son to take good care of his younger brother at school and to show him around. That day after work I asked both of them how was school. To my surprise, my elder son said he introduced his brother to all his friends and the senior prefects in school. He even asked all his friends to take good care of his little brother.

Oh! That was touching! Didn't expect him to do that much. Looks like he really do care about his kid brother. Both my sons are in their teens now. They do chat and exchange views with each other but don't argue as much. They even share shirts and pants as they are now about the same body size. Hah! Reminds me of those days with my sister. We used to share clothes too until we both got married and stayed separate place.

Thanks for reading and hope you have a wonderful relationship with your siblings too, as family is extremely important!

Vegetarian Dish

I had started to stay away from meat on certain days. I have been trying out all sorts of vegetarian dishes. The mock vegetarian meat look and taste so real. I just bought a packet and fried it with vegetables and mushrooms with a bit of oyster sauce (vegetarian oyster sauce, of cause) and it taste yummy.

Used to think that vegetarian dishes are limited but after a few tutorial from youtube and cook shows on t.v. I manage to learn a few dishes.

I am already in my mid forties and it is best to eat less meat and more vegetables and fruits for health and religion sake. Actually, I have lots of photos on food that I cook but don't have the time to post it or procrastinating / hibernating / what ever you called it heheheheh.

Will explore more on food and post more in the future. Still love blogging. I still have stuffs that pops up in my head and wanted to blog about it but sometime sons need to used the computer for school projects etc and my inspiration of writing just vanish when the p.c is available. Is that sign of aging? Hmmm most likely.

I have got to blog more to keep the brain cell moving. Guess I have to set a time-table for me. Till next time, as usual I have to go now to fetch my son from school, happy blogging to all. (And they said housewife has the most time in hand or maybe I had been doing all sorts of unnecessary stuffs) Time for me to make a change.

Taboos

My mom used to tell me how grandma would asked her to go outside to play whenever they have visitors. In case their conversation leads to topics like sex or menopause etc arise, granny does not want mom to hear any of it. Those days stuffs like these are considered a taboo and should no mention in front of kids.

Mom said when she had her first menstruation, she was at school. She ran to the toilet, lock herself in and cried. Luckily her best friend noticed and ran after her to find out why. Mom thought she is going to bleed to dead soon. Her friend then explain to her that every girl goes through this.

After that incident, when my sister and I was about ten years of age, she sat us down and told us all about the birds and the bees, heh heh heh. My sister and I was giggling all the way and don't really understand the whole concept of the human reproduction cycle. Although I do not have any daughters but I still tell my sons about menstruation etc.

I remembered when we were younger, whenever we asked where we come from, my parents would tell us that they found me next to a dumpster and my sister broke out from a rock. Wonder what granny told mom those days. I doubt mom would dare to asked as granny was said to be fierce and children those days are not encourage to asked questions.

So how do you explain stuffs like these to your children? I always tell them the truth but normally would not give my sons too much details and tell them that they will learn about it in school as it is in their science book.

Embarrass or not every parents would have to go through this even as an uncle or aunt, your niece and nephew might pop these questions too Thanks for reading and have fun parenting.

Muffin"s Free Swimming Session

About two weeks back I noticed a club called Mongrel Lovers Club on facebook. I click like and notice there was a photo contest going on and it is a week to closing date. I get son to take some photos of me and Muffin and send it over to join the contest. A week later I saw my photo on facebook announcing that I am one of the five finalist and each finalist get a free swimming session for our dog.

The next day they were suppose to announce the winner but changed their mind and get us finalist to get votes / others to click like on our photo and we got only 24 hours to do that. In the end I couldn't get as much vote as the other contestant but am still happy that we got a free swimming session. Better than nothing.

Upon arrival at the pool, Muffin was given a life jacket to put on. The instructor suggested that one of us be in the pool with him. Hubby said lets try staying at the side of the pool to guide him instead. He could swim in just ten minutes and after twenty minutes or so, we took of the life jacket and he swam all round the pool.

Glad he is enjoying himself very much. Hope Malaysian will come up with more such recreation places for our dogs. I remember when I was young, swimming pool or parks for dogs are unheard of.

Next round I am going to take him to the dog park to socialize with other dogs. I think he is big enough to do that now.

All these kinda reminds me of my sons when they were young. I also planned all these fun time for them. Brings back memories of them being in the pool, the park, restaurant, vacations etc the first time.

Thanks for reading and hope you have a great time with your pets too.

Can't Take It Anymore

I used to be an impatient person and always want things to be done now. It was never later. I loved to complete what ever task given, fast, so that I have more time to relax and do the things I love. However, no matter how impatient I used to be, the sound of a crying baby or whining of a dog or cat never annoy me. Even when I was still single.

I used to think that once a person starts a family and start to have kids, they some how mellow down and stay calmer than before but found out that is not the case.

A friend of mine told me that her husband can't stand the sound of their toddler crying or whining. She always have to coax her two toddlers and keep them quiet when ever her husband is around. Once, on a trip, they need to travel a few hours by car and her three year old son start whining. The husband asked my friend to shut him up, but she failed. After twenty minutes or so, her husband pull the car to the side, open the back door and asked the son to leave the car.

Oh mine, on the highway, in the middle of no where? And I thought all adults, once become parents, they automatically have that parents instinct to love and protect their kid no matter what.

Guess that is also what prompt an inpatient person to pour hot water at stray dogs and cats. They just could not stand the whining and barking etc. Poor strays, all they wanted was to beg for some food and love. It that too much to asked for.

I even have neighbors who trained their young children to sit still the whole day, doing nothing, and is so proud that they succeed. No wonder they didn't do well in school when they were older. No exploration, learning, interacting and social skill and yet the parent could still complain to others as to why other children are so cheerful, intelligent and charming compare to her's.

To me babies, puppies and kittens are suppose to be playful with a little crying and whining. Unless they are born dumb and mute. Never could understand how cruel this world could be.

Thanks for reading and I hope the world would be a better place tomorrow with more kind people.

What Are Your Priorities

I find most folks in Malaysia has a hobby of traveling oversea. Not only travel oversea but to make sure they cover the whole map, if possible, like if there is a medal or reward waiting for them at the end. Well, if you have extras and travel oversea with your love ones, once in a while, is romantic and fun thing to do for the whole family. But if to travel on loan, I would think twice.

I have seen folks with leaking roof and pipe, washing machines that hiccups when used, wear and tear of cars and house that need attention, but they would rather saved up to travel first. If they have extra after the trip, then it goes to plumbing and repairs.

Is it that important to show others that they have step foot to all the places on the map. Once a friend wrote on facebook that she long to experience winter and another friend wrote something that sounded like as if it is a big deal that this friend of mine had yet to experience it. Like it is compulsory to experience all four season abroad.

Vacations, to me, are to have a great time with love ones and photos of vacation are to remind me of what a good time we have together. If travel on loan will mean misery after the trip. Isn't our purpose in life is to be happy? I wouldn't be happy after a vacation if I have to come home to a leaking house or pipe that is not working.

Well, different folks have different priorities and traveling abroad is definitely not mine. Thanks for reading. So, what are your priorities?

My Muffin

We adopted this mix-breed two weeks ago from "Paws Mission" a.k.a "Second Chance", a non-profit animal rescue organization run by volunteers around Malaysia. Isn't he cute. Having a puppy around is really a hand full but after weeks of training, from me, he kinda mellow down and not as hyper like the first few days when we took him home. I learned a lot form the internet as how to train him.

Some relatives and friends advice us against having a dog, providing us thousands of reason why we should not. Guess these folks have never experience the joy of having pets. Some of them even said I had turn my house into a zoo but I only have one six year old rabbit and two sweet stray cats that come home only occasionally and a one and half months old puppy. Is that too much to ask for.

I wanted a dog to train myself to be more patience and to learn up new skill as to how to train a dog. Everyday I learned something new from my pets. These are improving my brain power.

I just could not describe the joy when I succeed in training Muffin to perform a certain tricks or do certain things as I command. You definitely can't do that to your kids or spouse, hahahah, only on dogs. Muffin is a very smart dog. He outsmarted us sometime. Can't wait to teach him more tricks.

Well, only pet lovers will understand all the excitement I am experiencing now. Hubby did asked if I regretted bring Muffin into our home, tiring at times but no doubt I am enjoying every minute of Muffin.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy your pets as much as I do.

No One Intent To Replace You

I once read from some where that says, most dads thinks that there will never be a man who can pampered his daughter like he does and most moms thinks that her son will never get a wife who can take care of him as good as her. Well guess this is how the war between most mother-in-law with their daughter-in-law and father-in-law with their son-in-law started.The jealousy and fear that we as parents will be replace by our children's spouse. When children decided to get marry we should be happy that our children had learn to love another and is loved by one more person beside you, as parents. They got married not because they found someone to replace you as parents.

I have seen a lot of cases of such jealousy and it escalate to hatred and can't stand the sight of the other. The worst among all, to me, is cases of only son of single moms. These moms just could not let go. Every single thing that the son's wife or girlfriend does is just hot good enough. When I was young I used to tell my mom that my future husband should be an orphanage. Hahahah. Then I would have no parent's -in-law. Well, that dream didn't come true but I am getting along fine with my parent's-in-law. We aren't buddies but at least we still do share secrets and gossips.

I could see some of my friends with only one son, heading that way. The way they talk about their son, it is like their whole world evolve around the only son and nothing else matter. These friends should start a hobby or get involved with some charity work so that when their son gets a wife, these people still have something else to look forward to other then pick a fight or find fault with their son's other half.

In my opinion, we as parents, have got to learn to let go. Let them learn to love and take care of others and themselves. Every person in this world is different, even twins don't think alike all the time, so don't expect your children to get a spouse like you.

Thank for reading and happy parenting. A Happy Parents' Day to you too.

A Bouquet Of Vegetable

Wouldn't this make a lovely Parents' Day gift. It is healthy, edible and don't cost so much as a bouquet of flowers on Mothers' Day. Now a days vegetables are sold at supermarket in all sorts of packaging. What will they think of next.

Till next time, thanks for visiting and happy blogging to you.

So Many Twins

My younger son was helping me to prepare dinner last night. We made omelette and I asked him to break six eggs for me. Five out of the six eggs have 2 yolks. What are the odds of getting so many twins in the same batch of eggs? I have been cooking for years and had break thousands of eggs and had only seen egg with two yolks, twice. That also at separate occasion. My son said "Does that mean I am darn lucky today?" Hahahahha

Is he really that lucky or there had been some alteration genetically on chickens now a days so that they can multiply faster? Notice the photo above, only one yolk is large, actual size, the rest are smaller and joint together. One of the twin yolk broke, that's why you will only see nine smaller yolks and one large yolk.

Hmmm, told hubby about this and he said I think too much. Well, anyway those omelette taste delicious and hope those eggs are really safe for consumption.

Thanks for reading. How time flies. Hope I could blog more often. So many stuffs in my head that I need to pen it on my blog but time is not really on my side. Till next time, have a nice day to all readers.

Mail Cat

Rusty came back, safe and sound and not a scratch. Asked him where he went and why didn't he show up for so long, about a couple of months, and all he could say was "meow" "meow" and "meow". About a week ago, at night and it was dark outside. My youngest son saw an almost all white cat with some orange spot walking around our tiny garden and he went jumping up and down telling me Rusty is outside. I told him that could not be because Rusty would normally come home with loud "meows" and would always come straight into the house through the grill gate. The first thing he normally do would be to find a human being to pampered him.

My son then went straight out to the garden and called out his name. The cat turn around and not a single sound. My son insist that is Rusty and went and carry him in. He remain calm like usual and once in the house, not a sound from him. He look around as if this was his first time in the house. After almost an hour he made himself at home. He only stayed for a while and left.

My son was upset for fear he might not come again tomorrow. The next day Rusty was himself again, like his usual self, came home with loud "meows" and start looking for us to feed him and pat him. Look at him sitting in the small hole like this. This is actually my build in post box at the pillar near the gate. Isn't he adorable. We are still wondering where he went those days. We only allow him to hang around inside the house during the day. When we are about to sleep, we would put him out. He is still a stray cat and we wouldn't want him on our bed.

Thanks for reading. Happy parenting your pets. Hope Rusty would be with us for a long time.

Mother's Day Confession

Yes. Mother's Day is finally here. It reminded me of my mom, many years ago, on the night of Mother's Day, she had a stoke. My sister and I had never celebrate Mother's Day with her. My family only celebrate Birthdays. Maybe because my mom is always not around when we were young. It made us feel like she is always not available when we needed her the most yet she always brat about herself being the best mom in the world. It makes me feel that it is not worth celebrating this auspicious day with her.

After I got married, my husband's family, on the other hand, had never missed a Mother's Day or a Father's Day or his parents birthdays. All his brothers, sisters and their spouses and my nieces and nephews would make sure we had one day free on those month to celebrate with my in-laws, either we eat out or pot luck at home.

I remembered clearly, that unfortunate day. That was the year when my mom decided to stay on her own and I start sending my sons to my mother-in-law instead, when I am at work. That night, hubby and I and my two young sons, then, just came home from a Mother's Day dinner with my in-laws. I had just put my two sons to sleep and it was about 11 at night, my hand phone rang. My mom was on the other line. She sounds calm but she said that she could not move her left half of her body. She was watching t.v and had a headache and the next thing she knew half of her body felt so heavy and could not moved. Luckily her hand phone was on a nearby coffee table. She tried to stand but felled on the floor. She forced herself to reach the phone and called me. I have the spare keys to her house.

In a panic manner, hubby and I search for the spare keys. When you are in a hurry, you just could not find those keys. It used to be laying around some where. As we were searching, my mom kept calling and asked what took us so long but it was less than five minutes to me. At last we found the key and hubby drove to her house, which took about thirty minutes to reach her place. I called my sister too, but her place is even further so I told her to meet us in the hospital.

Hubby thought that he was huge enough to carry my mom as she is just a medium sized lazy, no need for an ambulance. I stayed at home as there was no one available to take care of my young sons that night. Hubby said he had a hard time helping my mom into the car. My sister was already at the hospital waiting.

That night she had to go through a lot of scanning etc so the Doctor advice us all to visit her the next day. The very next morning, the minute we reach her bed she is already joking and laughing and explaining what she went through and how the MRI machine sounded like the sewing machine that we used to have. Her face muscles had gone back to normal but her left leg and hand was a bit tight. Doctor recommended that we get a physiotherapy to help her walk and move left hand and leg again.

I remembered she was discharged very soon. My sister and I took turn sending her to Chinese acupuncture and on certain days a physiotherapy would drop by her place to help her recover. She is a fast learner and with her character of laughing at just about anything under the sun, she had a speedy recovery. Even the doctors couldn't believe it and praise her for her speedy recovery. But then of course the western practitioner was not informed of the acupuncture treatment she was getting at the same time.

Anyway, she still can't walk or do stuffs as fast as she used too. She always does stuff in a hurry and walk like a bullet train. Maybe this is God's way of asking her to slow down. We appreciate her more now but till to-date we still don't celebrate mother's day with her, but we would eat out with her occasionally. Well, besides Mother's Day we have so many other reason to celebrate and be together and eat out or go on trips together once in a while.

Thanks for reading. Just want to share with you what Mother's Day mean to me. Everyday could be Mother's Day if you be around your mom and appreciate her and be grateful that you have one. Imagine there are lots of others who will never know what a mother's love is. My heart goes all out to those people. Happy Mother's Day to all mommies out there.

How Time Flies

Oh my, April had come to an end. So much more that I pledged to do this year and is still on the "to do" list. Maybe I should look at it the other way. I had however made some changes, personal changes. I had become more spiritual, more patience and had line up more exciting stuffs for the whole family to do as a family. I used to think that family days are to be spend on vacations or eating out, trying new restaurants. Now I found out that I could turn charity into family day too.

To start off, we visited the SPCA recently and had donated a bag of cat food. Plan to do that more often. Now thinking of other charities that we could do as a family. Well, when I was young, my mum works seven days a week and hardly any time for us. Then when I was in school, I used to join school trips to orphanage and old folks homes. When I got married, I concentrated on building a career and a family. Juggling between those two really takes up all my time.

When my two sons started school, I spend most of my time teaching them, encouraging them to do well academically. Attend to them 24/7 and very little time for myself. Now My eldest is in college and my youngest will be in college in a couple of years, guess it is time to do more charity. I might join some volunteer program later too.

Spiritually, I had learn to meditate. Listen to more spiritual talks to improve myself. Health wise I had change my diet and plan to be a vegetarian on week days soon. At the moment only on first and fifteen of the month according to the Chinese calender. Those are the two auspicious day to not eat meat. I remember I told hubby and my sons that I might turn into a vegetarian soon and they all turn and look at me with eyes wide open and said "Why!". Hahahah maybe they are worried that they might have to turn vegetarian too because I am the only cook at home.

Well, all the above do sounds like I am in a mid life crisis. I am indeed in my mid forties and should live like there is no tomorrow and start doing things that is to please me instead of everyone else. Now I sound kinda selfish too, hhahaha. Wonder if this is actually known as mid live crisis at all.

Well, what ever the future may be, I cannot plan so far ahead, my plans are up to the end of this year. I will think of something else by end of the year to keep my life as exciting as ever. I am a very easy to please person. My bucket list does not comprise of jumping of a cliff or climb the highest peak. Just as long as I could make another person/being happy will make me happy like feeding stray cats or feeding the poor.

Thanks for reading and blogging is still part of my plan. Happy blogging to you and may you do lots of stuffs that makes you happy too. Gotta go now.

Time To Do Want I Always Wanted

I visited the SPCA last weekend with hubby and my youngest son. We donated a bag of cat food. What prompt me to visit? Well, recently over the radio the D.J mentioned that every public holiday, the malls, cinemas and restaurant would be pack with people. Why not do something different like pay a visit to the SPCA or an orphanage or do some voluntary work for the handicapped etc. Very true indeed. Embarrassed to mentioned that I have never visit the SPCA before.

My eldest is in college now and able to drive, so less one worry. My youngest is in secondary school and would be in college in a couple of years. Guess this is the best time to do the things that I love but no time, in the past. I long to have pets like cats and dogs and rabbits. Already have the experience of raising few batches of rabbits from birth in the past. Still have an old rabbit living with me. Now two lovely teenage cats always hang around my house and I am feeding them daily, kinda like my pets too but they do not enter my house. They do show affection and do allow me to pat them. So glad that they are not afraid of me anymore.

What else is missing? A dog of course. So tempted to bring that lovely cream colored puppy of mixed breed home from the SPCA the other day. Hubby said we should wait for the year end school term break so that my son is around to help. Kinda make me think twice too. A case of watching too many of Cesar Milan's Dog Whisperer on t.v showing so many "good dogs turn bad". I have to really prepare myself before I have a dog. Searching the net now a days to find out more about having a dog and how to potty train etc. Really makes me feel like the first time I got pregnant. That was the time when I start reading about babies and child care etc.

My sons can't wait to have a dog too. Occasionally I would create some excitement in our life. It would start to get dull if we are so routinely doing the same thing every day. Like my youngest son said, with a dog, we could all learn together how to take care of it and have something different to do daily.

Having a new pet is like having Discovery Channel, live, at home. Like the time when Rusty, the stray cat, that came into our life, brings so much joy. We learn so much from him too. We don't really know much about cats until we have him. Same goes to the rabbits. Now I hope we could get a dog by year end.

Guess only animal lovers would understand the joy of having a pet. Those who don't like pets, would find having them as a burden. I once mentioned that I would be getting a dog soon and my sister-in-law came up with a thousand reasons why I shouldn't. She really don't know what she is missing.

Thanks for reading. Happy blogging and blog hopping to you. Hope you have a great pet that loves you as much as you love it.

Wanton In Chicken And Maize Soup

I saw this on t.v and gave it a try. Wanton soup is a normal dish at home but never with a whole chicken and maize. The soup taste lovely and something different, to me anyway.

Ingredients are maize, whole chicken (I used half only here), wanton skin, minced meat, green leafy vegetables, coriander leafs.

Mix minced meat (I normally used pork) with a bit of salt, pepper, corn starch flour and some chopped coriander leafs. You can also add a bit of chopped water chestnut for some crunchy texture into the minced meat. Leave aside and let it marinate.

Prepare soup by putting water, whole chicken and maize into a big pot. Bring it to a boil for about half an hour or so depending on how large is the chicken. Remove the whole chicken from the soup and set aside for it to cool down.

Prepare wanton. Add about a teaspoon of marinated minced meat on wanton skin and wrap it. You can wrap it in several ways (available on most you-tube about wanton soup). Once all the wanton is wrapped, the chicken is cool enough to remove the flesh by hand. The thickness of each shred of chicken is up to you. Put back all the chicken flesh into the maize soup and bring to boil. Add salt, pepper, sesame oil and soy sauce to taste. Now is also the time to add your vegetables, any leafy vegetables together with some chopped coriander leafs.

In a separate pot, I bring a pot of water to boil. Once water is boiling, add in wanton, not so much at a time. When the wanton starts to float, it is cook. Scoop it into a bowl and add some of the maize and chicken soup. You can also add noodles or pasta too.

Hope you like wanton as much as we do. Thanks for reading and hope you would give this a try. Food like this is best taken on a cooling day. Yummmmmmmmmmy! Drooooooling already.

Local Or Abroad

Not sure why but most Malaysian that I know, and most Asians too, think that it is very important that their children studies abroad. Even when their financial status does not permit so, they would still borrow to send their kids oversea. Is it really that great? Or is it because Malaysians rarely read and didn't know that most of the billionaires and well known person in the world are drop-outs. Some did not even complete high school.

My eldest son is in college now doing foundation and plan to take up business studies, locally. He said there are quite a lot of foreigners in his college. If Malaysia does not have so many great colleges and universities than how come so many foreigners choose to study here? Or is it just for the sake of "studying abroad".

There was this local documentaries about parenthood on t.v some time ago. They would go into lives of some of the Malaysian and interview them about parenting. I remembered there was this elderly couple. The t.v crew would follow them around for few days. This two couple had retired but are doing voluntary works for some charity bodies.

They too believe that it is important to let their children study abroad, widen their scope and get to see / learn more. They did send all their few children oversea and now all of them stayed oversea, some got married, some working abroad and only skype them when they are free. So everyday they lived like there is only two of them. Their children only comes back once every few years, some, none at all.

After watching the show I realize how lucky my in-laws and my mum is. Almost every Saturday all my sister and brother in-laws would meet up at my mother-in-laws place. We would chat, poke fun, tease each other like small children. Occasionally I would go visit my mum, and my sister and her whole family would be there, we would chat, have fun, enjoy each other's company. We celebrate mother's day and father's day without fail and every time when we eat out we need at least two huge tables to fit us all.

Isn't this the reason for getting married? Well, for me it definitely is. To have a family and enjoy the company of extended family too. When anyone of us need help, others are more than willing to chip in and help. These type of bonding between us are priceless. We watch all our children grow up together, we grow old together and get close too like how relatives are suppose to.

I have nothing against sending children to study abroad. If you can afford it, why not. Not all children end up not coming back, but I still think that as parents, the most valuable lesson that no school or university could teach is, the importance of having relatives. Do you know in Japan they have this "rent a relative" during festivals and dinners so that their neighbors and friends won't know that they are actually living alone when in fact they do have relatives and children. Not sure if they are still doing it now a days.

Thanks for reading. You can call me old fashion but I prefer to have my children and relatives around me, not 24-7, but at least often enough to live like a big happy family. At least someone to laugh with me when I am happy and cry with me when I am down.

Where Are You

This photo was taken about a month before Chinese New Year, this year. Hubby and I went and bought some plants, soil and pots. Upon reaching home, I took out everything from the plastic bag and start replanting those new plants into the new pots. Half way adding soil into a pot, I heard sounds of plastic and when I turn my head, there he was, Rusty sitting comfortably in the plastic bags. He even stayed there until I washed my hands, took out the camera and took this shot. He sure loves to have his photo taken.

He had been missing for a week now. I told some of my students and one of them said his cat went missing before, for two weeks and came back. His cat was stalking a female cat. He said a male cat would follow a female cat until they get to mate. I sincerely hope that was the case for Rusty.

Rusty is always over friendly with humans. Maybe he had found a new owner and was lock up some where somehow. Or worst still, too friendly and he was hurt by some nasty human.

Kinda missed that little fellow and his pampered meow. These few days when ever anyone of us hears a meow we would go check and see if it was Rusty. Hope he is safe and in good hands and have enough to eat and a comfortable place to rest.

Normally he would come home for meals and leave. Sometimes he would spent the whole day in my house lying around doing nothing. But every time when he is home, he always wants to stay near a human. His favorite spot is on my youngest son's lap when ever my son is around. Had never been missing for more than twelve hours until now. Wish he could text me a line or two letting us know he is alright.

Thanks for reading. Just wanna get this off my chest. Rusty, I will pray for your safety and hope you are well and happy and being loved by all. The door is always open for you when ever you feel like dropping by.

Vows

Wedding vows normally are :

"...... will love you in sickness and in health,
in poverty or in wealth,
till death do us part "


Almost every parents' secret vows :

" ...... will love you in tantrum or in protest,
in sickness or in health,
mess up my life or burn down the house,
made my hair stand on ends or joy all around,
will protect, provide for you and love you unconditionally"


Every child's vow to their parents should be :

" ...... will love you and care for you,
in sickness or in health,
in poverty or in wealth,
constant nagging or praising,
be by your side when ever you need me,
even though I was not given a chance to choose my parents,
but I was designated to be your child,
you too have no choice but to tolerate with me,
and still love me unconditionally,
I will care for you like how you care for me"


Guess the only vow made public was the wedding vows. Thanks for reading. Which vow have you make.

A Refreshing Healthy Drink

This is not a glass of cow's milk nor soy milk. I was checking the you-tube for recipe and came across this. It is easy to make. All you need is a bowl of raw walnut, a bowl of raw peanut with skin on and a hand full of rice, preferable white rice. Soak all ingredients in water for about two hours. Blend everything together with some water. The more water you add the more dilute the drink will be. I only add water till it reach the top of the blender and that's it.

Pour everything in a cloth bag and squeeze the juice into a pot. Add sugar and bring to a boil, which takes only about ten minutes or so. Serve hot or cold. I could get only four glasses full, just nice for a family of four like mine.

Thanks for reading. Give this a try. A healthy yet yummy drinks for all age.

My Amazing Son At Four

In Malaysia, we can choose either to send or not to send our children to kindergarden. I send both my sons to kindergarden at the age of four. I want them to learn social skill as soon as possible. Obviously my mom and mother-in-law thought I was crazy again. Both quite against the idea because I enter kindergarden at the aged of six and my hubby doesn't even had the chance to go.

I promised my mom and my in-laws that I could train my son to be independent and get him ready for school by four years old. So by the time he turns three, I trained him to go to the toilet himself, got rid of using potty, learned how to clean himself, eat and drink like an adult without any spilling etc.

Obviously all the above was thought in a fun manner without any stress and he too, thought of it as a game and did grow up, I mean became more matured then any other children his age. My intention was always for him to learn how to take care of himself when mummy and daddy is not around. We can't be around him 24/7.

Then came the day. His first day of kindergarden. I took him in, sat with him for a while and said goodbye. Most of the children in his class looked tense. Missed their mommy, I think. Everyone tried very hard not to cry but not my son. Suddenly, a child cried in the next room which somehow influenced most in his classmate to start crying too.

One by one they started crying and my son, asked the teacher to shut the door to their classroom because the crying child next door is making everyone in his class cried and it is very annoying. The teacher was stunned by my son's request and told me about this at the end of school. None of us expected him to speck up like this, not on a first day.

Weeks passed and every night I would asked him how was school, did he made any friends etc and he told me there was this Indian boy in his class who was double his size kept bullying his classmates. I told him not to get into any fights or argument, if he does bully him, go straight to the teacher and report the matter.

He assured me that the bully always leaves him alone and dare not bully him. When I hear stuffs like these makes me wonder if my son was the one bullying that huge Indian boy instead.

One fine day my son came and told me that the big bully in his school will not bully again. Got me even more worried. Had he taken matters into his own tiny hands? Oh my, almost drop to the ground. I remained calm and hear the rest of his story. "Today, the big bully's dad was at school to pick him up. As he was packing his stuff, I walk up to his dad and asked him if he knew his son was bullying other kids in school?"

I then asked what was the dad's reaction, he said a bit angry and said something in Tamil to the son. That day my son was so sure that he had saved most of his classmate from being bullied again, like a super hero saving mankind from evil. Oh my, this is way beyond what I had thought him. Anyway, the big bully didn't stop bullying but my son always teaches others how to avoid being bullied. Kept playing super hero again without him realizing.

These are the wonders of having children. Never failed to surprise us every now and then. I am not sure if he could still remember all these now that he is in his teens. At least I have one more exciting tale to tell my grandchildren about their dad in the future.

Hope you enjoy this amusing tale about my son as a toddler, an amazing toddler too. Happy parenting to you and I am sure your children surprises you as much.

Cats Holding Tails?!!?

I have been feeding these two stray cats too. They often hang around the back of my house. The first time when I gave them food, the grey cat hissed at me. Never knew cats hissed too. After a few attempt now they dare to come near me when I feed them with dry cat food. They are so cute.

The first time I saw them, they were like love birds. Look at their tails, tangled together and they are so passionate to each other. Found out later they are both male cats, they must be brothers. We called them the brothers. Most of the time they would come over to my house for meals, together.

These two had met Rusty, the other stray cat, and had learn to meow in a passionate way. So now when they see me they would meow instead of hissed, like before. They had not try to come into the house, yet, and I hope will never. Don't think I could cope with three cats taking over my sofa etc, like Rusty. They would stay outside and wait for me to bring them food.

Just wanted to share this video with you. Look at their tails. So darn adorable, ain't they. Happy parenting your pets too.

Was Once Suicidal

Not exactly what you were thinking. No, I didn't cut my wrist nor run into a busy street and be knock down by a car nor jump from a tall building. One night I just wish that when I fall asleep I will never wake up again.

It happened many years ago when I was only a teen. Teens, oh yes, the most vulnerable period of time, where one can easily get upset and agitated. Maybe due to lack of life experiences.

I could still remembered that day clearly. I was having a severe asthma attack and had just visited the doctor. Not sure why but those days I was never given an inhaler, either it was not available in Malaysia then or it is very expensive. So I took pills and pills need time to work.

I was in bed, in my room trying to calm myself down and wait for the pills to help me breath normal again. I was no longer gasping for air but breathing was still difficult. I can't be happy, sad, excited etc so I stay calm and think of nothing but concentrate on my breathing. Grandma was by my side.

Then mom came home from work. We could hear her open the front door and as she walk passed my room, granny called out to her and told her that I had another asthma attack. She just said "Mmmm" and went straight to her room. No hugs or comfort words at all as if it was just another ordinary day and asthma was just another word.

That moment I felt the whole world came crushing down. By then granny had left the room. I cried myself to sleep. The more I cried the more difficult I breath and I felt like it is going to be my last breath and I try to make myself sleep and wish that I will never ever wake up again. Already lack father's love and now mom's too. Felt like I am nobody's child.

The next morning the minute I open my eyes, granny was by my side asking me if I feel any better and if I need anything. Suddenly I realize I still have granny who loved me very much. Oh how silly of me the night before. I had never told anyone about this till now.

As I grow older I realize that not that mom doesn't love us, just that she doesn't know how to show it. I always kept this tale in my head to remind myself that when I become a mom, I have to be more sensitive about stuffs like this.

So when my sons were young I would give them lots of hugs and kisses and to my surprises my mom gave my son hugs and kisses too when ever she is around them. Children can't read our mind if we don't show them how we feel.

Thanks for reading and hope you learn a thing or two from this tale. Lots and lots of hugs and kisses to your children. Happy parenting.

Bee Bite Me

Recently, my mom brought up this story about how my son was stung by bee, again. It happened when my eldest son was only one and half years old. He couldn't even make proper sentences but I had been surrounding him with books since very young. I remember how my mom used to think that I am crazy because to her a child should start to be around books when they enter school.

In order to make him sit on his potty during potty training, I showed him books after books of colorful pictures and tell him the name of that object in the picture, in a fun way. My mom used to disagree with me, introducing books to my son at such a young age. Well, if done in a fun way, I don't see any harm but instead benefit us all.

One fine day, my mom was staying with us then. Hubby and I were at work. Mom was busy in the kitchen cooking. My son was playing with his toys in the hall. Suddenly, she heard him shouted "Bee bite me! Bee bite me!" with his broken English and all. Mom ran out to see what actually happened. My son kept pointing at his tummy and said "Bee bite me! Bee bite me!"

My mom saw a red dot on his tummy but not sure if he was stung by a bee as she don't think he even know how a bee look like. Not taking chances, she took my son and ran to the nearest clinic. By the time it is my son's turn to see the doctor, half of his body was swollen. The doctor found the bee needle still on my son's stomach and confirmed he was stung by a bee.

Thank goodness he got medical attention immediately. My mom was so puzzled as to how my son could have known it was a bee. Once they reached home, my mom search around the hall for the dead bee and found it behind the curtain. She kept it and showed us when we came home from work.

My son still have that tiny scar on his tummy until today and once in a while when any of us sees the scar, this story will pop up and my mom would say "Clever Boy!" Well, guess those books and documents on t.v that I share with my son does pay off.
Glad to know after that incident, mom don't think that I am crazy anymore.

Thanks for visiting and hope you enjoy another of my mommy's tale.

Seafood Tom Yam (without heat)

This is not exactly tom yam, saw this on t.v and gave it a try. I used seafood like prawns, fish meat and fish cake. As for the soup I used tomatoes, lemon grass, lime leaves, lime juice and leeks. Also salt, sugar, fish sauce and pepper to taste.

The prawns head and shell are boiled into stock. Slice lemon grass, lime leaves and leeks and saute it in oil. Add in tomatoes, prawn stock, lime juice salt, sugar, pepper and fish sauce and bring to a boil. Lastly add in the seafood. And there you have it.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy this dish. It is meant for those who like tom yam without the heat.

Bonsai Child

I find more and more Malaysian are preventing their children from growing, mentally, like my Bonsai, for ever a small potted plant even though it look like an old aged tree. Maybe most have forgotten or didn't know that parents responsibility is to make sure their children grow up to be an able person, a good citizen, a person who could take care of oneself and an independent individual who can stand on his own two feet whether they are born normal or with disability.

Last month a new student of mine, aged 15 told me that he doesn't know his house address. Asked if he had just moved in , he said he had been staying there for about two years. I find this disturbing. When a 15 year old tells you he does not know his house address, it is not cute.

Then there are parents who are extremely afraid seeing their children get upset. The minute the child complains that the school teacher or a class-mate upsets him, parents would marched to school and asked for a change of class or school before even finding out more.

A relative of mine, two of his children weren't doing so good in school academically came and complain to me that the Malaysian school syllabus is terrible, more result orientated and most subjects are so tough etc but than how come every year so many of my other nieces,nephews and other Malaysians managed to score straight A's. He didn't realize that indirectly he is telling his children that when you don't get good grades in school it is totally the school and the government's fault, not theirs at all.

Just because their children are unhappy about certain things, it might not be entirely the fault of others. Just like a Chinese old saying "The mother hen should teach its chickens to avoid or deal with the hawk and not asked the hawk to stop attacking its chickens"

I wonder how long will these children stay this way. How long can a parent protect his / her children? 24 hours a day? 7 days a week? When will they be given a chance to grow up?

When my sons complains about something I would sit down and listen then I would suggest a few ways / things that he can do the next time when the same thing happens again but don't expect me to solve it for him. I always tell my sons that I can only act as an adviser but they have to face the music when things went wrong or doesn't go their way. These are important survival skills that, in my opinion, every child should learn.

Teaching my sons how to fall and then get up on their own is the most important lesson I could provide. Not hold their hands and make sure they never fall. Our children will someday grow up and be someone's spouse, parents, co-worker, manager, bosses etc. Since sooner or later he / she would need to grow up why not start now.

Just something that I find important to share with all. Thanks for reading and I hope you do not over-protected your child.

My Bling Bling Garden

One of my Bonsai that I had yet to figure out what shape it is suppose to be. Just tilt it one side and keep trimming the other side. Looks artistic to me.



This Bonsai I tried very hard to make it curve like a fan exactly like the pot. Looks like only one sided fan.



This is the heart-shaped Bonsai in my earlier post a year back. Hooray! It is still surviving and not only that, this year, for the first time it bear seeds. Can you see that two long thing dangling by the side that looks like beans, they are it's seed.



Bought this a week before Chinese New Year. Love the baby plants dangling by it's side. Couldn't resist when we went plant shopping.



Since I don't celebrate Christmas and don't have a chance to decorate a Christmas tree, I decorate my potted plants with some bling bling every year on Chinese New Year. Those are gold color ornament in the shape of gold nuggets, golden tiny fans and red ribbons. When the sun shines on it, it sure blings.

Thanks for visiting. Just wanna keep a copy of these photos in the blog so that my future generations can view it in the future, hahahahah not sure if they would ever be interested in my mommy blog. It is still Chinese New Year but the mood had died off by now.